On their way back to the Cloakwood, the Troupe passes through Beregost, where they visit an old friend: Breagar, the cantankerous dwarf who once frequented Candlekeep. But what begins as a reunion ends in tragedy. Breagar is gravely injured, and though the Troupe rushes to find aid… they may already be too late.
18 Eleasias 1368
Breagar lays next to his forge in a pool of blood. Revianel has closed his wound, yet he remains unmoving. Suddenly, he coughs and his eyes open wide with panic. He pulls himself up and almost pushes Revianel over as he darts to the other side of the smithy.
Breagar: By all Mordinsamman, what was… what happened?
Revianel: Easy, my friend. You had an accident.
Breagar glances down, his confusion turning to horror.
Breagar: An accident? Pah, that is absolutely impossible, Breagar doesn’t have… Buzzurk!
He suddenly notices he is missing a hand. His voice starts to rise.
Breagar: You! Cleric! What by all the demons in the abyss have you done with my hand?
Revianel: I have…
Breagar: You took my hand! No! You can’t do this! By Clangeddin’s axe, I will cleave you in two for this!
Revianel: No! I… Help! Calm down!
Breagar: I don’t want to calm down! I want to teach you some manners with my axe!
Taerom: Breagar, you are mad!
Breagar: You shut up, goblin scum!
Aegon: You forgot about me, Breagar. Do you want to insult me as well?
Breagar: Aegon! Buzzurk, you won’t stop me from administering justice here!
Aegon: You call this justice? Cracking open the skull of the person who just saved you?
Breagar: Saved me? Buzzurk! She took my damn hand! You were there when she…
Breagar’s voice falters. His eyes dart between me and the cleric. The rage drains from his face.
Breagar: I…
Buzzurk. I don’t remember.
Breagar swallows hard.
Breagar: I was carving the runes, and then I don’t know.
Tell me, Aegon, it is true? Did that woman save me?
Aegon: Yes, it is true.
Breagar: Cleric, if that’s all true, then I humbly ask for apology. I was blinded by rage when I spoke before.
Revianel: I forgive you. You have suffered a horrible shock.
Breagar: I thank you. If there ever is something I can do in return, please tell me.
Taerom, I have brought shame on your smithy. You too I ask for forgiveness.
Taerom: Nothing to apologise for, Breagar. You had an accident.
Breagar: Still it is your anvil that will forever be stained by my shame.
And Aegon, I owe you my life just as much as I owe it to the cleric Revianel. I want to ask you for forgiveness.
Aegon: Granted, Breagar.
Breagar: I thank you.
He stares emptily for a moment and continues to speak more calmly.
Breagar: Aegon, I have a request. You have saved my life and I now want to place my axe at your disposal. I will join you in the search for your father’s murderer, as long as it takes.
Aegon: I thank you, Breagar. I am glad, that you want to journey with me.
Breagar: Myravar Mergulmtor, Aegon. A loyal axe for the saviour of the soul. I will stand by your side, as long as you walk the path of righteousness, as long as you have use of my service or as long as the search for your father’s murderer shall take. Thus swears Breagar, son of Baragar of Clan Bardormar. May the Mordinsamman be my witness.
There’s weight in his words. Not just formality, but conviction. For all his bluster and brokenness, Breagar means what he says. I nod, accepting the oath, and the burden it carries.
Farewell, Taerom. And you, cleric.
Revianal: I will retreat as well. May the gods watch over your paths.
Taerom: If you don’t mind I would like to walk back with you, Revianel.
Revianel: I don’t mind at all, honourable smith. I thank you.
Taerom: And you should also go away, Aegon. When you return, things will hopefully be back to normal.
Breagar: Lead the way, Aegon.
Gameplay Note
There was a bug here where the game would hang as soon as Revianel finishes healing Breagar. Breagar would instantly die and then the game would lock completely. I would have to use the task manager to close the game. I figured out that the game was looking for Breagar to start some dialogue, but since he was dead it was causing an infinite loop. This is likely why Biff the Understudy exists in the base game.
Thankfully, I figured out a fix. I enabled the console so that I could give commands in game. As soon as I entered the smithy again, I would pause the game and bring up the console. I then spawned in a second Breagar using the command:CLUAConsole:CreateCreature("ACBRE")
The dialogue then proceeded as it did above, but I couldn’t talk to him afterwards. So I used CTRL + Q to force him to join the party. I played around with him for a bit, talking to him, kicking him from the party and recruiting him again and he seems to be working now.
The last thing I did was to use EE Keeper to add his severed hand. ACHAND1 is the shield item to represent his arm stump, and ACHAND1A is the ring item that prevents him from wearing two rings.
Breagar’s arm has partially healed thanks to Revianel’s intervention, though he is still missing a hand. Only a stump remains where his left hand would have been.
He rubs the stump where his hand once was, staring into the empty space as if trying to will it back into existence.
With his only remaining hand, he clings to that precious book I once fetched for him in Candlekeep. It wasn’t so long ago I was just doing chores for this dwarf. Now he’s joined me, fighting at my side. Strange how quickly things change: from errand boy to leader in but a few months.
I suggest that he re-equips himself for the coming journey. We have a lot of new equipment in our Bag of Holding, including some axes. He takes a look and pulls out some enchanted full plate to protect himself.
He also reaches for the Minotaur Axe, a weapon used by minotaurs. It’s a larger weapon, but Breagar can still wield it in one hand.
Gameplay Note
I noticed that Breagar can technically still use two-handed weapons here. Usually I’d take advantage of little quirks like this due to modding, such as wizards being able to use helmets, but in this case I’m going to stick with the roleplaying side and only equip one-handed weapons on Breagar.
He also pulls out a couple of dozen throwing axes so he can attack at range if the need arises.
White decides to stay in Beregost for a while. He says he will wait for us to pass through again, but not for too long. We wish him luck on his own and make our way back to the streets of Beregost.
As we walk through the night Breagar stops for a moment. He stares into the dark for a minute. I wave my hands in front of his face and he turns his head away before talking.
Breagar: I have failed. Not only have I lost my hand and my masterpiece… I managed to ruin the ancient book about smithing.
He looks down, as if expecting the book to accuse him. I hadn’t noticed it until now, but the book has been blackened and charred by the lightning that struck him during the accident.
Breagar: All is lost.
Allow me one question, Aegon. Why did you take me with you?
Aegon: I had a feeling you might turn out to be quite useful.
Breagar: Yeah, I’m sure I will be so very useful. A dwarf who can’t use an anvil without tearing off his own arm. I envy your optimistic outlook, Aegon.
Still… I will give my best, that I promise you. You won’t regret travelling with Breagar of Clan Bardormar.
I believe him. Or, at least, I want to. I thank him and we continue down the streets. It isn’t long before he stops again. The rest of us stop and I turn to face him again. He looks at me with broken eyes.
Breagar: Why are you doing all of this, Aegon?
Aegon: What else should I be doing?
Breagar: Find someone to marry, get a few children, find work in an honourable profession, and that’s it.
Aren’t there enough lost souls out there already? Wandering the realms looking for gold, their consciences or whatever?
Aegon: Bad things happen every day. Someone has to stand for the rights of the weak!
Breagar scoffs.
Breagar: And it has to be you?
No reputable dwarf would go adventuring by choice. Let me tell you this, Aegon. In a dwarven clan you don’t earn respect by violence but by craftsmanship!
Aegon: You think I chose this life? Assassins are after me!
Breagar: Hrmph. Well, maybe you do have good reasons, Aegon. I apologise, if I have offended you.
Settling down. Marrying. A profession. It all sounds so… unattainable. And yet, I don’t seem to care about that. Father’s killer is my only goal.
Then again… what do I do after I have found him? After he is dead? What then?
19 Eleasias 1368
We make our way out of Beregost, along the Coast Way towards the Friendly Arm. That will be our last stop before the Cloakwood. We travel for a few hours, encountering no bandits. Only gibberlings block our way.
One of the gibberlings manages to push past me and bites Vienxay. She lets out a cry for help as blood flows down her robe.
Will draws his flail to help hold them back as Vienxay retreats. The gibberlings manage to overwhelm him and he is injured as well.
The gibberlings attacking him are slain and he reaches for a Potion of Healing so he can remain in the fight. Only two gibberlings remain, and they are both failing to land blows on me.
I crush one with Bashrik’s Hammer, then I see Will’s Dagger fly past me and go straight through the other gibberling. As it returns to Will’s hand it goes through the gibberling again.
That wasn’t a well-played fight. Apart from Helga, we’re a new Troupe, still learning how to fight together. I heal Vienxay and talk tactics with the others: They have to let me go ahead so I can hold back anything that could hurt them if they get close.
It isn’t long before we’re given another opportunity to try out our new tactics. More gibberlings wait on the path, these ones driven rabid by disease.
This fight is short, and no one of us is hurt. The new Troupe could yet be a force to reckon with.
Further up the path we find the rotting corpse of an ogre slain many tendays ago. Someone should clean up these roads. Perhaps many are still afraid of bandit attacks. Road maintenance isn’t a priority for them.
Just beyond the ogre we spot a small party of people travelling the other way. One of them starts to glow. They are summoning from the Weave. They are preparing to attack!
More assassins! Vienxay and I use our Wands to launch Fireballs, consuming two of the assassins into fires comparable to the abyss. One mage remains, and he is severely injured.
Breagar summons a Spiritual Hammer, and Helga attempts to Silence the mage.
Meanwhile Vienxay just looses an arrow and finishes the assassin off. Sometimes the simplest tactics are all you need.
I realise I have been poisoned, so I use Corellon’s blessings to purge myself of its effects.
Vienxay says she feels more confident fighting with us after these encounters.
Gameplay Note
She gets one additional Level 1 Spell, her Backstab Multiplier increases by 1, and she gets 2 additional Hit Points. She also gets 2 more points of Lore.
While we rest up after the fight, Imoen decides this is the time to give her condolences to Breagar.
Imoen: Breagar, I just wanted to say, I’m sorry. About what happened to you.
Breagar: I see.
Imoen: Is… is that all?
Breagar: What else do you want me to say?
Imoen: Normally, people are happy when you say nice things to them.
Breagar: And you want me to be happy? Because my life might be ruined, but now I have your sympathy?
Imoen: Well… yes. A little bit, at least.
Breagar: Hurray. Now leave me alone.
Imoen sighs but says no more. Breagar has always been angry. But this is different. Deeper. Sharper. A wound that might never heal.
I don’t know if I can help him find peace. Perhaps he must find peace on his own. For now, all we can do is keep moving forward.
