So from the wolf cave, we return to the temple and make our way through it. Mazzy is using her shortbow pretty effectively, and we eventually arrive at the Shadow Altar to confront the Shade Lord. We had to sneak by the Shadow Dragon...no way I'd be able to handle it at this point, but I'll come back at some point in the future when I feel I have some sort of chance. In the end, we defeated the Shade Lord, Mazzy pledged her allegience, and the light returned to the forest. Still not sure what that werewolf I saw was about. Did I even see one?So I head back to Imnesvale (hope I spelled that right...). Due to my successful adventuring work, they mayor anoints me the official ranger-protector of the Umar Hills area. I accept graciously. This is exactly what I need...a nice, quiet place away from Athkatla, where I happen to be trusted and treated like a hero. I head to my new cabin and store some items and weapons that I don't want to sell, but don't necessarily want to be carrying around taking up inventory slots.
Oh, and since I'm the ranger-protector now, I feel like I can help the guy who's in love with the Cowled Wizard's daughter. I see if I can talk to the girl's father, because I want to help, but also because I'm always eager to speak with a Cowled Wizard...the friendlier I am with them, the likelier it is that I'll be able to find Imoen, or so I think. Well, it turns out the guy has no useful information for me, and is passively insulting me. But, I happen to have some mimic blood that I had retrieved a few days earlier so I give it to him, hoping to have him warm up to me. But what do you know, his golem turns on him. We just stood there and didn't assist him at all. He defeated the golem single-handedly, but I guess in the chaos he thought my party had helped. This turns him around a little bit, and he leaves to reevaluate his life. No info about Imoen, but I help out these two kids in love and strategically remove the Cowled Wizard presence in *my* new area.
Not much to do in the hills after things settled down, so I headed back west to Athkatla. I had been gone from the city for about a week when I return (by the way, I'm about twelve days out of Irenicus's dungeon at this point). I make a straight line to the government district, where I find Tolgerias of the Cowled Wizards, the one who commissioned me to bring back Valygar. It seemed wise on my part to try to negotiate with the guy, now that I know exactly what the body means to them. I sort of envisioned a scenario where they hired me to look inside the sphere, and they agree to share information about Imoen. Instead, Tolgerias just snaps and teleports out of there, promising revenge later. Great. This really didn't go as planned...
So with a Cowled Wizard standoff seeming possible in the near future, I need to figure out a game plan. But first, a visit by two messengers. The first asks me to go see Gaelan Bayle...the cost of service is now 15000gp. Okay. The second is a woman who asks me to see her mistress in the graveyard at night. It seems mysterious, and honestly I don't see the value in it. I have a lot to worry about right now, and I have no information about this graveyard meeting: who the mistress is is, why they want to see me, and most importantly, what I can gain out of it. Not going to go until I see a reason to go.
So 15000gp seems a little more reasonable, and I doubt I'm going to get any more help from the Cowled Wizards. But I need to re-up on armor, weapons, and equipment, so I head to the Adventurer's Mart. Buy everyone magical weapons, better armor, etc. This takes me down to around 8000gp or so, so Gaelan Bayle is going to have to wait.
The sphere seems like it should be the next target. There is most likely valuable treasure in there, and I want this Tolgerias situation to come to a head as soon as it can...I don't want to constantly be looking over my shoulder, even though that seems about normal these days.
I check out the rest of the Promenade first, as I never really got a chance to explore Athkatla with any depth. Immediately I run into a circus emergency, so being the riveting adventurer that I am I have no choice but to accept. A few hours and a dreamworld later, a mage/cleric named Aerie has joined the group. An extra healer and an extra mage are the two things I was looking for, so tactically she makes a great 6th member of the team. More or less satisfied with the group now, and the first time in the game that we're at max capacity. Mazzy's a little bit of a question mark right now, as I kind of want a warrior that's more of a tank, but whatever (++++ in short bow, really?). Minsc is still there, right? Eghh, I don't know if I'm ready for that...So I'm going to take my time exploring the big city for now, while gradually drifting closer to the slums and the sphere. The Windspear Hills are on the back of my mind...seems like an easy 10kgp (or what is 15?) from a gentleman named Firkraag. That's if I can't save up 15kgp in the city alone in a reasonable amount of time, although I doubt that...(isn't this the "City of Coin" or something?). The six-member team:
Idaen, lvl 9 cleric/lvl 9 ranger
Korgan, lvl 9 berserker
Mazzy, lvl 10 fighter
Yoshimo, lvl 12 bounty hunter
Nalia, lvl 4 thief>lvl 11 mage
Aerie, lvl 8 cleric/lvl 9 mage
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