On the third floor, we met a middle-aged woman with blonde hair in an asymmetric bob hairstyle.
Wait a second, that style looks familiar-
"At last, someone who looks like they could be of some assistance. The assorted boobs and dimwits around here have been of very little help!" she said as soon as she saw us.
Boobs, heh. "Of course. How may I assist you, ma'am?" I said cordially.
"Ma'am this, ma'am that, I have little desire to suffer though more of your flat gentility. You may call me Emissary Tar and direct me towards the nearest staircase. I have some important business to conduct on the fifth floor on behalf of the Grand Dukes," she said, not caring to hide her disdain.
My eye was twitching in annoyance, but I held my tongue. "Ma- Emissary Tar, would it be untoward of me to inquire as to the nature of your business on the fifth floor?"
"It is hardly a secret. The Grand Dukes have sent me to negotiate a new iron treaty with Sarevok. It appears that the Merchant's League and the Seven Suns have voluntarily granted the Iron Throne temporary control over their mines in order to simplify the city's supply structure and thereby strengthen the war effort… should it come to that. I am here to ensure that we have access to that iron at a favorable price. Sarevok, uh, the Iron Throne has been more than cooperative with us to date and I doubt that they will change their tune now."
We directed her to the fifth floor, just as she asked.
Right after, I was scowling hard. As far as my memory went, that spiel Emissary Tar was identical to the one she gave in the original game. I think.
I looked to the rest of the party. "Why in the nine hells are the Dukes still making deals with the Iron Throne?"
The party looked at each other, perplexed, until Imoen broke the silence.
"Oh. Oh! Ohhhhhh!" Imoen exclaimed. "That's why the Dukes' hands are tied! It has nothing to do with whether or not the Iron Throne is guilty. They're still the only source of iron available! And if there's going to be a war with Amn..."
Huh? I don't follow this logic.
"But the Iron Crisis could very well be instigated by the Iron Throne in the first place!" Jaheira protested. "The only reason war is brewing is because they think Amn is the cause of the crisis, in an effort to weaken Baldur's Gate for an invasion. If the Iron Throne is the real cause, the whole casus belli for war falls apart."
Exactly! It makes no sense!
"Maybe the Dukes are just hedging their bets. They investigate the Iron Throne, but in case the investigation determines the Iron Throne isn't guilty, they still need the iron right now. Weapons and armor takes time to make," Imoen reasoned.
Wha? Erm? Gah?
I was wringing my hands in disbelief. It made total sense, and yet it made absolutely no sense. "How the hell can the Dukes mess up this bad?!?"
Khalid raised his hand.
I sighed, and motioned him to speak.
"Uh, why did we let Emissary Tar go up to level five? We concluded that they're replacing important visitors with doppelgangers, right?"
If there be crickets around us, we'd be hearing them loud and clear right now.
"Er. Oops," I said with an embarrassed shrug and stuck out my tongue.
An honest mistake, really!
---
Just below the fifth floor, I put my stealth skills to good use to scout out the floor above. The acoyltes were in fact upstairs, plus a completely fake Emissary Tar.
Oh, this fight. These goons were very memorable because every one of those blasted acoyltes was an over-leveled cheat character.
As I surveyed the opposition from the shadows however, my newfound instincts were tingling. I had been living as a Sonny, the halfling fighter/thief for a while now. All those quests for the Thieves Guild, all the burglaring I had been doing left an impression on me. So a new plan was forming in my mind.
Well. That's certainly something I've never done before in ANY playthrough.
Sticking to the shadows, I sneaked right past the acolytes, ignored the man tied to a chair in one of the rooms ,went back and stared at the man tied to the chair in the room. I certainly don't remember this guy being tied up! Eh, whatever, got to prioritise. I went to the back rooms and found the evidence that would progress the story. Two letters, one from Tuth to Rieltar, and another letter by Sarevok to Rieltar.
---
I back sneaked past the acolytes to my team and showed them the letters.
Letter 1:
"Rieltar,
My superiors are intrigued by your proposal. I would like to discuss it further, but not through correspondence such as this. The Harpers and Zhents have been very active in this region of late; it would be very unfortunate if they tried to disrupt an alliance between our two organizations. If you, Brunos, and Thaldorn were to meet with us in the safety of Candlekeep, my superiors would be much relieved. Please send a response ASAP.
Tuth"
"Who's this Tuth guy?" Branwen asked.
"Not Harper, Zhent or an emissary from Baldur's Gate, that much we know," Jaheira said. "Doubt its anyone from the Seven Suns or Merchant's League either, based on what Emissary Tar said."
"I didn't see any sign of Rieltar and Brunos here, so they must be at Candlekeep," I said.
The second letter was also quite interesting.
"Father,
I received your letter, and I can assure you that the mercenaries led by Sonny will no longer trouble our operations. I have dealt with them personally. Before dying, they were most forthcoming in their revelations. It is as you had surmised: They were agents of the Zhentarim. I am also writing to tell you that I cannot attend the meeting at Candlekeep. Some problems have arisen with the Chill and the Blacktalons. They have had trouble working with each other, and I am needed there to smooth over any dissension. I am sorry that I will not be at your side.
Sarevok"
Imoen perked up. "Hold on. Why did he lie to Rieltar that we are dead? Does it make sense for him to do that?"
"And why did he lie and say that we were agents of the Zhentarim?" Jaheira asked, rubbing her chin. "Something is very wrong here. Rieltar shold be very much aware that the Zhentarim are not the true culprits behind the Iron Crisis, seeing as how he's responsible for the Iron Crisis himself. Or is he?"
"D-d-dear, yes he is. Rieltar just thinks we are Zhentarim agents trying to stop them from framing the Black Network for the Iron Crisis," Khalid said.
"Yes, love. I was just getting to that," Jaheira said, crossing her arms and scowling.
No you weren't, was the expression I read from everyone's faces.
"This tells us a great deal, actually. Rieltar was NOT responsible for sending assassins after me while I was a nobody in Candlekeep. He doesn't even know who I am!" I said confidently. Yes, I had foreknowledge, but I could say this much based on our current information available. "Yet it is almost certain by now that my assassination was commissioned by someone in the Iron Throne. If it wasn't Rieltar…"
"It's got to be Sarevok," Imoen concluded. "He's the one trying to pass you off as a Zhentarim agent to explain your motivations for opposing the Iron Throne. That is, instead of someone who is striking back because the Iron Throne sent assassins to kill you."
We dug through our letters for reference.
"In one of Davaeorn's letters to Tazok, he mentions that Sarevok specifically wanted us dead," Neera said, showing the line in the letter to us. "At least as far as Sonny's personal assassination attempts go, the clues point to Sarevok. Rieltar is still the main brains behind the iron crisis though, based on what we know from Yeslick and the letters."
"What did the ogre mages call their client? The son of murder?" Branwen asked. "And this Sarevok fellow has his own acolytes on the top floor. Not followers, acolytes. Something is going on that has further ramifications than a simple iron crisis."
We were getting there, but were still missing important pieces of the puzzle to put it all together. So I couldn't say more for the meantime.
The two letters we had found was not nearly good enough to indict the Iron Throne. But it did tell us where Rieltar would be.
And that was that for the Iron Throne base, really.
"So we can just leave now?" Imoen asked.
"Unfortunately, that's all there is here other than the acolytes themselves. What's another testimony to add to the rest? We needed hard evidence, something written. Or at least a confession from Rieltar himself," I explained. "So that's where we need to go. Candlekeep."
"Are we really just going to leave Sarevok's acolytes up there?" Branwen asked, incredulous. "Out of what, cowardice?"
I had to admit, it did feel kind of lame. Sarevok's acolytes had a lot of material rewards for beating them. Even some unique spells, added in the Enhanced Edition.
"If we don't have to fight them, isn't that the smarter move to just move on?" Neera said. "We were commissioned to spy on the Iron Throne for Duke Eltan, not murder the Iron Throne."
Those were good points too. Completely bypassing this harrowing challenge through thief skills brought a certain satisfaction of its own.
So, completely bypass Sarevok's acolytes and proceed with the main story, or take on a challenging encounter for the loot?
I suppose this was a nice quandary to have.