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All That Glitters..38


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#1 Guest_Tenebrous_*

Posted 31 July 2003 - 09:23 PM

You know, usually I say something up here, but this time I couldn't think of anything. I just wrote this so you wouldn't wonder where it was. Or something. Yeah.

...or is "Garrick go boom" not inappropriate?

 

Chapter Thirty-Eight

They arrived bright and early the next morning at the Temple of Helm. High Watcher Oisig was there to meet them.

"Greetings. Such a shame about the reduction in your party," he observed casually.

"Not that much of a shame, High Watcher. You really have to know about the last month or so to understand. I take it that the All-Seeing Eye was trained somewhat in our direction last night?"

"Only on your inn door," Oisig said with a smile. "We did not want to risk an ambush by the cultists you were to investigate. Lieutenant Aegisfield had three squads of city guards standing by, a service Chief Inspector Brega was only too happy to provide. You are making friends, I see."

"I do just what comes naturally," Kal said.

"Of course," Oisig said with a smile. Then, he looked over his shoulder and waved. "To business. There's someone you need to meet."

A distinctly middle-aged man, hair more white than dark, in a suit of ornate reddish full plate approached. His face was scarred and marked with the legacies of a hundred different battles. A two-handed sword was strapped across his back.

"Kalvorin, meet Sir Keldorn Firecam. He's the Order's assigned investigator for the Unseeing Eye, and you'll be working with him."

Kal held out a hand. "Sir Keldorn. It's an honour."

"And the same for me," Keldorn replied as he shook Kal's hand. "My former squire Ajantis told me much about you and of what you accomplished in Baldur's Gate. Indeed, he told me quite a few stories of your travels together. I believe you're to thank for Ajantis becoming a knight."

"Nonsense," Kal said, waving it off. "Ajantis was going to be a fine knight."

"Perhaps, but his report of averting a war between the Lords' Alliance and Amn, defeating a madman with designs on being the next Lord of Murder, and preventing the assassination of two of Baldur's Gate's Grand Dukes certainly didn't hurt him."

"No, I wouldn't imagine that it did. Anyway, Ajantis' stories will have helped you with introductions for at least one of us," Kal said, gesturing to Jaheira. "Two of us," he corrected hastily, before Cel could snap at him.

"That's better," she said from her scabbard.

"Three of you," Keldorn said, and thrust a gauntleted hand out clumsily toward Viconia, a grim expression on his face. It was much like that on a child's face when confronted with a spoonful of medicine; he knows he won't like it, but he has to do it anyway.

"Sir Keldorn," Viconia said with a faint smile as she took his hand.

"I didn't think Ajantis would have told you that part of our travels," Kal said with a bit of a grimace.

"Am I so very distasteful, Sir Keldorn?" Viconia mocked gently.

Keldorn frowned. "I...this is not something I am comfortable with. But I trust Ajantis' judgement, and he never had an unkind word to say about you. Kalvorin, too, seems like a sensible man. Perhaps...my impression will change in time." His voice, however, did not hold very much hope of that.

"An enlightened viewpoint," Jaheira observed.

Keldorn didn't respond to that, choosing to say, "My condolences on the loss of your husband. Ajantis had a great deal of respect for him."

Jaheira nodded and took a breath. "Thank you."

"And this is Yoshimo," Kal went on. "He's a...a...." Kal paused, looking for the right words.

"I know what he is," Keldorn said. "It doesn't trouble me. I've adventured many times since my youth, and I'd have run into many spikes, blades, and vatsful of acid if a rogue like him was not along."

Yoshimo smiled. "Such a wondrous thing, experience."

"Then that's all of us," Kal said. "Where are we headed?"

"Well," Keldorn began in a different, all-business tone. "We've tracked the departing cultists to the sewers, under this district. It's somewhat obvious in hindsight - there are few other places in the city they can hide themselves."

"All right," Kal nodded. "So we explore the sewers, it looks like. We've already been through the ones in this District for an unrelated reason, but I recall a lot of secret doors and passages."

"Exactly," Keldorn said. "There is a fairly secure entrance near the Order - come, we can try there."

They spied a familiar face in front of the Order as they approached. "Garrick, again?" Cel said with some irritation.

"He has been arriving at the Order every day that the Lady Irlana's on guard," Keldorn informed her. "I suppose I should respect his devotion, but...gods, he's annoying!"

"Just discovering that, are you?" Kal smiled.

"I didn't know that you'd met Garrick before," Keldorn said, prompting Kal to go on.

"It was very short and very forgettable. There's a certain amount of freedom in composing adventuring parties, but annoying untalented bards really don't fit. Anyway, he really has little to do with what we're here for." Kal walked to the sewer grating and opened it, keeping an eye on Garrick.

"My lady, my lady!" Garrick called out to Irlana.

"Yes, Garrick," she responded in a monotone.

"I have...I have, uh, er...."

"Created a most wondrous device for your edification and amusement," prompted the gnome crouched behind him.

It came out of Garrick's mouth as, "Created a....most...one wrist, vice for...for your edf..edf...amusing! Er, ment!"

Irlana rubbed at her temples. "Really."

"Uh...yes! It works, uh, like this!" Garrick chanted a few words and sparks of light leapt from his fingers to the box he was holding. "You'll...uh...see.... A few more seconds and it'll start working!"

Whatever it was supposed to do was never revealed to Kal, as in the next second it burst into flame. Kal could tell that the flame wasn't its designed function by Garrick's screams, yells, and exclamations - which also coincidentally happened to include "My hair's on fire!"

Although, Kal reflected, this certainly is edifying. And amusing.

Garrick juggled the item, obviously loath to drop it (even though it was setting him on fire: hair, clothes, and musical instrument.) "It's hot! Oh, my hair! Oh, my arms! FIRE! Hot!" Then it fell on to his tunic, and it exploded - not simply burst into flame, but exploded, spraying flaming pieces of cloth in all directions.

This display had been enough to rouse Lady Irlana, and she was about to step forward when it occurred to her that she really couldn't do anything to help him. She stepped back instead, reasoning that it wouldn't make things better if anyone else caught fire as well.

With a final shriek Garrick hurled the device into the air and leapt over the side of the bridge. He splashed into the water with a sizzle. The flaming box spun through the air, bounced twice, and fell down the open sewer grating. The rocks the box had bounced upon exploded with small pops. Everyone's eyes then went to the sewer entrance, and they watched it for a moment in silence.

"You know, that box seems very good at causing things to, uh, explode," Kal began. "And sewer gas isn't the most inert of..."

A resounding BOOM shook the Temple District as columns of fire erupted out of every sewer grating in the area, felling everyone in the area like stalks of wheat before a strong wind.

"I just had a thought," Viconia said in a tone of studied disinterest as everyone struggled to their feet. "Did we remember to close the door to Mekrath's home?"

Kal had just enough time to widen his eyes before a second concussive blast seemed to turn the world upside-down, dumping the Temple residents off their feet again. When the district stopped shaking, clouds of pinkish-green smoke were drifting slowly out of the sewer gratings.

"Well...there goes our plan for today," Cel observed. "That does not look like breathing material."

"I agree wholeheartedly, Cel - I prefer to breathe air which lacks such - gaudy decoration," Yoshimo said.

"Pink...and green?" Jaheira said in puzzlement, staring at the noxious cloud.

"Sorry about that, Keldorn," Kal said. "That was partly our fault."

"Don't worry about it. I suppose we will have to...put off our exploration of the sewers for a while."

"At least it gives us a bit of time to get to know each other better," Kal offered.

"Aye, that it does. A good idea," Keldorn added, though he could not help casting a glance at Viconia.




A short walk later, they were all sitting in the taproom at the Flagons.

"So, Keldorn, tell me about the Order," Kal said.

"There isn't much to say," the old knight replied. "The Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart is among the most prestigious of knightly Orders. It honours not only distinguished service in the name of the Church but also the wisdom of age. Due to the nature of our calling, so few paladins live to see their fortieth year... but those are the few who are acclaimed full members of the Order, of which I am proud to be one."

"As for the rest of the Order?"

"The rest of the Order is comprised of what are generally referred to as affiliates and subordinates. Among the subordinates, or the junior members, are all the squires - which include those fitting the traditional description, as career assistants, as well as aspiring knights, such as Wellington Zoar." He paused. "Though that one's unlikely to make knight any time soon."

"Unlikely? You mean it's possible?" Kal asked.

Keldorn chuckled at Kal's consternation. "No, it is not possible. At the conclusion of a squire's trial, Tyr, Helm, and Torm test the squire and determine if he or she is knightly material. If not, the supplicant is cast from the Order."

"Is that not...slightly harsh?" Jaheira asked.

"Harsh," Keldorn agreed, "yet practical. Rejected supplicants - especially those who never had any chance - often harbour a great deal of resentment toward the Order and it is best for all involved that they be separated from the Order quickly before they do more damage. It was about five centuries ago when -"

"Arrimor Ophal," Cel said.

"Yes," Keldorn said. "Ah, yes...you were with the Order at that time."

"Who was Arrimor Ophal?" Kal asked.

"Aspiring knight, who, like Zoar, never had a chance," Cel said. "Big brute he was, not too smart, but talented with the two-handed sword. One of the best squires when it came to fighting, but he was cruel, arrogant, and vicious - thrown into the Order as a way to get free weapons training, probably. I doubt even Lady Manzhyn, head of his house, thought that he'd make knight. The Order took him because Manzhyn threatened to embargo them - as in, all out trade war - if they didn't. Knights don't function well when they don't eat, so they had to give in. So the day of his Trial comes and he gets rejected, like everyone but him saw coming a million miles away. As I said, he wasn't too smart. At this time, he's still considered a member of the Order - there's no policy banning failed squires. But what he does is go back to the squire's barracks...and that's where the trouble starts."

Kal noticed Keldorn listening intently. "Is this not well known to you?"

Keldorn shrugged. "It has been five centuries of history. It is not the same as listening to it from someone who was actually there."

"Anyway," Cel continued, "Arrimor was mad. Very mad. And when one of the other squires - so far as we were able to determine - made a completely innocent remark about his own upcoming Trial, he snapped. He took up a sword and killed him. No, not just killed him - savaged him. We couldn't even determine who it was afterward except by checking the other faces and figuring out by process of elimination. It didn't stop there - he hacked his way through the whole barracks.

"By the time we got there, the barracks was a bloody ruin. He'd indiscriminately cut through anything in his way, and the area was strewn with gore-covered chunks of wood as well as people. Some of the squires had even tried to defend themselves, but they couldn't stand up to Arrimor. He killed nineteen other squires - some of whom I knew very well," Cel said with the ache of long-distant pain in her voice.

"And then?" Jaheira asked.

"And then I killed him," Cel said simply. "And I don't mean the knight holding me. I killed him. I shot him with enough lightning to burn down a forest."

Keldorn nodded slowly. "History only records that he was reduced to ashes by the will of Tyr."

"Not entirely inaccurate," Cel told him. "I really can't say what Tyr wanted with him, but I'm sure he certainly didn't mind when I turned Arrimor into charcoal." She sighed. "Not that it brought back any of the dead squires, but..."

"At least his example taught the Order a lesson it shall never forget," Keldorn said reassuringly. "There shall never be another such incident, of that we are sure."

"I know. At the time, it was hard to see it that way, but now...maybe that has ended up saving lives."

There was silence for a minute or so. "Getting back to the Order, then," Kal said, and Keldorn nodded.

"The Order considers paladins, warriors, and priests for knighthood if they so desire, and the knights who are not paladins of the age of forty or older are considered partial members. After the knights come the Order's affiliates, which include the priesthoods of Tyr, Torm, Helm, and Ilmater in this city, as well as various other organizations. And that is more or less all there is to say."

"I had been wondering exactly how your organization was constituted," Kal said. "In my experience, paladins are not common enough to form large enough organizations to actually accomplish something."

"That is true, we are not. I would estimate that when the Order wishes to send any kind of sortie in force, the composition is about five non-paladin knights for every paladin, and greater for the number of non-knights we send. If we restricted ourselves to paladins, we would never be able to uphold the good we manage to do every year."

"Thank you, Keldorn, it's been most informative."

"A pleasure. Now, I wouldn't mind hearing a little about your travels...."

"Well, before I start, I think you should know a little about my unusual ancestry," Kal said. "Just to make things clear."

"Half gold dragon, that I know from Ajantis' stories...."

"And half God of Murder," Kal said. There was a silence after that, everyone watching Keldorn for a reaction.

"Ajantis did not mention this," Keldorn offered neutrally.

"I asked him not to," Kal said. "It's hard to predict reactions to news like that, and I'd rather it happen when I'm around."

"I...have heard of the Bhaalspawn. Alaundo's prophecies were clear in that respect. To tell the truth, I had expected my first meeting with one to be more...demonic. And more violent."

"Sorry to disappoint."

"I cannot imagine how it must feel to have such conflicting pressures within you. And yet, you maintain the true and steady course of the paladin, and Tyr accepts you. I can do no less."

"All right. Now you know that, I can tell you how my tale started...an ordinary day at Candlekeep...."

#2 Guest_Oryx_*

Posted 01 August 2003 - 02:23 AM

You know, usually I say something up here, but this time I couldn't think of anything. I just wrote this so you wouldn't wonder where it was. Or something. Yeah.


LOL!! Hate that feeeling...

...or is "Garrick go boom" not inappropriate?


Ha!! Big badda boom.

 


Chapter Thirty-Eight


They arrived bright and early the next morning at the Temple of Helm. High Watcher Oisig was there to meet them.


"Greetings. Such a shame about the reduction in your party," he observed casually.


Less fat, same great taste.

"Not that much of a shame, High Watcher. You really have to know about the last month or so to understand. I take it that the All-Seeing Eye was trained somewhat in our direction last night?"


*snicker*

"Only on your inn door," Oisig said with a smile. "We did not want to risk an ambush by the cultists you were to investigate. Lieutenant Aegisfield had three squads of city guards standing by, a service Chief Inspector Brega was only too happy to provide. You are making friends, I see."


"I do just what comes naturally," Kal said.


Is that a charisma joke?

A distinctly middle-aged man, hair more white than dark, in a suit of ornate reddish full plate approached. His face was scarred and marked with the legacies of a hundred different battles. A two-handed sword was strapped across his back.


Enter Keldorn!

"And the same for me," Keldorn replied as he shook Kal's hand. "My former squire Ajantis told me much about you and of what you accomplished in Baldur's Gate. Indeed, he told me quite a few stories of your travels together. I believe you're to thank for Ajantis becoming a knight."


"Nonsense," Kal said, waving it off. "Ajantis was going to be a fine knight."


yay!

"Perhaps, but his report of averting a war between the Lords' Alliance and Amn, defeating a madman with designs on being the next Lord of Murder, and preventing the assassination of two of Baldur's Gate's Grand Dukes certainly didn't hurt him."


LOL!

"Three of you," Keldorn said, and thrust a gauntleted hand out clumsily toward Viconia, a grim expression on his face. It was much like that on a child's face when confronted with a spoonful of medicine; he knows he won't like it, but he has to do it anyway.


heh

"I know what he is," Keldorn said. "It doesn't trouble me. I've adventured many times since my youth, and I'd have run into many spikes, blades, and vatsful of acid if a rogue like him was not along."


LOL.

They spied a familiar face in front of the Order as they approached. "Garrick, again?" Cel said with some irritation.


heehee

"He has been arriving at the Order every day that the Lady Irlana's on guard," Keldorn informed her. "I suppose I should respect his devotion, but...gods, he's annoying!"


LOL


"Created a most wondrous device for your edification and amusement," prompted the gnome crouched behind him.


heehee....I loved this cameo

Although, Kal reflected, this certainly is edifying. And amusing.


Shouldn't he like, try to help or something? Maybe there's no way...

"You know, that box seems very good at causing things to, uh, explode," Kal began. "And sewer gas isn't the most inert of..."


ever the scholar

Kal had just enough time to widen his eyes before a second concussive blast seemed to turn the world upside-down, dumping the Temple residents off their feet again. When the district stopped shaking, clouds of pinkish-green smoke were drifting slowly out of the sewer gratings.


LOL

"Well...there goes our plan for today," Cel observed. "That does not look like breathing material."


"I agree wholeheartedly, Cel - I prefer to breathe air which lacks such - gaudy decoration," Yoshimo said.


ROFL


"Aspiring knight, who, like Zoar, never had a chance," Cel said. "Big brute he was, not too smart, but talented with the two-handed sword. One of the best squires when it came to fighting, but he was cruel, arrogant, and vicious - thrown into the Order as a way to get free weapons training, probably. I doubt even Lady Manzhyn, head of his house, thought that he'd make knight. The Order took him because Manzhyn threatened to embargo them - as in, all out trade war - if they didn't. Knights don't function well when they don't eat, so they had to give in. So the day of his Trial comes and he gets rejected, like everyone but him saw coming a million miles away. As I said, he wasn't too smart. At this time, he's still considered a member of the Order - there's no policy banning failed squires. But what he does is go back to the squire's barracks...and that's where the trouble starts."


POSTAL!

Kal noticed Keldorn listening intently. "Is this not well known to you?"


Keldorn shrugged. "It has been five centuries of history. It is not the same as listening to it from someone who was actually there."


"Anyway," Cel continued, "Arrimor was mad. Very mad. And when one of the other squires - so far as we were able to determine - made a completely innocent remark about his own upcoming Trial, he snapped. He took up a sword and killed him. No, not just killed him - savaged him. We couldn't even determine who it was afterward except by checking the other faces and figuring out by process of elimination. It didn't stop there - he hacked his way through the whole barracks.


yoy

"By the time we got there, the barracks was a bloody ruin. He'd indiscriminately cut through anything in his way, and the area was strewn with gore-covered chunks of wood as well as people. Some of the squires had even tried to defend themselves, but they couldn't stand up to Arrimor. He killed nineteen other squires - some of whom I knew very well," Cel said with the ache of long-distant pain in her voice.


whoa....

Keldorn nodded slowly. "History only records that he was reduced to ashes by the will of Tyr."


*snicker*

"Not entirely inaccurate," Cel told him. "I really can't say what Tyr wanted with him, but I'm sure he certainly didn't mind when I turned Arrimor into charcoal." She sighed. "Not that it brought back any of the dead squires, but..."


heh


"I had been wondering exactly how your organization was constituted," Kal said. "In my experience, paladins are not common enough to form large enough organizations to actually accomplish something."


LOL

"Ajantis did not mention this," Keldorn offered neutrally.


heh


"All right. Now you know that, I can tell you how my tale started...an ordinary day at Candlekeep...."


ha!! ooh, the tale...

nice chapter!

#3 Guest_Tenebrous_*

Posted 01 August 2003 - 02:56 AM

Is that a charisma joke?


Nope.

heehee....I loved this cameo


That's not a cameo: that's still Cyrando. Though, as you have astutely guessed, Garrick isn't the one who invented the device.

Shouldn't he like, try to help or something? Maybe there's no way...


I suppose he's more suited to help in the sense that he isn't injured by fire, but the whole exploding thing puts him off it, especially since he has things he'd rather not see explode.

#4 Guest_Theodur_*

Posted 01 August 2003 - 10:12 AM

"Greetings. Such a shame about the reduction in your party," he observed casually.


How I hate when people make their assumptions without even knowing what they are talking about.

A distinctly middle-aged man, hair more white than dark, in a suit of ornate reddish full plate approached. His face was scarred and marked with the legacies of a hundred different battles. A two-handed sword was strapped across his back.


Makes more sense to meet Keldy here, rather than to have him waiting for you indefinite time in unsanitary sewers...

"Three of you," Keldorn said, and thrust a gauntleted hand out clumsily toward Viconia, a grim expression on his face. It was much like that on a child's face when confronted with a spoonful of medicine; he knows he won't like it, but he has to do it anyway.


This doesn't look like a Viconia-killing Keldorn... though I always thought their in-game confrontation very forced and somewhat unnatural.

Keldorn didn't respond to that, choosing to say, "My condolences on the loss of your husband. Ajantis had a great deal of respect for him."


Jaheira nodded and took a breath. "Thank you."


Aww... the grief is still there in full force... :)

With a final shriek Garrick hurled the device into the air and leapt over the side of the bridge. He splashed into the water with a sizzle. The flaming box spun through the air, bounced twice, and fell down the open sewer grating. The rocks the box had bounced upon exploded with small pops. Everyone's eyes then went to the sewer entrance, and they watched it for a moment in silence.


Ouch! That must have hurt...

Kal had just enough time to widen his eyes before a second concussive blast seemed to turn the world upside-down, dumping the Temple residents off their feet again. When the district stopped shaking, clouds of pinkish-green smoke were drifting slowly out of the sewer gratings.


"Well...there goes our plan for today," Cel observed. "That does not look like breathing material."


"I agree wholeheartedly, Cel - I prefer to breathe air which lacks such - gaudy decoration," Yoshimo said.


"Pink...and green?" Jaheira said in puzzlement, staring at the noxious cloud.


Hehe... I guess that's one way to kill off unseeing eye and his army of cultists... still, I shall not assume that it was the case.

"By the time we got there, the barracks was a bloody ruin. He'd indiscriminately cut through anything in his way, and the area was strewn with gore-covered chunks of wood as well as people. Some of the squires had even tried to defend themselves, but they couldn't stand up to Arrimor. He killed nineteen other squires - some of whom I knew very well," Cel said with the ache of long-distant pain in her voice.


"And then?" Jaheira asked.


"And then I killed him," Cel said simply. "And I don't mean the knight holding me. I killed him. I shot him with enough lightning to burn down a forest."


Uh-Oh... that's one disturbing backstory...

"That is true, we are not. I would estimate that when the Order wishes to send any kind of sortie in force, the composition is about five non-paladin knights for every paladin, and greater for the number of non-knights we send. If we restricted ourselves to paladins, we would never be able to uphold the good we manage to do every year."


"Thank you, Keldorn, it's been most informative."


Yep, for me too :P

"All right. Now you know that, I can tell you how my tale started...an ordinary day at Candlekeep...."


Heh, I presume the next chapters will consist from BG1 flashback then? :wink:

#5 Laufey

Posted 01 August 2003 - 10:13 AM

You know, usually I say something up here, but this time I couldn't think of anything. I just wrote this so you wouldn't wonder where it was. Or something. Yeah.


...or is "Garrick go boom" not inappropriate?


Well, it *did* happen, so I would call it very appropriate. :P


"Greetings. Such a shame about the reduction in your party," he observed casually.


Not really. :(


A distinctly middle-aged man, hair more white than dark, in a suit of ornate reddish full plate approached. His face was scarred and marked with the legacies of a hundred different battles. A two-handed sword was strapped across his back.


Good way of meeting him, rather than him running about the sewers on his own.


Keldorn frowned. "I...this is not something I am comfortable with. But I trust Ajantis' judgement, and he never had an unkind word to say about you. Kalvorin, too, seems like a sensible man. Perhaps...my impression will change in time." His voice, however, did not hold very much hope of that.


Interesting! :( I hope your Keldorn will be of the more mellow kind...I always though it very out of character for him to just try to cut Viconia down all of a sudden, without even having been provoked first.



"Created a most wondrous device for your edification and amusement," prompted the gnome crouched behind him.


It came out of Garrick's mouth as, "Created a....most...one wrist, vice for...for your edf..edf...amusing! Er, ment!"


Irlana rubbed at her temples. "Really."


LOL! Poor Irlana...


Whatever it was supposed to do was never revealed to Kal, as in the next second it burst into flame. Kal could tell that the flame wasn't its designed function by Garrick's screams, yells, and exclamations - which also coincidentally happened to include "My hair's on fire!"


Although, Kal reflected, this certainly is edifying. And amusing.


Oh yes it is! :wink:


"You know, that box seems very good at causing things to, uh, explode," Kal began. "And sewer gas isn't the most inert of..."


A resounding BOOM shook the Temple District as columns of fire erupted out of every sewer grating in the area, felling everyone in the area like stalks of wheat before a strong wind.


"I just had a thought," Viconia said in a tone of studied disinterest as everyone struggled to their feet. "Did we remember to close the door to Mekrath's home?"


:) :P :(


Keldorn shrugged. "It has been five centuries of history. It is not the same as listening to it from someone who was actually there."


"Anyway," Cel continued, "Arrimor was mad. Very mad. And when one of the other squires - so far as we were able to determine - made a completely innocent remark about his own upcoming Trial, he snapped. He took up a sword and killed him. No, not just killed him - savaged him. We couldn't even determine who it was afterward except by checking the other faces and figuring out by process of elimination. It didn't stop there - he hacked his way through the whole barracks.


Brrr...chilling story.


"That is true, we are not. I would estimate that when the Order wishes to send any kind of sortie in force, the composition is about five non-paladin knights for every paladin, and greater for the number of non-knights we send. If we restricted ourselves to paladins, we would never be able to uphold the good we manage to do every year."


Good point.


"I cannot imagine how it must feel to have such conflicting pressures within you. And yet, you maintain the true and steady course of the paladin, and Tyr accepts you. I can do no less."


Yes, I really think I'm going to like your Keldorn. :P He's one NPC I don't play with that often, but I like him all the same.
Rogues do it from behind.

#6 Guest_Hunter_*

Posted 01 August 2003 - 10:54 AM

You know, usually I say something up here, but this time I couldn't think of anything. I just wrote this so you wouldn't wonder where it was. Or something. Yeah.


...or is "Garrick go boom" not inappropriate?


Does garrick go boom?? Goody?

Keldorn frowned. "I...this is not something I am comfortable with. But I trust Ajantis' judgement, and he never had an unkind word to say about you. Kalvorin, too, seems like a sensible man. Perhaps...my impression will change in time." His voice, however, did not hold very much hope of that.


"An enlightened viewpoint," Jaheira observed.


And she does not need to make such comments all the time.

They spied a familiar face in front of the Order as they approached. "Garrick, again?" Cel said with some irritation.


It's easy to become annoyed around him.

"Uh...yes! It works, uh, like this!" Garrick chanted a few words and sparks of light leapt from his fingers to the box he was holding. "You'll...uh...see.... A few more seconds and it'll start working!"


Whatever it was supposed to do was never revealed to Kal, as in the next second it burst into flame. Kal could tell that the flame wasn't its designed function by Garrick's screams, yells, and exclamations - which also coincidentally happened to include "My hair's on fire!"


:wink:

Garrick juggled the item, obviously loath to drop it (even though it was setting him on fire: hair, clothes, and musical instrument.) "It's hot! Oh, my hair! Oh, my arms! FIRE! Hot!" Then it fell on to his tunic, and it exploded - not simply burst into flame, but exploded, spraying flaming pieces of cloth in all directions.


Wouldn't he begin to sustain rather serious burns by now.

"You know, that box seems very good at causing things to, uh, explode," Kal began. "And sewer gas isn't the most inert of..."


KABOOOM

A resounding BOOM shook the Temple District as columns of fire erupted out of every sewer grating in the area, felling everyone in the area like stalks of wheat before a strong wind.


It must be one of jan's contraptions

"Pink...and green?" Jaheira said in puzzlement, staring at the noxious cloud.


Hold your breath.

Good chapter

#7 Guest_Tenebrous_*

Posted 01 August 2003 - 03:33 PM

Makes more sense to meet Keldy here, rather than to have him waiting for you indefinite time in unsanitary sewers...


Yep. One question I always wanted to ask was "How long have you been down here?"

This doesn't look like a Viconia-killing Keldorn... though I always thought their in-game confrontation very forced and somewhat unnatural.


Well...can't say.

Hehe... I guess that's one way to kill off unseeing eye and his army of cultists... still, I shall not assume that it was the case.


Oh no, they're not dead. Their secret door was still closed.

Uh-Oh... that's one disturbing backstory...


Thank you :lol:

Heh, I presume the next chapters will consist from BG1 flashback then? :)



Nah. I have neither the time nor inclination to write BG1. The next chapter starts assuming that Keldorn's been filled in on all that's happened to date. It's a convenience.

#8 Guest_Tenebrous_*

Posted 01 August 2003 - 03:39 PM

Interesting! :lol: I hope your Keldorn will be of the more mellow kind...I always though it very out of character for him to just try to cut Viconia down all of a sudden, without even having been provoked first.


I always thought so, too. It's as if the Bio people decided just at the end that he didn't have enough character flaws and had to stuff "racist" there in all of two dialogues.


Yes, I really think I'm going to like your Keldorn. :) He's one NPC I don't play with that often, but I like him all the same.


I like him too, but just because he isn't going to try to kill Viconia doesn't mean that he doesn't dislike her in other ways.

#9 Guest_Tenebrous_*

Posted 01 August 2003 - 03:48 PM

Wouldn't he begin to sustain rather serious burns by now.


Yes. Most of which are owing to his reluctance to drop the box and dive into the river right away, in the hopes of doing something that will impress Irlana.

It must be one of jan's contraptions


Well...it's not one of Garrick's.

Hold your breath.


To say the least.

#10 Laufey

Posted 01 August 2003 - 03:51 PM


Interesting! :) I hope your Keldorn will be of the more mellow kind...I always though it very out of character for him to just try to cut Viconia down all of a sudden, without even having been provoked first.


I always thought so, too. It's as if the Bio people decided just at the end that he didn't have enough character flaws and had to stuff "racist" there in all of two dialogues.


Yes...I mean, I can see him making harsh remarks about her and that sort of thing, but not just trying to ram his sword through her in the middle of the street. It simply isn't like the Keldorn I see in his other dialogues.

Yes, I really think I'm going to like your Keldorn. :? He's one NPC I don't play with that often, but I like him all the same.


I like him too, but just because he isn't going to try to kill Viconia doesn't mean that he doesn't dislike her in other ways.


Oh, that's fair enough! As long as it makes more sense than the Rabid Killer Keldorn of that game confrontation, which shouldn't be hard. :lol:
Rogues do it from behind.

#11 Red Viking

Posted 02 August 2003 - 05:43 AM

You know, usually I say something up here, but this time I couldn't think of anything. I just wrote this so you wouldn't wonder where it was. Or something. Yeah.

...or is "Garrick go boom" not inappropriate?


Oh, this I GOTTA read.

"Greetings. Such a shame about the reduction in your party," he observed casually.

"Not that much of a shame, High Watcher. You really have to know about the last month or so to understand. I take it that the All-Seeing Eye was trained somewhat in our direction last night?"

"Only on your inn door," Oisig said with a smile. "We did not want to risk an ambush by the cultists you were to investigate. Lieutenant Aegisfield had three squads of city guards standing by, a service Chief Inspector Brega was only too happy to provide. You are making friends, I see."

"I do just what comes naturally," Kal said.


Looks like we'll be seeing more familiar faces soon. You mentioned that you had plans for Nalia and Jan, and I can't wait. One question though: Since Kal advocates non-stereotypical paladin behavior and seems to go out of his way to educate those who could use it, (like Ajantis) is it safe to assume that a certain warrior priest of Helm shall benefit from Kal's teachings?

"Three of you," Keldorn said, and thrust a gauntleted hand out clumsily toward Viconia, a grim expression on his face. It was much like that on a child's face when confronted with a spoonful of medicine; he knows he won't like it, but he has to do it anyway.

"Sir Keldorn," Viconia said with a faint smile as she took his hand.

"I didn't think Ajantis would have told you that part of our travels," Kal said with a bit of a grimace.

"Am I so very distasteful, Sir Keldorn?" Viconia mocked gently.

Keldorn frowned. "I...this is not something I am comfortable with. But I trust Ajantis' judgement, and he never had an unkind word to say about you. Kalvorin, too, seems like a sensible man. Perhaps...my impression will change in time." His voice, however, did not hold very much hope of that.


Well, he's alot more tolerent of her than he was in the game. I wonder how far Viccy'll push him though... (He's a paladin, how could she resist? :wink:)

Whatever it was supposed to do was never revealed to Kal, as in the next second it burst into flame. Kal could tell that the flame wasn't its designed function by Garrick's screams, yells, and exclamations - which also coincidentally happened to include "My hair's on fire!"


*Spews his Pepsi all over the keyboard*

With a final shriek Garrick hurled the device into the air and leapt over the side of the bridge. He splashed into the water with a sizzle. The flaming box spun through the air, bounced twice, and fell down the open sewer grating. The rocks the box had bounced upon exploded with small pops. Everyone's eyes then went to the sewer entrance, and they watched it for a moment in silence.

"You know, that box seems very good at causing things to, uh, explode," Kal began. "And sewer gas isn't the most inert of..."

A resounding BOOM shook the Temple District as columns of fire erupted out of every sewer grating in the area, felling everyone in the area like stalks of wheat before a strong wind.

"I just had a thought," Viconia said in a tone of studied disinterest as everyone struggled to their feet. "Did we remember to close the door to Mekrath's home?"

Kal had just enough time to widen his eyes before a second concussive blast seemed to turn the world upside-down, dumping the Temple residents off their feet again. When the district stopped shaking, clouds of pinkish-green smoke were drifting slowly out of the sewer gratings.

"Well...there goes our plan for today," Cel observed. "That does not look like breathing material."

"I agree wholeheartedly, Cel - I prefer to breathe air which lacks such - gaudy decoration," Yoshimo said.


Had that taken out the Cult of the Eyeless, I would've laughed so hard. Congratulations, Garrick, not only have you just unwittingly thwarted the nefarious plans of a blind Beholder, but you also took out a Demi-Lich and a Mind Flayer hive at the same time! Who needs heroes when you have bumbling idiots?

"Well, before I start, I think you should know a little about my unusual ancestry," Kal said. "Just to make things clear."

"Half gold dragon, that I know from Ajantis' stories...."

"And half God of Murder," Kal said. There was a silence after that, everyone watching Keldorn for a reaction.

"Ajantis did not mention this," Keldorn offered neutrally.

"I asked him not to," Kal said. "It's hard to predict reactions to news like that, and I'd rather it happen when I'm around."


Well, better that he find out now. Last thing we need is one of those classic sitcom misunderstandings. :wink:

#12 Guest_Tenebrous_*

Posted 03 August 2003 - 03:18 AM

Looks like we'll be seeing more familiar faces soon. You mentioned that you had plans for Nalia and Jan, and I can't wait. One question though: Since Kal advocates non-stereotypical paladin behavior and seems to go out of his way to educate those who could use it, (like Ajantis) is it safe to assume that a certain warrior priest of Helm shall benefit from Kal's teachings?


I'd say that's a safe assumption. Prescient, even, considering how soon he'll be mentioned.

Well, he's alot more tolerent of her than he was in the game. I wonder how far Viccy'll push him though... (He's a paladin, how could she resist? :lol:)


She won't push too hard. That's become significantly less important to her by now.

*Spews his Pepsi all over the keyboard*


Uhhh...score? :)

Had that taken out the Cult of the Eyeless, I would've laughed so hard. Congratulations, Garrick, not only have you just unwittingly thwarted the nefarious plans of a blind Beholder, but you also took out a Demi-Lich and a Mind Flayer hive at the same time! Who needs heroes when you have bumbling idiots?


Garrick's done something to the Cult of the Eyeless. I wasn't saying that it didn't affect them at all.... :)

#13 Guest_argan_*

Posted 04 August 2003 - 01:57 PM

Great Chapter!

#14 Guest_Tenebrous_*

Posted 05 August 2003 - 04:16 AM

Great Chapter!


Thank you!




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