ADHW= Abi Dhalzim's Horrid Wiltning
ADHW is a powerful lvl 8 wizard spell that deals lots and lots of damage [img]smile.gif[/img]

<font color="deepskyblue">I agree with most of the others...it is far more fun to kill the Cowled Wizards than to pay them. I'm playing an assassin this time through and - like some of the others have said - there is simply NO WAY he is going to pay 5000gp for a Magic License.

Since the C.W's show up whenever you cast ANY spell in the streets of Athkahla, it is very easy to simply set a trap for them and then cast a spell to bring them running.

Like all the others, I got VERY tired of being ambushed by some local thugs only to have the Cowls show up to when I cast a spell at the first group. My assassin (being a tactician) decided to retreat to his new guild hall and set up a plan for dealing with these interlopers. Our basic strategy was for he and Yoshimo to set several traps at the base of the stairs leading down to the lowest level of the Docks (I had to find an area that was relatively free of civilians). I then had my party (assassin, Yoshimo, Korgan, Viconia, Jaheira, and Edwin) form a big circle around the traps. Edwin then went into the center of this circle and cast Haste on the party.

DING DONG - The Cowled Wizards Dimension Door in - right onto the traps I've got set. BOOM POW OUCH. Korgan then attacks the nearest one from behind. My assassin also goes attacks from behind, attempting to Backstab with his poisoned blade. Jaheira would cast Insect Plague and Yoshimo would pelt them with arrows. All in all, they died very easily and quickly (much easier than I expected).

After doing this 4-5 times, you will get a Cowled Wizard Boss (female, I believe). This fight is a little tougher, because they will summon in a couple of creatures to help out. Still, a little preparation makes the fight rather easy. After that, the Cowled Wizards no longer want anything to do with you and you can cast spells to your hearts content.

So, I would just set up my traps, cast a spell to summon the C.W.'s, kill them, loot the bodies, rest for 8 hours and repeat. That got them out of my hair very quickly.</font>

My all-Wizard party managed to dispatch all the Cowls in the space of a single day. After winning the Planar Sphere (Would that party have been satisfied with ANY OTHER Stronghold?), Teos said something about how the other Cowls would still go treating me "as they always had." Well, I certainly wasn't going to tolerate THAT, I'm not going to have anyone pushing me around. So it was off to the southern entrance to the Slums District (no innocents around) for some quick Cowl summoning. All told, I got scrolls of Spell Trigger, Incendiary Cloud, and Sphere of Chaos, plus the typical assortment of gold & gems. As a bonus, I got to kill Khylonnus Paac just moments before re-entering the Sphere and having her teleport the Knights away. :D Now that's what I call one fast Resurrection. (Too bad they couldn't restore her memory, though... [img]smile.gif[/img] )

Nothing like having the random encounters mod installed and then having the Cowled Wizards after ya.

Spoilers
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With Kelsey in my party, I had to go do the Night Knives stronghold quest. Of course, when I show up, bandits spawned, plus that goofy mage that's after Kelsey. So I had to fight bandits, the Night Knives, and that mage chick and her party. Fun.

My question is:

Why do the CWs try to kill you, even if all you do is cast Find Familiar in the street... when all they did to Irenicus was take him prisoner? And he KILLED 4 of them already? All I do is Find Familiar and they're out for blood! Damn magic nazis.

"Why was he not gagged?"

"We dared not approach!"

<font color="deepskyblue">Because they CAN'T kill Irenicus....and he could have killed ALL of them - but he "allows" himself to be captured for reasons that will become clear later on. ;) </font>

Just so you know, the FINAL group of cowled wizards (the highest of their order apparently) are a worthy battle IF YOU HAVE TACTICS. they come out of their dimension door souped up with EVERY PROTECTION imaginable and spell immunity-abjurations to boot (that means no dispel). This caught me by surprise because I was, at the time, fighting one of the random encounters from tactics (not an easy task), and it hurt alot when those cowleds came in behind my mages and starting imprisoning and gating in demons along with every other nasty level 8 8/9 spell you can think of.

Cowled wizards are an annoyance at most, but they are good for something; spell triggers/mordy swords. The most rare scrolls in the game!! Finding a spell trigger outside of ToB is rare as heck and finding a mordy sword equally satisfying (especially if you have multiple mages which need to scribe it). I would have paid off the cowled wizards in the beginning just to get rid of the annoyance factor if it wasnt for the fact that they always carry 1 or 2 rare scrolls just waiting for me to scribe.

I know the reasons why he turns himself in... I just think it's funny that I get one warning, regardless of the nature of my spell, and the next time they attack. I could be healing a mugging victim for all they care... I could be using an icestorm to put out a fire at an orphanige (sp?), or even casting Protection from Fire so I could run INTO the building to help people... I might be levitating out onto the water to save a drowning child, or even persuing a dangerous criminal who's murdered a million people, as soon as they see magic they're all over me.

Meanwhile, Irenicus killed how many shadow thieves and blew up a building, and they waited around while he was killin people and having little conversations with my party. I mean, chances are they were waiting for him to waste all his spells on ME, but still... equal treatment for equal crimes! hehe