Kagain?Originally posted by sigurd:
Jay! The evil witch died! Now dump that khalid guy, and get Edwin and the mighty dwarf in Beregost, whatever his name was.
What a wuss...
Journal of Gabriel, Child of Bhaal
WOW first i looked at it and didn't read it because i thought i was to long 
but this is really cool!!!
Bravo !!
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TheDude Notorious Founder of The Shadow Guild,
Co-Founder of The Shadow Mages
-Sorcery and Shadow together as one, the arcane and the dark united. Through our knowledge and skill none can stand against us. We are as one, infallible and invincible. The Shadow Mages.-
-if i survive death, i probable survive everything-
but this is really cool!!!
Bravo !!
---------------------------------------------
TheDude Notorious Founder of The Shadow Guild,
Co-Founder of The Shadow Mages
-Sorcery and Shadow together as one, the arcane and the dark united. Through our knowledge and skill none can stand against us. We are as one, infallible and invincible. The Shadow Mages.-
-if i survive death, i probable survive everything-
“Too many things to do in too little time…
First of all I found out who the strange assassin was. He claimed not to be an assassin at all. He had come here looking for the bandit leader, a half-orc named Tazok. Apparently, he had something to settle with him. Having not the time to interrogate the man any further, and with the knowledge that he had actually saved our lives, I released him from the roots that disabled his movement, and let him go.
Ajantis had checked the ruins’ upper floor, and had found a bunch of documents. Khalid was mortally injured though, and we just set off to the road, on our way back to the Friendly Arm, as that was where the only temple was that we knew of. We would have to hurry if we wished that the half-elf would survive. Minsc, knowing he would much better help out rather than burying his ward Dynaheir, carried Khalid all the way back to the road.
Fortune was with us. A caravan passed us a little while later, on their way to the town of Beregost. They would stop this night at the Friendly Arm Inn, so Ajantis asked them if we could travel with them.
Khalid was immediately taken care off with all sorts of healing the traders could provide.
Before we set off though, Jaheira asked of me not to come with them. She would be able to take care off this on her own, and she asked me to do her a favour and continue to investigate the iron crisis. This was indeed a better choice, as Ajantis was rather hurried in his task, and I still had to find Gorion’s murderer. We said farewell to the couple and the caravan left, off to the Friendly Arm.
Minsc, having no further cause in life, said that he would like to travel with me and Ajantis, to hunt down the bandits that plagued the region. I was happy with his decision, and did not object.
We then took our first look at the documents we had found in the bandit fortress, suspecting there were clues in there in where to search for the rest of the organization.
No luck whatsoever. These criminals had been precautious… However, we did find some information that sent a cold shiver through my spine…”
First of all I found out who the strange assassin was. He claimed not to be an assassin at all. He had come here looking for the bandit leader, a half-orc named Tazok. Apparently, he had something to settle with him. Having not the time to interrogate the man any further, and with the knowledge that he had actually saved our lives, I released him from the roots that disabled his movement, and let him go.
Ajantis had checked the ruins’ upper floor, and had found a bunch of documents. Khalid was mortally injured though, and we just set off to the road, on our way back to the Friendly Arm, as that was where the only temple was that we knew of. We would have to hurry if we wished that the half-elf would survive. Minsc, knowing he would much better help out rather than burying his ward Dynaheir, carried Khalid all the way back to the road.
Fortune was with us. A caravan passed us a little while later, on their way to the town of Beregost. They would stop this night at the Friendly Arm Inn, so Ajantis asked them if we could travel with them.
Khalid was immediately taken care off with all sorts of healing the traders could provide.
Before we set off though, Jaheira asked of me not to come with them. She would be able to take care off this on her own, and she asked me to do her a favour and continue to investigate the iron crisis. This was indeed a better choice, as Ajantis was rather hurried in his task, and I still had to find Gorion’s murderer. We said farewell to the couple and the caravan left, off to the Friendly Arm.
Minsc, having no further cause in life, said that he would like to travel with me and Ajantis, to hunt down the bandits that plagued the region. I was happy with his decision, and did not object.
We then took our first look at the documents we had found in the bandit fortress, suspecting there were clues in there in where to search for the rest of the organization.
No luck whatsoever. These criminals had been precautious… However, we did find some information that sent a cold shiver through my spine…”
“Was it fate that had brought me to Khalid and Jaheira? If I hadn’t met that couple, I wouldn’t have found out what I have discovered in those scrolls. Most of the information was about the plans of a group of nobles named the Iron Throne. They were behind these bandit raids. Apparently, this powerful organization wanted to rob all caravans transporting iron to Baldur’s Gate. They had invaded the Nashkel mines, to prevent the miners from exporting iron by threatening them. Now they were hoping to make big money by selling iron, gained from mines in the forest of Cloakwood, to the south of Baldur’s Gate.
But that wasn’t what frightened me the most. The leader of the Iron Throne was described as a tall man, wearing an odd-crafted armour, which made him look like a demon. The first thing I thought of was that night when Gorion and I were ambushed. The man that had killed my foster father looked just like this description… His name was mentioned nowhere.
So the three of us set off to Cloakwood. I was more motivated than ever, knowing that if we made it through, we would eventually find my father’s murderer. The forest was huge though, and looking for some mines would prove almost impossible. Yet we had no other choice. The traders we had encountered a few hours before had informed us of the fact that the city of Baldur’s Gate was closed due to the recent increase of bandit raids.
Maybe, if we could clear out the Cloakwood mines, those raids would partially stop, because that was the last bandit base in the region. At least that’s what we found out in the documents.
After a few days of travelling, with only minor hostile encounters, such as small packs of wolves and gibberlings, we arrived at a druid grove. Though we weren’t welcomed quite happily. The local druids suspected us of being members of the Iron Throne. Luckily, we could convince them of our good intentions to stop that organization. They pointed us the way to the mines. They also told us of a hunter named Coran that had recently trespassed their territory. He had asked them the way to a wyvern nest, but they had ignored him, not wanting the kings of these woods to be hunted down like common deer. The man had simply continued his search for the nest without the druids’ help.
We thanked the druids for their assistance and continued our journey.”
But that wasn’t what frightened me the most. The leader of the Iron Throne was described as a tall man, wearing an odd-crafted armour, which made him look like a demon. The first thing I thought of was that night when Gorion and I were ambushed. The man that had killed my foster father looked just like this description… His name was mentioned nowhere.
So the three of us set off to Cloakwood. I was more motivated than ever, knowing that if we made it through, we would eventually find my father’s murderer. The forest was huge though, and looking for some mines would prove almost impossible. Yet we had no other choice. The traders we had encountered a few hours before had informed us of the fact that the city of Baldur’s Gate was closed due to the recent increase of bandit raids.
Maybe, if we could clear out the Cloakwood mines, those raids would partially stop, because that was the last bandit base in the region. At least that’s what we found out in the documents.
After a few days of travelling, with only minor hostile encounters, such as small packs of wolves and gibberlings, we arrived at a druid grove. Though we weren’t welcomed quite happily. The local druids suspected us of being members of the Iron Throne. Luckily, we could convince them of our good intentions to stop that organization. They pointed us the way to the mines. They also told us of a hunter named Coran that had recently trespassed their territory. He had asked them the way to a wyvern nest, but they had ignored him, not wanting the kings of these woods to be hunted down like common deer. The man had simply continued his search for the nest without the druids’ help.
We thanked the druids for their assistance and continued our journey.”
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Rodion Raskolnikov
- Posts: 134
- Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2000 11:00 pm
- Location: Denmark
- Contact:
“The next day we came across a small encampment. Whoever had halted here to spend the night was certainly well prepared. Minsc was the first victim; suddenly he was launched into the air! He had stepped into a rope trap, and now he was hanging in an oak tree. Ajantis grabbed his sword and started looking for any other possible traps. One second later an arrow was shot in his shoulder. It was a poisoned one, and the paladin immediately fell down on the ground unconscious. In the meantime, Minsc had freed himself from his uncomfortable situation, and the both of us were standing back to back, weapons ready. I heard someone moving in the bushes. A male elf stepped forward, a sarcastic smile on his face.
Apparently, he had seen that we it wasn’t for him that we were here. He claimed that he had recently escaped from the Iron Throne. They had taken him captive, because he had invaded “their” territory. The man was the hunter Coran the druids had mentioned. He looked quite the amusing fellow. Ajantis had already come back to his senses, and acted a bit sceptical towards the elf.
Coran suggested that we help him hunt down a wyvern in order to get a considerable reward, but Ajantis declined, as we had other things to look after at the moment. When we mentioned that we were planning on destroying the Throne, the hunter seemed very interested. He told us these woods were infested by bandits, and that if we would eliminate them, we would surely be greatly rewarded. He offered his services to our party. Ajantis, still not trusting the elf, asked him what he was capable of. Coran showed us his mastery of the bow. Indeed, this man was an artist with arrows. He could easily take down any moving target, often hitting it straight in the heart. No matter what Ajantis had thought of this man, he could not deny that it was the best archer he had ever seen. After quickly gathering his belongings, the hunter joined us in our crusade to find the Iron Throne.
Coran was the first elf I have ever met in my life. His presence in our group was greatly appreciated, as he was quite humorous. At times I found myself laughing out loud when the elf let slip yet another ironic remark about Ajantis’ seriousness. Luckily, the paladin knew the elf was only kidding, and after a while he considered him a close friend. Minsc too was happy, and according to the tall man Boo liked Coran as well.
After Gorion’s death, I had never suspected that I would ever laugh again. It was a good thing that we had met Coran.”
Apparently, he had seen that we it wasn’t for him that we were here. He claimed that he had recently escaped from the Iron Throne. They had taken him captive, because he had invaded “their” territory. The man was the hunter Coran the druids had mentioned. He looked quite the amusing fellow. Ajantis had already come back to his senses, and acted a bit sceptical towards the elf.
Coran suggested that we help him hunt down a wyvern in order to get a considerable reward, but Ajantis declined, as we had other things to look after at the moment. When we mentioned that we were planning on destroying the Throne, the hunter seemed very interested. He told us these woods were infested by bandits, and that if we would eliminate them, we would surely be greatly rewarded. He offered his services to our party. Ajantis, still not trusting the elf, asked him what he was capable of. Coran showed us his mastery of the bow. Indeed, this man was an artist with arrows. He could easily take down any moving target, often hitting it straight in the heart. No matter what Ajantis had thought of this man, he could not deny that it was the best archer he had ever seen. After quickly gathering his belongings, the hunter joined us in our crusade to find the Iron Throne.
Coran was the first elf I have ever met in my life. His presence in our group was greatly appreciated, as he was quite humorous. At times I found myself laughing out loud when the elf let slip yet another ironic remark about Ajantis’ seriousness. Luckily, the paladin knew the elf was only kidding, and after a while he considered him a close friend. Minsc too was happy, and according to the tall man Boo liked Coran as well.
After Gorion’s death, I had never suspected that I would ever laugh again. It was a good thing that we had met Coran.”
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LichSlayer21
- Posts: 28
- Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2001 11:00 pm
- Location: Salt Lake City
- Contact:
Heya its me craig can i post up my Genilia story as soonas ai get it from school it starts
Genilia was bored, even though she was in a pub, she was starring at her drink, not a pint of bitter as you may have thought but some evermead, for the time was 1447 Dale reckoning
Hows about dat den? Hmm more ber o yah
Genilia was bored, even though she was in a pub, she was starring at her drink, not a pint of bitter as you may have thought but some evermead, for the time was 1447 Dale reckoning
Hows about dat den? Hmm more ber o yah
Hi people, let's get to business, shall we?
I understand you got the next few parts already.
I'll re-enter them here, to have everything together.
Sorry Robin_Hood, I just feel it might get confusing for new people to start reading from your thread. Thanks for keeping it alive down here though!
“Days went by. The forest of Cloakwood was huge! As we went deeper and deeper into the woods the bushes got more dense, and at times we were forced to take large detours. Unlike the road we had travelled days ago, we didn’t encounter any bandits at all. I began to wonder if we were indeed heading in the right direction, but what other possibility was there? The druids had told us that the mines we were looking for were located to the east, so to the east we went.
One day, Coran, ever the hunter, said that we had been followed. When I asked him for how long, he answered that it had been going on for some days already. He had never been sure though, until now. Our follower, or followers, apparently had made a mistake. I informed Minsc and Ajantis, and the four of us prepared to confront the opponent.
When he was sure, Coran suddenly turned around and launched an arrow in the bushes. Hearing a curse, I knew he had hit, and pulled my trusty hammer, ready for a frontal assault. The enemy, he was alone, immediately ran away, hiding in the darkness that had slowly began emerging. Coran was an experienced hunter though, and yet another of his arrows found its target. Once again I was stunned by the elf’s skill, as I hadn’t even seen where our mysterious stalker had fled to. That didn’t stop me from attacking. Followed by Minsc and Ajantis, I ran towards the place where Coran’s arrow had struck. We were greeted by a swinging halberd. It was dark, and the stranger was hooded, so I couldn’t see his face, yet it was bright enough to see he was quite skilled with his weapon. I had seen someone fighting like this before, though I wouldn’t tell where…
He was skilled indeed, but just not enough to take on three experienced warriors.
A few moments later, the man was taken down. He was still struggling, but with his weapon taken away from him, there was little he could do. When I took off his hood, I finally recognized our opponent.”
“It was the elf we had encountered at the bandit camp. The one that had actually, perhaps unwillingly, saved our lives. The one that had been looking for the half-orc named Tazok.
Ajantis interrogated him as to why he had been following us. He had seen us read the documents from the robbers’ fortress, Tazok’s stronghold. Since the half-orc hadn’t been there at that time, and since the odds were pretty low he’d return there after the base’s downfall, the only other place where he could’ve been was the last remaining bandit camp, the Cloakwood Mines. Unaware of their location, but knowing we were heading there, as he had been stalking us ever since we had freed him, he had simply followed us. Eventually we would lead him to Tazok.
Now that we knew he had no hostile intentions, we freed him again, for the second time already. The elf was named Kivan, and his reasons for hunting down Tazok were obviously his own, as he had no wish whatsoever to tell us of them. After a burning glare of Boo though - I knew it had actually been Minsc’s glare - the man began speaking. He and his love Deheriana had been captured and tortured by the bandit leader. The female elf had been murdered by the half-orc before Kivan’s eyes. He had been able to escape shortly after, kept alive only by the passion of revenge.
Then Minsc made a strange proposal to me. He said he knew what the man felt, the feeling of revenge. His Dynaheir too was killed in front of him, by the same clan of bandits. We should take the elf with us, to exact the score. It wasn’t Minsc’s reasoning that made me agree, but rather my own thirst for vengeance, as Gorion’s murderer was also affiliated with this group.
When we asked Kivan if he would be willing to travel with us, I could see a spark of hope in the man’s eyes, or had it just been a refuelling of his hunger?”
“We knew we were close to the base when we first encountered a small pack of bandits. They were easy to dispatch, of course, but it made all of us a bit more silent. The moment where we would fight a whole army of footpads, cutpurses and brigands was near. We prepared for a huge onslaught.
A couple of hours went by, before the mines were finally within our sight. Kivan scouted out the region, and came back to report that the base was strongly defended. Aside from loads of common guards, there were some wizards as well. I had never faced real magic before, and had only seen some from Gorion, so I thought this should be an interesting fight. I felt a bit scared, to tell the truth. I was a strong man, and could easily take on any other fighter in plain combat. But a mage, that was something totally different. Ajantis told me he had battled magic before plenty of times, and that most wizards aren’t even that powerful. To be dangerous in the arts of magic requires a lot of experience, and most spellcasters among weak thieves, most of the time, are just simple students, thinking they can deal with anything.
However it may have been, I was sure to learn something in the upcoming battle.
Kivan and Coran, both great archers, took the rear of our attack formation. We prepared, more mentally than physically, and charged straight on. The guards were surprised by the sudden attack; the chaos among their ranks was clear, and we could only use it to our advantage. Were these men indeed so sure of their safe location? Obviously, as most of them simply ran away in fear, probably thinking we were just a small part of an army or such. I had no time to laugh at them though, as immediately a rain of arrows came down on us. Luckily, we had good equipment. My shield protected me from the projectiles. Ajantis was less fortunate, as he was wielding a two-handed sword. But these situations weren’t rare to him, and he was able to dodge most of the arrows. Minsc, no matter how many times he got hit, just kept rushing forward, constantly screaming out battle cries; it was unbelievable, it seemed as if the man was just ignoring every pain. I kind of envied Minsc for his combat skills.
The opposing group of guards coming towards us was already thinned out by Kivan and Coran’s arrows, and it was no difficulty for us to take the rest down. When we approached the walls surrounding the mines, all archers were shot down as well. I took a curious look at our own two archers. What was it with elves and bows?
Inside the walls, we again faced a bunch of melee fighters, which Minsc defeated all on his own! He hit them with more strength than I thought any human being could posses!
Next were the mages. I could see them moving their hands and speaking odd words, creating a lot of coloured effects around them. Kivan had already approached us, and one of his never-missing arrows hit one of the mages in the hand, disabling him to finish the spell he was casting. I congratulated the elf, and rushed towards the spellcaster to finish the job. Ajantis and Minsc knew it was best to take on the mages each apart, to prevent them from casting too many spells, and each chose one to confront. In the meantime, Coran was still out of sight. I feared anything might have happened to him, but the next moment I saw one of the wizards getting attacked from behind by a stealthed figure, taking out the poor man in one unexpected blow. The attacker switched to his bow, and shot down another of the few spellcasters remaining.
Shortly after, no more enemies were left to prevent us from reaching the entrance to the mines, and, after healing our wounds, we prepared to descend.”
“The mines were full of bandits, leaving me very little time to continue my diary. The next few lines tell what happened during the many hours we spent in the deep darkness of the mines of Cloakwood.
When the miners first saw us, they thought we were part of a raid to rob the Iron Throne of their treasures. They were partially correct. We were indeed here to raid the Throne, but we couldn’t care less for their belongings. Except Coran, that is. However it might have been, the poor men were happy when their ever-watching guards were lying dead on the floor, and they were free to escape to the surface, where they could see the sunlight for the first time in months.
As we went deeper and deeper, the defences got bigger and better, and more organized. It was clear that whoever was in charge here, was prepared for any possible attack, no matter how low the odds were that they’d get discovered.
The battles were very linear, and at times we got wounded quite bad. Luckily, we had healing potions with us; but they weren’t limitless… One moment worth mentioning is when we entered a large hallway. Apparently, these mines weren’t really what they appeared to be. What laid above were the parts were the mining was done, but here, deep underneath the surface, there was a vast underground fortress. Someone had lived here, before the Throne had taken over, and now it were the bandits that inhabited these beautifully built chambers. Whoever had created this place, had been an expert in crafting rocks. Gorgeously looking statues were all over the place; the walls, the ceiling, even the floors were decorated beyond imagination. And there were guards…
Guards of the likes I had never seen before. These were no simple humans. Dark figures with flaming blades attacked us as we entered the main room. They were hard to defeat, yet not impossible. We managed to destroy these creatures by separating them, and then hitting them hard. An old and predictable strategy, but therefore not an ineffective one.
A few halls further we discovered a weapon storage room. Dozens of enchanted swords, axes and bows lay before us. It was no wonder that the first thing Coran did was ditch his old bow and take a new shiny one. Being used to my own hammer I had confiscated some days ago, I didn’t take the time to look for a new weapon. I was more interested in the noise I heard coming from behind a door on the other side of the corridor. It was deep male voice, cursing out loud. There’s one sentence I clearly remember, as I found myself smiling like with one of Coran’s remarks when I heard it: ‘By Moradin’s Hammer, I’ll shove me mace up the arse of the blasted human that done this to me!’.”
“After Coran had picked the door’s lock, we met with the dwarf Yeslick. Yeslick was the last descendant of the clan of dwarves that had built this underground complex, along with the mines above it. Recently, the dwarf had travelled to the great city of Baldur’s Gate, seeking employment, for these mines had been out of use since a long time. He had found a job with the Iron Throne. After a dozen of ales, he had accidently mentioned the stronghold to the organization’s leader, Rieltar Anchev. The next moment, he had found himself chained and forced to guide the way to the mines through the woods. He was later dumped in this cell, while the Throne mined away the gold that belonged to his clan. I wondered if this Anchev could be my foster father’s murderer, but not knowing for sure, I let the thought go; I would destroy the entire organization anyway.
Having fetched his personal mace and armour from the weapon room, Yeslick guided us down the halls to the man in charge, a mage named Davaeorn. I was pretty confident that we would be able to defeat this wizard, seeing as how we had easily done so with the ones outside, but Yeslick laughed in my face, claiming Daveaorn was no common spellcaster. He was Rieltar’s advisor, and the only person the Throne leader had thought worthy to guard these mines.
Some minutes later, we arrived at the room in which the wizard was supposed to spend most of his time. Again, we were face to face to the dark figures, with their swords of fire. According to Yeslick, these were Doom Guards, magical creatures with only one task: to destroy anyone that opposes their master. The dwarf was an experienced cleric, and knew some spells to take care of these things in no time. We were ready to enter the room, and face the feared mage. Kivan was still hoping to find Tazok in there, but our newfound friend told him not to be too sure of that. He had heard the half-orc a couple of times in the mines, though not recently. The elf only got angered by this, and wanted to find out himself. We never got the chance to stop him. Halberd in his hands, ready to strike, he swung open the large doors.”
“The rest of us immediately followed the raging elf, afraid that anything might go wrong if he attempted to charge the enemy on his own. We curiously scouted out the immense chambers that were supposed to be a temporary home to the wizard Davaeorn. The room was divided in several smaller rooms, separated by both wide and low halls; there were no doors. The place felt even more like a palace than it had when we had first entered this complex a few hours ago. Yeslick informed us that this had been the throne room, making me suspect that these tunnels had indeed been dug out to serve as an isolated kingdom. We stuck together, prepared for any possible counterattack. The mage had surely noticed our arrival. How couldn’t he have, with Kivan’s unique feeling for subtleness?
A few moments later, we knew for certain that no one but us was in these private halls. This fact made us even more afraid. We had seen every single corner of these tunnels, and had found no wizard whatsoever. The leader couldn’t have left his post, couldn’t he? Our question was answered quickly after, as suddenly a flaming ball of fire appeared out of nothing, heading for the bunch of us, with a speed that made it impossible to dodge. The impact was heavy, the pain immense. I had gotten used to flesh wounds, caused by swords and such, but this was completely different. Some parts of my body were totally burned, which made me scream out in agony.
Standing before us was Davaeorn, still partially invisible. Ajantis immediately tried to strike with his magical sword, but he never got the chance. A bolt of lightning was hurled through his body, throwing him against a wall with a hard smash. The paladin would never quit, I knew this, and I could see his courage in the way he stood up again, grabbing his trusty weapon, and flinging himself at the spellcaster all in one fluent motion. It had had no use however, for another bolt went through his spine, making him drop on the floor again before he ever reached his target.
As Davaeorn prepared to cast yet another spell, Yeslick had started doing the same, with pretty magical colours forming around him and all. When the wizard was almost done finishing his magic, a fire arrow launched from Yeslick’s fingertips, hitting the robed man in the abdomen, thereby disrupting his spellcasting. Minsc could see his chance had come, and lifted his sword to strike a finishing blow. A good blow it was, though far from finishing. The hostile mage didn’t flinch a bit when the blade came down; instead, a bunch of crippled rocks fell down from his body. A defensive spell, and quite a good one, I would later find out. Again Yeslick was waving his hands in the air, mumbling some odd words in the tongue of magic. White energy erupted from his fingers, and set off to circle around Davaeorn, disenchanting whatever it was that was protecting him.
The mage barely had the time to finish one more spell. It was a summoning of a spawn of monsters to assist him in this battle. Although things were looking quite grim for the man, the expression on his face had changed not the least bit: it was still the cold, emotionless look it had been when I had first laid eyes on the wizard. Our opponent was a powerful magician, I had found out that much by now. The monsters, having taken shape, were ogres, among the strongest humanoids in Faerûn. Kivan rushed over to assist Minsc in dealing with them, while I helped my friend Ajantis in getting up, ready to confront the wizard in a fair fight, face to face. Eventually, Coran joined the fight as well. In mere seconds, he had hit Davaeorn multiple times. No wonder, for the elf was truly an amazing archer.
After a lot of pain, after destroying all the summons, after a lot more pain and even more curses, Davaeorn finally lay on the floor, coughing blood and slowly losing his grip on life. He didn’t die without having cast one last spell though, as is the usual case with villains like this, always wanting to die still trying to kill their enemies… Though I have to admit it was a good shot. Everywhere around us, a lightning storm erupted, hitting anything that could feed its hunger within immediate range, ironically not excluding its creator. I could see then that the man wasn’t that close to death as I had suspected. A magical door appeared next to him, nearly giving him the chance to crawl through it and escape the scene.
Had it not been for Yeslick’s mace, which the dwarf had professionally thrown straight into the mage’s face, he surely would’ve been able to flee this place alive. Yeslick walked up to the corpse, cursing it in all languages he could come up with, and giving it a good kick in the cross. Then he walked into the throne room, looked around and breathed deeply. He turned to me, asking if there was anything left for him here. I had no answer… When I proposed to travel together for a while, a humble smile appeared on the little man’s face. Silent, he entered one of the plentiful treasure rooms, and came back holding a small dog statuette. It was the only thing he still cared for. It was but a simple figurine - no magic involved - which he had gotten from his father at his departure to Baldur’s Gate, only to find his entire family killed when he was forced to return, and the statuette taken from him by the thieves that call themselves the Iron Throne.
Quietly, our party returned through the corridors, back to the surface. We all were tired, but Kivan’s face clearly showed more than just fatigue.”
Alright, so much for the gap.
I understand you got the next few parts already.
I'll re-enter them here, to have everything together.
Sorry Robin_Hood, I just feel it might get confusing for new people to start reading from your thread. Thanks for keeping it alive down here though!
“Days went by. The forest of Cloakwood was huge! As we went deeper and deeper into the woods the bushes got more dense, and at times we were forced to take large detours. Unlike the road we had travelled days ago, we didn’t encounter any bandits at all. I began to wonder if we were indeed heading in the right direction, but what other possibility was there? The druids had told us that the mines we were looking for were located to the east, so to the east we went.
One day, Coran, ever the hunter, said that we had been followed. When I asked him for how long, he answered that it had been going on for some days already. He had never been sure though, until now. Our follower, or followers, apparently had made a mistake. I informed Minsc and Ajantis, and the four of us prepared to confront the opponent.
When he was sure, Coran suddenly turned around and launched an arrow in the bushes. Hearing a curse, I knew he had hit, and pulled my trusty hammer, ready for a frontal assault. The enemy, he was alone, immediately ran away, hiding in the darkness that had slowly began emerging. Coran was an experienced hunter though, and yet another of his arrows found its target. Once again I was stunned by the elf’s skill, as I hadn’t even seen where our mysterious stalker had fled to. That didn’t stop me from attacking. Followed by Minsc and Ajantis, I ran towards the place where Coran’s arrow had struck. We were greeted by a swinging halberd. It was dark, and the stranger was hooded, so I couldn’t see his face, yet it was bright enough to see he was quite skilled with his weapon. I had seen someone fighting like this before, though I wouldn’t tell where…
He was skilled indeed, but just not enough to take on three experienced warriors.
A few moments later, the man was taken down. He was still struggling, but with his weapon taken away from him, there was little he could do. When I took off his hood, I finally recognized our opponent.”
“It was the elf we had encountered at the bandit camp. The one that had actually, perhaps unwillingly, saved our lives. The one that had been looking for the half-orc named Tazok.
Ajantis interrogated him as to why he had been following us. He had seen us read the documents from the robbers’ fortress, Tazok’s stronghold. Since the half-orc hadn’t been there at that time, and since the odds were pretty low he’d return there after the base’s downfall, the only other place where he could’ve been was the last remaining bandit camp, the Cloakwood Mines. Unaware of their location, but knowing we were heading there, as he had been stalking us ever since we had freed him, he had simply followed us. Eventually we would lead him to Tazok.
Now that we knew he had no hostile intentions, we freed him again, for the second time already. The elf was named Kivan, and his reasons for hunting down Tazok were obviously his own, as he had no wish whatsoever to tell us of them. After a burning glare of Boo though - I knew it had actually been Minsc’s glare - the man began speaking. He and his love Deheriana had been captured and tortured by the bandit leader. The female elf had been murdered by the half-orc before Kivan’s eyes. He had been able to escape shortly after, kept alive only by the passion of revenge.
Then Minsc made a strange proposal to me. He said he knew what the man felt, the feeling of revenge. His Dynaheir too was killed in front of him, by the same clan of bandits. We should take the elf with us, to exact the score. It wasn’t Minsc’s reasoning that made me agree, but rather my own thirst for vengeance, as Gorion’s murderer was also affiliated with this group.
When we asked Kivan if he would be willing to travel with us, I could see a spark of hope in the man’s eyes, or had it just been a refuelling of his hunger?”
“We knew we were close to the base when we first encountered a small pack of bandits. They were easy to dispatch, of course, but it made all of us a bit more silent. The moment where we would fight a whole army of footpads, cutpurses and brigands was near. We prepared for a huge onslaught.
A couple of hours went by, before the mines were finally within our sight. Kivan scouted out the region, and came back to report that the base was strongly defended. Aside from loads of common guards, there were some wizards as well. I had never faced real magic before, and had only seen some from Gorion, so I thought this should be an interesting fight. I felt a bit scared, to tell the truth. I was a strong man, and could easily take on any other fighter in plain combat. But a mage, that was something totally different. Ajantis told me he had battled magic before plenty of times, and that most wizards aren’t even that powerful. To be dangerous in the arts of magic requires a lot of experience, and most spellcasters among weak thieves, most of the time, are just simple students, thinking they can deal with anything.
However it may have been, I was sure to learn something in the upcoming battle.
Kivan and Coran, both great archers, took the rear of our attack formation. We prepared, more mentally than physically, and charged straight on. The guards were surprised by the sudden attack; the chaos among their ranks was clear, and we could only use it to our advantage. Were these men indeed so sure of their safe location? Obviously, as most of them simply ran away in fear, probably thinking we were just a small part of an army or such. I had no time to laugh at them though, as immediately a rain of arrows came down on us. Luckily, we had good equipment. My shield protected me from the projectiles. Ajantis was less fortunate, as he was wielding a two-handed sword. But these situations weren’t rare to him, and he was able to dodge most of the arrows. Minsc, no matter how many times he got hit, just kept rushing forward, constantly screaming out battle cries; it was unbelievable, it seemed as if the man was just ignoring every pain. I kind of envied Minsc for his combat skills.
The opposing group of guards coming towards us was already thinned out by Kivan and Coran’s arrows, and it was no difficulty for us to take the rest down. When we approached the walls surrounding the mines, all archers were shot down as well. I took a curious look at our own two archers. What was it with elves and bows?
Inside the walls, we again faced a bunch of melee fighters, which Minsc defeated all on his own! He hit them with more strength than I thought any human being could posses!
Next were the mages. I could see them moving their hands and speaking odd words, creating a lot of coloured effects around them. Kivan had already approached us, and one of his never-missing arrows hit one of the mages in the hand, disabling him to finish the spell he was casting. I congratulated the elf, and rushed towards the spellcaster to finish the job. Ajantis and Minsc knew it was best to take on the mages each apart, to prevent them from casting too many spells, and each chose one to confront. In the meantime, Coran was still out of sight. I feared anything might have happened to him, but the next moment I saw one of the wizards getting attacked from behind by a stealthed figure, taking out the poor man in one unexpected blow. The attacker switched to his bow, and shot down another of the few spellcasters remaining.
Shortly after, no more enemies were left to prevent us from reaching the entrance to the mines, and, after healing our wounds, we prepared to descend.”
“The mines were full of bandits, leaving me very little time to continue my diary. The next few lines tell what happened during the many hours we spent in the deep darkness of the mines of Cloakwood.
When the miners first saw us, they thought we were part of a raid to rob the Iron Throne of their treasures. They were partially correct. We were indeed here to raid the Throne, but we couldn’t care less for their belongings. Except Coran, that is. However it might have been, the poor men were happy when their ever-watching guards were lying dead on the floor, and they were free to escape to the surface, where they could see the sunlight for the first time in months.
As we went deeper and deeper, the defences got bigger and better, and more organized. It was clear that whoever was in charge here, was prepared for any possible attack, no matter how low the odds were that they’d get discovered.
The battles were very linear, and at times we got wounded quite bad. Luckily, we had healing potions with us; but they weren’t limitless… One moment worth mentioning is when we entered a large hallway. Apparently, these mines weren’t really what they appeared to be. What laid above were the parts were the mining was done, but here, deep underneath the surface, there was a vast underground fortress. Someone had lived here, before the Throne had taken over, and now it were the bandits that inhabited these beautifully built chambers. Whoever had created this place, had been an expert in crafting rocks. Gorgeously looking statues were all over the place; the walls, the ceiling, even the floors were decorated beyond imagination. And there were guards…
Guards of the likes I had never seen before. These were no simple humans. Dark figures with flaming blades attacked us as we entered the main room. They were hard to defeat, yet not impossible. We managed to destroy these creatures by separating them, and then hitting them hard. An old and predictable strategy, but therefore not an ineffective one.
A few halls further we discovered a weapon storage room. Dozens of enchanted swords, axes and bows lay before us. It was no wonder that the first thing Coran did was ditch his old bow and take a new shiny one. Being used to my own hammer I had confiscated some days ago, I didn’t take the time to look for a new weapon. I was more interested in the noise I heard coming from behind a door on the other side of the corridor. It was deep male voice, cursing out loud. There’s one sentence I clearly remember, as I found myself smiling like with one of Coran’s remarks when I heard it: ‘By Moradin’s Hammer, I’ll shove me mace up the arse of the blasted human that done this to me!’.”
“After Coran had picked the door’s lock, we met with the dwarf Yeslick. Yeslick was the last descendant of the clan of dwarves that had built this underground complex, along with the mines above it. Recently, the dwarf had travelled to the great city of Baldur’s Gate, seeking employment, for these mines had been out of use since a long time. He had found a job with the Iron Throne. After a dozen of ales, he had accidently mentioned the stronghold to the organization’s leader, Rieltar Anchev. The next moment, he had found himself chained and forced to guide the way to the mines through the woods. He was later dumped in this cell, while the Throne mined away the gold that belonged to his clan. I wondered if this Anchev could be my foster father’s murderer, but not knowing for sure, I let the thought go; I would destroy the entire organization anyway.
Having fetched his personal mace and armour from the weapon room, Yeslick guided us down the halls to the man in charge, a mage named Davaeorn. I was pretty confident that we would be able to defeat this wizard, seeing as how we had easily done so with the ones outside, but Yeslick laughed in my face, claiming Daveaorn was no common spellcaster. He was Rieltar’s advisor, and the only person the Throne leader had thought worthy to guard these mines.
Some minutes later, we arrived at the room in which the wizard was supposed to spend most of his time. Again, we were face to face to the dark figures, with their swords of fire. According to Yeslick, these were Doom Guards, magical creatures with only one task: to destroy anyone that opposes their master. The dwarf was an experienced cleric, and knew some spells to take care of these things in no time. We were ready to enter the room, and face the feared mage. Kivan was still hoping to find Tazok in there, but our newfound friend told him not to be too sure of that. He had heard the half-orc a couple of times in the mines, though not recently. The elf only got angered by this, and wanted to find out himself. We never got the chance to stop him. Halberd in his hands, ready to strike, he swung open the large doors.”
“The rest of us immediately followed the raging elf, afraid that anything might go wrong if he attempted to charge the enemy on his own. We curiously scouted out the immense chambers that were supposed to be a temporary home to the wizard Davaeorn. The room was divided in several smaller rooms, separated by both wide and low halls; there were no doors. The place felt even more like a palace than it had when we had first entered this complex a few hours ago. Yeslick informed us that this had been the throne room, making me suspect that these tunnels had indeed been dug out to serve as an isolated kingdom. We stuck together, prepared for any possible counterattack. The mage had surely noticed our arrival. How couldn’t he have, with Kivan’s unique feeling for subtleness?
A few moments later, we knew for certain that no one but us was in these private halls. This fact made us even more afraid. We had seen every single corner of these tunnels, and had found no wizard whatsoever. The leader couldn’t have left his post, couldn’t he? Our question was answered quickly after, as suddenly a flaming ball of fire appeared out of nothing, heading for the bunch of us, with a speed that made it impossible to dodge. The impact was heavy, the pain immense. I had gotten used to flesh wounds, caused by swords and such, but this was completely different. Some parts of my body were totally burned, which made me scream out in agony.
Standing before us was Davaeorn, still partially invisible. Ajantis immediately tried to strike with his magical sword, but he never got the chance. A bolt of lightning was hurled through his body, throwing him against a wall with a hard smash. The paladin would never quit, I knew this, and I could see his courage in the way he stood up again, grabbing his trusty weapon, and flinging himself at the spellcaster all in one fluent motion. It had had no use however, for another bolt went through his spine, making him drop on the floor again before he ever reached his target.
As Davaeorn prepared to cast yet another spell, Yeslick had started doing the same, with pretty magical colours forming around him and all. When the wizard was almost done finishing his magic, a fire arrow launched from Yeslick’s fingertips, hitting the robed man in the abdomen, thereby disrupting his spellcasting. Minsc could see his chance had come, and lifted his sword to strike a finishing blow. A good blow it was, though far from finishing. The hostile mage didn’t flinch a bit when the blade came down; instead, a bunch of crippled rocks fell down from his body. A defensive spell, and quite a good one, I would later find out. Again Yeslick was waving his hands in the air, mumbling some odd words in the tongue of magic. White energy erupted from his fingers, and set off to circle around Davaeorn, disenchanting whatever it was that was protecting him.
The mage barely had the time to finish one more spell. It was a summoning of a spawn of monsters to assist him in this battle. Although things were looking quite grim for the man, the expression on his face had changed not the least bit: it was still the cold, emotionless look it had been when I had first laid eyes on the wizard. Our opponent was a powerful magician, I had found out that much by now. The monsters, having taken shape, were ogres, among the strongest humanoids in Faerûn. Kivan rushed over to assist Minsc in dealing with them, while I helped my friend Ajantis in getting up, ready to confront the wizard in a fair fight, face to face. Eventually, Coran joined the fight as well. In mere seconds, he had hit Davaeorn multiple times. No wonder, for the elf was truly an amazing archer.
After a lot of pain, after destroying all the summons, after a lot more pain and even more curses, Davaeorn finally lay on the floor, coughing blood and slowly losing his grip on life. He didn’t die without having cast one last spell though, as is the usual case with villains like this, always wanting to die still trying to kill their enemies… Though I have to admit it was a good shot. Everywhere around us, a lightning storm erupted, hitting anything that could feed its hunger within immediate range, ironically not excluding its creator. I could see then that the man wasn’t that close to death as I had suspected. A magical door appeared next to him, nearly giving him the chance to crawl through it and escape the scene.
Had it not been for Yeslick’s mace, which the dwarf had professionally thrown straight into the mage’s face, he surely would’ve been able to flee this place alive. Yeslick walked up to the corpse, cursing it in all languages he could come up with, and giving it a good kick in the cross. Then he walked into the throne room, looked around and breathed deeply. He turned to me, asking if there was anything left for him here. I had no answer… When I proposed to travel together for a while, a humble smile appeared on the little man’s face. Silent, he entered one of the plentiful treasure rooms, and came back holding a small dog statuette. It was the only thing he still cared for. It was but a simple figurine - no magic involved - which he had gotten from his father at his departure to Baldur’s Gate, only to find his entire family killed when he was forced to return, and the statuette taken from him by the thieves that call themselves the Iron Throne.
Quietly, our party returned through the corridors, back to the surface. We all were tired, but Kivan’s face clearly showed more than just fatigue.”
Alright, so much for the gap.
It’s been a while, roleplayers. Nice to see you’re still interested. Gabriel’s adventure is all but finished, but the next few entries are seldom and not quite explicative, so I will inform you of the most important parts.
After killing Davaeorn, one of the Iron Throne leaders, the party, with Yeslick’s addition now consisting of six members, discovered a great deal of information concerning the activities of the Throne, an organization much darker than one would suspect at first glance. In a few days from then, the remaining leaders would gather at Candlekeep, to discuss their agenda.
Each of the warriors had his own motives from then. Gabriel just wanted to continue his search for the demon-figured man. Minsc, now without a ward, had promised Gabriel his assistance. Ajantis still had to perform his task and investigate the iron crisis. The vengeful elf Kivan simply planned to exact the score with Tazok. Yeslick too, like most of the others, was driven by the passion of payback. Finally, Coran decided to travel to Baldur’s Gate, where he wanted to build a heroic reputation after the decimation of the bandit activities. The elf’s presence hadn’t been in vain. Other than the fact that he was a near perfect archer, he had also been teaching Gabriel how to improve his already high agility, thereby increasing the warrior’s dexterity to 19, a number normally unreachable by human standards. Gabriel was no normal human though, but we’re not that far in the story yet… The group said goodbye to the hunter and separated, on their way to the library of Candlekeep.
Not only Coran, but Kivan too has had an impact on Gabriel during the time they had spent together in the woods. Kivan, just like Minsc being a ranger, had shown a great affinity with nature, and a tender care for the innocent lives that inhabited the forest, even if that wouldn’t be suspected from the elf, seeing how obsessed with revenge he had been during the last week. After the alignment shift, caused by Ajantis, Gabriel had started to show interest for nature, and was slowly becoming a ranger.
The new way of life, combined with the improved dexterity, had somehow given him the idea of wielding two weapons at the same time, albeit – because of the lack of sufficient training – not that effectively. The warrior kept trying and trying, using a club found in the wilderness, and in time improved his skills.
After a tenday, the group arrived at the imposing library.
After killing Davaeorn, one of the Iron Throne leaders, the party, with Yeslick’s addition now consisting of six members, discovered a great deal of information concerning the activities of the Throne, an organization much darker than one would suspect at first glance. In a few days from then, the remaining leaders would gather at Candlekeep, to discuss their agenda.
Each of the warriors had his own motives from then. Gabriel just wanted to continue his search for the demon-figured man. Minsc, now without a ward, had promised Gabriel his assistance. Ajantis still had to perform his task and investigate the iron crisis. The vengeful elf Kivan simply planned to exact the score with Tazok. Yeslick too, like most of the others, was driven by the passion of payback. Finally, Coran decided to travel to Baldur’s Gate, where he wanted to build a heroic reputation after the decimation of the bandit activities. The elf’s presence hadn’t been in vain. Other than the fact that he was a near perfect archer, he had also been teaching Gabriel how to improve his already high agility, thereby increasing the warrior’s dexterity to 19, a number normally unreachable by human standards. Gabriel was no normal human though, but we’re not that far in the story yet… The group said goodbye to the hunter and separated, on their way to the library of Candlekeep.
Not only Coran, but Kivan too has had an impact on Gabriel during the time they had spent together in the woods. Kivan, just like Minsc being a ranger, had shown a great affinity with nature, and a tender care for the innocent lives that inhabited the forest, even if that wouldn’t be suspected from the elf, seeing how obsessed with revenge he had been during the last week. After the alignment shift, caused by Ajantis, Gabriel had started to show interest for nature, and was slowly becoming a ranger.
The new way of life, combined with the improved dexterity, had somehow given him the idea of wielding two weapons at the same time, albeit – because of the lack of sufficient training – not that effectively. The warrior kept trying and trying, using a club found in the wilderness, and in time improved his skills.
After a tenday, the group arrived at the imposing library.
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Armadin of Clan Geddin
- Posts: 510
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Armadin of Clan Geddin
- Posts: 510
- Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2001 10:00 pm
- Location: Me Caves
- Contact: