From the area with the half-ogres, we moved north back to the area we had encountered Melicamp while he was still a chicken.
There, we met a young boy. He put a finger to his mouth as soon as he saw us. "Sssh! I'm spyin' on Bassilus an' his spooks. They're funny."
First Bjornin's half-ogres, now Bassilus. We're on a roll.
I nodded to Khalid, and he stepped forward to speak to the child. "We'll be quiet. Why are you here, little one? You should be in Beregost with your family, where it is safe."
The child shook his head. "I ain't got no home to go to there, not since Mom an' Johnny disappeared. I been looking for them but all I can ever find is these spooks. One of them's wearing Johnny's knickers, though, but I don't want to think of where it got 'em... "
The whole party turned grim. We had guessed Bassilus was messing with undead much earlier, so we could infer where a 'spook' got Johnny's clothes from.
Fun fact: In Dungeons and Dragons, evil clerics are the best at summoning undead minions, moreso than mages specialising in necromancy. Surprise! Or at least they were in earlier editions of the game. This was a tradition which was cemented early on, priests who worshiped evil gods (such as gods of death) tended to keep undead minions in their retinue. It's a holdover from Sword & Sorcery traditions (think Conan vs various cultist priests).
"Do you know what he is doing with the spooks?" Khalid asked.
Again, the child shook his head. "Bassilus keeps on tellin' these stories about how happy he was as a kid, but all of the spooks just kinda moan and mumble and stuff, like they're not really listening."
The child helped point out the direction where we could find Bassilus. Khalid convinced him to head straight to the temple at Beregost. Meanwhile, the rest of us conferred on what we had just learned.
"We're facing undead, as we had expected. But Bassilus's attempts to talk to his undead minions is rather suggestive of his state of mind," Branwen said.
"As in he's completely out of his mind," I summed up. "And yet, could we use this to our advantage, somehow?"
"Is there a priest spell that can cure madness?" Imoen asked Branwen ad Jaheira.
Ah, that's actually a good question. Dependinng on the edition, in the table-top roleplaying game, a Restoration spell can in fact remove madness from someone. Alternatively, depending on the source of the madness, Remove Curse or Dispel Magic could work. However, Baldur's Gate the game generally wasn't so reactive to such spells. What about in the world we were in?
"Greater Restoration is the spell you seek. The spell does indeed remove any form of insanity from the recipient of the spell," Branwen replied. Her face was still grim. "Unfortunately, Greater Restoration is a spell of the seventh level. Only the greatest of priests is bestowed such power from their gods."
…huh. I actually remember that spell description. Yet, I'm certain there is no instance where we meet someone whom we can cast Greater Restoration on to remove their madness in BG2 and Throne of Bhaal. That level of reactivity to the player's actions, more common in newer games like BG3, is less present in the older games.
"It looks like a quick fix to the problem is out not available. But we haven't yet ruled out a more peaceful solution," I said to the party. "Do we even want to? Bassilus's crimes are heinous."
"If madness be the cause of this tragedy, a quick death would be a mercy. Bassilus cannot be allowed to commit more terrible acts in his madness," Jaheira stated her opinion.
"If madness be the cause, shouldn't we allow him a chance to come to his senses? Repent?" Imoen asked. "Something? We should at least try."
Khalid put up his hand. He looked to Jaheira before he spoke though.
Jaheira sighed and smiled gently to him. "Go ahead. I won't be angry if you contradict my opinion dear."
She gave her husband. "...maybe a little angry, but I can take it."
I glared at Jaheira something fierce, but she stuck out her tongue at me.
"I-I I agree with Imoen. Let me try to talk to him, at least," Khalid said. "Maybe I can talk him out of it?"
Inwardly, I was groaning. In the game, we would have to fight Bassilus no matter what. But there was a way to remove his undead minions. Bassilus had killed and animated civilians to pose as his family members to drown out the pain of their loss. I had to pick the right things to say to cause him to realise that the undead minions were not truly his family, thus causing him to dismiss them. If Khalid were to speak honestly however, it looked like we were going to have to do this the hard way.
I must have been making a face, because Neera gave me an odd look. Then she gave me a nudge. "Is our fearless leader really going to let the man with the stammer do the talking? You do it. May Bassilus kiss you and kill you while's he's at it."
Thank you, Neera! ...not for the kiss comment. I wanted to smile and smack her both.
---
Funnily enough, the undead skeletons and zombies around Bassilus made no move to attack us. At least, not yet. Bassilus himself was having a strange conversation with one of the zombies.
"Heh heh heh heh heh heh... Oh, brother Thurm, why not grace our ears with a ripping tale of the old days? Heh heh. Always a delight!" Bassilus said to it.
The zombie simply moaned in response.
Bassilus grinned widely. "Oh, don't hesitate on my account! Some of the others may not have heard them."
Again, the zombie moaned. Simple undead like skeletons and zombies cannot speak, even if commanded to by their master. Must have been a source of endless frustration for Bassilus.
Bassilus's wide grin wavered slightly. "Hold your peace then, though I remember a time back at Zhentil Keep when you would sooner die than be quiet. You... would sooner, um, I'll wait till you feel like telling them yourself, I don't remember the old days so well."
Zhentil Keep? I heard about what happened to the place, as Sonny, actually. Gorion told me the place was attacked by giants. No one survived, or at least it was thought that no one did.
As we stepped near, Bassilus turned to face us. "Who dares interrupt while I speak with my family? I'll have your heads if you're here to harm the..."
Bassilus paused when he caught sight of me. "No! It can't be! Is that you Father? It cannot be otherwise, you haven't changed a bit in all these years!"
I was in front of the party, yet I could tell what the rest were all thinking. How could this madman possibly mistake someone so short as his father?!?
Time to play our parts. "Uh, yes, son, it certainly has been a long time. How are you doing, my boy?" I said.
"About as well as can be expected I guess. It has been difficult buy I've got most of the family back together. Some did not seem to recognize me at first, but I helped them recall."
Ugh. I had to hold back the urge to retch at the implications. "No matter, my son. I've not seen you since, um, Zhentil Keep. Thank the gods we all got out safely."
"Yes, though it was frightening for a time because I thought I was the only one of us that survived. I thought I was the only one who... the only one," Bassilus said, realisation slowly creeping in, "…You lie. YOU LIE! You cannot be my father! He died when I left the... when I…"
He looked around at the skeletons and zombies around him, quivering.
"That's right, your whole family never did not escape Zhentil Keep. Only In your grief, you've killed others and raised them as undead to pose as your loved ones to drown out the pain," I said frankly.
Tears streamed down Bassilus's face. "No! They lived, all of them! I saved them and they live! I... I ran. Dead... all dead," he said, his face a mask of horror. He wiped his tears away, and screamed, "It isn't true! It cannot be... You lie! You will die for slighting my memory!"
All around us, the undead crumbled to the ground. No matter what he had said, it looked like the truth had sunk in after all.
Bassilus started to incant magic at me, but was blasted by two barrages of Magic Missiles, interrupting him.
I shook my head and pointed my quarterstaff at him. "I'm sorry Bassilus. But when our loved ones pass on, it is the duty of the ones who are left to grieve, and eventually move on. That goes even for evil bastards like the Zhents."
He screamed bloody murder at me and swung widely with his shiny hammer, but I ducked the blow and swept his feet from under him with my staff, then brought my staff down on his head. At last, he went still.
I knelt down and shut the eyes of his broken face. "Rest in peace, Bassilus. Your family is waiting for you, where ever they are."
Loot: Ashideena+2, cursed gauntlets
Ashideenna was a Warhammer+2 which also did a point of electricity damage. This was a hefty improvement over Branwen's Warhammer+1 from Taurgosz "Tenhammer" Khosann she had been using all this time. At least, once we identify it properly.
Bassilus was a prime example of someone wearing both valuable enchanted items (Ashideena +2) and a cursed item (the gauntlets). Since I couldn't let the party know I had foreknowledge of what was cursed and what wasn't, we had to wait until we could properly Identify all the enchanted equipment we come across before we could start using the premium enchanted gear we were finding. Tiresome, I know.
We took the time to bury the bodies of both Bassilus and his victims and give them their proper rites. As usual, there was no one else to do this one final service for them so it was left to us.
We made sure to keep Bassilus's holy symbol of Cyric as proof of his defeat. This would be delivered to the Temple of the Morning Lord in Beregost eventually.
---
We weren't done with this area yet though.
Three INCREDIBLY buff hobgoblins stood before us. Really, hobgoblins aren't exactly weak in the first place. Seeing hobgoblins built like a fully roided out body-builder was more than a little jarring to the eyes.
Does the Forgotten Realms have gyms? Protein powder? Steroids?
The lead hobgoblin was particularly large, which made the fancy shortsword he was carrying look even smaller in comparison. "You surrender, or you die. You make choice, and you make choice quickly! Zargal has no patience to wait for slow-witted city folk."
Jaheira snorted. "Hardly likely. You'll find us quite adept at putting down hobgoblins of all sizes."
Jaheira was doing the talking, unfortunately, otherwise I wanted to ask him what his workout regime was.
"You very stupid for city folk. You die screaming. ZARGAL STRONGEST ONE THERE IS!"
That wasn't an empty boast. Zargal had an amazing 19 strength, more than most ogres in fact. His two buddies Malkx and Geltik also had an abnormally high strength of 18/10. Still, he and his two buddies were woefully underleveled compared to us. We could have used a Sleep spell but to great effect here but I just klonked Zargal over the head from behind and we took out the other two without issue. Sorry Drizzt, no need for wit here either.
Loot: Shortsword+2
This shortsword would go to Imoen, at least once we identify it. Not that she'll get much use of it seeing as how she is mainly ranged focused AND a spell caster now to boot. Maybe I'll have someone cast Strength on her and have her backstab fools more often? Her sneaking skills aren't great though.
Eh, loot is always fun.
---
The last thing we came across of note in the area was a messenger running past us. "It's a shame my line of work doesn't allow for leisurely chats, but it's an important job. Must run the message through, rain or shine or gibberling. Amn grows weary of invasion accusations, and is demanding restitution from the Grand Dukes of Baldur's Gate. This will not sit well indeed! Make way!"
And away he went.
Urgh. "Are the Grand Dukes really so foolish? We're practically feeding them the truth of the matter. Why are they still picking fights with Amn?"
"Sometimes, ego gets in the way of rational thought," Jaheira said. "You would do well to remember that yourself, young cub."