While we were still in the east district of Baldur's Gate, there was a group of mages just above the Sorcerous Sundries that I wanted to see. I scouted ahead to confirm the mages were there, performing some arcane ritual.
…hold on, how do I do this? If I tell my party that there's a group performing a ritual above, they'll just tell me we shouldn't go up and interrupt it.
Ah, right. I just don't tell them.
"There's a group of mages above who are acting strangely. Maybe we should check it out?" I said to the rest.
The mages in question didn't look happy to see us. "Oh, look what a cute little party… invading our space! We were preparing a ritual, and you all but ruined it."
Jaheira's regarded the mage with a raised eyebrow. "Your space? This is a store and I'm a customer. Besides, we're more than 10 feet away from whatever it is you're doing."
"Thank you for that wonderful display of simian logic," the lead mage replied, "Now scram."
"What's a simian?" Branwen asked.
The leading mage rolled his eyes. "A monkey, a moron, a chimp… Boys, put this one out of its misery."
The mages all raised their hands and started incanting.
Niemain and his 3 friends (Oulam, William Garst, Wheber Ott) were necromancers, ALL of them. Their levels ranged from level 6 to 9. Fun fact about enemy mage AI in Baldur's Gate; if they have fireball prepared, they will only cast it if you have a full cleric in your party. We did in fact have a full cleric, Branwen, and Niemain did in fact have fireball prepared, and his fireballs hit for 9d6 damage. The rest had Skulltrap which did 6d6 or 7d6 damage.
Magic missiles from Imoen and Neera interrupted Niemain and Oulam's spells, while a quarterstaff to the back of the head permanently interrupted William Garst. Wheber Ott's spell, Horror, did complete, but bounced right off Remove Fear which Branwen had casted earlier.
Speaking of Branwen, she completed her spell, Silence, and got everyone around Niemain, including Niemain himself. Me, Khalid and Jaheira too, actually.
Niemain and the remaining necromancers looked at each other, unable to utter a spell.
Man, I wanted to say something cool and farm some aura off these jerks. Eh, whatever. I settled for thumping my chest like a gorilla, making a funny face with the tips of my fingers touching the top of my head, then gave them a double thumbs down.
Niemain started to foam in the mouth and swung a dagger wildly at me.
Really? I batted his wild strike away with my staff then caught him in the temple with the backswing. The rest of his goons went down just as easily.
Funny thing about necromancers; they cannot cast illusion spells. That means no Mirror Image, Improved Invisibility or Shadow Door. No defensive spell means very dead mage very quickly.
After the short battle, Jaheira was shaking her head at our fallen foes. "Why did they even pick a fight with us? How exactly were we interrupting their ritual in the first place?"
Neera, Imoen and Branwen examined their ritual.
"Communication, by the looks of it. Long distance," Neera said, with Imoen nodding in agreement.
"So were we interrupting a private message," Branwen said with a scowl. "This makes no sense. Why make a private ritual or message in a public space?"
I checked the belongings of mages, then slapped my forehead when I found a card with a symbol on it. The party looked at me curiously, and I passed the card to Jaheira.
Jaheira and Khalid took one look and both sighed. They recognized the symbol of course, that of a black, flying snake flying down and swallowing a sphere. "Zhentarim."
I forgot entirely that these morons were Xzar and Montaron's superiors. My bad? Eh, they had it coming. Wonder how the two stooges would take their fact that we just axed their higher ups.
Loot:
Dagger +1, 5x Dart of Stunning,
2 Mage Robe of Fire Resistance, Mage Robe of Electrical Resistance, Mage Robe of Cold Resistance,
2x mage scrolls of Luck,2x scroll of Identify x2, Spider Spawn
Unidentified Wand of Fire (18 charges)
---
With that fight, I hit my final level up. The whole party was now level capped.
My skills were now:
Pick pockets 60
Open locks 65
Find traps 25
Move silently 78 (98 with equipment)
Hide in shadows 68 (98 with equipment)
Detect Illusion 20
Set Traps 95
I purposely chose my skill distribution like this so that I could meet use a Potion of Master Thievery for those rare occasions I needed Pick Pocket 100 and Open Locks 100+. I was relying on Imoen for finding traps. If I had to do this without Imoen, I probably would have pushed Find Traps up to 80 at the expense of Set Traps, or maybe Move Silently and Hide in Shadows.
I can get another +1 Dexterity from equipping a certain buckler in Durlag's Tower, which would give me 100 in Move Silently, Hide in Shadows and Set Traps, and +5 to everything else except Detect Illusion.
---
Soon, back downstairs, Halbazzer Drin found himself having to deal with a customer complaint.
"So we are perusing your wares upstairs, there were no warning signs of 'Ritual in Progress, stay out'. Yet we were attacked by mages claiming we interrupted their ritual, and now our attackers are dead. Should future customers of the Sorcerous Sundries expect threats on their life for stepping within imaginary boundaries?" the halfling with the child-like face laid out his complaint to Halbazzer.
Halbazzer Drin liked it better when the little halfling was trying to be cute. "I apologize for the inconvenience. The Sorcerous Sundries however cannot take responsibility for the actions of other customers within the shop premises."
Jaheira slammed her fist on the table. "Outrageous! You allowed a group of mages perform some profane ritual upstairs, who then attacked your customers without warning, and now you claim no responsibility? Offer no compensation?"
"Or perhaps, you were in league with the gentlemen upstairs?" Neera suggested, "A few travelers going missing here and there could add to the shop's coffers…"
Halbazzer was sweating pretty heavily now. Sonny's group were famous heroes of the Sword Coast. If word got out that they were attacked on the Sorcerous Sundries' premises…
"We will be sure to increase security in the shop in the future. Rest assured, we are an honest establishment and we will definitely compensate you with, uh…"
"A discount of 55% for all future purchases?" the halfling asked, with a twinkle in his puppy eyes.
What horror! Halbazzer could not tear his eyes away, and at the same time was on the verge of crying now. What cruel punishment was this? Was it for all the times he overcharged promising heroes of the land? My precious profits, my precious pride as a proprietor! Ruined!
---
Another customer nearby had a big laugh at Halbazzer's expense. He introduced himself as Ordulinian. "The roads of this fair city are lined with fools, are they not? Especially necromancers. The ones above were foolish enough, but two more could use a lesson from you."
He wanted us to steal some jewelry two necromaners, lovers who had a falling out but coveted each other's jewelry, Arkion and Nemphre.
"Is the jewelry special?" I asked.
"Only to them. Each a former gift to the other. Riding the other of said gifts is a matter of principle at this point, vengeance for promises unfulfilled. They'll only stop causing trouble once the items in question go missing fr the other."
So Ordulinian wanted us to relieve Arkion of his Bloodstone amulet, and Nemphre of her onyx ring.
Hrm, I'm not sure if we should even bother with this one. Sure, Ordulinian rewards a magic item, another Cloak of Non-detection. The Cloak in question is rather useless as far as I know though as no mage will actually cast detection magic in BG1. BG2 is another matter.
But it's drip. And I'm so nearby... ah, whatever.
I scoffed down a Potion of Master Thievery. Not long after, I received a generous donation of a Bloodstone amulet and onyx ring from two well-dressed necromancers. How very generous of them. Thanks, Arkion! Thanks, Nemphre!
Ordulinian didn't even want the two jewels, gave them back to me along with another Cloak of Non-detection.
---
We made a brief sojourn to the Northeast district. This district is divided in two by a wall, the north half being where we were supposed to meet Narlen later and the current southern half being where the Merchants' League Counting House was.
Waiting here for us were two men who introduced themselves as Marek and Lothander. Marek had a warning for us. "I know that you've been taking an active interest in destroying the Iron Throne, don't try to deny it. My companion and I are in the employ of the aforementioned Throne. We thought it would be polite to give you one last warning: Stop interfering with our employer's business. You can decide to disregard this warning, but if you do, it'll be the last decision you ever make."
I looked at him . "Kind of late to say that, wouldn't you say? Maybe if you warned us BEFORE you all started sending assassins after my head unprovoked and we exposed the illegal activities at the Cloakwood mines…"
Marek shrugged. "Not my call. I'm just here to relay the message: Stay away from now on. See you later."
And they left.
These two were actually quite dangerous. Rather than fight us directly, they would try to poison us. The quest triggered to remove said poison was very rewarding however, so I for sure wanted to do it when it was convenient. That moment was not now, so I wanted to stay away from Lothander when he appears in the central area later for the time being or else I'll trigger the rest of the poisoning quest.
---
Other than Mendas's quest to get the sea charts, The Merchants' League Counting House was filled with goodies. Captain Tollar Kiere, who held the sea charts, wanted us to do this and that for him. But he found himself donating the sea charts into my hands. Thanks Captain Tollar Kiere!
---
The shop just next to the Merchants' League Counting House had only generic weapons and armour.
"Hey, the stuff in the shelves is great. Can I buy those?" I asked.
The shopkeeper was laying over the counter. He waved me away. "Anything without a price tag, go ahead and take it. The owner hasn't paid me for two months now. I won't stop you," he said.
Er, I don't remember any shop saying that? Whatever, I'm not going to give up free stuff.
Donations: Mace+1, 7x Arrows of Biting, 4x Arrows of Dispelling,
Healing Potion, Potion of Mind Focusing, Potion of Hill Giant Strength, Potion of Absorption, Potion of Invulnerability,
and a useless Ring of Infravision
---
Southeast district
Taxek and Michael were relieving a house of its valuables when a group of armed women and a man walked in.
He put up a hand and shouted, "You there, stand where you are! Dammit, Michael, someone's walked in on us. Okay you, we don't want any trouble. Maybe this is your house, but right now all we want to do is leave. Don't give us any trouble, and you'll walk away from this a little poorer. Otherwise you'll be dead."
Khalid at the front pulled out a sheet of paper and read out. "You got us pegged wrong, we're thieves like you."
Taxek blinked in confusion. Was the Calimshite reading out his response? "Uh... you're thieves? I don't remember ever seeing you at the Guild. If you're thieves, then you'd probably remember the password to the main door. Well! What's the password?"
Next to him, Jaheira smiled. "I remember this one. The answer is Faf-"
"Orgy," Khalid read out from the sheet of paper. Jaheira turned to him, scandalized.
Taxek's eyes narrowed. Something about this entire situation felt wrong. "You got that wrong. I think you're lying. I think you're freelancing. There's only one way to deal with freelancers-"
And that is to donate all their belongings to us! Taxek and Michael were positively dying to hand over their ill-gotten goods and equipment directly into the party's coffers. All in exchange for a friendly tap to the back of the head and some vigorous demonstration of proper use of arms. Thanks, Taxek! Thanks, Michael!
Notable loot:
Light Crossbow +1, 40x Bolt of Lightning (×40), 26x Arrow of Fire (×26), Various gems
I may have gotten smacked over the head by the ladies, but still super worth it!
---
Tavern
A kid named Euric was here. I made a note on my map so I could come back to the rascal later.
From here, I directed the party to move through the sewers. We came back up near the Duchal Palace (gotta mark that), then approached a large tower. A man in mage robes named Ramazith outside approached us with a proposition.
"I would have you enter into the home of a colleague of mine and effect the release of a creature he has imprisoned there. Ragefast be his name, and he has in his possession one of the most beautiful and useful creatures in all of Faerun. It's a nymph he captured some time ago, and I know not what laughable plans he has for her, but I am sure she be more… productive in my care. I not so rich as to be able to offer huge gold, but as competent wizard I do have the odd magical item of worth. Perhaps an enchanted item will serve your needs, no?"
Ew. I'm getting Eldoth vibes from this guy. I feel slimier just talking to him.
I wanted more magical items as a reward, Ramazith said no.
Ramazith, did however immediately donate to us a Ring of Protection +2, and an Amulet of Metaspell Influence (extra level 2 mage spell slot). Well, he didn't know he rewarded us with it, but he did. Thanks, Ramazith!
We'd eventually still want to do the quest at Ragefast's home northeast of the Hall of Wonders for the rewards, though not in the manner Ramazith wanted.
---
Northwest district
We had reached the Blushing Mermaid, which was just above the Splurgeon Sturgeon where Narlen wanted to meet with me for his test of my skills. I for sure wanted to go there first, but there was somewhere I wanted to get to via this tavern first.
A HUGE ogre awaited us there. "Huurm. I be Larze. You be Sonny. Don't try deny it. You should not have come to Baldur's Gate. You given many warning before, but you ignore them. Now you must pay. Sorry, but Larze must kill."
Khalid gulped and said, "Uh, I think you have the wrong person? Sonny is a halfling. There's no halfling with us."
Larze the ogre looked at Khalid. There was indeed no halfling in the party. "Huh? But me see picture, and it looks like you. And you, and you, and you," he said, pointing at the rest.
"But not Sonny the halfling, right? We'll just be taking our leave of you now. Have a good day, Mr. Larze."
Khalid was trying to walk by when the humongous ogre slammed it's Morningstar into the ground, leaving a huge hole in the woodwork. "You LIE!" Larze screamed, "You lie to Larze, to try to save life. Larze will crush you now, then he will rip off all your heads. Find Sonny later!"
Larze is one of the strongest enemies in the game. He had a Thac0 of -3, APR3, 1d10+12 damage per hit, and 141hp. With stats like that, Larze is comparable to the final boss of the game and the boss of Durlag's Tower! Annoyingly, he is true neutral and not evil so Protection from Evil doesn't help ward his attacks.
Larze swung his Morningstar at Khalid, which met Khalid's Large Shield+1. While the magical shield could take it, the Morningstar collided with such force that Khalid's arm would have been broken underneath. Would have been being the keyword here, because instead the Morningstar rebounded of like there was a spring behind it. Khalid's entire body was bounce-y like rubber.
At that moment, Larze was struck in the head from behind with a devastating blow from the shadows, but Larze grit his teeth through the pain and struck at Khalid again. The mighty blow of Larze's Morningstar struck true this time, winding Khalid in spite of his rubbery body. By now however Jaheira's Doom and Branwen's Chant came through, followed by Imoen's Greater Malison and Neera's Blind. With so many debuffs, the stubborn ogre couldn't land another good hit before it lay dead at our feat.
With the Ring of Protection +2 from Ramazith, Khalid had an AC of -5. Branwen had cast Defensive Harmony earlier, so -7. Doom and Chant penalized Larze's Thac0 from -3 to 0. With Blind connecting, Larze's Thac0 was further penalized to 4. He would hit Khalid on a 4+7=11 or better out of 20, 50% chance. However, I had five Potions of Absorption (100% electricity immunity, -10 AC vs blunt), and I saw little reason not to use it here. Never expected it to turn Khalid into a rubbery cartoon character like Popeye or Luffy though. With the Potion of Absorption on top of all that, Larze would only hit on a natural 20.
The real reason to come to the Blushing Mermaid was that it connected to the Undercellar, which in turn was connected to the sewers. Three exits to the three sections of sewers under Baldur's Gate. I made sure to mark each exit to the Undercellar on my map of the sewers.
Here in the Undercellar, a courtesan named Quenash generously donated the Cloak of the Balduran to us. Thanks, Quenash!
The Cloak of Balduran improves AC and saves by 1, and stacks with Rings of Protection or equivalents, as well as 25% magic resistance. If this cloak was to be placed on Viconia, she would have a 75% chance to resist any spell. With this Cloak and the Ring of Protection +2, Khalid had an AC of -7.
And it was around then that my Potion of Master Thievery ran out. What a shame! I was really enjoying all the donations we were getting.