Baldur's Gate (novel)

"Bhaal must be stopped! Someone is sabotaging the iron mines of the Sword Coast, pushing powerful realms toward a bloody war, and a young mercenary toward an unimaginable secret.

Evil gods, giant spiders, murderous doppelgangers, flesh-eating ghouls, and wicked Zhentarim come to life in the action-packed novelization of the Baldur's Gate computer game from BioWare and Interplay."

Summary
Abdel Adrian and his foster father Gorion, who have just recent reunited after being separated for years by Abdel's work as a sellsword, or mercenary for hire, are on their way to the Friendly Arm Inn from Candlekeep, intent on meeting some friends of Gorion. Abdel asked if their journey has anything to do with his mother, but Gorion reluctantly denied it. Along the Lion's Way road, they were waylaid by four armed men intending to kill them both. One of the armed men told Gorion to surrender his ward and they might let them live, but Gorion refused and a fight ensued.

Abdel recognized two of the four men, Kamon and Eagus, both of whom he had met a few years back from his work as a mercenary, he worked with Kamon the previous year guarding a warehouse in Athkatla for someone who had valuables that thieves were willing to kill for, and Abdel met Eamus months ago in Julkoun. Abdel managed to kill Kamon and Eagus, but one of the assassins armed with a crossbow shot Gorion in the eye. Deeply enraged, Abdel killed the assassin armed with a scimitar first, then the assassin who shot Gorion. As Gorion's last words, he wanted Abdel to help stop the imminent war between Baldur's Gate and Amn and meet with his friends Khalid and Jaheira in the Friendly Arm Inn. Abdel sobbed over his deceased foster father until he heard the cawing of crows, then prepared his grave.

Meanwhile, in Sarevok's bedroom, his lover, Tamoko, sat in his bed watching him stare into an empty picture frame for several minutes until she heard him claim that his brother is alive. Confused, she asked if he actually said he has a brother, and Sarevok confirmed that he has at least one brother. Feeling a cold chill run through her, because she doesn't fully understand Sarevok's thought patterns and personality, she asked will his brother live, to which he replied that for the time being, Abdel will live. Then he proceeded to join her in his bed and informed her about the two Zhentarim agents that he plans on meeting with from Nashkel will live for a limited time like Abdel, and Tamoko points out that the two agents have been useful to them, so they should die painlessly, to which Sarevok replies that they shouldn't jump to conclusions, and that they have the ability to fail him, including the halfling.

Meanwhile back to Abdel in the Lion's Way road, he found a note in Gorion's robes and read it. The note says that during the Avatar Crisis, the evil god known as the "Black Lord" will spawn mortal progeny, and that they will come in all alignments, but all of them will bring chaos to the Sword Coast regardless of what their moral alignment is, that one of these children of the Black Lord must rise above his or her siblings, and that the inheritor will shape the history of the lands for centuries to come. Though Abdel knew about the Time of Troubles, he didn't know what to think of the letter he found on Gorion, or what it meant to him. Abdel made his peace with his deceased father and began the long walk to the Friendly Arm.

Minutes or hours later, Abdel rested near a large block of granite that night, and later he woke up hearing the sound of gibberlings barking and howling nearby. He didn't know what he had heard, but it set his nerves on edge. He stayed near the block of granite, trying to keep quiet as he possibly could while the group of gibberlings walked by. Eventually, they found him and he was forced to fight frantically for his life until a bright light from a device scared them away. The people who rescued Abdel introduced themselves to him as Montaron and Xzar. After a few words have been exchanged to one another Xzar and Montaron reveal that they are on their way to Nashkel and that Abdel can journey with them and find work there. Abdel agrees to travel with them, being in need of some mercenary work to make money, but he has no intention of going astray from Gorion's advice to meet Khalid and Jaheira at the Friendly Arm Inn, so Montaron and Xzar agree to follow Abdel to the Friendly Arm Inn.

The walk to the Friendly Arm was both tiring and maddening for Abdel. He grew fond of Montaron, but hated Xzar and his insane mannerisms and demeanor to the point where he imagined different ways to kill the man simply to pass time. One night, in their camp, Xzar suddenly exclaims to Abdel that he knows Abdel is a child of Bhaal. Montaron begs the mad wizard to shut up, but Abdel believes that Xzar is simply insane beyond rational thought, responding: "How do you know this? You don't know me. How could you know my father?" Xzar said that Abdel should be happy that his father is a god, but Abdel rebuffs him, claiming that he already had a father, and that he buried him, before they fell asleep.

When they finally reached the Friendly Arm Inn, they followed three gnome guards to the fortress/inn's entrance. When they opened the door, a chair came flying out the door and hit Abdel in the face. There was a bar fight in the inn's bar, and the gnome guards were sent to stop it. Abdel recovered, angry, bleeding from his nose, wanting to kill someone for unintentionally throwing a chair in his direction. The gnomes tossed out the man responsible for the bar fight, and Abdel tensed up to attack him, but Montaron stopped him and Abdel let his rage abate. Once inside the inn's bar, they bought drinks, and Abdel felt more relaxed once he drank some ale, but unfortunately he ended up forgetting the names of the people he was supposed to meet, but coincidentally, Khalid found Abdel and asked him if he is Abdel Adrian. Abdel asked Khalid who is Adrian, because to his knowledge, he did not have a surname, he preferred to call himself "Abdel, son of Gorion".

Khalid was confused at first, but finally introduced himself to Abdel, and then he asked Abdel how did Gorion die. Not wanting ot recall the memory and his anger brewing, Abdel asked Khalid who was Gorion to him. Khalid answered that he meant no disrespect, that he considered Gorion a friend. Khalid was clearly afraid of Abdel, especially when he got the hint that Abdel would attack him the moment he says something that would sound offensive to his loving memory of Gorion. Abdel tried to dig up some coins in his pocket for his sixth pint of ale, but he only had three copper coins left. Angry, Abdel shouted: "Bhaal!" and threw the three coppers away. One of the coins clipped a drunk man on his head somewhere in the crowd. As soon as that happened, everyone parted away form the man who had been clipped in the temple by one of Abdel's coins, sensing that the man would retaliate towards Abdel soon, even Khalid noticed this and was sweating. At that moment Jaheira joined them and introduced herself to Abdel. As soon as Abdel laid eyes on Jaheira, he found himself mesmerized by her beauty, even though she is married to Khalid. He also deduced from their appearance and complexion that they are from Amn. After Abdel explained to Jaheira how Gorion died, she tells him that there are forces that want war between Baldur's Gate and Amn. Abdel shrugged off the information with indifference, claiming he has made his living off people who want to wage war on another person.

Then suddenly, while Jaheira was trying to explain why this war is different from the wars Abdel has seen, the drunk man who got clipped in the head by one of Abdel's copper coins threw a glass bottle and hit Abdel in the head. Though some pieces of glass were stuck in his head, he didn't immediately pull them out, instead, he turned to face the drunk man, and noticed that he was the man who started the bar fight when he arrived, the one the guards kicked out. Abdel killed the man with his dagger and became filled with ecstasy when the man's life ebbed away. Montaron, who had been pick-pocketing a few people during Abdel's conversation with Khalid and Jaheira called the dead drunk man a thief, revealing that the reason why Abdel killed him is because the drunk man had been picking pockets for coins, using the coin bags he picked to sell his lie as the truth. Fortunately everyone in the inn calmed down, buying Montaron's alibi, and Abdel left the inn with Khalid, Jaheira, Montaron and Xzar, though he didn't understand why Khalid and Jaheira are interested in going to Nashkel too, it felt as if he is being pulled by godlike forces to a predetermined destination, and he didn't like that.

As they walked away from the Friendly Arms on their way to Beregost, Khalid and Jaheira explained the Iron crisis to Abdel, and how they believe that the shortage of pure iron and how Baldur's Gate believes that the people from Amn could be the cause of it would bring war between them, Abdel responded with utter indifference, claiming that wars inevitably happen, that it's a way of life. Jaheira added that if a war breaks out between Amn and Baldur's Gate, Candlekeep could likely get caught in the middle, but Abdel brushed her off, claiming Candlekeep can take care of itself if a war breaks out. Appalled at Abdel's blatant disregard for the damage that a war between Baldur's Gate and Amn could cause, she tells him that "it doesn't have to be", to which Abdel responds: "It doesn't have to be what? The way of things, or the way I make a living?" And Montaron laughed when he heard Abdel say that, and Abdel smiled in return. Though Jaheira is severely disappointed that Abdel and Montaron don't understand how devastating a war can get when they are left unchecked, then Xzar suddenly exclaimed a few incoherent words, causing Abdel, Montaron and Khalid to laugh at him. They rested at an inn as as soon as they reached Beregost, and the next day the continued on to Nashkel.

When they got to the town, Abdel was surprised to see Nashkel so active and brimming with cheerful energy despite the fact that the mines keep turning up brittle iron, and they went to the the festival outside the town. Though Montaron thoroughly enjoyed himself at the festival, ogling at some women he found attractive and asking Abdel which ones he liked best, Jaheira tried to urge Montaron to stay serious, that the people of Nashkel are trying to keep an upbeat image despite what they know what is going on. Montaron doesn't believe that someone is trying to start a war between Baldur's Gate and Amn, but Jaheira believes it with every fiber of her being. Khalid suggested splitting up to find an inn to rest, and Xzar volunteered to go with Abdel to find an inn, but Abdel refused, ordering Xzar to go with Khalid. When the mage hesitated, Abdel tried to reach out and pull his arm, but Xzar shrieked: "Don't touch me!" Causing some people to look at them.

Abdel wandered the festival with Montaron, wondering why he is here in Naskhel in the first place when he could be someplace else doing a job for someone earning money. Abdle noticed signs that most of the people in the festival are not behaving properly. Visitors aren't buying anything, and the men and women looked fairly serious and tense. They eventually met a potion salesman who was eager to sell a potion to Abdel for four copper pieces, much to Abdel's surprise and confusion. The next morning they set off for the Naskhel mines. Along the way, they found a field of black flowers. Though Abdel would never get between a married man and his wife, he considered picking one of the flowers and giving it to Jaheira, but he stopped himself from doing so. Deep down, he wanted to take Jaheira from Khalid. Montaron took the scenery of black flowers very seriously, considering them a sign of bad luck for reasons he never explained. They eventually found a human man's dead body in the field and discovered that though he has been dead for days, his body has not attracted any flies, and there are no wounds on his body. Montaron found keys from the man's body and considered using them on a house nearby to check if any of the keys unlock the door, but Abdel and Khalid talked him out of it. Xzar concluded that this man might have been poisoned, and they moved on.

When they reached the mines, they noticed how frustrated and depressed the foreman Emerson and his miners are about mining nothing but brittle iron, and Montaron commented that these mines are their livelihood, and with their livelihood ruined, they feel they got nothing to live for, to which Khalid sarcastically told Montaron that he is a true humanitarian. They entered the mines without asking Emerson for permission. As they traveled deeper into the mines, they began to see more and more signs that the iron in them ines have been poisoned. They believed that the vials of poisons were of Amnian make, and Montaron compared the vials they found to the vial the potion seller at the festival sold to them, and came to the conclusion that Baldur's Gate has good reasons to suspect Amnian treachery. Abdel, suddenly feeling defensive, denied ever buying such a potion from the potion seller, preparing to pull his sword out of his scabbard. When Khalid came towards him with his sword in hand, Abdel, who was already on edge, pulled his sword out, batted Khalid's sword aside and stabbed him in the abdomen, shocking Jaheira and Montaron. Jaheira ran off in panic, and Abdel and Montaron chase after her, leaving Xzar alone to pick up Abdel's dagger that he dropped after stabbing Khalid.

Abdel and Montaron soon gave up chasing Jaheira deeper into the mines minutes later and eventually they spotted a few kobolds pouring liquid from the vials they had on the carts containing pure iron. Montaron assumed that Amn has probably hired kobolds to poison the iron in the Naskhel mines. They fought their way past small groups of kobolds until they heard the pleading cries of Jaheira. Abdel lost track of Montaron at one point but continued to search for Jaheira and eventually he encountered Mulahey. The half-orc believed that Abdel was sent by Tazok to kill him, but Abdel didn't care who or what Tazok is, he wanted to kill Mulahey because his voice sounded shrill to his ears, and the pungent stench of his body odor irritated him, and he managed to kill the cowardly half-orc with ease. When Abdel reunited with Jaheira, she asked him if he learned anything new from Mulahey, and Abdel told her that he never questioned that "evil gasbag", and before he could say anything else, Jaheira asked him if Khalid is dead or not. Abdel hesitated, not wanting to think about his impulsive act, feeling guilty about killing a man he had nothing personal against. They found an elf named Xan imprisoned in a room and Abdel and Jaheira discovered that the keys Montaron found from the dead man in the black flower field unlocked the doors Xan was behind.

On their way back out of the mine, Abdel, Jaheira and Xan found Khalid wounded but alive. Overjoyed, Jaheira embraced him, and Abdel was shocked and disappointed that Khalid is still alive because he never wounded a person before, or so he wanted himself to believe. In truth, Abdel is so depressed that Khalid isn't dead so that he can pursue his romantic interest in Jaheira that he thought she said "darling" to him when in reality she said it to Khalid when they embraced in a loving hug. When Xan noted that Khalid is still bleeding, Abdel offered to give Jaheira the vial he bought from the potion salesman at the Nashkel festival, but Jaheira was not stupid, she believed that the vial contained poison instead of liquid that would heal minor or major wounds. But instead of being angry at Abdel, she said to him: "I'm sorry. You cannot help your nature", which greatly confused Abdel, and he claimed that he wants to take a leap of faith and bet that the potion can heal Khalid's wounds. When Khalid drank the potion, he discovered that the potion is neither poison or liquid with healing magic, it is simple refreshing liquid that tastes like honey. Upon hearing that, Abdel cursed under his breath. Xan and Jaheira carried Khalid out of the mines and Abdel followed.

Xan soon asked them how did they get past the field of black flowers, which confused them, and he explained that the black flowers are poisonous black lotus flowers planted by the Zhentarim. This led Jaheira to suspect Montaron is a Zhentarim, which explains why he was so deathly serious when he saw the flower field and knew how to get through it. Abdel, having absolutely nothing but pure hatred toward Zhentarim agents, felt disgusted and angry that the halfling he grew fond of is a Zhentarim agent, and claimed that when he finds Montaron, he will kill him in the most gruesome ways possible. When they reached the flower field, Jaheira instructed Khalid, Abdel and Xan to stay near her so that the black flowers' poison won't harm them, and Xan came to the conclusion that Jaheira serves Mielikki, and Jaheira confirmed it, walking through the flower field unharmed.

Meanwhile, in an unknown location, Montaron woke up when a drop of blood hit his face and realized that Xzar had been killed by Tamoko and Sarevok, and the man is going to kill him next. Montaron pleaded Sarevok to spare him because he loyally did what he was instructed, leading Abdel to Mulahey, but Sarevok never spoke to the halfling, slicing his throat open with Abdel's dagger.

Meanwhile, halfway back to Nashkel, Abdel, Jaheira, Khalid and Xan rested near the base of a tree, and Xan tells them that he suspects the Iron Throne is behind the iron crisis, not Amn, and Jaheira asks Xan does he believe that the Iron Throne is a splinter group of the Zhentarim. Xan considers it a possibility, but there are discrepancies that make the theory less plausible. The Zhentarim would never render iron useless unless there is profit in doing it, and there is also the issue of Amn being blamed for the crisis. How would the Zhentarim profit from a war? "There are many ways to profit from a war," Abdel interjected, but stopped when Xan stood up and told him that they are being tracked. Suddenly an undead creature surprised Abdel, Jaheira and Xan, revealing himself to be named Korak. Abdel knew that name. Before he died three years ago, Korak and Abdel had been best friends living together in Candlekeep ever since they were kids. Abdel remembered his funeral. Disgusted at the grotesque appearance of the undead ghoul, Xan threatened to kill Korak if he doesn't go away. Korak offered to travel with them, but Xan and Jaheira didn't like the idea, besides, they found his body odor and maggot covered gums highly repulsive. Korak still insisted on traveling with them, but Abdel convinced Xan not to attack his undead friend and gave Korak the opportunity to leave unharmed.

Much later, Abdel got into a fight with a man at a bar. Jaheira begged Abdel not to kill him because planting evidence of thievery on his body won't help him get away with murder this time, then another man, a younger man, tried to hit Abdel with a stool, but Abdel stopped him and threatened to cut off his head if he tried to hit him with one more chair. The man Abdel had been fighting told him that Tazok has been hiring sellswords to work for the Iron Throne, and he operates out of Beregost. Prior to the fight, when Abdel, Jaheira, Xan and Khalid returned to Nashkel, they asked around the inn about a man named Tazok. After Xan and Khalid rested at the inn, Abdel and Jaheira encountered a man looking for a fight, likely because they have been getting too nosy about Tazok. Abdel fumed about how much he hates Zhentarim agents, and Jaheira asked the man why are the Iron Throne hiring mercenaries. The man replied that the Iron Throne wants to fool and manipulate people, like how they teased him up and down the Coast Way and made him kill his father. Khalid concluded that this new piece of information confirms that the Iron Throne is a splinter group of the Zhentarim sent to disrupt the iron trade and instigate a war between Amn and Baldur's Gate. Abdel began to put the pieces together and realized that the reason why Gorion wanted to meet with Khalid and Jaheira is because they were on a mission to stop the Iron Throne. However, Abdel had a feeling that Jaheira was lying when she said that she didn't know why Gorion wanted to meet them, she said that he probably had someone or something that could help them, but Abdel didn't believe it, he suspected that Khalid and Jaheira have their own secrets, just like Montaron and Xzar, even Xan could see it, but the half-elf couple dodged Abdel and Xan's suspicions skillfully.

That night Jaheira visited Abdel in his room. When she knocked on the door, Abdel thought it was Montaron coming to assassinate him, but as soon as he opened the door, he punched Jaheira in the face by accident, but not hard enough to knock her down or out, because Jaheira recently taught him to pull his punches to interrogate people, not kill them. Apologizing, Abdel let her in to his room, and Jaheira was about to explain why she came to him, but she changed her mind and departed. All Abdel gathered from what little she said is that it had something to do with Khalid.

The next morning, Abdel searched for horses to buy since he is tired of walking from one location to another on foot, but no such luck. When he reunited with Xan, they reunited with Khalid and Jaheira, and saw a couple bruises on her face, a sign that Khalid had been beating her recently. Xan told Abdel that he cannot abide traveling with a man who beats up his own wife, and he confronted Khalid. Jaheira urged him not to get into a fight, but Xan ignored her, calling Khalid a "Amnian half-breed", and Abdel knew from personal experience that calling a half-elf a "half-breed" is a serious insult that usually results in a fight breaking out. Fortunately Khalid tried to reason with Xan, and asked him why is he traveling with them, but Jaheira broke up the imminent fight by saying her nose, her face and the rest of her is her own business, and before Abdel departed, he warned Khalid and Xan not to kill each other until he returns.

Abdel returned to the Lion's Way road alone at the spot where Gorion had died, and he discovered that his body is gone. He tracked the trail of blood until he found a group of ghouls devouring what is left of Gorion's body. Abdel attacked and killed all the ghouls in blind rage, and he reunited with Korak. Abdel realized that the ghouls he killed were Korak's undead brethren and he did nothing to stop them from devouring Gorion's corpse. Korak tried to plead with Abdel telling him that he tried to tell his brethren not to eat Gorion's body but they wouldn't listen, and in the end he too was overcome with the instinctive urge to eat flesh. Overcome with grief and anger, Abdel urged Korak not to follow him anymore, otherwise he will kill him, and Korak tried to justify his brethren's urge to eat flesh, he compared it to humans eating the meat of cow and pigs, but Abdel warned him not to follow anyway, and Korak ate a part of Gorion's arm.

Meanwhile at an unknown location, Sarevok tortured and killed Tazok, not for the purposes of interrogation, but to simply murder him in the name of his father Bhaal and the cause of the Iron Throne. Then the doppelganger with him assumed the form of Tazok. Sarevok's plan is to replace his followers with mostly doppelgangers then send them to infiltrate Beregost and carry out whatever orders he gives out. He also has plans to murder Tranzig and have a doppelganger take his place as well. He wants Tranzig to see his doppelganger before he dies.

Back in Beregost, Khalid and Jaheira had an argument. Three months ago, Khalid flirted with a woman, a fellow Harper, and Jaheira caught him in the act that day, and she'll never forget it. Jaheira is not proud to be Khalid's wife, not while he continues to flirt with women that catches his fancy behind her back. Soon the subject of their conversation changed to Abdel. Khalid quietly tells Jaheira that Abdel is a freak of nature, knowing that he is a child of Bhaal, and she reluctantly agreed with him, knowing that the Harpers have been using him, which made her feel pity for him, then she boldly claimed that she believes that there is some good in Abdel, despite what she and Khalid knew. Meanwhile Xan went around Beregost asking people what they knew about Tazok. He got into an arm wrestling match against an orc named Forik and lost, but the orc proceeded to tell Xan what he knew about Tazok despite the fact that he hates elves (with the exception of Xan). Forik didn't know where Tazok currently is, but he claimed that the half-ogre has a man working for him in the Red Sheaf inn named Tranzig (the orc couldn't properly pronounce Tranzig's name).

Xan reunited with Khalid and Jaheira watching a disgruntled miner at a marketplace voicing out his displeasure about the iron crisis, claiming that someone needs to punish Amn for poisoning the iron mines, making his life difficult to raise his sons. Xan informed them about Tranzig. Then an informant came up to Xan, Jaheira and Khalid and informed them that Abdel is back, waiting for them in his hotel room. Jaheira visited Abdel alone and informed him that they have new leads, but when she saw him shirtless, sexual tensions began to quickly rise between them so much to the point where Abdel started kissing her taut abdomen through the silk of her blouse even though he knew he should not do that to a woman who is already married, and she let him do it. Then Abdel sympathetically told her he can hear two voices in his thoughts, one that urges him to kill, and the other that he never hears frequently, and the voice that wants to kill also wants Jaheira. She felt deep pity for the man when he told her his conflicted feelings.

Later, Khalid, Xan, Jaheira and Abdel managed to buy some horses to ride on and they waited near the Red Sheaf, waiting for an opportunity to trail Tranzig to wherever he goes. Khalid caught Jaheira admiring Abdel's strong arms, then her eyes met Khalid's then she blushed and gave him a look that says: "Don't say anything!" They eventually spotted Tranzig leaving the inn, climbing on his own horse and departed Beregost. They followed after him from a very safe distance. an hour later after putting some distance between them and Beregost, Xan saw what appeared to be six people on foot crossing the ragged grass towards the road. Abdel and his party decided to ignore them, knowing that they can't let themselves be distracted from Tranzig, but the worst happened anyway. The "travelers" happened to be living semi-green gelatinous liquid that can take any shape or form and throw their gelatinous liquid at their target. Abdel's horse was the first target that they hit, forcing Abdel and his party to fight these strange creatures. As the fight progressed, the strange monsters killed Khalid, melting his entire body into gelatinous liquid, and Xan, Jaheira and Abdel were forced to flee, but not until Abdel killed Khalid who was already in the slow and painful process of being killed. When Xan asked Abdel how did he know how to kill the gelatin monster that was melting Khalid's body when he doesn't know what those things are called, to which Abdel replied: "I know how to kill people. I always know how to kill people."

They continued up the road riding their horses for miles, worried that they lost track of Tranzig. to make matters worse, the tracks of Tranzig's horse ran off the road, making tracking him much more difficult. But they followed the tracks off the road and into the forests regardless. They eventually found Tranzig and his horse, he was cleaning the horse's shoes. They stayed behind the tree, watching him quietly until one of their horses made a noise, almost alerting Tranzig to their presence, when he saw and heard nobody, he climbed up on his horse and unknowingly led Abdel, Jaheira and Xan to a campsite. Xan noticed the cook fires rising up towards the sky on the other side of the hill, which is where the camp is located. Abdel wanted to attack the camp since they have the element of surprise, but Xan didn't want to alert the camp to their presence because there could be a hundred people there. Instead, Xan volunteered to sneak around the camp and learn what he can about them. Jaheira gave him her bracelet for luck. While he was gone, Jaheira sat close to Abdel for warmth, sexual tension building up between them once again and they fell asleep.

Early in the morning, they woke up wondering whether Xan is alive or dead. He returned and showed Abdel and Jaheira two interesting items he managed to confiscate from the camp: a neatly folded sheet of parchment and a book with Bhaal's symbol on the cover. Though Abdel never seen the symbol before, it looked oddly familiar to him. Abdel suggested bringing the book back to Candlekeep, but before Xan and Jaheira could voice their opinions, they were nearly ambushed by a man heading for the campsite. Abdel heard him before he saw the man and managed to kill him before he could alert the camp. Xan checked the parchment and discovered that it is a map to an iron mine deep in the Cloak Wood forest. Jaheira claimed she is not looking forward to going to Cloak Wood because she has heard grim stories about that forest, and so has Abdel, and he had an idea of who to bring with them as a guide.

Abdel, Xan and Jaheira brought the dead body of the bandit they killed to the edges of Cloak Wood and left it out in the open to lure out Korak. As soon as the ghoul appeared, Abdel called to him, saying that he has finally changed his mind about not letting the ghoul travel with him. Korak was a bit skeptical at first, but Abdel assured him that they seriously need his help this time, and so they traveled deeper into the forest. As they ventured deeper into the forest, a spider the size of a coin descended down on Jaheira's shoulder and ventured into her cleavage, causing her to panic and tear off her leather armor, and entire clothing until she was naked from the waist up, allowing Abdel to see her topless, an embarrassing moment for both of them.

The more small spiders Abdel, Jaheira, Xan and Korak encountered, the more uncomfortable Jaheira got. She is so deathly terrified of spiders she claimed that Mielikki has turned away from these parts of Cloak Wood. Xan is still wary of Korak, staying on guard at the possibility of the ghoul leading them into a trap, and Korak told him that threatening him won't get them to the Cloak Wood iron mines faster. The deeper they ventured into the forest, the more spiders they ran into, of the slightly bigger spiders. Abdel sensed that they should turn back, and he actually said so, but Korak objected, saying they are going the right direction, but Abdel, Xan and Jaheira didn't think so, not with the increasing number of spiders they have seen. Despite Korak's urging to keep moving, Abdel threatened him, saying if he doesn't lead them out of this spider hell hole, he will no doubt kill the ghoul, and only then did Korak comply, then despite that, disobeyed Abdel's instructions. Jaheira, who had put back on her clothing and armor, followed after the ghoul, and so did Abdel and Xan, wary of the dangers around them.

Xan got the feeling that they were being hunted as they continued deeper into the forest, and when they reached a clearing, they encountered a giant spider the size of a young dragon, flanked by a group of ettercaps, and in the center of the clearing is some kind of object that resembles a building. Abdel and Xan fought the ettercaps while Jaheira screamed in terror, too terrified beyond rational thought to assist them in battle, and she eventually ran off into the building-like structure for safety. Abdel got himself accidentally caught in a thick strand of webs, and Xan was slain by the giant spider, his head decapitated by the giant spider's fangs. After killing the giant spider and freeing himself from the webs, Korak, who did not help in the fight told Abdel that Jaheira had ran off into the building. He soon discovered that the building is a spider nest of some kind. He found Jaheira, and an abnormally bloated woman named Centeol. Terrified, Jaheira called to Abdel for help and he approached her while listening to Centeol's advice to set the webs on fire to free Jaheira. When Abdel asked who Centeol is, and what put her in this situation, she introduced herself and explained that she simply fell in love. Hearing that made Abdel sob, and he realized that is the first time in his life he cried. Centeol also begged Abdel to kill her, and Abdel reluctantly obliged and escaped with Jaheira. After escaping, they bathed in a stream and washed their clothes before continuing to the Cloak Wood mines by themselves.

Meanwhile back in Sarevok's private quarters, Tamoko sat on Sarevok's bed, watching him bark orders to someone in the pictureless frame, and for the first time she wondered what is it that Sarevok is so obsessed over. It can't be gold or power, he is deeply interested in the mines, ore, hiring bandits and murdering loyal minions like Tazok and Tranzig. For the first time she wondered what is Sarevok really after, and how far is he willing to go to get it?

Abdel and Jaheira eventually found the Cloak Wood mines almost by accident, they had no idea if they were going the right directions. They discovered that there's too many people, too many guards supervising the workers of the mines, they cannot simply sneak in the front entrance without some help from someone from the inside, so they decided to go around the back. Fortunately no one was at the back entrance of the mines so they snuck in that way. They tried to free a few mine workers, but they were hesitant to help start a rebellion, they believed that their loyalty was being tested. Abdel and Jaheira soon met Yeslick soon after liberating a few mine workers. They fully liberated the Cloak Wood iron mines of the Iron Throne hours later.

When Abdel asked Yeslick how did the Iron Throne slavers manage to gain control of the Cloak Wood mines in the first place, Yeslick told him about the mines being flooded. He was the leader of the Orothiar clan, and in charge of the mines in Cloak Wood. In the flashback, he was part of a mining team to expand the mines, even though one of his miners, Turmod, heard telltale sounds that they are digging towards an underground river and had doubts about continuing to dig, Yeslick was eager to get the job done. When the water flooded the mines, Yeslick got caught in the underwater current and passed out, but somehow managed to survive, along with a few others of his clan. Months later, he went to Sembia and got hired as a smith. In that city, he met Rieltar Anchev, who took an interest in Yeslick's work. He did some smithing work for Rieltar several times and they became good friends. Then one day Yeslick told Rieltar about the iron mines in Cloak Wood, and soon Rieltar betrayed their friendship and tortured the location out of Yeslick and the Iron Throne drained the waters out of the mines and set slaves to work there, humans, dwarves, etc. When Abdel asked Yeslick does Rieltar run the Iron Throne from Sembia, Yeslick had no answer to give him.

Abdel and Jaheira reunited, and Jaheira informs Abdel that she saw a sigil on the crates of supplies and tools that reveals that the supplies the Iron Throne slavers were receiving came from the Seven Suns Trading Coster from Baldur's Gate, which means they must go to Baldur's Gate next, but Abdel, who has taken an interest in the Iron Throne leader Rieltar tells Jaheira that they must look for a man named Rieltar, but the problem is he is in Sembia, not Baldur's Gate, and Yeslick tells them that Rieltar doesn't need to be in Baldur's Gate to run the Iron Throne, he has a man in charge of the Iron Throne in Baldur's Gate.

Days later, Abdel and Jaheira arrived to Baldur's Gate on an old ferry on the south bank of River Chionthar. As soon as they set foot in the city, they went to the Elfsong Tavern to take a break. At the tavern, Abdel explained that he has a friend in the Flaming Fist, a man named Scar who can give them the information they need on the Seven Suns. When Scar arrived at Elfsong, he asked to speak to Abdel and Jaheira in a private room, and there, Abdel and Jaheira explained why they want to look into the Seven Suns. When Abdel told Scar that Jaheira and the Harpers think that the Iron Throne and the Zhentarim are using the iron crisis to start a war, Jaheira was surprised that Abdel has figured out she is a Harper, she didn't know that she is not the first Harper he met, and fell in love with. This new information surprised Scar, because the Seven Suns are a serious power structure in Baldur's Gate, and for the past tenday, he has seen some unsettling changes in the Seven Suns. He explained that the Seven Suns have been neglecting too many of their usual trade ventures, routes that always gave them profits, and that Jhasso has gone silent. Jaheira got concerned about spying on the Seven Suns without permission from the law, and she was surprised to learn from Abdel that Scar is a high ranking officer in the Flaming Fist.

Later that evening, Abdel and Jaheira spied on the Seven Suns warehouse, Jaheira noticing the crates with the sigil she found on the crates back in the Cloak Wood iron mines. While spying on the warehouse, Jaheira asked Abdel how did he know she is a Harper because he was not supposed to figure that out, she could get in trouble with her superiors. When Abdel explained that he met other Harpers before, she stated that she thought he was being coy. She soon realized that all of Abdel's talk about being indifferent about the imminent war between Baldur's Gate and Amn was a ruse to learn her motives and Khalid's. They were on a mission while he was looking for work. She also reminded him that Montaron and Xzar were Zhentarim agents, and Abdel replied saying that he still intends on killing them when he finds them, especially since Xzar stole his dagger, which was a gift to him by Gorion.

Later that night, Abdel and Jaheira decided now is the time to go in the Seven Suns warehouse and check their supplies. The door to the warehouse was locked, but Abdel forced the door open and entered. With her darkvision ability, Jaheira led Abdel through the warehouse until she stopped in front of a locked door that Abdel couldn't see. She made him look through a keyhole and he heard the voices of two men on the other side. When the sounds of footsteps from the men on the other side of the door faded away, Abdel suddenly felt the urge to embrace Jaheira and kiss her, and she did not resist, she welcomed it. Their sudden intimate activity got interrupted when two men discovered them on the floor, kissing intimately. Abdel saw lights shining through his closed eyelids and heard their voices while he was kissing to stop and take a more appropriate action.

Their discovery alerted the entire warehouse and Abdel and Jaheira escaped by going through the door they were peering through and wedged it shut so the men can't follow them. The warehouse guards couldn't get to them with the door barred shut, but when Jaheira heard the wharf leader order his men to use their crossbows, she jumped in to Abdel's arms seconds before the tips of two crossbow bolts appeared in the middle of the door where the back of Jaheira's head had been seconds before. When they ran down the stairs, they encountered a doppelganger who had transformed into a man wearing Flaming Fist body armor, then the doppelganger ran away. Abdel and Jaheira ran after the doppelganger seconds after they heard the door upstairs braking free of its hinges. Instead of chasing after the doppelganger, Abdel decided to stay near the stairs and fight off the wharf guards. When they came downstairs at them, Abdel began to fight them despite Jaheira's calls. When one of the guards fired a crossbow bolt at Abdel's head and missed, Abdel barely heard the wharf leader exclaim that he wants Abdel captured alive. Then suddenly another doppelganger appeared and whispered the word "Sizzle", causing immense pain to explode in Abdel's head, knocking him unconscious.

When Abdel woke up hearing Jaheira's pleas to wake up, he discovered that he is in a prison cell, Jaheira is in her own cell next to his. Jaheira never heard of doppelgangers before, so she was surprised to know that Abdel knew about those shape shifting creatures. From what Abdel has heard, he heard that Waterdeep is ruled by doppelgangers, that at one point in time on Faerun, every city had a doppelganger in its political structure. Though he heard those stories, he never believed them until now. In another jail cell, Jhasso is held inside, and he thought Abdel and Jaheira are doppelgangers come to interrogate him even though they are in jail cells like he is.

Later, in Scar's home, Scar was examining his ax, remembering how he earned the nickname "Scar" until Abdel and Jaheira came knocking at his door. When he invited Abdel and Jaheira into his home and asked them what did they learn at the Seven Suns, Abdel tells Scar that Jhasso isn't up to any evil. But when Scar asked if they found anything, "Abdel" and "Jaheira" began to show subtle signs of hostility, and Scar realized that these people are not really Abdel and Jaheira. The doppelgangers of Abdel and Jaheira attacked Scar and he fought back despite being unarmed and wearing only wool trousers and a cotton blouse, but after a lengthy battle filled with clashing weapons and threats of painful death, Scar got killed by the two doppelgangers impersonating Abdel and Jaheira. He managed to kill Abdel's doppelganger, but not Jaheira's. The last thing he saw before he died was the doppelganger Jaheira's face slowly transforming into his own face.

Meanwhile in the Ducal Palace, Sergeant Maerik is chewing out Corporal Julius for not taking his job of guard duty in the Ducal Palace seriously, mouthing the word "corporal" several times for no particular reason when Grand Duke Eltan is facing a ducal election. When doppelganger Scar arrived and approached Julius, he instructed Julius to go to the stables and prepare the grand duke Eltan's steed because they are leaving somewhere at dawn. Though Julius sensed something unusual is going on and hesitated, he eventually complied with doppelganger Scar's order. When Julius ran into Sergeant Maerik on his way to the stables, he got so furious to see Julius leaving his post that he ran up to him and punched him in the face. When Julius explained that Scar told him to go to the stables, Maerik was surprised to know that Scar was here at this night when he shouldn't be. Despite the fact that Julius was disobeying an order from a superior officer, Maerik dragged Julius down the corridor cursing: "Not on my watch! Why does it always have to be on my watch!" They went to Scar's private residence and discovered that he had been murdered.

Meanwhile in the jail cells containing Jhasso, Abdel and Jaheira, they were waiting for whatever fate had in store for them until Julius and Grand Duke Eltan freed Jhasso, Abdel and Jaheira. Eltan explained everything to them, about Scar's death, and that Eltan managed to kill Jaheira's doppelganger after Abdel asked for the opportunity to kill one of the doppelgangers who killed his close friend. After explaining their suspicions about the Iron Throne to Eltan. Later, they tried to get a cleric who is a friend of Eltan named Thalamond in the High House of Wonders to bring back Scar from the dead, but they couldn't because they couldn't get his soul to come back to his body for some reason, but Eltan managed to speak to him at least, and learned that Scar vouches for Abdel and Jaheria, admitting to sending them to spy on the Seven Suns warehouse on suspicions of their connection to the Iron Throne, and somehow, Eltan knows where the Iron Throne meets.

In the Iron Throne's subterranean lair, Julius, Eltan, Maerik, Abdel and Jaheira found a notebook that has written in it: "Return to the meeting place under the pillars of the Wise God". Abdel quickly realized that means the Iron Throne leaders are meeting in Candlekeep. Then Abdel, Jaheira and Eltan entered a debate about the Iron Throne leadership. Eltan wondered how could a cabal of conspirators use Candlekeep as a meeting place if entry requires a special book, Abdel learned from Jaheira that Gorion is not a Harper, only a friend of the Harpers, and Abdel and Jaheira suspects that Rieltar is a child of Bhaal, and possibly wants war between Baldur's Gate and Amn so that there will be murder on a mass scale, It took Abdel a great effort to hold back his smile when thinking of murder on a grand scale.

Meanwhile in Sarevok's underground chamber, he revealed to Tamoko his grand plan: murder on a mass scale. When Tamoko showed some displeasure knowing her lover's agenda, Sarevok compared her life as an assassin to his desire to become the new Lord of Murder, but she rebuffed him saying innocent people have nothing to fear from an assassin's blade, and innocent people don't conspire with people who generally hire assassins. "So you only killed corrupt men on the orders of corrupt men", Serevok said, something Tamoko could not deny. At that moment, a doppelganger with a base feminine appearance approached Sarevok, begging for forgiveness, to which Sarevok vehemently shouted that Eltan has priests protecting him, it shouldn't be a challenge for a doppelganger to assassinate him. As the doppelganger's punishment, it had to fight Tamoko in a swordfight. When the doppelganger transformed into Tamoko, the real Tamoko fought more aggressively, offended at the doppelganger imitating her likeness. After killing the doppelganger, Sarevok quickly ran towards Tamoko and embraced her in an intense kiss.

At their campsite, two days away from Candlekeep, Abdel couldn't stop himself from looking through the book that Xan stole from the bandit camp, the one with Bhaal's symbol on the cover, even though he had never taken an interest in any kind of book before. Abdel knew there is something wrong with him, and Jaheira could tell. Abdel remembered something and asked her why did Khalid call him "Abdel Adrian" when they first met at the Friendly Arm Inn, and she flatly said it is the name he was born with, but Abdel didn't buy it, he knew she is hiding something, and she said: "You are not who you are born to be, Abdel." She explained that the Harpers have always known his heritage, even the priests of Oghma and the paladins of Torm know that he is a son of Bhaal. Abdel told Jaheira that he recalls that Xzar claimed that he is a son of Bhaal too, and Jaheira tells him that his full name "Abdel Adrian" possibly has Netherese origins, Abdel means "son of" and Adrian means "the dark". Put together, his full name means "Son of the dark". Then when Jaheira asked him does he take pleasure in killing anymore, Abdel immediately blurted out "No", because ever since he lost Gorion and met Jaheira, he lost that feeling, and he still doesn't believe he is a child of a god because he doesn't feel any different from mortal men.

When they arrived to Candlekeep, Abdel started arguing with a man guarding the gates from the inside through a peephole named Beuros because they have no book to be accepted into the library castle. Abdel didn't know that the book of Bhaal's unholy rites is the kind of book that would give him access into Candlekeep, but he didn't know that, he just kept yelling at Beuros to let them in despite Beuros's warnings to leave, and Beuros kept urging them to give them something with a form of writing on it, a book, scroll or even a tablet with knowledge of some kind that Candlekeep can take. Abdel, still unaware that Candlekeep always requres a book for entry kept on pestering Beuros until Jaheira got the idea of using the book that Xan stole from the bandit camp. When they showed it to Beuros, Abdel urged him to let them in now, but Beuros wanted them to slide the book into the peephole, and once they did, Beuros took the book and didn't return for a while.

From Beuros's point of view during this event, he had disdainful opinions about Abdel during their argument. The truth is, Beuros disliked Abdel because he had been bullied by him more than a dozen times when they were kids, and his favorite teacher, Gorion, treated Abdel like a son even though Abdel had been a bully to Beuros. To make his negative opinions on Abdel worse, seeing Abdel with Jaheira led Beuros to believe that Abdel traded Gorion for her somehow. When Beuros overheard Abdel explaining to Jaheira that he had never been refused entry into Candlekeep before, and Jaheira stating that it is probably because Gorion was alive, Beuros came to the conclusion that Abdel killed Gorion himself. But when Abdel gave him the book, he was shocked to hear Tethtoril behind him asking what kind of book he has.

Less than an hour later, Abdel and Jaheira met with Tethtoril in his quarters. During their conversation, Abdel told Tethtoril about Gorion's death. And Tethtoril told them that he won't ask where he got the book, but they made the right decision bringing it to Candlekeep. When Abdel told him that he doesn't know what it is, and he couldn't read it, Tethtoril was surprised to hear that, and he explained to Abdel that the book is one of a very very few copies remaining of the unholy rites of Bhaal. Then he told Abdel that Gorion left a note in his old room meant for Abdel to read himself, and a pass stone that will give Abdel free run of Candlekeep. Confused, Abdel thought that Tethtoril was talking about the letter Gorion had with him when he died, the letter that mentioned the Avatar Crisis, but Tethtoril claimed that is impossible, he has the letter he was referring to with him. He gave Abdel the letter and Abdel read it.

The final letter of Gorion reveals to Abdel that he is one of the children of Bhaal, that a paladin of Torm who is a friend of his brought Abdel to Gorion when he was younger that the Harpers and many other individuals who are interested in the Bhaalspawn have been likely keeping tabs on Abdel, and that he has many siblings, and that he should beware of Sarevok. Jaheira was surprised to learn that Rieltar is not a Bhaalspawn after all. Also, Gorion in his letter warned Abdel not to tell any of the monks about his pass stone or they will take it. After reading the latter, several guards barged into Tethtoril's office and attempted to arrest Abdel and Jaheira. They resisted arrest, and during the skirmish, Abdel killed one of the guards by impaling a broken wooden quarterstaff with a sharp end directly through his chain mail armor. Several more guards tackled him, pinning him down on the ground in response to the murder, and someone, a mage, casted the Sleep spell on Abdel.

When Abdel woke up, he and Jaheira are together in a jail cell, and Tethtoril outside the bars counted the numbers of people Abdel murdered, counting the guard he recently killed as the 9th murder. When Jaheira objected to killing those mean and tried to tell Tethtoril about the Iron Throne leaders meeting here in Candlekeep, Tethtoril gave Jaheira a bracelet. Jaheira recognized it as the bracelet Xan dropped in the bandit encampment when he stole the unholy tome of Bhaal and the map to the Cloak Wood iron mines. Jaheira gave him her bracelet to wear for luck before he went sneaking into the campsite. Abdel, horrified that he had disappointed Tethtoril, a man he respected ever since childhood, but one question that remained unanswered is who were the other eight men who were murdered by his hand? Abdel is certainly responsible for the 9th person's death, but not the other eight, whoever they are. In depression Tethtoril ordered a guard named Pilten to confiscate Abdel's sword, Gorion's letter, the pass stone and made a point of showing Abdel that he put them in a leather bag and incriminating evidence of the murders Abdel committed and left. Abdel suggested to Tethtoril to send word to Baldur's Gate so that Eltan can vouch for their innocence, but Tethtoril made it clear that they shouldn't be so hopeful.

After Abdel awoke from a nightmare, he and Jaheira noticed a foul smell, and notice Kroak standing outside the jail cell holing up  up a heavy iron ring hung with a dozen or more big keys, and clinging on the key ring is a severed hand. Korak claimed that he wants to help them, despite Abdel's demands to go away, but Korak unlocked the jail cell for them anyway. Later, they got all of their equipment back, including the pass stone, which Abdel used get to the catacombs of Candlekeep. Following Korak and navigating through zombies without having to attack all of them until they reached the outside of Candlekeep and departed.

Meanwhile in Baldur's Gate one of the Grand Dukes, Duke Angelo was speaking to Sarevok, claiming that Candlekeep will take care of Abdel and Jaheira, and they will never be seen again, and Sarevok was very pleased to know that. Angelo is a half-elf man, a mercenary commander and one of the Grand Dukes of Baldur's Gate who arranged the incarceration of Abdel and Jaheira at Candlekeep. Still in contact with Sarevok, Angelo confirmed to Sarevok that his command of the Flaming Fist is secure, and that Abdel and Jaheira are wanted criminals in Baldur's Gate now, and wondered how did Sarevok get the information that Abdel and Jaheira are coming back to Baldur's Gate, and Sarevok told him that he can't tell him how, but he can assure Angelo that Abdel and Jaheira are working in the employ of the Shadow Thieves, privateers or outlaws in the service of Amn, and this made Angelo the more determined to stop whatever schemes Abdel and Jaheira have planned. Though he does want to stop Abdel and Jaheira by any means necessary, Duke Angelo made it clear to Sarevok that he fears needless war against Amn, because if men are asked to fight and no good reason is given to them, they won't fight their enemy with everything they can muster, and Sarevok stated that the hearts of men do not concern him, only their arms and legs. Angelo felt uneasy when Sarevok claimed that when he is named Grand Duke, there will  be no more Amnian cutthroats to threaten Baldur's Gate, he will kill every man, woman and child in Amn to make sure of it.

In the dark, night alleys of Baldur's Gate, Abdel and Jaheira snuck around heading for the Ducal Palace. They met Julius in the alleyways, and when they informed the guard that they were here to report back to Eltan, the guard claimed that Eltan is sick and dying, and that they can make a report to the captain in the morning. Another guard came up and Jaheira recognized him as Julius. As soon as Julius recognized Abdel and Jaheira by name, the first guard who spotted them exclaimed that they are privateers of the Shadow Thieves, forcing Abdel and Jaheira to run away. They split up and soon Abdel found himself alone. At that moment, Tamoko approached Abdel and introduced herself, reveling to him that she knows that he and Jaheira are not Shadow Thieves, and she tells him that Grand Duke Eltan is dying, and that his "healer" is the one responsible for worsening his sickness. Before Jaheira appeared, Tamoko disappeared into the shadows.

Because they spent so much time with Korak in the past, Abdel and Jaheira had no intention of staying in the alleyways long because of the stench of garbage and chose to go to The Blushing Mermaid as their destination. They arrived there at dawn and slipped into the tavern and bumped into Julius who is drunk and drinking beer. Julius is so drunk that he doesn't care about the Flaming Fist anymore, not even about the fact that Eltan is sick and dyning. Abdel and Jaheira spent a couple minutes trying to get some useful information out of drunk Julius until a fat woman arrived in the tavern and told the bartender some bad news, and the bartender exclaimed to everyone in the tavern that Grand Duke Eltan has succumbed to his illness and died. While sadness spread throughout the tavern, Julius told Abdel and Jaheira about Angelo, that he has taken over the Flaming Fist and there is no one left to stop Sarevok's election to become Grand Duke.

Later, Abdel and Jaheira followed Julius's instructions on how to sneak into the Ducal Palace step by step, and along the way, Tamoko rejoined them, revealing she is Sarevok's lover intending to help them on the condition that they do not kill Sarevok. Abdel and Jaheira dismissed this as an order impossible to follow, but in the end, they promised they would not kill Sarevok and leave it up to her to convince him to turn away from the idea of murder on a mass scale. Abdel assured Jaheira that he is not Sarevok, and Sarevok is not Abdel. He told her: "I had a chance. I had you." And Tamoko promised to give them evidence that will expose Sarevok's secret agendas.

Next they went to a cellar of an abandoned manor on Windspell Street and there, Abdel and Jaheira watched in awe at Tamoko killing doppelgangers with amazing speed and grace. Soon they found the evidence they were searching for. Next, Abdel and Jaheira returned to Julius and offered to be arrested. Julius greatly disliked the plan but went with it, arresting Abdel and Jaheira and escorting them to the Ducal Palace. When he brought Abdel and Jaheira to Duke Angelo, he promised Julius that he will be promoted to corporal afterwards. After formal introductions were made, Abdel denied the accusations that they work for the Shadow Thieves and explained the whole Iron Throne conspiracy, and Sarevok's involvement in it. When Angelo asked for Sarevok's thoughts or resentment on this new information, Sarevok replied with magic spells instead of words, and Jaheira behind Abdel is his target. After Sarevok escaped, Abdel didn't go after him, he screamed in grief while looking into Jaheira's lifeless eyes even though Angelo yelled at Abdel to go get a priest to heal her.

Later a massive manhunt for Sarevok formed. Duke Angelo and a few of Julius's men went with Abdel down to the sewers of Baldur's Gate, fighting past doppelgangers until he encountered Tamoko, who revealed that she had been foolish to be disloyal to her lover and attempted to attack Abdel. He refused to kill her, but Tamoko urged him to do it but still he refused, only blocking her attacks. She nicked Abdel a few times but eventually, for some reason, her knees gave out all at once and she collapsed. Before she died, she released Abdel from her vow, realizing that it is best that Sarevok should be slain.

Abdel led Duke Angelo and the group of Flaming Fists deeper underground until they found themselves in what looks like a temple. There, Abdel and the Flaming Fist soldiers confronted Sarevok and his Bhaal cultists. The men and women of the Flaming Fist fought against Sarevok's cultists while Abdel fought Sarevok. After a lengthy intense swordfight, Abdel managed to break Sarevok's sword in half and kicked Sarevok in the chest, knocking him down. Before Abdel impaled his sword into his half-brother's chest, Sarevok said that even though Abdel has refused their father's gift, some or most of their siblings already have. Sarevok reminded Abdel that with each Bhaalspawn slain, Bhaal will soon be reborn, and at that, Abdel promised himself that Sarevok's death will be his very last act of murder.

Main characters
Abdel Adrian

Supporting characters
Gorion • Imoen • Jaheira • Khalid • Yeslick • Montaron • Sarevok • Tethtoril • Xan • Xzar