Holding On

Holding On


“I’m holding on, To the One from above
The One Who’s secure, The One that has cured
My broken heart with perfect love.”
- Stryper, Holding On




Divorce is hard on a person. It changes you, and rips you apart, no matter what you tell yourself to self-soothe. It is a dull ache, a sense of un-right-ness.

Actually, ANY bad choice in life does something similar. It is the wages of sin; we may not suffer, as Christians, the ‘death’ part of the wages, but we still suffer the consequences.

As a Christian, I’d love to say that my divorces aren’t sin. But, were I to do so, I’d be lying. That isn’t to say that they are unforgiveable, or even that God doesn’t understand the decisions behind them. I believe He feels the pain that many of us felt in previous married relationships, just as much as I believe He feels the pain of divorce. God sees; God knows.


So, some things that have come to my mind a few days ago have popped up again. So, I thought I would share them here. Let me start by saying that I do not have all the answers, or maybe not even ANY answers. I have questions, I have musings, I have thoughts. Many of them intrigue me. I am not trying to speak here for God, only ask questions that I pray one day I will get satisfactory answers to.

So, here is what I have been thinking about lately...

Not long before I met Rachelle, I prayed that God would send me a good woman to help me through my divorce with Shiray. Somebody to walk me through things, encourage me, give me hope. And I added to that prayer, that perhaps she would even be the person God wanted me to be with for the rest of my life.

A mere few weeks later, my parents told me that God had told them to tell me that He had heard my prayer, and that He WOULD answer it.

And, probably less than a month after that, I got the opportunity to meet Rachelle. I liked her; she fascinated me. Within a week, we were dating.

About two weeks into our dating, Rachelle decided that we should not date anymore. I don’t know why, but feel that probably some of this was due to family pressures – I didn’t fit in with their idea of what a son-in-law should look like, and that scared them?

Anyways, the reasons are far less important than what happened next. See, the very next day I called Rachelle in the afternoon, and we talked on the phone for a long time; it was obvious that we both missed each other a lot already. I told Rachelle that I was going to come over and visit her; she wasn’t very resistant to that, which makes me believe that she really did like/love me.

So, I hopped in my car to go and visit her...only to discover my car would not start! No previous problems of any sort with it, none at all. I phoned her back and told her, she said that maybe we should just forget it, then. I told her I would walk down and see her. She was amazed at that, and thought I was joking, but I was not, and so I walked down to see her, and we got back together that night.

Here is the thing...I wonder now, if that was God trying to keep me from going to see her. I know it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but...

What if I had not gone to see her? What if my car problems (which went away mysteriously the next day, by the way) were a bit of ‘divine intervention’, to encourage me to NOT date Rachelle anymore?

I am not saying that God didn’t want me to marry Rachelle. I don’t know that. I am merely putting that thought out there. It is possible, is it not? That God had other ideas? Again, not suggesting that God did not honour our marriage, or that God did not bless us (cuz He did). Just throwing out the thought.

Does it matter? No, not in the fact that I can go back and change anything (or even knowing it, if I could change it, that I SHOULD do so); but, it is important to mull these thoughts over when they come up, even if you have no answers. I believe it is all part of the process; the process of healing, the process of letting go, the process of divorce - The Process.

The never-ending process that is life.

Who knows what the answers are? Not me! God does. That is all the answer that I need; Jesus.


Nevertheless, it doesn't make me stop wondering, or surmising, or going over the past and trying to make a little more sense of life.

hello!

It's been a while since I wrote anything here.

Tough month for the family. Lots of hard stuff going on - holding firm to the strong belief that God is in control, and He knows what He is doing.

Been doing a lot of gaming. I actually put Baldur's Gate on hold for a while, and have been ferociously playing Neverwinter Nights, which is a complete joy, of course.

I am still writing, honest. I wrote a poem last week. And I have been working on my online story, I am almost done chapter seven, but am not willing to post it until I have it just right.

Not much else going on. The changes that seemed to be coming at work, took a left turn. Disappointing.

Still alone. Just me. Bored. Ineffective. Alone.

The good news is, life has nowhere to go but up!

Talk to you all, later.

today

Took my daughter to the cat show in Kelowna today. That was awesome, of course.

Really disappointed with NHL hockey so far. Pittsburgh Penguins season-opener in their new arena was on Thursday, and the game was only telecast on Versus network, so the only people who got to see it were the 30,000 (approx) people in the USA who get that network. The NHL Network rebroadcast it at midnight, but that is just not the same. Tonight, Saturday night, Penguins' second game of the season is versus the Montreal Canadiens. It is listed as being telecast on CBC at 4pm - instead, they broadcast the Toronto vs Ottawa game. I guess only the privileged people in Quebec got to watch the Penguins play. How stupid! As if I would want to watch Toronto or Ottawa! Blech!

continuations

updating the continuing adventures of penelope Farhaven in the land of Baldur's Gate...






The next room they enter is a throne room; there is a tonne of treasure to pick up. When Penelope wanders over and touches the throne, the six are zapped back to the Riddle Room. There, the question they must answer is; Who is to blame for all that has befallen this place? The answer, of course, is that Durlag himself is to blame.

The six heroes are then transported back to the room with Durlag’s Ghost in it. They head down to the room where his wife’s ghost is, and there they find a secret room. Before trying to enter it, they talk with the ghost and have her send them to the surface, to unburden themselves of their goods via the merchant.

Afterwards, they re-enter Durlag’s Tower and make their way back down again, stopping to pick up the treasure left behind in the bedroom on Sublevel 2. “It’s time to enter that secret room!” cries out an excited Imoen.

The door to the secret room will not open. Frustrated, the six adventurers retrace their steps, and they find a passageway they haven’t gone down yet. A small room with a keyhole in the shape of the Bone Wardstone (they insert it) on some running machinery. The machine shuts down. Continuing down the hallway, they come to a larger room. Here, there is lots of treasure. From here, they are once again zapped back to the Riddle Rom for yet another pointless (and easy) riddle, and then back out. And now the door to the secret room opens!

“If you tell us that we are doomed,” Kagain says darkly to Xan, “By Moradin’s hammer, I’ll splatter yer elf brains all over the walls...”

Inside the room, a woman named Clair De’Lain, part of the Waterdeep adventurers, is cowering in a corner. She tells them that the others went on; she got hit on the head and was woozy, so she stayed where she was. She says, “I heard the rest die...die horribly. I heard their screams. And I heard the laughter and the gloating of the Demon Knight they were facing. Afterwards, I heard as it talked to me; it knew I was here, cowering in fear, and it taunted me with the deaths of my companions. Even though it was just in the next room, I was too afraid to face it, too afraid to run, and so here I have stayed...” She breaks down into tears.

The colour drains from Kagain’s face. He looks over at Xan. “Go ahead, elf,” he says softly. “You can go ahead and say it now.” Xan, though, is too busy, his hand over his mouth, making retching noises, and trying to keep his lunch within his stomach.

Clair De’Lain, at Penelope’s urging, tells them that the stairs in the corner lead to the Demon Knight’s lair. She also volunteers that the gloating Demon Knight has told her that it has a Mirror of Opposition; anybody who looks into it, it creates an evil duplicate if themselves!

Penelope puts her arm around Imoen’s shoulders, trying not to notice the small shudder of fear that Imoen is giving off. She addresses the other four. “It is time, my friends and companions. It is time for heroes to stand up and be heroes. For the good of the land, sharpen your weapons, say your best prayers, prepare your best spells; we have a Demon Knight to send back to the abyss. Tonight, we triumph!”

They decide to rest before tackling the evil menace. Ajantis opens a chest and discovers a magical Cloak of the Shield, which he keeps for himself.

Their rest over, up the stairs they go, leaving Clair De’Lain behind.

The room they enter has a walkway around a huge pit in the middle, and a narrow bridge leading to the place in the center of the pit where the Demon Knight and his Mirror of Opposition (mercifully covered up by a blanket right now) are. The Demon Knight is big, huge actually, and a braggart. With summoned monsters to hold him back, the six waste him with magical arrows and stones and darts. The Mirror of Opposition, still covered up, is smashed to bits by Penelope Farhaven.

The corpse holds the Soultaker Dagger, which somebody in the Inn at Ulgoth’s Beard asked us to recover. Imoen discovers the boy, Dalton, in the room, hidden along the walkway at the back of the room. “Of course,” says Penelope, “the boy from Ulgoth’s Beard.” She speaks to him, but he does nothing but cry out in terror, and then he takes off past her, hopefully running for home. On the way back out, they stop and speak to Clair De’Lain, who is surprised to find that they have survived.

After visiting that merchant one last time, they grab some more arrows at the Nashkel Carnival tents, then head North to the Friendly Arm Inn for a rest before making their return to Ulgoth’s Beard.

When they arrive at the village, they are greeted by a “Cult Enforcer” who demands the return of the dagger, Soultaker. “Dammit, I hate cultists,” says Branwen. “They are a blight that should be wiped off the face of the planet.”

The six do battle with two Cult Enforcers (Mages), two Cult Assassins, and two Cult Guards, as well as two Cult Archers. They defeat them, but as Ajantis is killed in the fight they leave the area and head for the temple at the Friendly Arm Inn to have him revived. Penelope realizes that the Soultaker Dagger was taken by one of the Cult Assassins during the fight.

Back in Ulgoth’s Beard, they enter they village; all appears momentarily quiet. Imone nudges Penelope, pointing out an armed Cultist Guard standing guard (which is what a guard does, after all!) outside a house. Penelope and Ajantis take aim and kill him swiftly from a distance with their arrows. The six enter the home.

Inside are a bunch of Cultists (“colour me surprised,” mutters Xan), mainly Cult Mages with some Cult Archers and Cult Fighters. The heroic six take them down. There are stairs inside the home leading down into the basement, but the party is feeling beat up and tired, and decide to take a quick rest. They head out of the home and go to the Inn, where the fellow that asked them to retrieve the Soultaker Dagger warns them that the town is overrun with Cultists (“Duh!” mutters Ajantis) who want to use the dagger to summon the demon who the Demon Knight of Durlag’s Tower serves. Kagain looks at Xan, and sighs. Xan looks at Kagain, opens his mouth, then closes it and bites his lip, whimpering softly.

The six rest up, sell of their unneeded crap, and then come back to the house and creep down the stairs.

Some crazy cultist chick is down here. There are also six other robed cultists, standing around runes drawn on the floor. The crazy chick cackles (“Really, is that even necessary?” asks Imoen of Penelope, who shrugs in reply), tells them that they are too late, the dagger has been broken and her master has been summoned. That is when a huge demon appears within the runes.

Branwen and Xan summon a lot of monsters and undead, and then summon even more of them. After that, they finish up by summoning even more. Meanwhile, Kagain and Penelope take out the crazy cultist chick, who shrieks and then laughs as she dies. The swarm of summoned stuff surrounds the demon and beat on him enough to keep him busy and keep him within the runes on the floor. Ajantis shoves Xan roughly from behind. “Do something, lazy and foul sorcerer!” he shouts, then charges at some of the six robed cultists, followed swiftly by Kagain and Penelope. Xan produces a Frost Wand and uses it to “make them nice and brittle”, and the others then make short work of the robed cultists. By this time, it does not take much more than a few arrows and whatnot to take down the demon for good.

After high fives all around, they leave behind Ulgoth’s Beard (after checking in to make sure that Dalton has indeed returned safely home), heading South back to the bridge leading back to Baldur’s Gate. It is here that Penelope and Imoen decide that they have had enough of Ajantis’ thinly-veiled threats against Xan. They take his weapons, armour, magical stuff and other equipment, and eject him from the party, leaving him there.

The five then head back South, down into the lowest levels of the Nashkel Mines, to rejoin with their old companion, Jaheira the Druid. They then make a few stops to arm and armour her the way that they want to. It’s a real shame she hasn’t nearly as much experience as the other five have! “She’s not Kivan,” murmurs Penelope to Imoen. “But she’ll do.”

Now, back to the Eastern Section of Baldur’s Gate!

There, they “accidentally” wander into a house, where this creepy wizard named Arkion tells them to bring him a dead body (“any dead body will do”) from the sewers. Penelope shrugs and looks at Imoen, who says “Might be good for a lark, heya Pen?”

The six (Penelope Farhaven, Kagain, Imoen, Branwen, Jaheira, and Xan) remove the nearest sewer grating and climb on in!

Jaheira wrinkles her nose. “better leadership would help,” she says snobbily. Imoen stands in front of her, hands on hips, and yells, “WHAT did you say, prissy-missy-druid-all-mysterious, freakin’ snobby Harper-nutcase-psycho-bitch?!?” jaheira gulps and backs up, looks at Penelope briefly and then drops her gaze and mutters, “I apologize.” Branwen and Xan, who were also about to complain about the smell in the sewers, wisely hold their tongues.

Immediately upon entering, a tricky Phase Spider almost kills Imoen before the six kill it. Then another Phase Spider attacks them. Moving along, they come upon a gang of six carrion Crawlers! And, just beyond them, an ogre mage! The six heroes take him down, Kagain’s axe leading the charge. He has a strange ring that Penelope takes for safe keeping...

Penelope picks up a corpse from behind the dead mage, after drinking a potion of strength, and they head back to the surface.

They give the corpse to the creepy Mage, Arkion, who rewards them. Then, they kill the evil dude. They find a Bloodstone Amulet on his corpse.
They leave the general area, heading to the SE Section of Baldur’s Gate. There, some stupid wizard named Nemphre attacks them, forcing them to kill him dead. After that, bored, they give in to Imoen’s chuckled suggestion and use Algernon’s Cloak (which Kagain is wearing) to charm a storekeeper and then rob him blind.

Back at Sorcerous Sundries in the Eastern Section of Baldur’s Gate, the wizard Ordulinian rewards them for defeating the duelling/scheming wizards Arkion and Nemphre (although he mentions that killing them might have been a bit of overkill - “Overkill! Hah!” snorts Kagain).

They head back to the SE Section of town, where they find two thieves looting a house; they raise battle and kill them both.

Whilst scouting out the top floor of an inn, an upset woman asks Imoen to keep an eye out for her brother Shank and cousin Carbos, who left to look for work some time ago and never returned...Penelope recognizes the names, and tells Imoen the story of how these two same men waylaid her within the walls of Candlekeep and tried to end her life!

Next up, a dwarf named Nadarin tells them that a Basilisk is loose in a warehouse by the docks, and asks the six to fix the problem if they are able to. They stop for a brief respite at the Blade And Stars Inn, where Penelope allows Kagain to partake in some well-earned “Dragon’s Breath Beer.”

Now off they go to the South Section of town, where the docks are. They enter a warehouse, trying hard to avoid the screaming and fleeing warehouse workers. “Heya, yup, this is the place,” says Imoen. Xan casts a Protection From Petrification spell on Penelope, and she goes to work, walking up to the Greater Basilisk and slicing-n-dicing it with her Two-handed Sword +3; “The World’s Edge”.

Back to the SE Section, to claim their reward from Nadarin. Back at the Eastern Section of town, and inside the Elfsong Tavern (“Beer!” shouts Kagain), they meet Hussam, the Shadow Thief who previously filled them in on the iron Throne’s leaders. He is, of course, very drunk, and tells them that they should really go and investigate the Iron Throne’s HQ.

A gnome named Brevlik wishes to speak to Penvelope in private, pulling her into a quiet corner of the Elfsong. She is worried that he might be “amorous”, but she needn’t have, as he is more interested in having them “procure, through whatever means necessary, ahem ahem” a telescope from the Hall of Wonders in Western Baldur’s Gate.

Always up to an interesting challenge, the six enter the Hall of Wonders that very night, where they forthwith encounter a Halfling thief named Alora. Imoen tells her to “piss off, little person”, and pushes her out the door. “Amateurs,” she mutters with a “tssk”-ing noise. The Flaming Fist show up (Branwen’s eyes narrowing as she wonders whether Alora tipped them off), and the six escape with the telescope but only after taking a slight hit to their previously-sterling reputation.  They go back to the East Section and give the telescope to Brevlik at the Elfsong Tavern, for some gold and a Wand of Lightning.

Back to the docks (in the South Section) area, where they enter a permanently-docked ship that serves as a house of gambling and prostitution (on the way there, they bump into a man named Entillis, a friend of Jahiera’s, a member of the super-secretive Harpers, and apparently also a friend of Gorion’s. Entillis tells us to trust Scar and Duke Eltan of the Flaming Fist, then leaves, after hinting that Penelope’s father was evil and that this city is a very dangerous place for her to be...). The ship is called the “Low Lantern”. The 1st level has games and drinking. On level 2, they are waylaid by 2 powerful nutcases named Desreta and Vya-ya. They kill them. On level 3 is a mage named Yago. They kill him, too. “This might prove useful somewhere,” remarks Penelope, picking up Yago’s Book of Curses and putting it in her pack.

Exploring this section of Baldur’s Gate, they enter one large house to discover 5 deadly Ogre Mages who are seeking the head of Penelope Farhaven (and the reward of 10,000 gold pieces!). Some spells by Xan (Dispel Magic), Kagian’s Boot of Speed and his axe that dispels magic and interrupts spellcasting abilities, and a few precisely launched poison arrows, ad it is all over but the looting!

In a smaller house, they meet a poor man named Ghorak who was cursed and turned into a living Ghoul. To cure him, they must find the skull of his brother, which is hidden behind a painting at the Three Kegs Inn, and take it to Agnasia in The Lady’s Hall...

So, it is off to the North Section of town, to visit the Three Kegs Inn (“By Moradin’s hammer, is this dwarf ever parched!” says Kagain, to no avail)! On the second floor is the painting, with the skull behind it. On floor three is a noblewoman who is being blackmailed by somebody who saw her in a seedy part of town. The blackmailer is Cyrdemac, who frequents the Elfsong Tavern.

The skull in hand (“Yuck-ee!” exclaims the ever-squeamish elf mage, Xan), they head to the Western Section of Baldur’s Gate to find The Lady’s Hall., which is right near the Hall of Wonders. Just before arriving there, a Lord Priest of Tymora requests our help; his son wanted to explore the Water Queen’s House, got caught and was killed. He would like the body returned to him, so he can be revived.

Inside The Lady’s Hall, Agnasia tells them it is the skull of Kereph that they have brought her, a former priest of Tymora who was very blessed. They head back to the South Section, to find Ghorak. “Heya, he’s been cured!” says Imoen. “Now, to the Elfsong,” says a pleased Jaheira.

In the East Section again, they climb the stairs to the 2nd floor of the Elfsong Tavern, and confront Cyrdemac. He and his henchmen put up a bit of a fight, but in the end they all die. So, it is back to the Three Kegs for their reward, and then on to the Water Queen’s House in the South Section near the docks.

Inside the Water Queen’s House, they ask the first Priestess of Umberlee they see to direct them to Tenya, the young priestess they helped against the fishermen. She speaks with them, and Penelope asks her for the body of Carson, the dead boy; she gives it to the six, saying her debt to them is now paid. Back they head to the West Section, to return the boy’s body. He is returned to life, Penelope is rewarded, and then the boy’s father threatens to beat the boy to death again for his stupidity!

Off to the SW Section of Baldur’s Gate. Almost right away, they bump into Aldeth Sashenstar (remember, they saved him and his hunting buddies from being slaughtered by druids earlier?). Aldeth is a principle shareholder in the Merchant’s Consortium. He tells us that when he returned from his hunting trip, his two partners, Irlentree and Zorl Miyar, had undergone some sinister changes...as if they were completely different people, and were now running the business into the ground! Jaheira promises to look into this for him right away. “Err....if the group agrees, that is,” she says, looking sheepishly at Penelope Farhaven.

Penelope nods, and into the Merchant’s Consortium building they go!

On the first floor are a bunch of merchants, who all nod and smile at the six but refuse to do any business with them. Irlentree is also there, and tells Penelope that a party for Aldeth is being held on the third floor and that they should really attend...

Up to the second floor. Zorl Miyar is here, and seems suspicious of the six; he doesn’t seem to believe the story that Aldeth circulated about the six adventurers being old childhood friends come for a visit. The Captain of the household guard is here too, Brandilar; he seems suspicious too, but of Irlentree and Zorl. He asks Pen to bring him some proof of what is going on. They speak with Aldeth, who says that it is NOT the anniversary of his partnership here, and that the third floor party must be a trap! “Well, duh...” says Imoen.

According to some letters that Imoen “finds” in a locked desk drawer, Irlentree and Zorl Miyar are already dead, and Aldeth is scheduled to soon join them. Penelope talks to Brandilar again, showing him the letters. He says that the two partners must be Dopplegangers! Zorl overhears the conversation, attacks the six heroes, and pays the ultimate price (that’d be death). They head back downstairs, and kill Irlentree and 4 other Dopplegangers. Then up to the third floor, where they kill nine more of the duplicitous beasties.

Brandilar thanks them, and Aldeth rewards them with a sword that is very good against shape-shifters (“Well, THAT is the definition of ironic”, mutters Xan).

Outside, Penelope holds the new sword at arm’s length, looking at it. “Anybody want a sword?” she asks. “I mean, it’s nice and all, but I think Aldeth is taking the phrase ‘Better late than never’ too far!” The two sword-wielders, Imoen and Penelope, like the weapons they already have, so they sell this new weapon to a nearby merchant. “Easy come, easy go,” says Imoen with a shrug and a smile.

In the next house over, a Mage named Sunin and his two powerful flunkies attack us. They fall over and lay still, never to rise again (“Except maybe as zombies,” remarks Xan, with a wink and then a shudder).

Next up is a house with four cranky and aggressive thieves in it. In spite of their nasty fire arrows, which they insist at firing at the six, as if they were the good guys and Penelope and party were the bad ones, the six heroes end up killing them dead. Not much loot here...

They enter a nearby inn, and find the people inside under attack by five puddles of oozing Green Slime! “Stupid wizards”, mutters Jaheira. They grab weapons and take out the magical slime, but not before a number of the inn’s residents die around them.

Off to the NW Section of Baldur’s Gate. They enter a house, and are attacked by Invisible Stalkers, Battle Horrors, and a Helmed Horror. It is a tough battle, but they prevail. In another room of the home, a Mage named Degrodel congratulates them on defeating his guardians, and asks them to find for him the Helm of Balduran, telling the six a story to help them locate it.

Penelope and companions head over to the Helm And Cloak Inn. Here, they meet a party of adventurers named Gorpel Hind and his Band of Merry Fools, and swap tales with the jolly fellows over some ale. Then another party of adventurers blusters up, Gretek and the Maulers of the Undermountain, and they are mean and itching for a fight. A very tough battle ensues; there were 6 powerful members of the Maulers, and they killed 2 of the 4 Merry Fools plus the inn’s bartender before they were killed in turn.

Behind a painting on the second floor, Imoen finds the Helm of Balduran, and gives it to Penelope. “I don’t know how you do it, Penelope,” says Jaheira. “But I’m impressed.”

“Glorious battle,” revels Branwen. “Mighty the rewards of Tempus to all who answer his call.”

“Err...yeah...” says Imoen, with a confused shrug. “Could have sworn that I found that old hat, not stuffy old Tempus.” Peneloep just grins, and places the Helm of Balduran on Branwen’s head.

They head off to the SW Section to find a merchant, and to rest. Then, back to the NW Section, to talk to this Degrodel character again. He grabs the helm off of Branwen’s head, and tosses them a very tiny bag of coins. The six, disgusted, attack him, and he summons four more invisible and horrible things. They take down them things, then they take him down too, and then they take back Branwen’s new favourite hat. The Flaming Fist show up and try to detain them, but they split the scene and leave them behind.

The next house they enter, there are two little girls who are scared of ‘the bogeyman’, who peers in their windows and watches them. A male wizard appears, and says that the girls are being haunted by a druid who has nefarious plans for them. Then a female druid appears, and she says that the wizard is the sick-o who is peering in the girls’ window. The six glance at each other, and decide to attack the wizard.

Penelope and company cut through him “like a sharp cutty-thing, doomed to forever hack away at soft, wet, gooey stuff, until such stuff turns to acid and eats away at the cutty-thing and renders it useless, and we all die” intones the morbidly-fascinated elf Wizard, Xan.

After a rest, it is off to the NE section of town. In the streets there, they meet a young woman named Brielbara, a minor Mage. Her daughter has had a curse laid on her, and only Yago knows the remedy for it. She takes off before they can tell her that they have already killed Yago at the Low Lantern, and that they have his Book of Curses on them right now. Penelope trails her to the nearby Splurging Sturgeon Inn, and speaks to her again there, giving her the book.

Now it is time to visit the Central Section of Baldur’s Gate, which is where the open-air market is located. There, they are approached by Lothander (Kagain tells Jaheira of how Lothander and Marek threatened them earlier on behalf of the Iron Throne), who says that Marek has poisoned their food and they will all die within 10 days without the antidote. Lothander will help them find the antidote, if we help him to remove the geas (a mystical compulsion) which makes him work for Marek.

Penelope and friends agree (“It’s not like we have much of a choice, now do we?” said Imoen wisely), and Lothander tells them to speak with the Fortune Teller in her tent nearby. Penelope pays the fee of 50 gold, and they learn that only the High Priestess of Umberless, Jalentha Mistmyr, can find a way to release Lothander from his compulsion.

The six head off to the Water Queen’s House in the South Section. They are to meet Lothander in the Blade And Stars Inn when they have found a way to release him.

“Bah, we’ve got ten days. And I can see by the looks on all your faces that you are stressed and worried. What we need right now is some action,” says Kagain. He turns to Imoen. “Good lady thief,” he says, causing Imoen to blush a deep schoolgirl red, “find us a house likely to be well guarded indeed, and then get us inside that we may blow off some steam, like a dragon does to keep from setting fire to its own belly!”

They enter a big house, and find a group of adventurers, turned to stone. They restore them, using some handy Stone To Flesh scrolls, and then attack and slaughter the five, leaving nothing but entrails, some gold coins, and a few scraps of leather left to see.

At the Water Queen’s House, we have to donate 50 gold pieces just to get the High Priestess to talk to us. She refuses to help, unless we bring her the Book of Wisdom from The Lady’s Hall, in the possession of the Temple of Tymora. They have no choice, once again, but to agree.

In The Lady’s Hall in Western Baldur’s Gate, they tell the priest that they will die if he does not give them the book. He does.

Back to the High Priestess – they trade her for a geas removal scroll, but instead of giving her the book they keep it. Then they slaughter her and two of her minor priestesses. Branwen reads the book, raising her Wosdom score by one point permanently, to a perfect 18.

To the Se Section of town now, to the Blade and Stars Inn! They give the cure scroll to Lothander, who gives them his half of the antidote. Of course, Marek has the other half, and he is at the Blushing Mermaid Inn. They go there, confront him, kill him, and get cured.

They all head over to the SW Section of town.