Dark Alliance: A Kirin's Tale

by Blackdrag-rose

Baldur's Gate: Exploring the Depths

With the defeat of the bugbear Chieftain, and Ethon being rescued from his cell, the group headed over to the stairs that lead back to the surface, where Rain paused near it as she and their friend watched as Vahn, Kromlech, and Adrianna did a quick search of the area. He explained that, as adventurers, her companions needed gold and looting the camp that their enemies had set up for weapons and gear would provide them with funds for the future, especially since most of the items they found would go to the merchant in the tavern. Rain understood what he was saying and said nothing in return, as she recalled what her companions had said when she first saw them gathering everything that had been dropped from some of the kobolds earlier, that the gear was good quality and meant it would fetch a good price. She was also sure that if one or more of them found anything useful, like a new weapon or some better gear, it would improve their effectiveness and ensure they were able to face whatever the future held for them.

Once the camp was looted her companions joined her and Ethon by the stairs, where they followed him up to the streets of Baldur's Gate and found that they were right across the courtyard from the Elfsong Tavern, though there was a fountain in between the two locations.

Upon returning to the tavern the first thing they did was check in with Alyth, who was overjoyed to see that Ethon was safe and that they had survived their journey into the sewers, before Rain sat at the bar and watched as her companions took care of the next important step. That was talking to the merchant that happened to be in the tavern, who likely worked in the building next door, hence why he was able to get things to them if they purchased something from his wares, for a time as they sold everything they didn't need and acquired whatever might be needed for the next step of their quest. While her companions did that Rain took notice of two new figures in the tavern, a lady who seemed to be drowning her sorrows in ale and a man in a green shirt who seemed to be smoking on a pipe as he thought about whatever it was that was on his mind right now. Eventually her curiosity got the best of her and she walked over to the figures, finding that the man was Ipswitch and that he had come to pay his respects to the Shrine of Suffering, tended to by the priests of Ilmater, so he could visit his brother's grave and retrieve a medallion, which he described in detail.

Rain found it odd that no one would answer his summons and that the temple itself was closed to the public, making it near impossible for him to do anything he had come to do, so by the end of his tale she had offered to help him out, since it might be connected to the Guild's activities. Ipswitch told her that it wasn't necessary, but, at the same time, if she and her friends were able to help him out he would compensate them for their time and energy, which she was sure that her companions would agree with when she told them about his problems. Osala, the lady, wanted no company right now, a fact that was changed by her somewhat drunken nature clouding her mind, where she told Rain that she was waiting for her lover to arrive, only to mention that it was in vain. Her reasoning was because his employer had sent him to an area called the 'Battle of the Bones', where the dead still walked, to retrieve something and bring it back to them, but so far she had heard nothing from him and feared the worst, and was somewhat willing to let Rain talk to the others to see if they could track him down.

She really had no idea if the path she and her companions were on would head into the temple or cross someone who was Osala's partner, but at the very least the pair seemed happier after talking with her, causing Rain to smile a little as she returned to the bar and waited for Vahn, Kromlech, and Adrianna to finish their shopping.

"While you were talking to the patrons Ethon told me what happened in the sewers." Alyth said, where Rain could see that she was definitely happy with their efforts, given the smile on her face, before she put a small pouch on the table, which no doubt had at least a hundred coins inside it based on it's size, "Here, for your efforts... and you guys are welcome to rest here for no charge."

"That is welcome news." Vahn replied, informing Rain that they were done with their shopping and that they were ready to go, where she found that they had purchased some leather armor that was far better than their normal clothing and that they had acquired a set for her as well.

Sure enough Adrianna lead her back to the room that they were going to be using for some time, or at least the one Alyth had upgraded them to since there were four of them, and while the boys took one side, and set up a privacy wall, Rain told them about what she had discovered so far. While she did that Adrianna helped her get into her new armor, since she was still new to this sort of thing and was unsure of how to put everything on, while she and the others listened to her talk about the other patrons of the tavern. Rain had wondered if they would be angry with her, for agreeing to aid the pair with their problems without consulting her companions, only to find that they were fine with her actions, in fact there was a chance that they could help them out, since they had no idea what the Guild was planning. With that in mind the trio agreed that a bit of rest was in order and, once Rain was ready to go, they got some food from Alyth, so they could take a short break from their journey before heading back into the sewers to find the courier.

A few hours later, with some rest and some food in them, the group left the tavern and returned to the ladder that lead into the sewers, quickly returning to where the camp was located and came to a stop at the door that lead to the passage that would allow them to head into the depths. Vahn made sure they were ready before opening it, as he wanted to be prepared for whatever the Guild might have placed on the other side, only to discover that nothing happened when they unlocked the door, as it was just a small room with stairs heading into the depths. With that in mind Kromlech took over as the leader for the time being and headed down, with Vahn and Adrianna walking behind him, the warrior keeping an eye out for trouble while the ranged attackers kept an eye on the shadows, leaving Rain to follow behind them. She found that nothing jumped out at them as they made their way down the stairs, eventually coming to a new floor that seemed a little more dangerous than the last, due to some explosive barrels near the walls of the first chamber.

Sure enough her companions moved the explosive barrels out of the way before smashing the other normal barrels apart, finding a few bits of gold and some potions to add to their collection, before moving through the nearby door and found that there were three bugbears on the other side.

This time around they had to deal with their enemies and not direct them into some of the kobolds, as there were none of the smaller creatures around, causing Adrianna to loose a longer burst of flames at their foes as Vahn and Kromlech used their weapons, before Rain had an idea. She quickly returned to the previous chamber and utilized the three barrels they had left untouched to their advantage, igniting them before running each one into the area that the bugbears were in, a fact that caused her companions to pull back and join her as the barrels exploded. Her plan worked out quite well, as the explosions severely weakened two of them, while killing the third outright, opening the way for her companions to deal with them before the bugbears could recover. Instead of celebrating the group remained silent as they walked over to the next door and found more bugbears in a more sunken area of the sewers, the water at the same level as what they had seen in the past, where Vahn pulled out his bow and readied an arrow, causing his companions to back off before letting it fly at his target.

The plan was simple, they were going to pull one of them into the passage between the smaller room and the large area that their foes were currently guarding, and it worked like a charm as they carefully removed the bugbears with ease, as with it being four to one there was nothing they could do to save themselves.

"I'm honestly surprised by the amount of bugbears down here... I'm also not sure how they got down here in the first place, without anyone detecting them." Vahn commented, after they took down what seemed to be the last one that was in the chamber they needed to move through next, of that he was sure of based on what he was seeing, allowing them to relax a little as he kept his eyes open, "Also, nice work with the barrels, Rain. That was a good idea."

"Thanks. I'm glad it worked so well." Rain replied, though she knew that her companions were doing most of the work as she worked to catch up to their level of skill, but at the same time she was far more worried about what might be down in the sewers, brought in by the Guild that had attacked them earlier.

With the bugbears dead the group moved deeper into the sewers, where Rain came face to face with a new type of foe, a blue colored square shaped creature called a slime, the more aggressive member of the species since Adrianna told her of the green half sphere version they might find down here as well. They were annoying creatures to deal with, but to fight them the group let one of them raise their shield into position so the others could beat the stuffing out of it, which was more than enough to break each one down as they discovered them. When the slimes died they expanded a little before dissolving into nothingness, or at least it sure seemed like it to Rain, who had to wonder if the slain gelatin enemies might be merging into a mass somewhere else, but for the time being it didn't seem like such a thing was happening. She was also surprised by just how infested the sewers were, as there were monsters everywhere, with no real areas for them to rest in without being in danger of something attacking them, but she trusted her companions and kept her eyes open as they carefully explored the sewers.

Of course they found more kobolds at one point, which made sense given that the bugbears were done here, where they made sure to keep their encounters small so they weren't overwhelmed by enemies, allowing the four of them to clear out the various reaches of the sewers as each one sought out anything that might tell them where the courier was going with his package.

That really made Rain wonder what the Guild was thinking, taking something from a place where the dead still walked, a fact that made her wonder if it would be tainted by the power of death, to raise the undead or something, and if that was the case it sounded incredibly creepy. It also didn't make sense when she thought about it, as in why someone would even want something like that in the first place, since she figured that an army of mindless undead would just kill every living creature, as it would turn Baldur's Gate into a ghost town in due time. If it was about controlling the city her thoughts on it not making sense were sound, but if there was another reason for potentially doing something like this she had no idea what that reason would be, though she refrained from saying anything to the others since she had no knowledge to even back up what she was thinking about. She was sure that if she told Adrianna what was on her mind she might figure out a solution or pick up her train of thought after explaining things to her, she was definitely smart in the art of using magic and understanding it, causing her to focus on the task at hand as they carefully moved through the sewers.

While they walked Rain found a weapon rack that had a staff on it, one that wasn't like what a sorceress might use when she showed it to Adrianna, so she switched it with her weapon, figuring that two sword users were enough for them, as not all of them needed to wield the same weapon. In addition to that the group passed by a side chamber that had a lever inside it, one they moved into position as they heard the grinding of stone on stone further in the distance, meaning there was some sort of sealed path they had to keep an eye out for. During their journey the group discovered an area that happened to have the area that the noise had come from, with a dead thief, Vahn recognized the armor from the night they entered the city, who had a note on him and some gold for them to take. The note, as it turned out, revealed that to enter the crypt that was connected to the sewers they would have to activate three levers that would move the three stone doors out of the way, which made Rain realize why there was a slain thief near the first one, as they must have followed the courier down here and stayed behind to seal the way.

Eventually they discovered where the other two levers were resting, both guarded by more slimes, and moved them into the activated position, allowing them to return to the doors and found some stairs leading down into a darker place, causing Rain and her companions to brace themselves for whatever might be down there

Comments

[badninja]

I think she is going to go monk. A little Kung Fu Fighting always helps.

[Blackdrag-rose]

11482128 Indeed it does. I actually haven't decided on a path for her yet... figured the first act could be one of self discovery.

[Night_Moon60606]

well, you have a few errors in here. for example, a merchant might wear a robe, but he also knows where to place his wares for sale to the various Weres in the village...

i still think Druid would be the best Class for Rain Shine. as a Kirin shes close to nature, the party needs at least one other Caster or Gish, in particular if they need to face Xanithar, and over all it would fit with her lore and form...

[Blackdrag-rose]

11482486 Your comment about the merchant with a robe has me totally confused.

Also, 'need to face' Xanithar? I think you mean Xantam, whose the final boss of Act I, a requirement to move forward.

[Night_Moon60606]

11482546
you have wear instead of ware when talking about the merchant and the things he has for sale, his 'wares'...you have him storing his 'wears' in the other building...

[Blackdrag-rose]

11482550 Oh... I have no idea how in the world I missed that, but I'll correct the error.

[Night_Moon60606]

11482558
and hence my comment about the Merchant, using every homonym of 'ware' i could think of...

[Blackdrag-rose]

11482636 See, I thought you had a problem with where I put his shop for this story, like you actually knew where his shop was located in the city, despite there being no way in game to actually figure that out.

[Night_Moon60606]

11482881
nah, for all we know, its a hidden chest under the rendered map...thats how Skyrim does it...

[Blackdrag-rose]

11483362 If the game was more modern, like Skyrim, I could possibly see such a thing. In this scenario the merchant likely has a list of his wares on him and travels between the tavern and his shop when interacting with the heroes... to make it more realistic and less like a game.