[Repost of the original post of 17 April 2023]
Sorsha, human bard: Part 7
Previous posts:
Introduction,
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6
For the Bandit Camp we prepared with Potion of Master Thievery, Potion of Mind Focusing, Potion of Defense, Shield Amulet, Resist Fear (via item), Strength and Oil of Speed. The initial part of the plan involved pickpocketing Taurgosz for his potions...
He yields Potion of Firebreath and Potion of Fortitude, although no Oil of Speed (which was the main threat we're looking to eliminate). Sorsha then goes invisible (via Invisibility scroll) and enters the main tent. Once in position, she completes her buffs with ProEvil (scroll), MI and Greenstone Amulet and checks that she's wearing the right equipement - with the Claw, Cloak of Displacement, Boots of Avoidance and Girdle of Piercing, Sorsha was now only exposed to critical hits.
To utilize the Potion of Master Thievery, we also relieve Britik of his Potion of Stone Giant Strength (along with MAA scroll) ahead of the battle.
Sorsha then opens with Skull Trap.
Unfortunately, the impact is not significant and Venkt manages to manouver away from the spell's radius. Aule time!
Britik is dominated via the Captive Audience to create a distraction - he plays his role well and we might give him a call in the future in case we end up doing auditions at the Five Flagons theather.
At that point, we're a bit concerned about the number of critical hits seen in the log and the diminishing number of our MIs. As noted in Sorsha's introduction, the +1 luck modifier granted by her personal item guarantees that she doesn't get hit as long as any images remain. Even without MIs, we could still rely on Sorsha's low effective AC, though it wouldn't be without risks.
Anyway, the priority was to remove Venkt from the picture. With his aura clouded, Sorsha moves in with Wand of Paralyzation. Success.
More clean-up work with Aule.
You may note that Britik's turned hostile once again, which allowed Hakt to turn his attention back to Sorsha. Just as we're about to start working on Venkt, Sorsha gets crit-hit by Raemon, suffering 19 points of damage. She immediately counters with Potion of Regerenation.
Unfortunately, both Hakt and the last surviving Blacktalon land back-to-back critical hits as well, dealing additional 34 damage in a quick succession.
This was not good. Not good at all. With Sorsha's aura still clouded from the potion quaff and poisoned (note: for some reason the "poisoned" portratit icon is not showing in my current install, not sure why), two more crits could mean death. Our only option was to quaff an emergency PoI as soon as possible, although we knew that some of the archers will still manage to fire during those long 3-4 seconds before our aura clears. We could close in on Hakt in melee, though I was too concerned about Britik there, despite his slow weapon.
Luckily, Hakt fails to strike another crit and Sorsha makes it to her PoI on time.
What now? We had to heal up and cleanse the poison before re-engaging, but we're also conscious of Venkt's stun duration, meaning that we could not linger for too long. Considering the options, Sorsha opted for Potion of Health -> MIs, leaving the rest of the healing to the active Potion of Regeneration.
These guys are on the roll indeed! Luckily, our refreshed MIs will take care of the threat for now.
Sorsha manages to finish Venkt before the Wand of Paralyzation effect expires.
Next!
That's for all the trouble, Raemon!
Same for you, Hakt!
For sake of the fun factor, Britik is finished by equipping Boots of
AvoidanceGrounding, quaffing Potion of Insulation and triggering the lightning trap at the chest.
