Adrian: Baldur's Gate

It took them little time, the next upon leaving Beregost, to find Bassilus. In a henge not far outside of town, he and his small undead army were gathered.

"N-nothing is more important, than family," the madman stammered to himself.

Imoen and Gorion were the only family Adrian had ever known; he twitched.

"Oh brother Thurm," Bassilus said to the nearest Zombie, bald head shining, brown eyes glittering. "Why not grace us with a ripping tale of the old days? Always a delight."

"Uhhhhhhhh..." managed the Zombie.

"Oh, don't hold back on my account! Some of the others may not have heard them."

"...hhhhh....."

"Ah well, perhaps later."

Adrian narrowed his eyes. There were a few Zombies, no real threat. The mass of Skeletons wielding crossbows were more worrying. None of them would be a good shot, of course, but so many firing at once would have to hit their marks at least occasionally.

"Kagain, Montaron," he whispered. "Go for Bassilus first, then the crossbowmen, I will join you shortly. Xzar, Edwin, take him out with magic missiles, make their job easier. Viconia, try to turn the undead as best you can."

They nodded.

"Go!" Adrian hissed.

As Kagain and Montaron began to charge, Adrian hurled a Minor Drain, then another, having deduced by now that those strange dreams of his were the key to them. He dropped to one knee and fired a crossbow bolt, as Xzar and Edwin's missiles began to fly, then drew his sword and joined the charge.

"Nightsinger, give me power," Viconia whispered, then began to chant.

Adrian's Minor Drain had struck first, alerting Bassilus to the opposition. But before he could cast, the magic missiles rammed home. By the time he had recovered from that, Adrian's crossbow bolt had arrived, followed almost immediately by Kagain and Montaron.

As Xzar and Edwin launched another wave of magic missiles, Viconia's turning chant began to take hold. As an evil cleric, she took control of undead rather than repelling them. She was still relatively weak, but even so, four of the skeleton crossbowmen redirected their fire at their fellows.

As Kagain had been the first to arrive, most of the bolts were aimed at him. A few bounced off his armor, one found it's mark right in his nose. He grunged and was driven to his knees after one stroke at Bassilus. But Montaron, right behind him, struck quickly, at the same moment the next wave of missiles arrived.

Bassilus never had a chance, and Adrian arrived in the circle just in time to see him fall.

"A waste of my talent," he grinned nastily, then charged into the Skeletons.

Kagain got up, groaning as his nose began to heal, and he and Montaron began to hack away at the zombies surrounding the fallen Bassilus.

Viconia maintained her control over the four skeletons, and their help was enough for Adrian to go through most of the skeletons, though he got somewhat battered in the process. Kagain and Montaron were able to help with the last few, and then it was over.

They let Kagain's wounds heal on their own, but Adrian and Montaron needed some healing, which Viconia provided. They gathered Bassilus' loot quickly, and after Kagain had healed, moved on.

There was a brief encounter with three arrogant Hobgoblins, which netted Montaron a new magical short sword. Combined with the bolts Adrian had taken off the skeletons, and Viconia using Bassilus' golden hammer, they were well armed indeed.

Then there was the bizarre incident of the talking chicken. Sensing a reward for taking this bizarre creature back to the wizard Thalantyr, Adrian had agreed to help it. Unfortunately, the would-be apprentice of the mage had died during the attempt to reincarnate him, and the only reward the dour Thalantyr would offer was a discount on buying magical items, which Xzar and Edwin gladly accepted.

Adrian took a brief, puzzled look around the strange place, with it's magical buzzing crystal in the center, and made a promise to himself; as there was no real cash reward for this misadventure, he would, at a later date, destroy his golem guardians. But not now.

"Back to Beregost?" Viconia asked him.

"Nay, we'll push towards the coast, first. I want to get the lay of the land."

On the way they met a bitter, vengeful fellow named Kivan. Adrian briefly considered letting him into the group, but ultimately decided against it.

They were approaching the coast when they heard the sounds of battle. In the setting sun, they saw a Drow fighting some Gnolls. He wielded two blades and was lightning quick. Adrian, from his studies at Candlekeep, knew instantly who it was.

"Drizzt Do'Urden," he whispered.