I couldn't really reveal much of what had transpired between me and the two halfling goddesses to everyone.
"Divine business, I'm afraid. Us halflings got to keep some secrets," was the most I could say to the team.
Jaheira and Khalid understood, being Harpers. Branwen didn't really care. Imoen fussed for days, wanting in on the big secrets. She gave up, eventually.
Neera on the other hand, I figured she deserved to know more. I couldn't share about the goddesses, but I could share about my previous life.
"So it wasn't really that bad after all," Neera commented while stirring the pot of stew in front of her over a campfire. "I'm happy for you, really. But why had you even asked for your memories to be wiped in the first place?"
We had found a private moment to talk along the road on the long trip back from Gullykin to Friendly Arm Inn. We were doing the cooking, while the others had other chores to attend to.
Since my memories were restored, I could tell her. "I wanted a fresh start. I had made as good a life as I could with what I had back then, and I did a decently. But I had a lot of baggage from my old life. I thought I shouldn't carry it into this one."
Neera stopped stirring. "Then, do you regret getting your memories back?"
I shrugged. "I'd rather have all my memories rather than some dead god troubling me by nitpicking out all the bad parts. In retrospect, I think it's okay for one's past to have some bearing on one's future. The result may be that I'm more Sjoerd again rather than just Sonny," I said. "All in all, getting all my memories back, it's not so bad really."
---
After a stop at the Friendly Arm Inn, the time had come to revisit Baldur's Gate.
We arrived in the city under the cover of darkness, hoods up to hide our faces. In spite of that, a familiar face hailed us.
"Hey, guys. Remember me, your old bud Husam?" Husam cried out.
Husam, from the Thieves' Guild? The guy who gave us info on the Iron Throne, and Imoen believed to have been acting drunk? I only vaguely recall. He hadn't really featured high up on my "NOTICE THIS PERSON" list.
"-hic- Iz so good to see ya all again. Lots has happened sinece ya were gone. Heh heh, ya I've beens hearing all sortsa things. I heards you guys are wanted for murders. Hah, so yer murderers, eh? Well, I still like ya. Hey, I have somore info for yas. Do ya want ta hear it?"
What do you have for us?
"Well, heh heh, quites a bit I have, quites a bit. Does ya know about Duke Elran, he's diseased heez is. His seconds in command -hic- Scar got killed, assassinated heez was. -buuuuurp- Spose that's its. I gots to get going now, if you wants to talk with me some more just come by the Blushing Mermaid. See yas."
He left us just like that.
How to get to the Blushing Mermaid would be an issue, really. I scouted out some Flaming Fist soldiers to the west, so we instead headed north into the nearest sewer.
"Good thing you took the trouble to map out a secret route through the city, eh?" Imoen said to me, dryly.
I grinned back at her.
"'Tis prudent indeed. I must voice I approve. Could stand to train our recruits to do the same," Jaheira answered for me.
Imoen looked away and pouted.
Neera just smiled while listening to us, bemused.
Gotta admit, having someone who was in on the joke was kind of fun for me.
From the sewer, we headed to the Undercellar through the western passage. The Undercellar acts as a central hub for the whole of Baldur's Gate sewers, so from there we could go anywhere in the city. There we would also meet a certain duo of assassins, who funnily enough were not commissioned to assassinate me. No, their target was far more dire.
---
Slythe is a level 13/8 fighter thief with 89 hp, AC2, Thac0 5 with his Shortsword+3. He starts out Hasted, but this can be dispelled.
Kystin is a level 13 thief who is essentially a mage. Her spells include Confusion, Mirror Image and CLOUDKILL. Cloudkill has the interesting property of instantly killing anyone below a certain level 5, without allowing a save. Creatures of level 5 and 6 can make a save at -4 penalty or immediately die. Those above levels 6 don't die but take 1d10 poison damage every round. I remember the first time I encountered them all those years ago, much of my party was wiped to a single Cloudkill spell. Kystin starts out invisible.
Both Slythe and Kyrstin have impressive saving throws (7/6/6/10/7 and 6/6/6/10/7), which meant they would save vs spells and effects about 75% of the time.
There are too many innocent civilians around for firebombing strategies. Further, for whatever reason, certain enemies' invisibility cannot be removed by a thief's Detect Illusion skill, no matter how high the thief's skill is. I'm noticing that's a thing for all the enemies who start invisible.
---
Slythe and Kristin were in the middle area of the Undercellar, surrounded by plush cushions and fancy cocktails.
"Well, well, well, dear. What have we here… blade fodder?" Slythe said as soon as he caught sight of our party.
"I don't know, Slythe. They're so big and threatening… Oh, my mistake, I was thinking of someone else," a female voice rang out of thin air.
"Ooh, she's got a tongue of steel and a heart of gold, my Krystin does… And she's so pretty that she makes herself all invisible so guys don't give her hassle. Not that they would with a tough guy like me looking after her, of course…"
"Slythie-baby, you tell them, honey…"
"Oh, baby, you know me. You know your Slythie…"
The party looked at each other, somewhat confused.
"What do these wretches think they are doing?" Branwen demanded.
"I think they're flirting right in front of us," Neera answered.
Branwen didn't look too happy at the answer.
"Hey, you, don't go watchin' us go all humsy, all right? It ain't none of your business… What's that you whispering, sweetheart? Hey now, my girl Krystin tells me that yous all have a soft spot for the Grand Dukes. Sure is a shame about Entar Silvershield, isn't it?"
Damn, they got to Duke Entar, in spite of my warning to Scar and Eltan. I guess Entar had little reason to believe my warning. Besides, I had no idea how this assassin pair would perform the deed so I could do little to warn how to protect himself.
"One down and two to go. Poor Dukes… Wouldn't it have been better if they had all died together?" the female voice rang out.
"Bah, Krystin, don't give it all away like that, now. It's on… what do they call that again, the silver bladder? Ah, enough of this cat and mouse stuff, anyhow. I ain't cut out for it. We'll kill 'em now and do the dukes after lunch like Sarevok said us to."
"Mmm, I love you for your mind, Slythe."
Krystin's opening move is to cast Mirror Images on herself, which doesn't break Invisibility since this was not offensive spell. Her next move would be to cast Minor Globe of Invulnerability (which means no more Magic Missiles and the like can hurt her), then CLOUDKILL. That would mean a LOT of civilian casualties.
Thankfully, I had Imoen memorise Detect Invisibility just for the occasion. We couldn't interrupt the Mirror Images in time, but with her invisibility removed, Magic Missiles from Neera took out the images. That left her wide open to my backstab. A powerful foe like her avoided a fatal wound at the last moment, but I, Imoen and Neera kept putting the pressure on with the Dagger of Venom, Arrows of Biting and Darts of Wounding.
Khalid was trading blows with Slythe, supported by Branwen and Jaheira's spells (Dispel magic to remove Haste followed by Doom to reduce Slythe's Thac0). Khalid and Slythe both had impressive Thac0 (Thac0 4 vs 5), but Khalid had a huge advantage in AC (AC-7 vs AC 2). Or rather, Khalid had AC -13 vs piercing since he was wearing Full Plate Mail and the Girdle of Piercing vs Slythe's Shortsword +3 (which does piercing damage). Slythe would need to roll an 18 or higher to get past Khalid's defences, or 20 with Doom.
I, Imoen and Neera were doing managing to strike Krystin with our envenomed weapons, but the wily mage disguised as a thief had an amazing save vs poison of 6, only 25% per hit of the poison taking hold. Even so, to make her save five times in a row, that was really lucky on her part. Sometimes you can use all the best strategies but still get shafted by dice rolls. Still, without her defences active, it was only a matter before my blade found its home in Krystin's heart.
Slythe cried out in anguish at Krystin's passing, but he was being pressured by Khalid, Jaheira and Branwen. With the me, Imoen and Neera freed up, it didn't take long before Slythe too was cut down by Khalid's blade.
Loot:
Shortsword+3, Dagger +2 (Longtooth), Sling +1, Bullet +2 (×10), Bullet +1 (×10)
Mage scrolls of Clairvoyance, Flame Arrow, Monster Summoning I, Non-Detection, Protection From Normal Missiles, Skull Trap, Vampiric Touch,
a Potion of Master Thievery,
Letter from Sarevok to Slythe and Invitation.
The letter from Sarevok read,
"Slythe,
The time to strike is now. When the party commences on the night of my coronation, you will join up with my doppelganger assassins at the sewer entrance to the palace. You are to insinuate yourself into the crowd in the ballroom. When I have finished my speech, you will strike. If you aren't there, my doppelgangers will proceed without you, and your payment will be forfeit. Make sure to keep a leash on your little bitch of a wife. An invitation to the party is included with this note.
Sarevok"
The invitation on the other hand was to the inauguration of the newest Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate. It will be held at the Ducal Palace. We could present this invitation to the guard at the gate of the Ducal Palace to be allowed entrance.
"That's it! This letter from Sarevok is the proof we need to implicate Sarevok directly, and the invitations provide us the method of entry into the Ducal palace to stop the murder of the Dukes!" Jaheira said after we were done reading it. "There's no time to waste! To the Ducal palace we go!"
Ah, but I wanted to talk to Husam first! He's just upstairs, outside the Blushing Mermaid above the Undercellar! He's supposed to do this big dramatic reveal that he's actually a Shadow Thief from Amn and they will work with us to...
Oh, forget it. There's no convincing the party to go see other people before securing the safety of the remaining Grand Dukes and stop Sarevok from gaining control of the city.