And that was it for the Candlekeep catacombs. The rest of the way out was through a network of caves.
Up ahead however was a group of armed men and women.
"No sign of Koveras," I told the party. I had scouted ahead, since Imoen and Branwen were no longer invisible. "I think this group is covering his retreat."
---
Prat is an 8/8 fighter mage wielding a throwing axe+2. Due to a bug in the enhanced edition, he's not actually proficient in his weapon of choice (He is proficient in missile weapons instead of axes). He prefered to depend on spells anyway, which included Lightning Bolt and single target damage spells.
Sakul, another 8/8 fighter mage, also preferred to use his spells. His selection of spells included Horror and Confusion (damn him), and Fireball.
Bor is a halfling fighter armed with DARTS OF STUNNING. He has a Thac0 of 7 and APR 4.5 thanks to his GRANDMASTERY proficiency with darts. Considering his use of Darts of Stunning, that high attacks per round of 4.5 was going to be a problem.
Tam is a level 8 fighter using Acid Arrows +1. Again, GRANDMASTERY with bows.
Seriously devs, what's with all the cheat characters?
---
Prat spotted the ragtag band coming their way. "If you've come here looking for Sarevok, all you've found is your death."
"Good morning! I am from Calimshan!"
"...what?"
"I don't understand. We come closer!"
"Wait, stop!"
An Arrow of Biting from Imoen from the shadows prevented spell-casting from Sakul, thankfully before he got Shadow Door off.
Prat's opening spell of choice, the slow-casting Improved Invisibility, got interrupted by Neera's Magic Missiles, then was pelted with Darts of Wounding and Arrows of Biting. No more spells from him, either.
Bor and Tam weren't nearly as potent at melee combat as they were at ranged, so with Khalid, Branwen and me in their faces they were put down with ease soon enough.
Due to the close quarters and difficulty to maneuver in the caves, the secret to the fight is positioning, really. Using "Good morning! I am from Calimshan!" to reposition everyone closer to the enemy's ranged experts pretty much sealed the fight once the mages were disabled. QED.
Loot:
Throwing Axe +2, Dart of Stunning (×20), Acid Arrow +1 (×20)
2 Plate Mail,
Mage scrolls of Chromatic Orb, Detect Evil, Luck, Mirror Image, Resist Fear, Strength, Ghoul Touch, Haste, Dire Charm, Ghost Armor, Hold Person, Slow, Wraithform.
...Wraithform? Oh, that's a spell I forgot about, for good reason. Wraithform disables spellcasting in exchange for immunity to non-magical weapons and 25% resistance to magic damage. While there are some uses for it for fighter/mage types against opponents with no magical weapons (say, the bandit camp), it's absolutely terrible for pure mages. It does cast quickly, cast time 1.
Prat was also carrying a letter, which read:
"Prat,
My schemes have come together in an acceptable manner. The mercenaries who have plagued my every step are not imprisoned, but soon will be as they are implicated as of agents of Amn together with the leaders of the Iron Throne. Learn as much as you can about the fate of Rieltar and Brunos, then meet me back at Baldur's Gate. I apologize for leaving you here alone, but it was necessary to return to the city so as to raid the Iron Throne's iron stocks to be supplied to Baldur's Gate. If things proceed smoothly I will be a Grand Duke within a few weeks.
Sarevok"
That's DISTINCTLY different from how the letter should read in the original game, of course. In the game, we are arrested for killing Rieltar and gang even if the doppelgangers killed them instead of us. THEN Tethoril will teleport us into the catacombs so we can escape. Then we would be fugitives in Baldur's Gate and have to clear our name, and stop Sarevok. Duke Eltan would be ill-disposed, so he couldn't speak on our behalf that we were operating on his orders.
This time around, it looked like the next time we enter Baldur's Gate we could still be arrested as agents of Amn. I had tried to warn Duke Eltan, but I didn't know how effective my warning would be. So that much could remained the same, perhaps.
Meanwhile, the party was still coming to terms with what was happening. I explained how we had to avoid Flaming Fist soldiers as soon as we enter Baldur's Gate, based on what we know now.
"This is soooo unfair! We've been working our butts off to save the city, and they want to arrest us!" Neera whined. "Worse, Sarevok's on his way to become Grand Duke!"
I almost expected Jaheira to scold Neera for being soft, but everyone was sitting around looking glum. To be honest, I wasn't too happy about this turn of events either.
"So, what do we do now? If we avoid the city, we can't find a way to stop Sarevok," Imoen said.
"You have the right of it. So we have to go to Baldur's Gate," I said.
"It's swarming with Flaming Fist soldiers looking to arrest us!" Branwen exclaimed.
"So we need to go to Baldur's Gate, find a way to stop Sarevok, while avoiding getting arrested," I said. "While finding a way to clear our names."
"How on Toril are we supposed to do that?" Branwen demanded.
Neera was giving me a knowing look, as if she was sure I knew what happened next. Well, I kind of did, actually, even though things were turning out differently.
Jaheira and Khalid looked at each other with their own knowing look, then looked at me. "It would appear your preparation is going to be put to use after all," Jaheira said, her lips curling slightly. Khalid was positively beaming with pride.
I smiled at the two. "Trust the Harpers to know what to do in a situation like this. But for now, let's get out of these caves."
---
I scouted out some phase spiders and sword spiders packs, but we didn't really have any reason to fight them since they weren't guarding anything nor were protecting anything. We had already hit the experience cap.
Stone statues were a big warning. Creeping around, I spotted two greater basilisks. There was no way around them to reach the exit, only through.
How did Koveras even sneak past them? For that matter, how did Prat and his gang get here. Ugh, never mind.
We did have 5 mage scrolls of Protection from Petrification in our scroll case and these were the last batch of Greater Basilisks in the whole game, but we also had 3 animate dead spells memorised. Three skeleton bulls, immune to petrification and greater basilisk poison, butchered the two greater basilisks while I watched on in the shadows.
---
We were nearly out of the caves. There was someone along the way, however.
Diarmid
"It's about time you got out here, Prat! It is Prat, isn't it? I don't need to tell you that we must not keep the Sarevok waiting! I trust you didn't have any trouble in there? He said that the monks fell did not fall for the ruse, but he's already left for the surface. We really must get moving if we are to catch up with him!"
This was Diarmid. His role was the same as Steven Recap really, to recap the story so far for the players.
"W-Where exactly are we supposed to meet up with this Sarevok?" Khalid asked. I was staying out of sight, of course. I'm a bit too conspicuous.
"Back at the Iron Throne base in Baldur's Gate, of course. He has business elsewhere in the city, but no doubt we shall get our bit of coin if we await him there. There is still much left to be done, so I doubt he'll show for a while though. The disgrace of Sonny will make the road smoother, but we must still act fast. Sarevok is notoriously impatient. Let's get moving."
We tried to grill him for more info, but it was stuff we already knew. At some point, he realised we weren't Prat and gang, and tried to run away. A Command spell ensured we had enough time to put Diarmid out of his misery. Good thing too, he had quite a bit of special ammunition on him (Arrows of Ice ×6, Arrows +1 x10).
And just like that, we reached the exit to the surface. The Sword Coast awaits.