There were plenty of familiar faces on the ground floor of the library. That included Theodon and Jessup, two seniors who were positively beaming at my approach.
"Well, dip me in broth and call me stewed, if it isn't little Sonny! Why, I haven't seen you for nearly… um… quite some time, anyway," Theodon said.
"Hello Theodon. How have you-"
"I still remember you running about the keep in your little swaddling clothes, pestering the elders and spooking the cows, Theodon continued. "Ain't that right, Jessup?"
"Surely was," Jessup said in agreement.
Jaheira and Khalid shared a smile. "Yes, Gorion did mention Sonny's antics when he was young. What a young hellion."
"Yep. Of course, you never did stay in those rags of yours long," Theodon went on.
Jahiera and Khalid looked surprised. "Now that little nugget, Gorion kept to himself," Jaheira said.
I covered my face with my hands. Where's the skip button when I need it?
"You'd be naked as a jaybird the moment someone turned their back on you," Theodon kept going. "I remember the day that fella Blackstaff came floating in and there you were, tearing around the outer keep with Gorion hot on your trail. Took the cloak right off his back, you did, and made yourself just the cutest little..."
I can't believe I forgot about this encounter. The whole party was having a chuckle at my expense.
"Was Sonny really like that, even then?" Neera asked Imoen.
Imoen shrugged. "I was too young or maybe not even here yet. I arrived at Candlekeep later than Sonny, according to Puffguts."
Theodon didn't stop. "Wait, wait, I remember it all now! There was Khelben Blackstaff, trying his hardest to look important while you ran through the stables with his cape tied around your waist."
"Wait. Blackstaff as in KHELBEN Blackstaff? Mystra's chosen, Lord Mage of Waterdeep Blackstaff?" Jaheira said with a mix of awe and fear in her eyes. "He's not the sort to suffer fools!"
"Yes, that Blackstaff. And no, he's not," Theodon confirmed. "Such a lark, eh, Jessup?"
"I thought I'd catch my death from laughing, I did," Jessup said in agreement.
"You and me both! Gorion was shaking like a leaf, he was so mad."
When will it stop? "You're enjoying humiliating me, aren't you?" I asked.
Theodon ignored me, as he still had more to say. "Nobody was sure what to do, and then Khelben mutters some words and catches you by the scruff of the neck with some sort of spectral hand. He hauls you out and drops you right in front of him, grabbing his filthy cape in the process. Everyone was scared, they were. Weren't they, Jessup?"
"Sure enough. Scared witless."
"What happened then?" Imoen asked, practically biting her fingernails.
"Then old Khelben busts out in the biggest laugh you ever heard. Everyone in the keep was laughing like mad, except you, Sonny. You just stood there naked as the day you were born and wondering what the fuss was about. I tell you, those were the days."
I peered at the two old men. "Are you done having fun at my expense, dear fellows?"
Theodon and Jessup grinned. "Oh certainly, little one. Stop by any old time though. I've got some paintings of you as a youngster I'm sure your little friends would love to see. Remember the one of Sonny on the bearskin rug, Jessup?"
"Surely do. In the buff, as usual."
Neera piped up. "You know, I would in fact love to see-"
"Alright, reminiscing over! Of we go! March!" I commanded.
---
2nd floor
I wanted to skip the 2nd floor entirely, since this was the floor Koveras was on. But I couldn't help but bump into a few familiar faces along the way.
Bendalis was one of my tutors, and he was happy to see me. Thankfully we were in a library so he was speaking in hushed tones, otherwise he may have drawn the attention of Koveras nearby.
However, Bendalis had some concerns to unload on me. "Things just seem a little strange around here. Those decidedly un-merchant-like merchants for one. And some of our own monks are acting odd as well. One fellow in particular."
I had an idea who. "Really? And who would that be?"
"Well, there is this fellow named Koveras. I assume he is a visiting sage of some sort, but he seems more interested in our guests than the tomes. He makes me nervous. I think he's had the same effect on others as well. Young Shistal has been out of sorts for days now. He is not as thick-skinned as I. You remember how nervous he used to be? He's quite the opposite now. Seems like a totally different person. I worry about him."
I remembered Shistal, really. I made a mental note to make sure to check on the young scholar later.
Someone else I bumped into was one of the chanters who normally chants Alaundo's prophesies in the garden outside. I asked him if there was anyone new in the keep, and he told me of the two men from the Iron Throne (Rieltar and Brunos, presumably) who were meeting with two Knights of the Shield. He also mentioned a man named Koveras, who was mostly keeping to himself while researching some of Alaundo's prophecies regarding the Time of Troubles.
Knights of the Shield, huh? I didn't know their significance at the time until they featured again in Baldur's Gate 3. This was an organization that has been around for some time, manipulating politics from behind the scenes. An evil group, to be sure. Other than Baldur's Gate the game, they mostly feature in source books for dungeon masters to use in their campaigns.
With some begging, I also got the chanter to tell me about the catacombs below.
"Alaundo the Seer, the one who founded this fortress of knowledge and whose prophecies I chant each day, he is entombed deep in the bowels of this place... I tell you this, Sonny, because you're right, it is time you knew. But I beg of you, in Gorion's name, do not venture into those trapped and warded halls unless some higher power than myself bids you go. Your stepfather would never forgive me for your loss."
Lastly, I had scouted out where Sarevok aka Koveras on the second floor in order to avoid him. He wasn't wearing his signature armor with the big horns and faceplate full of teeth, so I suppose it isn't immediately obvious who he was. Especially in-game, since the in-game sprite of his uses is a generic model. In-person though, well, he had a hood on but all those robes couldn't conceal his titanic figure. Sarevok is a warrior's warrior, after all. He didn't have glowing eyes like his portrait in the Throne of Bhaal expansion, but he was bald and kept a short... goatee? Circle beard? I'm not good with names of beard styles. And his face was frozen in a fierce scowl that could stare right through people.
I'm sorry, but he's just OOZING with final boss energy. No one looking at him in person would mistake him for a regular guy!
Anyway, with Koveras's position on the 2nd floor scouted, I led my party upstairs, avoiding him for now.
---
We skipped the 3rd floor where Rieltar and Brunos were for now, as planned.
---
On the 4th floor, we found young Shistal who Bendalis had noted was acting like a completely different person.
"Leave me be, stranger. I've… work to do," he said.
That was my cue to say something along the lines of, "Don't you not recognize me? It is I, Sonny."
Instead, I decided to go with, "Shistal, my old friend! I'm back with more jokes to share with you!"
That took him for surprise. "Wha- what?"
I cleared my throat. "What do you call an albino doppelganger?"
"Uh..."
"A PALE IMITATION! Dun-dun-dun-dun!"
"..."
One VERY angry Greater Doppelganger later, and the party had to explain the situation to the Watchers who had come to check what the commotion was. Thankfully doppelgangers leave behind their true form when they die, so it wasn't too difficult to prove our innocence.
---
Greater Dopplegangers are level 9 creatures with 65hp and AC 0. They attack for 1d12 damage and have a Thac0 of 7. They tend to open with Mirror Image followed by Haste. Quite impressive actually, but a lone Greater Doppleganger really wasn't a match for our whole party. Focusing our attacks on it, we easily interrupted his first cast of Mirror Image even without casting Magic Missile, then the six of us beat it down without much issue before it could caste Haste.
Loot on 4th floor:
39 Gold, Moonstone Gem, Silver Necklace, Bluestone Necklace
Potion of Fortitude,
Mage scrolls of Blindness, Grease, Detect Invisibility, Web
Wand of Fear (14 charges)
---
The 5th floor was the most significant to the plot, arguably more so than the 2nd and 3rd where Koveras and Rieltar were hanging out.
Old Piato was here, and he directed me to Gorion's old room. According to Piato, Gorion had left something there for me.
Loot on 5th floor: 185 gold, Shandon Gem, Gold Necklace,
Potion of Defense,
Cloak of Protection +1,
And a letter from Gorion addressed to me.
It read: "Hello, Sonny,
If you are reading this, it means I have met an untimely death. I would tell you not to grieve for me, but I feel much better thinking that you would. There are things I must tell you in this letter that I might have told you before. However, if my death came too soon, then I would have never been given the chance. First off, I am not your biological father, for that distinction lies with an entity known as Bhaal. The Bhaal that I speak of is the one you know of as a divinity. In the crisis known as the Time of Troubles, when the gods walked Faerûn, Bhaal was also forced into a mortal shell. He was somehow forewarned of the death that awaited him during this time. For reasons unknown to me, he sought out women of every race and forced himself upon them. Your mother was one of those women, and as you know, she died in childbirth. I had been her friend and, on occasion, lover. I felt obligated to raise you as my own. I have always thought of you as my child, and I hope you still think of me as your father. You are a special child. The blood of the gods runs through your veins. If you make use of our extensive library, you will find that our founder, Alaundo, has many prophecies concerning the coming of the spawn of Bhaal. There are many who will want to use you for their own purposes. One, a man who calls himself Sarevok, is the worst danger. He has studied here at Candlekeep and thus knows a great deal about your history and who you are.
Gorion"
"And there's the final proof," Jaheira said. She and the rest of the party were hovering over my shoulder as we read Gorion's letter. "I'm so sorry, Sonny."
Imoen held my shoulder gently. Like most of the party, her eyes were full of compassion.
My party probably thought the reason for my distress was that I really was the child of the dead god of Murder. But the real reason was, well.
...Gorion was lovers with a halfling woman?!? EWWWWWW. Father, ewwwwww! Halflings look like children!
Neera was giving me a rather different look from the rest. She was peering at me intently as if she was trying to figure out what was REALLY going on in my mind. Probably because she knew for a fact that I already knew all this.
I was rather thankful that no one in the party had an untoward reaction to the truth, now that it had been proven. I had quite a lot to do with that reaction, actually. Because I had brought the whole party in the investigation and pointed out the clues throughout our adventure, everyone on the party was trying to solve the mystery and had been slowing putting everything together, considering even the worst possibilities. So no one was acting shocked or horrified that I was a son of an evil dead god at this point. Contrast this to how the party reacts to the Dark Urge's revelation in BG3.
People management is important, folks.
We were in Gorion's room at the time. Imoen scanned about, then pulled out something thin behind a cupboard. "It's covered up. Wonder what it is."
...eh? I don't remember THAT in the game! Could it be some hidden secret?!?
"Well, don't wait on ceremony. Open it!" Neera encouraged her.
"Some sort of portrait? Imoen, placed the portrait in front of us, and tugged at the cover.
Portrait? ...no, it couldn't be.
I reached out to tell Imoen to stop, but too late. Off went the cover, revealing...
A naked halfling child with a familiar face sitting on a bearskin rug.
As one, the whole party burst out laughing.
"Behold, the child of Bhaal! So evil!" Imoen giggled. "So scary!"
"Chaos will be sown from their passing," Neera snorted, "One cloak at a time!"
I could feel my blood rushing into my face.
Why Gorion?!? What would possess you to have such a potrait commisioned? Don't you care about my aura?
I think I would have preferred shock and horror at this point. Ugh.