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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Demetrios1453" data-source="post: 9651937" data-attributes="member: 6801060">Curse of the Azure Bonds (Part 35): Zhentil Keep (Part 2) - Zhentil Keep completed! We follow Olive through her secret entrance into the Shrine of Bane.[ATTACH=full]404505[/ATTACH]Hey, that could have been useful! It's like it's fated that every time we enter a new area, access to the old is mysteriously blocked! (Which is really a very annoying thing they purposely put multiple times into this game, unlike all the others where you can usually backtrack and re-visit old areas, with only a few hard blocks from doing so here here and there).[ATTACH=full]404506[/ATTACH]She seems oddly unconcerned that her escape device just blew up, but whatever. We follow her and listen.[ATTACH=full]404507[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]404509[/ATTACH]Very thief-ly thing for a "bard" to do, my dear Olive.Anyway, we move around a bit, and reach a cell door.[ATTACH=full]404510[/ATTACH]It doesn't say "Olive tells you that Dimswart is just beyond this door," just that you somehow know. Maybe they've got his name posted on the cell door?[ATTACH=full]404511[/ATTACH]OK, so long, I guess?We go ahead and open the door (or, more precisely, Buffy picks the lock).[ATTACH=full]404512[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]404513[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]404514[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]404516[/ATTACH]Thank you, Mr Exposition!So, basically, if you've gotten this far in the game and somehow still know nothing of what has been going on, Dimswart just fills you in on everything. Confirming what we suspected, that Tyranthraxus is the final foe, is still nice to know though...[ATTACH=full]404517[/ATTACH]Yes we do, since we can't advance out of this zone unless we do.We head out of his cell and investigate the room next to it.[ATTACH=full]404518[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]404519[/ATTACH]That's intriguing. We go around the room, looking into the mirrors, seeing various scenes.[ATTACH=full]404520[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]404521[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]404522[/ATTACH]Mysterious, hooded women are never good news to anyone adventure-savvy...[ATTACH=full]404523[/ATTACH]Yikes! Beholders are definitely bad news![ATTACH=full]404524[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]404525[/ATTACH]This is from the arena in the main part of the city, where we could have bet on matches if we wished (or, if we had been defeated by a patrol, been thrown into ourselves!)[ATTACH=full]404526[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]404527[/ATTACH]The air is turning blue? Weird.Anyway, that is the last of the scrying visions - they just start to repeat after this. So time to leave this room and explore elsewhere. At least we have some idea of what we might bump into in the near future...We go into the other room near the cell, and in one corner we search and find...[ATTACH=full]404528[/ATTACH]Excellent! We go through.[ATTACH=full]404529[/ATTACH]The annoying thing here is that, even though thieves can detect traps, the game only allows you to use the cleric spell here. And since Brother Baltor doesn't have it memorized....[ATTACH=full]404530[/ATTACH]Buffy has no option of just disarming the trap. We just have to open the door and let the inevitable trap affect us...[ATTACH=full]404531[/ATTACH]A few characters take some light damage as a result.[ATTACH=full]404532[/ATTACH]But that's fine, because... treasure![ATTACH=full]404533[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]404534[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]404535[/ATTACH]Not quite the cache we were expecting from the rumors, but not bad nonetheless...[ATTACH=full]404536[/ATTACH]Oh joy, a cursed sword. Well, at least the wand and the arrows (+2!) will be of some use.Having looted the treasure they have here, we see if we can get out a different way. We turn around and head to the main doors of the temple. But when we get there...[ATTACH=full]404537[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]404538[/ATTACH]Some fighters, some priests (the ones in red), and two high priests (the ones in purple). Thankfully, there aren't too many of them, and we have some AoE ranged attacks to keep them from casting and ruining our day.[ATTACH=full]404539[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]404540[/ATTACH]I always forget about Buffy's necklace. The fireballs from them don't do as much damage as the real ones from my magic-users, but any damage at all will stop foes from casting spells during the round.Buffy aims towards the right...[ATTACH=full]404541[/ATTACH]Brin towards the left...[ATTACH=full]404542[/ATTACH]With only one priest unaffected, and them still nicely lined up, Bragir moves forward...[ATTACH=full]404543[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]404544[/ATTACH]And basically mows down that front row...[ATTACH=full]404545[/ATTACH]The remaining front-row priest is dealt with, and everyone moves up to the back group...[ATTACH=full]404546[/ATTACH]And soon the battle is over...[ATTACH=full]404547[/ATTACH]All of them have magic items, but most of them are no better than what we have, and are too heavy to carry around. However, there are a couple of upgrades...[ATTACH=full]404548[/ATTACH]The fighters have magical crossbows and quarrels. I've been keeping non-magical crossbows for awhile, due to some specific fights near the end of the game, so I now replace them with their magical counterparts (although there are only five, so Brother Baltor is the odd man out). Since Bant has a crossbow as his main ranged weapon anyway (not that he ever uses it, really), I'll pick up the magical bolts (or, in 1e parlance, "quarrels") for him to use.[ATTACH=full]404549[/ATTACH]And we drop those now-useless regular crossbows...We head through the doors only to see a grander set of doors ahead, obviously the way back out to the main street.But, as we approach, there's a flash of light (in a message that popped up and then disappeared to fast for me to get a screenshot), and then...[ATTACH=full]404550[/ATTACH]Blocking the way out again! And, like usual, there's nothing we can do about it, even catching this priest as he slips through a doorway.Well, we'll have to search around for another way out.But as we go through the doors to the left...[ATTACH=full]404551[/ATTACH]At least it's a smaller group, although still with several clerics to take care of (including a high priest in the back - the one with 60 HP)Time to break out the fireballs. At least I'll be able to get all the clerics in the radius of each one this time...[ATTACH=full]404552[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]404553[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]404554[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]404555[/ATTACH]Those drop quite a few of them. Bant moves in to take down the high priest.[ATTACH=full]404556[/ATTACH]And soon the battle is over...[ATTACH=full]404557[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]404558[/ATTACH]Decent XP, but still not quite enough to level anyone (Buffy is currently this close to gaining a level, and Bant and Brother Baltor aren't too far behind).[ATTACH=full]404559[/ATTACH]Brother Baltor gets his magical crossbow and Bant gets further magical quarrels (I didn't cast detect magic this time, but the gear is standardized).Well, right now the best thing to do is to go back the Dimswart's cell and rest up and heal.[ATTACH=full]404560[/ATTACH]And after that, we head out to see if we can find any alternative way out. We first go to the room off the corridor we came in through...[ATTACH=full]404561[/ATTACH]Er... this is obviously a trap with a quite likely hostile being (I think we all know what "hooded women" usually are, even if we don't quite catch a glimpse of any snakes). But, it is the truth that we seemingly don't have any other way out....[ATTACH=full]404562[/ATTACH]Yes, but only because we really don't have any other choice.[ATTACH=full]404563[/ATTACH]Fzoul Chembryl is the then-current leader of the Zhentarim, and ruler of Zhentil Keep. It's probably not a good thing he's annoyed at us...[ATTACH=full]404564[/ATTACH]And then... we're suddenly somewhere else...[ATTACH=full]404565[/ATTACH]And with that, we've completed Zhentil Keep and the Shrine of Bane! Next time we begin to explore (cue dramatic music) the Cave of the Beholder!(Maps of Zhentil Keep and the Shrine of Bane):[ATTACH=full]404566[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]404567[/ATTACH]</blockquote>

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