BBG: Chapter 48

Almost immediately, I was forced to defend myself from the biting mandibles of a pair of Phase Spiders that had just phased back into the Material Plane. As they exploded out of the Ethereal Plane, biting for me like sharks surging out of the water to try and bite someone on the shore, I managed to get my shield in the way of one of the snapping Phase Spiders. The other managed to dodge my parry by flattening itself out against the floor and carving a bloody groove into my calf with its mandibles, injecting venom into the wound as it did so. It felt like a shock of ice water had been injected into my veins as my stomach lurched and my gorge rose. A lesser man would have been wracked by the sensations and weakened, but fortunately, I was able to tough out the effects, gritting my teeth and forcing my body to obey me in a show of Fortitude. My riposte managed to carve a brutal slash into the Thorax of the offending Phase Spider, punching through chitin, causing it to rear up with a screech. I followed that up with a thrust into its screeching maw and through its brain, killing it.

The other Phase Spider tried to disengage, then, attempting to flee back into the Ethereal Plane. I lashed out with Discordant Note, catching it with a glancing blow near the Spinneret that wounded it, but failed to do more than that. Unfortunately, we bed to the floor as I was, I was unable to follow it as it dove into the Ethereal Plane, heading for Mei, who was on the backfoot against the other remaining Phase Spider, as it attacked her at Point Blank Range. Thankfully, Imoen was on the ball, moving away from the group of Monstrous Spiders that she had whittled down to two from four, even as Khalid and Jaheira managed to cut themselves free of their own webbing. Both of the Monstrous Spiders tried to bite Imoen as she ran, but only one managed to do any appreciable damage, sinking its mandibles into the meat of Imoen's thigh as she turned to reinforce Mei. Fortunately, Imoen was tough enough that she didn't let that slow her down.

Imoen arrived at Mei's fight in time to pre-empt the attack by the Wounded Phase Spider. She managed to thrust home the Blade of Horner Dustmantle, punching into the side of the Wounded Phase Spider even as it erupted out of the Ethereal Plane to try and bite Mei. The blade sank between chitinous plates, biting deep into the Thorax and hitting something Vital. Between that mortal blow and my earlier parting slash, the Wounded Phase Spider was thrown off course, staggering to the floor where it curled up in a puddle of ichor, dead. That left one Phase Spider and two Monstrous Spiders remaining. Unfortunately, the Phase Spider managed to bite Mei as she attempted to draw her shortsword, dropping her Composite Bow to the floor. The mandibles punched into Mei's left Bicep, injecting their venom as Mei stumbled. I growled, beginning to cut my way free of the webbing, even as Jaheira and Khalid charged into the fray from where they had been stuck in the doorway previously.

As Discordant Note shredded spider silk, I looked over at the main battle. The remaining Monstrous Spiders had joined in, but the enemy was still outnumbered. Unfortunately, Mei seemed to be poisoned, judging by the slowness of her movements. We would have to get that taken care of before leaving town. Fortunately, there was a Temple of Lathander just east of Beregost where we could pay for a Restoration Spell. Thankfully, it wouldn't be too long before we were finished here, as Jaheira and Khalid entered the fight by slaying a Monstrous Spider each, even as Mei parried an attack from the remaining Phase Spider and thrust her blade into its Thorax in riposte. Imoen managed to deal the fatal blow to the last Spider just as I finished cutting myself free of the sticky strands of spider silk, plunging her own blade into the top of the Phase Spider's head as it tried to flee to safety into the Ethereal Plane, and that was that.

In the end, Imoen, Mei, and I had taken wounds from the Spiders, and Mei had been lightly poisoned, but we managed it. Not only did we find the boots, spider corpse, and wine we needed to finish Landrin's Quest, but we also found a Jasper Gem worth thirty-five Danter, an Agni Mani Necklaces worth Forty Danter, an Onyx Ring worth fifty Danter, Twenty-Five Danter, a Scroll of Invisibility, a Scroll of Detect Invisibility, and three Potions of Cure Moderate Wounds in a locked and trapped chest that took me a minute to disarm and unlock. Interestingly, the lock was more trouble to deal with than the trap, which was a fairly standard poison needle trap, largely because the real lock was hidden and the trapped and obvious lock was a fake. In the end, Imoen wound up taking the Scroll of Invisibility, while Mei took the Scroll of Detect Invisibility, both to learn from. Then, the three of us who were wounded used the looted potions to heal before putting everything else in the bag of holding for later.

"I do not feel so good." Remarked Mei as we left Landrin's home.

"I should think not. You appear to be suffering from a mild case of poisoning from Phase Spider Venom." Intoned Jaheira.

"Th-that's not g-good." Intoned Khalid.

"Can we do anything about it?" Questioned Imoen.

"We can. There's a temple to Lathander just outside of town to the east." I informed.

"Will that take us far out of our way?" Queried Mei.

"Not too far." I responded.

"How far is not too far?" Asked Imoen.

"Maybe a half an hour's walk." I answered.

"Fine. We are stuck here for days regardless, despite my objections. It would be best to be productive while we are." Huffed Jaheira.

"That's the spirit!" I grinned.

"P-please. D-don't provoke her." Pleaded Khalid.

And with that, we made our way out of Beregost, and we headed east to the Temple of the Morning Song. The Temple was dedicated to Lathander and was out in a rugged area about thirty minutes or so due east of the Town of Beregost. Technically, the Governor of Beregost, Kelddath Ormlyr, resided there, as he was the Head Cleric at the Temple. It should have been smooth sailing so close to Beregost, but unfortunately, as we arrived, we found the area outside the temple was not exactly clear of danger. As we arrived, we found eight hobgoblins facing off against two Vampiric Wolves and five Zombie Worgs. As Mei unslung her bow, Imoen began moving to the flanks, and I prepared to charge into the ongoing battle alongside Khalid. Jaheira called out to warn us of what was up ahead with the pair of Vampiric Wolves.

"Be wary! Those Wolves can drain your blood and energy if they bite you!" Cautioned Jaheira.

"Good to know!" I returned.

"I-indeed. We had b-best avoid the f-fangs then." Affirmed Khalid.

"Why do you think I'm using my bow?" Questioned Mei.

"Come on, what are you waiting for?" Queried Imoen, before tumbling into some nearby bushes.

I just shook my head and charged. Khalid charged alongside me, and as my blade flashed out, Discordant Note managed to carve a bloody slash across the back of one of the Vampiric Wolves' necks. I hacked out again in a second attack that deepened the cut, but Discordant Note was less capable of slashing than something like a Longsword would have been. In response, the Vampiric Wolf raked me with its claws, carving into my face beneath the open face of my helm, then lashed out with its hind paws in a donkey-kicking motion that slammed into my chest and made my ribs creak. Meanwhile, Khalid had far more luck, as his Vampiric Wolf had been engaged against a red-skinned Hobgoblin in an Ornate Breastplate of Mighty Constitution Plus Two and wielding a Furious Greatsword of Icy Burst Plus Three. With that wolf so-engaged, Khalid was able to lash out with his blade and decapitate the Vampiric Wolf with a pair of heavy cuts, killing it.

Meanwhile, Mei had managed to sink two arrows into a Zombie Warg, while Jaheira finished it off, even as one of the Hobgoblins went down to Imoen's Blade. The Lead Hobgoblin, seeing he had two opponents, turned to strike Khalid, cutting him up with a hefty slice of his Greatsword that sank between pauldron and Breastplate, biting deep into his shoulder and freezing him at the same time. Several of the Hobgoblins moved to try and box in Imoen, even as two of the Zombie Worgs broke off to attack Mei. Only one managed to get through Mei's arrows, the other falling to a hail of fletched missiles. That one, however, lunged at Mei and bit deep into her calf with its rotten teeth. Imoen, meanwhile, slew a pair of Hobgoblins only for a third to cut her across the face with his shortsword. Imoen fell back into the shadows with a strangled cry. Jaheira, meanwhile, cleaved a Zombie Worg's right front paw off, only for another to pounce on her from behind to savage her.

That was all I had time to see, as my Vampiric Worg turned to pounce on me. It slammed into me with its forepaws, bruising my creaking ribs, but fortunately, I had the presence of mind to tumble backward with the blow. My backward somersault allowed me to avoid the snapping jaws, thankfully. The Vampiric Wolf failed to drain my blood or energy with its fangs because of that, and I came up from my tumble bruised, wincing, but ready to charge back in. As I did so, Discordant Note flashed out twice, carving into the Vampiric Wolf's throat, though failing to kill it. A pair of claw strikes followed by a bite ensued, the Vampiric Wolf lashing out at me. One of the claw strikes raked across the meat of my right thigh, though I dodged the second claw strike and got my shield in the way of the bite. My riposte finally succeeded in decapitating the Vampiric Wolf, killing it, though we would have to burn both Vampiric Wolf bodies to avoid regeneration.

In the meantime, I charged in to help Mei, who had taken a claw strike from the Zombie Worg as she drew her Shortsword to fight it. Discordant Note punched into the Zombie Worg's Ear, even as Mei managed to parry a bite with her blade. The Zombie Worg went down, and I nodded at Mei, who turned and gestured toward where Khalid was busily losing a fight to the Hobgoblin Leader, who had been joined by one of his subordinates. Imoen, meanwhile, had a Hobgoblin who seemed to be wearing Mithril Scale Mail Plus Two and was wielding a Razor-Sharp, Serrated, Shortsword of Agility Plus Two and a Large Steel Shield of Blinding Plus Two, along with two other Hobgoblins. Thankfully, the Worgs seemed to be all but done. Mei went to go help Jaheira against the last Zombie Worg, leaving me to help Khalid. I charged in, striking for the Hobgoblin Leader's side, Discordant Note flashing out as I did so. I caught the Hobgoblin Leader in the Hamstring as I struck low, causing him to stagger.

That wasn't lost on Khalid, who took the opening provided to become a whirling fury of blades, his Longsword slicing and hacking, pressing the opening. He managed to wound the Hobgoblin Leader twice, who suddenly struck back with enough fury to take a chunk out of Khalid's right thigh beneath the tassets of his breastplate. Unfortunately for the Hobgoblin Leader, while he did that, I dispatched his minion with a thrust through the throat. As the Hobgoblin Leader rose up with his greatsword, aiming to strike down Khalid, I whirled about and thrust my Rapier through his exposed armpit. Discordant Note thundered into the gap in his armor and bit deep into the Hobgoblin Leader's torso, puncturing lungs and nicking his heart. The Hobgoblin Leader staggered, then fell dead to the ground. Khalid struggled to his feet and nodded at me, then, with me returning his nod.

"Th-thank you. I w-would have been a g-goner there." Thanked Khalid.

"No worries. Come on, let's clean up." I nodded.

"R-right." Agreed Khalid.

The fight didn't last much longer after that. Jaheira and Mei finished off the last of the Zombie Worgs while we dealt with the Hobgoblin Leader and had already begun moving to aid Imoen against his second in command. Between all of us, the Second in Command and his few remaining Minions couldn't hope to withstand our attack. It ended in a storm of blades and arrows, followed by gathering up the loot and burning the Vampiric Wolf Bodies. Khalid took the Breastplate off the Hobgoblin Leader, along with my Old Shield, which I had swapped for the Hobgoblin Second in Command's Shield. Apart from that, we put the Mithril Scalemail, Magic Greatsword, and Magic Shortsword into our bags. The rest of the loot was nothing special, three hundred Danter in miscellaneous coins, another three hundred Danter in miscellaneous jewelry, six Mundane Chain Shirts, six Large Steel Shields, six Longbows, six quivers with one-hundred-twenty arrows, and six Longswords. It all went into the bags.

When we continued, it would prove to have been the right choice to take everything, as it wound up costing us one-thousand-five-hundred Danter to fully heal, and at the price the temple quoted, even selling all the mundane gear and jewelry to the Temple wouldn't give us the required Danter. However, just as we were debating whether or not to sell one of the magic items or dip into our saved Danter to make up the difference, Kelddath Ormlyr spoke up, offering a third option.

"There is a Cyricist Cleric hanging about the Red Canyons. Bassilus of Zhentil Keep. He has killed several citizens of Beregost with his powers. If you agree to slay him, not only will I agree to waive the fee for healing, but I will also pay you five hundred Danter on top, provided you bring his Holy Symbol to me." Offered Kelddath Ormlyr.

"More sidetracking?" Questioned Jaheira.

"We are stuck here, and we do need healing." Pointed out Imoen.

"Besides, didn't you say earlier that we may as well be useful while we're here?" I queried.

"Y-you did say th-that, Love." Reminded Khalid.

"We have to head north to return to Landrin anyway. Why not do this?" Asked Mei.

Jaheira didn't respond, simply sighing as if she was put upon by the whole idea of sidequesting. I frowned at that, preparing for a rant, but surprisingly, Jaheira just gave a small nod of acquiescence before turning away. I couldn't help but grin at that. We were definitely going to be ready for Sarevok and his little goon squad when we finally managed to reach him. Turning back to Kelddath Ormlyr, I nodded at the Priest of Lathander turned Governor of Beregost, signaling our willingness to do this quest for him. With a nod and a smile, he then began healing us, calling out to Lathander to heal our wounds and restore Mei's lost vitality. Of course, we still sold off our mundane equipment and jewelry spoils here. By the time we were ready to leave, the Sun was setting over the Beregost Region, leaving us with a decision. We could risk traveling through the night, or sleep at one of the Inns of Beregost and wait for the morning to resume travel.

In the end, we decided to travel through the night, largely because of Jaheira's insistence. That could have been bad for us, but thankfully, Tymora was with us, and we only had to deal with a minor attack by some bandits who were no match for us and a pair of Ogrillons who were too busy picking through the smashed remains of a carr to put up much of a fight on the way to the Red Canyons. This yielded six suits of mundane studded leather armor, six longswords, six Large Steel Shields, six Bandit Scalps, one hundred Danter in Miscellaneous coins, a Bloodstone Gem worth fifty Danter, and a letter addressed to Mirielle of Beregost, all of which went into our bags. Unfortunately, it seemed that the bulk of the time spent would pass through mundane travel. By the time we arrived at the Red Canyons, a full day had come and gone, and we were once again arriving at Sunset, largely thanks to having to stop and rest regardless.

When we arrived at Red Canyons, it would be to find an odd sight. A Talking Chicken, running away from a slavering, hungry Wolf. It begged us to save it, and Mei did so, firing an arrow that struck through the Wolf's Eye. The Chicken walked right up to us and explained its predicament. He was Melicamp, apprentice to Thalantyr the Conjurer. He'd been polymorphed into the form of a chicken due to an unfortunate incident and was asking for help to return to his Master in High Hedge Estate, some sixteen hours' journey north of here. After a heated discussion, where Jaheira vented her spleen further, we agreed to take him. We would be glad we did, as moving north, we would find our Target, Bassilus, and not just him, either, but a sight I didn't think I would see for some time yet.

Drizzt Do'Urden, famed Drow Ranger and a perennial fan favorite from back when this had just been a game, was there. He'd been attacked by a group of seven Gnolls led by a Flind, all of whom seemed stronger than we were. At least enough to make Drizzt work for victory. Not only that, but as he spotted us, he called out for help. I was eager to help him out, too. After all, what Forgotten Realms Fan would hesitate to fight alongside Drizzt? Not this one, that's for damn sure. However, I decided to play this smart, instead of rushing in, drawing my Bandore and beginning to strum A Minor, F Major Seven, C, and G Chords as I drew on the Bandore's magic, singing out.

"Of all the trees that grow so fair, old Moonshaes to adorn. Greater are none beneath the sun than Oak, and Ash, and Thorn. Sing Oak, and Ash, and Thorn, good sirs. All on a midsummer's morn. Surely we'll sing of no little thing. In Oak, and Ash, and Thorn." I sang out, infusing Drizzt with the power of a Spell of Barkskin.

As Drizzt's skin grew hard and knotty, like old oak, I put up my Bandore, drawing Discordant Note, and preparing to rush into the fray. My companions joined me, and together, we headed in to aid Drizzt Do'Urden in finishing off these Gnolls now that the tables had turned in the fight.

Between us and Drizzt, it wouldn't take very long. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here's the next chapter. In it, we see Robar and Company get a bunch of stuff done for sidequests in the Beregost Region. Between all the stuff that he's doing, it's likely that everyone will be level eight by the time they get to Nashkel, jumping two full levels. We also got a cameo from Drizzt Do'Urden of the RA Salvatore Novels. Both he and Elminster were in the original games, but Drizzt only cameos in BG1. He has a larger appearance in BG2, and Elminster only appears in BG2. Anyway, I couldn't not include him, which means adding more sidequests, much to Jaheira's annoyance.

At any rate, Next Chapter will include the fight with the Gnolls, plus the Bassilus Fight, then it's down to do Bjornin's Ogres and North to finish Melicamp the Chicken and Purdue's Shortsword before turning all these sidequests in.

Stay tuned. . .