Enderal: Dead Weight

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Stowing away in the cargo hold of the Morning Dew turned out to be a bad idea, but it was the most expeditious way to escape Ust Natha in the chaos caused by the deaths of that bitch Phaere and her mother. Having been found out by the crew, I was taken up to the deck where the she-captain decided to simply sink my plans. Literally.

Almost exactly what she looked like...

Tied to a weight and thrown overboard, it was only through sheer luck that I awoke on the sandy beach of some forgotten cove with no gear to speak of. Opting to venture inland I found some form of ruin, littered with blue crystals that made me feel sick every time I walked near them.

Of course, a troll lived in here too and with no gear to deal with it I had to lure it into an ancient trap to slay the beast. There was no such trap available further up in a room guarded by a mud elemental. I had to result to good old stealth to sneak past that one...

Insight: Traps do good damage on NPCs (and you), and can be reset for continued use.

The Cursed: Sharing a Laugh

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The Matron Mother summons forth a lesser demon prince, hoping to gain his aid in the war against the top side elves. Unfortunately, her fake egg offering results in the demon roasting her alive.

Phaere then attempts to offer fake eggs much to the demon prince's amusement, roasting her as well. Satisfied with the good laugh, he leaves the party alone and returns to hell. Catharina and company are satisfied too, but it's time to go.

Time is running out as a few denizens in Ust Natha have realized their charade - namely an aboleth and the merc Jarlaxle, both trying to blackmail the party into doing some dirty deeds in order to keep their secret.

I hate that Jarlaxle guy.

Instead of doing said tasks the team simply walks out of Ust Natha and delivers the eggs back to Adalon. In thanks, she teleports them to the exit closest to Irenicus... and right into a war zone!

Insight: I suppose if you want all the XP you'd want to do all the quests. Just be aware that a lot of the ones in Ust Natha come with time limits so you must be quick and efficient (not so much resting) as to not blow your cover.

The Cursed: Triple Cross

[Part of the Cursed story line]

With the Matron Mother's ceremony quickly approaching Phaere approaches the team with an opportunity - swap the sacrificial silver dragon eggs for fake ones which would lead to Phaere taking her spot.

Catharina agrees as this at least gets them closer to the eggs. Ironically, Solaufein also shows up later and says to double cross Phaere as well with another set of fake eggs! His offer is readily accepted.

It's then on to the temple of Lolth where the team sneakily offs the pair of egg guards then Imoen gets her chance to shine - swapping the eggs in hasted stealth to avoid the guardian golems.

Being fast is as important as being unseen.

They then hand out the fake eggs to the stupid Drow females and wait for the ceremony to begin...

Insight: The haste was more important than the stealth in the last bit. Imoen made it back to the door which Nalia then closed, trapping the golems within. Fortunately no one but your party knows how to open doors. :P

The Cursed: Being Drow

[Part of the Cursed story line]

It's not all fun and games in Ust Natha as the team is soon tasked to assist the Drow warrior, Solaufein, to rescue the matron mother's daughter, Phaere, from some mind flayers. A perimeter of skull traps greatly helps this endeavor.

Unfortunately Phaere is quite the ungrateful bitch, promptly sending the group off to kill a spell jamming beholder smuggler (lol what?) followed by killing both the Svirfneblin and Solaufein. Those last two tasks are easily faked with the "victims" agreeing just to hand over proof that "they're dead".

Arr, would ye like some smuggled Hambrew coffee!?

(Hambrew being Minitature Giant Space Hamster poop)

This earns them a meeting with the Matron Mother who is planning some big ceremony but needs "noble" blood from of one of the nearby races. The Elder Eye actually counts for this, which means Jan and Elizabeth didn't die for nothing!

Insight: Instead of the elder eye, you could also go after a Kuo-toa prince or an Illithid elder brain. I'm kinda happy we just had the eye in the pack at that point.