The Troupe have descended to the lowest level of the Cloakwood Mines and find themselves face-to-face with Davaeorn’s entourage. Their assault doesn’t go well, and they are forced to retreat for a short while. But now reinforcements are arriving through the upper levels and there is no escape.
1 Eleint 1368
Reinforcements are finally arriving in the mine. We have taken too long. As Branwen calls Tempus to my aid, the guards attack Kieria. Kivan rushes past the battle horror I am facing to help Kieria defend herself.
I continue my barrage of Magic Missiles, striking the hollow armour of the battle horror.
One of the guard forces themself into the bedroom, avoiding Kivan’s Dragonspear. Kieria slashes open a guard’s armour with her Varscona.
Dynaheir utters a command word, and her Wand of Fear inspires panic in all but one of the guard.
With the guard fleeing, I focus my energy into the Weave, blasting the battle horror with more Missiles. I can start to see cracks forming in its armour.
Before I can prepare another spell, the horror thrusts its fiery sword into my shoulder. I feel the flames lick my face as my left arm burns. I pray to Corellon that he heal me so I can continue in the fight.
Dynaheir, now out of Magic Missiles, evokes an Aquamarine Orb and sends it toward the battle horror. Kivan leaves Kieria to fight the only non-panicking guard, and turns his Dragonspear on the hollow armoured creature.
Corellon grants my blessing and I feel my wounds closing up again. It’s time to finish this battle horror.
Kivan thrusts his spear right through the horror’s helmet, and its armour collapses into a heap beneath it. The fire on its sword goes out. The beast is done.
With the rest of the guard now fleeing, I rush out of the bedroom and slam Bashrik’s Hammer into the skull of the final guard. The room is clear once again.
Kieria thanks me for the save, and tells me her scouting mission gave her some ideas on how to be more stealthy.
Gameplay Note
She gets one additional Weapon Proficiency which I put into Long Sword. She also gets 15 Skill Points which I use to increase her Pick Pockets to 61. She also gets 1 more Hit Point.
There will be more reinforcements coming. We decide to trap the corridor before we look for Davaeorn. I prepare to cover the area in a Web, while Kieria and Aura lay some traps.
While we do so, Branwen and Kivan talk.
Branwen: So.
Kivan: Your eloquence is undeniably attractive, Branwen, but might I remind you that we are on the march? Please, say what you have to say, so we can be moving again.
Branwen: Would you… care for a ration? The jerky is… quite good.
Kivan: Thank you, Branwen. I’ve no need for food at the moment.
Branwen: Very well, more for me.
She starts gulping down various edibles noisily. Kivan smiles.
Kivan: It always fascinates me how such simple things give humans so much pleasure.
Branwen: Oh, I beg your pardon, Kivan. Do elvish stomachs not occasionally grumble for sustenance?
She tosses a strip of dried meat at him good-naturedly.
Branwen: Eat, ranger. You need your strength for brooding.
Kivan returns the strip.
Kivan: I am not starving, Branwen. Elves do not require much to sustain themselves.
He shrugs.
Kivan: Amin n’rangwa edanea… I do not understand those humans.
No sooner than we finish laying the traps, more reinforcements arrive. The others retreat back to the bedroom, while I use my Wand of Domination to turn the one of the guard against their own.
As webs curl up around them and pull them to the ground, I charm a second guard.
The newly charmed guard is attacked by the first, breaking my enchantment. I attempt to retreat, but get caught in my own Web.
I pull myself back and free myself from the sticky strands of silk. There is one guard trying to move toward me, so I Dominate him with my wand as well.
They turn on each other and kill one of their own.
Just as I am thinking we are thinning out their numbers, yet more reinforcements arrive. Thankfully they are slowed by my Web, unable to get close. I have plenty of charge in this Wand, so I keep charming them and forcing them to fight each other.
I feel silken strands fall off me and disappear, then the webs detach themselves and slink back into the ground. Now free, a Blacktalon sets his bow on me and strikes me square in the chest.
I retreat back to the bedroom and use what blessings I have left to heal myself. As I listen to the guard fight eachother I prepare a Glyph of Warding in the guard chamber for them.
Branwen calls upon Tempus to heal me further as the guard enter the room and trigger my Glyph.
There are a lot of guardsmen and I want to kill them quickly, so I evoke a Fireball. The air fills with the smell of burnt flesh and leather as the Weave sets fire to the room.
They aren’t quite dead yet, so I send a second Fireball to finish them off. My aim isn’t true, and I catch myself in the flames.
Only a couple more guardsmen remain alive, but they are severely burnt with blackened flesh hanging from charred bones. Killing them is a mercy.
The guard are dead, but more reinforcements are bound to arrive soon. Davaeorn is also lying in wait, ready for our assault. We need a plan of attack, and we need one soon.
I tell the others I will go in first, and prepare myself with Potions of Healing, Magic Resistance and Speed. Hopefully I’ll be able to resist Davaeorn’s magic long enough to do some damage before he kills me.
Before I make my move, more reinforcements arrive. As we fight them off another idea strikes me. I raise my Wand of Domination.
We will have Davaeorn’s own guard assault him first. Better they die fighting for us than we do.
The charmed Blacktalon marches down the corridor and raises his bow. In response Davaeorn releases a Web and a Cloud of noxious gas. The guard is caught in the silken weave as he is forced to breathe poison.
Davaeorn’s other guardsmen kill our unwilling ally. I hear Davaeorn laugh echo through the corridor as he falls. No matter, I simply charm the another guard.
The guard dies when an arrow strikes him. I see the Blacktalon archer looking at me, caught in a web, breathing in the poisonous gases. I see fear in his eyes. He knows what is about to happen to him as I speak the command word once more.
Now charmed, the guard escapes the Web and marches into Davaeorn’s chamber. I hear him scream as he dies, and Davaeorn’s spells fade. The way to the mine’s master is clear now.
I slowly approach and see the remainder of Davaeorn’s guard. I have my Wand at the ready.
Before I can say anything, Davaeorn appears behind me, blocking the way out of the mine. This mage can teleport!
I change my aim and attempt to charm the wizard, while Kivan thrusts at him with his Dragonspear. Before either spell or weapon can connect, Davaeorn teleports away again.
I distract the rest of his guard with another Charm, letting them fight while we wait for the mage’s next move.
I hear a voice coming from the corridors ahead screaming, “Tremble before the might of my sorcery!” and Davaeorn appears before us once more. This time his skin appears as stone, more protection against our weapons.
The mad mage laughs at us as our weapons bounce off his skin. Another of his guard is killed, but he doesn’t seem to notice or care.
The remaining guard attack as Dynaheir and Davaeorn engage in a magical duel.
I use another Charm to distract the guardsmen once again, while Dynaheir strikes Davaeorn with Melf’s Fiery Missiles. Blood starts to pour through his robes and his skin starts to crack and peel.
Gameplay Note
This wand is stupid powerful. It started with 100 charges as well. This is going to make a lot of battles easy for a while.
He has no defense against magic! We know how to kill him now. Kieria manages to Silence the mage, taking away his most powerful weapon.
Dynaheir hits him with more Fiery Missiles and I quickly follow with some Magic Missiles. The mage desperately tries to defend himself with his fists.
His skin is not stone anymore. He has no protection. He is no longer laughing. The hands of an untrained fighter cannot block the Dragonspear as Kivan forces it through his belly. The mage is dead.
I turn to follow the remaining guard and take care of them, but upon seeing their master dead they flee from the fight. I go back and see Kivan staring down at Davaeorn’s bloodied corpse. This isn’t vengeance, but it is one step closer. I reassure him we will find Tazok, and we will find my father’s killer as well. He nods, and crouches down to search his corpse.
He find four letters on the body. The first is a letter from Rieltar, a name we have come across before.
So they have a base of operations in Baldur’s Gate. I’m starting to feel like I know our next destination. The next letter is also from Rieltar, and it mentions both Tazok and Sarevok. These names will lead us to my father’s killer.
The Seven Suns. Another organisation to investigate when we head to the city. The third letter talks about the Sword Coast Conspiracy.
Though we recognise the Blacktalons for who they are, shifting the blame to the Zhentarim seems to have been an effective strategy.
The final letter is also from Rieltar, and mentions a name I have heard before.
So it is Rieltar who has been sending these assassins after me. Could he be the one responsible for the death of my father?
Kivan and I shuffle through the letters for some time, reading them over and over. Branwen places her hand on a letter as I am reading it. She’s right, we have more pressing things to attend to.
He also has a small collection of spell scrolls, among them a Scroll of Grease. Dynaheir attempts to copy the spell, but fails to do so.
There is a Scroll of Shield, a spell that will protect the caster from Magic Missiles. Had Davaeorn used this scroll he may have lived a little longer. I copy this scroll to my spell book.
A Scroll of Protection from Evil gets copied into Dynaheir’s spellbook.
Unfortunately I fail to copy his Scroll of Protection from Petrification.
I do, however, manage to learn how to Summon Weasels from one of his scrolls. They should provide a good distraction in any fight.
His Scroll of Summon Astral Weasel is too powerful for all of us right now, so I store this one in my Scroll Case.
Davaeorn’s Mage Robe seems powerful, and Aura can sense the magic coming from it. But neither of us recognise what kind of Robe it is.
He also wears a magical Ring, but its function also escapes us.
His other ring is unenchanted, but it looks very valuable.
He carries a Potion of Invulnerability. It might have given him a chance against Kivan’s Dragonspear, but not much.
His only weapon was a small collection of darts. He was relying on his magic too much, so when Kieria took that away from him, he was powerless.
We look around at the many corpses surrounding us. Lots of equipment that could fetch some coin when we get back to civilisation.
I open my Bag of Holding.
