Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Recent rumors speak of a horrid sight discovered on the Trade Way north of Beregost…

Apparently, a patrol of Flaming Fist soldiers, led by an officer, was slaughtered by an unknown foe along the road. The soldiers of the group were found by the citizens of Beregost with great, vicious gashes in their armor, as if they were torn apart by a savage beast… large tracks were also reported in the area, amidst the chaotic footprints of the soldiers.

The most puzzling sight however, was that the officer of the patrol had a bloody name carved into his chest… “Lokie”

Or at least that’s what the townsfolk that brought the bodies of the soldiers back to Beregost for burial claimed they saw…

Anyone wishing for more information may feel the urge to ask around the town….

Word leaks out on a conversation between two Fist members:

"Sergeant, did you hear? Another patrol slain!"

The older Fist member calmly lit his pipe and answered without looking at person asking the question. "Yes, Dobbs, I heard, I heard"

Dobbs flung his hands up in the air. "But this is just monstrous! Another! That must be..."

"Three-hundred seventy two dead in the past couple months. Yes, I know. Doesn't concern me." The sergeant evidently enjoyed the aghast look on the face of Dobbs, as he chuckled merrily, then took a few puffs on the pipe. "Shocked are you? Well don't be. Perhaps you don't know something that I do."

The younger Fist stabbed his one palm with the finger of his other dramatically as he bellowed, "What I know is that we're dying! What are we going to do about it?!" He took a a few deep breaths to calm himself down, then continued. "Look, Sergeant, you may not care about this, but I don't want to die!"

The sergeant laughed softly and spoke once again. "Dobbs, calm yourself. Those dead soldiers aren't really dead soldiers."

"Huh?!"

"That's right. We learned long ago that it seems everyone is out to hunt our patrols and kill our guards just for the sake of doing it. I guess it makes them feel good or something. Well, Moruene has been making duplicate images of all our soldiers on patrol. The ones that die are just the duplicates while the real ones play cards in the barracks. We learned long ago that these decoys keep the criminals busy when they could be using their time to rob travelers, steal from the nobles and do other actions of that sort. But if they want to spend all their time fighting illusions, that keeps them out of our hair and keeps the city safer."

Dobbs jaw dropped wide open. "You mean... you mean we haven't lost all those?"

"A few, but not nearly so many as reports have stated. If we lost as many men as have been reported, the Baldur's Gate cemetery wouldn't have been able to hold the bodies -- not if we burned them." He laughs and continues, "If we had thought of this trick before, it sure would have saved us a whole lot of effort. Now we can sit back and watch all the highwaymen and vagabonds fight imaginary enemies. Sounds good, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it does! I'm surprised the Weave Masters haven't done the same thing!"

///SirC, that was pure genius But actually, it makes pretty good sense.

//Are you suggesting that when my PC is out on patrol and he dies, he doesn't actually die?

\\ Weave Masters are mages and they haven't thought of doing it AWWWW

///*facepalms*

Sir_Carnifex wrote:Word leaks out on a conversation between two Fist members:

*the words leak of the foolish Fist officers into some unwholesome ears that they probably we not meant for...*

///Seriously... if anyone believed that post...

// I anyone believes this post IC I will personally lock you up myself.

The roads between Baldur’s Gate and Candlekeep, normally chaotic with bandits, brigands, monsters, and Gods know what else, have been much more orderly as of late. Several patrols of Weave Master Scouts and Guardians have been present along the Trade Way, and have been deftly dealing with evil spell casters and common banditry alike.

Some folk say that these increased Weave Master patrols are simply to assist the Flaming Fist patrols along the roads that are frequently attacked, yet others whisper words that they may be a sign of something else… Rumors say that perhaps some sort of great threat towards Baldur’s Gate may be approaching, but most folk simply think that it’s nothing more than balderdash.