The Improbable Adventures of Corvella Greyrose


This will be a series of posts chronicling a specialized playthrough that I am doing, by means of writing in-character journal entries to tell the tale of how things proceed. It is both an experiment in game mechanics and tactics, as well as a narrative journey. I'm not a good writer, but at least I know how to type words. Since I am unable to create any other form of fan art, this is the best I can do.


For this playthrough, I will be using a solo pacifist wizard character, and finding out exactly how much treasure, and how many magic items, I can obtain without ever fighting ANYTHING. I will follow these rules:


- Never accept any party member after the tutorial.

- Never make any attack of any kind on any creature or NPC, including causing indirect damage to a creature or NPC by use of environmental objects.

- Never learn any offensive spell or scribe any offensive spell from a scroll into spellbook. (A spell that has an attack roll or forces the target to make a saving throw.)

- Never pickpocket any merchant.

- Never save scum a skill check.


The premise is that I am playing a plucky, non-violent treasure hunter, not a combatant. She will survive, explore, and profit using her wits, words, skills, and utility magic alone. I want to see just how much stuff I can acquire without ever having to fight at all, and without the obvious cheese of pickpocketing merchants. And instead of simply reporting the results of this ongoing test to you in a purely mechanical manner, I am going to write a little story from my character's perspective about each day, a journal entry that narrativizes the whole endeavour.



My character is Corvella Greyrose, a half-wood-elf wizard who was never a great student of magic, but is sufficiently charming, fit, and skilled to make her way in a dangerous world without resorting to hostilities herself. She is no warrior, but instead a trickster, and she will prove that great riches may be gained without ever spilling a drop of blood.



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(Words, not swords!)




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(She's very fragile, so great care will need to be taken at every step.)



She only has 5 HP, no Mage Armor, an Int of 10, and no offensive spells. I do NOT intend to acquire the Headband of Intellect, this is not a cheese build. Her starting cantrips are Minor Illusion, Mage Hand, and Friends. Her starting spells are Jump, Fog Cloud, Disguise Self, Find Familiar, Expeditious Retreat, and Feather Fall. She is proficient in Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Investigation, Insight, and Deception. These tools will be all she needs.



And without further ado, the first journal entry!



DAY ONE:

What an utterly astonishing day it has been!

So much has happened to me, and it seems that most of it, I cannot even remember. I found an old book of sea shanties on a small pier along the river (whatever river this is?), and fortunately for me, the back side of each page was blank. So I've decided that it would be prudent to begin a journal of this strange new adventure I find myself thrust into. It's almost too crazy to believe, but I'd better write it down anyway.

I awoke inside some kind of horrific alien vessel, trapped at first. A most hideous tentacled being, which I later learned was called a "ghaik" or "mind flayer" did something to me that I'm not even sure was not merely my fevered imagination. IF what I vaguely recall is real, the terrifying creature held a wriggling, grotesque little worm-parasite up to my eye, and the repulsive, slimy thing slid upward into my skull! I can't feel anything too unusual in my head now, besides a most understandable headache, so I don't know what happened to my new passenger. Maybe it was a dream, or my mind is addled. Yes, I'm sure that's it. I think I'll proceed under the assumption that there is not, in fact, a miniature aberration making itself at home inside my very brain. Yes. For my own sanity, I think that I must.

As for how I got into this situation, I have no recollection at all. In fact, I remember next to nothing about whatever my life was, before awakening to this present nightmare. Vague flashes of my home city, which I DO remember was called Baldur's Gate, and a bit about studying arcane magic, but little else.

Some kind of battle was taking place in the sky, apparently, between this flying abomination I found myself ensnared in, and what I can only assume were actual dragons? Red ones. Fire-breathing and everything, just like in the stories. I suppose in any other circumstances I would have found them incredibly frightening, but in this particular instance they seemed to be on my side. Or at least, AGAINST the side of my captors. Due to the damage sustained by the bizarre vehicle as a result of these dragon attacks, I was freed from my bondage and able to move around.

Fire blazed all around me, and corpses of various monstrous beings littered the otherworldly halls of this madness-inducing environment. I looked around cautiously, collecting anything that might be of any use. That is how I stumbled upon a creature that called itself Us. Apparently it was born from some poor, dead fellow's brain? And I helped to birth it, I guess. I don't know WHY, really. It kind of had an innocent-sounding voice and I felt bad for it, as apparently it was also trapped. So after some disgusting work, I managed to get this little fellow on its newly-sprouted feet, and it declared me a friend. It began to follow me around, insisting that we get to the helm of the ship. That seemed a better course of action than anything I could think of, given the extreme unfamiliarity of the circumstances, so I went looking for this so-called helm.


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(Not well-pleased by the sight of a pulsating brain-creature.)



As I made my way to the outside of the vessel, an infernal landscape passed before my eyes, the sky filled with floating fortresses and swarms of winged fiends, as well as the aforementioned dragons. Us told me that we were in Avernus, first of the Nine Hells, and the scenery certainly supported that claim. Again, it should have been terrifying, but I was more repulsed and afraid of the abominable conveyance that I was on, so I was willing to brave even Hell itself to get away from this massive betentacled horror filled with smaller betentacled horrors.

Us and I were almost immediately accosted by a heavily armed and armored green-skinned woman who started yelling at us and then giving orders. At first I thought she was some kind of orc or goblinoid, but I realized that no, she was something much stranger than that. I don't know what to call her, as she identified neither her race nor her own name. But she was the one who told me about the "mind flayers", and also insisted that we were going to transform into such abominations ourselves, due to the "tadpoles" in our heads. I would be alarmed by this, but honestly the woman seemed rather unhinged to me, as was every other speaking person I encountered in that nightmarish place, so I don't really place a lot of credence in her wild tales. I mean, I don't FEEL like I'm growing tentacles or anything. So, probably just derangement on her part. Yeah. Let's stick with that.

Blocking our path was a group of flying devils which I'm pretty sure, based on extremely sketchy memories from my studies, were called imps. Dangerous, whatever they're called. The angry green woman wanted us to fight them, and Us seemed eager as well. At this point, I realized that these two were just going to be liabilities, and probably get me killed. I don't remember much of my previous life, but I do feel like I'm the kind of person who works alone. So I convinced them both to stay put, as I offered to do some scouting ahead. I also persuaded the odd, probably insane woman to take off her armor and other gear, and let me stash them safely in my Handy Haversack, as she would need to move stealthily and fast. I don't know why she agreed to it, really, it seemed out of character for this fierce warrior type. But hey, I seem to have a way with words, what can I say?


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(Considering the best way to deal with an obstreperous githyanki lady.)



So I was creeping past the imps, when suddenly I was spotted. For a moment I considered yelling for Us and Mean Green, but I decided that no, I really was better off taking care of myself. So I enchanted myself with a Jump spell and simply ran past, up onto the deck of the ship. The imps quickly gave up chase, and I moved on toward the helm. I encountered some other people up there, but they were all very clearly mad, even more so than the soldierly woman who had just given me her sword and armor and was raving about "ghaiks" and such. I just moved on quickly, collecting a few more potentially useful items from various corpses as I went.

There were various flesh-cages, and people on slabs, and a lot of nonsense that I didn't want to have anything to do with, so I left all of that alone. I did find a few valuables, so into the Haversack they went. There was one pretty girl stuck in a pod, yelling her head off about needing to be freed, so I decided to take just a moment to help her out. I attempted to dispel some wards on her enclosure, but the main problem with THAT was, I . . . had no idea how to dispel wards. So I couldn't help her. I assume that Us and Mean Green were still waiting down below, outside the chamber of the imps, but I have no idea. I never saw them again. I'm sure they were fine. Yeah. I definitely didn't leave them to die.

Finally I got to the helm, and beheld another one of those "mind flayers", this one fighting with some hulking devil guy with a flaming sword. The "ghaik" told me to use some strange panel at the other end of the room, I think he called it a "transponder"? Anyway, apparently that was our way out. But there were a bunch of imps flying around looking menacing in between me and that betentacled device. (Seriously, why is literally everything betentacled in this story?) Before entering the helm I'd instinctively enchanted myself with Expeditious Retreat, and once inside, a quick casting of the Jump spell made it quite easy for me to cross the vast space without getting roughed up by any fiends. I made it to the transponder, or whatever it was called, unscathed.

Just as I was about to put some tentacles together (because of course that's how you operate it), another huge red dragon attacked, breathing fire wildly. How I survived, I have no idea, but I guess Tymora's luck was with me. There was some tumbling about, I almost fell to my death, but ultimately my wits and self-preservation instinct proved stronger, and I managed to connect the writhing, slimy parts of the device! In a flash, we were no longer in Hell, but flying through a decidedly normal-looking sky over a comfortingly Faerunian-looking riverbank. The only downside was, we were clearly about to crash. I didn't experience that particular fate, however, as a chunk of some odd material (I'd rather NOT think about what it was) hit me in the face and sent me careening out of the ship. Once again, I almost fell to my death (twice in one day!) but then some magical force seemed to catch me, arresting my descent. Maybe some power is really looking out for me. Corellon? Sehanine? Mystra? Whoever you were, thanks.

The horrific, burning vessel did crash, of course, but by then I wasn't on it. I was safely on my feet, on the shore of a rather lovely river. Which one, I couldn't tell you. I assume I'm back in Faerun, I mean it looks and feels like Faerun. I hope it's Faerun. Maybe if I'm lucky, not too far from home? But I have no way of knowing where I am just yet. Ideally, I'll figure that out tomorrow. I wandered along the river for a bit, collecting a few more finds of useful kit, including some food and water that was fortuitously abandoned. (Still looking out for me, mysterious deity?) I found the book I'm writing in now, and against all odds, I'd even found a quill somewhere along the way.

I was profoundly drained from everything I'd been through, so I started looking for a safe place to camp. I came upon what appeared to be a large ruin, and there was a young woman standing in front of it. Apparently a half-elf, like me, armed and armored. I recognized her, actually. She was the one who'd been trapped in a pod on the ship, yelling. The one I couldn't help. Well, I wouldn't call our second meeting terribly pleasant. She seemed a bit defensive and self-centered to me, which is FINE when I do it, but not charming at all in others. She sorta seemed to be hinting at us joining forces or something, but as I wrote before, I'm one to work alone. She was cute, I'll give her that, but maybe a bit touched in the head too, like the others on the ship. Didn't seem worth the risk of her maybe murdering me later, so I just bid her farewell and let her walk away.

By another incredible stroke of good fortune (maybe it IS Tymora who has my back), I found this amazing teleportation rune on a cliff face. I was just examining it, quite carefully I thought, when suddenly it activated and I found myself in a nice, secluded campsite. There was already a fire pit and a bedroll laid out, and even an enchanted chest that seems capable of holding as much as I could ever want to put into it. I lurked around for a few hours, waiting to see if anyone would come back to the camp, but no one did. There were no signs anyone had been here recently. Finally it was long past dark and I was beyond exhausted, so I decided just to risk using the site for the night. I lit a fire, had some food (a bit stale, but edible), and set about writing down the events of this utterly unbelievable day.

Tomorrow I will explore the surrounding area further, and try to figure out where I am. I'm sure I'll be fine. Just need to sleep off this fatigue and awful headache, get my bearings, and I'll be back in business!


Finally, let me take stock of what I've found so far:

- 1 decent robe, fits well, was probably mine before all this. (Not a fan of the color, though. Did I really favor green before?)

- 1 suit of very fancy half-plate armor (it's pretty heavy, I'm sure I did her a favor), which I've decided to stash in the magic chest for now.

- 2 pairs of leather boots, one which I was wearing when I woke up, and the other given to me by the angry green woman.

- 2 sharp daggers, 1 stout quarterstaff, 2 shortbows, and 1 longsword (formerly the property of Mean Green - I'm sure she didn't really need it).

- 2 different backpacks, both of which fit nicely in my Handy Haversack (which I am sure was mine before, it seems almost like a part of me).

- 6 weird organic bulbs from the ship, 3 of which seem Caustic, 2 I would describe as Void, and 1 that is Spiked.

- 6 Potions of Healing, 1 Potion of Speed, 1 Potion of Poison Resistance, and 1 Potion of Fire Resistance.

- 2 bottles of water, 3 apples, 1 loaf of sourdough bread, and 1 wheel of cheese.

- 2 Scrolls of Revivify, 1 Scroll of False Life, 1 Scroll of Inflict Wounds, 1 Scroll of Mage Armor, and 1 Scroll of Fire Bolt.

- 1 copper ring, 1 burnished necklace, 1 malachite, and 1 onyx.

- 1 Alchemist's Fire and 1 Grease Bottle.

- 3 bundles of Mugwort, 1 of Mergrass, and 1 of Autumncrocus.

- 1 book (now this journal) and 1 quill.

- 1 wizard's spellbook, which I am QUITE certain was mine before, and which conveniently has my name printed on the inside cover: Corvella Greyrose. (I sound a bit like nobility. Am I rich, back home?)

- 81 gold coins. (Definitely not rich here and now...)



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(A well-deserved rest at last, but troubled dreams await...)





Stay tuned for more entries, which will be posted as replies to this thread.


Part two is now up: https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=732395#Post732395

Part three is now up: https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=733130#Post733130

Part four is now up: https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=733581#Post733581



Last edited by Firesnakearies; 13/11/20 11:17 AM.