My Gaming Journey: icewind Dale II - Journal Entry #8
Hello, everyone, it's time for Journal Entry #8 in the game Icewind Dale II. This time the P.O.V. shifts back to the Paladin of Helm. Brannon. I hope you enjoy the journal entry. (Author's note; I've made some adjustments from the original Journal Entry.)
Here we go:
When the party awoke this morning, Helm, Lord of Guardians have mercy we had no idea of what we were in for! Heading in the back door of the Ice Temple we came to a chamber filled with Demonic Abishai. Terrax talked with them and we discovered they were being used for sacrificial rites by something named Aeji-Kilenzr't. When the time of sacrifice happened, we came to face to face with one of three formerly conjoined triplets named Lysara. Before we fought her she was very conversational. We learned a number of interesting things. First that the Aurilites had indeed formed an alliance with the Legion of the Chimera. Second we learned the names of the leaders of the Legion of the Chimera, Isair and Madae. Helm, my father, help me, why do those names give me chills? Also learned that Lysara and her sisters Caithin and Oria are in fact disciples of...Lysan! As in the same Lysan that my uncle Tien and his team defeated years ago when they caught her trying to extinguish the fires in Kresselack's Tomb. We also learned of a "guest" in this temple name of Nickademus.
It was a pity we had to kill Lysara, poor girl. But my father's sacred text, The Book of the Vigilant specifically states, human sacrifice is blasphemy!
Next we met a druid named Nathaniel who was one of the last survivors of the Neverwinter forces sent to deal with this situation. After unlocking their celsl we then went to fetch Nathaniel's things. The adventure took us to the lower level of the temple, and pasta room with a genie who gave us some useful information. We also met Caithin, the second of the three formerly conjoined twins. She proved a powerful Cleric. She and her forces proved to be quite the handful before we were able to reach the stairs to the next level.
On the lower level we fought several sets of monsters before we finally reached Nickademus. By Helm, I must admit to having a respect for the man, who created this temple. To carve something so elaborate out of a block of ice is unbelievable. What a pity such talent was used to create such a terrible place. Nickademus' skills, had they been used to glorify Helm, could've created such wonders! I couldn't bring myself to kill Nickademus. For all that the wizard has done, he's not evil. And I know my father clearly frowns on killing the innocent. It seems he still loved Oria, the third of the triplets, even though her heart had been blackened by hate due to what happened to he sisters. It reminds me of verse 7, Chapter 6 from, The Book of the Vigilant, "Be you Vigilant of the infectious all consuming disease of hate lest it consume you in full."
We wisely decided to listen to his tales, as wisdom is hard to come by these days. The Ice Golem Champions hit hard as do the Crystal Golems and we had to do some real on the run thinking to take care of those nasty things to clear out the lower level. We then had to deal with Oria which was no easy task, Helm have mercy! Finally we discovered the lair that Aeji Kilenzr't was in. With the knowledge we happened to gain from that genie we discovered in the upper level we were able to discover that his name was Caged Fury and that the Living Tempest was a servant of the God, Talos, hiding behind the veil of Auril.
My cousin, Mali, may Helm forgive her, has been smiling like a cat. It seems she sees the trap in Caged Fury's room as a challenge. Helm have mercy she is a precocious one, but under the circumstances her trap disarming skills may be what's needed. Poor Lysara, Caithin, Oria, and Aurilite followers. They thoughtk they followed Auril but in reality followed a servant of Talos. This reminds me of Verse 7 Chapter 8 in, The Book of the Vigilant, "Stand strong in my faith, but be ever vigilant against blind faith lest you miss the tyrant hiding in your midst."
We were finally able to free Nathaniel and the other caged people who were set to be sacrificed. We even recovered Nathaniel's Ring of the Ram. Once we'd done everything we could in that temple, including freeing those Abishai, we headed out the main door. Outside. that's when things got really hairy! We had to fight Aurilite Postulants, Barbarian Warriors, and then we faced Sherincal herself! The Half-Dragon woman proved to be quite the handful. I'd heard of the fearsome fighting prowess of Half-Dragons reading books in the Helmite Library back in Athkatla but, by the Lord of Guardian,s this was something else! Add in a Soarsman, or wyvern and it got pretty hectic.
However, the incredible events of the day were not over! Next, we met up with forces from Luskan who'd managed to push their way through thanks to Nathaniel and the ring of the Ram we helped recover. We gave Captain Mariner the papers we'd been given. The Priest of Tempus' information was most certainly correct. Captain Mariner and his men were indeed Doppelgangers. Fortunately, not all of the Luskan soldiers were taken by the beasts. With the remaining Luskan soldiers we defeated the imposters! Once we'd run some errands, and gathered the loot on the remains of Sherincal we set off.
After fighting our way through some Barbarians, an Aurilite priestess, a giant, and some wolves we reached a place known as The Wandering Village. After talking with Suoma, the village Elder we assisted some of the locals in the village, we bought some items from a shady dealer named Nym and Tahvo, a much more reputable Huntsman. Thankfully Tahvo happily took all the items we'd been storing up. We then headed off.
Finally we fought off some Ice Trolls and an Ice Troll shaman before Mali outsmarted some Barbarians with some clever misdirection. We then ran into a rather strange woman named Limha. Terrax got along well enough with her and she had some interesting magical items. Still, I don't know why but, Helm help me, there's something about Limha that really puts my nerves on edge. I'm going to keep a close eye on that woman there's an aura of darkness about her that I find unnerving, though what it is I know not! Tomorrow when we break camp we head off to te Fell Woods to find whatever spirits are in there and see if we can find any Primrose or signs of those lost children.
Yet I have this feeling that we may be about to meet the leaders of this Legion of the Chimera, and I fear our first meeting with this...Isair and Madae will be ugly! May Helm guide our path!
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