Then we headed west into town. This was my first time actually visiting Beregost during this playthrough, other than a brief night we spent in the Jovial Juggler a day or two after fleeing Candlekeep. I finally visited the Thunderhammer Smithy (where I bought a set of full plate mail) and Feldepost's Inn. I looked for Tranzig but he had gone by now...it had been two months give or take since we emerged from the Nashkel mines, I didn't think he would stick around forever...not to worry, though. I already had all the information I was going to need. Also ran into Garrick...but we're a little beyond becoming mercenaries for only 300 gold at this point, so he wandered away.
But then I stumbled upon a dwarf fighter named Kagain. He was rough around the edges, obviously, and was clearly trying to rip us off. HOWEVER, he worked with caravans so might have some good opinions on bandit tactics and overarching strategy. Furthermore, and more importantly, he was another fighter, and I was looking to get rid of Khalid (I didn't like him either...something of a coward, and not that special of a character). Plus, I didn't want to kick Jaheira out when she was dead, perma-killing her, so the only way to get rid of her would be to get rid of Khalid as well.
I told Kagain to stay put for a little while, while I headed back to the temple to resurrect Jaheira. Once she was back in the world of the living, I let both the Harpers go. They helped me out in the beginning, being Gorion's friends and all, but I have outgrown them and need to "find my own direction," as the text box prompted me to say. Returned and welcomed Kagain. 20 CON, dual-wielding axes, drunk and stand-offish...whew.
So I went south to look for his caravan. I remember seeing one where I encountered Brage, so we wandered back down south for about a week (I didn't remember what map I found Brage on). Eventually I DID find the caravan wreckage...but no dialog from the dwarf. Fine, this isn't the one. My plan was to head back up the bandit camp to wreak some havoc, so that's what I'll do. That's getting more to the source of the problem anyway, and Kagain might be able to find some answers up there. I should have returned there as soon as possible...apparently I'm getting something of a name for myself, and it only takes a little good communication before the Chill and Black Talon leaders in the Woods of Sharp Teeth catch on that the mercenary group causing so many problems is the same one that was walking freely around the camp not too long ago (nevermind the ones who had gotten into a battle in Tazok's tent).
So on the trip up, I guess Kagain just gets tired of looking for the caravan and gives up. Okay then, simple enough. He's traveling with us now. Whatever works. Before the bandit camp, I clear out Larswood and the farm map to the east, to make sure there aren't too many contingents of bandits setting up there. The farm map (I'll call it the "spider map") was a grim scene. A Web trap, some poisonings, and a few nasty spiders were all it took to reduce the party by 40%. I'm not sure what happened...Idaen (the only one with Slow Poison) and Montaron were caught in the web, and I ran out of antidotes pretty quick. Oh yeah, Xzar got a little too close and got destroyed. At the end of the battle, it was just Idaen, Montaron, and Imoen. I took as much as their equipment and inventory we could carry, then continued to troop on to clear the rest of the map before we returned to a temple.
I then realized: this probably wouldn't have happened if we had another tank that could have taken some of the brunt of Kagain. Also, more importantly, it would have delayed Idaen from heading out in the front lines so early in the fight which caused him to get caught in the trap. He could have stayed behind, casted buffs, priest spells, druid spells, whatever, then entered the fray later. Do I regret losing Khalid and Jaheira? Not especially, because now that the two aren't paired up, I have more freedom with the NPCs that I do encounter.
So just the three of us continue to clear out the map. After a little while, we run into a group of "red-robed posers." Some kind of hostile mage cult. Of course, this looks like a tough battle for just a cleric/ranger, a fighter/thief, and a thief>mage...but it's exactly this type of situation that leads me to memorize Silence every day. I threw that out there, Imoen Charmed another one, and the battle was quite simple, especially since Montaron is very dangerous with a bow and arrow now. They turned into just a quartet of really bad fighters with quarterstaves after that, and we cut through them like butter.
I got our two fallen comrades resurrected, then headed straight to the bandit camp. Luckily, they had still not put two and two together, so it must have come as a surprise when I massacred the camp. That should throw a wrench in their plans for a while. I rested in the gnoll cave then headed south to clear out Peldsvale too. Ran into a drow named Viconia but decided NOT to help her. A.) My party's already evil enough, and I want to keep it somewhat balanced, and B.) at this point in the game, I am focusing on clearing out bandits, and if the enemy of my enemy is my friend, then my friend happens to be the law now. Sure I'm good, but chaotic, remember? I would have played True Neutral again this game, but it's not allowed with a ranger.
Sidebar: So I chose to play Chaotic Good instead of Neutral Good. I think Chaotic Good is closer to True Neutral than Neutral Good is. Agree? They kind of balance each other out. I also think Lawful Evil is closer to True Neutral than Neutral Evil is. Now the question is, are CG and LE closer to TN than Chaotic Neutral and Lawful Neutral? Hmm...Alright...so now I'm going to walk up and down the road looking for bandits. I cleared out the bandit camp, so that's going to be something of a stop-gap for a little while, to help out the merchants, farmers and citizens. I want to further this by also helping make the roads safer, even if this is just a temporary fix. Obviously Cloakwood is calling, but in time...I want to find out as much as I can first about the bandits, as I've stayed out of the major roadway for most of this game so far, and haven't traveled much further north than the Friendly Arm Inn.
Idaen, lvl 5 cleric/lvl 5 ranger
Kagain, lvl 5 fighter
Montaron, lvl 5 fighter/lvl 5 thief
Imoen, lvl 6 thief>lvl 4 mage
Xzar, lvl 5 necromancer
Oh yeah, I have Idaen dual-wielding now. Maybe it was a mistake to put a + in sword and shield style, but it's too late now. He's got a flail +1 and Bassilus's warhammer +2 in the offhand.
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