Another update

Things really kind of came together on all the points mentioned above. Here's how I've done things...

Daystar:

I hasted and normal-invisibled my halfling thief and had him grab daystar, then ran back out. I paused, identified, and equipped it on my barbarian (with sword of roses +3 on the left hand). With the door still open and an angry lich on the other side, I rested at the inn just for the heck of it, in the process keeping the lich from coming out into the inn proper (due to engine limitations), and also killing his triggered protection spells. I then walked the barbarian by herself into the lich's tomb the next morning, used the sword's sunfire or whatever ability it has to get some damage in, raged, and then whacked the poor lich, hitting too hard and too often for him to cast any more spells.

Planar Sphere:

As it turns out, as I was walking to the Government district to buy a magic license after the daystar incident, it triggered Cernd's quest, which ultimately has him leaving the party temporarily. How convenient. I then went to Umar hills and got Valygar and have so far done all but the tail end of that quest (I just got myself a demon heart). I've never completed this quest before, all of my serious parties have skipped it because I couldn't, of all things, beat that group of cannibal halfling mages right at the very beginning. Seriously, even the clay golems were easier than those bloodthirsty shin-biters.

On the downside, Cernd has missed out on nearly an entire level's worth of experience from being absent on this quest. But being single-classed, he should have no problems catching up.



-CC