Baldurian Moonmight (BG3 Gamer SI)

[Oshha]

Ugh.... I get that Astrid failing is the point here, but you'd think a vampire hunter would be more prepared to fight a vampire. Like having the stakes she uses infused with holy water or tipped with silver, preferably silver that has been blessed or something... Not to mention Astrid herself failing to remember her Holy Rebuke as an effective option to fight a vampire...

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This is a D&D style Vampire. Holy Water doesn't do anything extra to them except for blocking their innate regeneration on the next turn and both silver and blessed weapons do nothing against them. As for Valory being unprepared, she is prepared, but even a Vampire Spawn is a deadly foe to fight in D&D. She isn't good enough to take one on her own unless she gets lucky and her foe gets unlucky. Valory was aware of this so even with all of her tricks, her plan was still to have backup to help her out, but her old bodyguards bailed on her at the last minute and Astrid was a similarly last minute replacement.

That should probably be "hazards a guess". To 'hedge' is to be noncommittal or vague in one's answers, actions. e.g. "We'll have the garage finished in May, give or take a month or two," the builder hedges.

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Fixed. Thanks for catching that.

 

[Oshha]

I feel a surge of anger as I watch the corpse of Valory La Forge slump, the flask of holy water in her hand rolling away. For his part, Karl von Lohenstein just smirks at me, drinking in the expression of fury on my face.

"I survived the death of my sire and forged my own following," hisses the vampire, "I will not be ended by a merchant with delusions of grandeur and some big-titted dark elf priestess. A shame that you have big boobs instead of a big brain. Perhaps you would have lived longer, but you'll have to settle for being shown your place in the world."

"In the name of the Moonmaiden, I will end you," I promise the vampire.

"Selunite bimbo," taunts Karl before he lunges at me.

The vampire spawn might be stronger and faster than me, but I'm not without my own tricks. I have my Holy Rebuke and Divine Smites along with Giant Form from Giantslayer though there might not be enough space for that in this room. My foe might be able to heal, but so I can and I am able to shut down the vampire's regeneration with radiant energy.

I parry his claws with my blade before swinging at the vampire, slicing open his chest and spilling blood as the magic of my legendary weapon guides my hand. OP weapons for the win. Of course, Karl doesn't take that lying down as he tries to dart around me. I do my best to keep him at bay, but as good as I am, the vampire is the faster and stronger one out of us.

He claws at my face and I instinctively jerk my head back, leaving an opening for Karl to exploit. He slams another fist into my gut, leaving me winded yet barely harmed again. Before I can react, the vampire has me in his grasp and I can see his fangs coming down on my neck only thanks to the awareness granted by Alert.

In the single moment I have to act, I channel the power of my Oath into Holy Rebuke. Then there is searing pain as something plunges into my neck, but it goes a moment later as Karl lets out his own hiss of pain as holy magic burns him. Before the vampire spawn can react, I grip Balduran's Giantslayer and swing the greatsword into Karl's side, empowering the attack with one of my Divine Smites.

Karl's hiss of pain transforms into a howl as his body is ignited by the magic of the Moonmaiden. He stumbles backwards and I seize my change. Using some of the knowledge given to me by the Great Weapon Fighting Style, I ram my sword into the chest of Karl, the blade plunging into his heart as I unleash my remaining Divine Smite upon the vampire.

Ripping out my blade, I hack away at the withering and burning vampire spawn until a notification from my gamer system

*Enemy Killed: Stronger Elite. 300 XP Gained.*

Karl von Lohenstein is dead, but so is Valory La Forge. I can hear furious shouting outside, but I care not for that. I take a deep breath and spend a moment recovering as my adrenaline begins to fade with the end of the fight. I should start looting while I can and as much as it pains me to do so, Valory and her Bag of Holding is the best place to start. A Bag of Holding isn't cheap at all due to the constant demand for them and buying or commissioning one can easily cost a few hundred gold pieces.

I take the bag off her corpse before looking around for the heavy crossbow and the flask of holy water that my dead employer dropped. Holy water is a useful tool while the crossbow is clearly enchanted judging by the Force damage it did to Karl early in the fight. The scimitars of Karl's guards go into the Bag of Holding while I collect the coin purses from all four corpses.

Speaking of corpses, I decide to put Valory's into the Bag of Holding after a moment of thinking things over. I have space for her in it and if I bring her body to the Gravemakers, I can get Valory a proper burial, something that I have the coin to afford

As I prepare to go, I notice that not all of the food is gone. While I ate a good chunk of it and some of it was knocked off in the fighting, plenty of it is still on the table albeit a little blood-splattered. I pause for a moment, indecision waiting on my mind before I come to my decision

"Free food is free food," I tell myself as I begin to place some of the food into my newly looted Bag of Holding.

The second cooked bird, now just lukewarm, is the first to go in. The half-empty bottle of Ithbank is on its side, but it isn't damaged so it goes in too. The butter buns were a casualty of the fighting as they were knocked on the blood with several squished by feet and even more have been stained with blood. The cheeses were similarly lost, likely victims of either me or Karl and I really hope it was the vampire because I'm going to feel guilty about ruining good cheese if it was me.

Some of the fruit got splattered with blood, but I'm able to wash most of that away with a half-empty bottle of water before they also go in the Bag of Holding. The other remaining water bottles also go in the bag along with the majority of the remaining pastries as my relief, most of the sugary treats survived.

Now if only Valory had also survived.

Having looted what I could, I decide it is time to leave. Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I make my way to the door and exit the private room.

"What did you do, Drow?" demands a man as soon as I step out, trying to get in my face.

"My client's contact-" I say, but the angry man just cuts me off.

"I don't care," snaps the man, "Do you have any idea what you've done, you damn Drow?"

"I didn't get killed by a vampire," I snap back and I try to walk past the man only for him to angrily back in my way.

"Lass, you just drove off-eugh," starts the man only to back off as I shove him away, sending him stumbling into a table.

"Hey!" calls one of the bouncers as he goes for his sword only to pause as my own hand grips the hilt of Balduran's Giantslayer.

"I'm leaving," I declare, practically daring anyone to stop me.

"You're banned, Drow!" squeaks out the man from before, "Banned, I say!"

"Like I would want to come back here," I retort as I leave under angry glares and fearful eyes.

***​

From the Golden Goose, I make my way though Brampton without stopping and then pass Cliffgate to Tumbledown. Leone and the other Gravemakers are sympathetic to my plight and solemnly promise to bury Valory La Forge's body with honour, especially since she fell in battle alongside one of their own and against one of an undead. I pay the price for it as the Gravemakers need all of the gold they can get and I hand over the enchanted crossbow to be interred with Valory's body.

Given that I arrived early enough for it, I pick up another nightshift where I get to take out some of my guilt and frustration on a hapless trio of zombies. I vigorously beat them back into corpses far too quickly for my liking though I reluctantly refrain from beating them once they are corpses again. Such behaviour is frowned upon as desecrating the dead and rightly so. Unfortunately, there is no more excitement on the patrol to give me another chance to work out my feelings.

The morning sees me make my way into Tumbledown to sell some of my loot, which amounts to just the scimitars. A dagger could be useful as a back-up weapon while the flasks and healing potion are potentially useful. Besides, if I was going to get rid of those, I would just donate them to the Gravemakers and their good cause.

By the end of it, I have a very heft coin purse metaphorically speaking. Thirty-four platinum pieces from that vampire spawn along with close to a hundred-fifty gold pieces, over two hundred silver pieces and a couple dozen copper pieces. Close to five hundred gold pieces worth of coinage once it is all added up and easily more money than I have had access to in my life.

No wonder so many people try to become adventurers if this is the sort of reward you get from being successful. To think that a mere week ago, I considered myself rich for having a couple dozen gold pieces. Now my savings equal a few hundred gold pieces and I fully intend to make more.

Maybe I should spend some of it, to give myself better chances of success and survival. I already have a couple of close calls between that wight and Karl von Lohenstein, fights that I only survived thanks to having overpowered gear.

I have armour and headwear covered and I definitely don't need a new weapon. I have an amulet along with one magic ring, but I still have a free hand and speaking of hands, I could get some magic gloves. Or perhaps some magic boots. Or a cloak. A Cloak of Protection could be useful.

Maybe I should wait to get more gold first. I have enough for one or two minor magical items, but I might be able to afford more if I acquire more wealth first. Then again, I could also get an item now and get more later.

Of course, I'll need to have some idea of where to start looking for magical items. I doubt they just get sold in the Wide and even in Baldur's Gate, magic shops are a rarity. Sorcerous Sundries may or may not sell magic items depending on who owns the shop as the lore of my life on Earth was inconsistent and I have had no reason to interact with the shop in this life.

I could try Stormshore Tabernacle. I know it exists because it houses one of the main shrines of Selune in Baldur's Gate, but I'm fairly certain that its items were the expensive sort and I don't think they'll be within my price range if the place does sell things that I can use.

I should ask Sir Devotion or Aunt Alex about this. Both of them are experienced adventurers with different sets of connections. At least one of them could put me in touch with some sellers of magic items. Or I could commission Aunt Alex to craft me something. I have enough gold now that I can pay as a real customer and not rely on freebies from my sort of aunt.

But before I do any of that, I still need to sort out my third Level level-up.

***​

Fight is over and looting has commenced as rightfully so for an adventurer. I sort of forgot how much loot this one-shot adventure gives as I looked at what Valory had in it as I planned to kill her off and then only looked at what the actual rewards for the job were when I was writing this so over thirty platinum coins came as a surprise to me.

I'm not sure if you can put food in Bags of Holding in real DnD tabletop. I tried to look it up, but all of the responses were about being airtight or the ten minutes of air or not letting the players cheese a Bag of Holding. So I looked up the Astral Plane instead and time basically doesn't pass there so I figured that time wouldn't pass in a Bag of Holding either.

Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring.

 

[Quinn Porthos]

I'm not sure if you can put food in Bags of Holding in real DnD tabletop. I tried to look it up, but all of the responses were about being airtight or the ten minutes of air or not letting the players cheese a Bag of Holding. So I looked up the Astral Plane instead and time basically doesn't pass there so I figured that time wouldn't pass in a Bag of Holding either.

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As someone who's been playing and running D&D games for nearly 40 years....Yes, you can put food in a bag of holding. No, it does not have a stasis effect, so the food would eventually go bad. There are divine spells to prevent that, but you can't put them on the bag of holding, because you can't enchant an already enchanted object. (That's core rules. There may be spells/class abilities that override that. I dunno. 5th ed. (which BG3 runs on,) is whack and I avoid it whenever possible.) If you put a living object in the bag, there is about ten minutes worth of air inside before whatever it is suffocates. Smaller things like bugs and mice would probably survive longer. Other things to consider:

Your bag of holding has a fixed weight. It will only ever weigh a set amount. However, it also has a fixed interior volume, and a fixed carrying capacity. There are also different grades of bags of holding. Do not expect to carry off an entire dragon horde if you cheaped out and got the bumbag version.

Do not stab your bag of holding. It can be broken. Yes, this means that if you put a blade without a scabbard inside, you may damage your bag. This will cause the bag to empty its entire contents. Usually somewhere where it's embarrassing and/or dangerous to do so. (Fuck you Kevin. Thirty years and that shit still pisses me off. You know what you did.)

Do not set your bag of holding on fire, immerse in grease, oil, or any other flammable liquid. Do not store fire in your bag of holding. Your bag of holding is not fire proof, or any more fire resistant than any other magical leather.

Do not, under any circumstances put a bag of holding inside a portable hole, or a portable hole inside a bag of holding. Well, unless you want to be explosively flung through a portal to a place where shit will fuck you up.

 

[Oshha]

As someone who's been playing and running D&D games for nearly 40 years....Yes, you can put food in a bag of holding. No, it does not have a stasis effect, so the food would eventually go bad. There are divine spells to prevent that, but you can't put them on the bag of holding, because you can't enchant an already enchanted object. (That's core rules. There may be spells/class abilities that override that. I dunno. 5th ed. (which BG3 runs on,) is whack and I avoid it whenever possible.) If you put a living object in the bag, there is about ten minutes worth of air inside before whatever it is suffocates. Smaller things like bugs and mice would probably survive longer. Other things to consider:

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I think might have been different in earlier editions of D&D. In 5e, the Bag of Holding just mentions how much it can carry and how to retrieve it, how it can be destroyed and the different effects of doing so plus the ten minutes of air thing. It doesn't outright state it, but in my opinion, the Bag of Holding is strongly implied to work by storing things in an enclosed off section of the Astral Plane from how it scatters its contents across the Astral Plane if destroyed conventionally or opening a gate to the Astral Plane if placed within a similar magic item.

Since there isn't a canon answer on how it works, I went with the following the interpretation of the Bag of Holding according to its 5e description and mechanics for this fanfic. The Bag of Holding connects to an closed off portion of the Astral Plane that equals 64 cubic feet in size and ten minutes of breathable air. As of such, the extradimensional space within the Bag of Holding operates according to the Astral Plane, which in 5e means you don't age and don't suffer from hunger or thirst, but you still need to breath. This means that the contents within a Bag of Holding don't age and therefore food and drink won't go cold or go off or rot.

Your bag of holding has a fixed weight. It will only ever weigh a set amount. However, it also has a fixed interior volume, and a fixed carrying capacity. There are also different grades of bags of holding. Do not expect to carry off an entire dragon horde if you cheaped out and got the bumbag version.

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That isn't the case in 5e. You just have a 15 lb Bag of Holding that can carry up to either 500 lb or 64 cubic feet though from what I've heard, the new 2024 DMG has reduced the weight from 15 lb to a mere 5 lb.

 

[Daeth]

Since there isn't a canon answer on how it works, I went with the following the interpretation of the Bag of Holding according to its 5e description and mechanics for this fanfic. The Bag of Holding connects to an closed off portion of the Astral Plane that equals 64 cubic feet in size and ten minutes of breathable air. As of such, the extradimensional space within the Bag of Holding operates according to the Astral Plane, which in 5e means you don't age and don't suffer from hunger or thirst, but you still need to breath. This means that the contents within a Bag of Holding don't age and therefore food and drink won't go cold or go off or rot.

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I'm mostly familiar with 3.5e, but my head-canon has always been that a bag of holding is sort of like a balloon, with the mouth/neck in the material plane, and the bulb in the astral, so its contents would follow the rules of the material plane. I've never seen an official rule on whether this is the case or not, so I'm pretty sure this is up for DM/Author interpretation.
Also how the balloon is punctured leads to it deflating/popping/exploding is how I see the different ways of it being destroyed resulting in different effects (in 3.5e cutting the bag results in its contents spilling out into the astral, while putting a bag into a portable hole results in a rift into the astral, and putting a portable hole into a bag results in a rift big enough to suck in everything within 10ft)

That isn't the case in 5e. You just have a 15 lb Bag of Holding that can carry up to either 500 lb or 64 cubic feet though from what I've heard, the new 2024 DMG has reduced the weight from 15 lb to a mere 5 lb.

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In 3.5e there are a number of different Bags of Holding and equivalents, though all have a (different) weight and volume limit, except for the portable hole which has only a volume limit. (interestingly in 3.5e, unlike 5e, only the portable hole causes stuff to break when interacting with other extra-dimensional containers, putting a bag of holding inside a bag of holding)

No, it does not have a stasis effect, so the food would eventually go bad. There are divine spells to prevent that, but you can't put them on the bag of holding, because you can't enchant an already enchanted object. (That's core rules. There may be spells/class abilities that override that. I dunno. 5th ed. (which BG3 runs on,) is whack and I avoid it whenever possible.)

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I'm not sure how other editions handle this, but you absolutely can add enchantments to already existing magic items in 3.5e (its in the rules of the Magic Item Compendium though, not the PH or DMG)


P.S. I'm loving this story

 

[Oshha]

Finding a quiet place in Tumbledown and trusting Alert to warn me of anyone coming my way, I open up my character sheet and begin the process of levelling up. I'm going to go with a third level of Paladin. I'm not sure if I'll go with a fourth level or multiclass when the time comes, but right now, there is enough good stuff for a Level 3 Paladin that I'm going for it.

There isn't as much choosing this time around, but I'm getting just as much as I did at Level 2. Another 1st-Level Spell Slot and while the number of spells I can have prepared increases by one in addition to ones granted to me by my Oath. As a paladin who sworn the Oath of Devotion, I will always have Sanctuary and Protection From Good And Evil prepared from now on.

I also get a passive feature called Divine Health that protects me from diseases and becoming sick. That isn't much of a surprise as every paladin develops it if they survive long enough to do so. But to get it after just three years of training rather than a few years of service after your training has concluded? Basically unheard of.

It'll also be useful if I ever have to deal with the sick and ill. No longer will I need to worry about catching what they've got.

The last unmakeable choices are a couple of Channel Oath abilities that I can use instead of Holy Rebuke. Turn the Unholy only works against undead and fiends, but honestly, I'll be facing enough of those in the future for it to be a worthwhile ability. Sacred Weapon also has its uses as it turns my weapon into a source of light and improves my accuracy equal to my Charisma. Admittedly that isn't much use right now, but once I get my Charisma higher? It could be valuable.

Selecting Divine Favour as my new prepared spell in case I want some Radiant damage over time instead of in one big burst with a Divine Smite, I move onto the main choice of my level-up. Which is my new Feat and honestly, I feel this is a big deal. My first Feat Alert has served me very well and my second Feat could be an equally big deal to me.

And just like the first time, there are a lot of options open to me. I have offensive options to let me kill things better with great weapons and defensive options to make me tougher and harder to kill. The ranged options aren't really useful to me and the magic-themed Feats are all basically specced for arcane magic users over a divine magic user like me.

I also have several feats that basically amount to utility or social situations. Given how useful Skill Proficiency is in this Gamer system, Skilled might be worth taking and both Actor and Manipulator look nice for social games though I will need to get Actor to get the Charisma needed to take Manipulator.

Chef would be useful for cooking good food while I like the look of both Initiate Alchemist or Initiate Enchanter for making potions and enchanted items respectively. Especially since both of those have a superior Feat that can be taken with the basic Feat as a prerequisite. If the basic Feat unlocks potions and enchantments, then the superior version lets you master those things. I would definitely like to get at least one of those in the future.

And yet it must be the future. I've had trouble taking out a vampire spawn and a wight as I am and I will have much harder fights in the months to come. I haven't exactly been able to count on a party having my back so far and I have no reason to believe that will change in the near future.

So my next Feat needs to be offensive or defensive in nature, something that will make me a better combatant. An offensive Feat would be useful, but I need to stay alive as my first priority. I look between Enduring Body and Tough before deciding that the Constitution boost of the former is too good to pass up. With a deep breath, I make my choice as I pick Enduring Body as my chosen Feat and then confirm my selection.

A moment later, I feel the changes. More spell knowledge in the back of my mind while my body feels…tougher. More hardened with sturdy skin, thick muscles and unyielding bones. Hit Points aren't a thing in my gamer system, but I definitely feel like my body can take more of a pounding now. A glancing blow won't be enough to cut my skin or draw blood. No, my enemies will need to put effort into killing me rather than getting lucky.

Too late to save Valory though.

Pushing that unwanted thought to one side, I ponder what to do next. I don't want to do more shifts with the Gravemakers. Now that I'm Level 3 and preparing for bigger crises to come, the rewards might be steady, but they are too little for my needs. I should look for more adventurer or mercenary jobs in the city and I should speak with Sir Devotion and Aunt Alex about purchasing magic items.

***​

"Magic items, hmm," muses Aunt Alex as we sit in the Blackflame House together, "Even at the best of times, those are fairly rare. Admittedly, rare is a relative thing. You won't find more than one or two minor items in a village if any at all, but a major city like Baldur's Gate that both has over a hundred thousand people living in and is a major trade hub? You get a fairly steady flow of magical items passing though. Not as much direct creation as somewhere like Waterdeep though, but Baldur's Gate still has its fair share of enchanters."

"Like you," I say.

"In a manner of speaking," replies Aunt Alex, "I don't want you to get the wrong impression from my work on your robes. I don't usually spend my time enchanting these days. I'll make one or two rings of either Mending or Prestidigitation or occasionally Mage Armour if I can get a scroll of it. Sometimes, I'll enchant something with Disguise Self or grant the wearer the ability to use Magic Missiles or another attack spell once a day.

"At the end of the day, it is something I do on the side and to make a bit of gold in the process. I don't do it as a full-time job as even if I was interested in doing so, I have too many responsibilities as the matriarch of the Blackflame family to do so. Roderick does his best, but he needs my support to keep the other patriars at bay and his more ambitious kin in check."

"Ah, so you would be willing to make something for me?" I inquire nervously, "I have the wealth now to pay you properly for it, but if you are too busy…"

"I can make my niece a priority especially if you are going to be paying me for the item," answers Aunt Alex, "Anything you have in mind?"

"Nothing in particular," I say, "I looted a Bag of Holding in my last job so I have magical storage sorted. I have my robes, amulet, headwear, a weapon and one ring already so I just need a cloak, a second ring and a belt along with boots and gloves that aren't armour."

"You are an ambitious young lady," says Aunt Alex with amusement, "You know that most adventurers take a while to get a full set of magic items. And they usually have a party of fellows to back them up."

"As you say, I am ambitious," I reply.

"For belts, I would recommend a Belt of Giant's Strength," says Aunt Alex, "They would go well with that greatsword of yours, but they tend to be rare and expensive. Not to mention that they aren't easy to make either as you need reagents from the relevant type of giant and someone who knows how to work the enchantment. I certainly couldn't pull it off.

"An alternative option for a belt would be a Belt of Dwarvenkind. About as rare as a weaker Belt of Giant's Strength, but has its own set of usefulness. It makes you tougher and gives you several aspects of a dwarf from understanding their language to their resistance to poison. Giving one of those would make your mother's ring redundant if that matters to you."

"It does," I answer firmly, not willing to keep up that bit of my legacy yet, "Besides, I've haven't made the wealth to afford those sorts of magic items yet. I've only made hundreds of gold, not thousands."

"Yes, that is a fair point," concedes Aunt Alex sheepishly, "I was getting ahead of myself there. Putting belts aside for now, let's move onto cloaks. In your price range, I can see a few options. A Cloak of Protection, a Cloak of Elvenkind and a Cloak of Charisma seem like the best choices for your circumstances.

"A weaker Cloak of Protection should be affordable and help supplement your existing protections while a Cloak of Charisma will boost your brand of divine magic in addition to enhancing your social prowess. A Cloak of Elvenkind is less useful in combat, but if you wish to sneak about without being detected, it would be invaluable, especially if you combine it with a set of Boots of Elvenkind."

"I think the former two could be better," I say as I wonder how a Cloak of Charisma would interact with the stats of my gamer system, "Any idea on how to get my hands on them?"

"I could use my contacts to look about, but I think I could make a Cloak of Charisma," answers Aunt Alex as her voice takes on a thoughtful tone, "It has been quite a while, but I've done it before. It just needs a Eagle's Splendor variant of an Enhance Ability spell. It would cost a decent amount of gold, but you could afford my prices. It wouldn't be as quick as the robes, mind you. I would need to spend at least a month on it. I would need to refresh myself on what is required and I would have to work on it alongside fulfilling my other responsibilities."

"That's fine," I say, just happy to lock down at least one more magical item, "Suggestions for other items?"

"Gloves are a bit harder, but I think that Gloves of Dexterity could work for you," says Aunt Alex, "Everything else that I can think of would be gauntlets and wouldn't work with your robes. Boots are also harder if you want to exclude any armoured ones. Maybe a set that boosts speed or helps with heat or the cold? That said, you might want to commission a new set. Finding an enchanter to do that would be easier than finding a pair of magic boots that fit your feet. I could even enchant a set of Boots of Jumping for you if you delivered a suitable pair to me."

"Could we revisit that once the Cloak of Charisma is done?" I suggest, confident that I could come up with the necessary funds within a month.

"Of course, darling," answers Aunt Alex, "Belts, cloaks, gloves and boots. That just leaves another ring. A Ring of Protection or one of the many variants of the Ring of Resistance would be too expensive for you. A Ring of Speed perhaps? It should stack with Boots of Striding. It wouldn't stack with Boots of Jumping like Boots of Speed with a Ring of Speed, but a Ring of Jumping could also open up some mobility options for you. Tripling your jump distance doesn't sound that useful, but trust me, it is nothing to scoff at. A Ring of Sustenance has good utility value. It keeps you fed and watered without needing any food or drink in addition to reducing, well, for an elf like you, your trance time would be reduced from four hours to one."

"That last one could definitely be useful," I tell her as I could do a lot with an extra three hours in the day or just being able to take a Long Rest in the same amount of time as a Short Rest.

"My last bit of advice would be to check out the Lamp of Learning in Little Calimshan," says Aunt Alex, "That place might be very elitist in who it admits, but it is basically the only magic school in Baldur's Gate. If you have the coin for it, it is your best place to find an enchanter for hire and they are far less elitist about who their customers are. Even if they don't have anyone who suits your needs, they might know someone who does."

***​

Astrid gets her third level-up and she starts thinking about her future magic items. For the record, I am drawing from a variety of options for the magic items in this story. I'm not just limiting myself to 5th edition D&D and BG3 as I am also including some items from Solasta along with the odd item from 3.5th edition D&D that I've stumbled across on either reddit or the wiki. I would ask for suggestions, but at the time of posting this update, a lot of things have already been decided.

Incidentally, I'm also setting up a reason for Astrid to visit Little Calimshan at some point in the future here.

Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to.

 

[thatguy99998]

I also have several fears that basically amount to utility or social situations

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Feats? i assume?

 

[Oshha]

Feats? i assume?

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Yes. Fixed now. Thanks for catching that.

 

[Oshha]

The day after my discussion with Aunt Alex, I set off on my second job in the city. Somebody's brother has gotten themselves into trouble with the wrong people. As the note on the message board said it wasn't a problem with the law, the brother likely antagonised a member of the Guild or a cell of an evil religion or a patriar or a merchant and honestly, there are quite a lot of options. Hopefully it will be something that is within my ability to handle. I don't want to choose between upholding my Oath or avoiding a fight that I cannot win.

As the sunsets, I make my way to the location, a shop in the Heapside district where a Giorno Benti. His brother Paul is the one in trouble and his notice said to meet him here. Hopefully he will be here as he put too many identifying details in his notice board message. If someone from his brother's enemies sees it, it would have enough information to figure out that Paul's brother is trying to rescue him.

"Giorno Benti?" I call as I knock on the door, "I'm here about your job notice."

"Right, right, I did put that out," says a man as he opens up the door, "Please come in, Miss…"

"Astrid Moonblade, Paladin of Selune," I introduce myself, "I presume that you are Giorno Benti?"

"Ah, yes I am," replies the man, "Come in then."

"Thank you," I say as I step into the house, "I understand that your brother Paul is in trouble?"

"Um, the thing is, it isn't my brother who is in trouble?" says Giorno and I give a sharp look, "Look, Paul is in trouble, I wasn't lying about that. It is just that his actual brother wishes to remain unknown so Paul's captors don't find out what he is up to. He has helped me out big time in the past so I owed him one and he called in that debt to place the job notice."

"So what are the details?" I ask, both annoyed and wary with the revelation of incorrect information.

On the other hand, it explains why my true employer was willing to put the note up. Less chance of being traced back to him if the details are wrong.

"From what his brother told me, Paul currently sits in a drug den called Rancid Randy's," says Giorno, "It is a new establishment, run by non-Guild criminals so my friend can't just go to the local kingpin. So he wants to hire some mercenaries to bust Paul out by any means necessary."

"What is the pay like?" I ask, "As much as I would like to help people for free, we don't live in that sort of world."

"Handsome," answers Giorno before walking over to a bag and pulling out a pair of small gold bars, "My friend is willing to pay twenty gold bars, each worth fifty gold pieces, for the safe return of his brother and is willing to pay two of them upfront if you accept the job. I don't know if you are on your own or not, but if you are, you might want to use these to hire some back-up for the job."

"I see," I say, wondering what sort of person Paul's brother is to be able to throw away a thousand gold.

Either one of the truly wealthy or someone who is willing to give up a lot of money for their loved one.

"Ah, that is a catch," says Giorno and I freeze as he pulls out a toeless human foot out of the bag, "My client is as willing to punish any attempt to take the gold and run as he is willing to pay said gold."

That is…concerning, but unfortunately, that isn't as much of a red flag on Faerun as it would be on Earth. It certainly means that Paul's brother is more likely to be a man of means and ruthlessness than a desperate kinsman, but this isn't out of line with the medieval-equse world of my second life. And I can hardly blame a man for wanting to ensure the rescue of his brother and even if I have concerns about how far he is willing to go.

"I understand," I tell Giorno, who looks relieved at my words, "Now, do you know where Rancid Randy's is?"

*Quest Started: Rescue Paul from Rancid Randy's.*

***​

It turned out that Giorno did know where to go with Paul's brother supplying the location of the drug den where Paul was being held captive. Unlike Giorno's house, it was located in Eastway where the cellars of a handful of abandoned buildings had been repurposed by criminals into the drug den. Three entrances, each located beneath a different abandoned building and guarded by a pair of bouncers. No weapons allowed and you were expected to pay at least one gold piece worth of booze or drugs while you were there.

While part of me is tempted to just go in with my sword swinging, the more cautious part of me wins the day as I decide to pretend to be a customer. A concealing cloak will keep my Selunite dress hidden while for once, the stereotype of my race should work in my favour. I can put my Helm and Giantslayer into my Bag of Holding while I can use Valory's dagger as the weapon I head over to the bouncers.

I'll just buy some booze and have a look around for any sign of Paul and what sort of opposition I am looking at. If there are too many thugs and other criminals about, I can back off and grab some backup. Like Brianna or Sir Devotion.

Maybe I should just bring Brianna anyway? Having someone to watch my back could be useful, but at the same time, I'm not sure I want to split the hefty reward if I don't have to. A thousand gold pieces is nothing to scoff at and easily more than double my current savings. On the other hand, Brianna is my fellow adventurer and I don't want to just abandon her even if I am going to easily outpace her with the gamer system. Not to mention that it wouldn't hurt to have someone to watch my back.

Yeah, I should bring Brianna. My sort of cousin would appreciate being included in this.

***​

"This is going to be exciting," whispers Brianna to me as we approach Rancid Randy's during the morning of the following day.

The two of us are disguised. Me as per my plan while Brianna has used a Ring of Alter Self to make herself look like a sexy Tiefling woman with gorgeous red skin, lush black hair and a figure that nearly matches my own. She was going to top it off with some rather scantily-clad Roguish attire, but I convinced Brianna against drawing undue attention from the scummish sort. Especially that particular sort of attention.

While I personally didn't consider this usage of a scroll to be worth the expense, Brianna is a bit more free with her money. To her, it just cost a day's work and an almost trivial amount of gold while for me, it was enough to spend an entire month living in comfort. Just the difference between someone who grew up in the poorer parts of the Lower City versus someone who has only known life as the scion of a successful patriar family.

"Just remember that it is going to be dangerous," I warn her, "One bad blow and you could be dead."

"Don't worry, I have my awesome Selunite Drow paladin to protect me," Brianna whispers back.

I say nothing, the memory of Valory dying before me flashing through my mind. I appreciate Brianna's faith in me, but I'm not worthy of it. Not yet.

"Do you think my disguise will fit in?" inquires Brianna as we come up on the southern entrance to Rancid Randy's.

"You look like a very attractive Tiefling scoundrel," I answer, "You'll fit in just fine. Just prepare to be hit upon."

"If I didn't want the attention, I would have gone for something less attention-getting," replies Brianna and I wonder what is going through her mind, especially since she tried to go for something even more provocative than what she settled for.

"Just don't get into trouble before we are ready to start a fight," I tell her.

"Relax, I've dealt with scum before, Astrid," replies Brianna, "Mother and Father try to keep me out of it, but patriar politics are cutthroat and they can get literally so if you give them a chance to get away with it. I can handle some lowlife thugs."

"I think you'll find that they are quite different," I mutter back as I get a notification from my system.

*Location Discovered: Rancid Randy's. 25 XP Gained.*

*Quest progressed: Gained access to Rancid Randy's. 25 XP Gained.*

The bouncers let us in after confiscating our daggers, eying up Brianna's bosom and giving us a warning to spend our coin. The first room is fairly bland and empty. A few foldable tables and rickety old chairs are the only things of interest other than the gamblers and their dice sets. I'm not sure what games they are playing, but this is clearly the gambling den of Rancid Randy's.

"Want to gamble?" suggests Brianna.

"Let's check out the rest of the place first," I reply.

Going through the passageway into a different cellar, the next room is more encompassing with thick, concealing smoke in the room. Several dazed customers are lounging in oversized pillows that are scattered about the room. There are three doorways, the one on the left leading to another entrance into a drug den while the one on the right leads deeper into the den. The one directly opposite us has a locked door with a service hatch, one with a tall figure and lots of bottles behind him.

"Want to get some booze?" I ask Brianna.

"Some drinks sound nice," agrees the sorceress.

***​

The next adventure in this arc. I don't expect this one to take more than a single update. Like the previous one, this is another pre-made one-shot adventure and while I think Astrid could do it on her own, I decide to bring Brianna back for a bit.

Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring

 

[Oshha]

An ugly-looking half-orc stands behind the service hatch door of the bar, giving us a slight nod of acknowledgement as Brianna and I approach.

"We got all that you need," says the bartender, "Just name it."

"Got any good booze?" asks Brianna.

"I can give you a bottle of Chultan Fireswill for five gold pieces," replies the bartender.

"Is the vintage really worth that much?" inquires Brianna, giving the man a wink.

"Four gold pieces then," replies the bartender gruffly to my surprise, giving Brianna a lingering look before turning to me, "Anything for you?"

"I'll be sharing with her," Brianna cuts in before I can answer.

"Just a goblet for the Drow then," says the bartender.

Brianna passes our coins over to the bartender and the half-orc gives each of us a cheap goblet while Brianna receives the bottle of alcohol that she brought.

"Where to next?" asks Brianna.

"The next room seems to have some sort of animal fighting," I say, "Check it out and enjoy our drinks? You just paid four gold pieces for this bottle so we better get to enjoy it."

"Four gold pieces isn't that much," mutters Brianna, something I only pick up with my elven hearing.

The eastern exit leads into a third cellar, one that is empty apart from a crowd of cheering and jeering individuals who are gathered around a small fighting ring. The fighting ring is truly small as it is being used for bugs to fight in. As I get a halfway decent look, I spot a scorpion fighting a dung beetle.

"That looks interesting," says Brianna as she eyes the ongoing fight, but my attention is elsewhere.

This section of the drug den only has two other exits. One to the north is the third and final entrance into Rancid Randy's. The other is a door to the south and is guarded by a pair of thugs, both notably tougher looking than the bouncers. That has to be where I need to look next. None of the public rooms have any sign of where a prisoner might be, but a door with guards protecting it? If Paul is held prisoner here, that is where he will be.

Making my way over to the door, I draw the attention of both guards.

"Are we allowed to pass here?" I ask the guards as they each give me a sharp look.

"No," says one of them curtly as she stares at me, "This is Randy's office. It is off-limits to guests. Only those with business with Randy himself are allowed in and you aren't one of those."

Yes, beyond that door is definitely where Paul is being held and where I need to go.

"Noted," I tell before politely bowing my head to which she just scoffs.

With that information acquired, I make my way back to Brianna where my disguised cousin has joined the crowd watching the bug fights. With a goblet of wine in one hand, the Blackflame heiress is cheering on the scorpion as it finishes off the dung beetle. While I hate to interrupt her fun, we are here on a mission and so I tap her on the shoulder to get her attention.

"Brianna," I say as she looks over at me, "We need to talk."

"Sure," replies the other woman and she follows me back into the passageway between the fighting room and the lounge.

"If Paul is here, he has to be beyond that door being guarded," I tell her once we are out of sight of the pair of thugs, "That's Randy's office by the way. We need to get in and look for clues, maybe question Randy himself if we can."

"Want to try and talk our way in?" asks Brianna.

"Tempting, but I think no," I reply, "If things go south, I won't want to be caught in a fight without my weapon and helmet and if a fight does break out, I won't have time to put them out."

"I'll go and blend back into the crowd," says Brianna before holding out her bottle of Chultan Fireswill, "Stick this into your Bag of Holding please?"

"I thought four gold coins wasn't much?" I tease her as I do as she requested.

"I still paid for it so I ought to be able to enjoy it," replies Brianna before changing her disguise from a Tiefling to a High Elf with a mutter of 'Mutatis mutandis', "How do I look?"

"Next time, you might want to change your outfit too," I tell her and the sorceress' eyes widen in realisation, "Hopefully the change in species should be enough. It isn't like they'll have much time before it doesn't matter. And I really hope you didn't just waste a Spell Slot for no good reason."

It only takes me a couple of moments to get my gear on and discard my oversized cloak. Brianna goes back into the room first and then I follow her, making a beeline for the door to Randy's office. Ignore the gasps of shock and startled yelps from the guests while both guards tense up as they realise what is going to happen.

Then instead of rushing me, one of them yells at the top of his lungs.

"We've got trouble in the fighting room!" screeches the man and I realise that what little element of surprise I still had is completely gone.

Oh well, I had already decided to discard that when I chose to deal with the job in this manner.

"For the Moonmaiden!" I cry as I rush the guards even as most of the guests begin to scatter.

Both guards counter-charge me, but Alert lets me get the first move on them. I stab one in the side before I parry the mace of the other. I'm unprepared for a second swing as it strikes my shoulder in a painful blow, but I manage to block an attack from the one I stabbed.

"You should never have come here, you Moonbitch cleric," growls the woman as she throws herself at me again.

I deflect her mace with my greatsword before throwing back the other with a wide swing of my blade. I slam a pommel into the face of the woman, taking a painful blow to my shoulder as I do so. Pushing the pain to one side, I let out a wordless roar as I bring Balduran's Giantslayer down on her shoulder, forcing the blade through the leather armour into her torso.

*Enemy Killed: Weaker Mook. 25 XP Gained.*

I get zero time to relish my minor victory as the mace of the other guard slams into my gut, leaving me gasping both in pain and for breath.

"You'll pay for that, Drow!" the man cries angrily as he pulls his weapon back for another strike.

Taking a grasping breath and mentally thanking Aunt Alex and Sir Devotion for their gifts, I switch to the defensive as I let the Helm of Balduran heal the injury. The helm doesn't work outside of combat so I need to drag out the fight to let it take effect. As we spar, I notice that me and the surviving guard are not alone. While Brianna and a couple of the guests are still in the room, four of the bouncers have also arrived and the last couple are running into the fighting room from the lounge.

Seven to one aren't good odds, but at least most of the newcomers look pretty weak. More like thugs that are only good for picking on civilians as opposed to someone who knows how to fight a peer like my current opponent. And I still have Brianna to back me up, which she will hopefully do soon. I would call out to her, but I have no way of speaking to her without breaking her cover.

"Kill the damn Drow," orders the guard angrily, "Make her pay for killing Alisia!"

The bouncers begin to advance with an assortment of different weapons in hand, leaving me wondering how to handle this. Finish off the surviving guard with a Divine Smite? It is a shame I lack any crowd control options. No, wait, I have two flasks of Alchemist's Fire in my Bag of Holding. Could I use one of those? I doubt I can. While the games of my old world might have been turn-based, this reality is very much real time.

Then Brianna takes the decision out of my hands.

"Arde!" cries Brianna as a fury of flames burst out of her hands, engulfing both the crowd of foes beginning to surround me before, to my horror, consuming me.

The magical flames burn as they wash over me and the enemy with no distinction between us. I cry out in pain as my flesh is burnt, the sound of it mixing in with the howls of the other victims. The only saving grace is that something, probably my gamer system, lets me keep my focus throughout it all.

*Enemy Killed: Weaker Mook. 25 XP Gained.*

What in the Moonmaiden's name was Brianna thinking? Targeting me alongside the enemy.

*Enemy Killed: Weaker Mook. 25 XP Gained.*

*Enemy Killed: Weaker Mook. 25 XP Gained.*

Then almost as quickly as they began, the flames reside. I'm left surrounded by corpses of men and women who have either burnt to death or are just about too. The exception is the guard who is still hanging on, something I fix by ramming Balduran's Giantslayer into his gut.

*Enemy Killed: Weaker Mook. 25 XP Gained.*

*Enemy Killed: Weaker Mook. 25 XP Gained.*

I watch the last bouncer run into the smoke of the lounge, barely able to make out his fleeing figure in the thick smog of the room. Without any means to target him, I let him go. Killing him isn't my mission and I doubt he will be coming back anytime soon.

*Enemy Killed: Weaker Mook. 25 XP Gained.*

Ugh, stupid alerts. Not now.

"Brianna, what the-ah?" I start to chew out my partner only to pause as I turn and find her puking her guts out.

Maybe it is the smell? The smell of burnt human flesh is quite distinctive. Living in Brampton in a family that helps out at Harbourside Hospital, it isn't the first time I've encountered it, but for an Upper City girl like Brianna? It might be a new experience for her.

Or maybe it is her first time killing someone? Has Brianna killed before? This is basically our second adventure together and when we went to the Wyrmway, we didn't kill anything. The closest thing to a proper fight back then was the Chamber of Courage and I passed that on my own.

"You okay, Brianna?" I ask as I make my way over to the doubled over sorceress.

"The smells-it is-urk!" my sort of course cousin tries to answer only to hurl her stomach out again.

"You need help?" I inquire.

"Just a moment," gasps Brianna.

"Okay, you take a moment to recover while I loot," I tell her as I eye the burnt corpses.

All of the leather armour are going to be write-offs, but their weapons should be recoverable and any coins on them should be fine. I would send Brianna out to get some fresh air, but I don't trust anyone not to shank her if I let her go on her own and I don't want to pass up this loot. Brianna can cope for a bit while I secure some more gold for myself. I'll even share some of the gold from the sales with her to make it up to her.

The loot haul isn't that bad. A handful of various weapons that go into my Bag of Holding while what remains of their coin purses are decently full. Seventeen gold pieces, seventeen silver pieces and thirteen copper pieces makes for a decent haul even if I have to split half of it with Brianna.

"Te Curo," I say, casting Cure Wounds on myself to remove the worst of the damage now that the fight is over and the Helm of Balduran has stopped working.

"Are you recovered?" I ask Brianna with the worst of my injuries healed and the loot safely secured in my Bag of Holding.

"I'm good," answers Brianna with a brittle smile that says otherwise along with her still slightly pale face.

"If you say so," I reply before kicking in the door to Randy's office.

***​

Hopefully this little adventure won't take too long to wrap up, just another update at the current rate of progress. I had originally had some comments here regarding my future plans for the story, but I deleted those because they got outdated real quick.

Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring

 

[TeamDeath]

That is optimal sorcerer gameplay. If your melee allies dont have fire resistance thats their fault.

 

[ptbptb]

That is optimal sorcerer gameplay. If your melee allies dont have fire resistance thats their fault.

Click to shrink...

They may also need nausea resistance.

 

[Arentrir]

When you let Brianna cook

 

[Oshha]

I kick open the door and I am met with pain as roaring fire and metal spikes slam into me. I let out a cry of pain as I go struggling backwards, once again almost killed. Sharp metal cuts open my body while flames wash over me, seeing my partially healed flesh burnt once more.

"Astrid!" I hear Brianna cry out.

"Te Curo," I cast, letting my holy magic bring me back from the brink of death even as the Helm of Balduran begins to heal me again.

I'm barely recovered somewhat when a crossbow bolt strikes me in the chest, making me stumble backwards. It doesn't hurt, my magical protections safeguarding me, and I look into the room.

Compared to the rest of Rancid Randy's, this room is quite pleasant looking with a sturdy-looking wooden desk in the corner, a fine rug of decent quality on the floor and along the wall is a cupboard filled with an assortment of different bottles. A strange metal contraption is built into the far wall, its cylinder cast iron body aimed right at the door and slightly on fire. Four individuals are in the room. Two guards flanking a man dressed in a poor man's attempt at finery with a breastplate on top and wielding a rapier while a woman cowers behind the desk.

"I don't know who you are, but you are doing to pay for what you've done Drow," says the wannabe noble who has to be the owner Randy as he points his rapier at me.

"Where is Paul?" I demand as I step into the office.

"Who the 'ell is Paul?" Randy demands back.

"The man you are holding prisoner," I tell him, "His brother hired us to rescue him from your clutches."

"I have no prisoners here and I've got no idea of who you are going on about," snaps Randy, "But it matters not, Drow. You have caused me enough problems that I'm not going to let you leave alive. Perhaps I shall try my hand at this prisoner business? With you being my first guest."

I don't respond with words as I dashes across the room, Alert letting me get the first move. Before he or his bodyguards can react, I cut down Randy, slicing open his guts. Both guards let out startled yelps as I back off, putting some distance between me and them.

*Enemy Killed: Weaker Mook. 25 XP Gained.*

"Under elf bitch," curses one of the guards, "Yer goin' to pay for dat."

"Make me," I taunt him back and with a yell, he charges at me.

The swing of his axe is wide and angry and I easily parry it, a parry that I turn into a thrust of my blade that forces the man back. Spooked, he backs off while his partner tries to flank me. For my part, I'm happy to drag this out as the Helm of Balduran heals me, my burns already fading under its magical power.

"Ignis!" cries Brianna from the doorway and a bolt of flame flies from her hand into the first bodyguard.

He yelps in pain, flinches as the flames bite at his side. I seize the opportunity, taking advantage of my foe's distraction to ram the blade of my greatsword into his chest. His partner reacts swiftly slamming his mace into my arm, but my magic armour holds firm and I yank out Balduran's Giantslayer before turning to face him.

*Enemy Killed: Weaker Mook. 25 XP Gained.*

"Devils take you witch!" howls the last foe as he hurls himself not at me, but at Brianna.

Brianna lets out a yelp and as the mace comes crashing down, it is halted as it slams into an invisible force of arcane energy, bouncing off of it. The surviving bodyguard doesn't get a chance to react as I slam the pommel of my greatsword into his face. He staggers backwards, almost stumbling into the wall and then I finish things by bringing down my blade on his head, splitting it open.

*Enemy Killed: Weaker Mook. 25 XP Gained.*

Feeling a lingering sense of pain from my faded, but not yet gone injuries, I wonder if I should have dragged the fight out more. With the death of the final bodyguard, the Helm of Balduran ceased its healing once more, stopping before the job was done. I could use another Cure Wounds or use one or more of my Lay on Hands charges, but my remaining wounds aren't severe enough to justify that.

Instead I look around the room. The rug, the cupboard of booze, the desk with the woman cowering behind it. No sign of a prisoner at all. Perhaps there is a hidden passage or room? Maybe Randy's desk contains a clue on where Paul is?

"Hey Astrid," calls Brianna as with my Perception skill, I notice the candles flickering like a draft is passing through their flames, "I'm out of spell slots. Only cantrips left for me until I get a goodnight's sleep."

"Understood," I reply as I stop and sniff the air, picking up an odd smell coming from the…eastern wall, I think.

"Astrid?" asks the sorceress.

"I think there is a hidden passage behind that wall," I tell her, "If Paul is here, that is the next place to look."

"Right, I have an idea," says Brianna as she looks over towards the cowering woman and walks over to her.

As she does so, I notice the flash of some wordless magic.

"Hello miss," says Brianna to the woman who seems oddly relieved to be speaking with my sort of cousin, "My friend and I are looking for the brother of our employer, a man named Paul. You wouldn't happen to know anything about him?"

"I don't know about any prisoners nor no man named Paul," replies the woman, relaxing as she speaks with Brianna.

"Right, say what's your name?" inquires Brianna, "And what are you doing here?"

"My name is Nancy and I'm Randy's assistant," answers the woman before her eyes flicker over to the body of the man in question, "Or I was at least."

"Nancy, do you know about the passage over there?" asks Brianna, "And do you have any idea how to access it?"

"Yes, that's the secret passage to the laboratory where Randy has the drugs made," answers Nancy helpfully, "He doesn't want to let any of the customers find out about it. There is a button on his desk that can be used to open it or you can use the sewer entrance. It is locked, but Randy has a master key to all of the locks in the building."

"That's really helpful," Brianna tells the woman and Nancy preems under the compliment, "Any idea what to expect down there?"

"I'm not sure, Randy only took me down there a few times," admits Nancy, "There is a lot of alchemist equipment down there, including supplies. There should be half a dozen workers down there at the moment along with a couple of guards. Randy doesn't want them slacking off and you never know what will come up from the sewers."

"That's some really helpful information," says Brianna, "Say, why don't you leave? Leave me and my partner to finish dealing with all of this."

Bemused by all of this, I watch as Nancy makes her way to the doorway of the office before pausing as she suddenly whirls around, glaring at Brianna with a look of angry bewilderment on her face.

"Wait, did you-" she starts to ask before trailing off as Brianna holds up a hand conjures a ball of flames in her palm.

"Is there a problem?" asks Brianna kindly.

"No, I just, nevermind," says Nancy before finally leaving.

"What was that about?" I ask my cousin once Nancy is gone.

"A Friendship Cantrip or two can be useful at times," explains Brianna with a smug yet brittle grin, "Come on, let's get looting before we continue into the laboratory."

"That sounds good," I agree.

The looting of the office turns up a decent haul for us. The spirits in the cupboard might have variety, but all of them are fairly cheap vintages with each bottle only being worth a handful of gold pieces at most. Despite Brianna telling me it won't sell for much, I take the rug and roll it up before stuffing it into my Bag of Holding. I have space for it and gold coins are more valuable to me than Brianna.

On the bodies, we get the weapons of the dead along with the breastplate of Randy. It won't sell for nearly as much as a new piece would, but even a battered second hand breastplate will still go for at least a hundred gold pieces. I also take the master key from Randy's corpses and use it to unlock the coin drawer of the desk, where we find the profits of the drug den. Almost a hundred gold pieces and easily more than twice that in both copper pieces and silver pieces each.

Brianna reads through the handful of documents, but it seems that Randy didn't like to keep paperwork for the place. Just a handful of letters between Randy and his supplies, both within the city and without, and very little on the business of Rancid Randy's. And certainly no mention of Paul or where he might be.

In the end, we push the hidden button and proceed into the laboratory. Several firm-looking tables stand in the room with assorted flasks, glass tubes, burners and other alchemical equipment scattered across their tops. Strange yellow smoke is gathering at the ceiling while the rough stone walls are oddly discoloured and distorted. Eight faces stare at us as we approach, two of them belonging to armed guards while the rest are clearly civilian workers.

"For the Moonmaiden!" I let out my usual battlecry as I charge at the closest guard.

He barely draws his scimitar before I cut him down, reacting faster than he can thanks to Alert. The other raises her crossbow, but Brianna hits her in the chest with a fire bolt, making her stagger backwards. By the time that she has recovered, I've already weaved my way through the tables and workers. Her eyes widen in terror as the guard realises her dire position, but it is too late as I bisect her with my greatsword.

*Enemy Killed: Weaker Mook. 25 XP Gained.*
*Enemy Killed: Weaker Mook. 25 XP Gained.*

I look around for any sign of Paul while leaving Brianna to handle the terrified workers. There are no cells here and no sign of any prisoner. Just a set up to make drugs with the only exit in sight, which must be the sewer exit that Nancy mentioned.

If Paul is here and right now that is looking less and less likely, he might be held somewhere nearby in the sewers. If that isn't the case, I'll just have to report failure back to Biorno and return the upfront payment.

"Brianna," I say, "Let's loot this place then I'm going to check the sewers, see if Paul is stashed anywhere nearby."

"Sewers, ugh, no thanks," groans Brianna, "Yeah, I'm going to stay here."

"Suit yourself," I tell her.

***​

At this point, this adventure is basically over and now Astrid just needs to deal with the aftermath. That'll take one more update and then a couple of final chapters deal with the third encounter/mini-adventure.

Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to.

 

[Andorxor]

Paul is probably a scam to not pay the full sum for a destroy the rival drug den mission

 

[ptbptb]

Paul is probably a scam to not pay the full sum for a destroy the rival drug den mission

Click to shrink...

I was thinking Paul was a pet toad or something used in drug production. Never played the game, so if it's in there I don't know it.

 

[Oshha]

I was thinking Paul was a pet toad or something used in drug production. Never played the game, so if it's in there I don't know it.

Click to shrink...

It isn't anything from the game. It is a homebrew one-shot adventuring job that I decided to use to help flesh out the city and Astrid's adventuring career from here: Baldur's Gate Notice Boards | A Descent Into Avernus Supplement - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild. I decided to use some stuff that other people came up with for the purpose of adding more variety to the story than whatever I can imagine up and saving time from having to come up with my own mini-adventures for Astrid to go on.

 

[Oshha]

The laboratory doesn't really turn up much. There is some finished product, but neither Brianna or I have any interest in that. The loot on the dead guards aren't worth much either and the only worthwhile things in the room was the assorted alchemist equipment and the recipe book. I was just going to destroy the thing as drugs are nothing more than a blight upon the innocent in both of my lives until Brianna convinced me to stay my hand.

According to her, it could sell for a lot of gold to the right people and I'm honestly not sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, it doesn't feel right to sell something that will be used to hurt others. On the other hand, the same could be said of the looted weapons and armour that I sell and it isn't like destroying will do anything to stop the overall production of drugs, just the variety of drugs made. There is a genuine argument to be made that the good I can do with the gold will outweigh any evil done by the recipe book.

"You're seriously going out there?" asks Brianna as I unlock the entrance to the sewers.

"Yes," I answer, "I've got hired for a job and I intend to see it though. If I fail, it will be because Paul isn't here, not because I slacked off at the end."

"You do you then," says Brianna with a shrug, "Pass me my Chultan Fireswill before you go."

"Why?" I ask even as I begin to pull the bottle of alcohol out of my Bag of Holding.

"Because after all this, I'm going to get a little drunk," states Brianna bluntly before taking her bottle from my hand, "Thanks, Astrid."

"Any time," I tell her, "I won't take long."

The first thing that hits me is the smell, which is vile enough that it makes me want to hurl. I don't know if it is the worst thing I've smelt, but it is certainly possible and even if it isn't, this stench is certainly a contender.

Goddess, I'm just glad I don't need to worry about getting sick. Divine Health will keep any exposure to the sewers or its filthy waters from making me ill.

Nevertheless, it is unerringly nerve-wracking as I walk down the sewer. The flow of the water, the distant dripping and that damn banging noise. Whenever I hear pipe banging in the distance, it always makes me think I'm about to get jumped by ghouls. Not the ghouls of this world, but those ones in Fallout 4 that ambush you in Lexington and are a nightmare to fight as a low level character.

It's so stupid, getting nervous over the idea of being jumped by fictional beasts when I've already fought tougher fights and won.

I should give this up as if I go any further, I'm not sure I'll be able to find my way back. Paul isn't here and I'm going to fail in my second adventuring job. At least I can say I tried my best and hopefully Paul's brother will accept that.

Yet as I turn to start my return to Rancid Randy's, I hear mutters and curses in the distance. I don't know if this is a lucky break or just something unrelated, but both my duty as a paladin and my curiosity as an adventurer compel me to check it. Heading a bit further into the sewers, I find the source of the noises, a large recess in the wall that has enough shifts and turns that I'll need to go into the crevice to find out who is making them.

And so I do, stepping into the crevice that I can see clearly thanks to my darkvision. Gripping Balduran's Giantslayer tightly in my hands, I slowly advance until the end of it where the being responsible for the noises is. My first thought is that I'm facing a mind flayer when my brain realises that the mind flayer head is just a mask. A mask being worn by a half-elf, one that looks to be in really bad shape.

Her clothing is nothing more than dirty pelts that hang loosely on her gaunt frame. They fail to conceal the vast collection of bruises on her flesh or the disoriented look to her. Whoever this woman is, she is in a poor way. A really poor way.

"Ma'am," I say as I approach.

"W-who?" stutters the woman as she looks around for me, unable to focus her eyes.

"Astrid Moonblade, Paladin of Selune," I tell her, "You're hurt. How bad is it?"

"Dying," answers the woman, "Poison or something. Don't know what. Didn't get a good look at what it was. Everyone else was dead and I needed to get out."

"Well, I can handle poison," I assure her before laying a hand against her skeletal flesh and calling upon my Lay on Hand charges.

Two out into curing her of any poisons and diseases while the third is used on dealing with her more conventional ailments. It takes a few seconds for the holy magic to work, but when it does, the woman is already looking better. She is still skin and bones, but she no longer looks to be on the verge of death and her bruises are lessened greatly. The lack of focus is gone and her eyes look onto my own with a sharpness that wasn't there before.

"Gwendella of Waterdeep," the woman introduces herself, "Thanks for the help. I thought I was a goner like everyone else."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" I ask.

"Expedition into the Underdark," answers Gwendella, "Went okay at first, but then Drey died and after that, we just kept running to get out of there alive. We fell one by one until only I was left and I ended up here. And speaking of here, where am I and do you have something to eat? I'm famished."

"The sewers of Baldur's Gate and I think I've got something in here," I say as I reach into my Bag of Holding and pull out some of the food I looted from the Golden Goose.

"Thanks," says Gwendella gratefully as she eagerly accepts the offered apple before digging into it like she hasn't eaten in days.

Which might be the case when I think about it.

"Want some water?" I ask as I pull one of the water bottles.

"Gods, yes!" exclaims Gwendella as she readily stares at the drink.

I end up giving Gwendella two more fruits and let her down the entire bottle of water. I could have offered her one of the pastries, but those tasty sugary treats are mine. Call me selfish, but I'm not giving those up unless I have to and I'm not just going to hand one away to a stranger I just met.

I bring Gwendella back to Rancid Randy's with me, where I let her take both shortswords and crossbow from our loot pile to replace her lost weaponry. Brianna doesn't mind as the half-drunk sorceress is just amused that I managed to come back with someone that I rescued.

For her part, Gwendella doesn't care about the state of the Rancid Randy's and is just glad to have somewhere relatively safe to unwind and take a break. I go through the papers of Randy again, hoping to find anything that could be used to track down Paul in them, while Brianna gets herself properly drunk as she finishes off her Chultan Fireswill. I could have stepped in, but Brianna is her own person and an adult. If she wants to get drunk, that's her prerogative and I'll just settle for making her stay in Randy's office so I can keep an eye on her.

It isn't like she can cause too much harm without any of her spell slots remaining.

Then as I'm about to get ready to leave, a group arrives in the drug den via the fight room. A roguish looking man walks in, flanked by several tough-looking thugs who have clearly been around the block a few times. Their presence makes me wary as I'm not sure I could win that fight if I was fresh let alone in my current state.

"Friends, what marvellous work!" declares the leader of the newcomers as Brianna and I come out to meet him, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Silent Parry, kingpin of Eastway. I believe I still owe you a reward for your support in this, how do I like to call it, hostile takeover. Yes, that is, indeed, the term that I came up with. Now, let us celebrate! Drinks are on the house for the entire evening!"

"Whoo!" explains Brianna and while I'm not sure she should be drinking anymore, I have bigger immediate concerns to worry about.

"Excuse me, but I am here on a job to rescue my employer's brother," I tell him, hoping that this won't break out into an unwinnable fight.

"Ah, yes, I hadn't almost forgotten about that," replies Silent Parry with a chuckle, "My apologies for the deception, but while mercenaries do fine work, I find that adventurers are sometimes even more motivated when given a cause."

"There was no prisoner to rescue," I say as the realisation comes over me.

"There wasn't," confirms Silent Parry, "Don't worry, my promised reward was not a deception. In fact, I can pay the outstanding gold bars here and now if you are willing, Miss…I believe it was Whiteblade? I trust there won't be a problem."

"Astrid Moonblade, Paladin of Selune," I answer, correcting the kingpin, "And while I don't appreciate being tricked, no innocents were harmed and so long as your pay is gone, I have little grounds for complaint."

At least for not for anything worth antagonising a Guild kingpin over.

"One does not last long in the business if you don't keep your word and you have proven yourself to be a reliable asset," says Silent Parry as he pulls out a Bag of Holding, "I may have work for you in the future. Don't worry, I'll make sure it would be palatable to someone with your demeanour."

*Quest Complete: Rescue Paul from Rancid Randy's. 100 XP gained.*

Well, that certainly confirms that this job is over. Certainly not the way I expected it to go, but the gold and Experience will make the experience tolerable. I've gone from being fifth of the way to Level 4 to being almost halfway there. Then there is the gold, even accounting for splitting it with Brianna, I'm still getting the equivalent of a thousand gold pieces out of it. And that is before I consider any gains from selling the looted gear.

I decide to not leave right away as I'm not nearly powerful enough yet to risk snubbing a Guild kingpin by just walking out on him. I accept some drinks that the enforcers of Silent Parry bring from the bar as the kingpin begins to clean up and take stock of his new establishment.

I keep an eye on Brianna as the sorceress gets even drunker. While clearly still exhausted by her experiences, Gwendella does her best to partake in the celebration. Silent Parry and his people clearly think that the half-elf is part of my group and I don't correct them. I would be making an enemy for no reason and bringing trouble to someone who doesn't deserve it to my knowledge.

I get pleasantly buzzed through to my disappointment, it takes too much booze to do so. In the past, I would already be halfway to being drunk myself. Is my improved Constitution kicking in? My Enduring Body Feat? Perhaps it is a side effect of my Ring of Poison Resistance. Maybe I'm just building up a tolerance, assuming that alcohol works like that. Whatever the reason, I'm not sure how to feel about it. On the one hand, I have to worry less about losing my wits, but on the other hand, having to pay more to get drunk is certainly unwelcome.

"So, Astrid," says Silent Parry as the kingpin approaches me, "You wouldn't happen to pick any recipe books while you adventurers were looting the place? Because Randy had figured out some good stuff and it would be a shame if he never let anyone write it down."

"I have it, but I'm not going to give it away for free," I tell him bluntly, "I might not be fully aware of its value, but I am aware it does have significant value."

"Fair enough," agrees the crime boss easily, "I'll throw in an extra five gold bars."

"Six," I counter, "That is an easier number for us to split."

"Done," answers Silent Parry without hesitation and I can't help, but wonder if I got cheated there.

***​

And now it is finally the end of this adventure. The next couple of updates will be covering one last job to wrap up the arc. Though it is less of a job and more Astrid stumbling into something.

Also, there was no Paul to rescue as several readers predicted. That is the big twist of this mini-adventure as your employer was lying to you so you would be more motivated to clear out Rancid Randy's so he can take it over.

Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to.

 

[Narasan]

That would have been a broken oath from me.

Seeing a river full of urine and adding your own because "it doesnt make a difference" is not a paladin thing. Its a neutral roguething. People argue about alignment, but a paladin is supposed to be an exemplar of virtue. More so then any other class. Perfection is not required, but effort is. Helping a criminal sell more drugs is way out of line.

You should have picked any other class.

 

[Ranjam]

I agree with the above comment. This would be a broken oath for me too. Especially as by selling the book the MC has directly contributed to the drug trade of all things.

 

[Arentrir]

Astrid being tricked does change the perspective and her doing all she can to find the person she was supposed to save and helping another one in need. It will be very harsh to consider her oath breached, especially when she can't go into an argument with the man when her friend is drunk and the person she saved will be dragged into it.

If she knew it would be mercenary work straight up, but rather unpalatable. Putting down criminals is still what she did, but a gang benefiting from it is unfortunate and she will need to do something straightforward good/helpful to someone as a personal penance.

She also needs to be a bit more careful not to get really screwed by future employers, since this was rather mild, and the I got fooled won't work forever as an excuse. But if she does mercenary work like she was implied by her in earlier chapters, she is working towards being able to protect her family, friends and avert as much damage from the future events as possible. In a lot of people's eyes (the deity as well) that can excuse a lot of things.

 

[ptbptb]

The loot on the dead guards aren't worth much either and the only worthwhile things in the room was the assorted alchemist equipment and the recipe book. I was just going to destroy the thing as drugs are nothing more than a blight upon the innocent in both of my lives until Brianna convinced me to stay my hand.

Click to shrink...

The difference between illegal drugs and medicine is often just dosage, care in preparation and a good doctor. So whether that recipe book will serve good or evil depends on whose hands it ends up in, really.

"Done," answers Silent Parry without hesitation and I can't help, but wonder if I got cheated there.

Click to shrink...

Those were not the right hands, lol. If I was the DM I would be taking notes down now.

I agree with the above comment. This would be a broken oath for me too. Especially as by selling the book the MC has directly contributed to the drug trade of all things.

Click to shrink...

I don't know if I'd go straight to 'broken oath', but reduced XP gain and troubled dreams might be on the cards.

 

[Oshha]

That would have been a broken oath from me.

Seeing a river full of urine and adding your own because "it doesnt make a difference" is not a paladin thing. Its a neutral roguething. People argue about alignment, but a paladin is supposed to be an exemplar of virtue. More so then any other class. Perfection is not required, but effort is. Helping a criminal sell more drugs is way out of line.

You should have picked any other class.

Click to shrink...

I agree with the above comment. This would be a broken oath for me too. Especially as by selling the book the MC has directly contributed to the drug trade of all things.

Click to shrink...

I think you don't understand how paladins work. I heard horrors stories of how the class forced players to play in a certain playstyle and act like a stereotype, but in 5e and BG3, they are just another class. You can have good paladins, evil paladins and neutral paladins. It all depends on the Oath that the paladin took and how they follow it. You can get evil paladins who uphold their oaths because they commit evil that either isn't covered their Oath or is counts towards upholding it.

The Oath of the Crown basically makes you an amoral oath that a loyal servant to your chosen master while the Oath of Conquest is very pro-Lawful above all out and is specifically called out as being favoured by hell knights and their infernal masters. The Oath of Glory is about strengthening yourself and doing great deeds, not caring if those great deeds are good or evil. The Oath of Vengeance can be used for great evil if you excuse your lesser evils in exchange for fighting and depends on what you consider the wrongs and evils you are fighting to be.

In game that this fanfic is based on, you have over a dozen Oath of Vengeance paladins in service to the Cult of the Absolute and that is the named ones and doesn't include any additional ones in their off-screen army. The Cashguard of the Counting House have at least ten paladins of unknown Oaths in their employ while the Dark Justicars of Shar have Oath of Vengeance paladins amongst their number. You can even do an evil playthrough of the game as a Paladin with the Oath of Vengeance if you play your cards right.

Now, Astrid has the BG3 Oath of Devotion, not Vengeance so her ability to be evil and/or not good is a lot more limited. That said, these are the tenets of that Oath:

• Courage. Stride dauntlessly into action.
• Compassion. Show clemency when prudent, and lend your arm to those in need.
• Duty. Tend your responsibilities, obey just laws, and support those entrusted to your care.

Of those, she argubly broke Duty on the grounds of not obeying just laws. Of course, that leads to the question of what is a 'just law' since there is no agreed upon definition of that. Is a just law one that applies equally to all members of society? That is a rather modern concept and certainly excludes the vast majority of Faerun's laws. Does a just law one that upholds moral rights or a moral law of a deity? Sounds awfully theocratic. Is it a law that uphold justice? That sounds right only what is justice? You got to define that before you can determine if a law is just or not.

Legally speaking, Astrid just commited several murders by vigilante killing a gang of criminals because she thought they kidnapped someone and the victim's brother was paying her to do something about it. Even if Paul had still been real, Astrid would have still flagantly broken the law and only gotten away with it because the corrupt authorities don't care enough to investigate or do anything about it. Is looting from her enemies acceptable when it would count as theft under the law? What about selling to criminals? That's not against the law unless the sell product is illegal and Baldur's Gate sort of place where there is likely a loophole due to the amount of crime and corruption amongsts its ruling class. Is Astrid responsible for all indirect consquences of her action?

In BG3, any paladin can freely steal, sell to criminals or villains and otherwise break the law so long as it doesn't go against the paladin's Oath. You can kill any non-enemies so long as it falls under a quest and doesn't break your Oath. Which leads to situations where, at least for the Oath of Devotion, you can't kill the slaving-own Duergar or the criminal Zhentrim unless they don't something to provoke you first, but you can attack them or anyone else so long as you don't take their lives.

So selling a drug recipe book to a known criminal? It isn't breaking any tenets of her Oath and the idea she would just break her Oath because she is getting involved with a criminal is silly. The idea that a paladin has to be a perfect goody-two shoes or they lose their powers is a blight on the D&D community and I find annoying because it is almost always used to strip paladin characters of any nuance or ambigioutiy or playing anything, but your normal knight in shining armour. Which, as rant-y as I just was just being above, I admittedly do like and often choose to play that sort of character in D&D and other games, but key point is that I choose to and I am not forced to because someone doesn't understand how the paladin class works.

Anyway, Astrid is going to try to be a good person, but she isn't going to be a perfect knight in shining armour. She is too weak with too much riding upon her shoulders to not scrap up advantages when they come her way. Plus she lives in Baldur's Gate. For those unfamilar with the city, it has an organised and centralised criminal underworld under the control of the Guild. The Guild is one of the big three powers in the city alongside the Patriars (the nobility) and the Flaming Fists (the military) with plenty of influence over both. Baldur's Gate is a very corrupt and dirty place and unless Astrid wants to run away to somewhere nicer and less filthy, she is going to get her hands dirty.

She is might be the first time that she consorts with the Guild in morality ambigious manner, but certainly it won't be the last time because the Guild just has that much influence over the city and its lower class citizens like Astrid and her family. To use Narasan's analogy, Astrid didn't see a 'river of urine', she grow up in one.

Astrid being tricked does change the perspective and her doing all she can to find the person she was supposed to save and helping another one in need. It will be very harsh to consider her oath breached, especially when she can't go into an argument with the man when her friend is drunk and the person she saved will be dragged into it.

If she knew it would be mercenary work straight up, but rather unpalatable. Putting down criminals is still what she did, but a gang benefiting from it is unfortunate and she will need to do something straightforward good/helpful to someone as a personal penance.

She also needs to be a bit more careful not to get really screwed by future employers, since this was rather mild, and the I got fooled won't work forever as an excuse. But if she does mercenary work like she was implied by her in earlier chapters, she is working towards being able to protect her family, friends and avert as much damage from the future events as possible. In a lot of people's eyes (the deity as well) that can excuse a lot of things.

Click to shrink...

That last bit is the most relevant to Astrid's motivations. She grow up lower class in Baldur's Gate so her hands are already dirty and she intends to stop the Descent of Elturel and the Cult of the Absolute by any means necessary. Getting her hands dirty is a foregone conclusion for someone starting out in Baldur's Gate and the question isn't if she'll get her hands dirty, but how dirty. Trying to keep them clean is something she would consider selfish because it would be risking the lives of those she is trying to save for her own pride. And there is the question of what is worse. Baldur's Gate isn't the place you can afford to keep your hands clean unless you are already operating from a position of power.

 

[Oshha]

In the end, Brianna got drunk enough that I was able to politely leave under the presence of escorting her home. Rather than risk going through the Lower City as the night began to fall with a young drunk woman, I decided to take Brianna into the Upper City via Heap Gate. Normally that wouldn't be an option for someone like me, but having a patriar like Brianna around opens up more options.

Instead of turning me away, the members of the Watch at Heap Gate take one look at Brianna and their leader recognises her before waving us though. I heard that some of the Watch know every patriar by sight and I guess there is some truth to it. That or Brianna was wearing something recognisable to them.

In the end, I make it across the Upper City without incident. We got plenty of stares, but nobody dared to get in our way. Whether that is because they recognised Brianna and respected her status as a patriar or they got a look at my equipment and decided we weren't worth the fight, I don't know.

We get to the Blackflame House where the servant who opens the door takes one look at Brianna before rushing both of us into the building. The drunk Brianna is taken away by a couple of maids while I am escorted to the parlour.

"Hello, Lord Roderick, Aunt Alex," I greet Brianna's parents as both patriars walk into the room shortly after my arrival.

"Hello to you, Astrid," says Brianna's father, "May I ask what happened?"

"Brianna and I did a job," I answer, "It went well despite some complications and we got paid with our employer offering drinks on the house as a bonus reward. And Brianna drank herself into that state. Emptied an entire bottle of Chultan Fireswill and then some so I decided to cut off her booze and bring her back here."

"Thank you for that, darling," says Aunt Alex, "Should you shed some light on those complications?"

"The first is that our employer fudged some details on the job," I answer, "Kept his identity secret until the job was over and claimed to have kidnapped brother at the place he was hiring us to clear out. I didn't appreciate the deception, but he didn't lie to us about any dangers involved and paid both generously and in full so I can't complain too much. The other complication, ah, it was…"

How in the name of Selune do I explain to two powerful nobles that their daughter almost murdered me by accident?

"Did it involve Brianna?" ask Aunt Alex with a knowing look.

"Yeah, she sort of almost killed me," I admit before hastening to add at their looks, "By accident! She didn't try to kill me on purpose."

"No one is going to blame you, Astrid," says Aunt Alex after exchanging a look with her husband, "But we would both like to know what happened."

"Brianna was using an Alter Self spell to blend in as a bystander while the guards swarmed me," I tell them, "Then when they were surrounding me, she hit all of us with a Burning Hands."

"She did what!" exclaims Aunt Alex, making both Lord Roderick and I jump.

"She used Burning Hands on-" I start, but Aunt Alex cuts me off.

"I heard," interrupts the older sorceress, "That could have killed you. It would have killed you if you were already injured."

"Yeah, but I…" I start before trailing off as I don't know how to explain my gamer powers since I'm certain I only survived thanks to my Enduring Body Feat.

Without that, well, I don't want to think about how things would have gone. Certainly a lot worse.

"I can't believe she did that," Aunt Alex practically growls as she looks to be on the verge of leaping out of her seat.

"Dear, this magic business isn't my area of expertise, but I assume that things went wrong?" inquires Lord Roderick as he puts a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"Yes, Brianna almost killed Astrid," answers Aunt Alex, "And she got lucky that she didn't."

"Has Brianna killed anyone before?" I ask, drawing the attention of both patriars.

"I don't believe so?" replies Lord Roderick with an inquiring look at his wife.

"No, she hasn't," answers Aunt Alex as she looks at me, "Why do you ask?"

"Because she burnt half a dozen people to death today," I point out and Aunt Alex's eyes widen in understanding while Lord Roderick flinches.

"Yes, I had forgotten that sort of thing can be a big deal to people when they are starting out," admits Aunt Alex, "I should speak to her about that. Along with how to responsibly use her spells, especially around allies."

"I don't blame her for the record," I say quickly, "She is almost as inexperienced as I am and I might have almost died, but I didn't die and it all worked out. She wants to continue working with me, I won't object to it."

"I appreciate that you are still willing to work with Brianna, but I'm afraid that my daughter may need to take a break from adventuring," says Aunt Alex, "I can't be sure that Brianna will be able to stomach more killing. It isn't a thing for everyone and honestly, a sane healthy person should baulk at taking the lives of others. Ah, no offence intended."

"None taken," I answer as I think about my memories of my past life, "I'm far from a normal person and fully aware of it."

"Then even if Brianna is still up for further adventuring, I need to make sure she has a proper understanding of how her magic works," says Aunt Alex, "Even if you are ultimately fine with it, it shouldn't have happened at all and if it happens again, it might be with less understanding individual. I met plenty of other adventurers who would have reacted violently under the same circumstances and I would rather not lose my daughter to the likes of them."

"Sir Devotion has shared plenty of stories about how unpleasant some adventurers can get," I note.

"Oh yes, the old warhound has plenty of tales on the subject," Aunt Alex agrees fondly.

"With that sorted, is there anything we can do for you, Astrid?" asks Lord Roderick, "Are you in need of healing?"

"No, I sorted out my own healing," I answer honestly because between finding Gwendella and Silent Parry showing up, I had what I can only describe as a Short Rest that healed up all of my lingering injuries, "I just need somewhere to meditate for a few hours after everything."

"Elves don't sleep like other species," explains Aunt Alex at her husband's look of confusion, "They go into a trance for a few hours. Pretty useful for when you need someone to keep watch while the rest of your party sleeps. It is my understanding that you like to do your meditation around midday due to your race's sensitivity towards the sun."

"Yes, that and my religious preference for moonlight," I reply.

"Indeed, that does make sense," says Lord Roderick, "I shall let you use the guestrooms and let the staff know to prepare a meal for you once you are…ah, is awake the correct term?"

"In layman terms, it is," I answer, "Scholars might have a different answer, but it isn't something I know. I just know that I meditate rather than sleep and I wake up from those trances like people wake up from sleeping."

"Thank you, Lord Roderick," I tell him, "That is greatly appreciated.

***​

Things go as promised. I get to meditate in the guestroom of the Blackflame House and I have a hearty meal by my standards. For patriars like the Blackflames, I suspect it is merely the standard that they expect. Regardless, I greatly enjoy my meal of spiced fish and assorted vegetables. The glass of wine to wash it down with doesn't hurt and while I didn't bother asking what it is, it was definitely better than anything I can normally afford. Or could anyway since my wealth is a lot greater than what it should be.

I make sure to eat it all along with as many of the cakes as I can. Now that I've started to get access to them again, I'm rediscovering my fondness for sugary treats as it turns out I have a sweet tooth in both of my lives. I'll have to look into how Faerun deals with dental because I have a centuries-long lifespan and I don't want to spend most of it with rotten teeth. Something to ask Mother, Father or Sir Devotion when I next see them.

For now, I'm heading back into the Lower City. I could look for jobs here in the Upper City, but frankly, I don't belong here. I always attract distrusting stares and looks of derision wherever I go in the Upper City. Maybe things can be different when I am more powerful and able to push back better, but for now, my visits to the Upper City must be fleeting and for specific purposes.

Unfortunately, I have to go across half of the Upper City before I can return to the Lower City. While Manor Gate, Gond Gate and even Sea Gate are closer to the Blackflame House, my status as a non-patriar forces me to use Baldur's Gate itself. Not unless I am willing to try my hand at bribing or sneaking past the Watch, both things which are not my areas of expertise.

I'll have to turn once I've sold the weapons and armour we looted from Rancid Randy's. I left Brianna's half of the coins and gold bars at the Blackflame House, but I will need to return with her cut of the loot sales. Yet while that unfortunately includes going back into the Upper City, I might be able to get another delicious meal out of it if I time my visit right.

Bah, what am I thinking? Plotting to manipulate my honorary family into giving me free expensive food. What sort of paladin does that?

Yet I don't get to contemplate that question as I hear the sounds of violence not so far away. My proficiency in my Perception skill lets me pick out the clashing of weapons and the calling for guards as I begin to approach the High Hall of Wonders from the south-east. Whatever is going on sounds like it is coming from the other side and so that is where I run.

Reaching the front of the Gondian temple, I find five individuals out of the House of Wonders facing down against two members of the Watch and winning. One of the Watch has been frozen solid, encased in ice, while the other is outnumbered and about to go down.

The sight of the criminals makes me go cold as I recognise who they are. All wearing chain mail, but their armaments are mixed with three wielding maces and shields while a fourth has a spear gripped with two hands and the last wields a crossbow. A crossbow that has been modified to look like a dragon's head where the bolt will look like it is emerging from the maw of the dragon.

Yet that is not what gives me pause. No, that would be the black hand on the front of the chainmail and the shields. The fact that all of their right hand gauntlets are painted black. For those two things mean that these men and women belong to the Church of Bane.

Yet that is only one course of action that I can take, especially since I am fresh for a fight.

"For the Moonmaiden!" I cry as I draw Balduran's Giantslayer and charge at the Banites.

"Keep the Drow busy," orders the spear-wielding Banite as the crossbow-wielding one shoots the remaining Watch guard with what is clearly a magical attack from his weapon.

The Watch guard tries to raise his shield, but the crossbow bolt strikes in the shoulder. A moment later, ice has engulfed his entire body, freezing solid like the other Watch guard. Note to self, don't let myself get hit by that crossbow.

As I close the distance, the three Banites with maces and shields rush to get in my way and I consider my options. Between my dress and amulet, I have magical protection on par with the chainmail of my opponents and Balduran's Giantslayer has to be better than any weapons they have. Yet all of them have the look of tough fighters, trained combatants who have proper combat training like myself.

This won't be an easy fight, but I know exactly which trick to open it with.

***​

Astrid's first taste of combat against the followers of the Dead Three. While this means they will start to take note of her, this won't immediately make a target of her. Yes, she got in the way of their business, but it was just unfortunate timing that she stumbled across the scene and isn't like she is actively targeting their activities (yet).

Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to.

 

[Ranjam]

I think you don't understand how paladins work. I heard horrors stories of how the class forced players to play in a certain playstyle and act like a stereotype, but in 5e and BG3, they are just another class. You can have good paladins, evil paladins and neutral paladins. It all depends on the Oath that the paladin took and how they follow it. You can get evil paladins who uphold their oaths because they commit evil that either isn't covered their Oath or is counts towards upholding it.

The Oath of the Crown basically makes you an amoral oath that a loyal servant to your chosen master while the Oath of Conquest is very pro-Lawful above all out and is specifically called out as being favoured by hell knights and their infernal masters. The Oath of Glory is about strengthening yourself and doing great deeds, not caring if those great deeds are good or evil. The Oath of Vengeance can be used for great evil if you excuse your lesser evils in exchange for fighting and depends on what you consider the wrongs and evils you are fighting to be.

In game that this fanfic is based on, you have over a dozen Oath of Vengeance paladins in service to the Cult of the Absolute and that is the named ones and doesn't include any additional ones in their off-screen army. The Cashguard of the Counting House have at least ten paladins of unknown Oaths in their employ while the Dark Justicars of Shar have Oath of Vengeance paladins amongst their number. You can even do an evil playthrough of the game as a Paladin with the Oath of Vengeance if you play your cards right.

Now, Astrid has the BG3 Oath of Devotion, not Vengeance so her ability to be evil and/or not good is a lot more limited. That said, these are the tenets of that Oath:

• Courage. Stride dauntlessly into action.
• Compassion. Show clemency when prudent, and lend your arm to those in need.
• Duty. Tend your responsibilities, obey just laws, and support those entrusted to your care.

Of those, she argubly broke Duty on the grounds of not obeying just laws. Of course, that leads to the question of what is a 'just law' since there is no agreed upon definition of that. Is a just law one that applies equally to all members of society? That is a rather modern concept and certainly excludes the vast majority of Faerun's laws. Does a just law one that upholds moral rights or a moral law of a deity? Sounds awfully theocratic. Is it a law that uphold justice? That sounds right only what is justice? You got to define that before you can determine if a law is just or not.

Legally speaking, Astrid just commited several murders by vigilante killing a gang of criminals because she thought they kidnapped someone and the victim's brother was paying her to do something about it. Even if Paul had still been real, Astrid would have still flagantly broken the law and only gotten away with it because the corrupt authorities don't care enough to investigate or do anything about it. Is looting from her enemies acceptable when it would count as theft under the law? What about selling to criminals? That's not against the law unless the sell product is illegal and Baldur's Gate sort of place where there is likely a loophole due to the amount of crime and corruption amongsts its ruling class. Is Astrid responsible for all indirect consquences of her action?

In BG3, any paladin can freely steal, sell to criminals or villains and otherwise break the law so long as it doesn't go against the paladin's Oath. You can kill any non-enemies so long as it falls under a quest and doesn't break your Oath. Which leads to situations where, at least for the Oath of Devotion, you can't kill the slaving-own Duergar or the criminal Zhentrim unless they don't something to provoke you first, but you can attack them or anyone else so long as you don't take their lives.

So selling a drug recipe book to a known criminal? It isn't breaking any tenets of her Oath and the idea she would just break her Oath because she is getting involved with a criminal is silly. The idea that a paladin has to be a perfect goody-two shoes or they lose their powers is a blight on the D&D community and I find annoying because it is almost always used to strip paladin characters of any nuance or ambigioutiy or playing anything, but your normal knight in shining armour. Which, as rant-y as I just was just being above, I admittedly do like and often choose to play that sort of character in D&D and other games, but key point is that I choose to and I am not forced to because someone doesn't understand how the paladin class works.

Anyway, Astrid is going to try to be a good person, but she isn't going to be a perfect knight in shining armour. She is too weak with too much riding upon her shoulders to not scrap up advantages when they come her way. Plus she lives in Baldur's Gate. For those unfamilar with the city, it has an organised and centralised criminal underworld under the control of the Guild. The Guild is one of the big three powers in the city alongside the Patriars (the nobility) and the Flaming Fists (the military) with plenty of influence over both. Baldur's Gate is a very corrupt and dirty place and unless Astrid wants to run away to somewhere nicer and less filthy, she is going to get her hands dirty.

She is might be the first time that she consorts with the Guild in morality ambigious manner, but certainly it won't be the last time because the Guild just has that much influence over the city and its lower class citizens like Astrid and her family. To use Narasan's analogy, Astrid didn't see a 'river of urine', she grow up in one.

That last bit is the most relevant to Astrid's motivations. She grow up lower class in Baldur's Gate so her hands are already dirty and she intends to stop the Descent of Elturel and the Cult of the Absolute by any means necessary. Getting her hands dirty is a foregone conclusion for someone starting out in Baldur's Gate and the question isn't if she'll get her hands dirty, but how dirty. Trying to keep them clean is something she would consider selfish because it would be risking the lives of those she is trying to save for her own pride. And there is the question of what is worse. Baldur's Gate isn't the place you can afford to keep your hands clean unless you are already operating from a position of power.

Click to shrink...

I am not going to pointlessly argue with you when our understanding of what a Paladin and how much the oaths mean to them is clearly different.

Though thanks for saying that I am clearly wrong in playing and enjoying a game for 12yrs and my enjoyment is a blight on the dnd community.