BLOODY BLADES: Hrangarak & Gunkruzelle, Gruzhaur, Part XVIII

Part XVIII of the Swordflight Walkthrough. Continuing from Part XVII: Hammer & Anvil: Swordflight Crafting. Swordflight (2008-2022) is a NWN Module for Neverwinter Nights 1 (2002).

Hrangarak & Gunkruzelle is a large, combat-heavy sidequest that can be undertaken at any time before we head to the Spider Swamp. Due to the native level scaling employed by NWN (two-pronged in that the engine natively scales not only enemy numbers, but also up-tiers certain enemies), segments of this quest remain challenging even if undertaken towards the end of the campaign. This is also due to the nature of Swordflight's enemies. The other sidequests covered in this series of posts have been undertaken at a fairly low level, but I have undertaken this one post-Cult of the Dragon, which means our 17th level Dwarven Defender has reached both major itemization breakpoints (that of Mithral & Admantine, and Gadaran's Garb & Gear), and is thugged out.

This is one badass Dwarf [build] [BAB/dmg]:

The first phase of the quest kicks off in a section of Dark Calimport that lies deep beneath the sewers of the city's Noble & Wealthy Estates.

Down here, in this vast subterranean realm, we find a cocoon nestled within a DC-29 Slow proximity trap.

Two dire spiders and one bloated dire spider spawn to flank us, casting Web as we approach the cocoon.

Having dispatched them, we release a living creature within the cocoon:

Instead of the beetles, bats and generic "save me" NPCs that usually spawn from cocoons, this time it turns out to be an orc named Hrangarak. For shits n gigs, and to test the boundaries, I chose the "jerk-responses" in dialogue:

So here we have our orc companion, Hrangarak. He might be an orc but he's not as dumb as Daelan because he actually took the Cleave feat, and his build is much more solid. Still, he's as weak as piss compared to my DD:

I gave him some items to thug him out a bit.

Also, he's got access to some good divine spells:

Some of the orc's in-battle abilities/spells are as follows: Rage, War Domain: Battle Mastery, Battletide, Hammer of the Gods, Sunbeam, Firestorm and Word of Faith. Hrangarak can fully heal the PC with a single casting. I also found his Turn Undead ability to be very useful.

Our quest is as follows:

A signpost marks the entrance to the Bloody Blades:

As with the gnoll cleric Snajagh, it's best to disable Hrangarak's spellcasting lest he waste the likes of Firestorm on the low-ballers such as the eight Bloody Blades orcs that are initially encountered. This can be done through dialogue or through the radial menu.

Here we wreck house but I do get stung by a Called Shot despite my super-tanker AC:

The reinforced gate to the Bloody Blades town has been sealed. We need to locate the orc princess first, who should be able to open it. Thus, we journey towards the Cultist's Lair in search of her.

The path to the lair and the two-level lair itself constitute a mid-sized dungeon crawl (mid-sized in Swordflight means max size in most other modules). Here, we face off against no fewer than sixteen Blazing Fire Beetles. Without fire resistance, their Combustion spam will burn through 300 HPs like it's nothing.

No amount of AC, HPs, critical hits and sneak attacks can help us against that fire damage. We need solid fire resistance if we're going to take on such a pack. Thankfully, the bugs can be drawn out in more manageable mobs and dealt with more safely. It's a pity the damage indicators fade out so quickly, because you can't see the fire damage I'm taking there, but suffice it to say that 300 HPs is gone in just a few seconds (anyone know of a mod that displays damage indictors for longer, or is it hard-coded?)

We take out another Bloody Blades patrol in one of the chambers:

Ooh, you just got owned, son!

... and then head down another passageway that is choking to death on gelatinous cubes. A similar rule applies: don't have freedom status and acid resistance? Prepare to be engulfed by the cubes, paralyzed and then melted by acid:

A few more spiders get crushed...

... And then a pack of hook horrors get torn to pieces:

This pack was headed up by a hasted "huge and nasty" hook horror (112 XP at 17th level).

Having cleared the zone out of its monsters, we make our way to a reinforced door:

One dozen harpies flank us after we cross a bridge over a void:

It was a trap: the harpies mimicked the voice of the princess. Oh well, at least we got the treasure.

We head to the door in the south instead.

We find ourselves on the upper level of the Cultist's Lair. 

A zombie shambles towards us:

En route to the first mob of cultists, we are ambushed by undead...

That's right: the door has locked behind us; the lever is on the other side of the door. Thus, we're trapped in the dungeon. This is similar to what happened in the Buried Ruins [pic] and the Aranea Base [pic]: we are forced to push on because we have hit a point of no return. This is good dungeon design.

We must also negotiate seven DC-30 negative energy traps. And then, inside the first chamber, nine blademaster cultists await us. 

The on-hit Confuse of my Laughing Blade scimitar at work (which has since been crafted to +3/Keen):

Sneak Attack follow-ups on the confused blademaster:

Son, you got owned -- and you didn't even know it.

A brief cutscene kicks in as we pass through a reinforced door. The cultists are preparing to sacrifice the orc princess, Gunkruzelle:

We charge in and smack the mouthy trio down:

The four magical devices are pressed down in the correct order, thereby dispelling the magical field imprisoning Gunkruzelle (a note we find in the dungeon hints at the order).

Gunkruzelle joins the party:

There is another treasure chamber here holding useful items. As per usual, it contains nothing OP. The items just help keep us on our feet and fighting, without the need to rest.

We descend to the lower level of the lair.

There is a secret door that takes us back up a level and to a previously inaccessible treasure chamber.

Back on the lower level, we face off against another blademaster nine-pack.

Tell me how much that hurt. 

And then another five reinforced by undead units. Hrangarak takes out the zombie warriors:

Turn Undead on five wraith spiders that ambush in a treasure room:

There are a couple of Necromancers to take out in perimeter chambers. One of them is alone and weak but the other one has already animated his legion. My DD smacks him down and then Hrangarak turns his minions. He didn't stop turning until he had vanquished all 16 (he has Extra Turning)...

We are over-leveled here and yet that battle felt satisfying.

Next, we cross a bridge over a void. Undead spawn on either side and behind us, two of which fire projectiles from positions unreachable to our melee party. Worst of all, an Undead Blademaster appears in the doorway. He is guarding the staircase leading up to the lair of the Cult Leader. The AoE of Hrangarak's turning outright destroys the lesser undead, leaving only the blademaster to duel.

Fittingly, the undead blademaster was wielding a two-bladed sword called Blades of Vengeance.

This is an interesting dialogue because it allows us to be cautious:

But amusingly, the leader of this cult turns out to be nothing more than a non-hostile mook; he pleads with us to let him go:

There is an option to let him go...

But I decide to let Gunkruzelle smack him down. In desperation, the cultist mook unleashes Color Spray! Then, Gunkruzelle punched him in the leg and killed him with one hit! What a way to die: punched in the leg by a hulking orc princess!

Boy, did I get a chuckle out of that.

We attempt to incinerate the Cult Book in the nearby brazier:

But only a temple priest can deal with such evil. Thus, we hold onto the book until we can get out of here and return to the Temple District.

We're not done in Dark Calimport, though. We head back to the reinforced door in order to confront the orc boss, Gruzhaur. To our dismay, as we backtrack, we find the path to the town rechoked with hook horrors, gelatinous cubes and blazing fire beetles. *shudder*

Gunkruzelle unlocks the outer gate to Bloody Blades town. We find the Gruumsh worshippers, headed up by Gruzhaur, guarding the inner gate.  The time for words has passed. Charge!

This was a fairly easy battle because we are over-leveled. We smack them down without issue and loot their corpses for a few valuable magical items: Goblin Shield of Nulbish, Master Li's Way katana and Silvermoon +2 kukri. Nice.

High-fives all 'round:

The inner gate is now unlocked to the town. We have access to a merchant, resting, and other chambers containing loot.

The journey back through the vast sewer system is made (this is only the sewer zone under the Noble & Wealthy Estates; it's huge):

We head to the towering, four-spired Temple of Tyr in the Temple District, arriving there by nightfall:

Check out the interior of the temple. That little dot in the middle is my character:

Yes, I say it a lot don't I: this chapter is huge. Many of Swordflight's areas and quests dwarf BG2.

Adaras Efzan:

I would wager that many players would not even find this quest without consulting Rogueknight's walkthrough.

Next up: Zagash the Terrible.

Neverwinter Nights	Swordflight Chapter 3	Buried Ruins 2	Thieves' Guild	Mazar's Golems
Swordflight	Swordflight Alignment	Buried Ruins 3	Goblinoid Army	Precious Metals
Rogueknight Interview	Swordflight Walkthrough	Buried Ruins 4	Orc Army	Hammer & Anvil
Swordflight Chapter 1	Shifting Sands Inn	Calimport	Dragon Cult	Bloody Blades
Swordflight Chapter 2	Buried Ruins 1	Zataroth	Aranea Base	Zagash the Terrible