The Clove Ikaya fight (session 44-50 or 57-63)

Dear Lyssa,
It’s been a while since we’ve spoken. I mean, I left during the disappearance of Elturel and haven’t seen you since. But I could use your wisdom right now. And probably Lathanders light. Although I’m mostly writing to you as a friend.
Can you believe we’ve actually found Elturel? It’s in hell. Avernus actually. You see, some 60 years ago someone named Naja Balani made a deal with archdevil Zariel to get rid of all the undead in the city. And Zariel came to collect the debt, which means the souls of all the hellriders. Not sure why she had to take the whole city.
We have been travelling in Avernus for a while now. You see, I found some other people who want to bring Elturel back as well. We have Fenrir, a human paladin, Leo, an elven druid, Ron, a dwarven wizard (well, kind of dwarven. I’ll get to that), Lulu, a hollifant who knows more than she realizes, and the last addition to our group is Luna, a tiefling rogue.
I especially miss you since we’ve been fighting the undead lately. Or actually, a vampire lord named Clove Ikaya. I think you could have helped us a lot. You see, I almost got Nori killed. She will say it was her own choice, she is a hellrider and it is her duty and all that. But I still think I'm responsible. I made a lot of bad decisions earlier which fucked a lot of people (I honestly thought the vampire was *helping* people. I am really stupid. Who trusts vampires?!). So I tried to correct my mistakes, by attempting to kill the vampire (I wasn’t the only one who wanted to kill him though). Aside from the group we also brought some more people. Nori, Rhivaun (my old mentor) and Heddy (a cleric from the companion). And Mattis (one of the leaders in the city). To be honest, I don't like Mattis. At all. But I still didn't want him dead. But I'm getting ahead of myself again. Let's start at the beginning.
I asked Uldur Ravenguard (usually the leader of the Flaming Fist and a big deal in Baldurs Gate, but he is in Elturel leading the people of High Hall right now) to make a deal with Clove Ikaya so the people who lived in Ikayas group wouldn’t starve to death. Which backfired since Ikaya “got attacked” (but not for real, I think) and moved to High Hall where he basically took over. So we went to High hall to kick his ass. Which was a trap, obviously. We could just walk into it. When we got to the main room Clove was sitting on what was basically a throne. We talked for a bit. What we didn't realise is that while talking he charmed Fenrir, Mattis, Luna and Heddy. Clove was sneaky like that. It wasn’t until the actual fight happened we realized what Clove had done. I mean, Ron brought them all back to our side, but that was a slow process. We were lucky none of us got really hurt. It might have helped that Leo casted a spell that made the damage a lot less. I was a little less lucky though, since Clove had decided the best way to deal with me is to separate me from my friends. Well, that or he wanted lunch. Although he got a lot of guards to attack me as well, so probably not lunch. It took quite some effort, but eventually I managed to break free and get back. It wasn’t without Luna's help, who kept the guards busy while I escaped. When I got back I saw Nori was fighting with Tiffany, a cousin of Ron, still a child but also a vampire. She did use Nori as lunch though. Nori looked pretty bad. Problem was I couldn’t get to her right away. Justin Orbane (Cloves second in command and vampire) was in the way. Together we brought him down. Well, not quite. I mean, he was down, but apparently if you beat vampires they just turn into a cloud. You have to destroy their coffin before they are actually killed (we learned this the hard way).
Clove also has the ability to summon bats and rats (like he isn’t powerful enough) but Rhivaun dealt with them using only his fists. It actually was pretty awesome. Luna had a new problem. She could manage the guards, but got surprised by her own shadow attacking her. She still defeated it, but she couldn’t focus her attention on the guards. Seeing this, Ron got this brilliant plan. He still had the shadow in the bottle from before (long story). While Rons shadow helped us, Ron tried to get Clove in the bottle. Even though it was a good plan, Clove was too headstrong to get into this. Meanwhile Fenrir and me ran to Nori, and together we defeated (once again, unfortunately not killed) the little bitch. (Yes, I know you would disapprove of me using this language against a child. But Ron said she always was a little bitch. And being a dwarf, she’s probably older than me.). Clove got annoyed by Rhivaun murdering all his pets, so he tried to separate him from the rest of us, but with Tiffany gone all our attention was focused on him. We beat him, and we noticed him going into the maze.
There were still a few guards left. I tried to convince the guards to join our side, but the rest of the party didn’t hear it, and attacked them anyway. Which made my offer to not hurt them pretty empty, and they decided they rather fight us. Which was their mistake, they were no match for us.
We caught our breath for a bit before we followed Clove. Honestly, the maze was a disaster. There were dead people everywhere. We should have known it was a big buffet for Clove and his cronies. Four of which we found in the dining hall. They were just turned vampires who didn't know anything. Or at least, that's what they said. I'm not sure if it's true, since those were their last words, and without information they didn't have a bargaining chip. Not that it should matter. We shouldn't let any vampire live.
Problem was that Clove had the advantage. He has lived in the maze for a 100 years or so. When we reached a crossing in the road, we didn't know where to go, but decided to go down further and found the tombs of the heroes who rode into hell with the angel. Which was pretty cool. We explored these tombs for a bit. Found some magic items we kept, but Heddy made a big deal out of it. She wants us to return the weapons once we beat Clove. No way in hell I’m gonna do that. The others agreed reluctantly, but I didn’t say anything. Technically not lying, right? We also tried to set one of the tombs on fire (so the dead couldn’t be turned against us) but that didn't succeed. We left the none magic weapons behind. There was one box with a weapon in it. We wanted it, but didn't want to waste our magic, so we decided we would come back for it (which we forgot).
The rooms were dedicated to different gods. One of the rooms was dedicated to Chauntea. When we spoke her name a heroes feast appeared which lifted our spirits a bit, although we knew it meant Clove would be fully healed once we would find him. Ron's shadow turned on us, but we beat it easily. There also was a room that lit up completely once I cast light upon it. This room is obviously dedicated to Lathander. I’m sure you would have liked it. I also liked to see some of his presence down here. It makes me kinda hopeful. One of the tombs contained a holy symbol of Tyr. We gave it to Fenrir to use as a spellcasting focus. Heddy had, once again, a problem with taking things from the tombs. I really don't get it. This stuff is meant to help the living. Not to be buried underground. How do you honour the gods’ gifts if you don’t use them?
Anyway, these were all the interesting rooms, and none of them had Clove in it. Not wanting to go back into the maze we inspected the rooms again. There was a small fountain in one of the corridors. Ron inspected it closely and saw some dried blood in there. I immediately understood what was supposed to happen there, so I made a small cut and dropped a little bit of my blood in it. Which opened a hidden door which continued in a very narrow cave system. Luckily it was only some 50 feet long, before it met another door.
The door opened in a wider cave, with the options to go left and right. Right was a cellar (I fell in it) with nothing interesting in it. On the other side was a small room with a button. Leo really wanted to push the button, but he didn’t want to do it alone. So he asked me to come with him. It wasn’t as weird as this sounds. He just doesn’t want to die alone. This still sounds weird. Kinda like he was flirting with me. I don’t think he was, right? You shouldn’t date the people you work with. But he also gave me flowers and told me I could use his house crest… This is something I should think about…
Anyway, the button. Leo and I were in the tiny room when he pushed the button. When he did, the door slammed shut. Which was ridiculously heavy. I tried to open it on our side while Fenrir and Rhivaun tried to open it on their side, but it just wouldn’t work. When we started to panic a little Ron used stoneshape to get us out.
The cave went on further than the tiny room. It ended with a cliff, but on the left side was a door. Luna managed to unlock it for us. There was another narrow corridor (about 30 feet long) which ended in a tomb. We figured this was Clove’s tomb, and concluded we wouldn’t be able to destroy Clove if he wasn’t in it. Slowly we went back to the caverns, kinda disappointed we probably had to take the other way at the crossing in the maze. I left last, right after Leo. I did see a little bit of Clove, but I got this weird idea in my head that Clove wasn’t the enemy. I grabbed Leo so we could talk (honestly, I start to get the feeling we have to talk anyway), but he cast some magic on me to clear my head. Clove got away through the wall though. I’m not sure how he got to me, but I wasn’t the only one he influenced. On our way back we got attacked by stone golems (in the first narrow corridor) and Tiffany (at the cellar) and we realized Rhivaun, Lulu and Mattis were under his influence as well. Just to be clear, this happened while I was under the influence of Clove. After clearing my mind, Leo worked together with Ron to clear the Rhivauns and Mattis’ minds. We figured that although Lulu’s bravery in battle is unmatched, her effectiveness is a bit less. And since we needed all the magic to beat Clove, we figured we could keep Lulu in this state. Fenrir was hitting the golems pretty hard, and with the help of a clear minded Mattis, he broke the things into pieces.
A little bit further Nori and Heddy were fighting Tiffany. The little bitch kept healing, but after a lot of effort (and some help from the gods in the form of Heddys magic) she got turned into a cloud. Leo used a sunbeam on cloud-Tiffany which destroyed her for good. Nori found a magic ring on the place Tiffany had been.
After the Golems broke Fenrir and Mattis saw Orbane had been hiding behind those things. Orbane was still a strong opponent who gave Fenrir and Mattis a tough time. What didn’t help was that the corridor they were fighting in was very small, and although me and Rhivaun tried to help, it was almost impossible for us to reach Orbane. At a certain point Clove appeared behind Mattis and tried to kidnap him (seriously, what’s up with this guy kidnapping our friends right in front of us?!) but Fenrir prevented Clove from getting too far and Clove disappeared back to the crypts. Luna got some good shots into Orbane, without which Fenrir and Mattis wouldn’t have been able to kill him. Unfortunately Leo hadn’t been able to keep his sunbeam up, so this asshole is probably plotting his revenge as I write this.
After killing the other vampires, we went after Clove who hid himself in the crypts. I’m still kinda surprised he didn’t summon rats or bats this time. At this point we had figured out he can move through walls. Also, the same thing kept happening: Clove moved into a crypt, we followed him, he hurt us (while also taking some damage) he became invisible and fled through the wall. This happened more times than I’m willing to admit. He also managed to knock Ron, Nori and me out during some (different) points in time. But luckily we could get healed. It felt like he had used most of his resources. We barely got magic attacks on us anymore. Fenrir did try to get Lulu out of her charm by hitting her (I’m not sure what has gotten into his head. Poor Lulu) which very clearly didn’t work. But at some point Clove removed the charm himself so Lulu could see the mess we were in. How fucked up is that? Not that it mattered. Mattis managed to get a hold of Clove, which made it impossible for Clove to run again. We all attacked him and got Clove to turn into a cloud and run back to his tomb. We knew if we could smash his stupid face in there we would kill him forever. Only one problem, he could still go through walls. Getting back to his tomb by the ordinary way took a lot longer. Fenrir had a potion of speed, which he drank. So he was there first, just in time to witness that Clove had healed enough to fight again. I came in after Fenrir, and then the rest (except for Mattis) followed. Ron, hellbent on killing Clove, got knocked unconscious. Luckily I still had some healing potions, which I used to bring him back. Clove wasn’t in a good position, but neither were we. I tried to convince Ron to get out of his reach, but Ron, being the stubborn dwarf he is, refused to move away from him. So I grabbed Ron, trying to carry him out of there (also not as weird as it sounds). I saw Luna setting Clove's casket on fire (which is hilarious, since Leo is REALLY big on fire and burning things, but he couldn’t do it) just before Clove managed to get me knocked out. Well, he actually managed to kill me. From what I heard Clove was in a really bad shape himself, and the others killed him before he could kill anyone else. Leo was almost out of magic, but had just enough left to resurrect me.
When I woke up we were still in Clove's tomb, his casket was still smoldering and I didn’t see him. We were devastated and out of magic. We decided to go back to the surface to rest. We didn’t double check if Clove was dead-dead, so that might also bite us in the ass later. Not that I cared at that moment. All I could see was Rons bloodied body. He was dead. And Leo didn’t have the magic anymore to bring him back. However, he does know this spell which still works a couple of days after you die. And you don’t need the entire body, just a little piece of it. Not that it mattered, Fenrir decided to bring Rons whole body, just in case.
When we passed the crypts and found Mattis. Or what was left of him. Unlike normal people, he didn’t have a body. Just smudge. Kinda like a demon who dies in Avernus. Which is very weird, since Fenrir didn’t get any fiendish vibes from him (Fenrir does usually know). Heddy got really upset by this because their leader was apparently a fiend. The other weird thing about it, he looked so human. We haven’t seen any fiends like that. I considered the fact that he might have been a doppelganger, but doppelgangers don’t die the same way fiends do (if fiends die in Faerûn they leave nothing behind, doppelgangers have bodies). Do you know about any fiends who look human or are shapeshifters?
Anyway, We grabbed anything that was worth anything and shoved it in the Griffons saddlebag (We’ve got an unique, talking bag of holding. It’s pretty cool). This includes Mattis’ armour, which Heddy will bring back to Keep of the Twin Suns, probably for the next leader. I’m not even sure why. That armour is mostly ceremonial and definitely compensating. We searched the entrance area of the maze, looking for survivors. There were more people left than we originally thought (which is a good thing). Heddy and Fenrir argued about what to do with them. Some people had some ideas of their own (“I go to Baldurs gate.” Idiot. Like there is a way from hell right to Baldurs Gate) but eventually most people went with Heddy to the Keep of the Twin Suns the next morning. We slept in High Hall, hoping Clove or his minions wouldn’t follow us or kill us in our sleep.
We started the morning with looting everything. Do you remember how our companions said there wasn’t any money to be made from ‘playing a hero and finding Elturel’? They were so incredibly wrong. We got some 40 thousand gold. And we haven’t even saved Elturel yet! (Between you and me, we will probably give back the money we won’t need to save Elturel. Being a hero is expensive. Who would have thought? Just don’t tell the idiots. I want them to think saving Elturel is a BIG financial win.) We also found some other stuff, like potions and art. Then we thought about what we wanted to do next. Fenrir wanted to see his uncle, so we went to the graveyard. Gideon was happy to see us, although he didn’t like how we took up arms against Clove without consulting him. He kinda has a point, considering he’s a death cleric he is kinda an expert on the subject. We also learned he cares a lot more about the souls than about the people. He also used magic to find Ravenguard for us. Well, his location. He was still back in High Hall, in a closet casket. So we ran back to High Hall to free him. He wasn’t looking good, but still breathing. And grateful that we found him before he actually died.
Then it was time to bring back Ron. Leo couldn’t use revivify anymore, so we had to Reincarnate him. Reincarnate is a strange spell. You only need part of a body (we brought Rons whole body, so that wasn’t an issue) and it turns their body into another race. Rons body turned into a half-orc body, which he didn’t like, even after the first scare. He just couldn’t get over the fact he was an orc now. So, after some talk, we decided I would kill him again and Leo would reincarnate him again. It was a horrible plan, but the only way we could calm him down. I didn’t like it at all. Ron is one of my best mates. I do not want to kill my friends. However, for his sake, I did it. Leo reincarnated him again, and now he turned into a dragonborn, which he seemed to prefer over a half orc. His scales are a nice brass colour but he doesn’t have a beard anymore. I’m not sure if Ron has realized the beard thing. He used to be very proud of his beard. Don’t get me wrong, he still preferred his dwarf form and is occasionally confused about his appearance. But he is at peace with being a dragonborn, so I don’t focus on it too much. He probably needs some time. And he has a cool breath weapon now.
We can’t let Gideon know we reincarnated him though, Gideon really did not like that. Something about bringing people back is bad and something about Kelemvor. To be honest, I don't really listen when I get scolded. Going back to Gideon is going to be interesting.
After the whole Clove Ikaya thing we decided the best thing to do is go back down to hell and find Zariels sword (Fenrir had a holy vision about that sword and that it’s able to cut down the ties that hold Elturel in hell and if we want to save Elturel we have to find it. We have a few other options, but this one seems to be the best). Nori decided she would stay at the Keep of the Twin Suns to protect the people there. I don’t like it. I don’t want to leave my sister behind again. Elturel is just as dangerous as hell itself right now. What if she dies and I’m not there? What if no one brings her back from the dead? I know she is capable enough, and there are still good and strong people in Elturel left, but I’m afraid I’ll lose her. She’s the only family I have left. I wish you were here, so you could tell me everything will be alright. That Lathander protects her. If you’d tell me I would believe it.
Anyway, we said our goodbyes and are preparing to jump down again (I don’t think I told you this yet, but right now, Elturel is floating in the sky above Avernus.) Last time we kinda just jumped down (it was awesome! I’ll tell you more about this once I’m back at Scornubel), but this time the others don’t want to do that. Leo will polymorph himself, Fenrir and me into giant eagles and Luna and Ron will fly our backs. (First we wanted to polymorph Ron, but he still has to get used to his dragon body, so we decided he wouldn’t change into something else right now). Lulu can fly pretty fast, so she doesn’t need a ride. Our next destination will be Fort Knucklebone. I will tell you more about that later as well.
I hope I see you soon.
Your friend,
Caja.