Hail and well-met, dear friends!
Wasn’t that last entry format (script) quite a diversion? I hope you enjoyed reading it. I confess, while it was fun to pen, I can’t help but return to my usual narrative prose format for this entry.
So, let us begin with the party roll call:
Carlos: Half-Elf LG Storm Sorcerer
Andraste: Wood Elf CG Monk
Thro’Viloanna Hlaendeth AKA Vilya: High Elf NG Wizard (of the Divination School) and her snake, Astraeya
Brynja of the Shadowaxe Clan: Dwarf CG Twilight Cleric
Thack: Dwarf NG Barbarian
A dreary day dawns and our noble adventuring squad is less than a day away from Baldur’s Gate, which is exciting to know as it seems as if the group has been en route to this city for months. As the party gathers up their gear, Thack rolls a Nature check to search the area for deer. He rolls pretty well and can just barely discern the sound of deer laughter off in the distance. As if mocking him.
The distance to the outskirts of BGate looks to be about a quarter of an hour. As the group continues on the highway apace, they come upon another traveler who is rising and preparing for travels himself. Obviously the party is supposed to take notice as the DM uses the words “shifty look” and “threadbare” and “long teeth” to describe the fellow.
And while this man is long in the teeth, our champions are short on trust. Therefore, Andraste advises the group keep moving. However, Toothy greets the party as they pass him by, asking what takes them to Baldur’s Gate. The group responses with a fusillade of vague answers like “shopping” and “seeing the sights” and such. The man introduces himself as Mushika and after he proclaims himself to be a non-fan of deer, he asks to accompany the group onwards. The party lets him travels with them, with the express understanding that they will keeping an eye on him and that he needs to keep up.
Although, it should be said here that Mushika stands about 5’6”…perhaps it’s the four-foot-tall dwarves that will have the keeping up to do.
Anyway. Mushika describes himself as a courier of sorts, and makes his living in a catch-as-catch-can type of manner. It’s unclear where he ends up in the lineup, but Thack, Brynja, and Andraste lead the pack, while Vilya and Carlos take up positions in the middle and back. The party travels along in relative silence until Mushika announces out of the blue, “Did you see that?” just as the party rounds a bend and comes within yards of the Cloak Wood, an ominous-looking grove of trees just off to the right of the road.
Nobody else in the party appears to have seen anything when Mushika announces he’ll go investigate, which the party lets him to do without fuss. They shrug their shoulders and tell him to catch up later, honestly glad to be free of him. Just as they turn back to the road, three giant rats come running out of the wood.
And the DM has the party roll initiative.
Vilya: Casts Color Spray and a thick, black ichor spews from her fingers onto the three rats’ eyes (Question: Are Vilya’s hands all goopy from the thick black liquid? Just wondering). As the rate are now Blinded, the party will have advantage on attack rolls.
Thack: Races in with his Flail of Truth, swinging at the largest rat of the group. Fifteen pts of damage later, the rat’s head has been crunched into the ground and the barbarian screams “Learn to read!” at the creature.
Brynja: Wields her luminescent Moonlight longsword and slashes out 4 pts of damage on the next biggest rat in the group.
Rats: Ankle-bite at Brynja but miss her entirely.
In the middle of all this, Mushika emerges from the wood and shrieks, “What are you doing to my friends??”
It’s no shocker to you, dear friends, that Mushika turned out to be a WERERAT. He pulls out a crossbow and fires two arrows at Thack, at which the first one misses, and second one pokes Thack in the shoulder for 4 pts of damage.
Andraste: Aims a kick at one of the rats and crushes its skull. She then swings her staff at #3 and does so much damage that the rat goes flying in the manner of a golf ball hitting a golf club. FORE!
Carlos: Races up 30 ft and lobs a Witch Bolt at Mushika, singeing him for 2 pts.
Vilya: Casts Mage Armor.
Thack: Moves forward towards Mushika.
Brynja: Casts Guiding Bolt, but rolls poorly on her ranged spell attack.
Mushika: Sees the way the winds are blowing and opts to retreat. The party does not follow him. Will they regret that action? That remains to be seen.
Thack inspects the rat corpses and finds maggots.
At this point, the party continues on, picking up their pace because CAN THEY JUST GET TO BALDUR’S GATE ALREADY????? Brynja asks Vilya the scholar if she happens to know anything about the city. Who Baldur is, etc? And as it turns out, she does! Baldur’s Gate is named for a sea-faring hero named Balderon, who used his fame and fortune to construct a mighty wall around his home near the coast. Then, he went off a-adventuring and vanished, never to be heard from again. However, far-sighted farmers in the area continued the wall’s construction and extended it around all of their lands and properties. And within that wall, eventually, a entire city flourished.
The party has now come from the south to a long bridge that crosses the Chionthar River into the outlying towns before Baldur’s Gate. The group realizes the area is short on civil engineers (plenty of LAS majors, though) as there is no convenient bridge from where they stand (southeast of Baldur’s Gate) into the heart of the city proper. Instead they will cross the river from the south suburb of Rivington and make their way around a hill called Dusthawk Hill.
It is mid-to-late afternoon as our heroes trudge through the villages of Twin Songs, Sow’s Feet, and Whitkeep. They decide to inquire about lodging and a meal and they are directed towards the friendly gnome-managed Whitkeep Hostel (recommended by a local gnome called Golo – no relation to Dolo or Yolo). The hostel is run by a amiable gnome named Mitzy, who says she indeed has rooms for those who are respectful and friendly and well-intentioned.
As the group surveys the hotels grounds, it’s obvious (and a little odd) that many of the inn’s patrons are relaxed and completely at their leisure. Therefore, when the group inquires about procuring jobs for a little extra money, Mitzy looks baffled. It’s clear that she is unused to guests who have an actual desire to work.
As the party is still quite a distance from the actual entrance of Baldur’s Gate, they opt to take an early supper and rest. Brynja and Thack have a tankard of ale and people-watch in the tavern attached to the inn. There is much pipe-smoking, current-event discussing, and the like. After an excellent night of sleep, the party rises early and begins their journey into Baldur’s Gate. The group passes through the burgs of Norchapel and Stony Eyes before FINALLY…finally, the beginnings of a massive stone structure.
There are many stone statues of what look like former leaders that line the gate’s perimeter and it doesn’t take long for Thack to find a friend, someone he can ask about directions into the city. The man is quite chatty at first and offers to draw up a map; however, when he realizes the group has no intention of paying for his services, he disappears like a cloud on the wind.
Eventually, the guards at the wall’s entrance provide brief directions to The Wide. There are many sights and sounds and smells in this bustling city and its environs, and Andraste is distracted by a shopfront named Eastway Expeditions. The party enters and speaks with proprietor Scalm Shilvan…who provides very little information in the way of jobs and adventures and such…unless the party is interested in jungle expeditions. Which is not high on their list of priorities.
Our champions exit Eastway and make their way into an incredibly shifty part of the city called Heapgate. A guard at an entrance gate into the bordering community of The Wide interrogates the party on their intentions. Once the group shows they have money to purchase, he lets them pass without incident.
The Wide is obviously more upscale and well-to-do, and the guard’s hesitancy to let them pass is well-founded. Theft is very likely a pressing issue here. The party notices immediately that the air smells of perfume and pizza. The party learns the delicacy here is a food called azzip – a type of flatbread with meat and cheese and ketchup. Perhaps there will be a azzip vendor here soon…
Carlos enjoys rolling a decent Perception check to discover a small child attempting to pick his pocket. The notes do not say, but the child shrieks and runs away (probably when Carlos told him he was adept at water vehicles).
Anyhoo. The party is searching for a bookshop/vendor called Dune. And they find it, tucked back in a not-so-fashionable part of The Wide. There are a couple of other browsers present; the idea is to ask the vendors about their wares and the gingwatsim, and to do so in a way that does not raise suspicions. Surreptitiousness is the order of the day. Carlos (with the highest Charisma) approaches the male bookseller and flat-out asks about magic books. The sorcerer’s Perception check indicates that the man is not being entirely truthful when he answers in the negative. A smiling woman then approaches and introduces herself as Corvala, the shop owner. She, in turn, also plays coy when Carlos questions her. When Carlos presses the matter further, Corvala’s demeanor changes and says she is willing to talk, but not here, in front of customers.
Thack, Carlos, and Vilya’s snake accompany the woman to the back of the bookstand and into some shabby living quarters several yards beyond The Wide. The other three party members follow a ways behind to keep tabs. Upon entering the woman’s hovel, the compliment of “Nice place you got here” is awkwardly spoken to the shop owner. Corvala proceeds to explain that she is very sorry to have caused trouble, times are tough, she is willing to compensate, etc… Thack and Carlos simply ask the woman for honesty and she then explains to make extra money, she and her employees would duplicate books, send them out into the world, and figure the gingwatsum would just “do their thing”. She appears to be quite sorrowful, contrite, and surprised to hear that the gingwatsum actually have killed and injured people.
Corvala, ever the businesswoman, offers to sell the original enchanted books back to the group (so they may be returned to Candlekeep) at half the price she’s asking for them. Which is NOT a bargain. It’s too bad there is no DnD version of the Better Business Bureau because this Corvala would have a litany of complaints against her in no time at all. Alas, she refuses any attempt at haggling and is actually OFFENDED when Carlos offers her 50 gp for the whole lot. The party offers to come back and speak with her again after discussing their course of action among themselves.
And as such, the options seems to be shaping up into three distinct forms:
1. Bluff Corvala with police action.
2. Hire a thug to steal the books (or do it themselves outright.
3. Call the cops. Constable. City Guard. Whatever.
Upon reuniting outside of The Wide, Vilya dispenses with an interesting piece of information: when explaining the tough times and that she needed the money for a resurrection ritual, Corvala mentioned a name: Nadalia. Vilya explains this is the name of a lamia…a creature that MOSTLY is very, very, very bad news. So…Corvala, et al., is looking to resurrect an evil being. Um. No.
And that, friends, is the end of this particular episode of the adventure. Many important decisions now await the group.
Until next time, ever your dutiful penfriend,
Heather