Storm of Zehir, New Leaf: Shortage

Part XVII of Storm of Zehir Walkthrough.

New Leaf: Shortage

Our cartel rep tells us of a trade shortage in New Leaf. We need to find the source of the problem. Hike over to New Leaf, enter the tavern and speak to the quartermaster. He's a bit shaken and hiding something...

Forktongue Bandits

Back on the OLM, Forktongue bandits start spawning. They are the source of the problem because they are raiding caravans along the trade routes. 

Note that these bandits spot us regardless of our hiding skill, and they cannot be bargained with or reasoned with. In addition, they respawn with alarming frequency, but they also have tons of ammo: alchemical, acid, piercing, ice - every kind.

My ranged attackers are strong with Rapid Shot. Here they take out a bandit before the tank can close in:

Serpentine Figurine

Loot a serpentine figurine from one of the Forktongue bandits. The figurine will glow brightly when we're southwest of New Leaf, near the river that has a stone crossing.

We should then be able to spot the Forktongue bandit hideout. 

Forktongue Bandit Hideout

The hideout is crawling with Forktongues. Indeed, there are 25 staggered throughout the winding dungeon and 20 of them start seeking us out as soon as we announce our presence. This is good CED.

Mikul

The Forktongue leader, Mikul, is holed up at the deepest point of the hideout, flanked by a hoard of treasure stolen from the New Leaf region. Like most bosses in SoZ, he prefers to hang back with a few reinforcements while his minions soften us up.

Dwarven Defender tank activates Defensive Stance. Initial Rapid-Shot volley from archers:

That is the sort of ranged damage my party is doing per round at 10th level. Now you know why I favor Rapid Shot + Extended Haste.

I recommend going for concentrated fire on the three Forktongue Clerics, who are dangerous offensive spellcasters. The first Cleric can barely be seen here, but those damage numbers are floating above him:

Note how much harder to take down, how much tankier, every foe is in SoZ compared to other RPGs.

Also, employ doorways as chokepoints. The tank blocks the door while the archers -- who are way back -- fire through the doorway:

That guy got OWNED.

Our buffs begin to expire after taking out 20 or so Forktongues. We recast as many as we can before making our way to Mikul. Our tank charges toward the Cleric as the rest of the party peppers him with projectiles:

The Cleric drops like a sack of shit under the blistering hail, but the Forktongues execute a flurry of sneak attacks on the tank as the Forktongue barb rages hard and starts swinging his greataxe around:

 The party Wizard steps in to cast Slow because our tank is almost on his last legs:

Umoja steps in to call down lightning strikes. He takes out Mikul!

But the Forktongue barb had enormous staying power. He needed to be wittled down over a few more rounds. During that time, our tank barely managed to stay on his feet (AC 40):

Thus, the Forktongue threat to New Leaf was ended. This is solid low level CED.  

Loot: studded armor +3, chain mail +3, sickle +2

Return to the quartermaster in New Leaf tavern and then to your cartel rep: 1,800 xp.

Next up: Conyberry meeting.

Neverwinter Nights 2	6. Batiri Cave	12. Underdark Black Market	18. Conyberry Meeting
1. Storm of Zehir Walkthrough	7. Plainsrunner	13. Sauringar Temple	19. Storm of Zehir Chult
2. Storm of Zehir Samarach	8. Heavy Weaponry	14. Chokemist Cave	20. Temple of the World Serpent
3. Openpalm Bazaar	9. Lantanese Lumber Camp	15. Storm of Zehir Sword Coast	21. Dread Herald of Zehir
4. Omgar's Teeth	10. Samarach OLM	16. Storm of Zehir Cartels	22. Storm of Zehir Item List
5. Stone Knives Tribe	11. Singing Pendant	17. Forktongue Bandit Hideout	23. Storm of Zehir Mods