The Cursed: The Big M

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Upon returning to Amkethran the team finds that they are now being hunted by Balthazarr's monks and mercs. This doesn't stop them from selling loot, buying supplies or restoring that girl with her soul stone that Hexxat was borrowing. Once ready they find a quiet way into the monastery via the graveyard cavern, avoiding all the guards.

The unarmed guards.

Summoning up a small army they then confront Balthazarr, who wants to be "the one", and his few monks. As expected, fists and feet can't do much against planetars and mord-swords. Balthazar himself is cut down by Sarevok. At this point Melissan appears and reveals she was actually Bhaal's high priestess but instead of using the Bhaalspawn souls she's been collecting since forever to revive him, she's going to do a Jon Irenicus and use it herself to become the new goddess of murder.

Because she doesn't have a handy magic tree to drain, she just needs Catharina's soul as the final piece. However its now too strong to take here in the prime material realm so Melissan challenges her to battle at the Throne of Bhaal before vanishing into thin air.

Catharina just stared blankly at the space Melissan vanished from, then after a short silence she suddenly asked "Sarevok, you know where that is right?"

"Sister, you are an idiot," Sarevok sighed.

Insight: Yay, after the slog of getting through Sendai and Abazigal's lairs, Balthazarr is a breath of fresh air. He also doesn't cheat too much (that I saw) and is around the level of combat I enjoy. The designers really need to put it more normals / low level fights.

It's absurd that all those nameless soldiers after Irenicus have +1 to +3 gear and are backed by what must be a surplus of level 20 casters. Just like how liches are "common" now, it's a sign that the creators just wanted to make artificial challenge than follow the role playing world their game is set in. Stupid design!

The Cursed: Irenicus

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The duo find Irenicus sucking the power of the great tree to become a god and promptly kill him with summons. Unfortunately, since he still has Catharina's soul, she and Imoen (maybe he took some of hers too?) follow him down into hell where a small gauntlet of tests await them to see which one deserves to be Bhaalspawn.

Both Catharina and Irenicus pass, leading to the actual final confrontation where Irenicus transforms into his demon form and summons greater demons to aid him. The girls summon their own assistance as usual, and because they have more experience with summon tactics - as well as copious amounts of Horrid Wilting spells - they win. Catharina takes her soul back, and Irenicus dies.

Sucker got horridly wilted.

She and Imoen then wake in Suldanessellar, where the Elf queen declares them heroes and lets them stay for as long as they need to recover from this whole ordeal.

Insight: The only trick to beat Irenicus both times is to remember to reposition as needed.

The Cursed: Suldanessellar

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Upon returning to Athkatla, Catharina finds Imoen at the Copper Coronet who needs help with that lead for the missing elf city. Together they return to the Harper house at the Docks District and planetar the evil mercs now residing there. Upstairs they rescue Jaheira, who was reduced to being their play thing this whole time.

As Imoen suspected, she knows where Suldanessellar is and using the magic lantern reveals the city once more. Inside, the elves are still bravely fighting Irenicus' forces which are mainly comprised of golems and rakshasas. He has also magically sealed the palace of the great tree, and the team needs to summon a woodland avatar to open it.

A wood land avatar that looks like Swamp Thing.

Collecting the items for the summoning ritual is mostly easy, except for the one item held by Irenicus' black dragon. It is a long fight, and Jaheira is melted by dragon vomit before it is slain. Catharina and Imoen then proceed into the palace for the final confrontation.

Insight: I quite like big maps now. Just summon the planetar early, haste it and send it forth then supplement mord-swords as needed. It was also interesting to see it solo a balor and a pit fiend, this is because its sword has a chance to auto kill anything it hits.

The Cursed: The Sorcerer and the Wizard

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Meanwhile in Thay...

Having scouted the Hunter's Lounge the arena squad gets back to the fights, taking the powerful warrior Hort the orc to face vampires in round six, and is very impressed by Arzang as he can now time stop, cast imprisonment, and summon a fallen planetar of his own.

Round seven is against Githyanki, and they party up with old ally and booze hound Voghiln who says a crazy mage named Irenicus restored his flayer eaten brain somehow before selling him here. More importantly, he lets on that one of the Planar Hunters, a female bard called Joker, likes drinking with him on occasion.

I suppose the "bard" class makes sense?

The eighth match is surprisingly difficult against a Sahaugin prince and his water weirds due to all their paralyzation attacks but old senile man Dulf "Dulfy" Ebonbeard, who needs a regular potion dose for his condition, saves them with his amazing array of spells. He also reveals that the adamantine golem of the Planar Hunters is a soul-switched mage: a spell that can be undone.

With his knowledge and what the team looted from his room previously, Gerrod (the wild mage befriended before) is tasked to inscribe a scroll to handle this.

Insight: Much like the previous Black Pits, your party is restored fully after each match. That's good or this would be a very short side story! :P

The Cursed: Whining Woods

[Part of the Cursed story line]

With the city now lich free the team begins the search for Suldanessellar, scouring the new forest zones with the magic lantern but come up empty. They do run into ex-team mates Coran and Safana, now a couple as Coran saved Safana from her wyvern sting, who are now working as bounty hunters... for Irenicus. They and their wolfwere allies are slain.

Well, someone's been playing too much of this!

Edwin also manages to transform himself into a woman (and can't change back) which leads to some comical teasing from Nalia and Aerie. Catharina's mind is elsewhere though, namely the Watcher's Keep, for if a magic team was strong against the liches maybe a melee team would triumph in that messed up magic maze?

She decides to find out and leaves with Lu Lingqi, instructing Imoen, Aerie, Nalia and Edwina to continue the search in their absence.

Insight: Another reason I left them is the whining. My god, the whining. Aerie, Nalia and female Edwin constantly ask to rest in the most irksome decibels.

The Cursed: Between the Lines

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Not wanting to fight through the lines of Elves and Drow, Catharina opts for the Bilbo Baggins method - invisibility and haste. With enough zig zagging they make it through the combat lines and out into the sunlight... where they are promptly arrested by the waiting Elves above.

After being questioned by their leader, they learn that somehow Irenicus has made their city of Suldanessellar vanish! Convinced that Catharina and Imoen want Irenicus dead, they task the party with looking for a magic lantern stolen from Elven lands that can find the city.

Irenicus must really love this game.

Ok wait, they have a magic lantern that can find the city? Does that happen often enough to warrant the creation of said lantern? I guess so! LOL. Catharina immediately suspects it will be with Bodhi, so the elves give them some stakes and holy water then send them on their way back to Athkatla.

Insight: If you are going for the run method, make sure you manually control your people. The AI pathing is lousy for that purpose.

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: What happens in Ust Natha

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The survivors eventually come across a friendly Svirfneblin village and after helping the deep gnomes with their balor problem (they dug too deep!) they introduce the party to the local silver dragon, Adalon, whose eggs were stolen by Irenicus and taken to the nearby Drow city of Ust Natha.

The team offers to help as the dragon can cast a powerful glamour to make them appear as Drow, which grants them access to Ust Natha. There's no sign of Irenicus, Bodhi or the eggs though - just a lot of slaves and fighting pits where Lu Lingqi shows her prowess.

As a reward they are able to freely use the lust chambers in the tavern which is an odd way to rest, but after a couple of orgies (need to keep up appearances after all) they begin to enjoy it.

Or maybe they just played Beholder volleyball which is way more PG?
(art by Pokketmowse)

Insight: While the group arena is standard party combat, the duel arena can be cheesed if you get some summons in there. Should you win your summons remain there, meaning you can send another team member to duel and be supported by the previous summons!

The Cursed: Underdark

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The Underdark is dark and full of terrors, mainly in the form of drow at the arrival area. Drow might not sound very terrifying, until you remember that their sun light averse gear is actually in the +5 range so fighting them on their home turf is quite challenging!

So... if we take her to the sunlight she becomes naked? :P

To make matters worse, the team learns from some duergar that a pair of other outsiders (Irenicus and Bodhi) were last seen entering the nearby Drow city. That same city keeps it gates closed to team (rightfully so, after they killed all those Drow patrols) so Jan suggest to look for a tunnel or something that leads under the walls.

The first tunnel they enter is home to a beholder and an elder eye, and the party uses almost everything they have to win the fight. Unfortunately Jan and Elizabeth are left lying dead there while the survivors retreat.

Insight: At this point your mage should be rocking Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting which does big area damage while not hurting allies. Perfect against those drow parties who like to close the distance. Even with their increased resistance, they'll take half damage.

The Cursed: Battle for Spellhold

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The remaining asylum tests are easy and the squad finds themselves back at the main floor with the other inmates. For a cheap bribe, Catharina releases all of them (all powerful mages) and directs their anger at Irenicus.

He looks more menacing with his mask on.

Backed by the mage army, the team proceeds to the lab to fight Irenicus, and in an explosive and colorful battle find victory as Irenicus retreats, leaving some minions to cover his escape. Unfortunately, every single one of the inmates dead when the battle is over.

Not willing to let him escape the team does a quick search of Spellhold and find the portal he ran through. Without time to waste, they pursue and find themselves in... the Underdark!?

Insight: Letting bad guys escape by cutscene is also rail roading, aka bad design!

The Cursed: Soul Taker

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The vampires are easily killed, as are the pirate scum of the town whom Catharina couldn't help but mess with. They then advance on to Spellhold itself and run into the "new" manager, Irenicus!

He wears metal armor in exactly one spot only. Lol.

Knocked out in this unexpected encounter, Catharina awakens in another experimental chamber where Irenicus rips out her soul to take for his own. Somehow Catharina survives this, so Irenicus then leaves them to be taken care of by his sister, Bodhi!

Fortunately Bodhi is a moron and opts to throw the team, fully armed, into the lowest basement of the asylum so she can play a game of cat and mouse before killing them. Imoen is here, also lacking a soul, and feels like she is dying.

Insight: I hate getting KO'ed by cutscene. People really need a way to avoid that as it is bad design: rail roading.

The Cursed: Rewards of Diplomacy

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Returning after doing some tasks for the sanctuary, they find it destroyed! The lone survivor says they were discovered by Thayans and the others were captured and taken to the Thayan secret base in Athkatla. Humorously, this base is right beside Irenicus' starting dungeon - posing as a shop front.

Neera wants to go all terminator within, but Catharina calms her down enough so that the team can talk their way in, even buying supplies from said Thayans and reaching the back rooms which hold some angry gladiators and underpaid mercs.

With a few underhanded tactics, the mercs are made drunk and the gladiators freed. Having the support of both groups makes the red wizards easy prey, and the surviving wild mages are freed from their cages. For safety purposes they opt to split up again, with Neera remaining in the party.

Mord Swords are fantastic tanks!

Insight: Those Thayans have some really nice spells for sale, Mordenkainen's sword summon being one of them. Be sure to get it!

The Cursed: Trapped in the Woods

[Part of the Cursed story line]

While the forest is home to low level enemies, it is laced with magical traps (thanks Neera) one of which transforms Valygar into a squirrel. Due to the wild magic zone, the casters can't dispel this and so abandon him to his tiny, furry fate.

Valygar isn't happy.

Trying to navigate this place without a rogue (trap detector) is terrible so the team returns first to the city where Jaheira is again approached by Harpers who warn her that her execution has been mandated and that attacks on the party are going to increase soon. 

While she ponders on that Elizabeth is swapped out (and goes deep in her cups) for the Yoshimo, who helped them escape the Irenicus dungeon at the start. With him detecting traps in the party the team easily reaches Neera's wild magic sanctuary and they begin helping out with the numerous fetch quests given by the inhabitants there.

Insight: Definitely bring a thief to the wild forest. Not only do you get XP from disabling traps, you also avoid the adverse effects of said traps! Poor, poor Valygar...

The Cursed: Lab Rats

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The prison transport never made it to Baldur's Gate, as Catharina was abducted by the mage Jon Irenicus. Deep in his dungeon, she endured his experiments for sometime until the location came under attack by some rival faction. With Irenicus distracted, Catharina is freed by fellow captive Imoen! Hey she's not so useless after all. The pair also rescue familiar faces Minsc, Jaheira, Elizabeth, and Lu Lingqi as well as the pair of thieves Yoshimo and Raven Skinnybastard on their way out, all of whom were lab rats to Irenicus.

Irenicus thinks too much, look at all those veins.

Alas both Khalid and Dynaheir were also prisoners here but they did not survive the torture. Reaching the surface they find themselves in Athkatla, Jewel of Amn. Irenicus is nearby absolutely annihilating the opposition which draws the attention of the local enforcers, the Cowled Wizards - a number of whom he slays as well. During this Imoen takes a cheap shot to magic missile Irenicus, and since magic is outlawed in the city the Cowled Wizards eventually capture both of them and whisk them away.

Yoshimo, having had enough of this shit, peaces out and leaves to go to the pub. The rest of the group, Raven Skinnybastard included, decide to try help Imoen from her legal issues.

Insight: Don't rush to escape the prison. There's lots of EXP in there and you can camp as much as you like.