The Fist Restrained

The Fist Restrained
Quest
Type	Side quest
Missable	Yes - if the basement of the Ducal Palace is unexplored
Requirements
Chapter	Seven
Locations and People
Area	Ducal Palace
Place	basement
People Involved	Flaming Fist Officer
Approaches
Quest Timers	no
Rewards
Other Rewards	Creature killed in Officer form: Plate Mail Helmet Long Sword Small Shield
Experience
Group	none or 175 or 700
Other information
Quest code	SDD011

“

I'm an officer of the Flaming Fist. You've got to get me out of here!

”

The Fist Restrained is a side quest in the Siege of Dragonspear, available in the Ducal Palace during Chapter Seven.

A Flaming Fist Officer trapped behind a locked door in the palace basement may be more than he appears to be.

Walkthrough

Korlasz

During the escape from the Korlasz Family Tomb, if the choice is made to arrest Korlasz rather than kill her, on the first visit to the Ducal Palace basement, she will break out of her cell, and Gorion's Ward will be forced to fight her again, this time to the death. The ensuing dialogue with a Flaming Fist Enforcer after the battle will provide a clue as to what's behind door number two: if the question is asked whether Korlasz was acting alone, he will reveal that the only other cell is occupied by a doppelganger.

Exploring the basement

When exploring the rest of the basement area following this battle, if Gorion's Ward or any other member of the party approaches the northernmost cell door, a voice will call out from behind it. The person on the other side claims to be an officer of the Flaming Fist who was trapped there by a doppelganger who took his face and locked him in the cell, and now he begs the party to be released.

• If Gorion's Ward didn't ask the Flaming Fist Enforcer the specific question mentioned above or did ask it and has an intelligence of less than 6, there is an option to say to the imprisoned officer that his fellow Flaming Fist didn't mention one of their own trapped down here, and he'll offer an excuse. Otherwise, with 6 intelligence or more, the Ward will be able to point out that the enforcer mentioned that a doppelganger was in the cell and, realizing its cover is blown, it will try to negotiate for its release by promising a reward when the cell door is finally opened. Agreeing to its proposal and letting it go begins the side quest The False Fist in the Journal and there is no chance to start The Fist Restrained side quest.

• If Korlasz was not arrested but killed instead, none of this line of questioning will be available, and the only possibility will be to find a way out for the imprisoned officer. At this point, a journal entry will start The Fist Restrained side quest.

Cell door opened

The Cell Key is on the nearby desk to the southwest, or a thief may pick the lock, or a fighter may bash it open by targeting the door with an attack. Whatever method is chosen, when the door is finally opened, an immediate line of questioning will commence. The officer will say that his name is Idianeali and that he stumbled upon a mage in Sarevok's service who tricked him into the cell.

• With an intelligence greater than 6 and an earlier discussion with the Flaming Fist Enforcer that DID NOT reveal the doppelganger, it's possible to ask why the enforcer didn't mention earlier that there was a Flaming Fist Officer locked in a cell. He will claim it happened before they arrived and try to leave to talk to his commander. The other two dialogue choices will also lead to the officer attempting to leave. If you had asked for a reward before opening the cell door, in which he will promise 150 or even 300 for his release, he will now claim to be in too much of a hurry to pay you.
  • A new dialogue path following the "officer not mentioned" choice will appear with a choice that will allow the Ward to inform the officer that it's ok to speak to you as you're the hero of Baldur's Gate, which will make the officer immediately revert to its doppelganger form and attack.

• With intelligence greater than 8 and a conversation with the Flaming Fist Enforcer that DID reveal the doppelganger (but you don't initially reveal this knowledge to the officer when you first reach the cell door) it is possible to now mention that the enforcer told you about a doppelganger in the cell, and the officer will immediately revert to its doppelganger form and attack.

Assuming that no doppelganger has appeared, the officer will attempt to leave and a journal entry will complete The Fist Restrained side quest.

At this point the player has four choices:

• Let the officer leave
• Paralyze the officer before he can permanently leave the basement and kill him for 175 XP and his "Flaming Fist" gear - (Plate Mail, Long Sword, Small Shield, and a Plumed Helmet)
• Attack the officer thereby forcing him to transform into his true form and fight back
• Attempt to speak to him again before he can permanently leave the basement which allows for further questioning

More questions

• Asking for his name again, he will tell you it's Idianori. With greater than 12 intelligence, you will be able to point out that earlier he told you it was Idianeali, which will cause the officer to immediately revert to its doppelganger form and attempt to leave. Other responses along this line simply end the conversation and the officer will attempt to leave.

• With greater than 12 wisdom, you can call him Idianeelix and ask what happened again, and he won't remember that this wasn't the name he gave you. You may then point this out and, depending upon the dialogue choice, the doppelganger will either attempt to leave in its "officer" form or it will immediately revert to its natural form and attempt to leave.

At this point the player again has four choices:

• Let the doppelganger leave
• Paralyze the doppelganger and kill it:
  • officer form (see above)
  • doppelganger form (700 XP only)
• Attack the doppelganger (in either form)
• Attempt to speak to the doppelganger (again in either form) one more time after the last round of questions, whereby it will be so sick of being questioned that it will attack

Outright killing the doppelganger will update the journal entry for The Fist Restrained by noting the killing of said creature.

The doppelganger revealed

Following any action or dialogue that leads to combat with the doppelganger, when it is near death, it will call for mercy and offer a reward in exchange for its life. This path was added so there was still an opportunity to obtain the treasure if Korlasz had been killed in the family tomb.

The doppelganger will promise a veritable fortune that is hidden beneath the Iron Throne building if you meet it there. With less than 9 intelligence you can humorously ask it what "veritable" means. You now have the choice of letting it go or locking it back in the cell.

If you lock it back in the cell, a short cut-scene plays that walks the Ward out of the cell and closes and locks the cell door. If you come back and talk to it again, you can accept its previous proposal or outright attack it. If you choose the later, the doppelganger will not beg for mercy when it reaches a low hit point amount and you'll be forced to kill it. This will result in gaining the 700 XP and an initial journal entry that automatically finishes The Fist Restrained side quest, with no possibility of beginning The False Fist side quest.

If you agree to its proposal and let it go, travel to the basement of the Iron Throne building. Again, this action will begin the side quest The False Fist in the journal.

Trivia

• By asking the right questions, the doppelganger will initially promise that its cache contains over a thousand gold and a couple of high quality swords as well as potions. There are several references to the cache as "weapons and valuables" but the actual reward is much less and includes no weapons, and the player is given no opportunity to express dissatisfaction at being lied to. It seems plausible that the reward was scaled back during development and this dialogue was never revisited and adjusted.
• With the Spectacles of Spectacle equipped, an alternate dialogue option is offered when approaching the cell door: when asked if someone is out there, the player can say "Oh, yeah. I'm farther out there than you can imagine, man."
• During the freedom negotiations, the doppelganger will tell you to meet it in the basement of the Iron Throne building in 3 hours, but there is no time limit for meeting it there.
• One of the false names used in this quest is Idianeelix, which is likely a reference to the character Neelix from the television series Star Trek: Voyager.

Bugs

• It is possible to begin The Fist Restrained quest entry in the journal and then begin The False Fist quest entry in the journal too. The False Fist entry will complete with the interaction in the Iron Throne basement, but the Fist Restrained entry will remain unfinished.