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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Demetrios1453" data-source="post: 9417298" data-attributes="member: 6801060">Curse of the Azure Bonds (Part 11): Hap (Part 1) (Well, less "Hap (Part 1)" and more "Going overland to Hap", but it would be messy to keep track of all the overland map parts that might come up)With Tilverton unavailable to us, we will need to choose where to go next. There are several locations to aim for, but at this point, our ultimate first goal is Hap, the small town near the southeastern corner of the map.But we'll go out of our way a bit at first to get some additional info on who we'll face once we get there.[ATTACH=full]374257[/ATTACH]Ashabenford, the town almost due east of Tilverton, would be the fastest way to go, and the way I used to go when previously playing this game, but we'll actually get some interesting information if we head northeast to Shadowdale instead. The only thing we'll miss is an encounter with hippogriffs when going through the pass between the two towns.[ATTACH=full]374258[/ATTACH]We'll take the trail, which is faster and less dangerous.[ATTACH=full]374259[/ATTACH]Oh, how nice! Let's check in and enjoy some nice beds and a hot meal!(Shadow Gap is the area where the road curves from northwesterly to northeasterly in the mountains. There's a blinking cursor that shows your position, which I've been missing with the screenshots, but, after noticing this, it should appear in most screenshots from here on out).[ATTACH=full]374260[/ATTACH]Well, that's not so good news...[ATTACH=full]374262[/ATTACH]Looks like we'll have to deal with some displacer beasts![ATTACH=full]374263[/ATTACH]A good way to deal with most issues, I've found. The only problem here is that, as per 1e rules, the area of effect is smaller outside than inside. And the annoying trees that get in the way of aiming![ATTACH=full]374264[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]374265[/ATTACH]Meh, a very sub-par fireball. Then again, it's likely they probably made their saves and this is only half damage.Well, we'll hope for better luck with a second barrage.[ATTACH=full]374266[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]374267[/ATTACH]I flubbed the screenshot with the damage, but it was similar, but a couple didn't make their save this time: [ATTACH=full]374268[/ATTACH]After that, my melee move forward and start doing damage (I tend to not focus on them doing their steady damage while focusing on the flashier spells, so I'll try to give them more of their due)[ATTACH=full]374269[/ATTACH]And soon enough, Baroness Bella takes down the last one.[ATTACH=full]374270[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]374271[/ATTACH]That's intriguing![ATTACH=full]374272[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]374273[/ATTACH]Someone thought they could lay waste to the Dalelands with displacer beasts? I mean you could cause some minor havoc, but I'm sure unless somehow you procured thousands of displacer beasts and then somehow trained them that there's no way to "lay waste" to the Dalelands with them.Now the "when the dragons begin their flight" part is far, far more concerning. And the author appears to be the one who placed one of the bonds on us.With that bit of excitement behind us, it's on to Shadowdale![ATTACH=full]374274[/ATTACH]Let's enter the city (calling Shadowdale a "city" is being pretty generous). I caught the cursor on the screenshot this time![ATTACH=full]374275[/ATTACH]This is the generic "menu town" that most settlements in the game are represented by. It's very efficient, but also very boring. But in any case, we'll visit the bar first, for once.[ATTACH=full]374276[/ATTACH]We'll just relax. No need to cause any trouble.[ATTACH=full]374277[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]374278[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]374279[/ATTACH]Yeah... Elminster, noted resident of Shadowdale, may just be this mysterious figure telling us to get out of town as soon as we can. And he's none to pleased by the wizard who placed that bond on us for his near plagiarism...We won't head out of town quite yet, since we want to rest up before heading back out into the wilderness. So we return to the previous menu, and choose to go to the inn.[ATTACH=full]374281[/ATTACH](This is the actual name of the inn in Shadowdale in FR lore, so good job by the game developers)We do our normal camp things and then head out in the morning.[ATTACH=full]374282[/ATTACH]And with that, it's time to leave.[ATTACH=full]374284[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]374285[/ATTACH]We'll head to Ashabenford, to the southeast.[ATTACH=full]374286[/ATTACH]Time for a relaxing boat ride down the Ashaba River.[ATTACH=full]374287[/ATTACH]We won't even stop here, but head east along the road, before we turn south.[ATTACH=full]374289[/ATTACH]The Standing Stone lies at the road intersection, so that's the way we will head, along the trail (I'm skipping screens so that I don't clog up posts by continually puting up screenshots of the "How will you get to..." screen.)[ATTACH=full]374290[/ATTACH]I guess they hold old grudges to have tracked the party so far...[ATTACH=full]374291[/ATTACH]Only six of them, but those trees are annoyingly positioned. And they got the drop on us, so most of them got some (ineffective) crossbow shots at us before we could do anything.With some moving around, I am able to find a spot to target fireballs without line of sight being blocked by all the trees. Both wizards go pretty much simultaneously..[ATTACH=full]374292[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]374293[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]374294[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]374295[/ATTACH]Of course, they have 35 hit points, and the fireball does 34.[ATTACH=full]374296[/ATTACH]Well, at least those will be easy to kill once I can navigate through the trees to get to them...[ATTACH=full]374297[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]374298[/ATTACH]...or Brin gets them with her fireball.[ATTACH=full]374299[/ATTACH]With only two left, blades and arrows soon take them down.[ATTACH=full]374300[/ATTACH]Not much in the way of treasure, but I do grab the free crossbows. As I mentioned at the start, I will need them later in the game to make some encounters much easier.[ATTACH=full]374301[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]374302[/ATTACH]Ooooh, another mysterious stranger![ATTACH=full]374303[/ATTACH]"Why thank you, mysterious stranger!"[ATTACH=full]374304[/ATTACH]OK, everyone wants us to take on this red wizard (who is presumably an actual Red Wizard) to the south. Sounds like everyone's plans are in alignment![ATTACH=full]374305[/ATTACH]South, to Essembra![ATTACH=full]374306[/ATTACH]We're going to the store, since I realized I had forgotten to do so in Shadowdale and thus have been lugging around a lot of obsolete or less useful gear. I noticed in the last fight that some characters, especially Buffy, were moving much more slowly than they should have, and quickly realized it was due to the unsold items encumbering them. And beyond that, we have something to purchase here that we need to get now, or else we'll be rendering someone useless in the upcoming section.[ATTACH=full]374307[/ATTACH]Heh, sucker![ATTACH=full]374308[/ATTACH]About all that stupid item is good for. Hopefully the storekeep will have a wandering monk come by who can actually use it![ATTACH=full]374309[/ATTACH]Here's the item we're picking up for the future. And it's really annoying that you can only buy 4 at a time. So, after much tedious clicking, joining, and more clicking, I have about 200 of them to give to an upcoming special guest star once we get to Hap.[ATTACH=full]374310[/ATTACH]And here are our current pooled funds. Much nicer than having to deal with all the petty currency in PoR!As I've reached the image limit, we'll end it here. Next time, we leave Essembra, and head south to the village of Hap and this mysterious Red Wizard!</blockquote>

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