Stopping at Infinity: Baldur's Gate 1&2, Icewind Dale, Planescape:Torment.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Stopping at Infinity: Baldur's Gate 1&2, Icewind Dale, Planescape:Torment.

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Air Skwirl: May 13, 2007; Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed shitposting.

Was BG2 the first game to have romances that weren't automatic? Like, earlier games have romances, but it was a defined protagonist and a defined romantic partner, usually rescuing a damsel in distress.

There's a reason they're called Bioware style romances.

# ? Sep 8, 2023 21:24

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# ? May 31, 2024 05:59

Torquemada: Oct 21, 2010; Drei GlÃ¤ser

docbeard posted:

One of the shortcomings of the game is the way it interprets "please just wait here for an hour" as "gently caress you I hate you WE ARE BROKEN UP LEAVE ME ALONE FOREVER".

Scene: BG3, a camp at night

Gale: buddy would you like to know about magic
Me: sure, sounds cool
Gale: and then we'll gently caress
Me: wait what

later on

Halsin: nature is the giver of all life, it's amazing
Me: sure is, trees are great
Halsin: shall i gently caress you in bear form or human form
Me: is there an option 3

even later on

a Mind Flayer: my immense psychic powers lay bare everyone's innermost thoughts
Me: thank god, so you know i'm only into
a Mind Flayer: my dick!
Me: i was going to say 'girls'

# ? Sep 8, 2023 21:43

rio: Mar 20, 2008

bike tory posted:

Yes it ends the romance, although possibly only if you're past a certain point?

Best thing to do, if you want to drop someone temporarily but not end the romance, is put them alone in a separate area so they can't reach your PC (like one of the rooms in the copper coronet with the door shut for e.g.) and boot them. That way the "did you really want me to leave?" dialogue doesn't trigger until you go and pick them up again, and you can just select the "no it was a mistake, stay in the party" option and it'll be as though you never kicked them at all.

Ok, great - I�m glad I redid it then and ran away before she could reach me. Jaheira was the only one who seemed to have a bee in her bonnet even after having done that since she just straight up left for even suggesting I leave her unattended for any period of time.

I was concerned because Aerie�s dialogue when taking her back into the party the first time, after actually having left her and told her to wait for me, sounded kind of negative like she was mad at Charname for having left her for less than one hour to fight something. Thanks for the info.

# ? Sep 8, 2023 22:11

Your Brain on Hugs: Aug 20, 2006

Into BG2 in my SCS insane run and it's been a step up in difficulty mainly because of everything being reset. By the start of SoD I had like -13 AC on my main tank and really good items and spells on everyone. Now have to scrounge around to afford good spells.

I've got the randomizer on and some item mods, there's tons of great stuff to buy but I also increased the magic license fee to 20,000 and the spellhold fee to 80,000, it's kind of nice having to carefully consider what to purchase. Did Trademeet first, I think I've got it set so every levelled spawn is at max, so the trolls were a little tricky. I cheesed Ihtafeer a little by managing to get two bounty hunter traps on her before she turned hostile, then waiting outside until her protection from magical weapons turned off. Think I'll do the thieves guild quests for a bit next, then head for D'Arnise hold to get the flail.

# ? Sep 8, 2023 23:09

Dr. Quarex: Apr 18, 2003; I'M A BIG DORK WHO POSTS TOO MUCH ABOUT CONVENTIONS LOOK AT THIS

TOVA TOVA TOVA

I am clearly not up on hot Baldur's Gate strategies since I have never once thought to kick my whole party to the curb and do something with just my protagonist. I suppose there are times when collateral damage is a bigger concern than the enemies

# ? Sep 8, 2023 23:14

kingturnip: Apr 18, 2008

One of World of Warcraft's greatest achievements was in creating a Chess Fight more intensely irritating than the one in Durlag's Tower.
It's been nerfed heavily over the years but it's still headache-inducing if the RNG hits just right.

# ? Sep 9, 2023 00:55

Bilirubin: Feb 16, 2014; The sanctioned action is to CHUG

Dynaheir achieved! :toot:

Xan was killed in the process though :rip:

should I rez him for later or sell his Moonblade?

Also what is it with low HP magic users rushing in to do fisticuffs in melee?

# ? Sep 9, 2023 04:11

SirSamVimes: Jul 21, 2008; ~* Challenge *~

what is this bullshit

# ? Sep 9, 2023 04:41

The Shame Boy: Jan 27, 2014; Dead weight, just like this post.

It's bullshit you're done with from the looks of things.

# ? Sep 9, 2023 04:52

Bilirubin: Feb 16, 2014; The sanctioned action is to CHUG

SirSamVimes posted:

what is this bullshit

you also must be *this high* to ride the ride

# ? Sep 9, 2023 04:53

SirSamVimes: Jul 21, 2008; ~* Challenge *~

The Shame Boy posted:

It's bullshit you're done with from the looks of things.

I'm still angry about it

anyways sarevok has been given a "fatal" swirlie and now I can go to work. SoD later and then it is time for the big one.

# ? Sep 9, 2023 04:56

Max Wilco: Jan 23, 2012; I'm just trying to go through life without looking stupid.

It's not working out too well...

Max Wilco posted:

So ends Chapter 16. Hopefully it will not take me over a month to cover the next couple of chapters.

Posted Jun 7, 2023

Well poo poo, I guess that didn't pan out as I hoped. It's taken me so long to get back to covering the BG2 novel that they've had time to make a Baldur's Gate 3! :v:

I'm sorry I haven't delivered any new book updates. Since that post, I've changed jobs twice, got a new computer, and been ~~distracted~~ occupied with other things. I picked up BG3 a week or two ago, which resulted in me reading up on some BG1&2 stuff. I didn't forget about the book posts, but I realized I've been putting them off, and I don't feel right asking for gameplay tips or anything until I've finished covering the books.

-
As a quick recap, our Abdel, Jaheira, and Imoen had ventured into the Underdark, where they met Adalon, who tasked them with recovering her stolen eggs. Like in the game, Adalon casts a spell to disguise themselves as drow. They meet up with Soulasein^SIC who takes them to Ust Nautha to meet Phaere. They then split up, with Abdel and Jaheira talking with Soulasein in a bar, convincing him to help them steal the eggs to get back at Phaere, while Phaere takes Imoen back to her home for, uh, more intimate discussion. However, as Abdel and Jaheira are starting to load up the eggs, Yoshimo (who's working for Bodhi) shows up, just as the disguise spell wears off.

Chapter 17 starts out with Pharae unhappy that Jaenra (aka Imoen) has disappeared. She expresses her frustration by greeting the mage coming to her with news with a slap to the face and a kick to groin

quote:

Phaere was more than a little unhappy. The young woman Jaenra had disappeared at some point during the night, and Phaere found that disrespectful. She had opened herself and her home more quickly and more completely to Jaenra than she�d ever done before, and though Phaere had a rather thick skin, she just couldn�t help but take it personally� and take it out on someone.

She slapped the mage across the face with a hard, practiced backhand that sent the drow man reeling. The sorcerer hit the marble tiles of the plaza, and a pouch of spell components he wore on his belt burst open, scattering bits of string, crystals, feathers, and live spiders all over the tiles. He looked up at Phaere in horror, fully expecting to be killed.

�Ready!� Phaere shouted at the man. �Complete! Prepared! These words mean nothing to you?�

�The gate is ready, mistress,� the mage said quickly, his voice quivering, �You have my word. I��

She kicked him hard between the legs, and the man doubled over in pain.

�I didn�t ask for your word you little�� She was interrupted by the roar of a pack lizard rumbling across the plaza floor. She turned and saw something that made her blink several times before she could believe it.

The pack lizard was pulling an open cart onto which the silver dragon eggs were lashed. The cart was being driven by humans, their pale skin positively glowing in the ambient light of the plaza gate. One of them looked familiar�the big one, but how could he? There was a half-elf woman�Phaere had never seen a real half-elf before. She was underwhelmed.

This was Bodhi�s crew, though Phaere thought there was supposed to be three of them. She counted two, plus the round-faced human Bodhi called out of the gate to� well, to apparently do what he was doing at this moment. The cart was headed for the gate.

Phaere waved a hand signal in the air that made the guards step back from the gate. Crossbows and hand crossbows were leveled at the cart, but the guards were all obedient enough to follow orders and not fire.

Phaere smiled though she was still disappointed. It had begun.

Switching back to Abdel, he, Jaheira, and Yoshimo are on the cart with the eggs. Yoshimo tells Abdel to head through the gate, but Abdel thinks it's a trap. Imoen appears and hops onto the cart, telling them to instead destroy the gate.

quote:

�Don�t go through that gate!� Imoen shouted to Abdel, clutching his shoulder to steady herself on the bouncing cart.

That was all Abdel had to hear. He pulled hard on the reins, and the lizard pulled up short. Everything and everyone on the cart slid rapidly forward, and Abdel nearly fell sprawling onto the giant lizard�s back. Imoen and Jaheira collided with Abdel from behind, and both of them grunted at the same time. Yoshimo fell against the back of Abdel�s seat, bloodying his nose.

�Destroy it!� Imoen panted even as the cart fish-tailed to a stop. �We have to destroy that thing�they mean to march an army through it.�

�That�s great,� Abdel said as he pulled the reins to the left, forcing the giant pack lizard around. In the plaza the drow guards stepped forward but still held their fire. Abdel knew it would take nothing but a wave of Phaere�s hand to make pincushions out of them all.

�How do we destroy the thing?� Jaheira asked Imoen. �It�s not like you can just��

�With this!� Imoen exclaimed, producing a crystalline wand out of her shimmering spidersilk robe.

�Don�t do this,� Yoshimo said, his voice ragged and desperate. �In the names of all our ancestors, I beg of you. It is our only way out of here. You have to��

Abdel shot one elbow back and connected hard with Yoshimo�s temple. The Kozakuran fell into one of the eggs, shifting but not cracking it. He tried to get up for a second, then fell unconscious, sprawled across the silver dragon�s eggs.

�Do it,� Abdel said to Imoen. �It�s as good a day to die as any.�

Phaere, of course sees this, and reacts accordingly:

quote:

Phaere�s heart sank, and she cursed herself silently when she saw the third human run across the roof of a granary at the edge of the gate plaza and jump into the speeding cart. It was Jaenra, and she was as pale as a human. She was human.

Phaere�s mother had a list of criticisms of her. At the top of it was her weakness for a certain type of woman, a physical weakness that made her make fast, rash decisions based more on passion than cunning. Phaere had always liked to think that passion was as good a motivator as cunning. She�d made some of her best decisions based on it, but�

�but this was not one of them. Phaere grimaced realizing everything she�d said to the woman in the bath, in bed, whispered into her ears, into the gentle soft curve of her neck� by Lolth�s malignant teeth, she�d told the human everything.

Phaere pulled her own hand crossbow and cocked a poisoned dart as the cart came to a nearly tumbling stop in front of the blue-violet gate. Jaenra, if that was really her name, produced from her robe�one of Phaere�s robes�a long, thin, glittering�

�Oh gods, no,� Phaere murmured. It was the wand. Had she really done it? Had she whispered the command word into Jaenra�s ear? She had.

Phaere: Oh no! I told the human everything! My plan! The command word for my wand! My social security number! My bank password! Everything!

Does that make any sense? Phaere knew this woman for, at most, a few hours, and some point while she was *CENSORED* Imoen and gloating about her plan, she felt the need to tell her the command word for the wand?

However, she's got a shot lined up on Imoen, so what's going to happen?

quote:

Phaere leveled the hand crossbow at Jaenra and something happened to blur her vision. Was that a tear? Was that what she�d come to? At that moment Phaere knew two things: She couldn�t kill the young woman, and everything she�d planned, everything she�d worked so hard for, was shattering before her eyes. It was over. She didn�t shoot.

The girl didn�t seem to see her, didn�t know that Phaere was letting her live, was punishing herself by letting this human woman�who�d managed to manipulate her so well she could have been a drow after all�destroy the gate.

I think I know what Pharere's mom new criticism of her daughter will be, because it's the same as mine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAT9nkGZa08

Imoen uses the wand, causing an explosion. Once it subsides, Pharae looks to see that our heroes and the cart are gone before the gate explodes again.

-

Chapter 18 picks up immediately after, where Abdel and company are back with Adalon. Abdel witnesses Adalon crying over the return of the eggs, and has an epihany.

quote:

Jaheira shrugged and stood up, turning to face the dragon towering overhead like a living cathedral of liquid silver. The dragon was crying. Abdel�s heart swelled from the sound of it, and he knew, all of a sudden and all at once, he knew. Set up or not, manipulation or not, deception or not, there was a time to do the right thing. There was a time to suffer the petty evils of those who came in and out of his life, and there was a time to put an end to all of it�not just for a moment or two but for a lifetime. He�d wanted to rescue Imoen and Jaheira, and he had, but there was more to do. There was Irenicus, and though he didn�t understand the evil this man sought to do, he knew it was up to him, one way or another, to stop it.

Yoshimo, on the other hand is a little irritated about the whole affair, and makes it known:

quote:

�That was foolish,� Yoshimo said to Abdel, his voice gruff and low. �That was a foolish thing to do� for what gain?�

Jaheira turned to look at Yoshimo, and Abdel stood up slowly, reaching for his sword. Yoshimo drew his own blade and faced the son of Bhaal.

�For Mielikki�s sake, you idiot,� Jaheira shouted at Yoshimo. �Do you have any understanding of where you are and what has been avoided?�

�What has been avoided?� Yoshimo sneered. �Do you have any idea, druid, what that gate represented? What power that thing� You weren�t supposed to be so� active.�

�We were supposed to be good little pawns, is that it?� Abdel asked, surprised by how little anger he felt toward the Kozakuran.

Yoshimo sighed, spared the dragon a glance, and sheathed his sword. �It isn�t over yet.�

�She was going to kill you,� Imoen said suddenly, her voice awash with pain. �The vampire was going to kill you the minute we were sent on our way.�

�To what end?� Yoshimo asked her, his eyes betraying his acceptance of what she�d said.

�To what end would she keep you alive?� Jaheira answered for Imoen. �Out of the kindness of her heart? Out of gratitude? She eats people like you� eats their blood anyway.�

Yoshimo�s face split with a wholly inappropriate grin, and he barked out a single tortured laugh. �I will not make any sad attempt to argue, young druid.�

Abdel sheathed his sword and looked over to see the dragon carefully lifting her eggs from the crumbling cart.

�Yoshimo,� Abdel said, �under any other circumstance I�d just kill you now and get it over with, but I�ve been� thinking. You can come with us. You can have a chance to��

�Redeem yourself,� Jaheira provided with a smile.

Abdel nodded and said, �Or I will kill you. Believe me that I will kill you.�

I have in my notes 'I'm metaphorically throwing my hands up here'. Mind you, Yoshimo's not under a geas in this version of the story, and Abdel has zero reason to trust him...but sure, let's bring him along! :ughh:

Oh, and there's this.

quote:

Yoshimo bowed deeply and said, �I will trust the son of the God of Murder when he gives me his word on that count, my friend, but I am the least of your still considerable worries. You will not be where Irenicus expects you to be, but you are far from safe. Suldanessellar is far from safe. You�re forgetting the ritual. You�re forgetting what�s coursing through your veins and your half-sister�s. Next time the lovely druid here may not be so lucky as to avoid the things you�ve both become.�

Abdel let a long breath pass out through his nose, then he said, �Yes, I�ll need to speak with Mr. Irenicus about that.�

�So will I,� Imoen whispered.

"Mr. Irencius"

So they make their way up out of the Underdark. We then switch over to Bodhi in the Graveyard Districk. Irencius sends her a telepathic message about bringing her vampires to Suldanessellar, but just as she's about to reply, she's attacked by a group of Shadow Thief assassins. However, she's got other vampires with her, and so this results in a fight scene. I don't think it's really necessary to quote or describe the fight scenes, but there is a portion where it's mentioned how Bodhi's vampires are made up of a few Shadow Thieves she converted, which I recall being in the actual game.

We briefly return to Abdel and friends, who have met with a patrol of elves who had been waiting for them. The elves then start escorting them through to forest to Suldanessellar, saying that the queen is in danger. It then switches back to the vampire/Shadow Thieves fight, with Bodhi winning.

Chapter 19 is where we start getting some infodumps and explanations. The party meets with Elhan, and they discuss the current predicament:

quote:

Abdel turned to Elhan and said, �Suldanessellar is in danger. A powerful necromancer, a human named Jon Irenicus is hoping to perform some ritual��

�Indeed,� Elhan interrupted. �Irenicus is known to us. He has� my sister�Ellesime�has had a� relationship with this human for quite some time. They are linked in a way that I must be honest and say I don�t fully understand. Ellesime herself senses only apathy from Irenicus, when she can feel him through this link. She is refusing to believe that he means her harm or even that he is responsible for sealing off Suldanessellar.�

I know it's really petty, but the book still refers to Irenicus as a 'necromancer' rather than as a mage, even though I don't think he does any necromancy in the book. (Maybe he does in the game, but I'm not counting that because any mage can do that, save for Illusionists). He's also described as being human, which I think I pointed out in an earlier update.

Elhan explains that are unable to get into Swanmay's Glade, as Irenicus has barred entry. When Abdel says he'll help to save the queen's life, Elhan replies:

quote:

�Ellesime cannot be killed,� Elhan said simply. �You�ll forgive me for not explaining how this is so. I don�t fear her death, but if Irenicus is immortal as well, he can harry my sister for a long time�centuries or more�and cause the gods only know what damage to the city, all of Wealdath, in the process.�

�We�re not entirely sure why we�re here, sir,� Abdel admitted. �All we know is that your fate and ours�� he nodded at Imoen��are tied up with each other in some way connected with Irenicus.�

Elhan lifted an eyebrow, curious, and Abdel said, �I am descended from the God of Murder, and I am not the only one. I have a sister, a half-sister who shares that blood. Irenicus means to use that blood to raise some sort of power�if not Bhaal himself then some essence, some avatar of Bhaal. It is this godlike force that Irenicus seems to desire for some unknown purpose.�

Elhan smiled and nodded. �I think I can shed some light on all this for you, Abdel Adrian. I think our fates are bound together after all. I�m so glad you made it here. So very glad.�

We once again switch back to Bodhi, and...

quote:

Bodhi awoke early, as she often did, and stayed in her casket knowing the sun hadn�t completely set. As had been the case over that last dozen days or more, she awoke thinking of Abdel. The feel of his hands on her body, his tongue in her mouth, their most intimate embrace, lingered in her in the most delicious way. She would never use the word love, or even desire, but maybe, in whatever was left of the human part of her, she felt both those things and more.

There were so many things Abdel didn�t know, but there were easily as many things about him that she had yet to discover. She hoped she would have a chance.

She stretched, and her elbow brushed past several loose pieces of cold metal. Irenicus had told her to keep these broken bits of some antique close to her. She could sense the magic in them and knew it had something to do with the ritual. Irenicus had told her that there was a good chance that Abdel would come to her looking for it. She was happy to keep it in case of just such an eventuality.

She whispered his name just to feel it on her tongue. The hiss of it didn�t echo in the confined space. The air, reeking of the soil of her all-but-forgotten home, was too dead to allow for something as graceful as an echo.

�Love,� she said aloud into the dead air of her coffin. The sound of it made her smile.

She touched herself and closed her eyes, knowing that that night she would kill all of her assassins in Irenicus�s name. She no longer cared that her fledgling guild would never serve her�one way or another, the son of Bhaal would instead fill that role.

You know, sometimes I just get writer's block trying to come up with something to say about these kind of scenes, because I feel like just dropping a smilie feels kind of cheap, but I don't know kind of commentary to provide. Putting aside Bodhi's reaction, take a guess as to what the 'broken bits of some antique' are.

We thankfully return back to the party, where Elhan goes into detail about how Irenicus attacked the tree of life, how it killed some of the older elves, and almost killed Ellesime.

quote:

�And they got away with this?� Jaheira asked, her eyes wide.

Elhan smiled and shrugged. �We didn�t think they did. They were punished according to the wishes of Ellesime. They got the opposite of what they desired. Great magic�High Magic�was used to make them human. They were stripped of their elven nature and sent away. Not only were they given mortality, but� forgive me,� he said, nodding to the three humans in turn, �but they were to have only a handful of years to ponder their crimes before time would execute them for us.�

�What was it he was looking for?� Abdel asked.

�Immortality,� Jaheira whispered.

Elhan took a long sip from a tallglass of sweet elven wine and said, �Immortality. The simplest, silliest goal of the tiny minded. To live forever in pure arrogance over the master, Time.�

So no, it was not a mistake that the book referred to Irenicus as being human; he and Bodhi were elves, but after attacking the Tree of Life, they were made human. That...is that possible? Like, sure, it's magic, there's not really any rules to it, but why specifically turn them human?

quote:

�But Bodhi�� Jaheira said. �She�s managed it, hasn�t she?�

Elhan shrugged again and said, �After a fashion. Bodhi is undead. She�s not immortal. These are very different things that can easily seem similar on the surface. Once human, Bodhi struggled to find a faster, easier answer. That was always her nature. While Irenicus studied, she acted. Bodhi became a vampire but stayed with the man she called her brother in hopes that Irenicus�s continued study would benefit her someday as well.�

�I�m not sure I understand,� Abdel said. �Irenicus wants to become an elf again?�

�More than that,� Elhan said. �He was an elf, and we do live for a long time�long enough that I understand some of your people believe we are immortal�but time catches up even with us, eventually. Irenicus was one of our best. Before he descended into mad necromancy, he was perhaps the most powerful mage on all of Faer�n�one of them, at least.

I realized in writing this that Elhan scoffs at the idea of immortality, yet didn't he imply that Ellesime is immortal?

quote:

�More than that, he was my sister�s consort�as close to the throne as anyone could get. She loved him, and maybe, a long time ago, he loved her too.�

�So what turned him?� Jaheira asked. �What could possibly make him betray her?�

�Bodhi,� Elhan said flatly. �Though I�m loathe to attach all the responsibility to her. Still, where my sister and I believe Irenicus once had some pure intentions, I doubt Bodhi ever did. What it is about her that makes her� I don�t know, and maybe I don�t want to. I will be satisfied believing she�s simply an aberration.�

Abdel suddenly felt the need to stand, so he did. This startled Jaheira, but she didn�t say anything. Elhan watched in silence as Abdel crossed to a window and looked out at the forest canopy.

Sensing the stillness in the room, Abdel said, �Go on.�

�Bodhi always was Irenicus�s most trusted advisor,� Elhan said. �She studied with him for some time, helped him, took care of him. They truly were like brother and sister. Ellesime, to her credit, did everything to embrace Bodhi, extending friendship, even a sort of sisterhood, but Bodhi always kept her at a distance.

�Sometimes I believe it�s my sister�s own wishful thinking that blames Bodhi more than Irenicus� that it was Bodhi who forced his hand and drew him into the ritual. They both wanted the same thing, to live forever. Bodhi convinced Irenicus, or he convinced her, or they convinced each other to undertake a ritual so vile��

So Bodhi and Irenicus aren't actually related.

Here's something I will credit this book with: I feel like it handles the backstory of how Irencius and Bodhi both turned evil better than how the game does it; not so much in the changes in motivation, but rather how the scene conveys it. In the game, it kind of felt like it got shoved in last minute from one of the elves you save in Suldanessellar.

quote:

�It is the spiritual heart of Suldanessellar,� Jaheira said. �It�s a force perhaps older than the gods themselves. It has the respect of all gods. Some say it is the source of all life.�

�The druids taught you well, Jaheira,� Elhan said with a smile. �Irenicus sought to drain life force directly from the Tree of Life. I couldn�t imagine anything more abhorrent, more forbidden to us.�

Abdel sighed and turned back into the room. �So what do we do about this?� he asked. �They�re going to try it again, aren�t they?�

Elhan nodded. �I�m afraid that you and your sister have something to do with it this time, Abdel Adrian.�

�Well,� Abdel said, �I�ve been the center of an arcane ritual or two before, sir. I don�t intend to have anything to do with this one.�

�Good,� the elf prince said sincerely. �Then there�s something you�ll need to do for us all.�

�Tell me,� Abdel said.

�Go back to Athkatla,� Elhan directed, his eyes burning into Abdel�s. �Find Bodhi, kill her, and bring back the pieces of the Rynn Lanthorn.�

Abdel�s heart skipped a beat and a yellow haze began to creep into the edges of his vision. He held his eyes closed tightly and calmed himself.

�The Rynn Lanthorn?� Yoshimo asked. �Little pieces of bronze that might fit together to make a whole?�

Elhan nodded.

�I�ve seen it in the vampire�s possession,� the Kozakuran said. �Irenicus gave it to her for safekeeping.�

�What does this thing do?� Jaheira asked.

�It will put your souls back in order,� Elhan said, �not to put too fine a point on it. It will suppress the avatar within you, Abdel, and it will save Imoen�s life.�

Abdel looked over at Imoen and noticed for the first time that the girl had fallen asleep or passed out. Her breathing was soft and regular, but she seemed pale, her eyes sunken, her lips gray

Two things:
1.) Some who knows FR lore, please confirm if the Tree of Life is the source of all life.
2.) That is not what the Rhynn Lanthorn does.

So it looks like our party's off to find Bodhi and the Lanthorn!

quote:

�So I�m off to Athkatla,� Abdel said quietly, not looking away from Imoen.

�We all are,� Jaheira said.

�No,� Abdel said quickly. �This I have to do by myself.�

Abdel looked at Jaheira, and she nodded, a tear rolling slowly down one cheek.

Abdel: I'm going alone
Me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twasTiXptFU

-

That's it for tonight. I'll try not to get distracted with BG3 and write up something for the next couple of chapters tomorrow.

Max Wilco fucked around with this message at 05:22 on Sep 9, 2023

# ? Sep 9, 2023 05:17

Rappaport: Oct 2, 2013

Welcome back, horrible friends.

Air Skwirl posted:

Was BG2 the first game to have romances that weren't automatic? Like, earlier games have romances, but it was a defined protagonist and a defined romantic partner, usually rescuing a damsel in distress.

There's a reason they're called Bioware style romances.

Honestly not sure how Fallout 2's marriage options fall on this criteria

# ? Sep 9, 2023 05:26

Zulily Zoetrope: Jun 1, 2011; Muldoon

Reading about how booting Jaheira is prone to breaking more flags than anything else has made me realize I've never removed her from my party in any BG2 playthrough. Huh, that's not even a conscious decision.

# ? Sep 9, 2023 05:26

Jimbot: Jul 22, 2008

SirSamVimes posted:

what is this bullshit

Padding.

I like how the person in the room before that nonsense was all "no one has ever made it out! it's a deathtrap!" then it's like a bunch of long hallways with a few traps and blobs.

# ? Sep 9, 2023 06:15

hexwren: Feb 27, 2008

Air Skwirl posted:

Was BG2 the first game to have romances that weren't automatic? Like, earlier games have romances, but it was a defined protagonist and a defined romantic partner, usually rescuing a damsel in distress.

There's a reason they're called Bioware style romances.

I'm most of the way through bg2 for the first time (and at the rate I'm going, the last - this is just not clicking with me) and i haven't even encountered a single romance-shaped dialogue option, much less an actual romance

I'm in chapter 6, properly open-worlding for basically the first time all game, since I'm no longer chasing my kidnapped party member or dealing with the one-way path through and away from the asylum and it's extremely tempting to skip the various side areas I've never been to and just rush the ending. idk.

i think the part that's galled me the most is that I've basically had to spend the whole game with the main villain monologuing at me with very little i can actually do about it. yes, I still want to kill you, but what's worse is that I'm bored of you constantly showing up to chew the scenery

# ? Sep 9, 2023 06:34

SirSamVimes: Jul 21, 2008; ~* Challenge *~

From what I've heard the badguy showing up to chew scenery is one if the primary appeals of bg2

# ? Sep 9, 2023 06:40

Ginette Reno: Nov 18, 2006; How Doers get more done; Fun Shoe

hexwren posted:

I'm most of the way through bg2 for the first time (and at the rate I'm going, the last - this is just not clicking with me) and i haven't even encountered a single romance-shaped dialogue option, much less an actual romance

I'm in chapter 6, properly open-worlding for basically the first time all game, since I'm no longer chasing my kidnapped party member or dealing with the one-way path through and away from the asylum and it's extremely tempting to skip the various side areas I've never been to and just rush the ending. idk.

i think the part that's galled me the most is that I've basically had to spend the whole game with the main villain monologuing at me with very little i can actually do about it. yes, I still want to kill you, but what's worse is that I'm bored of you constantly showing up to chew the scenery

Some npcs can't be romanced unless you're a certain gender/race so that may be part of it. Dunno what you're playing or who is in your party. The romances also tend to take a bit to develop. Especially Jaheira's.

SirSamVimes posted:

From what I've heard the badguy showing up to chew scenery is one if the primary appeals of bg2

He is. David Warner rules

# ? Sep 9, 2023 06:48

Wicked Them Beats: Apr 1, 2007; Moralists don't really *have* beliefs. Sometimes they stumble on one, like on a child's toy left on the carpet. The toy must be put away immediately. And the child reprimanded.

hexwren posted:

I'm most of the way through bg2 for the first time (and at the rate I'm going, the last - this is just not clicking with me) and i haven't even encountered a single romance-shaped dialogue option, much less an actual romance

I'm in chapter 6, properly open-worlding for basically the first time all game, since I'm no longer chasing my kidnapped party member or dealing with the one-way path through and away from the asylum and it's extremely tempting to skip the various side areas I've never been to and just rush the ending. idk.

i think the part that's galled me the most is that I've basically had to spend the whole game with the main villain monologuing at me with very little i can actually do about it. yes, I still want to kill you, but what's worse is that I'm bored of you constantly showing up to chew the scenery

You were open-worlding right after your first conversation with Gaelan Bayle. You're supposed to let Imoen stew for six months while you go solve problems in Trademeet or whatever. Rushing off to save her is not the intended playstyle.

You might think giving you a seemingly time-sensitive goal and then asking you to ignore it to gently caress around is a design issue with BG2. And it is! But it's also a design issue with most RPGs ever made. BG2 at least has the excuse of being made two decades ago.

Ginette Reno posted:

He is. David Warner rules

# ? Sep 9, 2023 07:33

Air Skwirl: May 13, 2007; Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed shitposting.

Bilirubin posted:

Dynaheir achieved!

Xan was killed in the process though should I rez him for later or sell his Moonblade?

Also what is it with low HP magic users rushing in to do fisticuffs in melee?

If you don't want him in your party there's no real reason to resurrect him.

# ? Sep 9, 2023 07:38

Max Wilco: Jan 23, 2012; I'm just trying to go through life without looking stupid.

It's not working out too well...

Something I want to ask about out of curiosity: how many people have tried beating the Enhanced Editions on Legacy of Bhaal difficulty? I see people talk about mods like SCS and Ascension all the time, but how popular/difficult is it to do a vanilla run on the hardest difficulty?

# ? Sep 9, 2023 08:09

Your Brain on Hugs: Aug 20, 2006

I somehow got my MC cursed during a fight that made him unable to be healed by anything, never seen it before. Had to memorize remove curse on my cleric. Had rest until healed on, when I rested to memorize: You have rested for 22 days and 0 hours.

# ? Sep 9, 2023 10:19

SirSamVimes: Jul 21, 2008; ~* Challenge *~

my gold.... my gold!!!

# ? Sep 9, 2023 12:53

Rappaport: Oct 2, 2013

SirSamVimes posted:

my gold.... my gold!!!

Sounds like somebody hosed around and found out :smaug:

# ? Sep 9, 2023 12:55

SirSamVimes: Jul 21, 2008; ~* Challenge *~

I've been playing a goody good but I did pick option 3 this time.

# ? Sep 9, 2023 13:02

KOGAHAZAN!!: Apr 29, 2013; a miserable failure as a person

an incredible success as a magical murder spider

How much did you have?

# ? Sep 9, 2023 13:03

SirSamVimes: Jul 21, 2008; ~* Challenge *~

KOGAHAZAN!! posted:

How much did you have?

80k about. I am going to murder this man if I ever see him again, reputation hit be damned.

# ? Sep 9, 2023 13:05

Rappaport: Oct 2, 2013

Aww, I figured it'd been a wild surge :smith:

# ? Sep 9, 2023 13:37

Dr. Quarex: Apr 18, 2003; I'M A BIG DORK WHO POSTS TOO MUCH ABOUT CONVENTIONS LOOK AT THIS

TOVA TOVA TOVA

Wicked Them Beats posted:

You were open-worlding right after your first conversation with Gaelan Bayle. You're supposed to let Imoen stew for six months while you go solve problems in Trademeet or whatever. Rushing off to save her is not the intended playstyle.

You might think giving you a seemingly time-sensitive goal and then asking you to ignore it to gently caress around is a design issue with BG2. And it is! But it's also a design issue with most RPGs ever made. BG2 at least has the excuse of being made two decades ago.

Yeah it is easy to understand how people make that mistake. Not that I know if he would have liked it more if he had played like the long-timers do. Actually spacing out Irenicus' threats might have made it even worse for him? Even though of course in my experience the game is way more about just interacting with the amazing world than getting revenge. Then again I prefer 1 to 2 purely for the levels represented, as low-level D&D where dumb strategies might succeed because things do not have 100 hit points yet is my favorite

As far as that mistake goes though, I mean poo poo apparently I am making a similar mistake with 3 right now, completely refusing to long rest because of the vague threat from Larian that if you do it at the wrong time something bad could happen. THERE IS NO GOOD TIME, SOMEONE IS ALWAYS IN DANGER GAME, EAT poo poo LARIAN BUT THIS IS THE BEST GAME EVER SO I FORGIVE YOU TOO

SirSamVimes posted:

80k about. I am going to murder this man if I ever see him again, reputation hit be damned.

That was such an awful yet also hilarious design decision. It really only gets you once, as once you know about it and hoard every valuable gem in 1 the next time you play you can easily start Siege of Dragonspear with 100,000+ gold. And that is without just converting your gold to valuable items which I imagine most people also do

# ? Sep 9, 2023 15:20

Zulily Zoetrope: Jun 1, 2011; Muldoon

Irenicus is a garbage-rear end loser and absolutely does not deserve the gravitas of David Warner monologues.

that sounds like a criticism but it is the reason I love him as a villain, he wouldn't be anywhere near as cool if he was actually cool

Zulily Zoetrope fucked around with this message at 15:54 on Sep 9, 2023

# ? Sep 9, 2023 15:51

Johnny Postnemonic: Apr 27, 2023; I want to get online...
I need to post!

Air Skwirl posted:

Was BG2 the first game to have romances that weren't automatic? Like, earlier games have romances, but it was a defined protagonist and a defined romantic partner, usually rescuing a damsel in distress.

There's a reason they're called Bioware style romances.

yes, i mean you could have "sex" in games like fallout but there wasnt any "romances" like bg2

remember playing it for the first time at launch and thinking, drat i got 3 chicks fighting over me, this is what it must be like if i leave the house, but i wont cos i got pc games to play.

# ? Sep 9, 2023 16:04

Arivia: Mar 17, 2011

hexwren posted:

I'm most of the way through bg2 for the first time (and at the rate I'm going, the last - this is just not clicking with me) and i haven't even encountered a single romance-shaped dialogue option, much less an actual romance

I'm in chapter 6, properly open-worlding for basically the first time all game, since I'm no longer chasing my kidnapped party member or dealing with the one-way path through and away from the asylum and it's extremely tempting to skip the various side areas I've never been to and just rush the ending. idk.

i think the part that's galled me the most is that I've basically had to spend the whole game with the main villain monologuing at me with very little i can actually do about it. yes, I still want to kill you, but what's worse is that I'm bored of you constantly showing up to chew the scenery

did you play bg1? I can imagine the irenicus dream sections coming off pretty heavy-handed if you didn't, if you played bg1 it had similar sections but with bhaal directly instead of irenicus so the new dreams come off as something being Severely Wrong with this fucker and have a bit more spice to them than just "BIG BOSS GUY YELLING AT ME"

# ? Sep 9, 2023 16:27

Randallteal: May 7, 2006; The tears of time

BG2 might have been the first CRPG with optional player romances but that concept definitely existed in games before 2000, like Wing Commander 3 or Harvest Moon. I haven't played a lot of early text adventure games but I would be surprised if there weren't games with optional romance flags in the 80s.

hexwren posted:

I'm most of the way through bg2 for the first time (and at the rate I'm going, the last - this is just not clicking with me) and i haven't even encountered a single romance-shaped dialogue option, much less an actual romance

Some races get blocked from most of them. I've never seen any of the Jaheira or Aerie stuff because they don't date dudes with tusks.

# ? Sep 9, 2023 16:59

Wicked Them Beats: Apr 1, 2007; Moralists don't really *have* beliefs. Sometimes they stumble on one, like on a child's toy left on the carpet. The toy must be put away immediately. And the child reprimanded.

I always mod out the race restrictions. Dwarves need love too.

# ? Sep 9, 2023 17:37

Peanut Butler: Jul 25, 2003

Randallteal posted:

BG2 might have been the first CRPG with optional player romances but that concept definitely existed in games before 2000, like Wing Commander 3 or Harvest Moon. I haven't played a lot of early text adventure games but I would be surprised if there weren't games with optional romance flags in the 80s.

80s IF hit a wide range of genres that the rest of video games wouldn't rly catch up to until the 21st century- the audience was more diverse, and also, I don't think Infocom (or the others) really knew what they were doing, the computer game business was maybe a decade old

anyway there's been romance in video games, for sure, if mostly because there were Romance-themed IF games, just as there are novels- though a lot of them assume that the player is a straight woman

as the 80s genres merge together u get more interactive fiction in your hack n slash, more hack n slash in your simulation, more simulation in your fiction. The way Fallout 2 handles romance makes me think of older IF games- sort of incidental, there if you go looking for it. The Bioware model is kind of annoying, imo, because it's obviously a standardized module, a feature for the player, halfway between being incidental and integral. Fluff, but fluff that can make the plot not make sense if the storytellers haven't accounted for the PC being Full Throttle In Love with an NPC- in my view, a game's PC/NPC romance should be waaay off to the side, or, the central feature of the plot and storyline

# ? Sep 9, 2023 18:10

Max Wilco: Jan 23, 2012; I'm just trying to go through life without looking stupid.

It's not working out too well...

Zulily Zoetrope posted:

Irenicus is a garbage-rear end loser and absolutely does not deserve the gravitas of David Warner monologues.

that sounds like a criticism but it is the reason I love him as a villain, he wouldn't be anywhere near as cool if he was actually cool

I really do think that Warner's performance elevated Irenicus' character, but I don't want to get into a discussion about that right now.

-

For now, another book update!

Chapter 20 begins with Abdel getting teleported by one of Elhan's mages to Athkatla to find Bodhi. Question is, where did he sent to specifically?

quote:

He shook off the teleportation afterdaze and looked around to make sure he was in the right place. The ceiling was low, barely brushing the top of his head. The air smelled like stale mead and garbage. It was dark, but he could see the outline of sacks of flour and barrels of ale and wine. He could hear footsteps crossing the floor above his head and the sound of a chair being pulled across it. A mumbled voice clearly said, �All done, Boo,� and Abdel knew he was in the right place.

He stood on the exact spot where he had made love with Bodhi. She�d hypnotized him. He told himself that again, though he didn�t believe it. The smell and the sounds of the place made the memory clear enough that he couldn�t pretend as well anymore. He stepped toward the stairs, and his eye was caught by a square patch of shadow on the floor only a stride or two to his left. His eyes were adjusting to the darkness quickly, and when he stepped a bit closer to the shadow, he saw that it was a trapdoor.

He got teleported back to the Copper Coronet? Well, I guess is was the de facto hub in the game, so it makes sense.

But wait, a trap door?

quote:

It occurred to him that he was looking for a vampire. It was night, but early. Bodhi would have to be someplace as far away from the sun as possible. A cellar under a cellar�what was that? A root cellar? Not a wine cellar, not in this place�in any case, it was a good bet he�d find a vampire in there.

Elhan�s mage seemed sure enough that Bodhi was here. He had some way to feel her or sense her or something. Another improbable force Abdel had to trust.

Yes, Bodhi's lair (or her coffin, at least) is not in the Graveyard District, but rather under the Copper Coronet. :psyduck:

quote:

Abdel knelt over the trapdoor and grabbed the cold iron ring that served as a handle. He almost lifted it open, then stopped himself. He pulled his sword, held its weight, let the creaking of Minsc�s footsteps above calm him, and realized he didn�t want to kill Bodhi. The elves had told him how evil she was, and there was the fact that she was a vampire and all, but there was something there. Reason enough not to kill her at least. He looked at the blade of his sword in the darkness and realized that it wouldn�t kill a vampire anyway.

Abdel does have a wooden stake, provided to him by the elves. However, when he finds Bodhi's coffin, it's empty.

We cut back over to the rest of the party, where Imoen is beginning to deteriorate.

quote:

Imoen�s strength was fading fast. Her skin was pale and cool, and she slept most of the time. This was the third healing prayer Jaheira had attempted, and nothing had helped. The evil in Imoen�s veins seemed to be drowning her soul, thanks to Irenicus�s ritual. Mielikki was withholding her grace. It didn�t seem fair, but Jaheira tried to understand.

�Phaere�� Imoen mumbled in her sleep.

�She�s dying,� Yoshimo said from behind her, startling Jaheira.

�Yes,� Jaheira said, not looking back at him.

Yoshimo stepped forward, squatting just behind and next to Jaheira. �What people will do�� the Kozakuran mused.

�For immortality?� Jaheira asked, wetting a rag and wringing it out.

�For immortality,� Yoshimo said, �for coin, for loyalty to a crown, a flag, or a man.�

Jaheira placed the wet rag on Imoen�s forehead�knowing it was a silly, futile gesture but feeling she should do it anyway�and said, �Would they kill?�

Yoshimo laughed at Jaheira�s obvious stab. �Where I come from,� he said, �assassin is an honorable profession.�

�It�s murder,� Jaheira said flatly, �wherever you are.�

�A difference of view,� the Kozakuran said. �People have killed for less, yes?�

Jaheira gently pulled the rag off Imoen�s head.

�Abdel will save her?� Yoshimo asked. He seemed happy enough to change the subject.

�Abdel?� Imoen murmured in her sleep.

Jaheira gently touched her shoulder, and Imoen�s eyes popped open.

�Abdel!� she said, her voice clear and loud in the quiet of the elf camp.

�He�ll be here,� Jaheira told her. �He�ll��

�Silence!� Imoen growled, her voice deeper now and coarse. Her eyes flashed yellow, and Jaheira gasped. Imoen sat up in a burst of motion, and Jaheira felt a hand grab her and pull her back. Imoen�s jaws snapped in the air in front of Jaheira�s face as if the girl was trying to bite her.

�Imoen�� Jaheira said.

�She�s not herself,� Yoshimo whispered.

Imoen laughed, and it wasn�t her usual pleasant giggle. �Who am I, Kozakuran?�

�Bhaal�� Jaheira answered for him.

As if in response, Imoen fell back onto the bed of leaves and was asleep.

Back over to Abdel, he's roughing up Gaelan Bayle for info on Bodhi.

quote:

Abdel pulled the punch he threw into Gaelan Bayle�s midsection, which was the only reason Bayle survived.

�I�d like very much to kill you,� Abdel told him.

Bayle�s only response was a series of rumbling coughs.

�Oh,� Minsc breathed, �I�m sure that did hurt, Boo.�

Abdel looked over at the red-haired madman and said, �You need to go for a walk or something, Minsc. The Copper Coronet is closed for the night.�

Minsc looked at Bayle then back at Abdel, smiled, and left quickly, whispering, �Looks like we�ll need a new job soon, Boo.�

I feel so bad for Minsc.

However, soon after, Bodhi appears

quote:

She stepped closer to him and said, �You�ve come to kill me.�

Abdel saw her glance at the wooden stake in his belt, and he met her gray eyes. They seemed calm and confident. Abdel knew she was sure he wasn�t going to kill her, but of course he was.

�Everyone has been lying to you, Abdel,� Bodhi said, her voice as sincere as any voice Abdel had ever heard. �I�ve lied to you� over and over� but I�m not the only one. What did they tell you?�

�Who?� Abdel asked.

�The elves,� she said, stepping closer still. Abdel�s hand went to the stake, but he didn�t pull it out. �They told you, what? That I was an elf once? That I did something terrible to them or one of the sacred thises or holy whatses?�

�They told me��

�A giant crock of horsesh��

�Enough!� Abdel roared, yanking the stake from his belt but stepping back one stride.

�Abdel�� she said, and he looked her in the eyes again. �I�m sorry. I had to do all these things. I had no choice and neither did you.�

�I had��

�No choice,� she said again. �Name one thing in the last month you decided to do on your own.�

Abdel sighed, and Bodhi�s eyes softened. Her pupils seemed to widen, and Abdel felt his jaw relax, felt his grip on the stake relax, then a yellow fog passed over his vision.

�Abdel,� Bodhi whispered, �be with me��

As the yellow fog suggests, though...

quote:

Irenicus had warned her that this might happen, and Bodhi had very casually brushed it off, saying she�d seen monsters before. In more ways than one, she was a sort of monster herself, wasn�t she?

But what she saw Abdel transform into, she really wasn�t ready for.

The stake in his hand snapped in half first, then the link she�d established with him broke all at once, and his body contorted and transformed.

Bodhi was fast, fast enough to stay away from the Abdel-Bhaal thing�the raving, murderous beast. It smashed the bar to splinters and sent stools and chairs hurtling through the air so fast and so hard they shattered the plaster when they hit the walls. White dust was in the air, and the room was full of deafening sounds: roars, the footfalls of something heavier than an elephant, shattering glass, splintering wood, crumbling brick, and disintegrating plaster.

At first the thing was just breaking up the place, lashing out at everything close enough to smash. Bodhi wasn�t sure exactly what to do. This was as close to an avatar of the dead God of Murder that anyone alive had ever been, and she admitted to herself that she was well out of her depth.

She knew she couldn�t turn and run� or could she?

She didn�t have a chance to decide before the thing that used to be Abdel turned and fixed its blazing yellow eyes on her.

Chapter 21 opens back with Jaheira, Yoshimo, and Imoen. It's clear that Imoen's being possessed. Yoshimo thinks about killing her, but Jaheira says that's shell do it if it comes to that point.

Meanwhile, Bodhi's not having the best time with Abdel.

quote:

Bodhi�s whole body exploded in pain�a kind of burning agony she hadn�t experienced since before she�d become a vampire. Things had pierced her flesh before, but weapons of steel or claw never hurt her. A blade had to be enchanted to make her bleed. No fist could bruise her, and no claw could rend her, but here she was, being torn apart by this thing�s bare hands.

She�d tried to speak to him, to hypnotize him, to run from him, but nothing worked. The roof had been ripped off the Copper Coronet, revealing the dark, moonless sky. The thing that was once Abdel Adrian had destroyed the tavern, then turned its full attention on Bodhi. She�d even tried to tell him where to find the pieces of the Rynn Lanthorn. She�d tried admitting all her lies and manipulations. She�d even said she was sorry.

It took her leg off, and the pain was literally blinding. It ripped her arm off, and she almost passed out. She could feel cool blood drying all over her.

The creature bit into her chest, and she could feel her heart burst, and more blood exploded out everywhere. One of her breasts came off in its mouth, and she screamed. The sound was as alien in her ears as it was in her throat.

�Abdel!� she screamed, the blood that had filled her throat fountaining out with the name. �I love you� I loved you, Abdel�.�

The inhuman, wild eyes that had been burning a solid, hot yellow flickered, and the huge, misshapen head tilted to one side.

�Abdel,� Bodhi said, and for the first time in more years than most humans could count, she started to cry.

He started coming back all at once, and watching his transformation actually succeeded in distracting Bodhi from the fact that she�d been ripped to pieces. There were few enough ways to kill a vampire, but that was one of them. Her head was still attached to her shoulders though, and at least some part of her heart still quivered spasmodically in her chest. Bodhi came to the nightmare realization that she could live for hours, no days, years, even centuries just exactly like this�in agony.

�Bodhi,� he said, in a voice that almost sounded like Abdel�s.

�Abdel, please�� she said.

His hand came back to normal in the time it took for him to reach for, grab hold of, and lift the sharp half of the broken wooden stake. The yellow faded from his eyes.

�Where?� he asked, his all too human face covered, dripping in blood.

She coughed out another gout of cool red blood and said, �My casket� under the soil. In the dirt.�

A tear slipped out of one of Abdel�s eyes, and Bodhi hoped it would fall on her. It might have, but she couldn�t see or feel it.

�Careful,� she whispered, shifting her blood-drenched shoulders to turn her open chest to him. The movement sent wave after wave of burning agony through her, but she had to do it. It would be hard enough.

Abdel held the point of the stake over the last remaining fragment of Bodhi�s heart.

�I�m sorry,� he whispered.

She felt the stake go in, heard something that might have been dry leaves blowing over stone, and there was nothing.

Finally.

Well, that's it for Bodhi I guess. Tried to make amends, and instead ended up mutilated and dead(er).

Things have also taken a turn for the worse back with the others.

quote:

Jaheira was about to turn and go back to the lean-to when a blast of hot air blew her off her feet.

She slid to a stop through a bed of dried leaves and came to rest pushed up against the sprawled form of Yoshimo.

�By the long departed,� the Kozakuran exclaimed, �she exploded!�

Jaheira got to her feet, ignored her shaking knees, and took one step toward the lean-to before looking up. When she did look up, what she saw made her stop in her tracks.

The shelter was gone�apparently consumed by what looked like a whirlpool of gray, black, and silver smoke. The whirlpool was standing on end, perpendicular to the ground. A man stepped out through the whirling winds still pouring out of the gate as if he was strolling into a friendly tavern for a night of play. He saw Jaheira and smiled.

�Irenicus!� Jaheira sneered.

The necromancer didn�t answer, just leaned down, his feet still lost in the whirling magical clouds. He rose with something in his hand�an arm, thin and pale. It was Imoen�s arm.

Imoen's arm?! :gonk:

Also, I really get annoyed how the book keeps referring to Yoshimo as 'the Kozakuran'. Then again, I guess everyone gets referred to as their race or occupation. I mentioned that Abdel is constantly referred to as 'the sellsword'.

Jaheira says a prayer to hit Irenicus with a Call Lightning spell, but Irenicus scoops up Imoen and warps out before it can connect.

Back with Abdel, he gets himself cleaned up from tearing up Bodhi, though he's very unhappy about it, just wanting to return back to Candlekeep with Imoen. He gets into Bodhi's coffin and finds the pieces of the Rhynn Lanthorn, which automatically teleports him back.

On a quick side note, while doing a quick search on some of the terms, I found that there was a cut quest in BG2 about finding broken pieces of the Rhynn Lanthorn, so that might be why it's found in pieces here. There's apparently a couple of mods that restore the quest in to some degree.

Chapter 22 opens with Imoen (who is not dead) with Irenicus in...Myth Rhynn?.

quote:

She was stretched, magically sedated, across a huge, broken, jagged-edged slab of green-traced marble in the middle of a city elves now long-dead once called Myth Rhynn. All around was the broken remnants of a great elven city, now gone to the wilderness and wandering creatures both benign and hellspawned. The marble slab was tilted on one edge, leaning at a sharp angle. Imoen lay sprawled across it, her tattered clothes gone now, and a hundred twisted sigils traced on her pale, goosefleshed skin.

A ring of elven statues, twice as tall as a real elf, surrounded the slab. The space might once have been a garden or a cemetery. The wind-worn faces of the marble elves looked down at both Imoen and Jon Irenicus with a detached calm no real person of any race could have mustered in that place at that time.

Irenicus himself gagged on his own bile and stepped back. He lost his voice to the shock, revulsion, and twisted, freakish pleasure of the sight of his last desperate hope coming to fruition. He�d chanted himself raw, and his begging with the Weave, with gods whose names no one spoke anymore�to whatever forces would listen�had been answered.

�Yes,� he whispered, his voice no more than a painful squeak. �Yes. Change!�

Imoen screamed, and it was the last sound she made as a human. Her face changed first.

There was a loud sound like fabric ripping and the skin of Imoen�s pretty, young, smooth-cheeked face fell away in ragged, blood-soaked ribbons. Under it her skull turned the color of old limestone and popped and ground into a different shape with each passing second. Her teeth grew and thinned into needlelike fangs, then grew again when her jaw cracked out and down. Fluid, blood, and some semi-liquid Irenicus pretended not to notice oozed, then dripped, then poured out of a hundred, then a thousand little wounds all over Imoen�s spasming body. The girl was trembling uncontrollably, the shaking punctuated by loud, popping cracks that opened new, larger, puss and slime-oozing wounds. Her skin ripped then melted away, and a new arm stretched out of what once was the girl�s stomach. The arm was huge, a dozen feet long or more and capped with a dripping bulb of slime that glistened in the encroaching light.

The thing that had been Imoen grew�in one sudden, undulating roll�into a pale gray monstrosity that sprouted thornlike spikes from its back so fast and with such urgency that it was almost flipped off the marble slab.

�Bhaal�� Irenicus whispered, his face a twisted rictus of shock and triumph. �It is you�. It is you�.�

The bulb on the end of the quivering arm broke open even as a second arm unfurled itself from the growing beast. The hand that bulb had formed had more fingers than Irenicus could easily count. The fingers were set on the long, rectangular palm at angles and with joints placed so that it looked like no hand ever seen on Faer�n. The fingers grew long, curved talons, which shone in the dawn�s light in a way that revealed their razor sharp edges.

The Ravager,� Irenicus gasped. The Ravager awakens.�

Yes, Imoen has become the Sla-- wait, the Ravager?

Earlier when I talked about Abdel and Imoen transforming, I said that they didn't actually become the Slayer, and it was brought up that the original concept for BG2's finale was that she was going to become the Slayer. However, there's a bit more to it, but we'll get to that in time.

quote:

the dead morning air of Myth Rhynn, raged at the rising sun, then turned in the direction of Suldanessellar and took its first step. The ground shook, and Irenicus put a hand to his stomach to settle it.

He felt it and watched it go on its way to Suldanessellar, on its way to Ellesime, on its way to his own immortality, and Jon Irenicus began to cry.

I can't imagine Irenicus crying.

The scene changes to Abdel teleporting back in, with the Lanthorn, which Elhan takes and gives it to the mages, which they use to break Irenicus' seal and open the way to Suldeanessellar.

...Wait, so the Lanthorn was needed to open the way back to the city? Didn't Elhan say it would help with their souls? :wallbang:

Abdel then starts pursuing Irenicus.

quote:

Abdel could feel the vibration in the bottom of his feet, could feel the dizzying aftereffects of the teleportation, could feel his friends falling far behind him, could feel an old anger rising in him, could feel that yellow haze that always came before he spilled someone�s blood, but none of those things managed to spill through into his conscious mind. He was running to get Imoen. He would take her back to Candlekeep this time and see that the blood of Bhaal was drained from her as it would be drained from him, one way or another.

I don't think it works that way.

quote:

Irenicus had his back to him, but Abdel was making no effort to quiet his pounding footsteps and gasping, exhausted breathing. The necromancer spun, turning a wild, wide-eyed visage in Abdel�s direction. The necromancer smiled, spread his arms wide as if he meant to embrace the charging sellsword. Abdel almost ran him through, then ran him over, but Jon Irenicus blinked out of existence only to reappear a few yards to one side. The necromancer had the nerve to laugh at him.

Abdel fell face first and skidded in the rough gravel, coming to rest against a tilted slab of marble. He stood quickly, ignoring the bleeding abrasions on his forearms. He spun on Irenicus, who stopped laughing and offered up an impatient snarl.

�She dies!� the necromancer screamed. �I will be an elf again. I will win. I will send her to the hells before you join her yourself, and you�ll burn there together. Your father�s blood can�t stop it, your pitiful friends can�t stop it, all the elves of Tethir can�t stop it!�

�Where is she?� Abdel shouted, his voice low, hard, and commanding. �What have you done with Imoen?�

�Your sister,� Irenicus laughed, �has achieved her true purpose. She walks Faer�n in the guise of your father�s avatar. Bhaal is dead, but his blood lives on, his power lives on, and I have twisted it, turned it to my will to kill Ellesime of Suldanessellar and rip from that drat tree what I need to live forever.�

It's here in my notes where I put, "If you change all the instances of 'sellsword' to 'dumbfuck', this book becomes a lot more entertaining."

But this is Irenicus' plan: to use Ravager Imoen to attack the tree.

quote:

Abdel hit the ground hard, but he held on to his sword. He felt something in his lower back give, heard a crack, and his legs went instantly numb. The word no!^SIC raged through his mind. The necromancer had broken his back. Abdel lay sprawled on the gravel ground, looking up into the downward-tilted face of a disapproving marble elf.

He managed to prop himself up on both elbows, and there, a good fifty yards away, was Jon Irenicus, waving his fists at the sky and running toward Abdel.

�You�ll die before you see it, then!� the necromancer wailed. �I�ll see you in Hell where I�ll take your soul and meld it with the essence of the tree, and I�ll be a god!�

Wait, so does he want to be immortal, or does he want to be a god?

Irenicus casts some kind of death spell on Abdel, but Abdel is able to shrug it off.

quote:

Abdel felt a wave of overwhelming nausea. A haze of gray fell over his vision, and his head spun. He turned to one side and retched, but nothing came up. He felt a chill run up his spine, and his ears began to ring.

�Die!� Irenicus shrieked, his voice ragged and shrill. �Die, gods drat you, die!�

Abdel didn�t die, but it took a long time for the sickness to pass.

�The s-son of B-Bhaal,� Irenicus stuttered. �You are the son of Bhaal. I�ve killed a thousand men with that spell� a thousand mortals.� The necromancer cackled, falling to one knee. His eyes were red, still bulging and looking painful, as if they might burst. �It should have killed you. It has never failed to kill anyone�except Ellesime. Oh, you will serve me and serve me well.�

Is the blood of Bhaal that saved his life, or did he just manage to get a good Save vs. Death roll? You decide!

quote:

Something popped in Abdel�s spine, and sensation returned to his legs in a wave of prickling fire. He stood, tightened his grip on his sword, and fixed his furious gaze on Jon Irenicus.

�You�ve had all the fun with me you�re going to have, necromancer,� Abdel growled.

�Abdel!� Jaheira screamed from some distance away.

Yoshimo�s voice followed suit, then Jaheira�s again.

�Where is she?� Abdel asked Irenicus.

�You can�t do anything for her now, Abdel,� Irenicus said, his voice strangely subdued. �It�s all over. I�ve won.�

Abdel, snarling like a dumb, enraged animal, shot forward. Irenicus said three foreign words and was gone before Abdel could take off his head.

So ends Chapter 22. Only five chapters left.

# ? Sep 9, 2023 20:00

hexwren: Feb 27, 2008

Arivia posted:

did you play bg1? I can imagine the irenicus dream sections coming off pretty heavy-handed if you didn't, if you played bg1 it had similar sections but with bhaal directly instead of irenicus so the new dreams come off as something being Severely Wrong with this fucker and have a bit more spice to them than just "BIG BOSS GUY YELLING AT ME"

i played both, yeah. they all felt heavy-handed - i mean, come on, bhaal isn't exactly king of subtlety either. i didn't feel there was all that much difference between the two

as was posted above, a chunk of my problem was probably that i mainlined the run to get imoen back, so i essentially slammed my face into literally every piece of irenicus content in the game all at once

i honestly feel the first game is structured better in this regard, in that you're mostly off adventuring for the front half of the game as the plot begins to come together, whereas the second puts you behind the eight-ball from the jump and it's not clear that chasing imoen is actually going to take you the majority of the main plot to get through

also, drat, i knew he sounded familiar, i just needed him to tell me he wants me on the grid until i die playing and i would have gotten it

I'm now up to the expansion and debating if i want to continue.

Randallteal posted:

Some races get blocked from most of them. I've never seen any of the Jaheira or Aerie stuff because they don't date dudes with tusks.

playing a human woman and the party is mostly women (apart from minsc and occasionally the chaotic evil dwarf fighter who ends up being mostly really sensible through the game) so that's probably my problem. not carrying enough dudes around because it's the year 2000 and we can't have any gay poo poo in our dragon game

# ? Sep 9, 2023 22:24

KOGAHAZAN!!: Apr 29, 2013; a miserable failure as a person

an incredible success as a magical murder spider

hexwren posted:

playing a human woman and the party is mostly women (apart from minsc and occasionally the chaotic evil dwarf fighter who ends up being mostly really sensible through the game) so that's probably my problem. not carrying enough dudes around because it's the year 2000 and we can't have any gay poo poo in our dragon game

There are exactly four romance options in the (original) game, all are straight, and only one of them (Anomen) is for female PCs. And I think the consensus is that Anomen sucks? I have not tried him myself.

The EE adds another four, including a bi dude and a lesbian. But still very easy to build a party that doesn't contain a single one of them.

# ? Sep 9, 2023 22:38

Cythereal: Nov 8, 2009; I love the potoo,
and the potoo loves you.

KOGAHAZAN!! posted:

There are exactly four romance options in the (original) game, all are straight, and only one of them (Anomen) is for female PCs.

Remember that Valygar and Haer'Dalis were axed for time as romance options because at the time Bioware believed that the series would appeal to a niche, overwhelmingly male audience of nerds, who wouldn't want to play as women either.

Bioware was extremely surprised that the series developed a notable female fanbase.

# ? Sep 9, 2023 22:45

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# ? May 31, 2024 05:59

Bilirubin: Feb 16, 2014; The sanctioned action is to CHUG

Minsc broke his two handed sword. Is it better to temporarily equip him with a bastard sword two handed or give him an off hand blade with it as well?

# ? Sep 9, 2023 23:49

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Stopping at Infinity: Baldur's Gate 1&2, Icewind Dale, Planescape:Torment.

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