D&D General Demetrios1453 Plays the Gold Box Games

Curse of the Azure Bonds (Part 12): Hap (Part 2)

After cashing out on the previously unsold items, it's time to rest up before we head to Hap.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 175759.png


Screenshot 2024-07-28 175844.png


And then it's time to leave and head south.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 175904.png


Screenshot 2024-07-28 175909.png


We head south.

But... on the way...

Screenshot 2024-07-28 175928.png


Yikes! Dragons, plural!

Screenshot 2024-07-28 180018.png


Three of them, to be exact. Thankfully, 1e dragons aren't that bad, with much lower HP and much easier-to-hit AC than later edition versions. However, their breath weapons are still pretty formidable! Luckily, they're hemmed in by the trees, so their movement and aim will be hindered significantly.

Being grouped up like that make them a tempting target, which Brin quickly takes advantage of.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 180053.png


Screenshot 2024-07-28 180127.png


Luckily, despite the trees, there's still a nice straight line-of-sight to target them.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 180135.png


Bleh. I'm guessing they made their saves.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 180200.png


Bragir moves into position to launch a fireball as well. Bant and Brother Baltor have already moved up towards the dragons, but weren't able to quite reach them.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 180210.png


Screenshot 2024-07-28 180220.png


Screenshot 2024-07-28 180230.png


Ugh, another batch of saves...

Screenshot 2024-07-28 180242.png


Well, one didn't save at least. It's quickly taken out by the archers.

However, it's now their turn, and one of them aims its breath weapon at Baroness Bella...

Screenshot 2024-07-28 180317.png


Ouch! That must have been a direct hit and failed save! Luckily, the bottom one is trapped by the trees and the other dragon, and can't get in position to breathe as well.

Once my melee get up there, though, the remaining two are dispatched quickly.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 180407.png


The party got some nice XP, but Baroness Bella and Bant took some significant damage.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 180430.png


But it's onward to Hap! Perhaps this seemingly random attack by dragons might be explained there...

Screenshot 2024-07-28 180452.png


Since we might get into some fighting before we can find a place to rest, we elect to camp outside of town.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 180558.png


After some quick healing and memorizing, we prepare to enter the town of Hap.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 180702.png


Well, that's ominous...

Screenshot 2024-07-28 180714.png


And, well, that's even more ominous. Good thing that I decided to rest before entering the town!

Dark elves, in broad daylight! We need to stop whatever is happening here quickly!

Screenshot 2024-07-28 180816.png


Yeah, Drizzt they aren't. (The Crystal Shard had been published the year before, and already our favorite drow was making a name for himself).

Screenshot 2024-07-28 180835.png


They have a mage with them! We'll need to focus as much as we can on him.

The real issue here is that 1e drow had serious magic resistance, so trying our tried-and-true tactic of fireballing everything in sight is potentially a lot less effective than it normally would be. Knowing this, I didn't even attempt to cast a spell in this fight, and just wore them down the old fashioned, non-magical way.

Luckily, the mage quickly gets hit by an arrow, and is not only injured, but unable to cast a spell this round.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 180857.png


...So he stupidly runs up to start meleeing....

Screenshot 2024-07-28 180920.png


That goes as well as could be expected, although Bragir gets the killing blow.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 180959.png


And shortly afterwards, they are all dead (Bragir is getting all the killing blows! I'm guessing Bant is getting annoyed in the manner of Legolas and Gimli)

Screenshot 2024-07-28 181037.png


Screenshot 2024-07-28 181050.png


That's some decent XP, so let's see what they had...

Screenshot 2024-07-28 181104.png


They have special drow gear. In ye olden times, drow gear was nice... until it evaporated in the sunlight. This game has a similar process, although it's based on location, and not day/night. It's broad daylight here, but the equipment is just fine. It's only after you leave the Hap area that it will be destroyed. And... in the meantime, +3 weapons are awesome! The drow chainmail, however, isn't an improvement for anyone.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 181128.png


We luckily avoid any further patrols until we can duck into a building.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 181252.png


They don't have much to say, so we head south towards a much larger building. It's the town's inn, but before we can even register that, we meet our special guest star for this section:

Screenshot 2024-07-28 181347.png


Akbar is another character from the Azure Bonds books, a wizard from the distant southern land of Turmish. As NPCs are usually helpful, we let him join the group.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 181402.png


We stay, so we can check out Akbar's character sheet, and then rest. We'll make this our base to take out patrols until we've cleared them (just like in our old Phlan days!), and then search out whoever is in charge of this occupation.

But first, let's see Akbar's stats. If you've looked at the above picture, you can already tell that we aren't going to be impressed...

Screenshot 2024-07-28 181423.png


That's bad... like really bad. He has a fragile 15 HP and an AC 10 (the game uses his published stats, like for all the other NPCs from the novels), so he's going to be hidden in the back row and hope that enemies don't get around the others to murder him immediately. He's also level 5, when the rest of my party is around 8 or 9. But, as a magic-user, he can still throw around fireballs and magic missiles, so he's not entirely useless. Conversely, we're going to be fighting drow a lot, which will inhibit even this slight upside.

In the original game, it was very tempting to drop him, even if you did lose all the RP stuff and game info you get if he's with the group. The real issue back then was that, no matter how much XP he got, you couldn't train him, as the nearest training hall is in Essembra, and since he leaves the party forever if you leave the Hap area maps, he remained near-useless for the entire time. Now, however, with GBC, he can be trained, and will get max HP each time he levels. Since he's only level 5, it won't take much time for him to gain a level or two, so he'll actually be tolerable well before we've completed this section of the game.

I save and try a few things to make him a bit better.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 181844.png


That Ioun Stone raises DEX to 18, so let's see if we can get that AC down a bit! And we have some extra drow chainmail, as well...

Neither work. The drow chainmail was a forlorn hope anyway, as he's not a multi-classed elf, but the Ioun Stone was a huge disappointment, even if I wouldn't be able to get it back from him later (as you can't trade back from NPCs in the game, which is why I saved before trying all this).

More importantly, though, I trade him the darts I got, so he won't go weaponless here in a bit, as he only has 20 in his inventory. Once he's out of spells (or we elect not to have him cast them), he'll at least have something to do other than stand around. I've played plenty of games where I forgot to get him darts, and he was even more useless than normal with nothing to do once he ran out of his original 20.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 181920.png


Screenshot 2024-07-28 181923.png


Yep, still Dex 13, even with the stone equipped...

So, reversing all of that experiment other than giving him the darts, we prepare to rest in the inn.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 181548.png


Well, his memorized spells are useful at least! They could really have ruined him more by giving him nothing but useless spells, which, in retrospect, is kind of surprising they didn't lol.

We rest up...

Screenshot 2024-07-28 181659.png


And head out to explore the rest of the town, and to clear out patrols.

(The secret here is that the more patrols you defeat, the fewer enemies appear in the final fight in this town. As this means fewer mages and clerics, it's a good idea to take them down piecemeal instead of facing them en masse and be subject to several hold person and lightning bolt spells when you failed to wound them or get past their magic resistance. The goal is to defeat at least four patrols before heading to the final fight)

A few buildings down, we reach the local temple.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 182204.png


Another place to rest if we need it.

But as we exit the temple...

Screenshot 2024-07-28 182221.png


Screenshot 2024-07-28 182227.png


They have a cleric this time. Again, we'll need to focus on him before he gets any spells off.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 182237.png


Buffy has been bumped to the front due to the addition of Akbar, but her AC isn't bad, and she has a new, if temporary, weapon!

Screenshot 2024-07-28 182302.png


The cleric is hit!

Screenshot 2024-07-28 182315.png


And he, too, moves to the front, where he quickly goes down.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 182418.png


Soon, the last of the patrol is dead.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 182516.png


And Brother Baltor picks up a nice, if (again) temporary, weapon.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 182611.png


We took a bit of damage, but we have two close spots to duck into if we need to rest, so we'll continue searching out patrols.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 182628.png


But we've reached the image limit, so we'll leave the final few patrols, as well as the leader of the occupation of Hap, for the next post!
 
Last edited:

log in or register to remove this ad

One thing I’ve learned from these play thrus is that the random encounters weren’t actually infinite, and that they affected other encounters! Always thought they were endless and did everything I could to avoid them!
 

Curse of the Azure Bonds (Part 13): Hap (Part 3) - Hap Completed!

Almost immediately afterwards, we run into yet another patrol.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 182940.png


Fewer drow this time, but again, we need to take out that cleric quickly.

Since Akbar is useless with his darts, we might as well test out the drow magic resistance.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 183024.png


This one didn't work.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 183115.png


Nor this. Luckily, my archers are injuring him and keeping him from casting spells while the melee carve through the fighters. Soon, he's the only one left.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 183125.png


Screenshot 2024-07-28 183132.png


And he shortly thereafter dealt with.

Let's rest to prepare to deal with any final patrols and then head to the southern edge of town to deal with these invaders once and for all! We return to the nearby Temple of Sune.


Screenshot 2024-07-28 183159.png


Akbar will re-memorize his wasted spells. Hopefully, he'll have better luck with them in the upcoming fights.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 183216.png


We head out, and immediately...

Screenshot 2024-07-28 183325.png


After a bit of wandering, we finally find the last patrol.

Let's try some higher-level spells to see if we can get through that resistance.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 183351.png


Screenshot 2024-07-28 183405.png


Ice storm has a smaller radius than fireball, so it will catch all the drow while not touching my characters.

It did injure one of the four, which went so quickly that I didn't get a screenshot, but that's still a terrible success percentage...

We focus on the cleric again, and Brother Baltor takes him down.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 183448.png


But this time, Buffy is in a prime spot to make her special move on the last one. And she succeeds!

Screenshot 2024-07-28 183525.png


And with that, it's time to head south and meet the final occupiers of the town. We enter the large barn at the southern edge of the settlement.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 183628.png


Empty, but not empty, heh. Time to actually fight an efreet, as one we met in PoR wasn't hostile to us.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 183639.png


Such gloating from someone whose forces have been decimated by us.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 183651.png


Two wizards and two clerics (as I said last post, if you don't whittle down the patrols, there will be even more here!). This will be a bit tricky, but the clerics need to be prioritized. The wizards can damage us, but the clerics can cast hold person, which is usually a quick death sentence. The efreet can be mostly ignored for the moment while we deal with the others.

Well, let's see if we can get lucky with some spells.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 183709.png


Screenshot 2024-07-28 183723.png


(And I really probably should have buffed before the battle, but it's too late now. Granted, this isn't usually a really rough combat)

Screenshot 2024-07-28 183737.png


And we have some luck!

Screenshot 2024-07-28 183744.png


Screenshot 2024-07-28 183753.png


One of the mages, one of the clerics, and even the efreet (who is, surprisingly, not immune to fire damage) have taken damage.

Second fireball time...

Screenshot 2024-07-28 183808.png


And that unlucky mage, who took damage from both fireballs, goes down. And the other cleric, thankfully, takes damage as well. However the rightmost mage has remained unhurt through the onslaught.

Brother Baltor tries to get this over quickly.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 183818.png


Screenshot 2024-07-28 183832.png


Screenshot 2024-07-28 183839.png


Yeah, that went poorly. And even worse, the remaining, uninjured mage now goes, and throws off a lightning bolt. He aims at Brin, which is unfortunate for her, as she takes some damage (which I failed to screenshot), but he failed to aim it to damage more than one character. He didn't aim towards anyone near the wall, as the bolt would have bounced, which would have double damaged some characters, but he'd probably have killed himself as it bounced back right to him.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 183917.png


Brin took 28 points of damage, which is pretty serious, but she has already cast her spell for the round, and can still take a hit or two before we need to worry.

Akbar now takes a try...

Screenshot 2024-07-28 183923.png


Screenshot 2024-07-28 183947.png


That actually does some damage! The cleric now decides to move forward, where my melee can now hit him with impunity.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 184037.png


The drow are quickly taken down, and the efreet follows them not much later.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 184113.png


They have a few gold and gems, but the drow gear they were carrying is pretty useless once you've gotten your temporary upgrades. It's just going to evaporate later, and stores won't pay you anything for it.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 184142.png


Screenshot 2024-07-28 184157.png


Well, that's intriguing. I'm guessing this cave is where the invaders have come from!

Screenshot 2024-07-28 184251.png


My PC wizards are close to leveling up, and Akbar's XP bar has moved up very rapidly, as he's so much lower in level. He might even beat the other two wizards for his next level!

Screenshot 2024-07-28 184206.png


Party time!

Screenshot 2024-07-28 184211.png


Screenshot 2024-07-28 184219.png


Yeah, we were thinking that as well.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 184226.png


How useful! We gratefully accept.

Screenshot 2024-07-28 184234.png


Time to go back to the inn and rest up!

Screenshot 2024-07-28 184309.png


Screenshot 2024-07-28 184323.png


And with that, Hap has been cleared! Next time we head out to explore the (spoilers in title!) Cave of the Dracolich!

Map of Haptooth Village:

Screenshot 2024-08-04 191351.png


(I'm not sure why the guide calls it Haptooth Village, when it's just plain "Hap" in-game.
 

I seem to recall without the assistant program, Akbar was fully controlled by the PC and he was prone to just fireballing your whole party with his bad aim… unless I’m mis remembering.
 

Curse of the Azure Bonds (Part 14): The Cave of the Dracolich (Part 1)

I wonder if we're going to meet a dracolich soon? Just a hunch...

Rested up, we head out of town.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 202954.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 203001.png


We head towards the caves, as we'll lose both Akbar and our drow weapons if we head out into the wilderness (the weapons would be by far the greater loss, obviously). This was the issue with having Akbar previously - you couldn't go to Essembra to train without losing him. Luckily, GBC solves that issue for us!

Soon (as in immediately in game time), we reach the caves.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 203006.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 203014.png


That's an interesting, and irritating, combo. Fireballs will presumably not do much against either!

Screenshot 2024-08-07 203030.png


But, might as well try...

Screenshot 2024-08-07 203124.png


While Akbar is in the midst of his casting, Bragir tries to shoot a salamander.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 203147.png


And, even more annoyingly, the salamanders are immune to non-magical weapons. Since we haven't found a single magical arrow yet, any ranged weapon attack will need to be aimed at the drow.

Akbar aims..

Screenshot 2024-08-07 203155.png


And, yeah, it does precisely nothing. We're going to need to memorize some different spells here soon.

Fire may not do much, but we do have other magical options!

Screenshot 2024-08-07 203256.png


And good old melee attacks do work just fine!

Screenshot 2024-08-07 203424.png


Eventually, we're able to wear them down and defeat them.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 203544.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 203609.png


A decent amount of XP, but they did do some damage. On the other hand, my magic-users are now ready to level up!

Screenshot 2024-08-07 203632.png


They've reached 9th level, and now have access to those sweet, sweet 5th-level spells! This is very timely, since one of the premier 5th-level spells will be exactly what we need in these fiery caverns!

Screenshot 2024-08-07 203726.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 203733.png


Both of them take cone of cold, which will be of immense use here... but we have to be able to rest and memorize it first!

Screenshot 2024-08-07 203836.png


Interesting. We will head west then to see where these arrows take us.

(Also, all that explored area in the west of the map is just Haptooth Village, as it shares a map with the caves.)

Screenshot 2024-08-07 203850.png


OK, south it is. But, just after we make the turn...

Screenshot 2024-08-07 203931.png


There's not much reason to try to talk or flee, so combat it is!

Screenshot 2024-08-07 203952.png


Well, if we can't cast cone of cold yet, let's cast it's closest substitute...

Screenshot 2024-08-07 204010.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 204022.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 204029.png


For a spell that is forever stuck at 3d10 damage in 1e, that's not too bad.

The melee does its share in taking them down...

Screenshot 2024-08-07 204118.png


And soon the battle is won!

Screenshot 2024-08-07 204316.png


But, we've been taking a bit of a beating.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 204334.png


The good thing is that the encounter we've been heading towards is literally through the doorway to the right. So we should be able to get there without too much problem...

Screenshot 2024-08-07 204410.png


Sigh... spoke too soon.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 204421.png


Same set-up as before.

Bragir follows Brin's strategy from the previous battle.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 204537.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 204552.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 204557.png


Again, not too bad of damage!

Brin casts one of the few spells she has memorized that will be effective...

Screenshot 2024-08-07 204611.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 204626.png


That's quite the damage from a magic missile! It's at 5d4+5 at this level.

Akbar follows suit...

Screenshot 2024-08-07 204639.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 204652.png


Pretty decent damage from him as well (he's only at 3d4+3).

As that is the last of our foes, the battle is over shortly afterwards.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 204658.png


We finally head through the doorway, and find out what those mysterious arrows were all about.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 204737.png


From the picture, I'm guessing that their leader's proposition involves acquiring truly prodigious amounts of hair spray.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 204745.png


I mean, at least these drow aren't trying to kill us, so we'll accompany them and see where this leads us.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 204759.png


..."dark with a single streak of white." That's not a "streak", ma'am.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 204807.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 204813.png


Yes, she does. But first, that journal entry:

Screenshot 2024-08-07 204902.png


Well, that explains why we were attacked by black dragons on the way here. A tower filled with dragons sounds like a... dangerously unpleasant proposition, but if this Dracandos, as seems likely, is the one behind one of our bonds, then we don't have much of a choice. So, we'll take as much help as we can get. Baroness Bella does step forward.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 204918.png


Great, yet another marking! But at least this one was voluntary.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 204929.png


Basically, when we meet random patrols, some might be friends with Silk, and will let us pass without conflict. Given how tough the drow battles have been, this will come in very handy.

This whole sequence, by the way, doesn't occur if you don't have at least one female party member. And thus, it's the only time in the Pools series that gender comes into play at all in the plot.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 204941.png


Now that we've had this encounter, we settle down to rest. The problem is, not even here will be totally safe from patrols that could interrupt our rest. CotAB isn't as nice as PoR was when resting in set encounter rooms.

Case in point....

Screenshot 2024-08-07 205000.png


Luckily, this time it's a patrol allied with Silk, so they pass by.

This is doubly helpful, since you need to encounter 9 random patrols before they are depleted and you can rest freely anywhere in the caves. Note that I said "encounter", not "defeat". Even the patrols that just pass on by count towards this number! Yeah, the party loses out on some XP, but getting to where we can rest freely is worth it. As it is, this patrol was the third (the fight at the entrance to the caves was a set encounter, not a random patrol), so we only have to encounter 6 more before we're in the clear.

We make camp again to heal up and adjust memorized spells to our current environment. But, as we're near the image upload limit, we'll pick back up there next time!
 

Curse of the Azure Bonds (Part 15): The Cave of the Dracolich (Part 2)

We rest up, with slightly modified spell lists for our magic-users to reflect our more fiery circumstances.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 205435.png


Lightning bolt and cone of cold will be much more helpful here. We do keep a spare fireball handy though.

We head out of Silk's area, and onward through the cave system. We go a short distance, go through a door, and...

Screenshot 2024-08-07 205610.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 205634.png


Well, time to test out the new spell!

Screenshot 2024-08-07 205709.png


(That's the main issue with cone of cold or lightning bolt - your magic users have to move to exposed positions for the best results. Thankfully, as elven fighter/magic users, my guys can wear armor and be reasonably well protected.)

Screenshot 2024-08-07 205714.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 205721.png


While she's casting, Brother Baltor moves up to join in the fun.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 205750.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 205808.png


Brin's spell basically does nothing.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 205920.png


Let's see if this goes any better.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 205936.png


Akbar, meanwhile, just runs for cover.

Bragir gets his spell off...

Screenshot 2024-08-07 205951.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 205808.png


DK ELF FIGHTER IS UNAFFECTED is the story of the day, it seems. A few here and there have taken damage, but overall it's not been very effective whatsoever.

We'll just have to wear them down the old fashioned way, I guess.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 210049.png


Brin has luckily not been mobbed, so she moves back away from the main melee.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 210211.png


One drow however moves forward and reaches Bragir, forcing him to change weapons.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 210223.png


Baroness Bella has taken a few out, but has also taken a bit of beating herself.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 210416.png


Eventually, we wear them down, and Buffy ends the battle in a spectacular manner:

Screenshot 2024-08-07 210638.png


Setting up and executing a backstab in this game can be frustrating, but when you pull it off, it's so, so satisfying!

Screenshot 2024-08-07 210654.png


Pretty good XP!

Screenshot 2024-08-07 210749.png


We've taken some serious damage, though. This section can be a trial for even the best parties.

Conversely, however, Akbar is finally ready to level!

Screenshot 2024-08-07 210807.png


As I said previously, it was impossible to level him before without GBC, so it's so nice to be able to do so now. As we go along, he'll advance from completely useless all the way up to merely sub-par.

We'll rest up here again, not just because we're so wounded, but also to give Akbar to make use of that new spell slot!

Screenshot 2024-08-07 210913.png


We rest up in peace, thankfully.

But before we move too far afterwards...

Screenshot 2024-08-07 211151.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 211243.png


Thankfully, these patrols aren't too much of a problem. In this case, since the mage is within melee range, even less so.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 211305.png


Brother Baltor takes him down.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 211437.png


And then ends the battle by dealing with the last of the remaining fighters.

We continue on.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 211737.png


Thank you Silk! That's our fifth patrol, so only four more to go before the patrols are gone!

Shortly afterwards, we reach the northwestern section of the cave system.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 211817.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 211834.png


We could parlay and get the upcoming treasure without combat. But we have all sorts of non-fire spells prepared just for this type of situation, and it seems a shame to waste the opportunity.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 211846.png


Everyone takes a small amount of heat damage from the salamanders pouring out the doorway. And then the combat begins!

There are a lot of salamanders. But Bragir moves forward to launch one of the spells he's prepared just for this situation...

Screenshot 2024-08-07 211921.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 211933.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 211956.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 212001.png


Not bad! But it's just a few points shy of their HP, which will leave them alive, for the moment. The melee will take care of them pretty quickly, as the next few screenshots will show.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 212054.png


Akbar scuttles off to a more protected position, and readies a spell of his own...

Screenshot 2024-08-07 212108.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 212121.png


And Brin gets in on the action...

Screenshot 2024-08-07 212159.png


They're all bunched up around the doorway...

Screenshot 2024-08-07 212218.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 212224.png


Not bad at all!

Bragir follows suit, with the same target location...

Screenshot 2024-08-07 212320.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 212354.png


Well, we've worn them down pretty decently by this point. The melee have taken care of the ones in front of them that were affected by the cone of cold, and are now moving to clear out the survivors.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 212402.png


Since our non-magical arrows won't be of any use, time to use their spell counterpart...

Screenshot 2024-08-07 212422.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 212436.png


The melee take down the rest, and then sweep through the doorway to take out the last one.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 212652.png


Now let's see what they were guarding.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 212713.png


Since when has a little fire and lava trumped the avarice of adventurers? Of course we send someone in!

Screenshot 2024-08-07 212753.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 212759.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 212832.png


Nice! Well, if there's 5 more like that, we're definitely going to keep going in! But as we've reached the image limit, we'll have to wait for next time to see what other treasures wait to be found!
 

Curse of the Azure Bonds (Part 16): The Cave of the Dracolich (Part 3)

Well, let's see what else is in those treasure chests!

Screenshot 2024-08-07 212808.png


Of course!

Screenshot 2024-08-07 212820.png


Sometimes the character you choose will just take damage and not reach the chests. Annoying, but not too big of a problem. We are much more successful in the next try, as, besides the money (the same amount of money is in each chest), we have some magic items as well!


Screenshot 2024-08-07 212849.png


We'll take those and look at them later after we've gotten the treasure from all six caskets.

I switch out to Baroness Bella, as Bant has taken some damage and she now has the most hit points.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 212922.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 212927.png


Grumble. We switch out to Bant. He manages to get a chest with just the money, but when he tries again:

Screenshot 2024-08-07 213017.png


This is getting irritating.

The next time, however, we get some further nice treasure.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 213047.png


Well, all that money is causing issues, as we're too overloaded to take the far more important magic items. We drop some of the cash, and are able to take the loot this time.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 213103.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 213120.png


After that, Baroness Bella gamely goes in again.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 213201.png


Grumble.

The next time, she gets a chest with just the money, but only takes the gems and jewelry. Finally, in the last chest, we get some nice loot again:

Screenshot 2024-08-07 213235.png


When we try once more:

Screenshot 2024-08-07 213832.png


Well, let's see what we got!

Screenshot 2024-08-07 213248.png


Well, Brother Baltor gets that mace. He has a drow mace right now of equal power, but this one won't evaporate once we leave the area. I'll keep the dragon slayer sword as a backup for Baroness Bella to use when we encounter dragons (if I remember to switch it out). The ioun stone is also quite the find, as it's the strength one, and we have a character that's under 18 STR.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 213446.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 213523.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 213457.png


That's definitely better, and will help out with her melee attacks and carrying capacity.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 213708.png


Brother Baltor has the remainder of the items we found here. The magic-user scroll, as well as the one Baroness Bella has, will go to our magic users. We'll keep the dragon breath scroll handy in case we need it. As for the gauntlets... perhaps we can finally improve Akbar?

Screenshot 2024-08-07 213921.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 213925.png


Apparently his stats are hard-coded in the game. There's no reason for this, especially when using magic items, but that just seems to be the way it is...

At least he and Brother Baltor are ready to level!

Screenshot 2024-08-07 214050.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 214103.png


Brother Baltor has gained enough ranger levels that he can now memorize and cast some low-level druid spells (this is the only way to access druid spells in the Gold Box games). However, they aren't particularly exciting choices.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 214118.png


7th level and 4th level spells for Akbar! Let's get that ice storm!

But before he and Brother Baltor memorize their new spells, let's see what was on those scrolls.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 214643.png


Screenshot 2024-08-07 215050.png


Some nice spells for both to scribe!

So, let's rest, heal up, and scribe and memorize spells!

Screenshot 2024-08-07 215102.png


We just get one "Fix" attempt in, healing only some of the party, before our rest is rudely interrupted.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 215134.png


Grumble. At least it's patrol #6, so only three more possible patrols after this.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 215213.png


This time the drow mage doesn't even try to cast spells, but just runs up to melee (he was one space back at the start). Note that his HP total is still green, so he hasn't been hit at all. He just YOLO'ed up and started swinging away with his sword. Um... sure, whatever. I'll take it. He rapidly pays the price for such foolishness...

Screenshot 2024-08-07 215246.png


Soon, we've worn them down, and Buffy ends the battle in a spectacular way...

Screenshot 2024-08-07 215354.png


(Trust me, backstabs are so rare and so satisfying that I post all the ones Buffy gets)

But we're even lower on health now...

Screenshot 2024-08-07 215425.png


Luckily, this time we're able to rest, and get fully healed up.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 215511.png


But during the battle, I noticed that we're still badly encumbered.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 215538.png


Time to dump even more extraneous cash.

Screenshot 2024-08-07 215631.png


(I already dropped the 2 gold before this)

Screenshot 2024-08-07 215638.png


That's much better! I repeat the process for everyone, and soon they are far more mobile again.

Time to head south from the fire cavern entrance.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 165036.png


Interesting way of spelling hookah. But then again, in 1989, autocorrect wasn't a thing. At least they could have consulted a dictionary!

Screenshot 2024-08-11 165049.png

We say no.

And thus begins the single hardest fight so far in the game. Since there are lots of screenshots involved, we'll pick up right here in the next post!
 
Last edited:

Curse of the Azure Bonds (Part 17): The Cave of the Dracolich (Part 4)


Screenshot 2024-08-11 165107.png



There are only 12 of them, but the problem is simple: they have magic resistance. Normally doing enough damage to a group of spellcasters to disrupt their casting is a simple fireball away, but not here. And the real issue is that they'll be happy to cast hold person early and often. If I don't get lucky, that likely means characters getting killed instantly. This is in contrast to fighting the group of warriors earlier, or a (hypothetical, but not really hypothetical as we'll see) fight with mages, as the worst they can do is just regular damage and not insta-kills.

So, let's wade in and try our best...

Screenshot 2024-08-11 165133.png


Screenshot 2024-08-11 165144.png


Darn, the necklace of missiles apparently has a pretty short range...

Screenshot 2024-08-11 165203.png


Screenshot 2024-08-11 165329.png


Sigh, we have to do it, until we can move her closer.

Thankfully fireball has a much better range.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 165352.png


And some do get damaged...

Screenshot 2024-08-11 165358.png


Repeat with Brin...

Screenshot 2024-08-11 165429.png


Whew, that one lost a spell!

And even Akbar...

Screenshot 2024-08-11 165508.png


But even with that barrage, there are still plenty whose magic resistance held up. Thus, a short time afterwards, Bant gets unlucky, fails a save on a hold person, and...

Screenshot 2024-08-11 165531.png


And as others in that big group around Baroness Bella start to cast, I realize this is a lost cause, and need to reload.

OK, Take 2:

Screenshot 2024-08-11 170225.png


The barrage begins again.

First Bragir goes:

Screenshot 2024-08-11 170259.png


Screenshot 2024-08-11 170309.png


Then Akbar:

Screenshot 2024-08-11 170458.png


Screenshot 2024-08-11 170504.png


Then Brin:

Screenshot 2024-08-11 170517.png


Screenshot 2024-08-11 170521.png


Brother Baltor tries to help:

Screenshot 2024-08-11 170536.png


But it doesn't go so well...

Screenshot 2024-08-11 170557.png


Buffy has wisely moved to a better position and then delayed her action until some of the drow get closer:

Screenshot 2024-08-11 170619.png


Screenshot 2024-08-11 170636.png


Screenshot 2024-08-11 170704.png


Akbar again:

Screenshot 2024-08-11 170744.png



Screenshot 2024-08-11 170749.png


Brin goes for ice storm this time.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 170818.png


Screenshot 2024-08-11 170823.png


As you can see, the constant barrage has managed to keep them mostly unable to cast spells. But, soon enough, the inevitable happens...

Screenshot 2024-08-11 170836.png


Indeed, so has Baroness Bella. This is, obviously, not an ideal situation.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 170849.png


But all is not lost! Because they didn't rush forward this time, we have a remedy!

Screenshot 2024-08-11 170923.png


Baroness Bella is un-held...

Screenshot 2024-08-11 170940.png


And Brother Balor joins in:

Screenshot 2024-08-11 170948.png


And Bant is now no longer held either!

The barrage keeps up. Just to save room, I'm not showing all of them, but the fireballs, ice storms, and necklace of missiles attacks go non-stop, some hitting a lot of them, some just getting a few, but keeping their spellcasting to a minimum (the melee are of course hitting whoever they can in this endeavor). However, a couple still get through, and Brother Baltor and Akbar are both held. Akbar at least is far enough back to not worry about, but Brother Baltor is on the front line. Annoyingly, he's my only source of any remaining dispel magic spells now, so both of them are stuck until the end of the battle. I'll just have to play defense around them.

One drow was near Brother Baltor, but after focusing on him, he drops and Brother Baltor is no longer in immediate danger of being killed instantly.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 171301.png


We've worn them down considerably, and all of them are now basically locked in place (as, unless their morale breaks, they won't move away and risk taking opportunity attacks from party members next to them).

With three of them nicely lined up, Bragir moves up to try to really damage them...

Screenshot 2024-08-11 171359.png


And soon enough, we're down to one...

Screenshot 2024-08-11 171524.png


And with some help from Buffy, finally down to zero.

Whew! This seriously is one of the toughest battles in the entire series. It's certainly no shame in skipping it, but it's nice to have bragging rights to say you've survived it!

Screenshot 2024-08-11 171538.png


Other than our two held characters, they seem to have pretty much focused on Baroness Bella, with everyone else basically unharmed.

The hold person fades immediately after the battle, but after casting a truly prodigious amount of spells, it's time to rest (and save! I'm not going through that again!)

Screenshot 2024-08-11 171747.png


Our rest is interrupted...

Screenshot 2024-08-11 172126.png


But thankfully they move on. That's patrol #7, so we're nearly to the point where we can rest freely!

After resting, we move to the north and east.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 172159.png


Screenshot 2024-08-11 172306.png


Ankhegs! Luckily there are only five, plus two drow.

Bragir is going to try something new:

Screenshot 2024-08-11 172446.png


But it doesn't really do much, other than block the flank.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 172454.png


Well, if cloudkill doesn't do much, good old fireball will. Brin casts away, but, unfortunately, given their position against a wall, it's hard to get a good number of them in the AoE.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 172545.png


Akbar follows suit:

Screenshot 2024-08-11 172613.png


He's getting quite handy with those, now that he's at a decent level!

My melee have been handling the ones up top, but also are being subject to their acid attacks, and thus have taken some damage. Buffy, especially, has been a target. But soon enough, we've taken them down, and the battle is over.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 172800.png


Time to rest up once again!

Screenshot 2024-08-11 172852.png


And we'll end the post there. Next time, we have some more brutal battles with large numbers of drow. And will we escape the cave?
 
Last edited:

Curse of the Azure Bonds (Part 18): The Cave of the Dracolich (Part 5)

After we rest, we move one square, and...

Screenshot 2024-08-11 172959.png


Patrol #8, but this time we have to fight.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 173012.png


We quickly aim at the mage, who, after being hit, moves forward to melee. With, again, predictable results.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 173046.png


The battle is soon over.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 173201.png


We head south, and soon barge into another room full of drow.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 173331.png


Screenshot 2024-08-11 173342.png


We do not retreat.

This time, it's all mages. Now, that might seem as bad as all clerics, but (a) they have lower HP and AC, and (b) they don't have any "fail your save and you can instantly die" spells. Yeah, they'll throw the random lightning bolts around, but with everyone's hit points (other than Akbar's) being pretty robust, they'll probably not be too bad to deal with.

Buffy gets us started with her necklace:

Screenshot 2024-08-11 173408.png


Screenshot 2024-08-11 173413.png


Brin with a fireball...

Screenshot 2024-08-11 173439.png


Screenshot 2024-08-11 173444.png


Bragir follows with his own fireball.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 173458.png


Screenshot 2024-08-11 173505.png


Already we've thinned out their ranks quite a bit.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 173512.png


As my melee run up, Akbar gets a fireball off as well.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 173602.png


(Oops! Aimed poorly, and Brother Baltor will be in the radius! Should have chosen one square down)

Screenshot 2024-08-11 173608.png


One of the few that hasn't been hit in that barrage retaliates...

Screenshot 2024-08-11 173621.png


But at tihis point, my melee is up there taking down the by-now low hit point survivors. But one still gets a spell off...

Screenshot 2024-08-11 173717.png


But the battle is over soon after that.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 173747.png


Brother Baltor took the brunt of their lightning bolts (and an inadvertent friendly-fire fireball) and is in pretty poor shape.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 173817.png


At least there were a lot of XP for that bunch!

Screenshot 2024-08-11 173820.png


Enough that Buffy (as seen in the previous screenshot) how has enough XP to level up!

Screenshot 2024-08-11 173846.png


First to level 10! And her thief skills are looking very nice now.

We rest, mainly to get Brother Baltor healed up.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 174003.png


We leave the room and head south again. As we near the southern edge of the cavern complex, another patrol blocks our way.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 174233.png


But this is patrol #9 (Nowhere near as fun as Mambo #9, for which I've just dated myself), so after this we won't meet any more random patrols and can rest freely on the map!

Screenshot 2024-08-11 174243.png


Oh, a mage and a cleric. This one is going to be a bit more work than the previous eight!

And the cleric goes first. That sucks. Especially for Brin.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 174328.png


Luckily, she's protected in the back row, so she can't be reached for an insta-kill. The rest of the party starts to wear the patrol down. So much so that they start to run away (which is what this screenshot was supposed to show, but I was a moment to late to catch the text). Note the cleric facing away and trying to head south. Brother Baltor will get a hit on him from behind.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 174407.png


The last fighter tries to run as well, and Bant takes him out.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 174430.png


The last patrol is down! We're free to roam and rest where we will (other than set encounters).

We head towards the southeastern corner of the complex, where we soon meet a decidedly not-random patrol.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 175318.png


Screenshot 2024-08-11 175354.png


Two drow fighters and four efreet. Look at them all nicely lined up! Brin has a spell just for this situation!

Screenshot 2024-08-11 175413.png


Screenshot 2024-08-11 175417.png


Screenshot 2024-08-11 175430.png



Bragir follows suit.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 175504.png


Screenshot 2024-08-11 175523.png


That causes a couple to drop. Akbar gets in on the action as well. He doesn't have the ability to cast cone of cold, so he does the next best thing...

Screenshot 2024-08-11 175548.png


Screenshot 2024-08-11 175553.png


This pretty much leaves the drow, who go down quickly.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 175651.png


I wonder why they were blocking this passage? We continue on a bit.

Screenshot 2024-08-11 175738.png


Hey, that's unfair! We so wanted to visit the drow city! We move forward a few more spaces, and...

Screenshot 2024-08-11 175757.png


Well, there's nothing more to see this way I guess. We turn around and head towards the southwestern portion of the map.

We've got some pretty major battles coming up, so this is a good place to stop. Next time, we'll finish this zone and finally meet the long-awaited and much-anticipated dracolich!
 


Trending content

Remove ads

Top