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dorchadas
As soon as I arrive back in Athkatla, a boy finds me and tells me that something terrible has happened to Moiya and I must come quickly, thus proving all my early suspicions correct. When I show up, Moiya is in trouble:
More Money, Moiya Problems Part II
There's a moment of cutscene-induced idiocy as I'm forced to stand idly by while the thugs beat Moiya to the ground and then run:
When I approach the Copper Coronet looking for Celile, one of his thugs stops me and says that Celile's demands are thus: pay the full sum of 6250 gold by tomrrow or the girl dies, and don't bother going into the Copper Coronet to find Celile because he's not there. A quick check...shows he's still there, but he doesn't have any dialogue options related to what's currently going on. Some mod flag must have failed to flip properly, so after saving, murdering him, and reloading, I head back to Moiya, who just tells me to save her, so it's off to the thug in the corner of the slums. As I walk away from Moiya, Xan has an apt quote:
As I'm looking around I find an open grave and hear faint cries coming from it, so I dig it up and find a man who had been buried alive:
I talk to the man standing near the graveyard entrance, but he's not the groundskeeper, he's a priest of the Morninglord. He asks me if I'd be willing to take care of an orphan girl standing near him, thus showing that he's a horrible person unless he cast know alignment on me when I wasn't paying attention, but Chiyo turns him down with the perfectly-reasonable answer that she's a wandering adventurer and in no position to care for a child, orphan or no. He agrees, and asks that I look for someone who can take care of her, which I agree to do and then continue my search.
I find the groundskeeper in the corner--he's using the beggar model for some reason--and ask him about the Carla. He responds basically, "I don't know nuffin," but says that they stuck her in one of the smaller tombs and he doesn't remember which one. When Chiyo confronts him about the man who was buried alive, he panics:
A few small tombs later, the first one of which has a crypt king that drops the long sword Namarra, which I immediately give to Chiyo to replace the Flail of Ages, I don't find Carla, but I do find a horrific undead monster named Besamen with a very long story to tell:
Though the power of save-scumming before entering tombs to save time, I finally find Carla:
She could have walked out. The door was unlocked and there weren't any guards. On the other hand, I can't blame a girl who was hauled into a tomb and had her life threatened by thugs for not taking the optimal resolution method for her problems, so I send her off to her mother, look around the tomb, and then head back to Moiya.
On the way back to the slums, I get attacked by bandits who take one look at Chiyo and her companions and run like hell. Good on the game for realizing that bandits shouldn't be a threat to a party with an average level in the early teens.
Moiya is overjoyed:
NecRomancing
In Waukeen's Promenade, I stop by a man next to a fountain named Belmin Gergas who repeatedly hurls invectives at Chiyo, Xan, Aerie, and Jaheira for being elves:
In the Copper Coronet--and past Celile, who's still there because scripting is hard--I head over to the bar and talk to Lehtinan, who tells me about the side businesses he's running after a bit of persuasion. You'd think that my sterling reputation would convince him that maybe letting me into his wretched hive of scum and villainy is a bad idea, but I guess the designers didn't account for that, so I stroll up the bouncer, tell him Lehtinan said I could enter, and head into the back. I find Baisera pretty quickly behind the first secret door, which I assume are in there to save the Copper Coronet from vice raids but doesnt' do much in a party that's made up of 58.333% elves:
Baisera is surprisingly easy to convince:
In the graveyard on the way to meet up with Besamen and Baisera, I meet the ghost of a child, who first thinks that Chiyo is his mother and then asks for his stuffed bear. It turns out that he was murdered in a home invasion, and the man who did it is staying at the Copper Coronet, so it's back there after I finish this.
In Besamen's tomb, Baisera is originally repulsed by the fact that her husband is now a rotting corpse, but his eloquent speech and Chiyo's exhortations to listen eventually win her over:
The Riddle of Steel
Back in the Copper Coronet I first head through the other secret door, which leads to a basement exit to the sewers filled with otyughs and oozes, which makes sense, and a random band of hobgoblins who are a bit out of place. In the depths of the sewer section is a room with four pipes feeding into a pool, and when I enter a voice shouts about proving my worth and says:
In order from left to right:
South of the pipe room is Quallo and his pet carrion crawler, who doesn't have anything new for me:
I head back to the room with the otyugh and the oozes, where the drain in the floor has the "interact" cursor over it. When Chiyo reaches in, she fishes a shriveled old hand out of the black water, suffering the bite of some sort of creature in the process. But it's only ten HP, and that's nothing. The hand is obviously item number three on that list. Three to go.
Out of the room and around the corner to the left, two skeletons are chained to the wall, still entwined in a lover's embrace. One of the skeletons has a golden ring on its finger, and now I have item number one. Past the skeleton is a door, and past a mustard jelly there's a set of stairs that leads up to a...mushroom garden with myconids?
There's several dead adventurers and a minotaur who dies at the hands of a myconid king as I watch. When the myconids are put down, all that's left is a few pieces of gold and the axe the minotaur was carrying, and after searching for a few moments I don't find anything else, so I head back downstairs. In the northern end of the main channel of the sewer area, I find a pack of kobolds who yell that the sewers are there and warn me away. Of course, they're the solution to riddle four, since "smell of dog / skin of lizard" is pretty obviously applicable to kobolds. A fireball from Aerie kills everyone but the shaman and seriously wounds him, and after a brief battle I take the shaman's staff.
I'm about to go click the pipes, but then I reread the first riddle while writing this post and see "In what order shall thou place the keys?" so I head back to Quallo to ask him about it. Quallo says the ring is neither first nor third, that the hand's suffering "is of prime importance," and that the staff "shall seal the bargain." So that means the staff is fourth, which means the ring has to be second, the hand is first and the blood is third. The first two work, but the third one--the second pipe--does nothing, and when I go back to Quallo I don't have any dialogue options to ask about it. Fortunately, I have the internet, and when I consult it I learn that...I have to kill his carrion crawler pet. It doesn't even fight back. Adventurers are jerks.
This time the rest of the sequence goes off without a hitch, and in a flash of light I get Lilarcor the intelligent sword. I've seen a bunch of mods dedicated to this, include ones to port it to other games, but I've never found it before now. I promptly give it to Minsc, who swaps out his sword of chaos for it and, because Lilarcor gives immunity to charm spells, trades his helm of charm protection to Jaheira in exchange for her helm of glory.
On the opposite end of the sewers from where I entered is a way out that leads to the "Slavers' Stockade," so of course I buff up and go that way.
The Emancipator
When I enter, a Captain Haegan demands to know what we're doing running in with drawn weapons.
Chiyo uses the silence ability of her new sword and Xan summons a nishruu to deal with the priest of Cyric among the crew, and a hasted Chiyo and Minsc make mincemeat (almost wrote "Minscmeat") of everyone else.
Most of the loot is of no consequence except for a cache of gems in one of the boxes around the room, but Haegan has a key that I take. I go through the northern door, which opens to reveal two trolls that immediately charge me. But now I can deal with them easily--Chiyo swaps to the flail of ages for the fire and acid damage. When they're dead, in a moment of coincidence that almost seems like it was designed, a slaver guard wanders down from upstairs like the sound of battle had summoned him to see what was going on. Unfortunately for him, he comes alone and is murdered in seconds when the whole party turns their fury on him. In the room where the trolls were I find a girl, and Chiyo gives her 100 gold and tells her to run while the getting is good.
Upstairs, past the cells where the other children were held and past a trap that killed Minsc dead in seconds before I realized it was there (reload!), I find...yuan-ti? There's two of them in the room on the right, but they're quickly dispatched. In the room on the left are two slaver wizards who demand to know why the city guard are barging in here when all their bribes are paid up:
Maybe next time I'll actually get to Mae'Var's compound!
Game time elapsed: 31 days, 1 hours.
Imoen rescue fund: 21,772/?????????
I was not expecting to get sucked into another sidequest whirlpool when I brought up the world map and clicked on the docks. This is why I ended up quitting Baldur's Gate II both previous times I tried to play through it, and one of the reasons that my playthrough of Morrowind took something like 500 hours over six years of real time and only ended when I finally decided that enough was enough and stopped poking into people's business. Every time I try to do something, I end up with new quests, and then I get distracted and do those. This whole blog post happened on the way to do a quest that I never even got to because there was too much other stuff to do on the way. Maybe when I go back to the docks this time, someone else will meet me and demand a favor and then Part XII will be Sidequests II: The Revengeance.
I am glad I found Lilarcor, though. That's a piece of Baldur's Gate lore that I knew the existence of but had never experienced. A lot of people have a ton of affection for it, or at least enough to mod it into everything, but right now it's just a sword to me. A +3 sword that makes Minsc immune to charm and confusion spells, which is pretty good since even after I slapped the helm of charm immunity on him he's forced a reload at least once due to getting confused and chopping Aerie in half with a single blow. Minsc is great, but mental fortitude is not his strong suit.
Next: Part XII: This Mae'Be a Bad Idea.
More Money, Moiya Problems Part II
There's a moment of cutscene-induced idiocy as I'm forced to stand idly by while the thugs beat Moiya to the ground and then run:
Moiya: "My lady! Help!"She's not actually injured--this is D&D, as long as your hit points are greater than zero you're as good as new--so I leave immediately to pursue this new quest.
Boy: "Mummy!"
Thug: "Quick, get her!"
Beatings ensue.
Moiya: "Ahhh...uhh..."
Boy: "Mummy! What happened? Who were those people? Are you alright?" He sobs
Moiya: "Yes...I...I am fine. Those...those were Celile's men. Eian, run home and make sure your sisters are safe. Oh, I am so sorry! I wish I had never become involved with him. Go now!"
Boy: "Yes...yes, I will go straight away!"
Moiya: "Good. I'm sure they will be fine, but I do not want you here. I need to speak with the woman.
Her son leaves.
Moiya: "So it seems Celile was not truthful when he said I was in no danger. You see the sort of man we are dealing with, my lady? I should have known this when I first spoke with him. He warned me that there would be consequences if I did not pay up. I have no doubt this will not be the last of them...oh, I am so worried for my children! I have Eian, and four beautiful girls. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to any of them! And what would they do if something happened to me? First their father, and now this!
Her son returns.
Boy: "Mummy! Mummy! Carla is gone!"
Moiya: "Gone? Gone where? By the Gods, I hope she is alright!"
Boy: "The others say a man came and took her. They are all very frightened."
Moiya: "Then it is as I feared." She sobs. "Celile knows where to strike to hurt a mother. What can be done? Please, my lady, can you help find little Carla?" She sobs. "I beg of you, go and speak to Celile now, and see what he wants. I must find my baby!"
When I approach the Copper Coronet looking for Celile, one of his thugs stops me and says that Celile's demands are thus: pay the full sum of 6250 gold by tomrrow or the girl dies, and don't bother going into the Copper Coronet to find Celile because he's not there. A quick check...shows he's still there, but he doesn't have any dialogue options related to what's currently going on. Some mod flag must have failed to flip properly, so after saving, murdering him, and reloading, I head back to Moiya, who just tells me to save her, so it's off to the thug in the corner of the slums. As I walk away from Moiya, Xan has an apt quote:
Xan: "This group is especially hopeless today!"The thug is immune to intimidation because plot, so I hand over the money and he says Carla is being held in the graveyard district. When I arrive there, it turns out that it's more of a necropolis than a graveyard:
It actually looks a bit cheery in the daytime.
As I'm looking around I find an open grave and hear faint cries coming from it, so I dig it up and find a man who had been buried alive:
Tirdir: He coughs. "Oh...bless you, my lady, bless you!" He coughs. "I did not know how much longer I would survive buried in there as I was!"And then he runs off to head back to his family.
Chiyo: "Who are you? And how did you end up being buried alive?"
Tirdir: "I...I was buried by the men who kidnapped me!" He coughs. "They held me for ransom from my family, and after my family had paid they knocked me out. I...I remember being carried here, and thrown into that grave next to another body! And then they buried me alive!" Coughs.
Xan: "Human cruelty knows no bounds. But at least you are alive for the time being."
Aerie: "Oh, you poor man! What sort of beasts would do something like this...to anyone? Chiyo, we've got to find the people who did this and stop them!"
Tirdir: "I am sure...I am sure I would have died if you had not arrived so soon!" He shudders "What a horrid death these evil men had in store for me! Ohhh..."
Chiyo: "These men must be stopped! What can you tell me about them?"
Tirdir: "I... don't know their names. There were three of them. The youngest carried me here. He dressed all in red...strange and bright as you please. I woke up with this in my hand...I think I must have torn it off his shirt when he threw me in the grave. Here...perhaps it will help you find him."
Chiyo: "Is there anything else you can think of?"
Tirdir: "Only that...there was someone who spoke to this man. Perhaps the gravekeeper. You should talk to him, at least...he must have seen something!"
Chiyo: "Thank you...I shall do my best to locate these men and bring them to justice."
Tirdir: "Bless you, my lady! I wish you well. I must return to my family, now, and let them know I am still alive! Th-thank you, Helm, for watching over me!"
Minsc: "Those who bury the living must be buried by our righteous fury! Woe betide those who would flout justice, steal space hamsters or teach young rodents to suck eggs!"
I talk to the man standing near the graveyard entrance, but he's not the groundskeeper, he's a priest of the Morninglord. He asks me if I'd be willing to take care of an orphan girl standing near him, thus showing that he's a horrible person unless he cast know alignment on me when I wasn't paying attention, but Chiyo turns him down with the perfectly-reasonable answer that she's a wandering adventurer and in no position to care for a child, orphan or no. He agrees, and asks that I look for someone who can take care of her, which I agree to do and then continue my search.
I find the groundskeeper in the corner--he's using the beggar model for some reason--and ask him about the Carla. He responds basically, "I don't know nuffin," but says that they stuck her in one of the smaller tombs and he doesn't remember which one. When Chiyo confronts him about the man who was buried alive, he panics:
Sethle: "You got business here, or you just like walkin' on the graves?"The groundskeeper flees for his life. Well, at least I learned what I needed to know.
Chiyo: "Busy day for you? Find yourself a little rushed?"
Sethle: "A little. Why you ask that, friend?"
Chiyo: "Thought you might have cut a few corners, like burying a man alive!"
Sethle: "I don't know what you are talkin'...I...I ain't done anything wrong! I'm just a simple gravekeeper, ain't no crime here!"
Chiyo: "Well, perhaps we should let the guards determine that. I'll go find some."
Sethle: "Oooh, this is getting complicated! I didn't do anything! Almost nothing! He would have killed me if I hadn't helped!"
Chiyo: "Tell me everything about the man that was buried alive!"
Sethle: "I don't know nothing! I just lets them bury what they want when I fill in the graves! It's a man in red what's I see! He's the one. He pays gold and I turn my head! You want him!"
Chiyo: "Where is he now? Tell me!"
Sethle: "I don't know where he is, he comes here. Look, I help you. I think I see him sometimes by Bridge District. There I help good! You're not going to tell anyone, are you? Are you?"
Chiyo: "I will not let this slide. The guards will hear of this!"
Sethle: "Nooo! Gotta run! Gotta get away!"
A few small tombs later, the first one of which has a crypt king that drops the long sword Namarra, which I immediately give to Chiyo to replace the Flail of Ages, I don't find Carla, but I do find a horrific undead monster named Besamen with a very long story to tell:
Besamen: "You there! You must help me, please! I beg of you!"A lot of clicking, and another quest on the stack.
Chiyo: "Who... what are you?"
Besamen: "My name was...is...Besamen. I was once a messenger for the Council, and I travelled the land on various missions. I had experienced almost everything, except for one...I had never experienced love. That is until the day I met Baisera. She was an ex-cleric of Sune, cast out of the sect by vicious rumours that were both untrue and unfair. She was travelling alone in the countryside not far from the city, and she was pitiful when I met her. Her clothing was torn, her face tear-streaked, but a certain grace and beauty emanated from her nonetheless. We spent the day together, walking the fields and along the streams. I had always scoffed at the idea of love at first sight, but being with Baisera changed all of that for me. I knew right then and there that my life seemed complete-- I was in love..."
Chiyo: "That's truly a beautiful story. Please go on."
Besamen: "I realized that I had fallen dreadfully behind schedule, so I begged her to return with me to the city. At first, she did not agree, as the thought of seeing the Temple of Sune even from a distance would break her heart even more. She must have realized that she loved me as well, and she finally decided to join me in my return. Things did not go well upon our arrival, however. Every cleric of Sune we passed ridiculed her, and it broke my heart to see her anguish. We hurried back to the Council Chambers, where I awaited my fate, as well. Tardiness is not looked upon well for a messenger, and the Council had just finished an especially stressful debate, so none of the members were in very high spirits. I was fired on the spot. Having nowhere to go, we wandered the city for a while, finally settling in the Slums. We lived in the streets, doing odd jobs where we could find them, but we never let depression bring us down. We had each other, and we were both very happy."
Chiyo: "I do not understand. How is it that you were able to afford such an elaborate tomb for your death?"
Besamen: "Well, it was certainly not by shining shoes and cleaning latrines, that much is certain. You see, when I ran into Baisera outside the city, she was actually on her way to Esmelteran, where much of her family still lives. It seems that her uncle entered into a partnership with an ambitious dwarf to mine a potential illithium vein far to the east. Their luck paid off, as it turned out to be one of the largest finds in all of Amn! Baisera's uncle was instantly wealthy, and, lucky for us, very giving. Somehow, he found us there in the slums. A good man, he was. He never questioned how his niece had fallen so far--he gave only from his heart. With the money he gave us, we were able to afford a small home near Waukeen's Promenade. I was able to find work with Enge, who owned a shop just above the Adventurer's Mart there in the Promenade, as he had a courier service on the side. Baisera found a job with Mira, who also had a shop on the Promenade, keeping track of her inventory. We were both very happy, and lived a life of pure love."
Chiyo: "I would say that your story had a happy ending, except that you are here now, standing before me, as a hideous undead creature. How did you die, and why are you not at peace?"
Besamen: "Ah, my end was not a pleasant one, no. It came to pass that Baisera learned that she was with child. Not long afterward, Enge informed me of my next mission, one that would be dangerous indeed. I was to deliver a message to his contact in Calimport. He had booked me passage on a ship leaving soon, and the trip would not have taken too long. Baisera begged me not to go, and we had a terrible fight just before I left our home. We were so upset that we did not kiss each other goodbye, something we had done before every trip on which I embarked. I remembered this fact when it was too late, while I was on the ship navigating through the high seas. We were attacked by pirates not far from port, and I caught an enemy arrow--right through my heart. My body was presumably returned to the city, and here I was entombed. I do not recall my funeral, as I awoke in my current state some time later. I can only guess that this is some curse brought on by something I've done, though I know not what it may be."
Chiyo: "Perhaps not...perhaps this is actually a blessing, from Sune herself."
Besamen: "Surely you jest! Why would Sune exact such punishment as to prevent my eternal rest, only to have it be a blessing?"
Chiyo: "Well, you said that Baisera had been unjustly accused by the other clerics of Sune, and that your parting with Baisera was unfinished. Perhaps Sune is giving you both a second chance to say goodbye."
Besamen: "Perhaps you are right. I have been looking at this as a curse for so long now, but, seeing my beloved just one last time would bring joy to my...er...heart. I would dearly love to give her one last kiss, but I fear that she will not want to kiss me in my current condition."
Chiyo: "Perhaps not. Where might I find Baisera? Her love for you will likely see past your current state to the man she once--still--loves."
Besamen: "You are a kind woman to do this for me. I cannot be certain how long I have been locked in this tomb, but perhaps Mira would have more information. Her shop is not far from the circus there on the Promenade. It is an open-air market, under a yellow and orange awning."
Chiyo: "I will do my best, Besamen. It would please me to see you earn your eternal peace."
Besamen: "Thank you! I hope you are able to find Baisera!"
Though the power of save-scumming before entering tombs to save time, I finally find Carla:
She could have walked out. The door was unlocked and there weren't any guards. On the other hand, I can't blame a girl who was hauled into a tomb and had her life threatened by thugs for not taking the optimal resolution method for her problems, so I send her off to her mother, look around the tomb, and then head back to Moiya.
On the way back to the slums, I get attacked by bandits who take one look at Chiyo and her companions and run like hell. Good on the game for realizing that bandits shouldn't be a threat to a party with an average level in the early teens.
Moiya is overjoyed:
Moiya: "Oh, I am so glad my Carla is safe! Thank you, my lady. I am sorry I have nothing with which I can repay you for your generous actions. You have taken such a burden off my mind. And with Celile gone, I may pray that my problems are at an end. We are a family once more. Well...almost. I must leave you now. Thank you again!"She doesn't have anything to reward me with, but did get 12,000 XP for it, though, and the satisfaction of ticking another quest off. And now, on to more!
NecRomancing
In Waukeen's Promenade, I stop by a man next to a fountain named Belmin Gergas who repeatedly hurls invectives at Chiyo, Xan, Aerie, and Jaheira for being elves:
Xan: "What do you suggest? That I jump from the Athkatlan Bridge, instead? I have an urge to throw you down there, to be honest."And he didn't even realize he was talking to a Bhaalspawn. And I mean, he's kind of right. Elves are incredibly arrogant and they do look down on everyone else. But with a party of mostly elves he doesn't listen to anything I say, and so eventually I take my leave and head over to Mira's shop.
Belmin Gergas: "See this, people of Athkatla! He shows his murderous ways! Their race should be wiped clean from the face of Faerun, seared by the holy fire!"
Xan: "I almost regret I have no fire spells available. Or do I? Regardless, Chiyo, we'd better be away."
Chiyo approaches him.
Belmin Gergas: "You! Another loathsome elf walks boldly amongst us! You dare to wrap yourself in your race's pride!!"
Chiyo: "Who are you to cast such words at me?"
Belmin Gergas: "I am Belmin Gergas, elf...my son and daughter, both dead at the hands of your evil race! I shall see your kind wiped from the face of Faerun, I will!"
Chiyo: "I feel for your loss, but I cannot support your reasoning. I shall leave you to wallow in your twisted hate, then."
Belmin Gergas: "Elven demon! Foul purveyor of evil seed! One day humanity shall recognize you for the evil you are! And then you shall die! ALL OF YOU SHALL DIE!!"
Mira: "Good business to you! I have not seen you ere today. Have I the fortune of meeting a stranger to the City of Coin?"Back to the Copper Coronet!
Chiyo: "Pardon me, madam, but I am looking for information on one of your employees."
Mira: "Well, I've only had one other employee before--sweet, young Baisera. If that's the one you seek, then I'm afraid she no longer works here."
Chiyo: "Yes, that is the one I seek. Do you know where I might find her, then?"
Mira: "More than likely, she's at the Copper Coronet. Poor dear took to visiting the place when her husband died. From what I hear, the back rooms offer plenty of opportunity for her to forget her sorrows, if you catch my drift. Such tragedy that poor girl's been through. If you see her, let her know that she will always have a job with old Mira."
Chiyo: "I will do that. I may be able to bring her peace at last. Thank you for all of your help."
Mira: "I hope you're able to find her."
In the Copper Coronet--and past Celile, who's still there because scripting is hard--I head over to the bar and talk to Lehtinan, who tells me about the side businesses he's running after a bit of persuasion. You'd think that my sterling reputation would convince him that maybe letting me into his wretched hive of scum and villainy is a bad idea, but I guess the designers didn't account for that, so I stroll up the bouncer, tell him Lehtinan said I could enter, and head into the back. I find Baisera pretty quickly behind the first secret door, which I assume are in there to save the Copper Coronet from vice raids but doesnt' do much in a party that's made up of 58.333% elves:
Guess it's drugs, then.
Baisera is surprisingly easy to convince:
Baisera: "Go away... leave me alone, I beg you. Mmmmh, my head hurts! How long have I been without the lotus? Aaah, go!"I guess I can attribute her gullibility to being in withdrawal and hoping the nice elven lady will give her some lotus if she does what she says. We'll see how she reacts to her husband as a hideous abomination, though I did warn her that was the case.
Chiyo: "You are Baisera, are you not? I bring you news of your husband. Good news, perhaps."
Baisera: "My husband?! Is this some kind of joke? My husband is dead, you fool! He was taken from me before... Before I could say goodbye..."
Chiyo: "I know this is difficult to hear, but you must believe. I have heard the story already. I have met your husband, and he is very much alive... er... undead."
Baisera: "If you are lying, may the gods strike you down. If you speak the truth, then I must be the source of this curse. My punishment will never end..."
Chiyo: "Perhaps not. Besamen told me that you were unjustly accused of whatever it was that had you removed from Sune's temple. I am proposing that this is not a curse at all, but rather a blessing."
Baisera: "A blessing? How can such an abomination of life be considered a blessing? My husband is dead, and whatever is in his crypt is but a shell of the man."
Chiyo: "Believe me, he is quite in possession of his soul. His body is decayed, that is true, but his soul lives on. I think that Sune is giving you a second chance--a chance to say goodbye, the way things should have been. Meet me in his crypt, and you will see for yourself."
Baisera: "Very well, I will do as you ask, but only because I have nothing left to lose. If you are lying, however, I will fight you to my own death."
Chiyo: "I assure you, m'lady, that I speak the truth. I will meet you there shortly."
Baisera: "Don't be long. I'm not going to stand around in the graveyard all day."
In the graveyard on the way to meet up with Besamen and Baisera, I meet the ghost of a child, who first thinks that Chiyo is his mother and then asks for his stuffed bear. It turns out that he was murdered in a home invasion, and the man who did it is staying at the Copper Coronet, so it's back there after I finish this.
In Besamen's tomb, Baisera is originally repulsed by the fact that her husband is now a rotting corpse, but his eloquent speech and Chiyo's exhortations to listen eventually win her over:
Baisera: "You were right. He is here, but he's... Oh, I can't bear to look at him!"Baisera hurries off, and we can be confident that simplistic video game morality ensures her life will now be peaceful at last.
Chiyo: "His body is not what it once was, Baisera, but his soul is still that of the man you loved."
Besamen: "Baisera, my love, it is I. It is so good to see you again."
Baisera: "Be... Besamen. I cannot believe this is real. Oh, how I've missed you so! Not a day passes that I don't think about what we said the day you left..."
Besamen: "Think not of it, my dear. We were both foolish. I should have listened to you, and stayed by your side. I regret that I will never see our child."
Baisera: "Our child... did not survive. He was stillborn. When I received news of your death, I became ill, and it likely killed our child. I withdrew into a deep depression. I sold our house, quit my job, and wandered the streets. I learned of black lotus and its effects, and I have spent what money I have left to rid myself of my memories."
Besamen: "Baisera, know this. I will always love you, no matter what. Kiss me, and perhaps we can break this curse--this blessing, and we may both be at peace."
Baisera: "And I will always love you..."
She kisses him.
Besamen: "One final kiss, my love. Be at peace."
Besamen crumbles to the floor in true death.
Baisera: "He's gone... again. May he be at peace at last."
Chiyo: "And you as well, Baisera. You must live your life; that's what Besamen would have wanted. Mira is offering your job back, and you can try to find happiness once again."
Baisera: "You are right, and I was foolish to think I could lose my problems in the mystery of the black lotus. I must work hard to earn back what I wasted on it, for now I am destitute."
Chiyo: "Perhaps I can help you get back on your feet too. Take these 500 gold pieces, but you must swear not to spend them on black lotus."
Baisera: "I swear, my lady, on the soul of Besamen. I have not taken any of the lotus for several days now anyway... I could not afford even that. But thank you, again, for putting both my and Besamen's lives at peace. My gratitude knows no bounds."
The Riddle of Steel
Back in the Copper Coronet I first head through the other secret door, which leads to a basement exit to the sewers filled with otyughs and oozes, which makes sense, and a random band of hobgoblins who are a bit out of place. In the depths of the sewer section is a room with four pipes feeding into a pool, and when I enter a voice shouts about proving my worth and says:
Four locks are cast and madeWhich is wonderfully cheery. When Chiyo asks the voice what it means, it tells us to solve the riddles and that it will speak through the "vessel" Quallo, then falls silent. Inspecting the pipes reveals that each of them has some verse scratched into it:
Four wards will hold the blade
In what order shall thou place the keys?
Four deaths await thee
Riddles. My favorite.
In order from left to right:
- They wailed and sighed / Then they died / From the grave I had my kiss / Bring me now the lover's gift
- No sacrifice will do / But the blood of a friend, true / But guilt will leave its stain / If you wish to have the blade
- Vallah is no more / But he has left a thing behind / Give me a hand / And I shall help you in return
- Smell of dog / Skin of lizard / To find the staff / Kill the wizard
South of the pipe room is Quallo and his pet carrion crawler, who doesn't have anything new for me:
Quallo: "You have come for the blade, I suppose. It is as we have always expected, my friend-" He glances to the creature beside him. "Too long in this pit, too long."I'm...not sure why I was sent to talk to him, exactly. That didn't tell me anything.
Chiyo: "What blade do you speak of, old man?"
Quallo: "The gleam in your eye! It belies your greed, your passion. I've found this blade, child! It is hidden most insidiously. A cruel jest has been played upon us all. My friend here knows this!"
Chiyo: "Where can I find this blade?"
Quallo: "The One has left clues for you. Have you not found the clues? Where the topside filth drains, there are the clues. Return to me ere you follow the One's path, for there is much that you must learn."
Chiyo: "Who is the One?"
Quallo: "You have met him already, child. Perhaps soon you shall know him well. Find the clues the One has left. There is danger in what you must undertake."
Chiyo: "I shall look for these clues and return."
Quallo: "Where the topside filth drains, there are the clues. Return to me ere you follow the One's path, for there is much that you must learn."
I head back to the room with the otyugh and the oozes, where the drain in the floor has the "interact" cursor over it. When Chiyo reaches in, she fishes a shriveled old hand out of the black water, suffering the bite of some sort of creature in the process. But it's only ten HP, and that's nothing. The hand is obviously item number three on that list. Three to go.
Out of the room and around the corner to the left, two skeletons are chained to the wall, still entwined in a lover's embrace. One of the skeletons has a golden ring on its finger, and now I have item number one. Past the skeleton is a door, and past a mustard jelly there's a set of stairs that leads up to a...mushroom garden with myconids?
What?
There's several dead adventurers and a minotaur who dies at the hands of a myconid king as I watch. When the myconids are put down, all that's left is a few pieces of gold and the axe the minotaur was carrying, and after searching for a few moments I don't find anything else, so I head back downstairs. In the northern end of the main channel of the sewer area, I find a pack of kobolds who yell that the sewers are there and warn me away. Of course, they're the solution to riddle four, since "smell of dog / skin of lizard" is pretty obviously applicable to kobolds. A fireball from Aerie kills everyone but the shaman and seriously wounds him, and after a brief battle I take the shaman's staff.
I'm about to go click the pipes, but then I reread the first riddle while writing this post and see "In what order shall thou place the keys?" so I head back to Quallo to ask him about it. Quallo says the ring is neither first nor third, that the hand's suffering "is of prime importance," and that the staff "shall seal the bargain." So that means the staff is fourth, which means the ring has to be second, the hand is first and the blood is third. The first two work, but the third one--the second pipe--does nothing, and when I go back to Quallo I don't have any dialogue options to ask about it. Fortunately, I have the internet, and when I consult it I learn that...I have to kill his carrion crawler pet. It doesn't even fight back. Adventurers are jerks.
This time the rest of the sequence goes off without a hitch, and in a flash of light I get Lilarcor the intelligent sword. I've seen a bunch of mods dedicated to this, include ones to port it to other games, but I've never found it before now. I promptly give it to Minsc, who swaps out his sword of chaos for it and, because Lilarcor gives immunity to charm spells, trades his helm of charm protection to Jaheira in exchange for her helm of glory.
On the opposite end of the sewers from where I entered is a way out that leads to the "Slavers' Stockade," so of course I buff up and go that way.
The Emancipator
When I enter, a Captain Haegan demands to know what we're doing running in with drawn weapons.
Captain Haegan: "Who in the Nine Hells are you? Why have you barged in here with drawn weapons and attacked my men? If you want to be buying some slaves from me you're going about it the wrong way."And Minsc gets his word in:
Chiyo: "Slavery is illegal, sir! Turn yourself into the authorities."
Captain Haegan: "Turn myself in to spend the next few years in a dungeon? I'm not going to rot in prison over some worthless dregs, and you won't be the one to take me in if I do! At 'em boys!"
Chiyo uses the silence ability of her new sword and Xan summons a nishruu to deal with the priest of Cyric among the crew, and a hasted Chiyo and Minsc make mincemeat (almost wrote "Minscmeat") of everyone else.
Most of the loot is of no consequence except for a cache of gems in one of the boxes around the room, but Haegan has a key that I take. I go through the northern door, which opens to reveal two trolls that immediately charge me. But now I can deal with them easily--Chiyo swaps to the flail of ages for the fire and acid damage. When they're dead, in a moment of coincidence that almost seems like it was designed, a slaver guard wanders down from upstairs like the sound of battle had summoned him to see what was going on. Unfortunately for him, he comes alone and is murdered in seconds when the whole party turns their fury on him. In the room where the trolls were I find a girl, and Chiyo gives her 100 gold and tells her to run while the getting is good.
Upstairs, past the cells where the other children were held and past a trap that killed Minsc dead in seconds before I realized it was there (reload!), I find...yuan-ti? There's two of them in the room on the right, but they're quickly dispatched. In the room on the left are two slaver wizards who demand to know why the city guard are barging in here when all their bribes are paid up:
Slaver: "By the gods! Haven't we paid off enough of the council to not have you idiot Amnish soldiers barge in here every time you feel like filling your arrest quotas?"This takes a few attempts, but eventually an insect plague from Jaheira and a chaos from Xan cast simultaneously drive the wizards mad with stinging insects and set the guards against each other, allowing me to mop them up pretty quickly. Loot includes a few potions and a cloak of protection that no one can use because of the way magic item stacking works in AD&D Second Edition, and after killing the remaining guard and doing one last sweep of the stockade, I head back out through the sewers to the sunlight.
Xan: "An interesting insight into the Amnish justice system, I am sure. But I fear - no, rather, I am happy to announce - that we are not the soldiers of Amn."
Slaver: "Hold! You're not soldiers of Amn...this changes things. Destroy these fools, men! Captain Haegan shall give a pearl to the one who makes the first kill!"
Maybe next time I'll actually get to Mae'Var's compound!
Game time elapsed: 31 days, 1 hours.
Imoen rescue fund: 21,772/?????????
I was not expecting to get sucked into another sidequest whirlpool when I brought up the world map and clicked on the docks. This is why I ended up quitting Baldur's Gate II both previous times I tried to play through it, and one of the reasons that my playthrough of Morrowind took something like 500 hours over six years of real time and only ended when I finally decided that enough was enough and stopped poking into people's business. Every time I try to do something, I end up with new quests, and then I get distracted and do those. This whole blog post happened on the way to do a quest that I never even got to because there was too much other stuff to do on the way. Maybe when I go back to the docks this time, someone else will meet me and demand a favor and then Part XII will be Sidequests II: The Revengeance.
I am glad I found Lilarcor, though. That's a piece of Baldur's Gate lore that I knew the existence of but had never experienced. A lot of people have a ton of affection for it, or at least enough to mod it into everything, but right now it's just a sword to me. A +3 sword that makes Minsc immune to charm and confusion spells, which is pretty good since even after I slapped the helm of charm immunity on him he's forced a reload at least once due to getting confused and chopping Aerie in half with a single blow. Minsc is great, but mental fortitude is not his strong suit.
Next: Part XII: This Mae'Be a Bad Idea.
