Narlen and Rededge was waiting for me outside the Splurging Strugeon. He had asked me to come alone, so I had left the rest of the team in the Blushing Mermaid nearby.
This time around, the task for me was quite simple. Narlen and Rededge were doing the burglar-ing. My job was to keep watch and shout a warning if the authorities were coming.
They led me to a house near the Blushing Mermaid, and made their way in. Meanwhile, I watched.
You know, on EVERY other night I had never seen a Flaming Fist soldier patrolling the streets in the game. I hadn't been in the city long in person, but I hadn't seen one running around yet either. Would we really be so unlucky for the local constable to really appear on this one night we're out here doing burglary?
Why of course we would! One came up on the VERY street I was keeping watch on.
It's scripted to happen, after all. Just like int he game. Game devs gotta give the adventure some drama!
Normally in the game, this presents a dilemma. You could either choose to rat out your Narlen and Rededge, walk away without warning the two burglars, or risk capture yourself by shouting a warning.
In my case however, I wasn't stupid enough to be waiting out in the open while I was watching the streets. I'm a thief, of course I stuck to the shadows! So I shouted a warning to Narlen and Rededge and ran into the Blushing Mermaid before the Flaming Fist soldier could figure out where I was shouting from. From there I and the party moved to the Undercellar, through sewers and safely away.
Honestly, the hardest part had been trying to work out what the hell Narlen was saying in his thick accent earlier.
Before popping back to the thieves' guild, I wanted to complete the head of the thieves' guild's request. So I paid a visit to Oberon's estate in the central district, being careful to avoid Lothander who was out looking for us near the marketplace. Not ready for that poison quest yet, had some groundwork to cover first.
Nabbing the items Alatos had asked for on behalf of the Harluaans was easy as a thief with good sneaking skills. Just sneak all the way up to the top floor unseen by Oberon and Shadalar's daughters, unlock the drawer with the artifacts the Harluaans, and sneak back out.
That's it. If you were expecting more drama, I'm sorry to disappoint you. Thieves have it easy in thief quests, who knew?
I also went ahead and paid the Hall of Wonders in the West District a visit, grabbing some gems, the telescope Brevlik at the Elfsong wanted. There, I met another halfling burglar. With pink-hair, no less!
The halfling woman startled when she saw me. "Oh! Scared me you did! I suppose I'm caught then? Peacefully I'll go, I'm not much for fighting," she said, putting up her hands, before finally taking a proper look at me. She looked me up, and down, and up again, then said, "Aren't you a little short for a guard?"
Before I could protest, she exclaimed, "Holy leapin' lavenfer lizards! You're not the guard! You're, you're burglaring just like me! Now this IS exciting! We should, we should work together! You! I could use the help, uh, I mean, we could just help each other a little bit. Just for this one heist, you keep watch while I point out the good stuff. You can even keep most of it! I got a good tip on where to be looking! Whatcha say?"
"Uh-"
"Double good and done! Oh, it'll be great fun having someone around to talk to! I don't meet many nice people in this trade. Just because we steal doesn't mean we have to be bad. Mostly I'm just curious what people have. Here, I'll point out a few things, and then we can get to sneakin'. He he, such fun!"
And she rushed off, poking at this and that and leaving me to my own devices.
That was Alora, and she's the most skilled thief in Baldur's Gate 1. Bar none, there is no companion with higher thief skills in the game than Alora. This was partially thanks the her super busted item, the Rabbit's Foot, which gave her bonus +2 to AC and Saves, +10 to EVERY thief skill, and +2 Luck. This magical item which only Alora arguably one of the strongest items in the whole trilogy. Whether or not your party needed a dedicated thief was another question, especially one which is only available so late in the game. Besides, most people aren't willing to trade Imoen for Alora, both of whom are good aligned.
Well, I certainly didn't need a third pink irritation on the team!
---
Back at the thieves' guild in the east district, Narlen and Rededge were grinning when they spotted us come into the guild. "'Ere there, good fortune ye return to us! Quite the scramble down the alleys with no less than ten and four guards on our run 'n hides! Good call that alarm o' yers! Would have caught us unknown' wise without ye. Had enough time to bail the room with gold in pocket, so we've 300 gold to divvy. None too bad a haul, but a mere pittance sacked aside next dark's targy. Ye in with us again?"
The whole party looked at Imoen, who translated, "They're glad you came back safely. The two of them just barely escaped thanks to the warning you gave them. They've got 300 gold to divide up between the three of you. The next target will be more profitable. Are you in?"
100 gold isn't much at this point but it was easy money. Besides, the main point of this entire exercise wasn't the profits. Not yet, at least.
"Aye, I be in ye 'gain!" I said, trying my best to emulate the way Narlen spoke. "None targy too tough-y for us smarties!"
Imoen cringed. "No, no, don't do that."
"Wot? Ai-yam be wagging like the local sneaks. Forsooth!"
"No, really don't," Imoen insisted. "Really."
Rededge was holding in his laughter, damn him. He could very well tell us himself but was clearly enjoying putting his partner in crime on the spot.
Narlen sighed, then said, "The mark tonight is a ripe plum for plucking, and a mite more dangerous. No perry gold, 'cause ye passed that intro. This dark holds a jewel fence, with pretties brought stolen from Waterdeep. A mage of meager power called for a component gem called a rogue stone, and Gantolandan answered. His home be our target, be he be a side more cagey than the last. We join at dusk by the Blade and Stars to sort the deed."
We all looked to Imoen, and she translated while counting out each main point on her fingers, "You're robbing the home of a jewel merchant named Gantolandan next. A mage had ordered a rogue stone from him. Expect this job to be harder. Meet Narlen and Rededge by dusk by the Blade and Stars."
Well, it was still dark now and the place was nearby, so we went right away. To make thing easier, Imoen translated the instructions ahead of time. Rededge will be on watch this time, while I and Narlen go in and burgle.
We left the rest of the party in the Blade and Stars, while the rest of us headed for Ganntolandan's home.
Again, this quest is easy for a thief. The trick was to be moving silently as much as possible, especially when in a room with a sleeping target.
There was no one downstairs, so the chest there was easily picked and raided for some petty cash. As I neared the stairs to head up, I could hear the sounds of someone snoring. I made sure to move silently as I walked up the stairs.
There was a man sleeping on the bed, two bookshelves, and a chest by the bed. Obviously the chest was the target. I crept forward carefully and silently towards it. Really not an issue at my current level of skill at sneaking.
Satisfied that there was no change in the snoring, I took out my tools and worked on the lock. It's so easy in the game, a mouse-click on the icon then on the chest and it's done. Here, in person, complicated locks needed skill and patience. I had plenty of skill, at least for this lock. A bit of torque, pushed up the pins with the pick to set them in place, and the plug rotated open. Easy.
I flicked open the chest gently, and a dart flew out and hit me in the arm.
I held back the urge to cry out and curse, even as I pulled the damn thing out. That's what I get for leaving the trap finding to Imoen.
Muuuurgh, my arm hurts, but my pride hurts even more!
Still, there was no change in the sound of snoring. I grabbed the rogue stone inside the chest, and creeped out silently.
---
I, Narlen and Rededge returned to a hero's welcome back at the thieves' guild. Narlen held up the rogue stone I had pilfered to the cheers of the guild. "Gantolandan wakes this morn none the wiser, but more the poorer! All thanks to Alatos's new blood, Sonny!" he said.
Between the cheers I could see thieves pointing at the bandage on my arm and laughing. I grit my teeth and tried to smile back. In the back however, I could see Alatos observing the ongoing celebration with a look of surprise and despair on his face. Now that put a real smile right back onto my face.
Narlen held up my good arm, and said, "Well snuck, by any measure! Ye be welcomed as bretheren. Split the gemmies thrice, and tonight we'll suck the monkey a keg apiece tavern-wise!"
And that's exactly what we did. Over in the Elfsong, the Narlen and Rededge shared a drink over tall tales to celebrate our victory.
When Narlen and Rededge finally left us, my party was looking at me quite curiously.
"Alright, spit it out," I said to them.
Jaheira spoke up, being Jaheira. "We're all just surprised at you. I thought you'd be happy to be doing thieving work, sure. But so much so you're willing to share the rogue stone's worth out with two others?"
"Pretty uncharacteristic for you," Neera said.
"First of, Narlen and Rededge earned their contribution. I couldn't have known the rogue stone was coming in without their intel in the first place," I said, "Further, like I said earlier, we need allies. The thieves' guild has eyes in the city, and we need information."
Pity the original game didn't leverage with a good relation with the thieves' guild better. But that didn't mean I couldn't do the same in person. At the very least, I could use the thieves' guild contacts as an excuse why I'm so well informed to the rest of the party.
---
We still had the items the head of the guild wanted before turning in for the night, however. So back to the thieves' guild we went.
"I don't remember asking you to perform any work other than the task I had assigned you," Alatos said dryly to me. We were waiting while the mage from Halruaa, Resar, was checking each item
on the table nearby to make sure they were genuine.
"Narlen's idea, really. Ask him, if ye fancy."
Alatos grunted, and took a step away from me.
Resar finished examining the items I had brought in, a satisfied look on his face. "Well done. Alatos was most assuring in his description of your abilities. Right he was, and it is unfortunate I-"
"-AHEM-"
Resar was interrupted by the sound of Alatos clearing his throat, loudly. "Resar, whatever… reward you had in mind, I strongly recommend you properly compensating this fine thief for a job well done. It was a fine bit of burglary with no unnecessary attention brought to us."
"That is for me to decide!" Resar snapped back at Alatos. "I must close all loose ends. This includes potential loose tongues, and, though talented, this thief is also expendable."
Resar turned to me with arms raised. "I offer my sorrows, but you must die!"
Resar started incanting a spell right at me. While the rest of my party scrambled to draw their arms, I kept my arms crossed and looked Resar straight in the eye.
Before anyone could do anything else, a hand slipped around Resar's mouth and a dagger slit his throat.
As Resar doubled over, clutching at his neck, Narlen stepped over him from behind. "Not this night, ye gamon dead man!"
Then Narlen finished the deed.
I knew this would happen from my game knowledge, of course. It helped that I spotted Narlen creep up behind Resar, like how I spotted Dorn creep up on Senjak and Dorotea's goons way back when.
Alatos glared at Narlen, then looked at the dead mage at his feet and shook his head. "I had a guess this was how things would turn out," he said, while eying me. My arms were still crossed. "I wager you had anticipated this outcome as well. Well played, little thief."
To Narlen, Alatos said, "Just because Sonny did a few jobs with you doesn't mean you need to kill for him."
Those were his words, but Alatos's voice was filled with resignation.
Narlen spat. "Ye hired them to do yer dirty deed 'cause they be expendable, but they be as good a sneak as any we be! A brethren in burglary, who should die 'cause they no in the guild? Nay say I, and many more! They stump down our halls, they work the work, they flee the flee. They with US, and you set US up!"
Alatos shook his head, then regarded me with a careful eye. "It's a rare to see an outsider ingrain themselves in the guild so quickly. It would seem that I erred aligning with Resar. Blasted politics addles the brains, and time and again I should stay out! Still, we've his coin, and the story of his demise is ours to construct. Never a total loss to be had! Ye have earned a place in the guild, a tie that never breaks."
Narlen flashed me a smile. "'Ere's the respect ye ran from the guard for! A round-the world way to get it, to be sure, but worth it none the less! The doors here will always be open, excepting when pickably locked."
Imoen cleared her throat. "That means-"
"It's okay, I got the gist this time," I replied with a big smile. I turned back to Alatos, "So, about my payment…"
But Alatos had disappeared.
My eye twitched. "Verrrry funny Alatos. You know you can't hide from paying me forever, right? Tell him, Narlen-"
But now Narlen had disappeared too.
"…are you serious?!? What did I do all that for?!? Where's my money! Come back here you stupid thieves and pay up!"
So much for solidarity among thieves. A pox on you all, you stingy flakes!
---
Thankfully they left Resar's loot for us, which was actually really valuable.
Apart from an Adventurer's Robe and a mage scroll of Fireshield (Blue), Resar carried a Wand of Paralyzation (charges: 12). These wands are one of the most prized wands in the game (the other being the Wand of Monster Summoning we found in the tomb with 3 ghasts some time back). The Wand of Paralyzation was capable of stunning a target for 10 rounds unless the target saves against Wands with a massive -4 penalty! It's practically a cheat item all by itself!
...damn it, I still want my reward from Alatos himself! Give me my due you stinking liar!