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CHAPTER 1 | CHAPTER 2 | CHAPTER 3 | CHAPTER 4 | CHAPTER 5 | CHAPTER 6 | CHAPTER 7 | CHAPTER 8 | CHAPTER 9 | CHAPTER 10 | |
Brynnlaw | Spellhold | Asylum Dungeon - Level 1 | Asylum Dungeon - Level 2 | Asylum Dungeon - Level 3 | Asylum Tests | Escape from Spellhold | City of Caverns | |
BRYNNLAW
Valen, Del and Parisa
Now the party arrives in Brynnlaw. The party takes the time to buff up, including Haste, Remove Fear, and Chaotic Commands on Avastrian. It will become apparent that Saemon Havarian has set up an ambush on the party by three vampires named Valen, Del and Parisa.
The vampires also start off with a LOT of Giant Rats capable of causing disease with their bite attacks helping them. They'll also summon Dire Wolves. The sheer numbers means this has to be a team effort, hence the reason for Haste beforehand. Yoshimo stays out of it, since his armor class is poor. Jaheira casts Defensive Harmony, which is a help as only Keldorn gets level-drained. The party takes out the three vampires, and then the animals. Sime suggests that I see somebody named Sanik in the Vulgar Monkey Inn.
Andante and Dirbish the Black
For interest's sake, the party witnesses a duel between Andante and Dirbish the Black. Avastrian manages to score a Potion of Fire Giant Strength, a Potion of Extra Healing, and a Potion of Freedom of Movement off of Dirbish's corpse.
Ginia and Anson
The party goes up some nearby stairs, and reaches the top of the building complex. They then make towards the northeast corner. A Pirate who uses Potions of Invisibility to go for backstabs attacks me, but Keldorn easily minimizes the danger with his True Seeing ability.
Near a house towards the northeast corner is a woman named Ginia. The short of it is that she and her brother are enslaved to a local pirate named Chremy. She'd like nothing more than for Chremy to be killed and for passage out of Brynnlaw to be bought for her and Ason.
Chremy is pretty close to where I first came to the top of the building complex. I kill him easily. He leaves behind Lady Galvena's Medallion, which I'll use for another quest pretty soon.
I then go back down the stairs. Almost immediately within view is Calahan. I pay him 200gp to smuggle Ginia and Ason to Ulgoth's Beard. I get 2,000xp for this.
I then give the good news to Ginia for another 9,000xp.
Sanik
The party now rests up at the Vulgar Monkey inn. Avastrian then attempts to learn how to get into Spellhold from Sanik. Only an Assassin employed by Lady Galvena shows up and shoots down Sanik. I easily kill off the Assassin. The Innkeeper suggests that Claire might know how to get into Spellhold, but I'd have to rescue her from Lady Galvena and her thugs.
Lady Galvena and Claire
Now I go down the stairs back to the docks. I get ambushed by several Pirates, including a Mage. This fight is somewhat tougher in SCS2, since the Pirates freely gulp potions to enhance their combat prowess. Jaheira shows the advantages of Insect Plague. It not only takes the Mage out of the battle, but it scatters the rest of the Pirates as well. Anomen helps matters along with a well placed Hold Person spell that paralyzes two Pirates. The Mage will leave behind a Quarterstaff +1, while one of the Pirates will leave behind a Leather Armor +1 and a Scimitar +1.
I then rest up again, and head towards Lady Galvena's Guildhall, which is on the west side of the docks. A courtesan in front indicates that she might know how to get in, but she'll need 200gp first. After I pay her she reveals that I'll need a Medallion to get in. It turns out that I already have one from Chremy. I then talk her into bringing me into the Guildhall.
I then go to the room to the west. I talk the cook and the courtesan in the kitchen into helping me knock the Guards out with a sleeping draught. The courtesan gives them the spiked mugs, and they pass out. The courtesan does the same thing to the Guard Captain.
The draught will act long enough to let me go straight to Galvena, but why not kill the Guards for the experience and the treasure? I start with the Captain, and loot the cupboard for the key. I then go back to the hallway, and kill the Guards there as well, and pick up their Halberds +1. I also kill the front Guard in the room to the east.
I then enter the doorway to the west, which leads to the dungeon of the Guildhall. Claire, Galvena, and her wizard, Vadek, are in a cell to the right. Avastrian and Jaheira go on ahead. Vadek comes with several protections in place, including both versions of Fire Shield, a Minor Globe of Invulnerability that will block Keldorn's Dispel Magic, and Improved Invisibility. Jaheira aims her Insect Plague at Galvena, so that it will spread to Vadek as well. The party grabs the opportunity to kill off Galvena, leaving Vadek be. Once Galvena's dead, the party retreats away from Vadek. Jaheira then summons a Fire Elemental and has it attack Vadek. The idea is to get Vadek to expend his spells harmlessly. The end result of this sequence is that Vadek's Minor Globe of Invulnerability has worn off, and now Keldorn can bring down his remaining protections with a Dispel Magic. Once that happens, the party kills Vadek easily. Lady Galvena leaves behind a Leather Armor +3 and a Flail +2. Vadek leaves behind a Quarterstaff +2.
I talk to Claire, who brings me to Captain Golin. Golin informs me of two possible ways to reach Spellhold. One is to convince the Pirate Lord, Desharik, that I'm insane so that he'll condemn me to detention inside the Ayslum. The other is to get a Wardstone allowing entry from a Cowled Wizard in Brynnlaw.
Perth the Adept
First, I rest up at the Vulgar Monkey. Once I leave the Monkey there's two buildings to either side. The building to the left is a Storekeep, which presents me with an opportunity to sell off any loot I've acquired since arriving in Brynnlaw.
The building to the right is a Temple of Umberlee. The Priestess of Umberlee offers healing services as well as a store. The store offers various items including different scrolls of protection, a Staff Mace +2, and a Cleric's Staff +3.
The particular item I'm interested is another Girdle of Bluntness (+4 armor class vs. blunt weapons). In past playthroughs, I use to have Jaheira wear the Girdle of Hill Giant Strength with the Gauntlets of Weapon Skill. At some point I would end up selling off the Girdle of Hill Giant Strength, which made that spending decision seem like a waste. The difference between a Girdle of Hill Giant Strength (+3 THAC0 and +7 damage) and the Gauntlets of Ogre Power (+3 THAC0 and +6 damage) is trivial. I now prefer Jaheira wearing the Gauntlets of Ogre Power (when she finds them) with the Girdle of Bluntness. Jaheira wears a plate armor, which provides a bonus to armor class against slashing weapons. The Girdle of Bluntness rounds things out nicely for her role as a defensive tank.
I now travel far towards the northeast corner of the area. I'm looking for a house that has the Cowled Wizard, Perth the Adept, inside. Perth is a pretty powerful wizard, and can be very challenging for a lower-level party like mine. He also starts off with a LOT of protections, including a Globe of Invulnerability that will block Keldorn's Dispel Magic. I have to get cheap about this. Whenever Perth is in the middle of casting a spell, I run out the door. If he follows me out the door, I wait for him to start casting again, and then run back in. And so on. At some point he doesn't follow me back into his own house. I grab this opportunity to loot the containers in his house. This has the added benefit of running the clock on his protections. I exit the house again, and he casts another Protection from Magic Weapons, and also summons a Mordenkainen's Sword. I simply go back into the house and wait it out until I see the message 'Magical Sword unsummoned'. I leave the house again, now that both the sword and most of his magical protections have expired. Keldorn hits him with Dispel Magic to bring down his Stoneskin and any remaining protections he may have. The party then easily hacks him down.
Perth leaves behind a magical spellbook that I never found all that useful. He also leaves behind the Wardstone that I need to access Spellhold.
