Chapter the First: Candlekeep
My first stop in the Keep of Candles and Ancient Knowledge is Winthrop's Inn. I am greeted with a sample of Biowarian humour, a kind hard to understand for Obsidianites or Black Islanders.
The Inn is a fine establishment, with rooms for rich and poor travelers alike. While the poor need only pay one measly coin for a cheap room, a nobleman will have to pay a lot more for one night in the Inn.
As Winthrop also sells items, I load up with tools for my journey ahead and then proceed to talk to the other patrons.
Quickly, I discover both a quest, and the fact that someone at Bioware was obviously unclear on the meaning of the word "dialogue".
After leaving the Inn, I decide to pay a visit to my old friend Parda, the priest.
Holy fuck, an assassin? Why would anyone want to kill
me? Obviously, Gorion knew something.
Surprisingly, I quickly dispatch him. Very strange, considering that the entrance fee is 5000 gold - you'd think that if they can afford that, they could afford a decent 5th level assassin who I wouldn't stand a chance against. But hey, all the better for me.
This raises more questions however - how did the assassin know I would enter that house? Could Parda be in on this?
If he is, he certainly can hide it:
Above, you can see the vast range of choices that BG provides - you can either talk like a whiny little pussy, or an overprotective son-figure. My character is neither, but I picked the former.
On my way to that house, I had met an absent-minded mage who had lost her book. I think I found it:
A 5000 gold book is just left in the hay? No matter. I quickly grab it and go forth.
I ask a guard for rumours - it seems that there is an iron shortage on the Sword Coast. Luckily, that has nothing to do with me.
The next fun character I meet is someone my father seems to have hired to train me in the ways of weapons.
I gladly accept his help, but then:
Fuck! They fire arrows at me? Isn't that, like, dangerous? Is this another failed assassination attempt? I politely say goodbye and leave.
Another fine resident of Candlekeep asks me to clear out the rats in his warehouse.
I make short work of them, and I am greatly rewarded:
The gate guard gives me another quest - retrieve his longsword from his barracks.
I go and enter it:
Wait, this isn't the barracks, it's the bunkhouse. Wrong door, it seems. Since I have absolutely no business here, having entered by accident, I decide to exist. But suddenly...
Another assassin. Why here, of all places? No matter, he's no match for my bardic swordmastery.
Whiny pussy mode again...
Yet another assassination attempt thinly veiled as combat training. This time, I politely refuse.
When I enter the inner grounds, I run into Imoen, some little bitch I grew up with:
and a bunch of retarded prophets.
I finish running all my errands: I deliver a scroll to a mage, a sword to a gate guard, a potion to a stable boy, some bolts to a guard. With my newly gained coin, I buy a fine bow and arrows, then I go to meet Gorion:
He seems in a real hurry, but is all mysterious about it. We go to the gates, he casts a spell on me, then we brave the world beyond Candlekeep:
It is a safe travel for a while, but suddenly, an Armored Figure approaches us. He is apparently after me, but I quickly slip away while Gorion distracts him.
Even though my foster father kills all the evil guy's minions, he is no match for the boss himself. Gorion falls dead to the ground while I watch from my safe hiding place far away. I feel slightly guilty, but then I quickly fall asleep.
