After I exited Nashkel Mine, I met with the most dangerous assassins so far. Yes, you read it right. Assassins. Not one, but four of them. The only reason we survived was because of Neera and Imoen. Neera’s Charm Person spell made one of them join us for a short time. Imoen drank an Invisibility Potion and manged to plunge her sword deep behind the back of one of their members, taking her down in one thrust. Even then, most of us took serious injuries. My unseen enemy (Saverok, maybe?) is taking us seriously.

Anyway, we found ourselves in a location unknown to us. But based on our map, we were west of Nashkel. We tried to go back to the mines but the cave had collasped. We had no choice but to trek back. On our way back, we realised that the area was filled with tombs. Deciding that there might be treasure in these tombs, we explored them. Well, there was treasure alright, but we had to brave the undead. It was not easy but we survived.

It was also at this point I felt that I had gain enough experience as a warrior to start trying my rudimentary magical skills. I can still cast the spells I had originally learnt, so that’s great news for me!

We finally made our way back to the mines. The owner and guards were surprised that we pop up above ground. In fact, they thought we had perished! They were overjoyed. Now to go back to Nashkel to collect my promised reward.

After packing the two gems into my gem pouch, I proceeded to the mine. I spoke to the owner of the mine who gave me permission to explore it. Inside, I spoke to a couple of miners who told me that the mine was infested with ‘demons’, especially at the lower floors.

I went down and discovered a section where the miners and the guards had basically abandoned – it was full of dead bodies. And I was attacked by kobolds. After dispatching them, I followed the trail of kobolds and went down two more levels, killing even more kobolds before I finally found the lair of the mastermind – a priest of Cyric named Mulahey.

He summoned a bunch of skeletons and kobolds but we made short work of him and his minions. Before he died, we managed to make him reveal some information. He is working for somebody named Tazok and was corresponding with somebody named Tanzig. Branwen threw a fit when she heard the name – it was the bandit that turned her to stone when she realised that she was working with bandits and wanted out. Looks like there is a link between the bandits and the iron shortage.

I discovered a back door to the mines and I decided to leave from there, just to see where it led to.

Before I entered the mines, I wondered about a bit. The bounty hunter officer had mentioned that a bounty was put on recovering two big matching emeralds from Prism, a local artise. I had hoped to locate and collect the bounty, knowing that he was last seen near the mines. When I found him, he was finishing up the last touches of a magnificient statute. He thought I was Greywolf (do I look like him?) and begged me to let him complete his project. Curious on how the finished piece of art would look like, I agreed.

Unfortunately, Greywolf turned up just as he was about to finish. He realised that I had taken a bounty off him and attacked me. He was certainly a well-trained figher and we only prevailed because there were six of us.

Prism completed his statute soon after Gerywolf had been killed. Then Prism collapsed on the ground, dead because of exhaustion. Well, it was certainly a magnificent piece of art with those two brilliant green emerald eyes. I thought that it would be more maginificent if the two gems belonged to me so I pried them out. I am sure Prism’s work will always be remembered – with or without those two gems.

Finally I reached the ‘source’ of the troubles – Nashkel. I stopped at the inn before moving on to the mine. And I got attacked again! What is happening? This time it was a cleric (of an evil god?). I managed to get a hold of the bounty note and note with interest the increasing amount of bounty put on me. Haha!

I spoke to Berrun Ghastkill, who recognised Jaheira. He promised us a sum of money if we helped with Nashkel. I could see Jaheira glare at me disapprovingly. At the same time, this bounty officer mistook me for a bounty hunter called Greywolf and gave me 200 gold. Haha! Of course I told him I was. I could see another frown by Jaheira.

I finally made up my mind and focused my attention on training as a warrior. Jaheira warned me not to use any magic until I had mastered my skills as a warrior, then I could probably regain my very limited magical skills. But I would never be able to progress on that front anymore. That’s fine with me.

The party also visited the ongoing Nashek Carnival where I managed to rescue a Cleric of Tempus, Branwen, from being turned to stone. She shared that she was turned to stone by a Tranzig who is a leader of the bandits plaguing the Sword Coast. I agreed to let her join – a priest of the war god sounds very useful.

On my way to the mines, I was ambushed by bandits. Before I could take any action, half of the bandits were slaughtered by a mysterious warrior who turned out to be a half-orc I met briefly in the Friendly Arms Inn. He said he was Dorn and had a conflict with the leaders of this bandit gang. Unfortunately in the ensuing melee, Dorn died. I picked up his sword – while it was clearly magical, I could sense evil on its blade. I buried Dorn in a makeshift grave though I have the stinking suspicion that he will not die so easily.

I have reached Beregost safely. Finally, chances to earn some money came my way. Firstly, Landrin who was staying over at the Friendly Arms Inn promised me a small reward for getting rid of some spiders in her home. I did so with minimum fuss.

Secondly, a bard named Garrick hired us to protect a ‘noted’ thespian, Silke. Unfortunately the thespian turned out to be a double-crosser who wanted us to murder this group of innocent traders. I cannot in good conscience kills these people for no good reason. Silke turned against us and we had to take her down. She was holding on to some good treasure so our effort wasn’t wasted. I asked Garrick to take a hike when he asked if he could join me.

Speaking of people who wanted to join me, I picked up a new member for my party, Neera. We were walking along minding our own business when this half-elf girl walked in among us. Despite my protests, the group of wizards who were harassing Neera decided to attack us as well! I thought I was done for as the leader started to cast a spell I recognised as a Fireball spell. However, Neera did something and the leader disappeared before he could finish the spell! I made short work of his friends. Later, I made Neera join my party as penance for putting all of us in mortal danger.

This was not the only attempt at my life. Assassins continued to plague me. It seems like they are everywhere. The quality of assassins has improved tremendously and we barely managed to defeat this new one.

A couple of more updates. I learnt of two possible places to explore – Ulcaster and Firewine Bridge. I wonder what riches lie in these two abandoned places. Maybe we’ll take a look after we figured out what’s going on in Nashkel. At the same time, Imoen, who was always practising her lockpicking skills, told me that she thinks she has gotten the hang of picking most normal locks. I managed to persuade her that it was harmless practicing her skills on chests in mansions and the private rooms of traverns. It was rich pickings for me. Haha! We kept this quiet from Khalid and Jaheira as I am sure they would frown on our behaviour.

As I travelled towards Beregost, a town mid-point between Friendly Arms Inn and Nashkel, I turned my thoughts towards my future. Increasingly, I yearn to drop my mage training and turn my attention towards being a warrior. I have asked Jaheria to teach me some tricks with the staff which she gladly did.

I also started to think about our party of four. I heard so much from Gorion about the famous adventuries companies through Faerûn – their adventures and their riches. I was thinking that the four of us could start one. I am not sure Khalid and Jaheira would join me. They seem more interested in doing good then making money. I have no quarrel with that, but sometimes the best money is made doing something that the authorities might not approve. Let’s see how it goes.