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Hi everyone, our continuing adventures in the icy north. Having left Dragon’s Eye to its volcanic fate we traveled forward instead of pondering the past. Whether we were in the here and now or back four days we weren’t really sure of but we still had a mission to complete and time paradoxes was best left for better minds than ours.

As we continued forward through the frozen north we happen to meet once again the mad Thay wizard who once again wanted to bluster and stop us after many battles with his henchmen we finally ended the threat that was Salic Tan and the madness he presented to the Ten-Towns – it’s satisfying once in a while to perform good community deeds even if we are not being paid for them. As we continued on our road to the Severed Hand we ran across prisoner that needed to be rescued and assorted orcs and other monsters that lived in the icy north. Our biggest challenge was the Lich Lord that didn’t take to kindly to us passing through and we had a rather difficult pitch battle between him and his monsters but we finally overcame them and in the process continued the quest of the fallen elven cleric who wanted to purify the region it was a shame that we couldn’t save the cleric but we fulfilled his mission and he should be content that the area has been purified.

Severed Hand:

The broken and lost former elven fortress stood among the icy crags of the north and for the first time in many of generations there was life and power that shone from the forgotten fortress. My aunt told me of her adventures here and I sort of looked forward to seeing the elven fortress with my own eyes but with the Legion squatting in it I imagine it has changed greatly from the description that my aunt gave.

As we approached the fortress the guards thought our faces where innocent enough and let us pass without any real difficulty. While great that we didn’t alert the fortress to our presence the lack of security check seemed a chink in the Legion’s armor. We entered only to be confronted with a guard who was extolling his guards about us and what a terror we were and should we appear to alert everyone sadly for him and his troops we got the upper hand and quelled them which was fortunate for us. The dark and gloomy fortress that my aunt had described was no more as there were workers all over the place hammering and fixing the fortress; great lights lit the fortress illuminating the shadows that once was the hallmark of the fortress. The orcs and goblins that had infested the fortress in the past had all but disappeared with the Legion taking over the area.

For a group who went so far as to cause war in the name of equality of all people it really seemed to me their mandate was a bit skewed in that they had slaves working for them. Of course the slaves seemed to be all regular folks rather than minority people but to being a reign by taking slaves and forcing them to work was not an auspicious start to a revolution. While we sympathized with the discrimination that minorities faced in the north, by taking slaves it seemed to only to reinforce their rather villain appearance to all that viewed them.

We wandered the floors of the fortress occasionally engaging in battle since our pass didn’t really allow us free reign to wander on unrestricted floors. We noticed that the place seemed now to be a demon hangout as demons were in abundance everywhere from guards to mercenary soldier even to demon teachers it seems. As we tromped up and down the flights of stairs we encountered those that wanted help, needed help and some that even begged for help and since there was no sign of the twins we did what we could to assist them.

As we wandered through the floors we happen to come across a Pool of Radiance – wow – who would have thought that these pools of power still existed in the Dales but here with our own eyes we saw a pool of radiance being used – and even though it has such a nice name its basically used by evil creatures that want to boost their magical abilities and as such it was something we needed to get rid of before it did some serious damage. Unfortunately even though we knew what it was we had no way to purify the pool since a pool of radiance hadn’t been seen in decades if not longer. Going to have to find a well stocked library to see if we can find a solution.

The towers of the Severed Hand – had been repaired for the most part over the years – the ghosts and undead of the past it seems had all been destroyed, fled or exorcised when the Legion took it over – I personally was looking forward to meeting the elf-merchant that my aunt had mentioned in her journals but like with all new occupants they got rid of everything that for them didn’t belong – sadly for me there was no sight of the elf merchant.

Wandering Thief – let me tell you there is nothing like letting a self-professed thief wander by herself in order to get into lots of trouble you really didn’t want. So here we were on the 3rd floor of the Severed Hand and being the good thief that she is scouted the area out only to be seen by some demons – well to make a short story even shorter she mouthed off at them – and while we are not particularly afraid of demons having vanquished demons in battle before – we certainly weren’t looking for a fight but got one anyways – we fought a mix of lesser demons and a few named ones and while the battle was bloody full of claws, cursing and prayer we eventually succeeded in defeating them. Our next encounter that caused another unneeded battle was when Hotomi decided to annoy a certain mistress of a dead wizard and who then decided she wanted to get rid of us and gathered some friends of hers to help her which included a few wizards – another battle and more bloodshed in a place that has already seen too much bloodshed.

Mysteries solved – is it us or do we keep bumping into these mysteries that need to be solved everyone seems to want us to investigate something or solve their problems – do we have a stamp somewhere on us that says ‘private investigator’ or harper or something that says we investigate mysteries for a living? A murder mystery proved to fun to investigate – who killed the wizard? – eventually we solved the murder mystery – can you believe it was all because of jealousy – it is so sad when envy of someone causes someone to snap and snap in such a way as to do the most horrible thing possible – for us justice was served to the victims and a case of the murdered wizard was nicely resolved for all involved. The case of the missing food was also solved with some quick survalliance of the area and a quick solution was given to the food thief who also helped us solve the wizard murder mystery. I have to say it was a generally resounding success for us amateur sleuths – maybe we will open an office one day “Private Investigators – no crime that can’t be solved’ sounds like a catchy logo.

Another Drow Merchant – what is it with Drow merchants and always wanting something else besides gold for their goods. Well this one appeared to be a potential ally of sort – don’t get me wrong I have nothing against Drows, my best friend is a Drow but finding one here in the heart of the Legion strong hold who said she was a spy made us leery and suspicious. So provided some information to us and we agreed since it seemed to help us – preferring no violence to whole sale slaughter we agreed to put a sleeping potion with the food of the guards but it seemed that the potion we made – following her directions – proved to a sleeping potion that gave the guards eternal rest but that’s what we get for following a recipe from a drow spy sent to disrupt the Legion. We are going to have to be more careful with the information she provides us in the future as for now we are still cooperating with her as it’s the easiest way to stop the Legion and a bit of chaos in their ranks really is not that troublesome for us.

On to the towers to see what they have in store for us…

Hi fellow adventurers, this chapter is entitled ‘The End’ – yes not the most original of titles but it works.

We wandered up and down the towers battling assorted Legion soldiers, demons and demi-gods and found ourselves victorious if battered after these encounters. We assisted those that needed help once again freeing prisoners, slaves and talking one soldier who was full of doubts to leave the fortress for better and brighter pasture.

As our whirlwind tour of the Severed Hand continued and we did what was needed to help others stuck at the fortress, what we really wanted was to meet that Mayor who sent the initial gift that started all of this – we would surely show him a thing or two about hospitality while teaching him a few harsh lessons on diplomacy – since it is his fault partially that we are actually doing this crazy adventure. We freed his duped envoy that was wasting away in the prisons of the tower although a part of us wanted to leave the envoy there for his part in this tragedy but once we learned he was duped like everyone else by his mayor we freed him and sent him on his way – perhaps he will ensure a bit a pay back against the mayor that sent him here – we can only hope.

I think the most interesting thing about the fortress as we wandered it was that not everyone was hostile to us there were whole floors that we shouldn’t have been allowed on but the guards and those there didn’t seem to blink at our presence there which was nice – we surely didn’t want to battle the entire fortress.

As day passed into night and other tasks like helping those in need filled our day we still found no sign of the twin leaders. There are only a few places left to search and a floor we can’t seem to enter so far since it requires a key we haven’t found yet – so its searching for a key time as the sun sets on the fortress and on the revolution that the demon twins had started. Maybe for those involved this brief revolution will help them figure out a better way to gain peace and acceptance but even if it doesn’t they now know it is a large task to change a world even a small corner of it like Ice Wind Dale. Or maybe the Ten-Towns and the people of the north will finally wake up to their own intolerance and accept everyone for who and what they are – I know a big dream but anything is possible once people start to learn that the war in part was the fault of their overly bigoted mayor – we can only hope for change.

As we set about completing the tasks asked of us – the removal of the demon guards and the purifying of the pool of radiance – both task which we completed not without a bit of pain and blood – we did nevertheless accomplish what was asked of us and as such was able to hopefully limit the power of the twins if we ever found them. It’s not like them to let us wander freely destroying the tools that had built something important must be occupying them for them to ignore us for this length of time.

As we searched the complex for signs of the twins, Riki the Drow merchant aided us once again by providing the needed information that we needed and so following her information we went to sabotage a potential alliance and to end the threat of the Legion. We knew know that a truce of any kind was not for them and for the sake of peace we would end the threat to the Ten-Towns.

The delegates from the half-dragon people proved difficult to fool and a battle ensued as we kind of expected but sincerely hoped to avoid. While we stood victorious in the end there was little satisfaction in the deaths of innocents even if they wanted to ally with the Legion. As we left the roof top tower we meet a wizard who agreed to allow us to see the twins and so the end one way or another would come about.

As we teleported into their throne room we spoke the twins hoping beyond hope that something could be salvaged between the Ten-Towns and the Legion but sadly it was not to be. They were unwilling and we had neither the power to force peace talks between the two separate sides in this conflict. Although we spoke but for a moment it seems as their curiosity was peeked by our continued intrusion in their affairs we attempted to tell them our story and our reasons behind our inclusions in this war but although our explanations were hard they were little understood by them and a battle ensued between us as was to expected.

It was a battle for the ages as we six and our allies (the monks we rescued) stood with us facing the twins and their Legion. Sword and bow, staff and spear, potions and magic exploded on the throne room floor as the twins being accomplished spell-casters and their Legions proved to be intractable foes not easily vanquished or defeated. We fought bravely chanting our spells, calling allies and bringing the forces of nature and the beyond to our beck and call as we battled the twins and we slowed wore them down. Eventually the twins stood alone in the throne room against us and our allies and to our surprise teleported out for a breather which was fortunate for us since we needed a break as well to heal for a moment. But the break lasted only for a moment since we knew we could not let them truly rest and recover or we would be in trouble so we once again jumped into the fray tracking down our foes to the pool of radiance that we had cleansed. We stood once again six arrayed against the twins and their soldiers and once again the fortress shook as arcane might was cast within the confined space. The walls shook mightily and seemed as if it would collapse from the explosions as might magic was cast down on us and for us. As we stood battling against our foes to our surprise the twins started to shimmer and to phase in and out of existence and we thought once again they we retreat but to our surprise they too were shocked by what was happening to them. Fortunately the wizard Orrcik came to enlighten all of us of what was happening – the fortress due to the tampering of the twins was slowly being pulled into Limbo. And as we heard this news with shock the twins were even more shocked as they slowly disappeared from view, they fought mightily against the pull of whatever magic was pulling them into Limbo but whatever force that had started the process could not be halted even by them as in a moment the twins were pulled away from our world into another. Orrick told us to flee as the fortress would soon follow the twins and so we fled the fortress knowing the battle for now was won.

As we stood outside on the plains watching the fortress disappear leaving behind only the Mage Tower that Orrick had protected we couldn’t help but wonder at the fate of the twins and the rather anti-climatic outcome of our adventures. My aunt had told me of her and her companions epic battle to save the Ten-Towns some 30 years earlier with a life and death battle against a demon lord and here we stood 30 years later having battled but having not really won on the field of battle it seemed victory such as it was belonged to us. As we pondered the fates of the twins would they being half-demons survive the journey to Limbo and would they one day return to threaten the Ten-Towns were questions we could not answer but for now it seemed the Legion and its forces would be broken and hopefully some semblance of peace would reign over the region. As we journeyed back to Kuldahar and eventually to Targos with our news we were treated as heroes for what we had done – we had saved the Ten-Towns and were richly rewarded for our efforts and deeds – music and song, words and deeds were written of our exploits as we retold our tales of adventures and woes and we hoped that our tales would be a lesson for those that we follow and to the people of the region who had started all of the woes because of their intolerance. Although we spend many of days enjoying the accolades that were heaped upon us, it soon became too much for us to bear as we saw little had changed for those who were different and so after once again reminding the people of our deeds and their own deeds that had started all of the fighting we left for warmer and hopefully more prosperous regions and adventures.

Reflections on IWD 2 and 3/3.5e:

Hi fellow gamers, hopefully you all enjoyed the journals of my characters and their adventures and missteps through the Ten-Towns. This section is entitled ‘reflections’ and are basically my thoughts on the game and the 3e universe.

I rather enjoyed IWD2 – on a scale of 10 I give it a solid 7 to 7.5 out of 10. It was an enjoyable play but the story was very linear and the lack of options at times made the story at times a trial to get through and not as enjoyable as it should have been. I would recommend IWD2 for those that enjoy RPG and want to try an older rpg game.

The 3/3.5e universe: over the past several months I immersed myself into the 3/3.5e universe of Dungeons and Dragons. There are positives and negatives to the 3e (3.5e) edition and here are some of my likes and dislikes.

Saving Throws – is much better done and makes more sense than the 2e version.

Skills – while I didn’t totally enjoy all aspects of this (e.g. rogue skills)– the skills such as intimidate, bluff, diplomacy etc. adds something to the dialogue and the story of each character. Overall this was a nice thing to add to character creation.

BAB/Thac0 – either one really made no difference to me.

Armor Class: okay a small pet peeve for me as it seems implausible that a person with high dexterity has a better AC than someone clad in metal from head to toe. While full armor is more difficult to move in, it is meant as protection against weapons and as such should show that by giving adequate AC while not wearing armor but having a high Dex gives you the better AC in most cases seems just a bit odd. And as such for me AC in 3e is really lacking something.

BAB in terms of attacking and multiple attacks per round – in 3e this for me was rather broken in some cases. In terms of missile attacks this was just a mistake – being only to fire an arrow 1/round is just odd. In addition the oddity that for each additional attack is halved in terms of the pluses you are allowed to use seems just odd as my characters strength doesn’t get weaker from one attack to another but the next round it returns to normal is just odd.

Feats – now this is something I really disliked – whether it was in the game or on pnp – these feats proved to be rather annoying and something I generally dislike. You had to activate them half the time if you remembered to at all and if you did you had to remember to add all these +1 or whatever to your role.

Attributes – now this is something I really dislike in 3e – the fact that you can raise your stats is something that really annoys me and I believe one of the worse things that was added in the 3e edition. Characters should not be allowed to get for example to get naturally stronger such that they can reach ogre level strength is just a bit crazy to me. Makes pnp rpg like a video game almost.

Dipping and multi-classing: the way 3e remade multi-classing characters really annoys me as it had changed the game to power gaming – meaning trying to make the most powerful character by dipping rather than role playing characters. For me it is just wrong that you can dip into different classes and get their abilities just for power sake (as is often the case in pnp or computer gaming) and as such for me on this one front 3e fails miserably as a role playing game.

Leveling up – I am not really a fan of how they changed the xp needed to level up – the fact that all characters level up at the same pace seems rather wrong to me as different classes have different levels of difficulties – the fact that a wizard could achieve level 15 with the same xp as a warrior or a monk seems wrong as the skills and studies needed to achieve that level of power for example.

Magical items: while some have remained the same – many have changed a lot to reflect the attribute change and for me that makes 3e magical items less fantastic and less interesting to me.

Races: 3/3.5e has provided a lot of new races and I am of two minds to this – while interesting to have different races, I wonder if it is wise to allow players to actually play these races or allow new races to be created. For example: one player wanted to create a half-orc/half-drow character race and he even told me how the character came about but if you allow half-race characters that seem rather implausible what next half-fairy giants or something equally as strange or ludicrous. I think that while race is important to character creation there should be a limit to what should be allowed to be played – if for example you are playing just a regular dungeon adventure having characters like drows or half-dragons seems rather implausible as races be played for a normal gaming play.

Overall 3.5 edition proved to be interesting and had some great new ideas that improved on 2e but at the same time there were aspects that really annoyed me as I played with these new rules. For me a combination of 2e and 3.5e would have been a better mix rather than just using either 2e or 3.5e rules in exclusion of the other.