The Cursed: Hearing Voices

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The voices in the underground cult base grow louder and their leader seems to have totally lost the plot, summoning a pair of aerial servants which rip Captain Corwin to shreds. During the retreat, Safana is stung by a wyvern and has to be brought all the way back to camp for aid. To fill their slots Catharina recruits Voghiln and the happy go lucky gnome Glint who just appeared in camp.

Glint's curiosity leads the team into a nest of spiders and beetles where Baeloth saves the day with his sorcery. Back in the cult HQ, the voices are found to be coming from a mindflayer and while it manages to eat Voghiln's brain it is no match for a magic duel against Edwin.

With the teleporter stone in hand the party heads on to Bridgefort, picking up the goblin shaman M'khiin to fill out the roster. A level 10 goblin with 97 HP!? Edwin is displeased. Sure enough, Caelar's crusaders are still laying siege to it but thanks to Catharina's earlier decision to save crusaders captured by the cult the party is let in as allies (Caelar herself is absent). This would prove to be their undoing.

Mingling with the enemy and setting traps...

Insight: Glint is a very handy character as a cleric/thief, disarming traps, picking locks and helping with the heals. He's also quite funny! Very unexpected.

The Cursed: Alphastrike

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The company makes camp in the forest near Boareskyr Bridge, a forest teeming with trolls! While it is handy to be able to lure the monsters back to the soldiers one particular infested cave convinces Catharina to switch up her team, taking Party Girl, Corwin, Safana, Baeloth and Edwin - dubbing themselves "Alphastrike".

The reason is simple: upon entering combat the magic heavy team unleashes their strongest AoE spells in an attempt to end combat in one strike. It is very effective! Further down the path they meet the skald Voghiln and Jaheira who has recovered from that previous backstab. She reports that Caelar's forces are besieging Bridgefort nearby, and that the pair were after some cultist who stole a magic stone that can open a portal into the fort.

Funny that Baeloth and Edwin are the ones in melee range.

The Alphastrike squad takes up their mission. Tracks lead past some wyvern woods and into a cave occupied by a green dragon standing guard but even it has no chance against them! Beyond it is the cult barracks, and they are annihilated easily along with their neolithid pet - possibly because they are all hearing voices in their heads.

Insight: Haste lets you cast faster. In this group which opens with 3 fireballs, that was pretty amazing.

The Cursed: Baeloth's Shallow Pit

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Good thing Corwin has some pull with the Flaming Fist, as the captain manages to recruit a good number of them, including Skie - the runaway daughter of a prominent lord. Catharina doesn't mind, an extra sword is an extra sword.

A few random mercs also join the line up, one being Viconia who keeps conversations short and shares many awkward silences with Safana. Catharina decides this retinue is large enough and begins the march North to meet the incoming threat.

The column makes camp once it nears Caelar's territory, and gives Catharina and company an opportunity to explore the woods... finding a small animal fight pit run by... Baeloth? Turns out his "disintegration" was just another of Neera's wild magic teleports.

Fight pits still exist to this day.

The team put a stop to his sorry arena, freeing a very thankful goblin shaman named M'khiin. Both are sent back to the camps to join the campaign.

Insight: While skull trap is still very useful, the designers mitigate it somewhat by having critters running about. Nothing is quite as annoying as having your trap triggered early by a rat or a squirrel.

The Cursed: Friends Old and New

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Flaming Fist Captain Shael Corwin is assigned to Catharina's team to help her assemble her squad, and the first step is funding! Alas, all of the hard earned gold from the previous adventures have been lost thanks to an inept guard and desperate refugees.

Corwyn has a lot of facial scars, I imagine to represent her combat experiences.

Personally, I think it just shows that she likes to block with her face.

The guard is berated, and the thieving refugees once found explain they already shared the sizable wealth with all the other needy refugees pouring in. They don't seem to understand that the reason doesn't matter (nor does it ever when it comes to crime), so Catharina and company execute the lot of them on the spot.

By chance, both Minsc (and Boo) and Dynaheir are in this same tavern having survived their ordeals with ghouls and injuries from gnolls. Safana too, though the thief doesn't say what she and Viconia had to do to get out of those kobold tunnels. They all accept to join the campaign.

Insight: Going after the gold as hard as I did was probably a more "evil" approach, but I am very possessive.