Welcome to Part III of my Werewolf Island walkthrough for Baldur's Gate, a cRPG developed by BioWare in 1998-99.
Kaishas Gan
Having taken out Karoug and the wolfwere faction, we return to the compound for a shocking revelation with Kaishas Gan; one which has potentially devastating consequences for the party.
Kaishas goes on:
So you ARE mangy mutts! We knew it!
Tailas now interjects to protest our inclusion among them. We are not deserving of membership, for we are mongrels.
As Kaishas leaves for her ship (possible now that we took out Karoug), Talias polymorphs to werewolf and starts wailing away on us. In fact, each and every settler of the compound and its outer grounds do the same.
Werewolf Timer
However, there is another problem the consequences of which are not known until we report back to Mendas in Ulgoth's Beard. You see, as of this point, a timer of two days has been set that simulates the incubation period of lycanthropy. When it expires, all party members, with the notable exception of Charname (Belladonna flower in possession or not), will be chunked from the portrait bar and polymorphed into hostile Greater Wolfweres!
Many players won't live with this kind of impacting time-based reactivity (they will just reload), but it is possible to fight through or flee from our companions in order to continue the quest.
cf. Inconsistency [1].
The entire compound and its outer grounds are on high alert and teeming with werewolves. Dradeel can be found outside one of the huts of the mutts. Everything he tells us is already known except for that fact that a trapdoor in one of the huts lead to warrens which take us out to the harbor and Kaishas' ship.
Well, I guess he sort of did pay us back in the end (see Shadows of Amn remark, Part II).
The warrens are unremarkable but for their sprawling size and werewolf infestation. This is just a generic hack n slash area with nothing of interest to offer.
We take the eastern exit to arrive at the harbor where Kaishas' ship awaits.
She stands alone on deck.
cf. Inconsistency [1].
The entire compound and its outer grounds are on high alert and teeming with werewolves. Dradeel can be found outside one of the huts of the mutts. Everything he tells us is already known except for that fact that a trapdoor in one of the huts lead to warrens which take us out to the harbor and Kaishas' ship.
Well, I guess he sort of did pay us back in the end (see Shadows of Amn remark, Part II).
The warrens are unremarkable but for their sprawling size and werewolf infestation. This is just a generic hack n slash area with nothing of interest to offer.
We take the eastern exit to arrive at the harbor where Kaishas' ship awaits.
She stands alone on deck.
Loup Garou
Regardless of dialogue choice, Kaishas shifts into a powerful variety of werewolf known as a Loup Garou.
We loot the sea charts from her cold, dead claws and set sail back to the mainland.
Selaad Gan
Now back in Ulgoth's Beard, we are confronted on the docks by Baresh, from whom we learn that Mendas is Selaad Gan, chieftain of the werewolves and husband of Headwoman Kaishas.
Butthurt as hell, Baresh storms off to inform Mendas aka Selaad Gan - whom we now confront in his home.
He is not Mendas, scholar and archaeologist from Waterdeep, and he never cared about Balduran's artifacts and logbook. He only wanted us to slay Karoug and bring Kaishas and their pack to the mainland, so that the werewolves could spread their curse among the mainlanders, and propagate.
We also learn that slaying Selaad is our cure for lycanthropy.
And so we slay the Loup Garou on the spot. *chunk*
Eat that, you mangy mutt!
Loup Garous - which include Selaad, Kaishas and Baresh - sport ApR 3, MR 45%, Regen 2 HPs/sec, and immunity to non-silver/less than +4 enchantment. They are capable of critting for 40 dmg.
And so the journey ends.
The werewolf threat is ended, and our quest yielded a few more Balduranic artifacts, but the ultimate fate of Balduran remains unknown...
Overall, Werewolf Island is a solid quest with examples of good writing, area design and artwork, but Durlag's Tower beats it hands-down. WI is lacking in depth, difficulty, emotional punch and allegory. Presumably it was time limits in the dev cycle that prevented WI (and Ice Island) from being fleshed out better and having their kinks ironed out - par for the course in commercial RPG development.
Ice Island
Ice Island is just a mini-adventure consisting of only one dungeon (the lower dungeon was cut out of the game), one quest and several dialogues/combat encounters against arcane spellcasters, none of whom can be bargained with or reasoned with.
We are sent to Ice Island by Shandalar in Ulgoth's Beard. All we need to do is get Shandalar's Cloak from Dezkiel.
Anyway, here is the message we receive when all TotSC content is complete:
[1] Now, there is an inconsistency afoot here. On the one hand Charname protests being infected with lycanthropy by Kaishas (this is the correct origin of the infection upheld in the journal, though how she infected us unbeknownst to us is not known). On the other, Kaishas states matter-of-factly that the wolfweres have given us "the gift" (of lycanthropy) - bitten us - in our battles with them. And this is supported when Charname's companions shift into Greater Wolfweres, not werewolves or their thugged-out variant, Loup Garous. But the AD&D 2nd Edition Monstrous Manual states the following: "... there are creatures like the wolfwere ... which can assume human form. These creatures ("antherions'' for lack of a better term) pass on their condition genetically (that is, by having offspring), not by biting and infecting other creatures. Antherions hate lycanthropes, and always attack their counterparts (wolfweres attack werewolves, etc.). Likewise, most lycanthropes feel enmity for antherions, and attack on sight as well".
Anyway, here is the message we receive when all TotSC content is complete:
***
Thus, we can't be infected with lycanthropy as a result of being bitten by a wolfwere, because wolfweres are not lycanthropes: they are antherions. They are wolves that turn into humans in order to lure humans into ambushes. Werewolves are lycanthropes: "humans that change into wolf-like beasts". (And Kaishas and Tailas are true/bred lycanthropes as opposed to merely induced/bitten ones.) Not to put too finer point on it, but werewolves and wolfweres are completely different creatures. They do not represent "two strains" of lycanthrope, as the quest affirms.
There is also the problem of Dradeel referring to the wolfweres as lycanthropes, and +4 weapons vs. lycanthropes should not grant THAC0/dmg bonuses against Karoug and his kind. And, as per the Rules, cold iron is the bane of the latter, not silver.
Even though the Werewolf Island is less polished I still enjoy it the most out of the TotSC expansion. I really like the storyline and that we get to know a bit about Balduran, but there's still much shrouded in mystery. Seeing the Wandering Eye wreckage and the short cinematic always gives me goosebumps. Interesting tidbit: one of the weapons that can harm Karoug/Greater Wolfwere (and Loup Garous as well I think) is the bastard sword +1/+3 vs shapeshifters 'Kondar', which can be found in one of the houses in Ulgoth's Beard (apart from the one that Aldeth has).
ReplyDeleteKondar works against Karoug/Greater Wolfweres and Loup Garous, yes. The other +3 weapons I tried do not (including Drizzt's Twinkle scimitar). Also, the Dagger of Venom's poison should not trigger because +2 weapons should not hit in the first place, but it does. And Werebane works against Karoug/Greater Wolfweres and Loup Garou, through it should only harm the latter (because it's silver rather than cold iron, and only +1 vs. non-lycanthropes).
DeleteFunny how Loup Garou just mean werewolf in French. I wonder how they translated that in the French version
ReplyDeleteMaybe they used a Middle Latin or Old Frankish term, I don't know.
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