Ryland (human blade by @Borco) & Kalam (halfling assassin), multiplayer run: Part 15
After defeating Suna Seni, and with plenty of loot to fence, our heroes wandered into the Adventurer’s Mart. There, at long last, Kalam finally bought the Bracers of AC 3 he had been eyeing since their very first visit. He tried to look casual about it; he failed:
From there, they drifted into the Circus Tent next door. At the far end stood a mage—some fellow named Kalah (almost like
Kalam, which Kalam absolutely did not appreciate)—and Kalam insisted on handling things with style. He slipped into the shadows under invisibility while Ryland waited for the signal.
“
Alright,” Ryland whispered. “
On three. Not after three. On three.”
“
Yes, yes, I know how counting works,” Kalam hissed.
“
You say that,” Ryland muttered, “
but last time you went on ‘two’—and the time before that you went on ‘three-and-a-half.’”
“
That was a tactical half!”
“
There is no tactical half.”
“
There is if you’re fast enough.”
Ryland sighed. “
Fine. Ready?”
Kalam slipped in behind Kalah
One…
Two…
“Three.”
There was a thump, a gasp, and just like that the mighty Kalah collapsed. Easiest assassination of the week. Word of their efficiency—or brutality—continued to spread across Amn.
But the celebration ended quickly. Outside the tent, Kalam learned the hard way that he wasn’t the only one who knew how to backstab. Thankfully, Ryland tanked the ambushers like a champ, and the shadow thieves ended up as stains on the cobblestones:
Fun fact: both me and Borco have played BG2 a million times, and yet we never noticed this guy before:
They’d had enough of city life, so they headed into the wilderness and found a cave. Ryland had a bad feeling about a suspicious chest, but Kalam—never famous for wisdom—ignored him.
“
Don’t worry, my friend,” Kalam said confidently. “
Whatever it is, I’ll take care of it.”
He jabbed the chest, watched it twitch, and smirked. “
See?” he said as he poisoned the Mimic, assuming it’d be an easy kill:
Seconds later:
“
Heeeeeeeeeelp!” Kalam sprinted back to the cavern entrance, screaming, bleeding, and missing several chunks of pride:
Fortunately, the Mimic couldn’t move, so Ryland solved the problem with a fireball:
And their fauvorite berserker finished the job:
Deeper in the cave, a pair of Umber Hulks caused more trouble—confusion, chaos, the usual—but Ryland tanked them while Kalam fired from a safe and very respectable distance:
Near this cave they stumbled upon an old, crumbling temple. The place was crawling with undead, which immediately chased them back outside. Ryland's Azuredge proved efficient:
From deeper within the halls came the sound of something much stronger—something they definitely weren’t ready for yet.
They did manage to rescue a halfling named Mazzy, escort her home, and—out of sheer practicality—steal her sword. (A perfectly reasonable reward, in their opinion.)
Back in Athkatla, they paid the Cowled Wizards the 5000 gold fee for the right to cast spells within city limits. Better safe than sorry, they figured.
