12 replies to this topic

[Laufey]

"He was not as lucky," Keldorn said with a sad shake of his head. "He was killed almost instantly. Our...our other healer," he began, but then stopped himself. "Viconia," he made himself say, "used much of her magic simply keeping you and many of the guardsmen alive. A number are not even conscious."

I see Keldorn is beginning to see Viconia in a different light already.

"And...Kal? How is...he?"

"He's...fine," Keldorn said, and looked over his shoulder.

Physically, perhaps.

"Well...that...that wasn't me, out there. It wasn't all me. It was...him." Kal closed his eyes, unable to keep the memory out of his conscious mind, the events replaying themselves against his will.

I wonder if that is really so? Or is Kal trying to separate the Bhaal power from his own self, because accepting that evil is a part of him hurts too much? I suppose we will find out eventually.

Viconia took his hand. "What...what really happened?"

"When I...when I took out my bow, he came back. I can't miss now, but that's all because of him. The moment I aimed the bow, I..." He paused. "It's hard to describe. I was aiming, and I was also...not aiming. Someone else's reflexes. Someone else's skill. Someone else's...bloodlust."

I know that Bhaal was originally an assassin. Was the bow his favored weapon, by any chance?

"Yes, but that wasn't...that wasn't it. He knew I was going to drop the bow. He meant for me to do it! So that I would get Captain Arat killed, and nearly kill Anomen, too! And so that I would see it, and let him in even more!" Kal put his hands to his head. "I don't know how to stop it, Viconia. He's fighting me, inside my mind and spirit, and I don't know how to stop it. It isn't like mathematics or physics - there's no problem I can solve to find a solution, no way to know where it came from or where it's going. It's just...there. It's happening. And I don't know what to do."

*shiver* Your Bhaal is *very* manipulative, and clever too it seems.

"And I can't remember. I can't remember some of my favourite authors. I can't remember the melody of Istar's Sixth Symphony. I can't remember the date of the first battle between Mulhorand and Thay, or who first invented the mangonel, or how to make smokepowder. I'm losing what I am, and I'm trading it for ‘not-Bhaal', whatever it is. That's not what I want to be, Viconia. I don't want to be defined by what I'm not. But every day I'm losing a little bit more of me, and becoming a little more of him. And all I know is that I'm fighting him. And that I'm not winning."

Oh, this is painful. Poor Kal.

"Charm," Keldorn hissed. He held forth his holy symbol, calling on the power of Torm. Unlike other paladins, he could not heal or cast spells. But Torm had granted him other powers - especially the ability to dispel magic.

Keldorn drew a circle in the air with his holy symbol, and a trail of white fire followed its path, forming a ring. As soon as it completed, the gauntlet-symbol of Torm appeared in the centre for a second, before the entire symbol transformed itself into a beam of white light that lashed out towards Glaicas...and then reflected off an invisible barrier, bouncing harmlessly into a corner of the room and dissipating. Glaicas blinked once, then held his weapon high and charged.

I like your use of the holy symbol here, I think it adds a lot to the description.

"Don't do that," Nalia said. "It's not that it didn't work, it's that he has another spell on top of the charm that's intended to block dispelling attempts."

"So how is it to be removed?" Viconia asked. "It appears to protect itself."

"It does...from spells. Hold on. Let me look at it more carefully," she said, staring at Glaicas.

Hm, the 'she' here I initially thought referred to Viconia, so I got a little confused by the following paragraphs. Perhaps if you substituted 'she' with 'Nalia'?

Nalia's solution worked as she said it would. Cel's shield erupted into glowing visibility, Anomen and Keldorn flinching slightly as it was the first time they'd seen it. Then Kal tapped Glaicas on the side with Cel, and she unleashed a bolt of lightning. The deflecting spell redirected the lightning bolt away, but then Cel's antimagic field unravelled it like a poorly-knit sock. Keldorn then tried his dispel again, to much greater success.

Clever!

"A wizard that powerful wouldn't need to bring an army along," Nalia said pensively.

"The wizard did not want to seem involved, milady. They made me write a letter. I do not recall exactly what was written, but it was a confession that I had killed your father and that I was about to...kill myself."

Hmm...I sense intrigue! The Roenalls? Firkraag? Or perhaps somebody else entirely?

"I can use a flail," Anomen said. There was a pause, and then, "But you should not...I mean, we should not divert our attention just for..."

And now he acts all modest and self-effacing, Kal thought. Out loud, he said, "It's good tactical sense, Anomen. Every little bit will help, especially if the opposition down there is as tough as we've heard it is."

"I simply do not wish to selfishly...."

"You aren't." Kal said shortly, trying to ignore Anomen's abysmal sense of timing yet again.

Ano does have abysmal sense of timing, yes, I agree. Good thing I still like him so much.

[Weyoun]

[quote]I've been sitting on this one for WAY too long.
[/quote]

Well, you got it out of your system, now.

[quote]
[quote]
"He was not as lucky," Keldorn said with a sad shake of his head. "He was killed almost instantly. Our...our other healer," he began, but then stopped himself. "Viconia," he made himself say, "used much of her magic simply keeping you and many of the guardsmen alive. A number are not even conscious."
[/quote]

Vic scored some major points with him here, ey?

[quote]
"So what is on your mind?" Viconia asked, walking up and sitting beside him.
[/quote]

[quote]
"Don't I usually ask that question?" Kal asked with a faint smile.
[/quote]

[quote]
"And is it not I who usually evades it?" she returned.
[/quote]

LOL! The Viconia-romance in a nutshell.

[quote]
The room turned out to contain only one occupant - a human warrior, dressed in elaborate full plate and wielding a two-handed sword.
[/quote]

[quote]
"That's Glaicas!" Nalia said. "My father's bodyguard! What's he doing here?" Raising her voice, she shouted, "Glaicas! Where's my father?"
[/quote]

[quote]
Glaicas turned glazed eyes towards the party. "Intruders...interfering...must be eliminated!" he rumbled in a slurred voice.
[/quote]

No diplomacy here! Glaicas is going to kick it up another notch!

[quote]
"Charm," Keldorn hissed. He held forth his holy symbol, calling on the power of Torm. Unlike other paladins, he could not heal or cast spells. But Torm had granted him other powers - especially the ability to dispel magic.
[/quote]

He's charmed? That's a new one. I figured he was either shellshocked or a traitor when I played the game.

[quote]
"Don't do that," Nalia said. "It's not that it didn't work, it's that he has another spell on top of the charm that's intended to block dispelling attempts."
[/quote]

Complicated stuff, this magic...

[quote]
"So how is it to be removed?" Viconia asked. "It appears to protect itself."
[/quote]

Well, you could always knock him out, tie him up and worry about it later.

[quote]
"A...loophole?" Cel asked. "In a spell?"
[/quote]

[quote]
"Bad wording," Nalia said by way of apology. "What I meant was that there's something that the creator didn't anticipate."
[/quote]

The spellcrafting equivalent of an extra goto 10 line at the end?

[quote]
"I can use a flail," Anomen said. There was a pause, and then, "But you should not...I mean, we should not divert our attention just for..."
[/quote]

Hey, that should be Viconia's toy! Seriously, I wonder why she doesn't have points in flail in the game. As a priestess of Lolth, she should have some ample experience with those things.

[quote]
"Good. Let's get the flail, and then get down to those cellars. It's long past time this was finished."[/quote]

Great stuffm
---Weyoun