In the end, the draw of loot was too strong. Unlike the guardians at Degrodel's home, Sarevok's acolytes had unique gear on them, including a Halberd+2, Ring of Free Action, mage scrolls of Minor Sequencer, and Vocalize.
And to be perfectly honest, the fact that this was one of the more challenging fights in the whole game made it all the more appealing. Rather than finding them a bother, the gamer in me wanted to test my skills on these foes.
…Did I saw 'one of the more challenging'? I beg your pardon. Sarevok's acolytes is considered to be one of the toughest fights in BG1. For one, it is one of the few fights where the player's party is outnumbered.
Zhalimar Cloudwulfe is a level 11 fighter with AC-1, 115hp, Thac0 9, APR 3.5, He's armed with a bow. He has GRANDMASTER proficiency (+++++) in both bow and large swords, yet he's armed with a Halberd+2. Go figure.
Gardush is a level 10 fighter with AC-2, 106hp, Thac0 10, APR 2.5. He's armed with a Longsword with which he has GRANDMASTER proficiency. Actually, every one of these acolytes has grandmaster proficiency so I'll stop mentioning it.
Aasim is an 8/8 fighter/cleric, and Diyab an 9/9 cleric/thief. They can both cast Hold Person and Flame Strike in spite of Flame Strike being a fifth level spell only available to level 9+ clerics. What big cheats!
Alai is a 8/8 fighter/mage and Naaman a 9/9 mage/thief. Their most dangerous spells include Horror, Confusion, Fireball, and Flame Arrow. They both protect themselves with Shadow Door which is difficult to interrupt.
Emissary Tar is actually a doppleganger, as I noted earlier. It's mostly a distraction.
This is an enemy party which is LEAGUES stronger than a regular player party. Their levels are far more than any level-capped player party, they have cheat levels of weapon proficiency, and they have access to spells which players don't even have access to in BG1. Like I said, one of the hardest fights in the game, for good reason.
---
Zhalimar was extremely displeased that visitors literally walked into their private meeting. "Fear my wrath, for it is great indeed! Who dares intrude upon our negotiations?"
"Good morning! I am from Calimshan!"
A moment of hesitation was all the man at the front of the group needed to reach Zhalimar, forcing him to put away his bow and draw his halberd.
"You'll not fool us,
My name is Sonny. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.
Sonny, you say? Ah yes, Sarevok warned us you might try to meddle. That meddling will stop here, however.
"I-I-I no understand. Language barrier. I go bye bye now!" the Calishite said.
am quite sorry to have bothered you, really! Is this the exit? I'll just be going now!"
Zhalimar gave the man a cruel smile. "You will indeed be leaving. I would hazard a guess that the situation shall be a bit more permanent than you would have liked. Long ago you crossed the line that would have allowed for your survival. So it has been ordained, so it shall come to pass. So commands Sarevok!"
At which point Zhalimar got bashed over the head with my Quarterstaff+3. In response, the enemy mages and clerics started their incantations.
Khalid and Jaheira tossed an Oil of Fiery Burning in the middle of us all, interrupting their spells. I and Khalid were both caught in the inferno, which we ignored, being immune to fire damage thanks to buffs. Neera and Imoen followed this up with two Fireballs, and Branwen a Holy Smite. I had wanted to toss in my own Oil of Fiery Burning but found that most of our opposition was already laying on the ground, burning.
That was it, basically. The only opposition left was Gardush, who was actually out of the blast radius of all the nuking we were doing. Doom, Chant then Blind ensured he was sufficiently debuffed, and he put up a futile resistance to the death.
Once we were done, I stood over Zhalimar with my staff rested on my shoulder. Getting burnt alive was a rather painful way to go, and death wasn't immediate. I pointed at him with my free hand. "Looks like this is your exit instead," I said, then gave him a thumbs down. "So commands Sonny!"
Each Oil of Fiery Burning was 5d6, Neera and Imoen's fireballs 9d6 and 8d6, Branwen's Holy Smite 8d4. That gave an average damage of 114.5, phew! Like with the pack of Ogre Mages, the Oils of Fiery Burning were a great counter to interrupt all the spell casters who were standing still while incanting.
I had to wonder though. This was one of the hardest fights in the game, yet I only used 2x Oils of Fiery Burning and 2x Fireballs. When would I find an encounter that needed 4x Necklaces of Missiles + 2x Fireball?
---
How would I have done that without firebombing tactics?
There are a few issues to deal with. Horror, Hold Person and Confusion are the main control spells being thrown around. Remove Fear will counter Horror, Free Action (rings or spell) will counter Hold Person, and as for Confusion, well, at our level we don't have the spell Chaotic Commands which prevents Confusion. The super rare Potions of Clarity, the Potions of Magic Blocking, and Potion of Magic Shielding are good options to counter Confusion, as is the Greenstone Amulet. The Magic Shielding ones are particularly good in this fight since it also helps ward of Fire damage from all the Fireballs, Flame Strikes and Flame Arrows being cast at the party.
Sounds like a WHOLE lot of resources to commit, right? That's because it is! This isn't an easy fight by any measure.
Alternatively, this WAS the fight that Hafiz bin Watat, that astrologer guy, gave us a Protection from Magic scroll for. So I suppose I and Khalid who were fighting on the front lines could have used two of these precious scrolls, and while we had the enemy's attention focused on us our spell casters waiting downstairs would walk up and start casting control spells of our own on the enemies.
Still not satisfied?
Fine, if you'd like to complete this fight with minimal use of resources, use Wands of Magic Missile or toss ONE Oil of Fiery Burning to interrupt the enemy spell casters. This buys you time to hit them with Greater Malison and Chant, followed by Silence. Even with a -9 penalty to the save to spell, the chances of Silencing Naaman and Diyab would be only 80%. Not all four spellcasters may be silenced, but that's enough to turn the tide. Arrows of Biting and Darts of Wounding will do the rest.
---
Loot: Halberd +2, Mace +1, War Hammer +1,
Medium Shield +1, 2 Plate Mail, Bracers of Defense AC 7,
Ring of Free Action,
Potion of Stone Giant Strength, Oil of Fiery Burning, Potion of Perception, Antidote,
Wand of the Heavens (charge: 11), Wand of Lightning (charge: 10),
Mage scrolls of Minor Sequencer, Confusion, Dispel Magic, Fireball, Know Alignment, Protection From Normal Missiles, Vocalize,
Protection scroll of Protection From Undead,
And a Letter from Sarevok!
The letter read, "I have a task for you and those you have selected.
You, the first of the faithful, are to stand ground in my stead.
Be assured that I would not belittle your devotion with simple guard duty. This chore is of particular interest to me, and thus to you.
Sonny has become as a thorn in my side. I wish it removed.
Do so, and you shall please me greatly.
Such is your charge.
Do not fail in this.
Sarevok "
"First of the faithful? Again, faithful to who?" Imoen asked.
"Somehow I doubt these are the first of those faithful to Cyric. Cyric has plenty of faithful," Neera mused.
The man I had left alone earlier was still tied to a chair. cowering I a corner f the room.
"H-hello. Please save me," he said. "I'm Thaldorn, one of the leaders of the Iron Throne. I'm worth saving!"
HUH?!? This was Thaldorn? Why the hell was he tied up? He certainly wasn't in the original game!
The party looked in confusion at each other. I gestured to Jaheira to continue as planned.
Earlier, the party had decided that Jaheira makes for a better interrogator than me due to my stature (grrr), so she was doing the talking. "We have no issue in saving you, as long as you are prepared to answer some questions."
We were still going to bring him to Duke Eltan for interrogation as well. But we wanted first dibs on whatever information he had to offer.
Thaldorn burst into tears.
What happened next, was even out of my expectations.
The man burst into tears, then got on his hands and knees begging. "Noooooo, I don't want to die! don't kill me!"
"I said, we want you to answer some questions! Not kill you," Jaheira yelled at him. "For starters, why the hell is one of the leaders of the Iron Throne tied up?!?"
"Sarevok did it! He's taken over the Iron Throne while Rieltar and Brunos are away!"
...huh. Okay, I guess that much makes sense? A bit early but maybe my actions forced Sarevok to move his schedule up.
"Where is Sarevok? Where are Rieltar and Brunos?" Jaheira demanded.
"I don't know where Sarevok went! He left his acolytes to run things while he was away. The other leaders, Brunos and Rieltar, they're at Candlekeep, attending business with some benefactors from the south. Will you let me go now, please?"
"Where can we find documents that will implicate your organization for its involvement with the bandit raids and iron shortage? Tell us or die," Jaheira threatened.
"Please don't hurt me! You can find everything you need with Rieltar, he's the true leader of the operation. He always carries everything on his person. Am I free to go?"
"Nope. You're telling Duke Eltan EVERYTHING. Maybe if you confess everything, he'll have mercy on you. Otherwise...," Jaheira drew her finger across her neck suggestively.
"Noooooo! I don't wanna dieeeeee!" Thaldorn cried.
On our way out, we found the body of Emissary Tar in a separate room. She may have been a Karen, but she didn't really deserve to die. It isn't possible to prevent her from dying in the original game, but perhaps we could have done more for her here.
As we left the Iron Throne with our prisoner in tow, I had a lot to consider. Things hadn't changed that much, all in all. But I felt a certain pressure, uncertainty clouding my thoughts. I had tried my best to take down the Iron Throne using my in-game knowledge as far as I could. But I now didn't know how Sarevok and Rieltar were reacting to my actions in exposing them. So I would have to be ready for anything from now on.
---
Back in Gullykin, Alvanhendar, priest of Yondalla, was praying fervently at the Temple of Yondalla and Alvanhendar's Fine Wines. Her eyes flew wide open suddenly, and she fell over backwards.
Stunned for a moment, she shook of her dizziness and stood up. She ran out of the temple, and cried out, "I've had a vision! A vision from the Provider herself!"
Gandolar Luckyfoot, leader of the village, happened to be outside. "Good day, Alvan! What news does the Provider -YEEEEP!-"
Alvanhendar had grabbed Gandolar by the lapels. "I need a messenger, immediately! A messenger for Sonny!" she screamed into his face. "The safety of all halflings may depend on it!"