Malchor Harpell is a human conjurer and harper who is an ally and former associate of Drizzt. He will appear as soon as any party member with the protagonist is in possession of certain items belonging to Drizzt and his loyal band of compatriots. In fact, lore states that Malchor initially provided Drizzt with his famous scimitars.
| “ | Greetings! Allow me to introduce myself; I am Malchor Harpell, a friend of Drizzt. I see you have some of his belongings... you will hand them over directly. | ” |
Gameplay[]
In chapters 6 or 7 of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, if the party has any of the following items, Harpell will visit the party via teleportation in any outdoor area:
- Icingdeath
- Twinkle
- Mithral Chain Mail +4
- Battle Axe +3 (Bruneaxe)
- Mithral Field Plate +2
- Cattie-Brie's Shortbow
- Ruby Pendant of Beguiling
- Aegis-fang
Assuming some of the gear above is in possession of the party. Malchor will teleport into any outdoor area the party is in (such as Waukeen's Promenade or the Umar Hills etc.) He'll initiate dialogue, which differs depending on if Drizzt and company perished in battle with Bodhi in the Lower Tombs/Bodhi's Lair, or if the party slew Drizzt's party in the wilderness area.
Harpell greets the party, introduces himself and briefly explains that he is here to collect the gear belonging to Drizzt and his friends.
The party can basically agree and hand it over, whereby Harpell says thanks and all the gear is automatically removed from the Inventory. He'll walk away and disappear from the map.
If the party refuses, Harpell has a disappointed line of dialogue, but all the gear is still removed from the party's inventory, and he walks away, and disappears from the map.
During this action the party cannot act, because of the dialogue exchange.
There are additional dialogue and appearances of Melchor accounted for if the party tries to do something tricky. Such as dropping the gear just as Harpell teleports into the map. If that is done before he can initiate the dialogue, then when he does address the party, he'll have different line and say he needs to check on the whereabouts of Drizzt and he'll walk away. However as soon as the gear is picked up and back in the party's possession, Harpell will teleport in again (even on the same map). If Harpell ever gets a chance to initiate dialogue, and any of the gear is in the party's inventory, then Harpell will be able to reclaim those items.
Should the party be splitting up its possession of the gear over several Harpell visits, and keeps dropping them on the ground, or transitioning to a new map just as he teleports in and other evasive maneuvers, it won't stop him from continuing to teleport into the party's location whenever any of the items are possessed.
Malchor may state:
- "Thank you, my <PRO_LADYLORD>. Once again, do not disturb any other items you find. I've a dweomer that leads me to them. I *don't* want to have to track you down again."
Once Malchor has spoken initially to the party, his script keeps track of the initial conversation and attempt to get the items, and any subsequent meetings will have a sterner and unforgiving tone - this will occur for instance if the party observes Melchor teleporting in (because they have the gear), and then pauses the game, dumps the gear on the ground, and then pretends they don't have the items.
He will be polite, at first and ask for the items be given to him (it seems through dialogue he intends to resurrect Drizzt). If the party refuses or says they don't have the gear then Malchor has several lines that are letting the player know that time is running out or that some conflict is approaching, including:
- "I'm not going to put up with this much longer. If I catch you with any of their items again, you will regret it, my <PRO_LADYLORD>. Enough of this!"
- "Oh, bother. If you insist on the hard way, then I'll do it the hard way. If I catch you with any more of those items, however, I shall not be so patient."
The final instance of the party refusing or giving Malchor the run around he'll say:
- "All right, I've had quite enough of you. It's time to put you where you'll do no harm so I can collect what I am looking for without your interference."
Malchor's special belt, that cannot be pickpocketed, makes him death proof. In addition, he can see invisible creatures, an innate ability that cannot be blocked or dispelled.
If the party keeps trying to avoid the incident, for example by trying to drop the gear to the ground or stash it into a chest or similar, Malchor will eventually ReallyForceSpell cast a mass Imprisonment on the entire party, thus potentially ending the game.
If the party gets into a combat situation with Harpell, then he behaves as a high-level mage, and will attempt to destroy the party. If the party flees the area, he will follow to the next outdoor area, and again and so forth. As the game has provided him with the undroppable Immunity Belt item, his list of immunities and invulnerability to hit point destruction and instant death effects make defeating Harpell nearly impossible. Really, the sane thing to do is not to tempt fate and try and get this gear (it isn't so great at this stage of the game, and certainly better can be found in later chapters or is already in the party's inventory). However, players may see this as a challenge, and can be stubborn - so do as you will. If the entire party is affected by a mass Imprisonment spell, you'll know it was all in vain.
If the Imprisonment spell is somehow defended against by Gorion's Ward, Harpell will continue following and attacking the party from area to area in Chapter 6 and 7.
Gallery[]
Mod content[]
Sword Coast Stratagems revises Harpell, and especially with the Smarter Mage component. He may be assigned a different mage kit (randomly decided on mod install, such as Enchanter, Invoker, or Necromancer). His memorized spells will differ as a result. He'll have a ready to go Minor Sequencer, Spell Sequencer and Spell Trigger scripted to deploy. Expect a vast array of Previously Cast protective buffs the first tics of combat that can't be interrupted. At least one mage High-level class ability can be used during the battle, determined by the game difficulty settings.
External links[]
- Malchor Harpell on the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting Forgotten Realms.