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...’