We begin our tale in Candlekeep, where we've spent our childhood as a ward of the mage Gorion, amidst the dusty tomes and dustier scholars of the library-fortress. However, one day, our father has come to us and, without much in the way of explanation, has ordered that we must leave the safety of the fortress and that I am to buy supplies for the journey, thrusting a hundred and ten gold into our hand for the shopping trip.
Going inside the Candlekeep Inn, we discover that Winthrop, the innkeeper, both has a "sense of humor" and is also an arms dealer. A dangerous combination if ever I've seen one, but who am I to judge?
After weathering the latest in what passes for Candlekeep standup comedy, I procure a Two-Handed Sword, some Splint Mail armor and -
Helmets apparently protect you against critical hits in this game! Definitely worth the single gold piece it costs. The helmless hero may be iconic, but in a game with an unfeeling, uncaring dungeon master, the helmetless hero is also
dead.
Glancing around the rest of the inn, I encounter a mage by the name of Firebead Elvenhair.
Apparently he wants us to fetch his Scroll of Identify from a man named Tethtoril somewhere in the keep. Easy enough, and he also mentions something about an Iron Crisis. Unfortunately, he doesn't elaborate on that, but it sounds like the seed of a future quest to me! I take a quick peak around the rest of the inn, and though every gamer instinct in my body yells at me to loot all the drawers in the upstairs bedrooms, I suppress such urges. I'm a paladin, not a thief.
I should wait until I have a thief companion,
then come back and rob the upstairs.
Suitably armed and armored, I head outside and meet with a woman named Phlydia.
She's apparently misplaced a book somewhere. Not exactly a glamorous quest, but I suppose every epic tale begins with a first step.
Exploring eastward, we come across a small building called the 'Priest's Quarters'. Being a young, curious rapscallion such as myself, I take it upon myself to do a little bit of exploring and step inside, only to be met with a very friendly man named Shank. Wait, that doesn't sound like a nice name...
We ask him who he is and what he's doing here, and he responds by brandishing steel! Unfortunately for him, we brought a bigger knife.
The man literally explodes from the force of our...sword. But not before managing to give us a shallow cut. Searching his body provides us with no answers. Shaken at what was presumably our first lethal engagement, we leave the building and speak to a man in a bright yellow robe named Parda, telling him of the attempt on our life. He encourages us to find Gorion quickly, and I must admit to some degree of agreement.
But first, we have a book to find! And a scroll! What is impending assassination to side quests?
Just east of the Priest's Quarters, we speak to a man named Dreppin, who immediately tells us that Phlydia's book was left in the hay bales behind him, scratching that assignment off our list in short order. The section of clickable hay is relatively small, and I'm already starting to get pixel hunting flashbacks of old Sierra adventure games.
Following the road south, I encounter a man by the name of Jondalar. He apparently wants to teach me a little bit of combat, at the behest of my father. Unfortunately, there's no option to tell him that I've already slain a man in battle, and he proceeds to breath the fourth wall and starts talking about hostile creatures having red circles beneath them. Very strange man.
The second our battle begins, however, a previously unseen assailant appears with a bow and begins firing at me! Most unkind.
It takes only a few seconds for Jondalar to surrender, however, as he was expecting a staff and I brought a mancleaver with me. He leaves, telling me to speak to a 'Gatewarden' to get experience with fighting as a group. I imagine it's much the same as fighting alone, but with more people. Instead, behind him I speak to a dwarf named Reevor, who tasks me with killing rats. Finally, a worthy opponent - our battle shall be legendary!
It was, in fact, not legendary. Though I do find it amusing that I essentially exploded the last rat for 40 damage. That rat, in particular, had earned my ire. Returning to Reevor has him giving me a whopping 5 gold pieces for the trouble, though I feel even that is overly generous.
Further down, we encounter Hull. Hull somehow forgot to arm himself for guard duty, and tasks us with retrieving his sword from the barracks. He also informs us of an antidote in his locker that Dreppin needs for a cow. This tutorial area is rather dense with the side quests, no? We agree, and head out to find the barracks. En route, the Gatewarden mentioned previously intercepts us and tells us he's got a demonstration of mass combat prepared. Before I know it, I'm in battle with a group of illusory creatures!
We battle our way through waves of enemies that can't actually harm us, but does give me a chance to practice using some other character abilities like Magic Missile or Turn Undead. Useful stuff. After having my fill of combat, I head back out to find Hull's sword and that antidote.
Entering the Bunkhouse, instead of finding some guards and Hull's belongings, I'm instead accosted by a man named Carbos, asking my identity.
Sensing no good intentions from this man, I question his intentions rather than confirm my identity. That doesn't help me, however, and soon battle is joined with yet another assassin! No mere illusion, Carbos is fully capable of causing me harm... But an immediate 16 damage ends his threat without fuss. Two assassins in one day, however, have convinced me that Gorion may be right in that it's time to leave. Leaving the Bunkhouse, a tutor named Karan speaks to me and I inform them of the second assassin. They helpfully reply that I should probably get out of here. Way ahead of you on that one.
Just north of the Bunkhouse is our actual destination, the Barracks, where we slip inside and find Hull's sword and the antidote he mentioned. I once again refrain from stealing anything else in here, despite my kleptomaniac gamer brain screaming at me otherwise. Hull is less than grateful to get his sword back, but does give us 10 gold for the trouble. Circling back north, we also speak to Dreppin, who informs us that his cow is sick...and then talking to him again, he thanks us for bringing the antidote. No reward, but a bit of experience and some nice fuzzy feelings. Then we find Phlydia again and return her book. She gives us a lynx eye gym in return! Score!
Exploring the interior area of the keep brings us upon a small quintet of scholars singing a song. It's hard to catch it all, but not for the chat log. "The Lord of Murder shall perish, but in his doom he shall spawn a score of mortal progeny. Chaos will be sewn from their passage. So sayeth the wise Alaundo."
Eh. I'm sure it's nothing. Shortly after finding them, Tethtoril speaks to us and hands us Firebead's Identify Scroll, and tells us to return it to the mage and then find Gorion and head out. I think at last it's time for us to finally heed the tutor's warnings and do just that. Firebead rewards us with a potion of healing and a Protection from Evil spell, and using the rewards we've gained through side quests, I speak to Winthrop one last time and buy a shortbow and a bunch of arrows. With that, I try to find Gorion.
Instead, I find Imoen.
Imoen is apparently our Childhood Friend™, and is also so far the only other character who's had a portrait. I suspect she is a future party member. Unfortunately, my only responses capable at the moment make me sound like an arrogant jackass, so I end up calling her 'Little one' like I'm not implied to still be a teenager at this point, myself. I promise her that I'll ask Gorion to bring her with. I don't.
Instead, I tell Gorion that I'm ready to go, and out the gate we head. As we leave, he tells me that if anything should happen to him, I should make my way to the Friendly Arm Inn, and find some people named Khalid and Jaheira, and that they'll be able to help me. If Gorion was waving any more death flags around, I'd think he was calling in an airplane. Maybe the game will subvert my expectations and
Ah. Crap.
Re: Baldur's Gate Trilogy Let's Play/Read
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