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Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Tales of the Sword Coast | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | |
Baldur's Gate | Thief Warrens | Undercity | |
BALDUR'S GATE
Return to Baldur's Gate
I start by leaving the caves, which starts Chapter 7. I then head over to the southeast section of Baldur's Gate.
*Note* Travelling around Baldur's Gate is going to be risky business during this chapter, since the Flaming Fist will be looking to arrest me. Offering bribes or killing any of them will reduce my reputation. And if my reputation falls low enough, shops will be closed to me and Flaming Fists will be pretty much hounding my every step. A good rule of thumb is that whenever I go a section of Baldur's Gate, I'll travel along the perimeter of the section and avoid its central portion. It tends to be the central portion of each section where there will likely be Flaming Fists wanting to arrest me.
In fact, I went instead briefly to the south section, then past its east edge and back to the southeast section. This way, I can go to the Blade & Stars Inn without having to travel through the central portion of the southeast section.
Now I rest up in the Blade & Stars until I get the dream for Chapter 7, as well as another instance of Draw upon Holy Might.
Tamoko
Now I head to the east section, gingerly avoiding its central portion. A woman named Tamoko gives me a clue, to save Duke Eltan from his own healer. Shortly thereafter, a Harper named Delthyr shows up and again drops the Duke Eltan hint, as well as the news that Scar has been assassinated.
Now I head over to the southwest section. I want to reach the Flaming Fist Headquarters, but I take the long way around. And again, it's to avoid Flaming Fist officers who want to arrest me.
Once I do reach the front of the headquarters, Tamoko wants to speak with me again. She wants a promise from me, but I'm not agreeable. (Deliberately so, because I want to score a certain armor off of her afterwards.)
Rescuing Duke Eltan
Now I do some pre-buffs, and then go in through the front door. I will get attacked by several members of the Flaming Fist, some of whom can cast Clerical spells. Imoen starts off with a Web, facilitating a divide and conquer that brings down of the first wave of Flaming Fist.
Kivan shows another tactical theme. He switches over to his Spider's Bane sword, and can freely wade into the middle of the Web to cut down enemies caught within without having to worry about himself getting stuck. Keep in mind that the duration of Web isn't so long that you can win with this kind of tactic all by itself, but it does provide for welcome possibilities when the occasion arises.
Once the Web wears off the party brings down the remaining Flaming Fists with a combination of melee and missile attacks. Everybody then heads upstairs.
Kent informs me that the healer is actually the source of Duke Eltan's condition. Yeslick casts Remove Fear on the party. And indeed Rashad is a Greater Doppleganger. Imoen renders him vulnerable with Remove Magic, and then I cut him down.
Duke Eltan ask me to take him to the Harbormaster. Once I leave the headquarters some Flaming Fists arrive to arrest me. The Flaming Fists showing up can't be avoided, so I just make a straight line for the nearest way out.
Now I go first to the southeast section, and then west to the south section. This way, I avoid any Flaming Fists, and approach the Harbormaster's Building, which is on the east side of the docks, from the east. I get 2,500xp for bringing Duke Eltan to the Harbormaster.
Chythandria and Sarevok's Diary
Now I return to the Iron Throne, avoiding the central portion of any section as always. As I make my way up, I run into various persons that bombard me with clues that Sarevok's agenda is anything but monetary profit.
At the top will be a mage named Cythandria. Her two Ogres get replaced with two Stone Golems in SCS. She's going to start off with Web, but curiously enough she won't use Remove Magic. So I buff up to the max, including Haste. I have to brave the Web, but I'm banking on combining Haste with enough characters making their saving throws so as to minimize the risk. Jaheira keeps herself outside the Web, and aims an Insect Plague at one of the Golems. And sure enough, it spreads to Cythandria as well, taking her out of the battle. The party is able to bring down the Golems, notwithstanding the Web.
Once they're gone, the party starts to gang up on Cythrandria. I refuse her plea for mercy. She does have a Minor Spell Contingency that includes Invisibility, and this buys her time to gulp down Potions of Healing and recover her hit points. Even so, I persist and stay on top of her to bring her down.
Cythandria leaves behind two letters that indicate that Sarevok has hired a pair of assassins named Kristin and Slythe to kill Dukes Belt and Liia. The letters also indicate that the pair are hiding in the Undercellar.
Cythandria also leaves behind Sarevok's Diary. The Unfinished Business mod restores the full original content that was initially intended for the Diary. I round out the video by scrolling through the whole Diary for interest's sake.
Kristin and Slythe
Now I return to the Blushing Mermaid, and then the Undercellar. In the center of the Undercellar will be a pair of assassins, Kristin and Slythe. Slythe is augmented in SCS, and his AI will now have him periodically use Potions of Invisibility in order to aim for backstabs. Kristin is still a Mage, and of course comes with plenty of pre-buffs. She will use spells like Confusion, Slow, and Remove Magic.
I have Imoen use a charge from her Wand of Monster Summoning to keep the pair occupied at the outset.
I then have Jaheira gamble and aim an Insect Plague at Slythe. Insect Plague will miss its target if the target goes invisible before Jaheira completes her casting animation. But if Jaheira completes her casting animation before the target goes invisible, the Insect Plague will still reach its target and then spread out. Here it goes to Slythe anyway, and then gets Kristin as well, preventing her from casting spells. Avastrian is protected by both Stoneskin and Mirror Images, so he races ahead and keeps Slythe occupied, and eventually brings Slythe down. Kristen has a Fire Shield: Red in place, so the party simply aims missile weapons at her from a distance to avoid taking damage. They switch over to melee weapons briefly to get rid of the Kobold Commandos that she summoned, but then resume missile fire once they're gone.
Kristin leaves behind a Dagger +2 and a Sling +2, as well as many spell scrolls. Slythe leaves behind a Short Sword of Backstabbing +3, as well as a letter from Sarevok, and an invitation to the coronation ceremony at the Duchal Palace. I obviously need to hang on to these.
Dukes Belt and Liia
Now I go to the central section, and then up to the north section. This brings me to the gate of the Duchal Palace. I give the guard the invitation that I picked up from Slythe's body.
Now I prepare to the max, including Remove Fear and Potions of Giant Strength. I enter the main room, where a cutscene ensues. The end of it is that several Noblemen reveal themselves to be Greater Doppleganger assassins.
Keep in mind that Greater Dopplegangers in SCS, besides Fear, can also inflict individual characters with either Confusion or Charm effects, so I want to end this battle as quickly as possible. Imoen casts Remove Magic to get rid of their Hastes and Mirror Images. Avastrian then casts Slow. Imoen would have casted Chaos as well, but she got confused. But the Slow proves to be enough. The party hacks down the Greater Dopplegangers one by one.
Note that party members, or Belt or Liia, or Flaming Fists, can end up Confused or Charmed as well. This in itself provides an incentive to kill off the Greater Dopplegangers as quickly as I can. As long as I can commence the ensuing dialogue with Duke Belt quickly , chances are I can avoid my own party members attacking either of the Dukes or the Flaming Fists and turning everyone hostile on me.
I present incriminating documents to Duke Belt, and this provokes Sarevok into going on the attack. As long as I can land a single blow on him, or outlast him for a short duration, I can get him to leave. Duke Belt then teleports me back to the Shadow Thieves' Guild.
From there I can follow him into the Thief Warrens.
