Video of my daughter's water-baptism...
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Sugar Coated Killers, live, December 10th 2010
As uploaded to YouTube, by me, after having been recorded, by me, on December 10th 2010. With the official (for now) disbanding of Severed Serenity, Sugar Coated Killers are now offically my favourite local band! Yay!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Seen, But No Evidence...
Got to see Sugar Coated Killers perform last night, with Shiray. Fun times. Took some video and photos.
Unfortunately, found out that I lost my installation CD after five years for my camera, and without it I cannot install any drivers on my new pc. Long story short, i have a camera full of photos and video, and currently no way to get them from the camera to my computer...
Hopefully Canon sends me a new one, tout de suite!
That it for now. But the SC Killers rocked, as always. Great show.
Unfortunately, found out that I lost my installation CD after five years for my camera, and without it I cannot install any drivers on my new pc. Long story short, i have a camera full of photos and video, and currently no way to get them from the camera to my computer...
Hopefully Canon sends me a new one, tout de suite!
That it for now. But the SC Killers rocked, as always. Great show.
Friday, December 10, 2010
still waters
I am still blogging over at
http://a-cutt-above.blogspot.com/
where I have 11 chapters of my ongoing story about the superhero team CUTT (the Canadian Ultra Tactical Team) posted already, and currently I have written two-thirds of chapter twelve so I expect it to be posted up there within a few days.
If yuo haven't checked it out, you should. It is my life's work, right now. The site features a front page that explains a little bit about the online serial superhero comic "A CUTT Above". It also features the opportunity to sign up as a 'Follower' of the story. There are character bios for all the main characters, with pictures of them, so you readers can keep them all straight, and then there is the section that allows you to pick which chapter you wish to read.
All of this greatness, created and posted by little ol' me! (You're welcome!)
http://a-cutt-above.blogspot.com/
where I have 11 chapters of my ongoing story about the superhero team CUTT (the Canadian Ultra Tactical Team) posted already, and currently I have written two-thirds of chapter twelve so I expect it to be posted up there within a few days.
If yuo haven't checked it out, you should. It is my life's work, right now. The site features a front page that explains a little bit about the online serial superhero comic "A CUTT Above". It also features the opportunity to sign up as a 'Follower' of the story. There are character bios for all the main characters, with pictures of them, so you readers can keep them all straight, and then there is the section that allows you to pick which chapter you wish to read.
All of this greatness, created and posted by little ol' me! (You're welcome!)
Friday, December 3, 2010
hello!
Hi All,
Haven't written much here, so that I would drop by for a quick moment or two.
I have been spending my time doing several things lately...
first, organizing my notes on my characters in the story i am writing, which means less writing but more work.
second, starting plans for a second, completely un-related story.
third, I just wrote and posted here http://canadas-own-the-flight.blogspot.com/ a short (three chapter) fan-fiction Alpha Flight story, which i also shared with my online friends at alphaflight.net
fourth, been watching a lot of NHL hockey lately, plus Lebron James' return to Cleveland last night!
that's about it, other than work!
spending time with my daughter tonight (and visiting my parents), taping the Blackhawks-Canucks game (go Hawks!) so i can watch it later tonight.
Oh, and gaming on my computer. Still haven't gotten back to my Baldur's Gate game yet, but am now in chapter three of my Neverwinter Nights 2 game! fun, fun, fun!
until next time, ta ta!
Haven't written much here, so that I would drop by for a quick moment or two.
I have been spending my time doing several things lately...
first, organizing my notes on my characters in the story i am writing, which means less writing but more work.
second, starting plans for a second, completely un-related story.
third, I just wrote and posted here http://canadas-own-the-flight.blogspot.com/ a short (three chapter) fan-fiction Alpha Flight story, which i also shared with my online friends at alphaflight.net
fourth, been watching a lot of NHL hockey lately, plus Lebron James' return to Cleveland last night!
that's about it, other than work!
spending time with my daughter tonight (and visiting my parents), taping the Blackhawks-Canucks game (go Hawks!) so i can watch it later tonight.
Oh, and gaming on my computer. Still haven't gotten back to my Baldur's Gate game yet, but am now in chapter three of my Neverwinter Nights 2 game! fun, fun, fun!
until next time, ta ta!
Friday, November 12, 2010
hello! - all about Storm of Zehir
It's been a long time since I blogged. Just been doing lots of working, gaming, and writing.
Haven't blogged about "Baldur's Gate" in a long time. Reason being, haven't played it in a long time. Got sidetracked, in a good way. Played "Neverwinter Nights 1" right through. Am now playing "Neverwinter Nights 2", and am thoroughly enjoying it, playing as a female half-elf (half human, half drow) named Tarnalia Lucklass. Tarnalia is a Swashbuckler, so she relies mainly on dexterity and uses two (magical) rapiers as weapons. Its pretty cool, how she twists and turns in the air while she slices and dices! Lots of fun.
At the same time, idecided to give "Neverwinter Nights 2:Storm of Zehir" a whirl as wel,, never having played it before. Although slightly slower paced, I am totally enjoying being able to create and control a party of four, much like in Icewind Dale (but much much better).
Below is my party...
1. Harjuana Djimnut
(Click to see it bigger)
Harjuana is a female, human, black, a Ranger/Rogue(Thief). As a Ranger, she is working towards becoming a Stalker, an expert at moving stealthily.
Her alignment is Neutral Good, her deity is Shiallia, and her background is Veteran.
Strength = 12
Dexterity = 15
Constitution = 14
Intelligence = 14
Wisdom = 14
Charisma = 10
She is a two-weapon fighter. For a distance weapon, she uses a magical crossbow.
2. Szimon Norhausen
(Click to see it bigger)
Szimon is a male Gray Orc, one of those orcs who lives deep inside the mountains and are not often seen by others. He is a Cleric, working at becoming a Warpriest. As a Grey Orc Cleric, Szimon is quiet, but very passionate about his calling and can run off into battle in a rage at times if he thinks that his deity demands it of him.
His alignment is Chaotic Good, his deity is Selune, and his background is Devout.
Strength = 14
Dexterity = 11
Constitution = 15
Intelligence = 11
Wisdom = 14
Charimsa = 13
His weapon of choice is a Greataxe (he hopes to be able to afford to purchase a magical one very soon).
3. Darqhamer Deepbledder
(Click to see it bigger)
Darqhamer is a male gnome, specifically a Deep Gnome. Deep Gnomes, as their name implies, live deep in the earth and are not normally seen on the surface. He is a Warlock, a natural magic-caster with no need to memorize spells; he casts them through pure willpower. Deep Gnomes do not usually speak much, but Darqhamer is an exception to this rule.
His alignment is Lawful Evil, his deity is Loviatar, and his background is Tale-Teller.
Strength = 6
Dexterity = 16
Constitution = 14
Intelligence = 12
Wisdom = 10
Charisma = 14
When battle presses around him and he is forced to do hand-to-hand combat, Darqhamer uses a +1 Warmace. Luckily, his extremely short stature makes him a hard target to hit!
4. Naytashe Oaktaller
(Click to see it bigger)
Naytashe is a female Wood Elf, a Fighter by trade who is working at becoming a Weaponsmaster in the use of the Longsword.
Wood Elves usually are not seen in public, but hide deep in the forests they call home; they have golden or copper coloured skin.
Her alignment is Lawful Neutral, her deity is Red Knight, and her background is Militia.
Strength = 15
Dexterity = 15
Constitution = 16
Intelligence = 12
Wisdom = 8
Charisma = 8
Naytasha fights with a Longsword and shield (and hopes to get a magical Longsword as soon as she can).
Drawn together after the fall of the King of Shadows, these four unlikely adventurers became known as Harjuana's Four, whose motto became "Pirate Booty Call!" as they tended to stay near the coastlines in the adventuring.
Haven't blogged about "Baldur's Gate" in a long time. Reason being, haven't played it in a long time. Got sidetracked, in a good way. Played "Neverwinter Nights 1" right through. Am now playing "Neverwinter Nights 2", and am thoroughly enjoying it, playing as a female half-elf (half human, half drow) named Tarnalia Lucklass. Tarnalia is a Swashbuckler, so she relies mainly on dexterity and uses two (magical) rapiers as weapons. Its pretty cool, how she twists and turns in the air while she slices and dices! Lots of fun.
At the same time, idecided to give "Neverwinter Nights 2:Storm of Zehir" a whirl as wel,, never having played it before. Although slightly slower paced, I am totally enjoying being able to create and control a party of four, much like in Icewind Dale (but much much better).
Below is my party...
1. Harjuana Djimnut
(Click to see it bigger)
Harjuana is a female, human, black, a Ranger/Rogue(Thief). As a Ranger, she is working towards becoming a Stalker, an expert at moving stealthily.
Her alignment is Neutral Good, her deity is Shiallia, and her background is Veteran.
Strength = 12
Dexterity = 15
Constitution = 14
Intelligence = 14
Wisdom = 14
Charisma = 10
She is a two-weapon fighter. For a distance weapon, she uses a magical crossbow.
2. Szimon Norhausen
(Click to see it bigger)
Szimon is a male Gray Orc, one of those orcs who lives deep inside the mountains and are not often seen by others. He is a Cleric, working at becoming a Warpriest. As a Grey Orc Cleric, Szimon is quiet, but very passionate about his calling and can run off into battle in a rage at times if he thinks that his deity demands it of him.
His alignment is Chaotic Good, his deity is Selune, and his background is Devout.
Strength = 14
Dexterity = 11
Constitution = 15
Intelligence = 11
Wisdom = 14
Charimsa = 13
His weapon of choice is a Greataxe (he hopes to be able to afford to purchase a magical one very soon).
3. Darqhamer Deepbledder
(Click to see it bigger)
Darqhamer is a male gnome, specifically a Deep Gnome. Deep Gnomes, as their name implies, live deep in the earth and are not normally seen on the surface. He is a Warlock, a natural magic-caster with no need to memorize spells; he casts them through pure willpower. Deep Gnomes do not usually speak much, but Darqhamer is an exception to this rule.
His alignment is Lawful Evil, his deity is Loviatar, and his background is Tale-Teller.
Strength = 6
Dexterity = 16
Constitution = 14
Intelligence = 12
Wisdom = 10
Charisma = 14
When battle presses around him and he is forced to do hand-to-hand combat, Darqhamer uses a +1 Warmace. Luckily, his extremely short stature makes him a hard target to hit!
4. Naytashe Oaktaller
(Click to see it bigger)
Naytashe is a female Wood Elf, a Fighter by trade who is working at becoming a Weaponsmaster in the use of the Longsword.
Wood Elves usually are not seen in public, but hide deep in the forests they call home; they have golden or copper coloured skin.
Her alignment is Lawful Neutral, her deity is Red Knight, and her background is Militia.
Strength = 15
Dexterity = 15
Constitution = 16
Intelligence = 12
Wisdom = 8
Charisma = 8
Naytasha fights with a Longsword and shield (and hopes to get a magical Longsword as soon as she can).
Drawn together after the fall of the King of Shadows, these four unlikely adventurers became known as Harjuana's Four, whose motto became "Pirate Booty Call!" as they tended to stay near the coastlines in the adventuring.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Otta B. Committed
I’ve committed myself.
I am currently committed to “the process”. Healing. Hurting. They are all part of the same thing, aren’t they? In order to heal, you must be willing to hurt.
I have recently committed myself to allowing God to do whatever He wants to do in me. And I am recognizing that He wants to heal my heart, the area where I am most hurt, and most vulnerable. To do so, He must dig up the things I have buried.
That hurts, and the natural thing to do is to bury what hurts and ignore it until it seems to go away...but it never does, and you never get rid of the stench that way.
So, I am being brutally honest with myself lately. Praying that God uses that to bring me to the place inside that He wants me to be at. Allowing God to have the driver’s seat, relinquishing control to Him.
For instance, realizing that I feel ‘invisible’ right now. Almost a sense that the last twenty years of my life have not even really existed. I’m like a mist, a vapour, not really affecting anything around me. At least, that is how I feel.
Also, feeling bitterness and pain and sorrow in regards to Melanie. It’s kind of hard to explain...
...I guess it would best be said this way; After Rachelle and I split up, Melanie showed up, and she offered me alternatives. While I was still married, with hope out there that things could turn around for Rachelle and I, instead I listened to the advice of another woman. She encouraged me to give up on Rachelle and go it alone, and strongly hinted that she might be willing to be the love in my life. She told me that she would be there for me. She told me that her marriage was crap, too, and that she would be leaving her husband. When push came to shove, that was all a lie, and she betrayed me.
It isn’t so much that I blame Melanie. She is just another scared and hurting human being, with a sinful nature that cannot do good. It isn’t so much her fault, as it is my own. But I do feel betrayed by her. I trusted her with all my heart, and she let me down in the very worst possible way. Is it any wonder that, years later, I am still dealing with that pain and disappointment?
It is all part of “the process”. Healing, hurting, they are interchangeable. You can’t have healing, without a ripping apart of the emotions so that Doctor God can knit things back together in a proper manner.
And it hurts.
You have to be willing to hurt. Daily willing.
It’s not easy. It’s not nice.
But the alternative, to stay broken, is not a good thing.
Whatever it takes. Whatever God wants. I just want to be willing.
I am currently committed to “the process”. Healing. Hurting. They are all part of the same thing, aren’t they? In order to heal, you must be willing to hurt.
I have recently committed myself to allowing God to do whatever He wants to do in me. And I am recognizing that He wants to heal my heart, the area where I am most hurt, and most vulnerable. To do so, He must dig up the things I have buried.
That hurts, and the natural thing to do is to bury what hurts and ignore it until it seems to go away...but it never does, and you never get rid of the stench that way.
So, I am being brutally honest with myself lately. Praying that God uses that to bring me to the place inside that He wants me to be at. Allowing God to have the driver’s seat, relinquishing control to Him.
For instance, realizing that I feel ‘invisible’ right now. Almost a sense that the last twenty years of my life have not even really existed. I’m like a mist, a vapour, not really affecting anything around me. At least, that is how I feel.
Also, feeling bitterness and pain and sorrow in regards to Melanie. It’s kind of hard to explain...
...I guess it would best be said this way; After Rachelle and I split up, Melanie showed up, and she offered me alternatives. While I was still married, with hope out there that things could turn around for Rachelle and I, instead I listened to the advice of another woman. She encouraged me to give up on Rachelle and go it alone, and strongly hinted that she might be willing to be the love in my life. She told me that she would be there for me. She told me that her marriage was crap, too, and that she would be leaving her husband. When push came to shove, that was all a lie, and she betrayed me.
It isn’t so much that I blame Melanie. She is just another scared and hurting human being, with a sinful nature that cannot do good. It isn’t so much her fault, as it is my own. But I do feel betrayed by her. I trusted her with all my heart, and she let me down in the very worst possible way. Is it any wonder that, years later, I am still dealing with that pain and disappointment?
It is all part of “the process”. Healing, hurting, they are interchangeable. You can’t have healing, without a ripping apart of the emotions so that Doctor God can knit things back together in a proper manner.
And it hurts.
You have to be willing to hurt. Daily willing.
It’s not easy. It’s not nice.
But the alternative, to stay broken, is not a good thing.
Whatever it takes. Whatever God wants. I just want to be willing.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Lonely is a state (of punishment)
I am alone.
I feel alone.
I hurt alone.
I am consumed by my aloneness.
Those of you who are not alone, have no real clue what it means, how it feels, the torment, the agony. The hopelessness. The inability to overcome.
I wrote this poem -
Dead Grass (In Judgement Of Self)
The grass is not greener
The silence is not sweeter
You make your bed and you lay in it
(bedsores and bedbugs and all).
Time is not more precious
Friends are not dearer
Your path is not clearer
When you turn out the light.
Dreams are not more pleasant
That cold can of beans you eat is not pheasant
Everything is washed down with a helping of crow
And the feathers stick to the tar on your skin
Like sin.
The reward you seek is not closer
The dreams you keep are not more achievable
In the silence you weep at your lonely, empty table
And nothing you wanted is here.
Nothing you’ve wanted is here
All that comforts you is your own fear
Of the dark, of the lonesomeness
And of your own self.
The victories you see are failures disguised
The grass that you see is not greener at all
Divorce is a candy that chokes you like cyanide
And the freedom you seek takes you for the longest of falls.
October 31st, 2010
I wish, some days, most days, that I had never listened to my own self. I lied to me.
I wish, some days, most days, that i had never listened to the voice sof others, those who promised much, who promised joy, who promised to stand by me, then left me laughing alone.
Betrayed by self, betrayed by others - suffering alone.
The worst possible marriage, to the worst possible person, would be a thousand times better than being alone.
Some lyrics that express me to me lately...
"Alone" by James Labrie
Don't want to lie to you
Don't want to cause you pain
But it's all I ever do
And it's driving me insane
So how much deeper will I sink
So how much further will I dare to go
I've gone so far that I can't think
Can't take it all away
But I want you to know
I never meant to hurt you
What did I turn into
And now... I just have this feeling
Sorry's lost its meaning
And I feel alone...
It's not the same tonight
And will never be again
I was wrong and you were right
Now I have this mess I'm in
I can't continue on my own
The guilt I carry now is much to bare
For Heaven's sake answer your phone
Can't take the past away
But honestly I swear...
I never meant to hurt you
What did I turn into
And now... I just have this feeling
Sorry's lost its meaning
And I feel alone
Now...
I never meant to hurt you
What did I turn into
And now... I just have this feeling
Sorry's lost its meaning
And now...
I never meant to hurt you
What did I turn into
And now... I just have this feeling
Sorry's lost its meaning
And I feel alone
"Invisible" by James Labrie
Look in the mirror
Does it look familiar
Cannot put my finger
Why he kinda looks like me
Used to like hooking up with you
After waking first thing I'd do
One sided sensation
Watching me watching you
Now I'm stuck how I feel
I don't know if it's real
I'm trying to find someone
Who's invisible
Now I'm stuck in the middle
My life is the riddle
Trying to find someone
Who's invisible
No way
I cannot lie
I haven't felt right
And I don't know why
Drowning
No coming up for air
And part of me
Just wants to be left there
Living a constant lie
How much longer
I'd rather die
So bitter
Tongue twisted
Has me paralyzed
They claim they know me
Who I'm supposed to be
A quick fix sure remedy
Another needly plunges deep
Now I'm stuck how I feel
I don't know if it's real
I'm trying to find someone
Who's invisible
Now I'm stuck in the middle
My life is the riddle
Trying to find someone
Who's invisible
No way
I cannot lie
I haven't felt right
And I don't know why
Drowning
No coming up for air
And part of me
Just wants to be left right there
No way
I cannot lie
I haven't felt right
And I don't care why
Drowning
No coming up for air
And part of me
Wants to be left right there
No way
No way
No way
No way out
No way
No way
No way
No way out
There is nothing I hate so much, as being alone.
I feel alone.
I hurt alone.
I am consumed by my aloneness.
Those of you who are not alone, have no real clue what it means, how it feels, the torment, the agony. The hopelessness. The inability to overcome.
I wrote this poem -
Dead Grass (In Judgement Of Self)
The grass is not greener
The silence is not sweeter
You make your bed and you lay in it
(bedsores and bedbugs and all).
Time is not more precious
Friends are not dearer
Your path is not clearer
When you turn out the light.
Dreams are not more pleasant
That cold can of beans you eat is not pheasant
Everything is washed down with a helping of crow
And the feathers stick to the tar on your skin
Like sin.
The reward you seek is not closer
The dreams you keep are not more achievable
In the silence you weep at your lonely, empty table
And nothing you wanted is here.
Nothing you’ve wanted is here
All that comforts you is your own fear
Of the dark, of the lonesomeness
And of your own self.
The victories you see are failures disguised
The grass that you see is not greener at all
Divorce is a candy that chokes you like cyanide
And the freedom you seek takes you for the longest of falls.
October 31st, 2010
I wish, some days, most days, that I had never listened to my own self. I lied to me.
I wish, some days, most days, that i had never listened to the voice sof others, those who promised much, who promised joy, who promised to stand by me, then left me laughing alone.
Betrayed by self, betrayed by others - suffering alone.
The worst possible marriage, to the worst possible person, would be a thousand times better than being alone.
Some lyrics that express me to me lately...
"Alone" by James Labrie
Don't want to lie to you
Don't want to cause you pain
But it's all I ever do
And it's driving me insane
So how much deeper will I sink
So how much further will I dare to go
I've gone so far that I can't think
Can't take it all away
But I want you to know
I never meant to hurt you
What did I turn into
And now... I just have this feeling
Sorry's lost its meaning
And I feel alone...
It's not the same tonight
And will never be again
I was wrong and you were right
Now I have this mess I'm in
I can't continue on my own
The guilt I carry now is much to bare
For Heaven's sake answer your phone
Can't take the past away
But honestly I swear...
I never meant to hurt you
What did I turn into
And now... I just have this feeling
Sorry's lost its meaning
And I feel alone
Now...
I never meant to hurt you
What did I turn into
And now... I just have this feeling
Sorry's lost its meaning
And now...
I never meant to hurt you
What did I turn into
And now... I just have this feeling
Sorry's lost its meaning
And I feel alone
"Invisible" by James Labrie
Look in the mirror
Does it look familiar
Cannot put my finger
Why he kinda looks like me
Used to like hooking up with you
After waking first thing I'd do
One sided sensation
Watching me watching you
Now I'm stuck how I feel
I don't know if it's real
I'm trying to find someone
Who's invisible
Now I'm stuck in the middle
My life is the riddle
Trying to find someone
Who's invisible
No way
I cannot lie
I haven't felt right
And I don't know why
Drowning
No coming up for air
And part of me
Just wants to be left there
Living a constant lie
How much longer
I'd rather die
So bitter
Tongue twisted
Has me paralyzed
They claim they know me
Who I'm supposed to be
A quick fix sure remedy
Another needly plunges deep
Now I'm stuck how I feel
I don't know if it's real
I'm trying to find someone
Who's invisible
Now I'm stuck in the middle
My life is the riddle
Trying to find someone
Who's invisible
No way
I cannot lie
I haven't felt right
And I don't know why
Drowning
No coming up for air
And part of me
Just wants to be left right there
No way
I cannot lie
I haven't felt right
And I don't care why
Drowning
No coming up for air
And part of me
Wants to be left right there
No way
No way
No way
No way out
No way
No way
No way
No way out
There is nothing I hate so much, as being alone.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
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.
“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.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, October 4, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
more
http://a-cutt-above.blogspot.com/
Six chapters now posted, and 30 chapters have plots written out for them in my notes here at home.
Having a blast. Liking it a lot. Feeling...good about it all.
Six chapters now posted, and 30 chapters have plots written out for them in my notes here at home.
Having a blast. Liking it a lot. Feeling...good about it all.
Pride
Pride - the belief that we can do it ourselves, that we can hold it together, that we can solve our own problems and fight our own fights, that we are strong enough, good enough, loving enough, smart enough, that if we just make a few changes that everything will be all right, that we do not need anybody else's help, and that we especially do not need God's help; or the belief that God expects us to do it on our own, to only turn to Him when we have it all together, when we are winning the battles, when we look good and are dressed right, and that God rewards those who do right, try harder, win more...
And it is all a lie.
The very same sin that was the sin of Satan himself, the father of all that is evil, the sin of pride. It is at the root of every human failure, every sin, every wrong word and wrong action.
God doesn't want us to re-make ourselves, He wants us to present ourselves broken before Him, and allow Him to work in us, doing what we CANNOT do ourselves.
For, quite honestly, every time we try to help Him, we are listening to the voice of the enemy. Every time we try to do within ourselves what only Christ can do, we sin. We show our pride, the very pride that God hates and abhors.
It is no wonder we cannot get it right. We cannot, becasue we are not able to. No amount of struggle on our part can ever make us right, can ever fix us. We are broken.
BUT...
Within that brokenness, if we will come to Him in that place, if we will kneel before Him in that state, and present to Him that broken thing that is ourselves...
He is God. He does what we can never do.
So how come so few of us ever let Him?
Pride.
And it is all a lie.
The very same sin that was the sin of Satan himself, the father of all that is evil, the sin of pride. It is at the root of every human failure, every sin, every wrong word and wrong action.
God doesn't want us to re-make ourselves, He wants us to present ourselves broken before Him, and allow Him to work in us, doing what we CANNOT do ourselves.
For, quite honestly, every time we try to help Him, we are listening to the voice of the enemy. Every time we try to do within ourselves what only Christ can do, we sin. We show our pride, the very pride that God hates and abhors.
It is no wonder we cannot get it right. We cannot, becasue we are not able to. No amount of struggle on our part can ever make us right, can ever fix us. We are broken.
BUT...
Within that brokenness, if we will come to Him in that place, if we will kneel before Him in that state, and present to Him that broken thing that is ourselves...
He is God. He does what we can never do.
So how come so few of us ever let Him?
Pride.
Friday, September 24, 2010
bad and good
An absolutely brutal display of referee blindness tonigth in the CFL. Horrible call by the officials, cost Winnipeg the win over Montreal. Absolutely no excuse for a call that bad. Everybody responsible should be fired, immediately. Horrid. Shameful. Feel sick to my stomach over it.
On a good note, I made an extremely yummy salad tonight. Greens and spinach mixed, chopped cucumber, a bit of boiled egg (I was kinda "meh" on this part), and a chopped up apple and a chopped up peach. Add extra-virgin ("when just plain old virgin won't do") olive oil and red wine vinegar to taste. YUMMY! Very naturally-sweet salad.
Over at http://a-cutt-above.blogspot.com/ my story site, I have posted four chapters, and things are coming along nicely. I already have the first nine chapters planned out in their entirety (and much more of the story I am trying to tell is there in my head, waiting to come out). For those who don't know, I am mixing fantasy-fiction and religiousity (is that a word?) in ways that I have never before tried to in my writing, and in theory I am quite pleaseed with it. Although the first four chapters speed by without much mention of religion, that aspect of things will pick up soon...So, if you are interested in superhero fiction with a religious twist, check out my stuff!
On a good note, I made an extremely yummy salad tonight. Greens and spinach mixed, chopped cucumber, a bit of boiled egg (I was kinda "meh" on this part), and a chopped up apple and a chopped up peach. Add extra-virgin ("when just plain old virgin won't do") olive oil and red wine vinegar to taste. YUMMY! Very naturally-sweet salad.
Over at http://a-cutt-above.blogspot.com/ my story site, I have posted four chapters, and things are coming along nicely. I already have the first nine chapters planned out in their entirety (and much more of the story I am trying to tell is there in my head, waiting to come out). For those who don't know, I am mixing fantasy-fiction and religiousity (is that a word?) in ways that I have never before tried to in my writing, and in theory I am quite pleaseed with it. Although the first four chapters speed by without much mention of religion, that aspect of things will pick up soon...So, if you are interested in superhero fiction with a religious twist, check out my stuff!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The Future Unfolds Before You
Many people watch Jack Van Impe on television. There are reasons, after all, that he is known as the world's foremost speaker on end-time prophecy and the events unfolding today that directly influence it and usher it in.
I find Mr Van Impe to be reliable, and very very Bible-knowledgable.
Many people also watch the Fox News Channel and listen to commentator Glenn Beck during his show, The Glenn Beck Show, as well as listening to him across North America via radio. Glen Beck is an unapologetic right-leaning (but not necessarily Republican-supporting) American political analyst, and a born-again Christian. And Mr Beck also talks about Biblical prophecy as it relates to the world today.
Both these men, Jack Van Impe and Glenn Beck, have one thing in common. They both beleive they know who the anti-Christ will be.
Now, I do not listen to Glenn Beck anymore, although I once did. And I rarely listen to Jack Van Impe anymore either. It isn't because of disagreeing with them; it is more like I KNOW what is coming, and I do not feel I need to be reminded of it. My eyes are already opened.
Unfortunately, many preachers and pastors in a great many churches, are NOT preaching or warning their congregations about what is to shortly come. They are grossly failing in their duties.
And, because most Christians no longer read the Bible with any regularity, most people nowadays will not read and study Revelations and look at the news happening all around them and see what is coming and how quickly it is arriving.
Thank goodness for people like Dave Mustaine, lead-singer of heavy metal band Megadeth.
If you want to know what the near-future brings and where the anti-Christ is coming from, perhaps listen to this man's lyrics, penned for the song "Washington Is Next" not more than a few short years after becoming a Christian.
The quiet war has begun with silent weapons
And the new slavery is to keep the people
Poor and stupid, "Novus Ordo Seclorum"
How can there be any logic in biological war?
We all know this is wrong, but the New World Order's
Beating down the door, oh something needs to be done
There was a king (an evil king) who dreamed
The wickidest of dreams
An ancient mystery no prophet could interpret
Of seven years of famine, the wolf is at my door
As predicted years ago, that that was, that is, that is no more
The Word predicts the future and tells the truth about the past
Of how the world leaders will hail the new Pharaoh
The Eighth False King to the Throne, Washington is Next!
Disengage their minds, sabotage their health
Promote sex, and war, and violence in the kindergartens
Blame the parents and teachers; it's their fault, "Annuit Coeptis"
Attack the church dynamic, attack the family
Keep the public undisciplined 'til nothing left is sacred and
The "have-nots" get hooked and have to go to the "haves" just to cop a fix
I am the king (an evil king) who dreams the wickedest of dreams
An ancient mystery nobody could interpret
Of seven empires falling, the wolf is at my door
As predicted years ago, that that was, that is, that is no more
The Word predicts my future and tells the truth about my past
Of how the world leaders are waiting to usher in
The Eighth World Power of modern Rome, Washington is Next!
There was a king (an evil king) who dreamt the wickedest of dreams
An ancient mystery no prophet could interpret
Of seven empires falling, the wolf is at the door
As predicted years ago, that that was, that is, that is no more
I am a King and I dream the wickedest of dreams
And nobody could interpret
Seven empires falling, the wolf is at my door
Oh, that that was, that is, that is no more
There's something at my door
Some ancient mystery
The future tells the truth about the past
I'm the Eighth False King to the throne
I've got you in my crosshairs, now, ain't that a bitch?
Washington, you're next!
Excuse the harsh language therein, but at least Mr. Mustaine knows his Bible and has gotten it right. The eighth world leader will come from Washington DC. And who will this leader be? How about the very man who has pledged to have a peaced treaty signed between israel and her neighbours (and Palestine) before the end of 2011!
Yes, "Washington is next", indeed! The anti-Christ is more than just alive and well, he is already influencing all the decisions made by the European Union. And he is prepared to have that peaced treaty signed before 2012; thereafter comes 3 and a half years of peace, followed by nuclear war and then satan falls to earth and is bound here and enters into that leader and the man then declares himself to be god.
That man is Barack Obama. Wake up, people. Wake up, sleeping Christians. Your time is shorter than you know; turn yourself, and get your hearts right with our God.
And woe to the preachers who are not saying the same...
I find Mr Van Impe to be reliable, and very very Bible-knowledgable.
Many people also watch the Fox News Channel and listen to commentator Glenn Beck during his show, The Glenn Beck Show, as well as listening to him across North America via radio. Glen Beck is an unapologetic right-leaning (but not necessarily Republican-supporting) American political analyst, and a born-again Christian. And Mr Beck also talks about Biblical prophecy as it relates to the world today.
Both these men, Jack Van Impe and Glenn Beck, have one thing in common. They both beleive they know who the anti-Christ will be.
Now, I do not listen to Glenn Beck anymore, although I once did. And I rarely listen to Jack Van Impe anymore either. It isn't because of disagreeing with them; it is more like I KNOW what is coming, and I do not feel I need to be reminded of it. My eyes are already opened.
Unfortunately, many preachers and pastors in a great many churches, are NOT preaching or warning their congregations about what is to shortly come. They are grossly failing in their duties.
And, because most Christians no longer read the Bible with any regularity, most people nowadays will not read and study Revelations and look at the news happening all around them and see what is coming and how quickly it is arriving.
Thank goodness for people like Dave Mustaine, lead-singer of heavy metal band Megadeth.
If you want to know what the near-future brings and where the anti-Christ is coming from, perhaps listen to this man's lyrics, penned for the song "Washington Is Next" not more than a few short years after becoming a Christian.
The quiet war has begun with silent weapons
And the new slavery is to keep the people
Poor and stupid, "Novus Ordo Seclorum"
How can there be any logic in biological war?
We all know this is wrong, but the New World Order's
Beating down the door, oh something needs to be done
There was a king (an evil king) who dreamed
The wickidest of dreams
An ancient mystery no prophet could interpret
Of seven years of famine, the wolf is at my door
As predicted years ago, that that was, that is, that is no more
The Word predicts the future and tells the truth about the past
Of how the world leaders will hail the new Pharaoh
The Eighth False King to the Throne, Washington is Next!
Disengage their minds, sabotage their health
Promote sex, and war, and violence in the kindergartens
Blame the parents and teachers; it's their fault, "Annuit Coeptis"
Attack the church dynamic, attack the family
Keep the public undisciplined 'til nothing left is sacred and
The "have-nots" get hooked and have to go to the "haves" just to cop a fix
I am the king (an evil king) who dreams the wickedest of dreams
An ancient mystery nobody could interpret
Of seven empires falling, the wolf is at my door
As predicted years ago, that that was, that is, that is no more
The Word predicts my future and tells the truth about my past
Of how the world leaders are waiting to usher in
The Eighth World Power of modern Rome, Washington is Next!
There was a king (an evil king) who dreamt the wickedest of dreams
An ancient mystery no prophet could interpret
Of seven empires falling, the wolf is at the door
As predicted years ago, that that was, that is, that is no more
I am a King and I dream the wickedest of dreams
And nobody could interpret
Seven empires falling, the wolf is at my door
Oh, that that was, that is, that is no more
There's something at my door
Some ancient mystery
The future tells the truth about the past
I'm the Eighth False King to the throne
I've got you in my crosshairs, now, ain't that a bitch?
Washington, you're next!
Excuse the harsh language therein, but at least Mr. Mustaine knows his Bible and has gotten it right. The eighth world leader will come from Washington DC. And who will this leader be? How about the very man who has pledged to have a peaced treaty signed between israel and her neighbours (and Palestine) before the end of 2011!
Yes, "Washington is next", indeed! The anti-Christ is more than just alive and well, he is already influencing all the decisions made by the European Union. And he is prepared to have that peaced treaty signed before 2012; thereafter comes 3 and a half years of peace, followed by nuclear war and then satan falls to earth and is bound here and enters into that leader and the man then declares himself to be god.
That man is Barack Obama. Wake up, people. Wake up, sleeping Christians. Your time is shorter than you know; turn yourself, and get your hearts right with our God.
And woe to the preachers who are not saying the same...
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Truth
.
.
.
.
.
Look at the front page, turn on the tv,
They fire another round at you and me,
Their guns are loaded, they're taking aim,
Nobody told them we're not all the same,
No paranoia, nobody could
Just write it off as being Hollywood,
The innuendo between the lines
Leaves no confusion 'bout what's on their minds.
I won't go underground,
I won't turn and flee,
I won't bow the knee.
I won't go underground,
I won't turn and hide from the rising tide.
I won't go underground,
I won't compromise what the world denies.
I won't go underground,
And I'm not ashamed of the cross I've claimed.
They're taking notes on what we say,
You know they'd like to lock us all away,
Can't stop the movement, can't make it slow,
Persecution always makes us grow.
They got my number, it's no surprise,
I'm here and wearing no disguise,
Bring on the lions and heat up the fire
It's not enough to stop this man's desire.
I won't go underground,
I won't turn and flee,
I won't bow the knee.
I won't go underground,
I keep holding fast till the very last.
I won't go underground,
I will turn my cheek, I will boldly speak.
I won't go underground,
I am not ashamed of the cross I've claimed.
I know the spirit behind this force,
It's not surprising if you know the source,
I pray for freedom for helpless ones,
And I keep standing till the new day dawns.
Too many black sheep in the family,
Too many stones from a house of glass,
They've heard the story, they've heard the lines,
But talk is too cheap to change their minds,
They want to see some vital signs.
Convictions - in the way we live,
Convictions - not a narrative,
Actions speak a little louder than words.
Seen and not heard, seen and not heard,
Sometimes God's children should be seen and not heard,
There's too much talk and not enought walk,
Sometimes God's children should be seen and not heard.
Commitment - no more alibis,
Commitment - not a compromise,
Actions speak a little louder than words.
Let your light so shine in all you do,
With an answer near when they come to you,
Don't let your mouth start talkin'
Until your feet start walkin'.
Somewhere in the darkest night a stranger has lost the way,
Cold wind and a distant light has carried his heart away,
Some say he was one of us, a prodigal gone astray,
But inside he's as cold as ice to the truth that he won't obey.
He won't discern - the point of no return,
In the last daze - the final haze,
There was strong delusion to believe a lie,
In the last daze before the blaze,
They couldn't see beyond their misty trance
To grab the truth and have a fighting chance,
In the last daze.
Cold chills when the Spirit speaks that some shall depart from the faith,
All ends in calamity just when they thought it was safe,
They followed the lies - the fables men devised,
Some say it's a certainty, a sign of the times I am told,
But I weep for the souls of those who will never return to the fold.
There's a higher place to go, beyond belief, beyond belief,
Where we reach the next plateau, beyond belief, beyond belief,
And from faith to faith we grow,
Towards the center of the flow,
Where He beckons us to go, beyond belief, beyond belief.
Leap of faith without a net
Makes us want to hedge our bet,
Waters never part until our feet get wet.
There's a deeper place to go,
Where the road seems hard to hoe,
He who has begun this work won't let it go.
There's a higher place to go, beyond belief, beyond belief,
Where we reach the next plateau, beyond belief, beyond belief,
And from faith to faith we grow
Towards the center of the flow,
Where He beckons us to go, beyond belief, beyond belief.
(thanx to Petra for the lyrics and inspiration - and thanx to God for everything)
.
.
.
.
Look at the front page, turn on the tv,
They fire another round at you and me,
Their guns are loaded, they're taking aim,
Nobody told them we're not all the same,
No paranoia, nobody could
Just write it off as being Hollywood,
The innuendo between the lines
Leaves no confusion 'bout what's on their minds.
I won't go underground,
I won't turn and flee,
I won't bow the knee.
I won't go underground,
I won't turn and hide from the rising tide.
I won't go underground,
I won't compromise what the world denies.
I won't go underground,
And I'm not ashamed of the cross I've claimed.
They're taking notes on what we say,
You know they'd like to lock us all away,
Can't stop the movement, can't make it slow,
Persecution always makes us grow.
They got my number, it's no surprise,
I'm here and wearing no disguise,
Bring on the lions and heat up the fire
It's not enough to stop this man's desire.
I won't go underground,
I won't turn and flee,
I won't bow the knee.
I won't go underground,
I keep holding fast till the very last.
I won't go underground,
I will turn my cheek, I will boldly speak.
I won't go underground,
I am not ashamed of the cross I've claimed.
I know the spirit behind this force,
It's not surprising if you know the source,
I pray for freedom for helpless ones,
And I keep standing till the new day dawns.
Too many black sheep in the family,
Too many stones from a house of glass,
They've heard the story, they've heard the lines,
But talk is too cheap to change their minds,
They want to see some vital signs.
Convictions - in the way we live,
Convictions - not a narrative,
Actions speak a little louder than words.
Seen and not heard, seen and not heard,
Sometimes God's children should be seen and not heard,
There's too much talk and not enought walk,
Sometimes God's children should be seen and not heard.
Commitment - no more alibis,
Commitment - not a compromise,
Actions speak a little louder than words.
Let your light so shine in all you do,
With an answer near when they come to you,
Don't let your mouth start talkin'
Until your feet start walkin'.
Somewhere in the darkest night a stranger has lost the way,
Cold wind and a distant light has carried his heart away,
Some say he was one of us, a prodigal gone astray,
But inside he's as cold as ice to the truth that he won't obey.
He won't discern - the point of no return,
In the last daze - the final haze,
There was strong delusion to believe a lie,
In the last daze before the blaze,
They couldn't see beyond their misty trance
To grab the truth and have a fighting chance,
In the last daze.
Cold chills when the Spirit speaks that some shall depart from the faith,
All ends in calamity just when they thought it was safe,
They followed the lies - the fables men devised,
Some say it's a certainty, a sign of the times I am told,
But I weep for the souls of those who will never return to the fold.
There's a higher place to go, beyond belief, beyond belief,
Where we reach the next plateau, beyond belief, beyond belief,
And from faith to faith we grow,
Towards the center of the flow,
Where He beckons us to go, beyond belief, beyond belief.
Leap of faith without a net
Makes us want to hedge our bet,
Waters never part until our feet get wet.
There's a deeper place to go,
Where the road seems hard to hoe,
He who has begun this work won't let it go.
There's a higher place to go, beyond belief, beyond belief,
Where we reach the next plateau, beyond belief, beyond belief,
And from faith to faith we grow
Towards the center of the flow,
Where He beckons us to go, beyond belief, beyond belief.
(thanx to Petra for the lyrics and inspiration - and thanx to God for everything)
Friday, September 17, 2010
serious matters
Pornography is described as:
- creative activity (writing or pictures or films etc.) of no literary or artistic value other than to stimulate sexual desire
- •Pornography or porn is the portrayal of explicit sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual excitement and erotic satisfaction
- •The explicit depiction of sexual subject matter, especially with the sole intention of sexually exciting the viewer; The graphic, detailed, often gratuitous depiction of something
- pornographic - designed to arouse lust
- Writing or art or pictures intended to provoke feelings of lust in the reader
- The explicit description or exhibition of obscene literature, art or photography, generally intended to stimulate erotic feelings
A pornographer is described as:
- someone who presents shows or sells writing or pictures that are sexually explicit
- One who is involved in the creation or dissemination of pornography
When I see a Christian woman posting joyfully on Facebook that she is involved in helping her husband to create pornographic photos of young naked women, and I see no Christians stand up and make any comments...how sick has this world become?
The Bible says:
Galatians 5:19-21 -
"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."
Ephesians 5:1-3, 5 -
"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person — such a man is an idolater — has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."
Matthew 15:19-20a -
"For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'."
James 1: 14-15 -
"Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."
Proverbs 6:27 -
"Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?"
Romans 13: 12b-14 -
"Let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."
1st John 2: 3-5
"We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands. The man who says, "I know Him," but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys His Word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in Him."
Proverbs 28: 13 -
"He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy."
I find it morally reprehensible that a Christian could be so deceived as to believe that something of this nature is either harmless or not important. As a man, as somebody who constantly has to fight against lust, as a man who is constantly bombarded by images designed to lure me away from God and into sin, the fact that somebody I know, somebody who professes to be a Christian, could be helping to create the very images that cause so many to fall into sin...that leaves me speechless.
As I suspected, the man she calls her husband does not have God's love or wisdom within him, not one ounce.
God have mercy, and end this farce, and soon. Before it affects my daughter...
Lord, bring this business crashing down.
- creative activity (writing or pictures or films etc.) of no literary or artistic value other than to stimulate sexual desire
- •Pornography or porn is the portrayal of explicit sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual excitement and erotic satisfaction
- •The explicit depiction of sexual subject matter, especially with the sole intention of sexually exciting the viewer; The graphic, detailed, often gratuitous depiction of something
- pornographic - designed to arouse lust
- Writing or art or pictures intended to provoke feelings of lust in the reader
- The explicit description or exhibition of obscene literature, art or photography, generally intended to stimulate erotic feelings
A pornographer is described as:
- someone who presents shows or sells writing or pictures that are sexually explicit
- One who is involved in the creation or dissemination of pornography
When I see a Christian woman posting joyfully on Facebook that she is involved in helping her husband to create pornographic photos of young naked women, and I see no Christians stand up and make any comments...how sick has this world become?
The Bible says:
Galatians 5:19-21 -
"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."
Ephesians 5:1-3, 5 -
"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person — such a man is an idolater — has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."
Matthew 15:19-20a -
"For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'."
James 1: 14-15 -
"Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."
Proverbs 6:27 -
"Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?"
Romans 13: 12b-14 -
"Let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."
1st John 2: 3-5
"We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands. The man who says, "I know Him," but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys His Word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in Him."
Proverbs 28: 13 -
"He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy."
I find it morally reprehensible that a Christian could be so deceived as to believe that something of this nature is either harmless or not important. As a man, as somebody who constantly has to fight against lust, as a man who is constantly bombarded by images designed to lure me away from God and into sin, the fact that somebody I know, somebody who professes to be a Christian, could be helping to create the very images that cause so many to fall into sin...that leaves me speechless.
As I suspected, the man she calls her husband does not have God's love or wisdom within him, not one ounce.
God have mercy, and end this farce, and soon. Before it affects my daughter...
Lord, bring this business crashing down.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
residency and other things cinematic
.
.
.
So, I just got home from the movie theatre, seeing Resident Evil: Afterlife (in 3D).
First, let me just say, that going out to the theatre has re-enforced for me that i do not like being around people. Even to go to a theatre, i felt annoyed and uncomfortable having people sitting behind me - it ALMOST ruined my movie experience, and they weren't even doing anything wrong! It's just that i have been alone for so long, with just myself to keep me company, that i find other people, even when i am having zero percent interaction with them, to be a drain on my entire self.
Now, on to Resident Evil...
For those who may not have watched a movie like this, let me explain -
The Resident Evil franchise is not what it seems. This is, what, the fourth movie? It is the franchise that never stops. And it never stops, because it is always amazing.
As far as how this all started...take one first-person-shooter/zombie-apocalypse video game, and make it into a movie. It was as simple a premise as that! And it worked, and worked well.
Take its main star, Milla Jovovich. Before the original movie, she was Milla Jovovich, the eastern european model who wanted to be an actress. The movie took her from model, to actress, and then on to being the world's biggest female action star! I cannot think of a movie franchise where the star of it is more suited for it than Milla is for R.E.
These are not JUST zombie movies, either, people! This is about the end of hope, and the beginning of faith. This is about facing your fears. This is about those people who always do what is right, facing off against the selfish people who choose themselves over others.
And it is not all gore and action. This latest movie actually moves along fairly slowly. It is about the search for survivors, and then tracking down those responsible for betraying them. It is about overcoming odds that are unbeatable, using the human spirit and by sticking together with ones fellow men (or women). There are only about four intense actions sequences that i can think of in the movie.
This is the first of the R.E. movies I have seen in the theatre. With the new advances in 3D technology, I had to go and see this one - I will buy it later on DVD, but i had to see it in 3D first. I like how they use the 3D to enhance the movie, not overpower it with oohing-and-aaahing-type "fluff".
All in all, I liked it a lot. As good as I expected. I'd rate it an 8 out of 10 stars.
You go see it, and you be the judge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Evil_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Evil:_Apocalypse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Evil:_Extinction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Evil:_Afterlife
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Evil_(film_series)
.
.
So, I just got home from the movie theatre, seeing Resident Evil: Afterlife (in 3D).
First, let me just say, that going out to the theatre has re-enforced for me that i do not like being around people. Even to go to a theatre, i felt annoyed and uncomfortable having people sitting behind me - it ALMOST ruined my movie experience, and they weren't even doing anything wrong! It's just that i have been alone for so long, with just myself to keep me company, that i find other people, even when i am having zero percent interaction with them, to be a drain on my entire self.
Now, on to Resident Evil...
For those who may not have watched a movie like this, let me explain -
The Resident Evil franchise is not what it seems. This is, what, the fourth movie? It is the franchise that never stops. And it never stops, because it is always amazing.
As far as how this all started...take one first-person-shooter/zombie-apocalypse video game, and make it into a movie. It was as simple a premise as that! And it worked, and worked well.
Take its main star, Milla Jovovich. Before the original movie, she was Milla Jovovich, the eastern european model who wanted to be an actress. The movie took her from model, to actress, and then on to being the world's biggest female action star! I cannot think of a movie franchise where the star of it is more suited for it than Milla is for R.E.
These are not JUST zombie movies, either, people! This is about the end of hope, and the beginning of faith. This is about facing your fears. This is about those people who always do what is right, facing off against the selfish people who choose themselves over others.
And it is not all gore and action. This latest movie actually moves along fairly slowly. It is about the search for survivors, and then tracking down those responsible for betraying them. It is about overcoming odds that are unbeatable, using the human spirit and by sticking together with ones fellow men (or women). There are only about four intense actions sequences that i can think of in the movie.
This is the first of the R.E. movies I have seen in the theatre. With the new advances in 3D technology, I had to go and see this one - I will buy it later on DVD, but i had to see it in 3D first. I like how they use the 3D to enhance the movie, not overpower it with oohing-and-aaahing-type "fluff".
All in all, I liked it a lot. As good as I expected. I'd rate it an 8 out of 10 stars.
You go see it, and you be the judge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Evil_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Evil:_Apocalypse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Evil:_Extinction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Evil:_Afterlife
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Evil_(film_series)
catching up
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Time to catch up on the Baldur's Gate gaming I have done in the last few weeks...
Penelope tells Kaishas Gan what Dradeel said, about the beasts being already among Balduran’s own crew when they landed on this island. She admits it, but said that the beasts did not kill any peaceful people, only violent and dangerous ones. She then takes the Sea Charts from them, forcibly, and then she bites the six, infecting them with lycanthropy (Kivan believe, hopefully correctly, that the only way to relieve themselves of this curse, is to kill the head of the werewolves, who would be…wait for it…Mendas!). Kaishas talks to them about belonging to the clan now. Penelope grows angry and threatens her, but Kaishas is crazy and beyond reasoning with. Her 2nd-in-command, Tailas, does not want the six to belong to the village, and says he has already stirred up the villagers against them and that now they will be killed; Kaishas shrugs, says “I’m sorry about that, then” and runs off with the sea charts to prepare for the voyage off of the island. Penelope (with Balduran`s golden sword) and Kagain (with the silver dagger) go after Tasilas, and massacre him with extreme prejudice (“Oh look, now I have werewolf poop on my shoes, and if that weren’t bad enough, I AM a werewolf, or soon will be…oh, that’s just lovely…” sighs Xan).
Outside of Kaisha’s hut, the six hunt werewolves (who also hunt them). The battles are thick and ferocious, and almost non-stop (hairy, too!). Maralee says that she is on their side, and that there is an underground warren and tunnels that lead to the ship, hidden underneath one of the homes in the village, and she points out which one.
Dradeel is waiting outside the hut where the tunnels start (I guess he needs to use the ship to get off the island after all!). He says that they must hurry up and escape. Into the hut and down into the tunnels (weren’t we just in two separate mines - Cloakwood and Nashkel, remember? - and a labyrinth full of crazy trapped wizards below an island of ice, just recently? Again, we go below ground!?! Sheesh…) the six go. They find their way through, only having to battle two werewolves, and exit the tunnels on the East beach of the island (“Can’t wait to get off Werewolf bloody Island,” mutters Kagain). Ahead of them is the ship the villagers built.
There are some docks, and the ship. As the six desperate, werewolf-infected, pissed-off, island-trapped, villager-betrayed heroes approach the ship, they see Kaisha Gan, stanidn on the deck, and changing into a huge werewolf as she spots them (or sniffs them coming, whatever). “Time to kick the doggy to the shore!” cries Kagain. “Time to…oh, I don’t know…beware the elf’s wrath, you bad, bad dog-lady thing!” half-heartedly shouted Xan, following it with a loud sigh.
Branwen summons skeletons and Xan summons gnolls, and these two groups hit the gangway before the six, blocking Kaisha’s way to get at them; meanwhile, the group barrages her with arrows (Penelope, Imoen, and Kivan), stones (Xan and Branwen), and darts (Kagain) until she falls down dead. Penelope Farhaven shoulders her way past the gnolls and grabs the bloody sea charts from Kaisha’s body. “To the survivors, go the spoils of war,” she said simply.
The voyage back to Ulgoth’s Beard is uneventful (“I didn’t know any of us knew how to sail!” said Kagain. His five companions merely looked at him, and shrugged their shoulders in confusion). Mendas has an underling of his meet them at the docks; he wants to know why the clan is not with them on the boat, and angrily warns them that Mendas will not be happy about this at all. Penelope is getting royally pissed off by this time, and the underling spins and head sback to Mendas’ home mere nano-seconds before her sword plunges through the place the underling had just stood. “I believe,” she said to her companions on the dock, “that we have an appointment with Mendas. I would hate to keep him waiting, so let’s go ‘talk’ to him right away.”
“And right after we kill him, let’s get some ale!” shouted Kagain passionately.
Inside Mendas’ home, he freaks out on the six, but then notices how extremely angry they are – he and his underling quickly turn into werewolves. It’s too late, as Kagain and Penelope have the drop on them with their werewolf-hurting weapons, and the six make short work of the two. “Can you feel that?” asked Kivan as Mendas breathed his last. “The curse has lifted, I am whole again!” And so said they all; with the death of the pack leader, the curse of lycanthropy was lifted from all of them. “Now for some ale!” shouted Kagain. “And a nap,” remarked Imoen with a nod.
Off to the Ulgoth’s Beard Inn, to rest up; Kagain to drink himself silly and then fall down unconscious behind some barrels, Imoen to sleep for three hours then sneak downstairs and snag a few purses from some unsuspecting drunks (Kagain not included) and then go back upstairs to sleep some more, Branwen and Xan to recover their lost spells (Branwen by prayer and meditation, Xan by studying his spellbook), Kivan to fletch some more arrows and then dream fitfully of taking down the Iron Throne…and Penelope to alternate troubled dreams with bedroom pacing.
The next day, they talk to a woman of the village named Therella, whose son Dalton is missing; he signed on with some adventurers from the great (“Not that great,” muttered Kagain. “Not nearly as great as the great underground dwarven cities.”) city of Waterdeep and took off to explore Durlag’s Tower and was never seen again. Penelope tells Therella that they will keep an eye out for word of her son.
Just outside the Inn is a man named Ike, who is selling guided tours of Durlag’s Tower. “Come see the dangerous splendors of the mad dwarf Durlag, who turned his tower into the mightiest deathtrap of all!” intoned the tour guide. Penelope paid for the six of them, and Ike told them to meet him there, and he hurries off. “Why hurry? We’re all doomed!” said Xan after his retreating back. Imoen slapped the elf on his back; “Try to cheer up, pointy-ears; it’s a chance to find adventure!” As she walked away, the rest of the party snickered – there, stuck to Xan’s back, was a hastily sprawled message on parchment, saying; “Kick me, I’m a whiney little elf girl! And spank my bottom - I like it!”
They travel to the area near Durlag’s Tower, arriving there a few days after they leave Ulgoth’s Beard. “Why does everybody keep kicking me?” whined Xan, eliciting more laughter from the group. There, they meet a travelling merchant (“More like a fence for stolen goods,” says Imoen) named Erdane.
On the way to the tower courtyard, the group had to battle first two Battle Horrors, and then two Dopplegangers. They meet up with their guide, Ike, who tells them to “Stop dawdling and keep up!” Ike tells the six that Durlag built a huge labyrinth under his tower.
Into Durlag’s Tower, level one of the tower itself. Level One has four gold pieces, some empty rooms, some tourists, and Ike, The heroic six head to the basement of the tower, where two Ghasts briefly attack them before being killed. A cowering adventurer named Bayard is here; he has been slightly injured, so he stayed behind while the group he was with (including Dalton, whom Penelope is supposed to find) went ahead. Down here, there is a little treasure, three more Ghasts, a few traps, and a secret door leading into the labyrinth below. They vote, and decide to clear out the rest of the tower before taking that route…
Back at Level One, Ike sells Kagain a Wardstone that will allow some sort of passage here, they think into level one of the labyrinth. Right after this sale, a HUGE demonknight appears, and casts a massive fireball spell that kills Ike and all of the tourists (it only wounds Kagain, who has partial magical immunity to fire, and the other five adventurers were off in an antechamber), and then disappears as suddenly and completely as he showed up. Kagain wisely pries off of Ike’s charred body the money he paid him for the Wardstone; “He won’t be needing this where he is going, poor sap,” says Kagain.
The six leave the tower for now, to sell off their treasure with the merchant outside, and to rest up.
Level Two of the tower = dining room, kitchen, Ghasts, and a bit of treasure. Imoen is having a blast here so far; so much loot to find, and traps to disarm, what more could a Thief want! Penelope finds stairs that lead to the roof, but she can hear Basilisks up there moving around. Kagain quaffs a protection potion and goes up the stairs alone, he battles (and defeats) four Basilisks and 6 Dopplegangers, and then comes back down the stairs to Level Two.
Looks like time to go outside and visit that merchant again…
Back inside, they head up to Level Three. There, they are attacked by a Ghost, but Xan takes it down with his spells. Then they meet a Thief named Riggilo, who is looting the place as well; he has a snooty and condescending attitude. Imoen discovers a magical tome, And when Branwen reads it her Wisdom score increases by one point. They leave Riggilo there, and head for the fourth floor of the tower.
On floor four, Penelope meets a Succubus named Kirinhale. Had Penelope been a male, Kirinhale would have overcome him/her easily. As it is, Durlag trapped her here 300 years ago. She wants to be free, of course. Kirinhale is about to attack and kill Penelope in a rage, but then stops and changes her mind; she gives Penelope a lock of her hair, and says that if she can get a male within this place to accept this lock of hair, then she will be free. Mind you, the male will be rapped here forever, but…it is either that, or fight the dangerous Succubus…
Imoen suggests giving the lock of hair to Riggilo. “It would serve that snooty little runt right, now wouldn’t it! Can you believe how he talked to me! Such rudeness DESERVES a gift, don’tcha think? Heya, Penelope, can we give it to him? Can we?”
Penelope, sighing, agrees. Back down a level to talk to Riggilo, Imoen hiding her snickers behind both hands.
“I feel sick,” mutters Branwen. “This is not the way of the warrior-born…”
Kagain replies, “By Moradin’s hammer, shut yer trap already!”
Penelope trades “this nifty lock of nymph hair we found” for a Potion of Cloud Giant Strength.
Back to the fourth floor, where Kirinhale says thanks and then disappears. Imoen finishes up her treasure hunting on this, the top floor of the tower, and they head back down to floor one and then outside the tower to find that merchant again.
And now, back to the tower basement…
…and through Imoen’s secret door, to Sub-Basement Level One!
Right off the bat, there is a nasty fireball trap, which Imoen disarms for them. Then there is a Phase Spider, a trapped bookshelf or two, and a wee bit of treasure. Next up, a room with five Greater Dopplegangers – an extremely difficult fight! A bookshelf behind them holds a “mallet head”, which they wisely take with them.
Next they find a storage room and a forge room, both with traps and treasure. After that, a bedroom and some treasure, guarded by another Phase Spider.
In the next room, they meet four Dwarven Wardens (neither living or dead, whether or not these beings are actually Dwarves, who can say?); each tells a strange riddle that must be solved before passing on to the next level. Both Branwen and Kagain say that the answers must therefore be on this level somewhere. And, in a nearby barrel, Penelope finds the “mallet handle”. Off to the forge, to re-make the mallet! Once completed, they discover that it is a “gong mallet”, used for striking a gong; “Now, if only we could find a gong…” muses Penelope aloud.
They go down a long secret passage, where the six face off against another Phase Spider. Then they find another storage room – and this one has a gong! Penelope uses the mallet on it – no noise is emitted, juts a tingling vibration.
“Ì am fairly certain we just solved our first riddle”, says Branwen.
“I like this place” says Kagain. “Maybe I could set up shop here. Xan, would you mind sweeping and tidying up for me?”
“Doomed; we’re all doomed! And all you can do is joke!” moaned Xan with a spluttering noise.
Another room opens before them next, this one with a big table and four open books set upon it. Penelope speed-reads them; they are all about Durlag and his adventures defeating a demon of the Rift and trapping it in an enchanted dagger. After reading all four, a faint glow comes from a room across the hall. In that room, Durlag’s sword, named Durlag’s Pride, says that it glows with pride because of Penelope reading the books. The sword is fused into the rocks and cannot be moved. Nevertheless, the six are fairly certain that they have solved yet another of the riddles.
Next up is the kitchen, where some nasty, icky Mustard Jellies reside, attacking the unwary. Then it is on to another bedroom, where a Skeletal Warrior awaits. Immune to swords and normal missile damage, this one is a bad-boy! Xan summons Gnolls, but the Skeletal Warrior casts a fireball spell and destroys them all (plus half-kills the six heroes). Penelope ignores the burning pain, and launches acid arrows at him. The others quaff healing potions, and Branwen summons skeletons; as they join the fray, Penelope gulps a healing potion and everybody fires their best arrows, and the Skeletal Warrior finally falls!
On to another bedroom, this one with some treasure in it, including some +3 Plate Mail that goes to Kagain, lowering him to a -6 Armour Class! Also, Imoen finds some “glowing grapes”, and a drawer that is locked and cannot be picked (or bashed, or spelled) open…
As Imoen checks out the next passageway, she encounters a Flesh Golem, which she and Penelope take down. From a room down the hallway, a Skeletal Warrior starts towards them. The two hurry back to the bedroom, where Xan summons Wardogs to slow the enemy attacker down, and then all six companions let him have it with arrows, stones, and darts until he is defeated.
Imoen and Penelope take down another Flesh Golem, as they enter a room with lots of training equipment, like a medieval gymnasium.
Another passageway, another Skeletal Warrior. After that, a treasure room; in here, Imoen finds a key and uses it to open the locked drawer in the bedroom, revealing a piece of a switch for an engine of some sort…She also finds a “Glittering Beljuril Gemstone”…
Pockets bulging with treasure, it’s time for the six to make a few trips topside…
Back in the treasure room the next day, they go through it and out the other side, ending up in the Machine Room, where a plaque tells them that this is the apparatus that powers the machine that makes wine; basically, it is a huge generator that runs a wine-making machine. Penelope attaches the piece to the switch, and starts it up…
Back they go to the gymnasium room, through it and into another room that has a machine for making grapes into wine. Penelope uses the glowing grapes they have been carrying around, and after a short wait they have a bottle of wine!
“And so ends the third riddle. Let’s hurry up and be done with this cursed place,” says Branwen.
“Doooooomed…” says Mr. Cheerful himself.
“Perhaps that Beljuril Gem is the answer to the last riddle,” suggests a thoughtful Kivan.
They go back and talk to the four dwarven wardens; apparently, the riddles have all been solved. Now, the four wardens turn into four very strong, very nasty, and rather evil warriors (two fighters, a back-stabbing assassin, and a powerful mage), and they attack the heroes. The four survive the battle, barely, all except for Kivan, who has fallen and cannot be revived (turned magically to stone, and then shattered into a million pieces). From the bodies, the survivors recover the Wardstone that lets them pass down to Sublevel 2.
Grieving heavily, they head topside. The five will need a new companion before they go down any further…
Leaving the area entirely, Penelope Farhaven and friends head to the farmlands south of Baldur’s Gate. There they again find the Paladin, Ajantis, still waiting by the side of the road. A human male, Ajantis is a Squire-Paladin of the Order of the Most Radiant Heart, serving under the deity Helm. Ajantis comes from the great city of Waterdeep, where he has studied swordplay under the tutelage of some great masters. He is on a mission here, to bring order to the Sword Coast; once done, he’ll return to Waterdeep and be made a full Paladin.
Once Ajantis agrees to join, the six make a side-trip to High Hedge and Beregost to stock up on supplies and whatnots. “You can never have too many whatnots,” exclaims the always-chipper Imoen.
Back to Durlag’s Tower, where they descend the stairs to Sublevel 2, and are once again in a small room with books laying on the ground. As Ajantis says, “This place has a stench of evil about it.” Yeah, no kidding. The six pick up the books and read more about Durlag, his life and his adventures.
The next room has some treasures, and some statues. The statues have grooves beneath them, or at least two of them do. Ajantis moves one, and the sound of a stone door opening is heard. Back to the first small room, where a door is now opened that leads into a bedroom. There is a chest in the middle of the room; they send in Kagain and his Boots of Speed to check it out, and then send in the three bowmen too (Penelope, Imoen, and Ajantis). Kagain opens the chest, which holds the Islanne Wardstone; Durlag suddenly appears, but he is really a Doppleganger, and he launches a fireball at the heroes and then attacks. The four take him down, hard. The passage the Doppleganger came through holds another book about Durlag, and the passage itself leads back to the statue room. Branwen and Xan join the four back in the bedroom. Also in this room is a closet full of treasure, and 2 more wardstones; when Penelope picks them up, they can all hear another stone door opening somewhere nearby.
Back to their 1st room, where another stone door has popped open. Imoen senses many traps that way, though, and Ajantis feels the cold shiver of evil. “That way is not our way,” he says. Back to the statue room, they move another statue and another secret door appears, but it is locked and cannot be opened. “Dang it! Back to the other way,” says Kagain. “We’re all doo…” starts Xan, but is cut off by Branwen’s hand slapping over his mouth. “Is he always like this?” asked Ajantis. Imoen shrugged and made a circular motion with her finger beside her head.
Imoen creeps into the room, where she quietly and carefully disarms seven traps set into the floor. Three sparring dummies are in the room, and all three have a slight magical glow. Penelope decides that they should place the three wardstones they have inside their chests, and does so. Then Kagian steps in and he attacks a sparring dummy, and as he does so another stone door is heard to open.
Back to the 1st room – where they discover a door to the Throne Room is now open. Kagain dashes in, retrieves a helmet lying by the throne, and dashes back out. Three false Durlags try to stop him, but he is quick and the door closes and locks behind him as he exits the Throne Room. The three Dopplegangers are trapped inside, at the mercy of the Cloudkill spell that has gone off because of Kagain having been in the room. After a while, Kagain whacks the practise dummy again and re-opens the door to the Throne Room. Branwen bars the door with summoned skeletons, and Xan launches three fireballs into the room, killing two of the Dopplegangers. Penelope, Ajantis, and Imoen pummel the remaining one with arrows while Kagain take shim on head-to-head with his axe, and the last Doppleganger in this room falls.
Nearby is a torture chamber with many traps. Also, the Switch Room, with many switches on the wall. Imoen manipulates the switches, opening (hopefully) all of the doors on this level. Back to the torture room. The helmet that Kagain picked up earlier is Kiel’s helmet (Kiel the son of Durlag).
Beyond is another room. First, two Greater Dopplegangers attack, and it is a tough battle but the six manage to take them down. Penelope declares that they cannot carry any more stuff, so they might as well go topside again and visit the merchant.
Back into the “dungeon” of Durlag’s Tower, and to the room just beyond the torture chamber. This room is divided in half by a great wall that looks impassable. Runes are etched into the floor. There is a pot of some sort, in a niche in the center of the wall, and there is another dusty book on the floor; Penelope picks up the book and reads some more about Durlag (yawn!). Imoen disarms the trap on the pot (“I wonder if this is Durlag’s chamber pot?” snickers Kagain), and inside of it is a “teleportation wardstone”. They touch the wardstone to the now-glowing runes on the floor, and are instantly teleported to the other side of the wall! Nothing else here, so they move on…
The next room has some nasty traps. In a hidden alcove, Imoen finds a trapped statue which holds the wardstone needed to get to Sublevel 3.
Next up is a long hallway with lots of alcoves. And, there are a lot of Ghasts in those alcoves! Imoen creeps down the hallway, looking for traps, and whenever Ghasts spot her she flees back to the safety of the doorway where “arrows fly and Ghasts die; for Helm!” shouts Ajantis.
Next up are some stairs going down; but they are an illusion. A Doomguard rushes out at them from the next room, and they quickly back up into the hallway, summon monsters, and let fly with their best arrows. In the end, they almost lose Branwen and Kagain to the cold clutches of the Reaper, but the heroes manage to defeat the tough little bugger. Barely. “I hope there aren’t any more of those,” gasps Penelope.
“Dang it to the nine hells and back, there’s another one” says Branwen, watching as the lead explorer, in this case Kagain, uses his Boots of Speed to flee away from the Doomguard. This time the six use the “summon monster” spell twice, plus the “summon undead” spell, and this barely gives them time to defeat him before he rushes up to them and pulverizes them like last time.
“Oh crud,” says Imoen, peaking around the corner at the exploring Kagain once again, “Don’t look now, but there is another one of those Doom-Thingies coming straight for us!”
“What!!?!” shrieks Xan, bending over with his legs clutched together like he is trying not to pee his robes.
Ajantis merely states, “Bring on what evil Durlag may; Helm will protect us”.
Question: How many monsters and skeletons can you summon into a single, narrow hallway?
Answer: As many as needed to keep a freakin’ Doomguard from reaching you!
“Once again, Helm has watched over us,” intones Ajantis.
“I like dungeons, they’re neat!” says Imoen.
“Eeep!” says Xan. “I’ll never get the stains out of these robes…”
Penelope wonders to herself what those three Doomgaurds were guarding. She and Kagain and the others creep forward...aha! It is Kiel’s Bedroom…and a FOURTH Doomguard!
Once again, they retreat and summon monsters like their lives depend upon it (they do!), and survive once again.
Kiel’s Bedroom holds a corpse, which they can only assume is Kiel’s. Yucky! There is also a magic buckler, a cursed Morningstar, and a few potions.
Now, a long twisting hallway; Penelope stops the party hallway down, and sends Kagain on ahead (after Imoen has checked for traps). The sturdy Dwarf pokes his head into a room, and spots 3 Greater Dopplegangers! The three attack him, and he flees back, drawing one with him into a deadly barrage of arrows. Repeat the same twice more, and all is well!
Imone goes into the large room, a natural cavern with bridges across a drop. There is a trapped cubby-hole on the other side with stuff in it, and doors leading to the storage room. From there, the six go to the bedroom and stuff all their treasure into a bedside table, hopefully to be retrieved by them later on. Now, it’s back to the fake stairs, to find a secret door leading to the real stairs to Sublevel Three.
Sublevel 3 starts with a tiny room, blasting innumerable fireball spells within it. They had to time it and run between the blasts through the room, one at a time, and out the door on the other side. Next was a giant maze, complete with traps, Greater Ghasts, and an Invisible Stalker, too! After that, a couple more Ghasts, then four talking statues that told them to defeat the four elements to move on; behind four doors were a Phoenix Guard (fire), an Air Aspect (air), a Fission Slime (slime), and Kaldren the Bear (huge magical polar bear; ice). So, the six managed to kill them all (one by one, of course), and then they were teleported to a chess board, where they were the pieces. They killed the enemy pieces, mainly thanks to Xan’s Fireball Wands, then crossed the board to find the door to Sublevel 4.
In the first room of Sublevel Four, the ghost of Durlag tells them that there is a new evil in this place that they must remove. The six move past him, to the beginning of a long hallway. Imoen finds a secret doorway partway down, and opens it up; it leads into a large, slime-filled cavern. “Smells like evil,” Ajantis remarks. They kept on going straight down the hall, where they found a room with some treasure and the ghost of Durlag’s wife, who offers to send them to the surface; they refuse.
Opening a door, they find themselves in a Forge Room, facing off against two Helmed Horrors! Penelope and Kagain take them on, one at a time, in the doorway with sword and axe, while Branwen and Xan hit them with spells. Like all of their previous foes, these two fall (too). Ajantis takes time out, during the battle, to tell Xan that he is evil.
The forge is trapped, but has lots of good loot in it, including the “bone ward” wardstone…
Off they go, back past the ghost of Durlag’s wife, down the corridor and past the secret door Imoen found, past the ghost of Durlag, over a bridge over a fiery crevice, down a rounded corridor, and…into a room full of (Phase and Sword) Spiders and Ettercaps (and with a huge sinkhole in the middle of it). Imoen disarms the floor traps, and first Kagain (with Boots of Speed) and then Xan (with Fireball Wand) lure them out one by one – to their doom. To the NorthEast is a Stone Golem, which asks them three questions about Durlag’s clan, which, thanks to Penelope reading all of those stupid books laying around, they get correct. The six are then transported to a Riddle Room, with four stone golems in it. One asks them a question about where its pain comes from; after an hour or so of head-scratching, they guess at the answer, and get it correct! Again, they are transported, this time back to the room with Durlag’s ghost in it.
Now they head into the slime-filled cavern, where they are hounded by Greater Ghouls and Carrion Crawlers (some sort of sick relation to the Ankhegs perhaps, they are white, wormlike things with many legs, that shriek nastily and cast Hold Person spells around like rice at a wedding). At last they find a secret cavern where a Ghoul named Grael resides; he says he used to be a Dwarf here, he fought with Durlag against “the demon” (“Oh ho!” says Imoen. “Oh no!” cries Xan, tears flooding his cheeks) but his (Grael’s) name is no longer remembered outside of this place so he is very angry. Penelope and crew kill him, and claim the Compass Wardstone. Still in the slime-y caverns, they have another pitched battle, then find themselves in some trapped hallways. Down here, they discover two rooms. In the first one, a trapped chest holds a flaming longsword (“Flame Tongue” is its name) and the Staff of Striking. Ajantis takes Flame Tongue as his new weapon, replacing Spider’s Bane.
“Slow and steady wins the race; especially through trapped corridors!” noted Imoen.
“Whatever gets us through this death-trap safely, Imoen,” said Penelope softly. “Slow is better than dead.”
“There is no safety...only death...” intoned Xan.
“Were you any more evil, I would run you though with my sword. Your weakness disgusts me, sorcerer!” snapped Ajantis.
“By Moradin’s hammer! Shut yer trap, or I’m leaving all of you here!” said Kagain. “Stupid Durlag...why couldn’t he have built a pub down here, at least?”
“This arguing is not fitting those who are warrior-born,” were the words of Branwen. “More smiting, less empty words!”
Penelope sighed, merely saying, “At times like this, I miss the quiet stoicism of Kivan...”
“You miss the dusty books and the old cronies of Candlekeep, too, I’ll bet!” piped up Imoen with a giggle, before she went back to searching the floors and walls for traps.
Penelope envisioned the departed Kivan sighing and shaking his head, and did the same in memory of him. ‘Time to be done with this stupid tower, before it is the death of more of us,’ she thought to herself. ‘Already, one death is too many to be on my hands; the burden of leadership weighs heavily...’
.
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Time to catch up on the Baldur's Gate gaming I have done in the last few weeks...
Penelope tells Kaishas Gan what Dradeel said, about the beasts being already among Balduran’s own crew when they landed on this island. She admits it, but said that the beasts did not kill any peaceful people, only violent and dangerous ones. She then takes the Sea Charts from them, forcibly, and then she bites the six, infecting them with lycanthropy (Kivan believe, hopefully correctly, that the only way to relieve themselves of this curse, is to kill the head of the werewolves, who would be…wait for it…Mendas!). Kaishas talks to them about belonging to the clan now. Penelope grows angry and threatens her, but Kaishas is crazy and beyond reasoning with. Her 2nd-in-command, Tailas, does not want the six to belong to the village, and says he has already stirred up the villagers against them and that now they will be killed; Kaishas shrugs, says “I’m sorry about that, then” and runs off with the sea charts to prepare for the voyage off of the island. Penelope (with Balduran`s golden sword) and Kagain (with the silver dagger) go after Tasilas, and massacre him with extreme prejudice (“Oh look, now I have werewolf poop on my shoes, and if that weren’t bad enough, I AM a werewolf, or soon will be…oh, that’s just lovely…” sighs Xan).
Outside of Kaisha’s hut, the six hunt werewolves (who also hunt them). The battles are thick and ferocious, and almost non-stop (hairy, too!). Maralee says that she is on their side, and that there is an underground warren and tunnels that lead to the ship, hidden underneath one of the homes in the village, and she points out which one.
Dradeel is waiting outside the hut where the tunnels start (I guess he needs to use the ship to get off the island after all!). He says that they must hurry up and escape. Into the hut and down into the tunnels (weren’t we just in two separate mines - Cloakwood and Nashkel, remember? - and a labyrinth full of crazy trapped wizards below an island of ice, just recently? Again, we go below ground!?! Sheesh…) the six go. They find their way through, only having to battle two werewolves, and exit the tunnels on the East beach of the island (“Can’t wait to get off Werewolf bloody Island,” mutters Kagain). Ahead of them is the ship the villagers built.
There are some docks, and the ship. As the six desperate, werewolf-infected, pissed-off, island-trapped, villager-betrayed heroes approach the ship, they see Kaisha Gan, stanidn on the deck, and changing into a huge werewolf as she spots them (or sniffs them coming, whatever). “Time to kick the doggy to the shore!” cries Kagain. “Time to…oh, I don’t know…beware the elf’s wrath, you bad, bad dog-lady thing!” half-heartedly shouted Xan, following it with a loud sigh.
Branwen summons skeletons and Xan summons gnolls, and these two groups hit the gangway before the six, blocking Kaisha’s way to get at them; meanwhile, the group barrages her with arrows (Penelope, Imoen, and Kivan), stones (Xan and Branwen), and darts (Kagain) until she falls down dead. Penelope Farhaven shoulders her way past the gnolls and grabs the bloody sea charts from Kaisha’s body. “To the survivors, go the spoils of war,” she said simply.
The voyage back to Ulgoth’s Beard is uneventful (“I didn’t know any of us knew how to sail!” said Kagain. His five companions merely looked at him, and shrugged their shoulders in confusion). Mendas has an underling of his meet them at the docks; he wants to know why the clan is not with them on the boat, and angrily warns them that Mendas will not be happy about this at all. Penelope is getting royally pissed off by this time, and the underling spins and head sback to Mendas’ home mere nano-seconds before her sword plunges through the place the underling had just stood. “I believe,” she said to her companions on the dock, “that we have an appointment with Mendas. I would hate to keep him waiting, so let’s go ‘talk’ to him right away.”
“And right after we kill him, let’s get some ale!” shouted Kagain passionately.
Inside Mendas’ home, he freaks out on the six, but then notices how extremely angry they are – he and his underling quickly turn into werewolves. It’s too late, as Kagain and Penelope have the drop on them with their werewolf-hurting weapons, and the six make short work of the two. “Can you feel that?” asked Kivan as Mendas breathed his last. “The curse has lifted, I am whole again!” And so said they all; with the death of the pack leader, the curse of lycanthropy was lifted from all of them. “Now for some ale!” shouted Kagain. “And a nap,” remarked Imoen with a nod.
Off to the Ulgoth’s Beard Inn, to rest up; Kagain to drink himself silly and then fall down unconscious behind some barrels, Imoen to sleep for three hours then sneak downstairs and snag a few purses from some unsuspecting drunks (Kagain not included) and then go back upstairs to sleep some more, Branwen and Xan to recover their lost spells (Branwen by prayer and meditation, Xan by studying his spellbook), Kivan to fletch some more arrows and then dream fitfully of taking down the Iron Throne…and Penelope to alternate troubled dreams with bedroom pacing.
The next day, they talk to a woman of the village named Therella, whose son Dalton is missing; he signed on with some adventurers from the great (“Not that great,” muttered Kagain. “Not nearly as great as the great underground dwarven cities.”) city of Waterdeep and took off to explore Durlag’s Tower and was never seen again. Penelope tells Therella that they will keep an eye out for word of her son.
Just outside the Inn is a man named Ike, who is selling guided tours of Durlag’s Tower. “Come see the dangerous splendors of the mad dwarf Durlag, who turned his tower into the mightiest deathtrap of all!” intoned the tour guide. Penelope paid for the six of them, and Ike told them to meet him there, and he hurries off. “Why hurry? We’re all doomed!” said Xan after his retreating back. Imoen slapped the elf on his back; “Try to cheer up, pointy-ears; it’s a chance to find adventure!” As she walked away, the rest of the party snickered – there, stuck to Xan’s back, was a hastily sprawled message on parchment, saying; “Kick me, I’m a whiney little elf girl! And spank my bottom - I like it!”
They travel to the area near Durlag’s Tower, arriving there a few days after they leave Ulgoth’s Beard. “Why does everybody keep kicking me?” whined Xan, eliciting more laughter from the group. There, they meet a travelling merchant (“More like a fence for stolen goods,” says Imoen) named Erdane.
On the way to the tower courtyard, the group had to battle first two Battle Horrors, and then two Dopplegangers. They meet up with their guide, Ike, who tells them to “Stop dawdling and keep up!” Ike tells the six that Durlag built a huge labyrinth under his tower.
Into Durlag’s Tower, level one of the tower itself. Level One has four gold pieces, some empty rooms, some tourists, and Ike, The heroic six head to the basement of the tower, where two Ghasts briefly attack them before being killed. A cowering adventurer named Bayard is here; he has been slightly injured, so he stayed behind while the group he was with (including Dalton, whom Penelope is supposed to find) went ahead. Down here, there is a little treasure, three more Ghasts, a few traps, and a secret door leading into the labyrinth below. They vote, and decide to clear out the rest of the tower before taking that route…
Back at Level One, Ike sells Kagain a Wardstone that will allow some sort of passage here, they think into level one of the labyrinth. Right after this sale, a HUGE demonknight appears, and casts a massive fireball spell that kills Ike and all of the tourists (it only wounds Kagain, who has partial magical immunity to fire, and the other five adventurers were off in an antechamber), and then disappears as suddenly and completely as he showed up. Kagain wisely pries off of Ike’s charred body the money he paid him for the Wardstone; “He won’t be needing this where he is going, poor sap,” says Kagain.
The six leave the tower for now, to sell off their treasure with the merchant outside, and to rest up.
Level Two of the tower = dining room, kitchen, Ghasts, and a bit of treasure. Imoen is having a blast here so far; so much loot to find, and traps to disarm, what more could a Thief want! Penelope finds stairs that lead to the roof, but she can hear Basilisks up there moving around. Kagain quaffs a protection potion and goes up the stairs alone, he battles (and defeats) four Basilisks and 6 Dopplegangers, and then comes back down the stairs to Level Two.
Looks like time to go outside and visit that merchant again…
Back inside, they head up to Level Three. There, they are attacked by a Ghost, but Xan takes it down with his spells. Then they meet a Thief named Riggilo, who is looting the place as well; he has a snooty and condescending attitude. Imoen discovers a magical tome, And when Branwen reads it her Wisdom score increases by one point. They leave Riggilo there, and head for the fourth floor of the tower.
On floor four, Penelope meets a Succubus named Kirinhale. Had Penelope been a male, Kirinhale would have overcome him/her easily. As it is, Durlag trapped her here 300 years ago. She wants to be free, of course. Kirinhale is about to attack and kill Penelope in a rage, but then stops and changes her mind; she gives Penelope a lock of her hair, and says that if she can get a male within this place to accept this lock of hair, then she will be free. Mind you, the male will be rapped here forever, but…it is either that, or fight the dangerous Succubus…
Imoen suggests giving the lock of hair to Riggilo. “It would serve that snooty little runt right, now wouldn’t it! Can you believe how he talked to me! Such rudeness DESERVES a gift, don’tcha think? Heya, Penelope, can we give it to him? Can we?”
Penelope, sighing, agrees. Back down a level to talk to Riggilo, Imoen hiding her snickers behind both hands.
“I feel sick,” mutters Branwen. “This is not the way of the warrior-born…”
Kagain replies, “By Moradin’s hammer, shut yer trap already!”
Penelope trades “this nifty lock of nymph hair we found” for a Potion of Cloud Giant Strength.
Back to the fourth floor, where Kirinhale says thanks and then disappears. Imoen finishes up her treasure hunting on this, the top floor of the tower, and they head back down to floor one and then outside the tower to find that merchant again.
And now, back to the tower basement…
…and through Imoen’s secret door, to Sub-Basement Level One!
Right off the bat, there is a nasty fireball trap, which Imoen disarms for them. Then there is a Phase Spider, a trapped bookshelf or two, and a wee bit of treasure. Next up, a room with five Greater Dopplegangers – an extremely difficult fight! A bookshelf behind them holds a “mallet head”, which they wisely take with them.
Next they find a storage room and a forge room, both with traps and treasure. After that, a bedroom and some treasure, guarded by another Phase Spider.
In the next room, they meet four Dwarven Wardens (neither living or dead, whether or not these beings are actually Dwarves, who can say?); each tells a strange riddle that must be solved before passing on to the next level. Both Branwen and Kagain say that the answers must therefore be on this level somewhere. And, in a nearby barrel, Penelope finds the “mallet handle”. Off to the forge, to re-make the mallet! Once completed, they discover that it is a “gong mallet”, used for striking a gong; “Now, if only we could find a gong…” muses Penelope aloud.
They go down a long secret passage, where the six face off against another Phase Spider. Then they find another storage room – and this one has a gong! Penelope uses the mallet on it – no noise is emitted, juts a tingling vibration.
“Ì am fairly certain we just solved our first riddle”, says Branwen.
“I like this place” says Kagain. “Maybe I could set up shop here. Xan, would you mind sweeping and tidying up for me?”
“Doomed; we’re all doomed! And all you can do is joke!” moaned Xan with a spluttering noise.
Another room opens before them next, this one with a big table and four open books set upon it. Penelope speed-reads them; they are all about Durlag and his adventures defeating a demon of the Rift and trapping it in an enchanted dagger. After reading all four, a faint glow comes from a room across the hall. In that room, Durlag’s sword, named Durlag’s Pride, says that it glows with pride because of Penelope reading the books. The sword is fused into the rocks and cannot be moved. Nevertheless, the six are fairly certain that they have solved yet another of the riddles.
Next up is the kitchen, where some nasty, icky Mustard Jellies reside, attacking the unwary. Then it is on to another bedroom, where a Skeletal Warrior awaits. Immune to swords and normal missile damage, this one is a bad-boy! Xan summons Gnolls, but the Skeletal Warrior casts a fireball spell and destroys them all (plus half-kills the six heroes). Penelope ignores the burning pain, and launches acid arrows at him. The others quaff healing potions, and Branwen summons skeletons; as they join the fray, Penelope gulps a healing potion and everybody fires their best arrows, and the Skeletal Warrior finally falls!
On to another bedroom, this one with some treasure in it, including some +3 Plate Mail that goes to Kagain, lowering him to a -6 Armour Class! Also, Imoen finds some “glowing grapes”, and a drawer that is locked and cannot be picked (or bashed, or spelled) open…
As Imoen checks out the next passageway, she encounters a Flesh Golem, which she and Penelope take down. From a room down the hallway, a Skeletal Warrior starts towards them. The two hurry back to the bedroom, where Xan summons Wardogs to slow the enemy attacker down, and then all six companions let him have it with arrows, stones, and darts until he is defeated.
Imoen and Penelope take down another Flesh Golem, as they enter a room with lots of training equipment, like a medieval gymnasium.
Another passageway, another Skeletal Warrior. After that, a treasure room; in here, Imoen finds a key and uses it to open the locked drawer in the bedroom, revealing a piece of a switch for an engine of some sort…She also finds a “Glittering Beljuril Gemstone”…
Pockets bulging with treasure, it’s time for the six to make a few trips topside…
Back in the treasure room the next day, they go through it and out the other side, ending up in the Machine Room, where a plaque tells them that this is the apparatus that powers the machine that makes wine; basically, it is a huge generator that runs a wine-making machine. Penelope attaches the piece to the switch, and starts it up…
Back they go to the gymnasium room, through it and into another room that has a machine for making grapes into wine. Penelope uses the glowing grapes they have been carrying around, and after a short wait they have a bottle of wine!
“And so ends the third riddle. Let’s hurry up and be done with this cursed place,” says Branwen.
“Doooooomed…” says Mr. Cheerful himself.
“Perhaps that Beljuril Gem is the answer to the last riddle,” suggests a thoughtful Kivan.
They go back and talk to the four dwarven wardens; apparently, the riddles have all been solved. Now, the four wardens turn into four very strong, very nasty, and rather evil warriors (two fighters, a back-stabbing assassin, and a powerful mage), and they attack the heroes. The four survive the battle, barely, all except for Kivan, who has fallen and cannot be revived (turned magically to stone, and then shattered into a million pieces). From the bodies, the survivors recover the Wardstone that lets them pass down to Sublevel 2.
Grieving heavily, they head topside. The five will need a new companion before they go down any further…
Leaving the area entirely, Penelope Farhaven and friends head to the farmlands south of Baldur’s Gate. There they again find the Paladin, Ajantis, still waiting by the side of the road. A human male, Ajantis is a Squire-Paladin of the Order of the Most Radiant Heart, serving under the deity Helm. Ajantis comes from the great city of Waterdeep, where he has studied swordplay under the tutelage of some great masters. He is on a mission here, to bring order to the Sword Coast; once done, he’ll return to Waterdeep and be made a full Paladin.
Once Ajantis agrees to join, the six make a side-trip to High Hedge and Beregost to stock up on supplies and whatnots. “You can never have too many whatnots,” exclaims the always-chipper Imoen.
Back to Durlag’s Tower, where they descend the stairs to Sublevel 2, and are once again in a small room with books laying on the ground. As Ajantis says, “This place has a stench of evil about it.” Yeah, no kidding. The six pick up the books and read more about Durlag, his life and his adventures.
The next room has some treasures, and some statues. The statues have grooves beneath them, or at least two of them do. Ajantis moves one, and the sound of a stone door opening is heard. Back to the first small room, where a door is now opened that leads into a bedroom. There is a chest in the middle of the room; they send in Kagain and his Boots of Speed to check it out, and then send in the three bowmen too (Penelope, Imoen, and Ajantis). Kagain opens the chest, which holds the Islanne Wardstone; Durlag suddenly appears, but he is really a Doppleganger, and he launches a fireball at the heroes and then attacks. The four take him down, hard. The passage the Doppleganger came through holds another book about Durlag, and the passage itself leads back to the statue room. Branwen and Xan join the four back in the bedroom. Also in this room is a closet full of treasure, and 2 more wardstones; when Penelope picks them up, they can all hear another stone door opening somewhere nearby.
Back to their 1st room, where another stone door has popped open. Imoen senses many traps that way, though, and Ajantis feels the cold shiver of evil. “That way is not our way,” he says. Back to the statue room, they move another statue and another secret door appears, but it is locked and cannot be opened. “Dang it! Back to the other way,” says Kagain. “We’re all doo…” starts Xan, but is cut off by Branwen’s hand slapping over his mouth. “Is he always like this?” asked Ajantis. Imoen shrugged and made a circular motion with her finger beside her head.
Imoen creeps into the room, where she quietly and carefully disarms seven traps set into the floor. Three sparring dummies are in the room, and all three have a slight magical glow. Penelope decides that they should place the three wardstones they have inside their chests, and does so. Then Kagian steps in and he attacks a sparring dummy, and as he does so another stone door is heard to open.
Back to the 1st room – where they discover a door to the Throne Room is now open. Kagain dashes in, retrieves a helmet lying by the throne, and dashes back out. Three false Durlags try to stop him, but he is quick and the door closes and locks behind him as he exits the Throne Room. The three Dopplegangers are trapped inside, at the mercy of the Cloudkill spell that has gone off because of Kagain having been in the room. After a while, Kagain whacks the practise dummy again and re-opens the door to the Throne Room. Branwen bars the door with summoned skeletons, and Xan launches three fireballs into the room, killing two of the Dopplegangers. Penelope, Ajantis, and Imoen pummel the remaining one with arrows while Kagain take shim on head-to-head with his axe, and the last Doppleganger in this room falls.
Nearby is a torture chamber with many traps. Also, the Switch Room, with many switches on the wall. Imoen manipulates the switches, opening (hopefully) all of the doors on this level. Back to the torture room. The helmet that Kagain picked up earlier is Kiel’s helmet (Kiel the son of Durlag).
Beyond is another room. First, two Greater Dopplegangers attack, and it is a tough battle but the six manage to take them down. Penelope declares that they cannot carry any more stuff, so they might as well go topside again and visit the merchant.
Back into the “dungeon” of Durlag’s Tower, and to the room just beyond the torture chamber. This room is divided in half by a great wall that looks impassable. Runes are etched into the floor. There is a pot of some sort, in a niche in the center of the wall, and there is another dusty book on the floor; Penelope picks up the book and reads some more about Durlag (yawn!). Imoen disarms the trap on the pot (“I wonder if this is Durlag’s chamber pot?” snickers Kagain), and inside of it is a “teleportation wardstone”. They touch the wardstone to the now-glowing runes on the floor, and are instantly teleported to the other side of the wall! Nothing else here, so they move on…
The next room has some nasty traps. In a hidden alcove, Imoen finds a trapped statue which holds the wardstone needed to get to Sublevel 3.
Next up is a long hallway with lots of alcoves. And, there are a lot of Ghasts in those alcoves! Imoen creeps down the hallway, looking for traps, and whenever Ghasts spot her she flees back to the safety of the doorway where “arrows fly and Ghasts die; for Helm!” shouts Ajantis.
Next up are some stairs going down; but they are an illusion. A Doomguard rushes out at them from the next room, and they quickly back up into the hallway, summon monsters, and let fly with their best arrows. In the end, they almost lose Branwen and Kagain to the cold clutches of the Reaper, but the heroes manage to defeat the tough little bugger. Barely. “I hope there aren’t any more of those,” gasps Penelope.
“Dang it to the nine hells and back, there’s another one” says Branwen, watching as the lead explorer, in this case Kagain, uses his Boots of Speed to flee away from the Doomguard. This time the six use the “summon monster” spell twice, plus the “summon undead” spell, and this barely gives them time to defeat him before he rushes up to them and pulverizes them like last time.
“Oh crud,” says Imoen, peaking around the corner at the exploring Kagain once again, “Don’t look now, but there is another one of those Doom-Thingies coming straight for us!”
“What!!?!” shrieks Xan, bending over with his legs clutched together like he is trying not to pee his robes.
Ajantis merely states, “Bring on what evil Durlag may; Helm will protect us”.
Question: How many monsters and skeletons can you summon into a single, narrow hallway?
Answer: As many as needed to keep a freakin’ Doomguard from reaching you!
“Once again, Helm has watched over us,” intones Ajantis.
“I like dungeons, they’re neat!” says Imoen.
“Eeep!” says Xan. “I’ll never get the stains out of these robes…”
Penelope wonders to herself what those three Doomgaurds were guarding. She and Kagain and the others creep forward...aha! It is Kiel’s Bedroom…and a FOURTH Doomguard!
Once again, they retreat and summon monsters like their lives depend upon it (they do!), and survive once again.
Kiel’s Bedroom holds a corpse, which they can only assume is Kiel’s. Yucky! There is also a magic buckler, a cursed Morningstar, and a few potions.
Now, a long twisting hallway; Penelope stops the party hallway down, and sends Kagain on ahead (after Imoen has checked for traps). The sturdy Dwarf pokes his head into a room, and spots 3 Greater Dopplegangers! The three attack him, and he flees back, drawing one with him into a deadly barrage of arrows. Repeat the same twice more, and all is well!
Imone goes into the large room, a natural cavern with bridges across a drop. There is a trapped cubby-hole on the other side with stuff in it, and doors leading to the storage room. From there, the six go to the bedroom and stuff all their treasure into a bedside table, hopefully to be retrieved by them later on. Now, it’s back to the fake stairs, to find a secret door leading to the real stairs to Sublevel Three.
Sublevel 3 starts with a tiny room, blasting innumerable fireball spells within it. They had to time it and run between the blasts through the room, one at a time, and out the door on the other side. Next was a giant maze, complete with traps, Greater Ghasts, and an Invisible Stalker, too! After that, a couple more Ghasts, then four talking statues that told them to defeat the four elements to move on; behind four doors were a Phoenix Guard (fire), an Air Aspect (air), a Fission Slime (slime), and Kaldren the Bear (huge magical polar bear; ice). So, the six managed to kill them all (one by one, of course), and then they were teleported to a chess board, where they were the pieces. They killed the enemy pieces, mainly thanks to Xan’s Fireball Wands, then crossed the board to find the door to Sublevel 4.
In the first room of Sublevel Four, the ghost of Durlag tells them that there is a new evil in this place that they must remove. The six move past him, to the beginning of a long hallway. Imoen finds a secret doorway partway down, and opens it up; it leads into a large, slime-filled cavern. “Smells like evil,” Ajantis remarks. They kept on going straight down the hall, where they found a room with some treasure and the ghost of Durlag’s wife, who offers to send them to the surface; they refuse.
Opening a door, they find themselves in a Forge Room, facing off against two Helmed Horrors! Penelope and Kagain take them on, one at a time, in the doorway with sword and axe, while Branwen and Xan hit them with spells. Like all of their previous foes, these two fall (too). Ajantis takes time out, during the battle, to tell Xan that he is evil.
The forge is trapped, but has lots of good loot in it, including the “bone ward” wardstone…
Off they go, back past the ghost of Durlag’s wife, down the corridor and past the secret door Imoen found, past the ghost of Durlag, over a bridge over a fiery crevice, down a rounded corridor, and…into a room full of (Phase and Sword) Spiders and Ettercaps (and with a huge sinkhole in the middle of it). Imoen disarms the floor traps, and first Kagain (with Boots of Speed) and then Xan (with Fireball Wand) lure them out one by one – to their doom. To the NorthEast is a Stone Golem, which asks them three questions about Durlag’s clan, which, thanks to Penelope reading all of those stupid books laying around, they get correct. The six are then transported to a Riddle Room, with four stone golems in it. One asks them a question about where its pain comes from; after an hour or so of head-scratching, they guess at the answer, and get it correct! Again, they are transported, this time back to the room with Durlag’s ghost in it.
Now they head into the slime-filled cavern, where they are hounded by Greater Ghouls and Carrion Crawlers (some sort of sick relation to the Ankhegs perhaps, they are white, wormlike things with many legs, that shriek nastily and cast Hold Person spells around like rice at a wedding). At last they find a secret cavern where a Ghoul named Grael resides; he says he used to be a Dwarf here, he fought with Durlag against “the demon” (“Oh ho!” says Imoen. “Oh no!” cries Xan, tears flooding his cheeks) but his (Grael’s) name is no longer remembered outside of this place so he is very angry. Penelope and crew kill him, and claim the Compass Wardstone. Still in the slime-y caverns, they have another pitched battle, then find themselves in some trapped hallways. Down here, they discover two rooms. In the first one, a trapped chest holds a flaming longsword (“Flame Tongue” is its name) and the Staff of Striking. Ajantis takes Flame Tongue as his new weapon, replacing Spider’s Bane.
“Slow and steady wins the race; especially through trapped corridors!” noted Imoen.
“Whatever gets us through this death-trap safely, Imoen,” said Penelope softly. “Slow is better than dead.”
“There is no safety...only death...” intoned Xan.
“Were you any more evil, I would run you though with my sword. Your weakness disgusts me, sorcerer!” snapped Ajantis.
“By Moradin’s hammer! Shut yer trap, or I’m leaving all of you here!” said Kagain. “Stupid Durlag...why couldn’t he have built a pub down here, at least?”
“This arguing is not fitting those who are warrior-born,” were the words of Branwen. “More smiting, less empty words!”
Penelope sighed, merely saying, “At times like this, I miss the quiet stoicism of Kivan...”
“You miss the dusty books and the old cronies of Candlekeep, too, I’ll bet!” piped up Imoen with a giggle, before she went back to searching the floors and walls for traps.
Penelope envisioned the departed Kivan sighing and shaking his head, and did the same in memory of him. ‘Time to be done with this stupid tower, before it is the death of more of us,’ she thought to herself. ‘Already, one death is too many to be on my hands; the burden of leadership weighs heavily...’
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