Solo cleric (SoA)

Remove all ads!

Great! A non-complaining female cleric, I thought that as something that only exists in dreams

Keep on going dude! Helm watches over you upon your quest!

 

More more! I want more

 

The Umar Hills. Celestine started with the small fry and talked to Madulf, got Jermien his mimic's blood, and bought a Beljuril -- she leveled up to lv14, and got her first 7th-level spell!! I picked Earthquake, it being a good damage spell. I can always use Charm Earth Elemental, as soon as I get the Ring of Earth Control from de'Arnise Keep, to appease it. Good damage and the chance for a free lackey.

These simple tasks also gave her a great deal of food for thought. Consider this: Madulf and his band are ogres, and are by very nature intristically evil. Even so, all the chief ogre seemed to want was peace -- furthermore, he was not causing the murders in the area and his people were even victims of his plague. How do you define evil, if not by race and precedence? Collette and Daar. In the Book of Helm, the word of a parent was law; she could not see why both chose to defy this law and love each other anyway, and yet felt strangely satisfied as she witnessed a happy ending to their tale. Though it pained her, she almost wished to fall in love herself, and cursed her restless spirit for it's foolishness.

And finally, the farmer's daughter. How foolish was her unnatural love for the adventurer's life? Was something wrong with her, in having no wish for security? She had missed it, after first leaving Candlekeep; but at that time she was no longer welcome there, and had a world to explore. Now, she did not know whether she still ought to desire this life, or whether she had the choice of escape. Currently she had a mission; the rescue of Imoen was of the utmost importance. Even so, after Imoen had been rescued, she would be without a purpose, and possessing more of those confusing moral problems which had led her to eschew the company of others, and had probably caused Imoen's imprisonment in the first place. She stared at the wooden table in front of her, and gulped a generous gulp of ale, tracing the grain of the wood with her slender fingers. For the first time in her life, Celestine did not know what to do.

She had once possessed her faith. Yet know, it was faltering. Celestine was scared: she was utterly alone.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Umar Hills, part two. After finding Merella's journal and the note from the warrior Mazzy Fentan, Celestine headed to the ruined, haunted area north of Imnesvale. Although she was often accosted by murderous shadows, they died instantly as she turned undead. (Note from Tia: As I expected.) She freed the warrior Mazzy from the clutches of the shadows, heeding the halfling's advice about the perils that lay ahead of her, especially the gem room, but refused the valiant, though dimunitive, lass's offer of company; though Celestine liked Mazzy, considering her a kindred spirit, she would not involve yet another person in her personal pains and sorrows.

Like the hand of Helm's justice she swept through the haunted temple, until she got to the lava pit populated by Skeleton Warriors and Bone Golems. There she ran into trouble. After one unfruitful attempt at dispatching them (yes, these guys were trouble), she decided on a strategy. Summoning some Mountain Bears as cannon fodder, Celestine moved behind the faithful animals as they were being pounded on, and cast False Dawn. The effect was incredible. All undead, even the massively magic-resistant Skeletons and Golems, took 6d6 damage and were confused. She cast Sunray, bringing one down and leaving a badly injured Greater Mummy and an injured Bone Golem. She retreated to the other end of the room, giving her time to cast spells (the bears were all gone by now). She had cast her buffing up spells before hand, and with Seeking Sword became a machine of war. That was all it took to finish off the pesky undead.

Down the path: a massive collection of powerful, damaging undead. Shit!! The Hand of Justice reloads, and this time sends two bears to cover her front as she moves. One False Dawn and a (1044 damage) Sunray later, Celestine buffs up, kills 2/5 of the original monsters (a badly injured Skeleton Warrior and an injured Bone Golem), and catches some well-earned ZzZz's.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next God(dess) brings you the exciting duel to the death between a cleric and a dragon. Celestine had been warned by Amuana, child-priestess of Amaunator, of what lay between her and her vengeance against the Shade Lord. However, she did not change her usual line-up of spells much, merely replacing her False Dawn spell with a Bolt of Glory spell, her Sunray with an Earthquake, and filling up all of her lv5 spell slots with Flamestrike. She moved into the Shadow Dragon's chamber, her strategy already formulated in her mind.

Although, with Helm's blessing, she was the best of warriors, she was not foolish enough to believe that brute toe-to-toe strength could defeat the Shadow Dragon. Upon entering the room, she summoned two Skeleton Warriors of her own (they are a lot more likeable when they are on your side, making Celestine glad that she had attained level 15), and two Mountain Bears. Thaxll'ssillyia stirred in her sleep, but did not awaken. She moved the assorted monsters around the dragon, and positioned herself as far away as she could move before losing sight of the dragon.

Then she cast Bolt of Glory. It was the blow which awakened the monster, therefore doing no damage. Thaxll'ssillyia screamed in rage and defiance at the puny elf, armed only with her faltering faith, that dared disturb her slumber. With a single Death Spell, she dispatched the two Skeleton Warriors. As Celestine cast Flamestrike, she Wing Buffeted the bears, killing one and knocking the other unconscious, and came for Celestine. She swiped at Celestine, landing on her for about 30 damage but not interrupting her spell; as soon as Celestine saw that column of flame descend from the heavens, she ran for the cover of the pillars at the sides of the vast, dark hall, where the dragon could not reach, and from there dispatched a second Flamestrike. She lost sight of the dragon; she moved slightly forward, then cast another Flamestrike and moved back again.

The unconscious bear awoke, and attacked the Shadow Dragon; the monster turned to face it, casting Chaos on it and giving Celestine time to fire off her last Flamestrike; the dragon did not save against that one, so it caused a whopping total of 63 damage, and the dragon collapsed in a charred, dead heap. With contempt, she emptied the Shadow Dragon wardstone from her bag; even if another such creature lived in the world, she no longer feared them.

One object of the Shadow Dragon's horde was of particular interest to her; she read of the ultimate weapon named the "Crom Faeyr", and vowed to have it for herself....

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AUTHOR'S PERSPECTIVE: Then, trouble. I expected the battle against the Shade Lord to be almost an anticlimax by comparison; it usually has been, for me. But NOOOOOOOO.... No such luck. That damn Shade Lord keeps casting Symbol: Stun on me, effectively disabling me for multiple rounds; he and his goons finish anything I summon up very quickly, and then they start on me. They level drain me, too. At that point, I was effectively ready to ask for help.... Except for the fact that I wasn't allowed online until the evening. So I try something different....

At that point, it hadn't really crystallized to me that I was trying "something different". What I *THOUGHT* I was doing was, repeating my Rayic Gethras strategy (summoning some monsters beforehand and drawing the enemy to them). But my Mountain Bears summoning was all in vain; repeating my buffing up was helpful, though, and I then remembered my Cloak of the Sewers. Finding the thought of regenaration amazingly useful, I turn into a troll (Celestine hates the smelly troll, but understood this necessity), and barge in all by my lonesome. However, as soon as the Shade Lord finishes talking to me, I leave the area. The fundamental flaw in my plan is that he doesn't follow me.

So Smelly Trolly Celestine goes back, and this time the Shade Lord seems to have forgotten that he's memorized a Symbol: Stun spell. I attack him, hitting him only occasionally but doing decent damage when I hit. I sometimes get level drained, but am never more than two levels down from my original level. Then, Flaw Two presents itself: Shadow Patrick. Something I never knew befor in my full-party games.... HE CAN HEAL THINGS. Cure Medium Wounds, to be precise, on the Shade Lord. I deploy my Berserk Warrior (I have the Iron Horn of Valhalla, at this point), to distract Patrick even though his weapon does not damage the undead adventurer. By the time the Warrior dies, I am done with the Shade Lord, and attack Patrick.

Then my Troll polymorph picks the best time to wear off; when I'm surrounded by EIGHT shades (I counted), and the Shadow Patrick. As a last, desperate resort, I turn undead; to my surprise, they all collapsed in an explosion of red blood. I then cast my two Flamestrikes (there WERE four, but I had spent plenty of time level-drained), then cast Holy Power and then Seeking Sword, finishing off the altar. The Shade Lord's dark dominion collapses at the feet of Celestine....

She is still afraid. The results of her quests have certainly not seemed to strengthen her faith in Helm; only her faith, and confidence, in yourself. In a certain way, this was the worst sort of blasphemy she could offer the Everseeing Eye: considering yourself divine, some sort of higher power. The very same sin the Dead Three ... Bane, Myrkul, and ... Bhaal ... had commited. Was she walking down the same dark path as her father?

Celestine was shaken; she was determined to prove to herself what REAL evil was. She decided that her meeting with Bodhi was long overdue.... Somehow, she had the sinking feeling that she knew what Bodhi would turn out to be....

 

I definitely doff my role playing and writing hat to you. THIS IS A GREAT STORY!

What else is there to say?

 

Keep the good work up Celestine might be able to challenge Helm himself soon if she keeps this up.

 

The night was eerily silent, like a pool of black oil reflecting nothing in the abscence of light, even to the elven woman's keen infravision. There was no sound in the graveyard either, apart from the quiet sighing of the wind murmuring in Celestine's ear, and the heels of her boots clicking sharply against the cold marble. A blast of cold air swept against her, making her shiver even through her Plate Mail armor. It was a grim sight, enough so to chill the heart of even the most stalwart of warriors. Celestine shivered and, mustering her resolve, walked forward, feeling highlighted against the darkness of the night.
A flash of movement caught her eye, silken in grace, as if the night itself had moved. The figure spoke, in a low, hissing voice. "You have arrived. I had worried I might have to discipline Valen for failing to deliver her message. I am Bodhi, and I greet you warmly."
In the back of her mind, something Celestine had learned to call her "Bhaalsense alarm-bells" rang. This creature was WRONG. It was not an evil of nature, but one entirely outside of natural order, an evil which was an affront to nature and to all justice, divine or otherwise. It was an evil out of this world. Nevertheless, Celestine decided to speak to it civily as of yet; there was no point in alienating an unknown factor. "Warm you may be," she said, "But you are in a very cold place. Was this necessary?"
"You may be concerned about why we must meet here. There are a number of reasons, only a few of which you need worry about. First, I shall introduce myself. I am Bodhi. I have asked you here because we are unlikely to be overheard, and so you can see the benefits of working with me. Follow, please, and stay exactly in my step. You would...regret doing other."
Celestine wondered if this was a threat, a poorly-veiled one; this might be unwise, but who knew WHAT powers this creature of the night commanded. So she followed Bodhi. She was really entirely at the other's mercy, much as she might hate this and as much as she might wish to struggle against it; nevertheless, she followed the fiend through the cold, dark graveyard, which, with it's mistress's arrival, had come alive with sound: the howling of wolves and the chattering of ghouls. Gritting her teeth, she remained exactly in Bodhi's step.
Finally, the two -- cleric in service of law and pledged to uphold justice, and dark night-beast with a passion for blood, who tried to drink the lives of the living -- stopped at the entrance to a large, double-barred door, a the entrance to a sizeable, grand crypt. They made an odd pair.
"This is the entrance to the hold which I offer you access to," Bodhi stated. "Oh, I am sorry, I have moved ahead of myself. I shoud outline what I intend. You are...employed, of course, and do errands occassionally. No doubt you have questioned the intent of your employer on occasion? If you haven't, then you should. You work for the Shadow Thieves," the creature said, pronouncing the name with venom, "on the pretense they will help you locate your missing companion, Imoen. Yes," she spat, "they are Shadow Thieves, and yes," again a hiss, "they are as nefarious as you have probably heard."
As nefarious as you? Celestine thought, but said nothing. Much as she hated to admit her, this creature froze her to the very core.
"I would offer an alternative. I would help you find your friend for...oh...15,000 gold? It is a sizeable amount less than the Shadow Thieves have asked, and, coincidentally, it is what you have now."
I have a lot more, Celestine thought, so obviously you haven't been keeping track of me as well as you'd like to think. And, oh, I'd pay twice that -- I do possess it -- to AVOID working with you, unholy being. But of course she did not say this out loud. Instead, she asked, "You know an awful lot about me. Where have you learned all of this?"
"I know a great deal about you and this place, Celestine. You are a relative newcomer and have much to learn. Certainly you have had your doubts about those 'helping' you? You will be unable to turn down my offer, even if I demand a few...gestures to prove your loyalty. There is a monopoly in this town, and I intend to break it. I will ask you to weaken the 'resources' of the Shadow Thieves. I am not so vain as to think them easily destroyed, but many of their members will join with me. I make no illusions about what will be required of you. I will wish you to kill, and I will wish you to terrorize. You must determine if you have the stomach for it. 15,000 is a lot, but I will compensate you well for it. You will ultimately have Imoen, and a few magical trinkets too. And rest assured, I will help you find Imoen. I will help you find Irenicus, but not just for your reasons. I have an interest in Irenicus myself. Support me and you will revel in the destruction of the largest criminal organization south of Waterdeep, though the big bad thieves have been rather soft of late."
And this is meant to ENTICE me?! wondered Celestine. Watch me turn you down, you monster. Watch me. "What if I don't trust either group?" she exclaimed. "They may well be thieves, but you are very creepy." Briefly, she paused to wonder about her phrasing.
"It does not matter if you do not trust either of us;" responded Bodhi. "You must, for the time being, deal with one or the other. Perhaps it is unseemly, but try to think long term. If you work for me you oppose a soft-hearted criminal organization. If you work for them you oppose...what? Someone 'very creepy', as you put it? Please, this is pointless. I am the better choice. I will give you free reign to do as you will. You will be a force to be feared. Now is the time for deciding. I cannot wait too long and I tire of talking. The masters you serve or the Mistress that will let you destroy them."
Celestine felt a stab through her heart; all of a sudden, she missed Imoen, her childhood companion who was like a sister to her, more than ever. She missed Jaheira's wise counsel, and Kivan's wisdom, acquired in so much pain, or even Ajantis's single-minded black and white vanquishing of good by evil; if she had not been so busy, she realized that she could have fallen in love with either man. Unfortunately, her preoccupation with her destiny as a Child of Bhaal had been too much, and she had ignored her present in the quest for her past and future.
Celestine felt lonely, and she was afraid; the problem with being alone in this empty, turbulent world is that you have no one to share your burden with you, through both the happy times and the sad. No one to advise you or to comort you. She was very frightened, and all of a sudden she realized that Bodhi's arguments held some merit; the Shadow Thieves were CRIMINALS, and unlawful; she did not, could not, trust them. Then again -- was Bodhi any more trustworthy, for all that there was no single law specifically prohibiting the existence of creatures such as herself? No.
Choose now, Celestine, she told herself. Which will you follow -- law or justice?!
She was surprised to find her decision already made.
"I do not trust you or the others, but they are the devil I know. I must decline," she said, more strength in her voice than she had ever expected to find there."
"That is...unfortunate," Bodhi replied. "Very well, you may go. You have made an enemy here today, and I will face you on my own terms whenever the inevitable time comes."
As if she has control over my comings and goings!! Celestine thought indignantly, and suddenly a terrifying thought struck her. Yes; she knew, she did know, she had always known, what Bodhi was. "VAMPIRE!!!" she called, as the creature of darkness retreated into the crypt. "I WILL DESTROY YOU!!"
She was alone in the silence of the night.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well? What did you think?

 

This is great. A little different from the other stories around, a little more descriptive. Keep up the good work!

 

This is great work Tiamat! Keep it up!

 

Celestine returned to the slums, her mind and body exhausted by the events of that night. The light of dawn was just creeping across the horizon upon her return, and she wanted nothing better than to crawl back to the Copper Coronet and go to sleep. However, she knew that there was another thing she needed to do, which was far more urgent, and she no longer had any doubts about it; she had burned all her bridges. She returned to Gaelan Bayle's home and delivered to him the 15,000 gold she owed.

Then, with a sigh in her heavy heart and a heavy iron key in her hand, she returned to the Shadow Thieves' guild, selling off much of her excess wealth -- material and sinful goods a cleric of Helm, who dealt in pure and unalloyed law, had no need of. Opening the locked and hidden door she had earlier discovered, she headed into the real Shadow Thieves' guild of Athkatla.

There, her fascination overcame her fatigue (a fatigue of mind if not of body), and she allowed herself to explore an enormous complex in which she knew she was only a tolerated visitor. She now felt like she half-understood the things Imoen had said when, before forsaking her older trade and taking up spellcraft, she had declared, "It isn't unlawful!! It's fun!" It did indeed seem like a fun, if deadly, game. She thought she herself with her elven agility and ability to wheedle, might have made a good thief had her life not taken her down another path. For more than the first time -- although she felt heretical each time she did it -- she wondered how else things might have turned out. She wondered.

The most remarkable thing was, that these thieves were everywhere!! For example, she came to "the Crawl", as they called it, and watched in fascination as the thieves-in-training chased themselves down it's dark pipe depths. When she ventured deeper into these back rooms, she encountered a thief who spoke of treachery against Aran Linvail, the Shadowmaster; no sooner had he finished stating his proposal than another thief, obviously a full member of the guild, appeared to end the would-be traitor's life. It was fascinating.

Finally, she gave up her exploration, since the time of duty -- and loyalty to old comrades, dear friends -- had returned. With a grin, and to the amazement of many of the surrounding Shadow Thieves, she hoisted up her cleric's robes and CLIMBED up the walls of the Crawl in order to reach the narrow, swinging bridge which was the only way to reach the Shadowmaster's quarters. With lithe grace which was exclusively elven, she twisted off the walls and landed on her feet on the narrow, swinging bridge. She grinned at the thieves, who's jaws were dropping, and continued merrily on her way. Strangely enough, her heart felt a little lighter.

Aran Linvail turned out to be a much more palatable, even likeable[/], employer than Bodhi, the hated...despised...unnatural vampire. There was certainly somethig rogueish, unpredictable, even chaotic about Aran, but he did not seem evil to her. Finally, somewhat discouraged, she cast Detect Evil to strengthen her faith and remind herself that these thieves were unlawful and evil. To her surprise, she found that no sense of evil radiated from Aran, and very little from the thieves in his stronghold. It was interesting, somewhat frightening food for thought.

Of course, a swift reminder that thieves were not always reliable came when Aran requested her to perform three tasks for him in order to receive his aid; heh, yes. He was a thief, and thieves adhere to the so-called "honor among thieves". Angrily, she stalked out of the thieves' guild by a lower door which led her nearer to the docks. She spoke to Mook, who seemed extremely likeable; in certain ways -- not just in appearance, but in that too -- she reminded Celestine of her "li'l sister" Imoen. Thereore it was a rude awakening when Mook was brutally murdered by a vampire named Lassal.

Infuriated, she returned to Aran, then marched to the Bridge District. It was now just past dawn and it had been a long night; she had met Bodhi, pledged her support to the Shadow Thieves' guild, and seen the death of a woman like enough to be Imoen's twin. It was frightening. Heading past one of the houses on the southern side of the Bridge District, she saw a man dressed in vivid scarlet; immediately, she remembered Tirdir's story of the man who had buried him alive, so she confronted the man and killed him. Then she marched into the neighboring house and killed his two cohorts when they ran outside, releasing their victim, the kidnapped Lady Elgea Welther.

Reaching the Five Flagons Inn just before noon, she slept exhaustedly till after sundown, then went upstairs to the room where the two would-be traitor thieves waited. Alternately threatening them and taunting them, they called out the name of the contact -- "Gracen" -- before attacking her. She dispatched them just in time to meet the contact and have him reveal the location of Bodhi's hideout in the Graveyard District. She had no doubts that Bodhi was the leader of the rival "guild", the Night Knives. Grinning recklessly and giving in to her inner anger, she admonished Gracen to give her greetings to Lassal before attacking him.

Aran was certainly pleased with her; although rueful that the contact had not revealed more about the nature or the location of the rival guild, he was not about to berate Celestine for it, and even he doubted that she could have coaxed much more from the rival guild's agent. So, with this information secure, he sent Celestine, the "Shining One", as she was being called, Hero of Trademeet and Savior of the Umar Hills, to do what an army of his men could not, although she was only one and alone. He sent her to kill Bodhi, and despite her inner fear, Celestine was glad to do it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aran's pet mage seemed a likeable enough fellow, Celestine decided as she saw the man in the smooth brightly-hued robe, which was discolored by large patches of shadow. He greeted her in a warm voice, and she nodded at him, readying her weapons and casting her spells of combat-preparation. Standard defensive spells and spells of fighting prowess should do, in this case. She was sure that, whatever came out of that door, she woudn't like it.

She was right. As soon as Fleshy the Flesh Golem, the mage's construct, opened those blue doors with an aura of fear that no living human could approach, half-invisible skeletal figures burst out of the crypt and attacked her. Fleshy tried to keep the bulk of the creatures away from the two humans, but nevertheless the mage -- the mage with such a nice smile and open, warm, and friendly demeanor, fell under their spiked flails.

Inwardly Celestine shrieked; all she seemed to be seeing these days was death, rather than dealing with life the way a cleric's primary duties were meant to do. She fought fiercely, slaughtering the undead monsters, and progressed into the crypt before her resolve could fail her. There she killed two adult vampires and two fledgelings, and proceeded to the crypt to stake their bodies before they could rise from the grave. Their level-draining claws seemed to have much less effect on her with that amulet that Aran had given her, and she was glad; perhaps that was where her 15,000 gold had gone, to purchase items that would make life a little easier for her.

Spying a stairway, she headed downstairs, summoning two Mountain Bears as soon as she was able to, in case something unpleasant lurked at the foot of the stairs. Nothing more unpleasant than a couple of Ghasts awaited, however, so after her faithful bear stooges had been killed by the Ghasts' diseased attack, she progressed alone after casting a few protective enchantments. Unfortunately, as soon as she opened the first door she came to, the real trouble which she had been expecting arrived; there was a whole room-full of those invisible weapons-bearing undead.

She killed as many as she could in the initial attack, and then retreated to the doorway where she could attack them one by one. It was painstaking; Vampiric Touch helped finish one off, and had the secondary effect of healing her somewhat; even so, she soon needed to run a distance away and cast Heal in the time this won her before the creatures caught up with her. Eventually, it was over, and she was grateful; she was noticeably wounded, although not gravely so. Her effort, although time-consuming, was fruitful when it won her the 17th level, putting her strength on a par with any high priest of Helm.

She progressed into the large empty room, this time with a lot more caution than she had initially displayed. The only thing which awaited her there was the vampire, Lassal, however, and after taunting her the undead monster dissappeared to the floor above, promising a second encounter in the "room of blood and spikes".

Celestine returned upstairs, this time resolving to expect trouble; aside from her protective enchantments, she also summoned two mountain bears, a lv7 Berserk Warrior, and Kitthix, the enormous spider whose figurine she had won from the drow woman Pai'Na on her way to Bodhi's blue doors. She also indulged herself in a few curative spells and an Oil of Speed, and sent her monsters to scout the corridors ahead of her. Soon she was glad, as she heard the low chant and the fizz of magecraft. Moving carefully foreward, she saw a vampire woman casting spells which made her invulnerable to magical weapons and normal missiles, as well as most magic, rendering Celestine nigh helpless.

After much thinking, the elf hit upon a strategy: she need do nothing. Her monsters were more than powerful to take on Tanova by themselves, so she hung back and waited to see the results of the carnage. Her psychic bond with the creatures informed her that the undead witch was dead, so she moved foreward with the summoned creatures as a bulwark between herself and the unknown, and headed foreward to the room of blood and spikes.

Lassal was indeed there, as good as his word, and Celestine expended no effort to defeat him, since merely a blow from the Mace of Disruption she had found in a pool of blood was enough to return the vampire queen's right hand to his coffin in gaseous form, his metaphorical tail between his legs. Celestine snatched a moment of rest from amidst the carnage, trusting the creatures to guard her back until their return whence they came, to their forest homes, the realm of Death, or the ethereal plane. Besides, she trusted that she had done her job thoroughly; the graveyard crypt, Bodhi's lair, was just about empty of vampires. Only it's mistress was AWOL.

Returning to the room of coffins a few hours later, Celestine summoned up a couple of monsters (mostly Skeleton Warriors, since she deemed them more likely to stand up to the poisonous claws of the dark queen, and ended Lassal's life-after-death. As she expected, Bodhi was immediately called home by the death of her most trusted subordinate, and proceeded to attack the elven cleric in rage. Furiously, Celestine cast Flamestrike after Flamestrike against the vampire, as the skeletons kept it back. Finally, Bodhi sneered, and with a few cryptic remarks, left her opponent with more questions than answers. The usual, that is.

But at this point, Celestine didn't care. She stagged out of Bodhi's crypt by a door that had been barred from the inside, and emerged in the Athkatla's graveyard district just past dawn. A rosy aurora tinged the horizon, and even in the barren graveyard, birds were beginning to sing sweetly. Life seemed to be renewed, and to an elf, life is sacred, one of the most precious things there are.

Celestine staggered into the Copper Coronet two hours past dawn, paid Bernard for the best room of the house, and fell asleep face down on it's embroidered quilt without even bothering to take off her boots.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, Tanova was a bitch. She was really, REALLY a bitch. I even had to ask for help in the chat room, although in the end it was one of my own strategies which was the solution. Even so, thanks to Ragusa, who tried to help me. And thanks, LordNocturne, you recommended a great song -- it's the first on my playlist when I'm typing Celestine's tale up, these days. Everyone, keep on reading, please!!

[This message has been edited by Tiamat (edited November 01, 2001).]

 

Wow that was some night for Celestine! She'll sleep the whole way to Spellhold .

 

Two nights, but yeah. Wait, though -- she isn't leaving yet -- !!

 

A great story indeed! Keep it up!

 

Great story ! Go on with the great tale of Celestine's adventures !

 

Yay! Voodoo is an AWESOME song. I haven't had much time to play, but i probably will today.

 

This is very well written. You've turned a plot which we all know into a fascinating tale - as Kailynne and Tjekanfir have also done.

 

There's no rest for the weary, Celestine thought as she staggered down to breakfast a full twenty-four hours later -- not because she thought she needed it, but because she thought she had earned it. In fact, ssshh -- don't give it away, please -- she WAS right. The same young woman whom Celestine had seen killing Lehtinan's guards during the Coronet slave uprising now approached her, and said,

"Is anybody willing to hear my plea? Please, anybody? You, you look like the fighting sort...."

Celestine rudely replied that she was a cleric, a person dedicated to a higher power, not a fighter, who lives for bloodshed; then asked the young woman what her trouble was. It turned out that Lady Nalia de'Arnise was slumming in order to find a group of fighters...or a single fighter...to aid her embattled keep. However, although the noblewoman had tried to aid the poor in their time of need, none of them stepped forward to aid Nalia in hers. Celestine sighed to herself. Another responsibility pending. Another person owing. The weight of another fate on her shoulders....

WON'T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE?! she thought for a moment. I don't want to bear your burdens! I don't want the weight of a world on my shoulders! But there was nothing she could do. If she did not aid Nalia, no one would. Forgive me, Imoen.... she thought as she left Athkatla; however, she was not heading seaward the way she wished she was. Her heart longed to fly to Imoen, and she knew that she would spend sleepless nights thinking of her betrayal, but she would lose an equal amount of sleep were she to abandon Nalia to her fate. No one wins.

Upon reaching de'Arnise Keep, Celestine realized that something was definitely wrong. The outside of the keep was liberally litered with poles stuck into the ground, on which were impaled the bloody heads of the inhabitants of the Keep.... Not a pleasant sight. Thus she knew that the Keep had been overrun. Therefore, according to Nalia's instructions, she snuck into the keep via a secret side door to do her dirty work.

Inside, as soon as she entered the corridor of the keep, she and her summoned Skeleton Warriors were assailed by no less than three powerful Spectral Trolls; somehow, Celestine had not been expecting the Keep to prove this difficult to clear. Perhaps it had been witnessing a ready display of the elven cleric's hefty power which had led the trolls to throw their fiercest firepower at the woman.

After thoroughly exploring the ground floor of the keep, Celestine headed outside. She slaughtered an Otyugh, and, although she would much rather have left Rex, Rover, Sparky, and Spot, the keep's dogs, well enough alone, and deal with Daleson's "burrowing monsters" on her own terms, the hounds had been driven mad from their long tenure without masters; they attacked her, and she was regretfully forced to kill them. Although a bigger fan of cats than of dogs, Celestine nevertheless deeply loved all animals.

However, practicality never failed to keep her alive, so since the dogs were dead anyway Celestine stripped them of their meat. She lowered the drawbridge, and returned inside the Keep to cook dog stew before heading up to the second floor. Wrinkling her nose, of course, since the stew's foul smell strongly affected her elven sensibilities.

On the next floor of the Keep, Celestine considered her handling of combat with the golem's to be quite inventive, and she was reassured that she had lost none of her ingenuity. Keeping in mind that a golem's fist does blunt damage, Celestine dispached the Stone Golems (which require slashing weapons to take damage) one by one by casting Seeking Sword, and then she cast Charm Earth Elemental from the Ring of Earth Control on the largest golem, an Iron Golem, ordering it to attack the Clay and Flesh Golems which remained standing in the silent Golem Chapel.

Then she herself attacked the Iron Golem, attempting to do as much damage as she could to it before it unleashed one of it's annoying mini-Cloudkill Breath Weapons. When this occurred, she retreated to the corridor which connected the Lady Delcia's room with the basement stairs, and where the golem could not reach her, until the enchantment ran out. Then she attacked it until it went down.

Downstairs she headed, into the very bowels of the Keep. The first room she entered was quiet, but she heard scuffling noises from the room beyond; adequately preparing herself, she slaughtered four enormous trolls. The next room would, according to Daleson, contain those burrowing creatures which she strongly suspected were Umber Hulks; however, she had no way to sneak past the Hulks without being discovered to place the dog stew, and was (just as she had thought) forced to kill the Hulks themselves.

She retreated upstairs to rest, and then came down again, positioning herself just outside the only room she had not explored, which therefore must contain the troll chieftain. For preparations, she summoned a Skeleton Warrior on either side of her, cast her standard protective enchantments, and then cast Farsight into the room which she had not explored; as she expected, three trolls of immense proportions lay in wait. She quietly opened the door to this room, and advanced the Skeleton Warriors inside just ahead of her to act as a shield between herself and the trolls.

She summoned her will and cast Fire Storm. No trolls were immediately killed by it (as it would have been assuming she had the power to cast Cloudkill), but all were Injured. Her Skeletons injured the trolls still further, although one of the two undead turned hostile because of the Fire Storm. When the faithful Skeleton brutally finished it's calling as cannon fodder, she retreated to the doorway and finished off first TorGal, and the hostile Skeleton Warrior, both Near Death.

Running a short distance away from the monsters' vicious claws, she cast Conjure Animals to get herself her tried-and-true Mountain Bears, which, unlike Skeleton Warriors, are not of evil alignment; then she cast Holy Smite on the trolls while the bears distracted their attention, and thus was de'Arnise Keep liberated.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, Celestine just breezed through the keep, so I guess one thing can be assumed: after the first minor snaggles, soloing a pure cleric isn't just possible, it's EASY.

 

You are certainly having a much easier time than I anticipated.... BTW, what level is Celestine now? At least 15th in order to summon skeleton warriors right? Damn you levelled fast!

Interesting story... Great writing. Keep it up.

 

egad normally id look at this and say too much to read but once i start i cant stop its great (at lack of a better word and hearing everyone else say great kinda sticks it in your head)

 

Level 19 before leaving for Brynnlaw. I was surprised too... It must be the cleric experience table.

 

SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM!!! SPAM ATTACK.

J/K. Thanks for posting on mine, hehe.

Lvl 19!! Wow. Too bad i can't continue my Ranger/Cleric...