Our next destination was the village of Ulgoth's Beard. This village was upstream from Baldur's Gate, along the River Chionthar. The farmlands in the area were normally quiet compared to the rest of the Sword Coast, but rumors abound at Ulgoth's Beard itself. There were a large number of adventures to be had from Ulgoth's Bear, being a quest hub introduced in the original Tales of the Sword Coast expansion. I was going to pick up a few of those quests to turn in later, but we were here mostly to visit and shop.
---
At the inn, Hurgan Stoneblade, a dwarf in case the name didn't make it obvious, offered us "an adventure that'll make ye yearn for glory!"
This was how we were introduced to Durlag's Tower and the story behind it. The tower itself was built by a dwarven hero of great reknown, Durlag Trollkiller. Hurgan's grandfather adventured with him until his grandfather was slain by a demon. Durlag should have sent Hurgan's family his grandfather's prized possession, a dagger called "Soultaker", but Durlag had run into trouble first.
Durlag had built himself a fortress, the aforementioned Durlag's Tower, for his family to stay in. However, Durlag's family was replaced by doppelgangers. Durlag killed the doppelgangers to defend himself but was driven mad in the process. Durlag fortified the defenses of the tower and trapped himself within.
Now, Durlag's Tower is heavily trapped but full of treasures. What Hurgan wanted was his grandfather's dagger, Soultaker, which Hurgan would exchange for a mighty enchanted hammer.
---
Really, dopplegangers again?!? As if they don't feature enough in the main campaign! I get that it's cheaper to use game assets repeatedly, but I think they overused this one type of rare monster. It would be different if Baldur's Gate was primarily a game about investigation and political intrigue.
---
What we were really here for, the Ulgoth's Beard Store and Inn.
Quarterstaff +3,
Scroll of 'Emotion, Hopelessness', and 'Improved Invisibility',
Cloak of displacement (+4 vs missile attacks, +2 to Death, Breath and Wands saving throws), Greenstone Amulet (nullify various mental status effects), and Sandthief's Ring (7 invisibility charges).
All this cost a total of 20167 gold, which left me only 802 gold left. With that little money left, I identified and sold some stuff, including Neera's Staff.
"But, but it's powerful! I enchanted it myself! It has nostalgic value!"
"It's a staff that incinerates yourself! Stop whining, this is for your own good!"
"Nooooo! I hate you, Sonny! I'm never talking to you again!"
With that money I bought a Wand of the Heavens (Flame Strike for 8d6 damage) for 2512gold. I now had 3785 gold, 2 diamonds (worth 500 each) and 2 Laeral's Tear Necklaces (worth 3k each) in my gem pouch.
---
A mage named Shandalar had a different task set out for us.
"I need for you to go to… another place an retrieve an item of mine. Very simple, and If you succeed, I will think all the better of you. What say you to this?"
Thankfully I was doing this in person rather than in the game, so I could say this, "That is really not much to go on. What item is this and what place do you want us to go to exactly?"
"I cannot say until your party has agreed to do this for me. It is but a small task, really. Shouldn't trouble you at all," Shandalar responded.
"If that's true, what's stopping you from doing it yourself?" Imoen asked.
"I have other things that call my attentions, so it is more convenient that you go. Besides, I know you not and this serves as a good measure of you. Already I know you are more interested in the "why" and not so much the profit. Will you do this?"
The party conferred together away from the mage.
"I don't like this guy. If it's such a simple task he wouldn't be hiding the details," Imoen said immediately.
Imoen's instincts were spot on, of course. Shandalar was lying through his teeth about the task being a trivial matter. I didn't have to say that though, since everyone could tell the mage was not being truthful with us at all.
We got back to Shandalar and told him, "We will have to turn you down for now, as we are currently busy with other quests and need time to prepare. Perhaps another time?"
---
Other quests in this area were;
-Therella wanted me to find her son, Dalton, who had joined a group of adventurers to scour Durlag's Tower. Enough said.
-Mendas of Waterdeep wanted me to steal the sea charts in the Merchants' League Counting House, in the northeast of the city. Okay, this one needs more elaboration.
Mendas claimed to be a scholar from Waterdeep residing in Ulgoth's Beard. "Tragic things are happening in this unfair, uh how you say… world. The men with power, they hurt the men with none. Blah-blah-blah Merchant League bad, want treasure rather than history blah-blah-blah."
Urm, wait. The men with power is the Merchants' League? He means men with money, not power? They're not actually the same thing. Eh, I was splitting hairs here. I knew from memory there was something off about Mendas, though not what exactly.
Anyway, basically sailors found a shipwreck on an island that could make a great new harbour for ships Waterdeep or Baldur's Gate while on the way to the New World. The shipwreck is that of the Balduran himself, the original patron of Baldur's Gate city who helped build the walls. Mendas wants the logbook to find out the final fate of the Balduran.
…The New World? The Americas? What the heck is the New World in the Forgotten Realms? Anchorome? Whatever, we'll never hear about it again. Nobody's going to make a story about that region. The Mexicans are too busy watching Dragonball Z to play role-playing games.
This particular quest would be the start of a roller coaster of events. I should probably save this one for MUCH later once I had all the end game gear I wanted. Considering what awaits at the end of it, probably after Durlag's Tower once I've secured a weapon there that can harm a Loup Garou. Maybe after I reached the point of no return in the game. I'm not sure if the same goes for Shandalar's quest.
---
Now that I had done our shopping, we had a rest at the inn at Ulgoth's. So I had a little time to figure out our next moves.
So far I had been trying to grab the most convenient items with the most impact first. The Gauntlets of Ogre Power and items for sale at Ulgoth's were pretty obvious, so I had gone for those first. I could pretty much skip the quests which don't give much money or magical items worth much money at this point since I have plenty of experience points already. I still wanted to grab the next most impactful items which were convenient, and collect the rest slowly.
In terms of priority and impact, the biggest priority item with the most impact would probably be a second Ring of Wizardry in Southwest Baldur's Gate. There were three more ability score Tomes/Manuals accessible at this point in the game which I would definitely want (Constitution-Pirate Caves outside; Intelligence- Ramizith's Tower in North Baldur's Gate; Wisdom- The Lady's Hall in west Baldur's Gate), but these were all pretty involving to collect, so maybe later.
Within Baldur's Gate city, there was the Helm of Glory, Helm of the Balduran, Cloak of the Balduran, Shortbow +2 and Large Shield +1, +4 vs Missiles. The Helm of the Balduran is particularly easy to get in Northwest Baldur's Gate so I should probably just grab that first. The rest are a bit too involved to be gained quickly. For more purchases in Baldur's Gate city, I didn't have enough money for the Arrows of Dispelling and Arrows of Detonation yet. However, another Necklaces of Missiles was available for sale in the Elfsong tavern in northwest part of the city (two more in Central Baldur's gate by quest/pickpocketing).
Outside Baldur's Gate, the Bracers of Archery, Helm of Defence, Girdle of Bluntness, a Ring of Fire Resistance, Warhammer +2 and Shortsword +2 were nice. There were a lot of external areas I hadn't explored yet, and Bassilus, Brage and Bjron's half-ogres were still waiting for me. I guess I could assign these to be collected slowly later.
I COULD try to pickpocket Helms of Charm Protection from the Ghost Knights I had skipped in the Firewine Dungeon(ugh), but I didn't think it was worth the effort traversing so deep into Firewine since I could just summon skeleton warriors when I was going to meet angry Sirines. Besides, I already had the Greenstone Amulet. I wish I had done this before the stupid dire charm trap in Durlag's Tower.
So, to summarise. I should grab the Helm of Balduran, Ring of Wizardry, maybe another Necklace of Missiles, maybe the poison questline that gives me the Tome of Understanding and Shortbow+2? The Large Shield+1, +4 vs Missiles was kind of close to that too.
Yeah, let's go with that.
---
We entered Baldur's Gate through, well the entrance. We would have to pass by the Sorcerous Sundries along the way to grab the other stuff. I couldn't help but glare at the shop as we passed it by.
I had actually wanted to go down the sewer where the Sorcerous Sundries to mark that exit so I could make purchases there easily in the future even if we needed to travel by sewers to hide from the law. But the problem was that specific sewer gate had a hostile Ogre Magi and his pet carrion crawlers. They were responsible for the people going missing that Scar wanted us to resolve.
I had resolved to focus on the Helm of Balduran, Ring of Wizardry and Necklace of Missiles. So by rights I should just skip the ogre magi.
But this didn't sit right with me. Was I really going to leave the objective of that quest be when I was walking right by? Just to grab some easy magic items first?
…No, I don't think I will.
---
I checked around the sewer grate in question just above the Sorcerous Sundries, in a lonely alley.
Jaheira whistled in appreciation of quiet. "Great spot for an escape route. Or secret passage or whatever."
"Apparently something else thinks so too," I said while pointing at the ground. "What do these look like to you guys?"
The rest came in closer to take a look at what I was examining. Tracks in the dirt near the sewer grate.
"Many thin lines, no, many legs?" Jaheira said, "Didn't Scar say tracks were found of some sort of centipede creature?"
"But are giant centipede things smart enough to ambush lone pedestrians above ground then retreat back to the sewers?" Neera asked.
"Good question. Yet the tracks don't lie. Giant centipede-like creatures are involved," I said. "Just that we may be expecting more trouble than just centipedes. An intelligent commander perhaps."
---
Immediately below the sewer gate was said intelligent commander. A tall humanoid in kara-tur styled armour and wielding a shining scimitar, and surrounded by carrion crawlers.
"So, some puny surface dwellers have come to their death. It'll just be extra treasure for my collection. My pets have been causing much anguish in your surface realms, haven't they? They have been so useful at collecting the surface pinklings. My pets use the flesh for food, and I get the pretty- wait, where are you going? Come back!"
We were climbing back up the ladder, with carrion crawlers on our tail. How do these things crawl up ladders in the first place? Right, the ogre magi was pushing them up after us.
Back up the ladder, we moved aside and tagged out with Branwen's awaiting skeleton warrior, uh, skeleton bull. The carrion crawlers hurled themselves at the skeleton bull, which ignored their paralyzing poison and gored them with its horns while we provided supporting fire. Easy peesy.
We waited a moment after dispatching the carrion crawlers.
"Is the ogre magi really not coming up?" Imoen asked.
I peeked over the sewer grate with a mirror. "Apparently not. He's just waiting down there."
Jaheira clicked her tongue. "Scared, perhaps. We did just slaughter his minions. We'd better go down and finish it off."
On the count of three, Jaheira and Khalid swung into the sewer and leapt on top of the ogre magi brandishing arms, the rest of us following after. One lonely ogre magi wasn't a match for the six of us combined, and we even had Command left to seal the deal if needed.
We found an unidentified scimitar with the ogre magi, as well as a ring marked as belonging to Shashenstar. Perhaps the ring would serve as proof of our deed to Scar.
"...Shashenstar? That name is passingly familiar," I said aloud, looked to the rest. They shook their heads. "Eh, it'll come to us someday."
---
Somewhere in Baldur's Gate central district, a certain Dabron Shashenstar sneezed. "When I find those mercenaries who murdered my brother in Cloakwood, I'll make them pay!" he said, shaking a fist.
---
One of the bodies wrapped in silk nearby had a ninjato, which Imoen identified as a Ninjato+1.
So much for my well laid plans to rush for priority items. While we were here, we instead picked up whichever quests were nearby. Whether or not we would do them is another question.
Oh, who am I kidding. I want that sweet loot! The money, I want all the money!
So I'll just leave the quests with non-material rewards alone.
In the same area as the Sorcerous Sundries was Elfsong tavern. There was quite a few noteworthy things here.
Brevlik the gnome commissioned me to steal a telescope for him from the Hall of Wonders in the western district. I negotiated with him for more rewards.
On the upper floors of the Elfsong tavern, if one looked really hard there is a merchant in the southwestern room who sells a Shield amulet, a Necklace of Missiles, and some protection scrolls. The Necklace of Missiles was what I was here for, and I bought it for 1340 gold.
"Don't we have enough fire-bombs?" Neera asked with a raised eyebrow. "We have two mages capable of casting fireballs already, you know. Not to mention your ever growing supply of actual bombs."
"Don't be silly. One can never have enough fire-bombs," I said with a grin.
---
The thieves' guild had a significant quest for us as well.
The big quest was from the guild leader, Alatos Thuibuld. Opposite him was a foreign mage in red clothes of an unusual style, not bald like Thayans though. Alatos was quite familiar with who we were, being well-informed of major players in major politics arriving in the city.
"I do have a proposition for your group to consider. A small task really, best suited to someone unknown here," Alatos said.
Ah, there was that phrasing again. "A small task". Right.
"And what would a thieves' guild need us for, really? You have plenty of skilled thieves. Thieves who are undetected need not fear being recognized," I said.
Alatos smiled, but there was just the slightest hint of annoyance in his voice. "Shrewd, very shrewd. I do indeed have many fine individuals of exceptional skill, but a large number of them are vacationing at the garrison this season. The guard have been exceptionally vigilant, what with the banditry on the roads, and to their credit they have captured several of my best people."
Again, not believable. The thieves with exceptional skill won't get caught by guards who are pr-occupied with common banditry in the countryside. But the feeling of my hair standing on end told me that I shouldn't contradict Alatos too much.
Alatos spelled out the details of the job. A wizard by the name of Shandalar had found the ritual that allows Halruaan skyships to fly. The Halruaans don't want other kingdoms to have this knowledge, so we were to steal the components before it was sold to Grand Duchess Liia Jannath: a set of rituals, an artifact fragment, and an ancient stauette. The items in question had been divided up amongst Shandalar's daughters to keep safe, apparently.
Shadalar again, huh? It was odd that he wasn't accompanying his daughters during this period, but we knew he was looking for help with another matter at Ulgoth's Beard.
The foreign mage opposite Alatos was the represenatative of the Halruaans, clearly. The stern-looking fellow had nothing to add during the conversation.
The party conferred together a little away from Alatos.
"They're not being straight with us. There are plenty of thieves here, and we're an untested element. There's another reason Alatos wants us to do this job. Probably doesn't want to risk one of his own," Jaheira said quietly.
"You're probably right too. However, there's another problem," I replied. "Look around us, but don't be obvious about it. Everyone is pretending not to be listening, but they have their hands close to their weapons and are watching our every move. They fully intend to attack us if we disagree."
The party paused, pretended to keep talking, while their eyes were roving. All eyes were on us.
Branwen cursed. "If they want a fight, we can give them one. After the Cloakwood base, clearing this lot will be easy."
"Trouble is, we need allies in the city. People who know the city. Let's play this smartly. See if we can ingrain ourselves in the woodwork."
We accepted the job and was given a time limit; ten days until the sale goes through to Grand Duchess Liia Jannath.
---
Narlen was a member of the thieves' guild who wanted, uh, something.
"'ere now, I know of you. New sneaksmen ye be, though I canna see no need. Alatos need but a look at home fer to find a dab at thievery. Mahaps we be testing yet talent, 'for ye rank riders bungle the score. Ye up to me task?" Narlen said.
I looked blankly at Narlen. "Uhhhh, what now?"
"He wants to test our talent before we before we bungled the job Alastos set for us," Imoen explained.
"Aye! We'll spy yet talent soon enough. Ye but need to keep an eye this first night. I and Rededge will command the talking. The mark be a noble house, aside the Splurging Sturgeon. Gold to split thrice amongst, followed soon by new mark if ye please. Up to the deed?" Narlen said to us.
"You're to keep watch while they work. The job is at a noble's home near the Splurging Sturgeon. The money will be split three ways, and you can join their next job after that," Imoen translated again.
I cleared my throat. "Aye! We be up! A deed we be an upping!" I replied to Narlen.
Narlen winced. "We be testing yer talents, not yer tongue. No need to copy mah speak."
Narlen's friend, Rededge, laughed at me and Narlen before the two set out.
Hell's bells, if you don't want me to talk like that maybe you shouldn't either!
---
Funnily enough, we even met someone who could tell us about the Iron Throne in the thieves' guild! Husam was his name, and he was drinking himself silly to drown out his woes as he had been ruined by the Iron Throne even though he used to work for them.
"The leaders of the Iron Throne, ye ask? Ha! There's Rieltar Anchevsh, he's the big guy, sents by the evens bigger guys down in Sembia. This woish operashion is his baby. Hes has two other guys, Brunos and Thaldorn. Brunos is a bid dumbsh drunk half-orc, damn half breeshd could never hold his liquor. Thaldorn'sh a pansy. Ohhhhh ya. I nearly forgotsh, there's Sarevok, he's the son a Rieltar. He's a mean cuss."
As to their plans, Husan knew the Iron Throne was motivated by profits, and the big three leaders we going to Candlekeep for something big. Husam then left for the Elfsong tavern.
"Was that guy really drunk?" Imoen asked suddenly.
The rest of the party looked to Imoen in surprise. "His breath smelled of alcohol. And he certainly acted drunk."
"I've seen plenty o' drunks over at Winthrop's. He acted drunk sure, but his act was too perfect."
"You're saying it was really just an act?" Jaheira mused. "What possible reason would he have to pretend then."
Ack, I completely forgot about Husam! There was in fact something off about him. I just wish I could remember what it was!
Well, it'll come up eventually.