Some Screenshots From My Assassin Game

[Dundee Slaytern]

More backstabbing screenies,

Fire Elemental:
This was from the Elemental Lich in the Bridge District.

Glabrezu:
Demons are surprisingly easy to backstab. They tend to be easily distracted, enabling to Rena to give them a quick poke in the back.

~~~~ ~~~~

The North Forest gets pumped up a bit with Tactics, but the creatures within all shared one thing in common. They cannot see through invisibility. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Too many backstabs for me to comment on, I will just highlight the more notable ones.

Backstab 01: Efreeti
Backstab 02: Djinni
Backstab 03: Greater Fire Elemental
Backstab 04: Rabbit
No, really. Rabbit. I am easily... amused.
Backstab 05: Another Rabbit
Backstab 06: Another Efreeti

Backstab 07: Deer
Rena never liked Bambi's mother.
Backstab 08: Greater Wyvern
Backstab 09: Thief
I aimed the Thief first because he could Detect Illusions.
Backstab 10: Mercenary
This Mercenary panicked and tried to run away. There would be no escaping from a second backstab.
Backstab 11: Archer
Backstab 12: Duergar

Backstab 13: Mage
The SotM may be unsuitable for a backstab, but that was not the reason why I used it. I used it to remove the Mage's annoying Stoneskin.
Backstab 14: Priest of Cyric
The Priest of Cyric was blocking the Mage, so I got rid of him first.
Backstab 15: Mage
Stoneskins will no longer save you! Bruhwahaha!
Backstab 16: Skeleton Warrior
Imoen makes an appropriate comment. [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Backstab 17: Another Deer
Backstab 18: Moose
Rena's current personal best. 340dmg. Booyah!

~~~~ ~~~~

Other Kills Not From Backstabs,

..) The Lich in the Docks mod is pretty annoying, but she has a personal flaw. She likes to talk. She likes to talk a lot. Talking means no spellcasting, and no spellcasting means no combat protections.

I casted Improved Haste and Protection from Undead( to counter the Skeleton Warriors) on Minsc, who had by now specialised in Axes( 2* Proficiencies). Made him run inside and immediately hurled Azuredge +4 at the Lich. The result?

This.

..) 3 Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wiltings in a Chain Contingency never grows old. [img]smile.gif[/img]

BOOM.

..) Kangaxx is scary, and so are the improved 'Guardians' upstairs. I used the same IHasted trick to kill the Lich on the left, but this meant that the Lich on the right had time to cast his combat protections.

The whole party drank potions to become immuned to Electricity and I made Rena( who was wearing the Cloak of Mirroring) run to the back so that she would take the brunt of the Lich's Chain Contingency, and avoid spilling the damage to the rest of the party( you need to be fast. Rena was Improved Hasted and wearing the Improved Boots of Speed).

The minotaurs and the rest of the hostiles were easily dispatched by a twin CC-Bomb of ADHWs from Imoen and Kelsey. This left the Lich, who for some unknown reason, decided to cast Tensor's Transformation, which disables spellcasting.

Huh?

Anyway, this was a golden opportunity, and the party whacked the Lich away once its' PfMW expired.

Onward to Kangaxx. Rena, still wearing the Cloak of Mirroring, tanked Kangaxx in his Lich form. She also had a helm that protected from Charm( Kangaxx the Lich casts a lot of Dominations which bypasses the Cloak of Mirroring).

Once Kangaxx the Lich was defeated, the rest of the party casted Protection from Undead on themselves EXCEPT Rena. Rena meanwhile, using UAI, casted a scroll of Spell Immunity:Abjuration and a scroll of Spell Immunity:Alteration.

The former is to protect from Imprisonment, the latter from Teleport Field. Unfortunately, I discovered that SI:Alt does not make you immune to the effects of Teleport Field. Boo.

Anyway, swinging Azuredge +4 and under the effects of an Oil of Speed, Rena wailed away on Kangaxx the Demi-Lich as fast as she could( in melee, not ranged. Kangaxx the Demi-Lich has Physical Mirror.). Given Kangaxx the Demi-Lich's rate of regeneration, I needed an instant kill to polish him off.

Voila.

~~~~ ~~~~

Coming soon... How to cheese the Improved Small Teeth Pass, and how to kill Improved Bodhi FAIR AND SQUARE in TWO ROUNDS or your cookies back!

Cheers! [img]graemlins/evillaughter2.gif[/img]

Too bad UserUnfriendly is no longer active here. [img]smile.gif[/img] I'm sure he would love to add these cheese to the guide.

EDIT] Grammar mistakes.

[ 06-09-2006, 06:10 AM: Message edited by: Dundee Slaytern ]

[Dundee Slaytern]

00FF00">
"Come on, Rena! Think of all the loot we can have! Free, easy loot!"

"No."

"Minsc will let you snuggle with Boo at niiiight, if you agreeee!"

"I can't hear you, I can't hear you. Tralalala-lalalala."

"Fine. I didn't want to have to do this, but you have left me with no choice!"

~~~~ ~~~~

Twenty hours later... in the North Forest.

"I can't believe we're related by blood... To blackmail your own..."

"Believe it, Sista! I just did what I had to do for the betterment of the party!"

"Just what did you whisper into her ears, Imoen?", Jaheira inquired.

"Tell anyone, ANYONE, Imoen, and I will surely grow fangs and claws to rip your heart out. My soul's eternal damnation be damned."

"Oh relax, Rena. This plan is foolproof! We have fought Dragons before, and what was the one thing that all of them shared in common?", Imoen said, as she waved her hands across at Minsc and Kelsey.

On cue, the two answered, "They all aim for Rena."

"That's right! You are an unstoppable magnet for forces beyond human comprehension-"

"Oh joy."

"- and because of that, the rest of us are more or less free to do whatever we want to them."

"Somebody... anybody. Please make this madness stop."

"Imoen may have used questionable methods on gaining your co-operation for this venture, but even I must express my confidence in this plan. Absurd as it may seem to anybody else who have not fought the battles that we have."

"Oh Ao, not you too, Mazzy!"

"I confess I have no idea why the Shadow Dragon and Firkraag expressed so much interest in your non-well-being, but my eyes and ears do not deceive me. You, Rena, are always being targetted. I understand that in an earlier encounter with a Red Dragon, the same thing happened."

"It could have been a coincidence!"

"Three times in a row? The deal is sealed, so goes the saying. If anything, you get to laugh at us if things do not go as planned. We will not be as well protected, but you will be."

"I am not planning on laughing at any butchery of my friends..."

"A commendable spirit. Enough talk though, we still need to come up with a plan. I understand that we are facing against a Purple Dragon and a Red Dragon?"

Jaheira answered the question, "Yes, we are. The Purple Dragon spews Lightning, while the Red spews Fire. We already know how Red Dragons behave, so the Purple Dragon is our biggest concern. Rena will most likely be targetted by the Red Dragon, so we will not need fire protection. We will just need her to run away from us to a safe distance where the Red Dragon's breath attacks will not reach us."

"I still hate this plan."

"Oh hush, Rena. You will be wearing the Cloak of Mirroring. The Red Dragon's breath attack won't be able to hurt you," was Jaheira's swift response.

"Well yes, that might be the case; but I still do not like the idea of being constantly bombarded by fireballs the size of Golems."

"So you do admit it's gonna happen!", Imoen squealed.

Rena bit her lip and went to a tree to sit down and sulk.

Jaheira sighed and continued explaining the plan, "With Rena directing the fireballs away from us, we can concentrate on the Purple Dragon, whom I shall now refer to as Purp. To repeat myself, Purp spews Lightning, so we will need to use our Potions of Insulation and/or scrolls of Protection from Electricity. The scrolls last for twelve hours, so we can cast them now here, in the North Forest, and they will still be in effect once we reach Small Teeth Pass, an eight hour journey."

"I take it that we will drink our potions once we reach there?", Mazzy inquired.

"Yes, we will. Rena has the Cloak of Mirroring though, so she can just start running once the Dragons notice us. Once Purp uses its' breath attack on us, Kelsey will cast Time Stop and do whatever it is that he does during a Time Stop to bring Purp down."

"What if he foddles us during the Time Stop?", Imoen innocently asked.

Kelsey's face immediately went ashen with mortification and he shrilled, "I MOST CERTAINLY WILL NOT!"

"Natch! Just yanking your chain, Kelsey! *laughs* "

Regardless, Jaheira deadpanned, "Mother Nature would let me know if Kelsey does any... unwarranted hanky-panky, and appropriate punishment would be meted out."

Mazzy suppressed a cough, as she tried to hide her amusement.

"Moving on. Once Purp has been dealt with, we will advance to the Red Dragon with summons, while Rena STAYS BEHIND. Can you hear me, Rena? This part is important!"

Rena grunted in discontentment, and Jaheira accepted that as acknowledgement.

"The Red Dragon no doubt, though only Ao knows why, will relentlessly try to attack Rena. This leaves us free to attack it at will. The only danger comes from its' occasional wing-buffet, which we can easily avoid. Any questions so far?"

None were raised, and so the strategic meeting was over. Scrolls of protection were casted, and the party trudged forward to Small Teeth Pass.


To be continued...

[Dundee Slaytern]

The battle in Small Teeth Pass went more or less as planned. Upon entering the area, the party is greeted by the Purple Dragon, who has the party conveniently trapped in a rock enclosure. Hmm... this sounds like a similar scenerio. After Purp used its' breath attack, Kelsey casted his Time Stop. Purp had already wing-buffeted once, and it conveniently knocked Rena away from the battle. You can see Rena's position in this screenshot.

As predicted, the Red Dragon launched its' breath attack at Rena, and ONLY, Rena. It was rendered, "Spell Ineffective", by the Cloak of Mirroring however. With Time Stop active, I made Kelsey walk up to the Dragon and whacked it once with the Staff of Magi. Why, you ask. Under the game rules, you can only cast once per round, and since Kelsey is not under the influence of IAlacrity yet, there is some downtime before he can cast again. Also, the Staff of the Magi has an in-built Dispel Magic which is not savable. All attacks under Time Stop are automatic hits, so it is basically like a free Spellstrike. This is a technique that all aspiring BG2 spellcasters will do well to learn and use. It strips the target of all its' combat protections and spell protections, rendering it vulnerable to your inevitable spell barrage. Only Protection from Magical Weapons will protect the target.

The ADHWs were from Imoen's and Kelsey's Chain Contingencies, but they failed to kill Purp due to Purp's Magic Resistance. I also had a slight boo-boo since I had forgotten that Kelsey's Spell Trigger did not contain Lower Resistances x3, but Animate Dead x3 instead. Oops. No matter, I just casted a few other stuff among Lower Resistance, and when the Time Stop ran out, Jaheira landed the killing blow in one hit. Notice how the Skeleton Warriors have not fully emerged from their graves yet.

With Purp dead, only the Red Dragon was left. A Red Dragon that was still launching breath attacks at Rena, and trying to attack her. Ignoring it for the moment, I took the chance to cast Clairvoyance, and positioned Rena in the far north-east corner of the map. Marching forward with summons, the rest of the party hacked away at some Shadows and Wraiths before reaching the rope bridge that blocked the Red Dragon from reaching Rena.

~~~~ ~~~~

To be continued...

[Dundee Slaytern]

Red Dragons are imposing beings. They tower over most sentient mortals on Toril, and have powerful attacks and defenses. The Amn region variety however, were considered deficient by some notable adventurers.

We now go to an area known as Small Teeth Pass where a party of adventurers are having an inglorious battle with one of these 'fearsome' beings. This Red Dragon has no name, but sounds amazingly like Firkraag, a more well-known( and now dead) Red Dragon in the Amn region.

This Red Dragon is constantly launching breath attacks on an entity hundreds of meters away and roaring, "You will perish, manling!"
00FF00">
"Well, actually. She would be more of a womanling; if such a word exists. Anyway, can you hear me? Hello. I'm like, standing right under your nose( literally). Are. You. Aware. Of. My. Presence? Do. You. Speak. Common? Silly question, of course you can speak Common. Otherwise you would not have said things that I can understand, unless of course, you were talking in a language that suspiciously sounds like Common, and "You will perish, manling!" actually means "I'm big, red, and dumb.""

"Kelsey! Stop trying to attract its' attention!"

"Relax, Jaheira. Look, I can even do this," Kelsey said as he launched a Spell Trigger, "Ta-da! No response whatsoever. You were right, Jaheira. We were all right. Red Dragons really do just want to kill Rena, and nobody else at all."

"Does that... not bother you the slightest?"

"Heck no! If anything, it means we get to skin their scaly hides like stealing from a baby. Not that I am implying I steal from babies, mind you."

"Of course not. I am well aware of that particular metaphor. Still, I find it disturbing that you are attacking the Dragon so... freely. You are normally hestitant to hurt living things."

"Jaheira, my dear. This Dragon barely qualifies as a vegetable. I have seen carnivorous plants more sentient than this. If anything, the Dragon race would most probably thank us for weeding it out of their genepool. Oh-oh, incoming trouble."

"Trouble? What trouble?"

Trouble turned out to be a mass of hostile Mists. Kelsey retreated from the frontlines and allowed Jaheira to cast her Call Lightnings, which took them all out fairly quickly.

The Red Dragon meanwhile, was still raving like a lunatic and launching breath attacks at Rena, who was nowhere to be seen in the immediate vicinity.

Minsc, a Ranger in their adventuring group, was frolicing in the wild bushes with his hamster companion, Boo. They chased rabbits together and occasionally rolled in flowers. All in all, they were having a good time.
00FF00">
"Can I have a shot at it, Kelsey?"

"Oh sure, why not. We all might as well amuse ourselves with it. Go ahead, Imoen."

"Yay!"

Imoen strode forward as Kelsey went back to drink some of the herbal tea that Jaheira had prepared beforehand. The scenery was pleasant enough. The nightsky was literally ablazed with fire, and if one were to ignore the ravings, it could have been considered romantic.
00FF00">
"Woah-ho! That was close," Imoen said, as she avoided the Red Dragon's wing-buffet.

"Let me guess. It tried to wing-buffet the Skeleton Warriors, and knocked itself out...again?"

"Spot on, Kelsey! *laughs* "

"Oh, I just don't get why other adventurers were so afraid of this mission. I think I had more problems with the thugs in Athkhala than this joke of a beast."

"They didn't have Rena," replied Jaheira, "Thanks to Rena, I have become known as Jaheira the Red, Jaheira the Dragon-Tamer, and more, among some of the more impressionable Harpers. Which is laughable, since I barely lift a finger to help in most of those fights."

"True, true. Although I guess we shouldn't complain too much. The loot is good. The experience is worth it. All things considered, we should be grateful for this. I never get this lucky in accounting. Maybe I really should become an adventurer full-time, with Rena of course."

"Kelsey! I'm getting bored here! And I want to drink Jaheira's tea too! Can you come over and finish it off?"

"Alright, alright. I'm on my way."

Kelsey walked over and faced the Red Dragon again. He felt no pity for this... 'living' being. From his perspective, it could barely be called an intelligent lifeform. In fact, Kelsey strongly felt that even Kobolds had more intelligence than this mockery of a legend.

Concentrating for a moment, Kelsey unleashed a Spell Sequencer. The Red Dragon roared in pain, and died. "Just like that," Kelsey had thought, "Just like that..."
00FF00">
"Do you think Rena is okay?", Kelsey asked, as he came back to their makeshift campfire site.

"Oh, she'll be alright. Just a little moody, I expect," was Jaheira's reply.

"Where is Rena anyway?", Minsc asked cheerfully, blissfully out of tune with the present moment.

"Rena is erm... there," Jaheira said, pointing a finger to the far north-east.

Far in the north-east indeed. Amidst smouldering vegetation and glowing molten rocks, a sphere of protective magic shone within the devastation. Rena... a child of Bhaal, a Bhaalspawn, was sitting within the sphere hugging her knees and murmuring to herself repeatedly.

"Me... it is always me... always, always me... me... me... always me..."

~~~~ ~~~~

To be continued...

~~~~ ~~~~

Final Small Teeth Pass snark,

"Run down the road on fire, for all I care."
"Attack Rena Ryuuguu at all cost, for all I care."

[Dundee Slaytern]

Cries of the slained Undead echoed within the corridors beneath the Graveyard District of Athkhala. Jaheira and Minsc made quick work of the Vampires that haunted these underground crypts. Rena, Kelsey, Imoen and Mazzy kept a distance behind, lacking the Negative Plane Protection that Jaheira and Minsc had. There were allies too, from the Shadow Thieves and Drizzt. Teamed up together, the Vampires were helpless before their onslaught. It was only a matter of time before they reached Bodhi's final lair.

"At last!", Jaheira said, "Now is the moment we put an end to Bodhi's machinations and restore Imoen's soul! Rena, quickly! Lay down your traps here before I go in and-"

"No."

"Rena... not again. We have been through this many times already. Honestly, I-"

"No, Jaheira. Not this time. No more running away, running around. Not for this one."

"Re-"

"I AM SICK AND TIRED OF BEING THE PITIED ONE! I REFUSE to be the victim here! No more. I am NOT going to be on the defensive here. I... I'm going to be the attacker this time."

"That is sheer LUNACY!", Jaheira retorted, "You are but a Rogue! A trained Assassin no doubt, but a Rogue still! Please, Rena. I sympathise with your situation, but this is no time to be foolhardy! Imoen's soul is at stake here!"

"Do you really have so little faith in my abilities?"

"RENA!", Jaheira shouted, not caring if the enemy could hear them, "This is no time for games! This is life-or-death for Imoen!"

Rena did not reply to Jaheira. Instead, she walked over to a bewildered Imoen and clasped her hands around one of Imoen's and held it to her heart.

"Imoen, will you trust me on this one?"

"Imoen! Do not be swayed by her! She is not in the right mind!"

"Rena... I... I'm not sure what to say."

"Just say what you feel."

"I... I'm sorry, Jaheira."

"You're both stark raving mad! Mazzy! Please! Speak some sense into them!"

Mazzy was uncertain on what to say. Unlike Imoen and Jaheira, she did not have a long history with Rena, and although they had shared some of the best moments in her life, she was still a stranger to their group.

After a pause, Mazzy steadied herself and said, "I was alone in the Temple Ruins before your group came to rescue me, and back then, I thought to myself that no matter what the cost, I would battle the Shade Lord to the end. Even at the cost of my own life. This battle... seems important to Rena. Important enough that she would willingly risk her life to do it. I cannot deny her, just as I would not have anyone deny me."

Jaheira slumped forward, her shoulders weary from her perceived collective stupidity of the people around her. From a corner of her eyes, she looked at the men with them. Minsc, Kelsey, Arkanis, and Drizzt.

Raising their hands in surrender, they said in unison, "No comments!"

"So... Rena. Assuming I lobotomise myself and agree to your desire. Do you have a plan? An actual plan?"

Rena smiled, a smile of a murderer.

~~~~ ~~~~

To be continued...

[Dundee Slaytern]

Jaheira started reminiscing about the past as Rena casted the last of her combat buffs, a scroll of Tenser's Transformation. "She must be feeling pretty buffed now," Jaheira thought to herself. Rena had, after all, consumed over twenty types of combat protections and enhancers. Rena was more potion than woman now.

"Sigh," Jaheira breathed out. The rest of the party were huddled near the end of the corridor they were in, safely out of harm's way. Rena had demanded that she would fight this battle alone. Arkanis and Drizzt argued that they were there for their own agendas, and wanted to enter into the battle as well. Rena merely snarled and told them under no uncertain terms that they were to not get into her way of Bodhi.

"You want a piece of me? You want a piece of me? Do you? Do you?", Rena had chanted to herself, as she prepared to kick the doors open and charge into battle.

What would Gorion think of Rena now, Jaheira had wondered. He certainly did not raise her to be an Assassin. Back in Candlekeep, Rena was notorious for being a troublemaker, and had gotten quite adept at concealing herself to make a quick getaway, or to pull off a surprise prank. Indignant monks and enraged patrons were quite the common sight during Rena's heydays of mischief, but Rena never once had malicious intent.

It probably started when Rena started getting interested in the field of toxicology. Perhaps all Bhaalspawn really had an innate fascination with Death, and the causes of Death. Rena started small, putting natural laxatives into the meals of unsuspecting monks. The result was the infamous "Day of Explosions". Never had the people of Candlekeep been so... lively. Running for their dear laundry sake as they desperately searched for the nearest empty receptacle.

Rena got discovered of course, and was appropriately punished by being made to wash the clothes of unfortunate victims that failed to make it anywhere on time. A lesson of bearing the consequences so to speak.

Still, her interest would not wane. The power of poison was compelling to her. Here was a tool that could cripple the strongest of men with but a mere drop. A frail Gnome could defeat a much stronger opponent with a careful application of poison. As a girl in the clutches of a male-dominated society, the allure was unresistable.

She never got a chance to experiment with the more dangerous poisons of course. Making a monk want to die is one thing. Making a monk actually die is quite another. So most of her knowledge on poisons was limited to theory, until... she began her journey.

If there was one thing she quickly learnt outside of Candlekeep, it was that it was a mostly 'kill or be killed' world out there. For the first time in her life, she got to use her poison techniques on actual living things. She started on animals first, then she moved on to Human assassins. Pretty soon, she was using it on almost anything that breathed and was hostile.

Rena was both thrilled and horrified by this. On one hand, she was excited by the power she wielded; on the other, she was disturbed by her love of killing. With Gorion and Candlekeep no longer around to act as her guides, she had to rely on herself and her companions to determine what was right, and what was wrong.

It was probably fortunate then, Jaheira smiled to herself, that she kept good company. Ao only knows what might have happened if Rena had mixed with bad company, such as Xzar.

When Rena arrived in Baldur's Gate, she got scouted by the local Thief Guild and that was when she began to master the art of backstabbing. With her natural knowledge of poisons and her skill at stealthing, the local Thieves decided that the Assassin training would be ideal for her.

Jaheira was hesitant of course, but Rena at that time, cheerfully told her it could come in handy. After all, since she was being targetted by assassins all the time, she might as well learn how to fight assassins by knowing the strength and weaknesses of one.

Funny, Jaheira thought to herself. Has that always been the case? Ever since Rena left Candlekeep, she had always been the target of somebody, something, anything, EVERYTHING. No wonder Rena was so angry now. It really HAS been always her. Her, and her only.

Jaheira chuckled. The misfortunes of others always seem funny when viewed from another's perspective. Still, she wondered. Could Rena really face off Bodhi mano-a-mano and win?

~~~~ ~~~~

To be continued...

~~~~ ~~~~

This entry is just to fill in more on Rena's background story.

Cheers.

[Babyseal]

AC, hitpoints and resistances are insane. I wonder how long Bodhi will last.
Btw nice writing! Keep going!

Cheers.

[Dundee Slaytern]

The... instinct.

The instinct kept gnawing at what was left of her soul within her. It had been hard enough reining it in when she was whole, and now it was almost becoming an impossibility to control it. Day by day it demanded murder, it demanded blood spilt from others. She was going insane. She knew she was. What else could describe her dreams of killing the ones she would call friends? The smile on her face as she cradled the head of a dead Imoen.

It was only the instinct egging her on, or was it? She never told the rest about these dreams of course; how could she?

It was all his fault. Him and his cowardly sister. Yessss... that was it. She could blame it all on them. It was not her fault for thinking about these thoughts! It had always been them! He was the one who targeted her! He was the one who stole her soul! He! HE!

Rena clutched her face with one hand and laughed. In due time... in due time, she thought to herself. All in due time...

~~~~ ~~~~

Jaheira had been... doubtful of her plan, but Rena knew it would work. Since the entire cosmos wanted a piece of Rena, Rena would give them a piece alright, a piece of her mind. Her veins throbbed from the absurd amounts of magical energy flowing through her, and it was all she could do to just stay still.

One minute. No... less than that. Ten seconds. That was all she needed. Ten seconds.

~~~~ ~~~~

The doors to Bodhi's final chamber blew wide open from Rena's kick. Fuelled by a potion, she possessed the strength of a Storm Giant and the doors had slammed shudderingly against the walls, barely hanging onto their hinges, crushing an unfortunate Grim Warder. The Vampires' initial reaction was that of shock, and it was to their credit that they managed to regain their composure fairly quickly.

"You must either be a brave one or a foolish one, for you to have come here alon-", Bodhi had started to say, but she never got to complete her sentence because Rena had already sprinted right in front of her face( her speed powered by the Boots of Haste in addition to Improved Haste) and clocked her with the hilt of Sanchuudoku.

"YOU ARE MAD!", Bodhi managed to shouted, before a terrible chain reaction of events started. Terrible for Bodhi, that is.

It had been calculated. Everything that Rena was doing now, was calculated. As a trained Assassin from Baldur's Gate, and with some advanced lessons from the Shadow Thieves in Athkhala, Rena was well-versed in the art of turning an enemy's strength against himself. Using her vampiric powers, Bodhi had protected herself with two variations of Fire Shields. She thought it to be a blessing. Rena was now going to teach her, in Bodhi's final lesson, that it was going to be her curse.

"NO! No, no, no!", Bodhi screeched in pain, as dozens and dozens of small acidic arrows darted her. With Rena in such close proximity, her punch with Sanchuudoku triggered Bodhi's fireshields, which triggered Rena's fireshields and Sanchuudoku, which triggered back Bodhi's fireshields, and so on and so forth.

However... Rena was immuned to Bodhi's Fireshields. Bodhi on the other hand...

Then the bats came. Bodhi had trained bats to attack her attackers, and now she would regret that decision, though she would not live long for regrets. By being in such close contact with Rena's state of Improved Haste, the bats attacked twice as fast, which meant that they triggered Sanchuudoku twice as fast, which meant it accelerated the vicious chain reaction even more.

All in the room held their breath in awe as Rena and Bodhi spasmed violently from the relentless eye-for-an-eye reaction. Time seemed to stretch for an eternity as the horror of the scene unfolded before them. In reality, only six seconds had passed. Arkanis had not even reach his target yet, and Drizzt himself had not even stepped foot into the chamber...

"No! NO! It's mine! This life is mine!", Bodhi screamed in terror, as her Contingency spell forcefully kicked in and temporarily stopped the chain reaction, casting a Heal spell on her which restored all her health.

"Oh shut up, b****. You annoy me," Rena coldly replied, as she backslapped Bodhi with Sanchuudoku again, starting the chain reaction again.

"Noooo!", Bodhi screamed in pain as her body started to melt from the excessive amount of acidic arrows hitting it, "Stop attacking her, stop it! Somebody! Breach me! Breach me! Remove my Fire Shields! HELP ME!"

It would all be in vain. The bats continued to mindlessly attack Rena. Bodhi's Fireshields were unBreachable. In a matter of seconds... she died. Just in time to coincide with Drizzt's and Arkanis' first kill, a lone Grim Warder.

Artemis quavered. This was not in his books. "I leave her to you!", he shouted to the Vampires as he hurled himself into combat with Arkanis and Drizzt. Hazarmaveth and Manasseh were the survivoring Vampires, and at the present moment, their lips were flapping like a goldfish. Their Mistress, the one and only Bodhi, had more or less died to this girl within ten seconds.

"Hazar... I'm scared!", Manasseh whimpered as she observed the heavily-breathing child of Bhaalspawn hunch in front of them. Arkanis' death cry was heard. He had apparently been defeated by Artemis.

"S-stay... stay strong, Mana dear. Bodhi's not finished yet! She-"

As if on cue, Rena hurled a stake at Bodhi's sarcophagus with the strength of a Storm Giant. The stake smashed into the sarcophagus like a cannonball smashing into a house of glass, shattering the stone coffin and forcibly impaling the carcass of Bodhi within. It was a miracle that the stake did not splinter beforehand.

"She is...", Rena started, "Very much dead, and is going to remain so."

Artemis' death cry was heard then. Drizzt had apparently managed to avenge Arkanis.

"Rena!", Drizzt shouted, "I'm on my way!"

"Stay out of this, Drow!", Hazarmaveth snarled as she killed Drizzt, "This is between us and her! For Bodhi!"

Rena smiled as Hazarmaveth approached her. Rena did not move, and did not even bother to avoid Hazarmaveth's attack. As Hazarmaveth clawed against Rena's armour, the chain reaction started, and even faster than before, Hazarmaveth died.

Rena laughed. Only she and Manasseh were left in the chamber. "Don't you Vampires ever learn? No... it's not 'don't'... it's 'won't'. Won't you Vampires ever learn? It's a BAAAAD idea to lay hands on Rena. Come on... touch me. I DARE you."

Manasseh screamed in fear. She was totally hysterical now, and she tried to run away, run to the open doors that Rena had kicked aside earlier; but there would be no escape. Rena ran faster, and slammed the doors shut.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What's the matter? I thought you ALL wanted to get Rena, attack Rena, harm Rena, hurt Rena. Rena this, Rena that. Well screw you all. The fun's just started. I barely had any so far in this fight, you know. Won't you entertain me? Servant of darkness?"

"NOOOO! Stay away from me! GO AWAY!"

Cold laughter was Rena's response, as she casually strolled after a panicking Manasseh around the blood pool in the chamber. Manasseh tried many ways to avoid Rena, such as casting Shadow Door on herself, but Rena just casted True Sight in response.

"Hmm... you know, I got like a gazillion scrolls with me, and I had always wanted to experiment with some of them. What do you think? Care to be a test subject?"

Manasseh just screamed and ran away from Rena.

"Feh... this is getting boring."

Rena took out a scroll of Breach and Breached Manasseh. Stripped of her combat protections, Manasseh kept running in a futile attempt to escape. It was not long before Rena gibbed her.

The battle over, Imoen entered the chambers.

"I feel... I feel better now. I feel whole now," Imoen said.

Rena smiled thinly, "As do I... as do I." Not so true on the whole part, Rena thought, but she definitely felt better.

Jon Irenicus... Jon Irenicus... ALL, in due time.

~~~~ ~~~~

To be continued...

Editor's Note: More details about the Bodhi battle coming up next.

[Dundee Slaytern]

Some of the details in the Bodhi fight were exaggerated, such as the manner in how some of the Grim Warders died. Others were modified to better suit the story, such as instead of Drizzt dying because he stupidly kept banging his head against Hazarmaveth's Fire Shields, I made his death more dignified by having Hazarmaveth kill him.

Arkanis really did die to Artemis, and Drizzt really did kill Artemis.

Artemis really did run away from Rena after Bodhi died.

Rena did not stake Bodhi until the fight was over.

Hazarmaveth did not actually attack Rena. Rena was the one who attacked Hazarmaveth and started the chain reaction.

Manasseh really did keep running away from Rena. It was hilarious, especially when I had to close the doors to prevent her from running into the rest of the party.

~~~~ ~~~~

Potions, scrolls and items that Rena buffed up on before the fight. Not in order of usage!

Protection from Fire/Cold/Electricity
Fire Shield Red/Blue/Green( Green is from Kelsey's Cloak)
Potion of Absorption
Protection from Energy
Tenser's Transformation
Potion of Heroism
Potion of Power
Potion of Mind Focusing x3
Blur
Stoneskin
Potion of Magic Shielding
Potion of Storm Giant Strength
Book of Infinite Spells:Spell Turning
Potion of Regeneration
Regeneration
Improved Haste

Rena was equipped with the Armor of Hart, Sanchuudoku, Sentinel Shield, Boots of Celeritous Stealth, Amulet of Power, Citadel Helmet, Ring of Gaxx, Ring of Preservation +2, Belt of Inertial Barrier, and the Cloak of Non-Detection.

Cheers!

[Dundee Slaytern]

A bit of ToB-Specific post in the following. Press Ctrl+A to read the text.

564006"> Ah... the Tougher Fire Giants mod... how... unbalanced. I can only imagine what kind of monstrosity it becomes with Improved Battles. From which rulebook did it state that Fire Giants have better regeneration rates than Trolls and Wolfweres? I observed, before my very own eyes, a Near Death Fire Giant become Uninjured within the space of four rounds. That however, is only my MINOR complaint. Nay, what convinced me to uninstall this piece of crap was the ability for Fire Giants to cast based on a percentage chance from each hit, the following, ..) Fire Storm, a spell that IGNORES Magic Resistances. ..) Conjure Fire Elemental ..) Fireball From fighting ONLY two Fire Giants, I had on the battlefield, 3 Firestorms, 4 Fire Elementals, and goodness knows how many Fireballs. All within the space of four rounds. FOUR rounds. Not turns, ROUNDS. Just what on Ao's nice green Toril did the Modder expect the player to do when he touches the Temple? A Temple where you easily fight more than four Fire Giants at any given one time? I can only imagine the lag. Oh... and I just 'LOVE' the machinegun rate-of-fire castings of Lower Fire Resistances. Which not only gets cast from each Fire Giant at the rate of one per second, but affects an area as well. How... 'nice'. Given the prior scenerio, it was a bloody miracle I even managed to survive TWO Fire Giants, let alone the EIGHT for the final showdown in the Temple. No... just no. F.T.S. Tougher Fire Giants is not worth my gametime.