Hello everybody!
As previously posted here:
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/38943/draw-upon-forums-might#latestthis will be my very first attempt at a no-reload run. I’m not used to it. I really like roleplaying characters, which kind of makes me a compulsive re-loader (many a time my right index finger lead me to restart a huge fight so that the right pc or npc would get the killing blow)…
Obviously, I have no idea how far I will be able to take this story. I’m no Alaundo… so I need to get a few things out of my chest:
1. props to anyone posting
2. special thanks to
@Blackraven and
@semiticgod , yours were the threads that inspired me to do this
3. special thanks to
@CrevsDaak , for your kindness and support
4. here. we. go.
THE GIRL IN A CELL
Imoen awoke at the scream. She moved slowly, lifting her upper body so that the pain in her back would subside. It was becoming much like a morning ritual lately but she couldn’t say how it had been since she was stuck in that awful place, not even if her life depended on it. HE took even that from her.
She let her fingers feel the scar on her left eye – another of HIS gifts –, and sighed. There was no mirror, but she knew it was an ugly thing. She told herself if she would ever get out, she will not care. Khalid showed that to her. A lesson, as HE would have it.
The room… trembled. There was no other way of describing it. Was it an earthquake? All the places she had seen so far looked carved in the stone from the inside out: no fresh air, no sun light, no nothing. How would a compound like that react to the earth shaking? Another one came, and she had to grab the bars of her cell from to avoid being thrown from her bedroll. It was so strong, the hinges of the door broke free and 100 pounds of iron clanged on the wall in front of the cell, then to the still trembling floor.
Imoen stood there for a moment, frozen. Was it a trick? The damn thing had no lock, he always used a custom spell… but she new it didn’t matter: she had to flee from that place. And she ran. All the times he moved her between labs and rooms actually helped: she knew witch way to go and get to the others. Together they had the chance of escaping. She really hoped that they were fine.
One last turn, and a golem was there! It was inactive, so she grabbed the keys on the table and opened the door. Lan was unconscious, but he was moving. Jaheira and Minsc were standing in different cells on a farther wall. Still running, she reached his cell and tried the first key she had just found on the lock without success. The second proved a fit, and she grabbed her old friend by the collar, shaking him as hard as she could manage:
He groaned, and looked dazed, but he stood up nonetheless. And he spoke her name, so he did recognize her at the very least. She helped him out of the cell, but a just a few moments later he was steady.
, he said.
, she replied after explaining how she got there.
Imoen just nodded. She got back a few moments later, just in time to see Minsc bend the cell’s bars, screaming. Jaheira was free already, and the beautiful half-elf druid had somehow managed to look amused by the scene. The Rashameer man got quiet as soon as he realized that he had his freedom, and exchanged a few words with Lan while playing with his pet hamster, so she rushed forward and shared what little of use she had found: leather armor for the warriors, plus a wooden quarterstaff for Jaheira and a greatsword for Minsc. Three potion of healing were fastened to their belts, too. While they were busy strapping on their gear she realized the dagger she retrieved from a hidden box was enchanted. She was about to ask Lan if he had any spell memorized, trying to decide if that item was better placed in his hands than hers, but the warlock had already summoned his peculiar silver knife and was weaving a spell. As soon as he was finished, watching him would be like trying to follow the movements of boiling shadows: Imoen hated that.
-Let’s go-, he whispered .
-The one littered with dead thieves?-, the druid groaned.
-Precisely-, and he smiled. How would someone smile in this predicament Imoen couldn’t fathom but, truth be told, her old friend never had a proper sense of humor.
Unfortunately, they run into a thick door just after a minor skirmish with a memphit so she and the ranger doubled back and found Jaheira bashing another of those annoying creatures while Lan was busy handling what looked like a control panel related to a big light at the center. As soon as the young man was done, the buzzing sound that had filled the room stopped.
She glimpsed through an opening on the opposite side and saw a crystal cluster at the center of the next locale, with what looked like tiny pools spaced on the outer walls. Lan used his hands to signal them – a military language he had learned from Hull back in Candlekeep – and they followed him in tight formation.
They approached the crystal from the right, not expecting to be greeted by a genie that was apparently waiting for them just out of sight. Aataqah, that’s how he introduced himself, mocked Lan and got a threat in response. Apparently that amused him, and he went on with his ramblings making out some kind of riddle for Lan to solve. It was meant as a tease, for no ‘good’ option could be chosen, and it was so plain to see that even Minsc pointed it out to the genie.
-I will press the button-, was Lan’s answer. The only one he could live (or die) with, Imoen thought.
Then she felt a healing spell going through her, fixing a few cuts and scrapes, while the genie summoned an ogre magi to fight them! Was all this a fever-induced dream? It had to be a fever-induced dream…
Jaheira and Minsc charged, probably trying to interrupt the creature from casting any spell, but they had a distance to cover and that same purpose was covered by Lan’s magic missile. Without a magical protection, their target fell easily. Aataqah then reappeared, told them to find Reliev if they hoped to escape the dungeon. Who or what Reliev was, he did not say, but he did provide them with a few containers and a holding bag.
Lan then explored another corridor, reporting back moments later wiping goblin blood from his dagger and holding a couple of good scrolls under his arm: -Another jammed door-, he said.
They all moved on together, getting the drop on a few more goblins – from which Imoen took a shortbow and a few arrows to book, so she immediately stuck the enchanted dagger in her belt and equipped the ranged weapon instead.
They met two more groups of goblins for some small loot and, thankfully, more arrows but ignored up to four doors along the way since Lan wanted to avoid surprises as much as possible. In the end, there was no other way but to open one, though: that led them to a library, not only filled with books but with goblins and memphits as well. These creatures posed no threat, but Imoen was getting worried by their sheer number.
While looking through the shelves, Lan asked Minsc to scout ahead: the big man was surprisingly stealthy when he wanted to be. In the meantime, they collected some potions, jewels and scrolls lying around.
-Grey dwarves, no friends of Boo. Two right turns-, was all the Rashameer said once back. His pet hamster made a timely weird noise, as if agreeing.
They knew it was not going to be a friendly meeting, so Lan came up with a plan of attack. The two of them would go in invisible, to get a better line to their targets: as soon as their offensive spell were cast, Jaheira and Minsc would charge the wounded. The whole thing went very smoothly, mostly because their leader was killed right of the bat and Imoen’s very own lightning bolt also happened to fry what looked like the group’s mage at the same time. Lan’s skill at hurling tiny fire meteors was pretty incisive as well.
After snatching anything of use or value in the room (even an enchanted chain mail), they went on along another corridor. This one had another blocked door, with a strange lock that seemed to fit a statuette of all things, and a trap layered under the floor too. There was another room beyond, this time a machine was humming at the center and a cambion stood still in front of them, seemingly trapped into an energy field.
They’d encountered such a creature only once before, back at Durlag’s Tower. And it was not a pleasant memory. Not to mention, the demon was already hostile. Before anyone could access the situation, Minsc rushed to the machine – how the ranger figured out it was keeping the energy field active Imoen had no idea – and turned a big, red lever. -Swords, not words!-, he bellowed.
Then everything happened all at once, as she tried to slow down the metal giant with her arrows: Minsc engaged it, and so did Jaheira, while Lan launched a magic missile spell. Their opponent suffered minor blows, but managed to wound Jaheira pretty badly and she dropped her quarterstaff. Lan ran forward to gave Jaheira room for retreating. The druid staggered, but she was too stubborn to give in and throw a dart at their foe instead of casting a healing spell on herself, hitting it square in the eye. Still, she was bleeding profusely and needed Lan’s help to stand before drinking a potion.
Imoen breathe deeply, then made a count of the arrows in her quiver while Minsc went through the corpse.
The ranger grasped something on the ground and brought it over to Lan, raising it so close to his face that the warlock almost got hit. -Yours-, he said.
Her friend’s blue eyes widened with surprise, for it was Sarevok’s greatsword! How could that be? Yet there was no mistaking the hilt, nor the blade itself: -Keep it, you big ape. And let’s go back to the doors we left behind-.
Luckily, there were no surprises along the way.
The first door revealed three or so huge glass jars. As the party approached one, something within liquid flickered, and spoke: -Who be thee, servants of the master?-. Imoen couldn’t tell what it was. It might have been some kind of humanoid, but its form was stretched to the point of being more akin to a specter…
It turned out to be Reliev, a former servant of their captor turned failed experiment by HIS attempt at defying death. Lan actually got the information they needed to escape by promising to put an end to its life.
The second door held two clay golems, but they were inactive. They did not respond to the stone-key they’d just retrieved, so Lan suggested to take them out, just in case.
Another door opened into a large laboratory, filled with more jars. The others had to fight off a couple of memphits by themselves, because Imoen knew this room: it was here HE first spoke of potential, here where HE showed her all those horrors and… no. Best not think of that. She glanced at Jaheira. Not yet.
Finally, they found what they were looking for. The last golem LITERALLY swallowed the stone-key and hasted itself out of the room. The party rushed after it, passing the crystals’ room and then through the corridor Lan had previously checked. Still on the chase, they heard the door slamming open!
They had to break their run though, because on the other side stood a creature they’d never seen before.
Imoen saw a big mough, like the one she’d seen in a picture describing beholders. Only, this thing had no eyes: just a big fleshy body with a wide tail and a pair of long tentacle-like limbs. Somehow perceiving them, it started slowly moving toward the door, but couldn’t pass it, so it frantically lashed out with those tentacles.
Even Jaheira couldn’t tell how to proceed, so Imoen knocked an arrow and fired. It was going to hit but a tentacle deflected it. Two more arrows faired no different, so Lan started casting magic missiles at the creature: that tactic worked fine. The party looted some chests in the room, founding a few good potions and scrolls along with an enchanted helm that Minsc promptly donned. There were three doors: one led back to the library, another to the cells (Jaheira actually managed to break down the golem there with an enchanted quarterstaff she had carried since the laboratory) and the last to one more corridor – and more goblins too.
The next room looked like HIS personal quarters, even if they WERE full of traps and goblins.
The party got some good loot too, most notably a key and an air servant statuette that might fit in the strange locked door that they met before facing the cambion. They also recovered an item from their very own gear: the Helm of Balduran. On either side of the room were a garden and a portal, but the key didn’t match.
The garden turned out to be an actual woodland populated by three driads. The charming creatures addressed Lan, speaking all at once: they explained they were captives of HIS. And so was that Imoen learned his name, Irenicus. Lan then agreed to return some acorns to another driad at someplace called Windspear Hills: the act will free the driads from his grasp.
To the farther side of the woodland from Irenicus’s chamber, they also found another room. This place was beautiful, with a woman’s touch for sure, but it was also cold: more like a fading memory of a forgotten obsession than anything else.
Imoen didn’t even realize she was speaking all this out loud, nor that an alarm had sounded throughout the compound as soon as she stepped in the doorway, until Lan put an hand on her shoulder, turn her around and hugged her: -He cannot hurt you, you are among friends-, he whispered to her ear. She recovered her composure, discovered some traps lying around and grabbed more items from drawers, chests and shelves.
They headed back to retrieve the acorns from the grey dwarves they didn’t bother to pick up before, finding another key along the way (it was dirty, apparently it had been dropped by the tentacle-swinging creature), and Lan wanted to try out the air servant figurine on the one door they had not open yet.
It worked, but going through that opening transported them to what appeared to be an ‘isle’ on the plane of air. They explored it, fighting off some memphits, yet there was nowhere to go from there.
On the farther place from the entrance, there was a stool with a bottle hovering upon it. Lan inspected it, and once touched, it summoned another genie (Imoen wasn’t startled from anything anymore by that point). This particular genie had bad manners, yet offered them a deal in exchange from his freedom. So they went back and forth from the woodland, explaining their intent to the driads and getting a flask and thanks in return. The genie proved to be trustworthy, for it gave them Imoen’s very own Grave Binder dagger.
Looking everyone in the eye, Lan explained the only thing to do was getting back to the portal and try out one of the three keys they had left…
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