DavesGaming

The next morning we set out on the short march to Dragonspear Castle. As the walls came into sight we all downed a number of preparitory potions. We were ready for a big day.

That made the statement we were here to put an end to this. The army streamed in through the breach. We entered right after the heavy infantry and moved as a team off to the left. We would look for trouble, casters or archers holding back, or any counter attacking force forming up. After a couple of little skirmishes we were confronted by one of Caelar’s top lieutenants. Ashatiel wanted to duel me personally. For some reason, this is all fiercely personal to her.

The avarial would have none of it. I believe she was a fighter/mage? Maybe a fighter/mage/cleric? She certainly had a number of tricks up her sleeve. But she was too light of a warrior, and I inevitably wore her down.

Fortunately, Ashatiel’s death took a lot of energy out of the defenders. They started to surrender in large groups. Coraling all of the former Crusaders was a big headache for our army, but for us we still needed to enter the keep. Caelar was held up inside.

The army’s assault troops had entered the Keep when we got there. The top floor had been cleared, Coalition forces were searching the whole structure. But they left it to us to head into the cellar. I could guess we were heading back into Hephernaan’s dark domain. A room that was locked off on our previous visit was now open. Caelar, Hephernaan and a small body of troops awaited our arrival.

Hah! Joke was on me. Hephernaan cast some sort of mass hold spell. My team, plus Caelar and all of her team, were held fast. Hephernaan chortled like a classic villain as he walked up to me and poked me in the cheek with a dagger. He got the blood he needed. And he gleefully announced he would be opening the portal to Avernus and the devils would spew out, his real master would be invading Faerun.

As the portal opened he was gone. Caelar was furious. Apparently this really was a betrayal to her. A fool to the end, as the hold spell expired Caelar led her remaining troops through the portal into hell.

Dyna was sure the only way to close it was from the other side. Okay, here we go. Amyntor and Minsc, then Jaheira and Erato.

Yeah, it was Hell. First we saw a group of Crusaders battling Devils. We rescued them, and told them to go BACK through the portal. We would fix this!

We could see Caelar and a few troops not too far ahead now. But we had to fight more groups of devils. Just enough that Caelar kept getting further ahead. And we had to answer a riddle to get by a large devil guarding a door. When we went through, Caelar was nowhere to be seen, but there was a large lift. We all stepped onto it. Erato saw how to activate it, but we had a long way to go up. That was just as well. We took a moment to renew some of our preparations, and we all downed Fire Protection potions. There seemed to be plenty of flames here!
When the lift came to a stop, we were in some sort of infernal throne room atop a black tower.

We heard some of the usual sort of boasting, you know, mighty Devil, master of this realm, looking to invade and destroy ours. Blaah, blaah, blaah.
I was quite sure Caelar had never wanted this outcome (or expected it, she is a fool). So I gave her another chance. “Join with us, we can destroy this evil”. Seriously, this fight will be easier for us if she switches sides. And I reckon impossible for Belhifet if she does so.
Oh yeah, Caelar was horrified. And oddly unrepentant? Still a fool. But she would join with us.

While the rest of us went against his master. No doubt he was a tough fight. Very big. Resistant or immune to a lot of things we might try (like fire!). Dyna hit him with a “Lower Magic Resistence” Spell, that opened up a few more possibilities.

Soon the others had finished with Hephernaan and joined with us. I could feel the seven of us would prevail, even as he called in a few lesser devils for help. Still, the end came quicker than I would have expected. Minsc delivered a vicious slash across his side. [a 60 point critical hit].

I think I actually slew him? Isn’t that how this works? Slay a devil in their own domain? Well, regardless he won’t bother us for a while.

We all hustled back towards the portal. Dyna thought the mechanics of it would require a blood sacrifice on this side to close it. Caelar volunteered herself to do this. I couldn’t object. If she returned home with us, our own justice would send her back to Hell soon enough anyway.
We saw a small number of Crusade survivors gathered waiting for us. We all returned home together, and I saw the portal snap closed as we exited.
The portal closing marked the end of this whole tragic episode. It will be recorded as The Third Dragonspear War, or the Siege of Dragonspear. I’ll always call it the Fool’s Crusade.

It was good to be home. Well, home at a ruined castle anyway.

We knew she had given up much to be away from the family and friends she had first lead into Baldur’s Gate a few weeks ago. The Crusade was over, but her home was still in ruins. So we gave her the Bag of Holding with the bulk of our team finances. This was for her to rebuild her home and replace what she and her’s had lost.

Later that evening, exhausted and well fed soldiers were claiming whatever space they could find to bed down. In the morning we would start the trek home.
I had another nightmare. The Hooded Man paid me yet another visit. He had tried to show me how all my friends and loved ones were somehow monsters.

I do not understand the point of these dreams. I don’t fear any of these people. I think Skie is an eccentric but good friend. Quite predictably she turned into a monster in the nightmare.
When I awoke in the morning…

She had bled out during the night. The bloody knife I held was not even my own. As I remembered the nightmare, I knew the Hooded Man himself had knifed her. But I was holding the bloody blade. Bence Duncan was first on the scene, he had been one of my harshest critics since Boareskyr Bridge.

The long march home was awful. I was not quite under arrest. But I was under guard. That was okay. I knew I was completely framed. Nothing I could say would excuse the situation I’d been found in.
But I thought, I expected we would find a way to make this right. The clerics had already tried a Raise Dead spell on Skie, that apparently did not work. Of course the bigger temples in the city could do a much more powerful Resurrection spell. A faster wagon with Skie’s body had raced ahead home.

Amyntor and I were formally arrested when we reached the city. We were put up for a puplic hearing almost right away.

He clearly *wanted* to believe I was not at fault. So did I! We learned no Resurrection would work on Skie, the priests reported her soul was not accessable. She had been slain by an artifact called the Soultaker Dagger. We had that blade for a while! But now it was nowhere to be seen. It was NOT the blade I’d been holding. That was about the full extent of good news for me. But the fact we had been in possession of it a few months ago was not good news for me.
Duke Silvershield was destroyed with grief, he plainly wanted me hung. Bence Duncan gave a correct accounting of events through out the march, most of which were in my favor. Even Boareskyr Bridge, Duke Belt plainly said was no proof of anything. All the other events and character related testimony were in my favor. Except for the scene of the crime…
Popular sentiment was completely split. Amyntor and I could only anxiously wonder how this might resolve.

In the middle of the night, guards came to our cell. We would be released. But banashed. Duke Belt was still of the opinion I was a great hero. But the circumstances were unbearable. And my presence in the area could only cause trouble. Our gear was returned, and we were led through the sewers to an outlet from the city. Several guards mentioned how appreciated we were.

We set off to the south. All discussing where we should head next.

*****

Those familiar with the game will recognize many plot points were omitted or touched on only briefly. The game and the story of the game are massive! So I tried to stitch together a narrative that addressed the major plot points and made sense of things. Like the character of Caelar’s uncle, Aun Argent, plays a key role in Caelar’s motives…
But you know this all flows fine without him. I try to avoid getting too wordy (believe it or not!), and I want pictures to tell a lot of the story. That last is perhaps because *visualizing* my characters and team are a huge part of why I’m doing this. But that does mean a lot of tangents and details are skipped.

I’ll also mention this is third video render I’ve done with the latest generation of renderers, and I remain extremely happy with the look. Talk about bringing my characters to life! Holy smokes! But they are tricky. I’ve yet to have a completely *perfect* render. This last one, I had a reference image of the city of Baldur’s Gate that I *wanted* to pop up when we see Brad look back. Such a little thing is so hard! My first several attempts insisted on having them walk TOWARDS the city! Well that completely doesn’t work for the story! I finally got the right movement for Brad and Amyntor, but then the cut to the city wasn’t working. These videos are just too expensive to keep trying. I hope I filled in the missing detail well enough with the text.

Obviously this post has grown huge! Brademante and Amyntor’s adventure will continue in a new post for Baldur’s Gate II! I don’t know how long that could be. The main story isn’t too terribly long, but so many tangents! AND I’ve added nine (!) adventure mods, each with their own story.
More on that in a few days…