Continuing on with Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. The party's visit to Winspear Hills took a dark turn, as we got tricked into killing several Knights of the Radiant Heart. Not sure how Firkraag's illusionary magic overcame Keldorn's true seeing and Jan's 100% detect illusion skill, but whatever. The local land owner offered to help us out, and we promised to rescue his daughter in return. While exploring the area we also met the dryad queen, and gave her the acorns that we picked up way back in Irenicus' dungeon. To the northeast, we found the entrance to Firkraag's lair and headed in. This is probably the toughest dungeon in the game (without the expansion) so I prefer tackling it last. There's a lot of monster variety here: wraiths, vampires, werewolves, golems and much more.
Near the entrance, we looted the ring of fire resistance after disposing of a rakshasa and his exploding kobold minions. Up ahead, we encountered dozens of vampires, shadows and mummies, but they got completely obliterated by Anomen's turn undead ability. In a nearby crypt, some fire resistant gear was stashed, along with the dragonslayer sword. After dispatching more golems, werewolves and orogs, we ran into Tazok, one of Sarevok's minions from the previous game. He wasn't much of a challenge at this point, but he did drop a rather peculiar key. We also found our benefactor's daughter here, locked in a prison cell. Downstairs, we came face to face with a huge red dragon. After some taunting, he made us fight one of his servants, but that mage was no match for Keldorn's dispel magic. We freed the girl, and then prepared to face the dragon himself.
Before the party rested, I made sure that both Imoen and Jan memorized as many protection from fire spells as possible. We also had that ring from earlier, as well as some other fire resistant gear. With those buffs and items combined, everyone was completely immune to fire damage. Next, I had Anomen and Jaheira use up all of their defensive spells, including resist fear, protection from evil, chaotic commands, chant, bless and more. In addition, I made Jaheira summon two fire elementals. They will make for a good distraction due to being naturally immune to fire. Jan also set all of his traps around Firkraag, which the dragon blissfully ignored. Lastly, Imoen and Jan cast improved haste on everyone, and the battle began.
This time, Jan's traps weren't as effective, only knocking Firkraag down to "barely injured". We attacked him from all sides, but he quickly blew us away using his wings. However, my archer was too far to be affected, so he kept pelting the dragon with lightning arrows from the Gesen bow. Firkraag spewed his fiery breath straight at my protagonist, but it did nothing, thanks to the ring of fire resistance and Imoen's fire protection spell. The lizard then diverted his attention to the summoned elementals, which gave our front liners enough time to run back and refocus their attack. Imoen cast breach, allowing Keldorn and Jaheira to score several good hits, bringing the dragon's health down to "badly injured" before being blown away again. The job was ultimately finished by my archer's lightning arrows, which he can fire 7 times per round while under the effects of improved haste. This went a bit easier than expected, but I'm not complaining.
On Firkraag's corpse we found some dragon scales, as well as the holy avenger sword, which Keldorn immediately equipped. This is probably the best weapon in the game, due to its unique traits and high damage output. We then went to check up on the land owner and his daughter, which gave us a nice XP boost. After a quick trip to the Athkatla docks, Cromwell forged the red dragon scales into a fire resistant suit of plate mail. Fun fact: in Shadows of Amn, the red dragon armor is considered non-enchanted, so it can be worn alongside the ring of protection +2. This was changed in the expansion, but if you don't take these items off, you can keep using them together as long as you like.
Anyway, that's enough adventuring for today. I took the party to the city's best inn for a celebratory round of drinks, followed by a good night's rest in their most luxurious rooms. Tomorrow, we will plan our next move.