Right, it was time to get down to logistics. Gorion had given me 110 gold, with the 300 form Firebead I now have 410 gold. Gorion already ordered rations and the like from Winthrop, so my funds would go to equipment. I could purchase some heavy-duty armour since I was also trained as a fighter, forgoing stealth for now. We would be travelling in the open under bright light, so stealth wasn't really reliable. But it seemed wasteful to buy heavy armour for myself since I intended to do the scouting on my team later, which couldn't really be done in heavy armour effectively.
…no, I wouldn't be travelling with any warrior decked in good protection in the immediate future. And we may meet wolves and gibberlings on the road. Until I found good tanks, it was up to me to tank for my immediate team. When I had a team, anyway.
So I bought a sling (1gp), 12 stacks of bullets (12gp), Splint Mail (101gp), Studded leather (25gp), a large shield (12gp) and a helmet (1gp). That rang me up for a total of 152 gp, leaving me with 258gp. I was now armed and ready for danger.
No, there was more to be done. Whatever you might read online in various novels, every RPG gamer knows that levelling up is the most important factor to survive. Classic computer RPGs like Baldur's Gate were no different. In the prologue area, all the beginner fetch quests provided safe and relatively quick experience points. I might have skipped these after my tenth playthrough, but in-person as a lame halfling, I needed all the help I could get.
I bought a stack of crossbow bolts (1gp), then ran out in a got to work on fetch quests moving counterclockwise, leaving out the bunkhouse and Priest's quarters for now. I had done this round of fetch quests in-game many, many times. I was running on cruise control now, trying to get as much easy early experience as possible. Bolts for Fuller, check. One, uh, two free potions from the Clinic, check. Scroll Sword for Hull (that ungrateful bastard), check. Killing rats for Reevor, check. Antidote for Dreppin's cow, check. Phlydia's gem in haystack, check. Identify scroll from Tethoril, check…
"Heya, it's me Imoen," came a familiar call as a young woman in pink walked up to me. "Stuffy ol' Gorion let you out of your studies and chores? That ol' fiddle faddle. Ol' Puffguts Winthrop was looking for me, but I snuck out. Plenty of time for chores later. Whatcha up to?"
There's a familiar face. It's odd to see Imoen in person for once. Funnily enough, she looked just like her portrait, sans the pink background. She wasn't exactly a large person compared to Winthrop and Firebead, but relatively speaking there was no comparing the height of a full-grown woman with that of a halfling.
...wait, Winthrop was looking out for Imoen to handout chores? Has she been under the care of Winthrop all this time, not Gorion? Some things I really didn't notice the first time around or when I was skipping through conversations in subsequent playthroughs. Knowing what I know now, there's particular significance if Winthrop was in on the big secret in Candlekeep.
But I suppose now wasn't the time to ponder about that. "No time to chat today, sis. Gorion-"
"That's BIG sis to you, short stuff," Imoen corrected, purposely standing up straight to seem even taller. Somebody liked the fact she wasn't the shortest person around when I was present.
"…I'm pretty sure we're the same age," I continued, "But-"
"Not like we're really brother and sister," Imoen laughed, cutting me off.
OOF. I accidentally called her sister. "-but I don't have time to chat today. Gorion wishes me to prepare for a journey, but will not say to where."
I doubt even he had a good idea where to go. Which location would have been more secure than a remote fortress like Candlekeep?
"A journey, eh? I never get to travel. Wish I could go with ya. Yep, really wish I could. Yes, sir, really do."
"All right, all right. I get the message," I responded, in script, putting my hands up. "I'll ask if you can go with us."
"Oh, don't be silly. Gorion would never even let you finish the sentence. Especially after what that letter of his said… er… did I say that? No, of course I didn't. Never saw no letter. Nope. I'll just get ack to work now. BYYYE!"
And there she went. I shook my head as I watched her wander off. Imoen was a classic companion in the Bhaalspawn saga. Most people would find it hard to do a playthrough without her due to her role in the events of the story, especially in later games, electing to keep her for her thief skills over more effective companions. In my case however… well, party composition issues was a problem I could consider another time.
On the way back to the inn I walked by the chanters in the garden who were randomly chanting out prophesy that's actually super relevant to the main plot. "Divine lords walk among us", "mortal progeny", "so sayeth the great Alaundo", yadda yadda. Heard it all before, moving on to important stuff.
Firebead was all smiles when he saw the identity scroll. "So good to see that time hasn't hardened your heart towards an old man such as myself."
He got up from his chair, "Here, allow me to cast a little spell on you. It will protect you from any evil you might meet tonight."
He wiggled he fingers and cast Protection from Evil on me. The spell wouldn't actually last long all the way to tonight, but it did last long enough for what I was about to do.
In the bunkhouse, Carbos was laying in wait. A bounty had been put on the Gorion's ward, a little halfling by the name of Sonny. "Little" was not an exaggeration. The description was a halfling who was small even by halfling standards with raven black hair. Pretty hard to miss.
Carbos twirled a dagger in his hands. A halfling were usually docile folks, even by civilian standards. A few of them did get the call of adventure, 'fancy feet' they call it. But a small HALFLING? This was going to be an easy kill even for amateur assassins like himself. No doubt the other assassin, Shank, who had made it this far was thinking the same thing. The only issue was the timing, as it was broad daylight right now. Unless Gorion's ward were to wander into the bunkhouse while performing chores, Carbos would have to wait until the cover of night to strike. Preferably when his targets were sleeping. Why take the chance?
Which was to say that Carbos had hardly expected his intended victim to bash him over the back of the head, splattering his brains all over the bunkhouse floor.
A halfling stood over Carbos with a staff on one shoulder, the other hand pointing at Carbos. "You thought you were the hunter," the halfling said, then gave Carbos a thumbs down, "but you were the prey all along."
I stood there in that pose for a moment, then slumped my shoulders. It just wasn't the same without an audience!
I looked at my quarterstaff in dismay. Sure, the wood held up just fine against the skulls of Shank and Carbos, my would-be assassins. But it was covered in blood and gore. What would Gorion say if he saw me walking around with my staff like this? Here in the bunkhouse there were plenty of clean sheets, but I didn't feel like giving more work to the cleaners. Said cleaners would normally have been me and Imoen. So I had to settle for wiping my staff down on Carbos's clothes, toss his body in the fireplace and burn the body.
So uncool! So much more tedious than in the game too. I was starting to wonder if my familiarity with the game was working against me, with my expectations of what I could or couldn't do. I certainly knew what to do when I was playing the game, but all these extra things I have to do in person was tripping me up.
On another note, it turned out I didn't need Firebead's protection spell after all. I had temporarily taken off my splint mail so that I could get the drop on the two assassins while they were looking away. Halflings weren't the best choice at all for backstabbing, but I was certainly good enough to counter-assassinate these two losers. Certainly wasn't going to wait for them to try to assassinate me first. Having Firebead cast Protection from Evil on me before taking them on was just a bit of insurance in case I fumbled the backstab. Why take the chance?
Well, truth was I really didn't need to go through so much trouble. Trying to enter stealth in broad daylight just outside the bunkhouse was super tedious. Wearing splint mail and shield and armed with a sling, I could have just tossed a bullet with my sling straight at Carbos's face before he got the chance to get in close to knife me, then switch to my staff if he did. Even if I got hurt, with 12 hit points I could stand to take a hit and I would get healed later anyway.
Clerics would have an even easier time handling these two clowns. Guaranteed victory with no injuries, then rest at the inn for 1gp to get spells back. More on that later.
Just one more thing I wanted to do before leaving Candlekeep with ol' fiddle faddle. No, not the Gatewarden's training. I tried to access the menu (by shouting 'menu' aloud and willing it to appear) to see if I could import and export my main character in the record screen, but no such luck. I was stuck with my halfing. So that was a waste of time.
Instead, I chatted up the nobleman and woman who were warming themselves up by the fireplace in the kitchen. Between the two, the nobleman proved to be more friendly.
"Step up to the heat, young one. You'll need a good fire to warm the chill stairs of those monks. Most inhospitable, they are."
I refrained from frowning and put on my best smile. Young one? Does he think I'm a child just because I'm so small? Has he never seen a halfling before?
Ignoring his comment, I convinced them that the monks were not used to wealth such as theirs, and they were wearing too much jewellery. The goal was to make them lock their jewellery back in their room upstairs.
You can see where this is going, I'm sure. After they noble couple left, it was time for me to put my thieving skills to work. Open the locked cabinet here (hrm, two mage scrolls? How was a mage supposed to get these beyond a locked cabinet, dear game developers?), a bit of money there, a silver necklace, a WOOOOP Potion of Clarity! Wow, what a rare find! I guess thief main characters do get some nice stuff. That wasn't even what I was after!
My intended target was in fact coming up next. A cabinet in the room upstairs filled with the jewellery the noble couple had kept. Tentatively, I put my thieving tools to the lock and started working it open.
And failed to pick the lock.
Right. This particular lock could take a couple of tries. So I gave it another try, and failed to open the lock again.
Was 60 in the Open Lock skills not enough? My prize was right here, just ripe for the picking. I couldn't give up!
Again! Failed! Again! Failed.
My hands were sweaty and trembling. Did I remember wrongly? It's not like I usually played a thief main. I couldn't change my stats now.
I was starting to lose hope when I felt the familiar click of a lock pin moving into place. Payday! A fire opal gem, a pearl necklace, and a STAR SAPPHIRE. The Pearl Necklace was worth 500gp, the STAR SAPPHIRE worth 1000. Score!
Winthrop raised an eyebrow as I pulled out an assortment of weapons folks had misplaced onto his table. His eyes widened further when I poured out the jewellery; a Lynx eye gem, a silver ring, a silver necklace, a pearl necklace, a fire opal ring and THE STAR SAPPHIRE. "Yer been busy, eh?"
It was obvious what he was thinking. I pointed at the Lynx eye gem. "Phlydia gave me this for fetching a book that she lost, if you can believe it. You can ask… actually no, don't bother. She won't remember these things. Point being, just today I made another 113gp doing chores for people and collecting stuff they left around. How much do you think I've accumulated over the past 20 years working for careless bookworms with no appreciation for the value of money? I've been saving up for a rainy day, and guess what? That rainy day has come. I need to cash out."
Winthrop tapped the Star Sapphire doubtfully. "But this ain't something our bookworms would get their mitts on."
That's actually a good point. I had to think of something, and quick. Perhaps I could use what I've gleaned from my conversation with Imoen. How much does Winthrop actually know?
I gave him my best sad puppy-eyed stare. "Please, Mr… ser. Winthrop, ser. I'm not sure what's going to happen to me and Gorion once we leave the security of these walls. I need all the help I can get."
I could almost see Winthrop's heart breaking right before my very ears. "Ah, that ain't fair. –sniff- Just this once. You be sure to keep, safe, you hear lad?"
Cha-ching! With the sale of various junk and precious gems, I now had a total of 2140gp!
I actually into the money now! I'm… I'm no longer a pauper! As I held up the bag of gold triumphantly, a single teardrop formed at the corner of my eye.
From across the inn, Firebead looked up from his Identify scroll at the halfling who was holding a very large bag of coins. He almost considered asking for his 300gp back, seeing as how the boy clearly had enough money of his own.