[SpongeBobTheDestoyer]

I'm sure everyone has seen Leslie's NRL thread and its inspired to me to tell some of my NRL experiences, if they keep going that is.

Here's the breakdown of my party at their current levels, I started off with all custom made characters-

PC Sorceror level 15
Berserker/Druid level 11/13 Throwing Spear of the Unicorn
Inquisitor level 13 Foebane, Azuredge
Ranger/Cleric 10/11 Flail of Ages, Pitchwife
Jan Jansen 12/13 Torgals Claw
Kensai/Mage ??(you'll read why I can't tell for sure ahead) Lilacor

My name is Suoroth, I escaped from a wretched dungeon(Tactics,Insane) with four companions losing one along the way. Not long after though we picked up a much funnier gnome turnip lover. Prior to this day we've travelled all across Athlaka, (forgive me if I mispell every proper noun in the game). We've seen just about every inch of that town minus the areas that are rumored to have liches. Long hikes have taken us to Umar Hills, Windspear Hills and a Druid Grove that we may never revisit. We've yet to encounter any dragons however. We also stopped at another dungeon called Watcher's Keep and went two levels below. We've done all sorts of errands to the point where there are no more easy tasks ahead. That is why today we had to set out for a beholder lair.

Unfortunately we haven't made it to that lair yet. Our curiosity got the best of us and we poked our noses into a town of Undead. A lich took notice of our presence and began chanting the words that would summon a most powerful fiend. That was our queue to get the hell out of there. We escaped briefly and began casting our regular buffing spells - Protection from fear, evil, fire and magic on everyone. Then some select other protections mainly on my kensai/mage, Jan and myself. Being buffed to the max my K/M went in first to engage the lich and his friends but the Pit Fiend had destoyed the entire town except the lich. Right behind my SI:Abjuration protected K/M was my Inquisitor, our plan being to use Dispel Magic to strip the Lich of its protections. No such luck. So this means the lich is going to get off his timestop. It does and hits my K/M with a spellstrike. I guess my SI wore off because I was stripped bare. Right after that the lich casts imprisonment on my most powerful party member.

Since this is a no reloads I began to panic, without being able to reload this really puts an actual fear of dying into the game. I DO NOT want to go back to Irenicus' dungeon! Since I panicked, I wasn't thinking at all. I summoned a Mordy sword so that triggers the Pit Fiend. Great! Here's where I really numbnutted it - I forgot that PFEvil was keeping the demon at bay so I never cast it on my Mordy Sword. Then scared as I ever was I began to run away, another big mistake because in the distance I can hear the Lich start to summon us back to him. A brief moment of dizziness and the next thing I know the remaining five of us have had all of our magic stripped and are in the back corner of the Undead area between a lich and a Pit Fiend amidst my own two cloudkills and a teleport field. And now the Pit Fiend can see us.

This is when I finally remembered that the PFevil was keeping the fiend from seeing us. I cast mirror image on myself and Jan in case a fireball was coming, then we ran through the cloud of acid. My berserker Druid went berserk and threw his mighty spear at the demon. My Ranger/Cleric had to chug a potion of superior healing and my Inquisitor was right next to the lich so she choked up on Azuredge a little and struck. Thank Helm. The lich fell to the power of the axe. I have a chance! After killing the lich she cast Pfevil on herself and headed to my Ranger/Cleric to do the same. Jan summoned up two fire elementals with the staff of fire in the meantime. They served as fodder for the demon but with each hit the demon slows an opponent so I couldn't run fast enough and I couldn't cast fast enough. The demon demolished the two elementals in about three swings and was coming after me. I just managed to cast an insurance ironskin with my R/C, the one closest to the demon when it cast remove magic and swung away. R/C dead but not chunked.

I pretty much lost track of time at this point. My hands were shaking. I was yelling at my son to leave me alone for one minute because I had to finish this battle. And I probably wasn't breathing. But I did manage to cast the final PFevil on my Sorceror and make it out of the town with four living members, one reviveable body and the knowledge that I could bring back my savior K/M at some point later in the game.

I wasn't planning on sharing my NRL experience until I had gotten a little further but I had to get this off my chest, it was exhilerating. BTW is the first available Freedom scroll in the Underdark? I need one bad.

[ 06-30-2004, 02:04 AM: Message edited by: SpongeBobTheDestoyer ]