First run through.

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@Robert the unwise
So, what's your party ? PC, Jaheira, Minsc, Yoshimo, Aerie, Anomen and Nalia - it's seven ? Have you taken Nalia with you ?

Now you have three healers in the party, Aerie, Jaheira and Anomen, will you carry on this way ?

 

@ Bard - No, this is my first run through.
I actually posted a month or so ago about what to install - whether just SoA or also ToB, and what patches.
@Kulyok - no, we didn't take Nalia, and I know it leaves me with 3 healers. We will have to see whether that is a problem. Jaheira is a Fighter/Druid though, and pretty capable of handling herself.
If, however, Aerie keeps on complaining, then I might see if I can find another mage somewhere.
After resting, we went over to the gates section, only to get ambushed en route. Some nice kit our ambushers had, I must say (plate+1, 37 arrows+1, 2 magical swords, scrolls)
After leaving the city, we got attacked again, and this time we got another quest out of it. Back to Athkatla, with Renfeld's body. In the docks section, decided to see the thieves at a later point. For all his starting fears of the thieves, Yoshimo then changed his tune to 'We can do whatever we want'. Anyway, on the way down to the docks, we met another vampire, this one talking to some thieves. The vampire vanished, and the thieves set on us. I must get that licence for magic sometime. I had Aerie all set up for a Fireball when I remembered.
Once they were dead, we delivered Renfeld to his friend.
Hello Xzar. I remember killing him more than once before. Monty is in trouble, it seems, and Renfeld/Rylock are harpers.
There is an inn just north of us, though, and we will rest there before continuing. I think we will see about finding Monty before we go back to Nalia's. No point in leaving here, just to travel back later.

 

Wow.
This guy walked into Baron Ployer without planning to! Cool.
Where are you doing your shopping. Do you hoard your stuff somewhere or just sell them as your inventory fills up? Ever tried the merchants in the Docks?

 

Shrikant: BOO !
No spoilers, remember ?

BTW, great read. I think, it would be nice to read it as a simple text file as well. I'd better save it

 

How did you decide to help Xar, he IS an evil necromancer you know!

 

@ Shrikant - Fortunately, I ran into the friendly baron before reading your post. Please, try to resist. I can understand that the temptation is there, though.
@ Kulyok. Thanks.
@Thunder - If you read my post from 20 feb, you will see my justification for this type of action. In addition, Monty and Xzar helped what they knew to be a paladin near to Candlekeep , and all the way to Nashkel, and rescuing Dynaheir. One good turn deserves another.
Well ,as said, we met Ployer, and Jahiera got cursed by him. We didn't rest in the inn, but went off to the Govt sector. There, we met Madeen, who sent us to speak to Tolgerias. I am not prepared to commit to him without knowing the job, so we turned him down. We met a mage, who works for Ployer, but I decided not to bribe him (1000 gp is too much). we also bumped into Delon (the boy from somewhere - I can't remember) and Minsc took his job. Who is supposed to be running this party.
From there, to the Coronet. Jaheira's friend is dead, also cursed. Wandered around the slums, finding nothing (apart from where the slavers are), even Gaelan Bayle couldn't help.
Eventually tried the derelict house, and got a kicking. Reload, rest in the CC (changing some spells as well) and tried again. Worked out that if I cast spells in Gaelan's house, the wizards don't come after us, so that's what we did - Chant, Haste and Stoneskin for Aerie.
Went up to Ployer again, and with the aid of Clok of Fear, and summoning spells, we just made it. It was close though (Aerie on 6 hp, Yoshimo on 8). When we found the lock of Jaheira's hair, she said that she was recovering. We went back to the Coronet, and rested for 8 hours. She is no different - still cursed, still down on ability scores. What have I not done. We'll try a temple next, maybe they can help.

 

Don't know if this is a spoiler but it will save you a lot of time you don't have to waste.


The curse will be gone after 24 hours (she said a day's rest, not a night) and there is no way to hasten the process. Just so that you won't waste time on a worthless enterprise

 

Thunder - thanks for that, I was worried that I'd missed something.
We went to a temple anyway, only to find that we couldn't get a Remove Curse on Jaheira. I've currently got an earlier save game, but it appears I won't need it, with another 2 rests.
Back up to the Govt district. We really need to be able to cast magic without trouble.
5000 gp. That's most of what we've got. I hope it's worth it!
Back to the docks. Surprised that no new quests have appeared in the last 10 minutes !
We spoke to the harpers, and they want a house of mages and 'evil creatures' destroyed. OK, I'm up for that. Jaheira and Yoshimo are rather suspicious, though.
The fight was rather easy, possibly too easy, or are Jaheira's concerns making me see trouble where it doesn't exist.
We are now in the Harper base, and, from speaking to people here, we need an amulet to get to the other areas safely.
Finding the amulet was too easy. Put it on Jaheira, and she went upstairs. After talking to the ghosts, she found the bird, and we left.
We went back to Xzar, and gave him Monty, but it wasn't Monty, and Xzar is now dead. It seems they were up to no good, so I can't really complain.
Time for some rest - in the inn at the docks. Doraln had a weird dream, with Irenicus in it (there was another one with imoen, which I forgot to mention), and when we woke up, Jaheira was having a bad dream too.
Aerie was also talking about her wings (or lack of).
Its time to go to Nalia's.
We'll see you there, unless we get waylaid

 

There is a bug in the game, it is about a reward after Nalia's quest.

Consider taking her with you.

 

Before I make a decision on this, can anyone else comment on Kulyok's suggestion.

In a NON spoiler way please.

I will wait until thursday afternoon before making a decision (UK time)

 

In general, it is best to have the character you are helping with you (you get the best character interaction that way) -- from a role playing standpoint the character with the quest may have additional information when you get into the quest. In this particular case Nalia has asked you to help her save her home (she WILL add to the dialogue inside the keep), your Paladin should consider her knowledge of the potential battlefield an asset.

Note I said Nalia asked you to help HER get her home back. Such a request should not be lost on a Paladin (after all being a glory hound is considered one of the seven sins -- pride), it is her duty to defend her home.

That said save your game before kicking anyone out.

 

Definitely take Nalia with you when going to save her home. Especially now that you have paid the 5,000 gp for being able to cast divine magic, you should have Nalia around to actually cast some spells when you're wandering around the city before or afterwards(as she can cast more high level spells than Aerie). Plus, as T2Bruno says, the dialogue is more interesting and relevant when you have her along on that quest.

 

@ HB - I didn't even realise she was a mage - from what she said in the CC I thought she was a thief !
@ T2Bruno - for all her faults, in the CC Nalia appears to be a good (in alignment terms) person - she tries to help the poor and needy.
Doraln is not a glory hound. If glory comes his way, it is because of what he does, not who he is. If people wish to venerate him because of his actions, it is because of his actions AS A PALADIN.

Nobody has, as yet addressed the issue of 'Kulyok's bug' (see above posts). If this cannot be discussed because of spoilers, please say so.
From what HB has said, having Nalia along might be a good idea, but I am reluctant to 'split paths' and have 2 separate games running at once (one with Aerie, one with Nalia.) This game, as my first, is about making decisions, and sticking to them.

 

The 'bug' they talk about is about the amount of reward money you recieve after the quest. I wouldn't let this get in the way of the quest itself. Just try to make a discision and stick with it. You've already stated that Aerie is tarting to get on your nerves so maybe a trade is a good idea.

 

I think the bug is that without Nalia, you endup with just a few hundred GP instead of, more, as quest reward.
I am not sure, but I think that it is fixed even if you take Nalia only to the last fight.
One piece of advice, clear every room you come across. Whether you think you can skip it or not. Also, talk to everyone around.

 

Might I suggest allowing Anomen to take a brief respite -- in that way you can keep both Aerie and Nalia (and won't have to listen to his constant drivel). The firepower of two mages is always useful.

 

If you definitely decided you want to have Aerie then by all means keep her. She can certainly be useful. Nalia dualled from Thief at Level 4 so she only has limited thief skills and is definitely almost exactly like a pure mage. Whether you keep her or not, I still think it makes sense to take her along to save her home. But, as has been demonstrated many time, you can pretty much take any party you want and beat this game.

 

Thunder and Shrikant are correct, money was what I was talking about. So, now you got it in a spoiler way.

Anomen is a much better cleric than Aerie, still, it's your call. Aerie with her pathetic whining - ewww... Even Nalia is better.

 

Sorry there have been no postings for a few days, but I've been too busy to play
Until today, that is

Well, I decided to drop off Aerie, and pick up Nalia. Then, to get all Aerie's magic items, scrolls, etc for Nalia, I had to repeat the process. DOH !
Nalia has now got some nice new spells in her books. We also got some fire arrows for the trolls, which we have now been told are the problem. We also have an entry point for the castle.
Inside the castle, after killing a troll, we met Daleson. It seems we need to find a way into the dungeon to root out the trolls, and yuan-ti, and some burrowing creatures. There should also be a magical flail somewhere, probably in bits.
We cleared the level of trolls (only 5 in total, so lots to come, if Daleson is right), and then found a flail head. From here, we went outside, and dispatched an Otyugh, and then some dogs that were 'red boxed' as hostile (Minsc just filled them with arrows, for some reason.) From here, we went up to the battlements, and opened the drawbridge. When we got back downstairs, we had 2 trolls and a yuan-ti to deal with, with some help from the guards. At this point, I had a look at the journal, and quickly went to collect the dog meat.
Here, Jaheira starts talking about balance, and Doraln being pulled in directions, and 'living each day as if your last'. Morbid. Kind of sounds like she is half expecting to join Khalid at any time.
We made our way back into the building, found the kitchens, and proceeded to make some dog stew. Strangely, I'm not that hungry. From here, its outside to the small compound, to get some rest. We are going through these fire arrows at a rate, and I want Nalia to memorise some fire/acid spells for the trolls.

 

When I first went through this area, I remember it took me HOURS to work out how to open the drawbridge. And I don't remember there being any "dog stew".