- About 25 hours of gameplay for a skilled party of adventurers between levels 17-20 that begins in the town of Trademeet
- 2 major quests, with over 30 side quests
- 4 new joinable NPCs who interact with the party and have their own quests - some of these are required in the party to advance the storyline
- 1 new kit for the thief class
- 1 new stronghold
- over 100 new areas, both new or recycled
- over 400 new creatures to interact with
- over 400 new items spread amongst more than 20 new stores and creatures that may be encountered during the player's journey
The Year of the Spreading Spring was regarded merely as a year with a short rainy season and an unpleasantly warm summer. In fact, it was the harbinger of a trend that would alter all of Faerūn.
The water level of the Farsea Lake dropped until its edges were boggy and marshy, with an abundance of reeds. Swarms of insects bred in the warm, stagnant water left behind. The great desert Anauroch extended its boundaries southward.
As the desert marched south, so did the goblins. A few individuals straggled out first, but bands of refugees followed.
During the winter of 1089, Izac Uthor gathered the goblin armies near the abandoned village of Thandril, on the northwestern edge of the Goblin Marches. The host included nigh unto 200,000 goblins, tens of thousands of affiliated orcs and kobolds, and a few thousand hobgoblins leading detachments of goblins or orcs.
Of course, even a force of more than a quarter million combatants could hardly hope to conquer, much less occupy, the entire Western Realms north of the Fields of the Dead. Many tense discussions were held in Cormyr, Hill's Edge, Tilverton, Soubar, Shadowdale, and other places in harm's way.
Regular troops and the local militias were sent to Hill's Edge to join the main battle force uniting against the goblinoid horde.
They came from Beregost, Baldur's Gate, Berdusk, Iriaebor, Elturel, Scornubel, Soubar, and the reaches of the High Moor.
No sooner had all the forces arrived than a leader was found: Artur Blevin, commander of the home forces of Soubar.
The true tragedy of the Battle of Bones is not that the battleground became a gathering place of the undead. It is that the battle need never have occurred.
All troops on both sides were ordered onto the plain before dawn; all fought wherever they found their foe. No reserves were held back, and the sophisticated earthen defenses that had been thrown up were left behind in the armies' mutual eagerness to fight. The first rays of dawn did not much help the men in Artur Blevin's forces. In the night, almost a million feet had stirred the dust. Swirling with the smoke of a thousand fires, a thick haze hung over the battlefield and no wind dispersed that cloud. Among Artur Blevin's troops, none escaped unscathed.
-excerpts from Elminster's Ecologies
As with all large armies that assemble to fight, support services must trail and supply the needs of such a gathering. History precludes the individual acts of such services; what scholar needs to know how many swords were sharpened on the second day of battle? Or how many bowls of gruel were served by cooks? But history may overlook the less carnal needs of men, for it is clear that women followed these men, and those goblinkind, who had coin for many nights.
History reports Izac Uthor's deeds as a commander, not a brutish, petty demagogue seeking power and pleasure. Sages and historians need not know of his intimacies with women- human or otherwise.
Until now.
In retribution for the deaths of so many, one has risen to once again prove the might of goblinkind. This leader, as such, leads not by strength of character or strength of will, but by physical prowess and confidence. He demands vengeance for the death of his kin, yet has presented no terms for his assault on civilization. This half-breed insists on repaying the combined forces of demi-humans for their malicious attacks, and intends to begin by crushing the homeland of their ancient commander.
Blevin may be centuries dead, and none but the most learned sages recall the Battle of Bones, but history repeats itself. Sureblade, a half-orcan fighter, has come to the River Chionthar valley, intent on conquering the settlements for his kin and self. Sureblade, the confident and powerful son of Uthor, has assembled his own band, growing daily into an army of skilled mercenaries and bandits. Groups of orcs have flocked to his stronghold, and Sureblade will not stop until the town which bred his paternal ancestor's murderer is rubble.
This game mod (modification or module) is created for the BG2:SoA side of a BG2:ToB game (yes, BG2:ToB is required), as many people wouldn't want to go through a whole new game to reach ToB areas just to play this mod. With that in mind, most people who have played BG2 know that one of the plot quests is to save the village/town of Trademeet from evil druids, Calim rakashars, and the noble bickerings. "Shadows Over Soubar" picks up just after that. However, action in the mod does occur if you do not complete the entire sequence of quests in Trademeet, beginning directly after Imoen is kidnapped by the Cowls and Irenicus.
We know that war is brewing in Tethyr, and that the Sword Coast has experienced troubles since our hero left Candlekeep as a young adventurer. Power groups- the Iron Throne in particular- have been destroyed, and others are quick to grab for their own power. Including such enemies as Yaga-Sura, Melissan, and Irenicus. But there are other less twisted enemies that prey not on heroes, but on the simple folk. Folk who's only crime is that they live in a town where a great leader who met an orcan horde on the field of battle once lived. Farmers, herders, tradesmen, and merchants all are affected by those who claim power over thier lives. Now that sounds like a call for help! Which our great hero will answer. To the rescue we go!
So our story begins in Trademeet, where our hero learns that some mysterious men from the north are looking for them. What those men want, we are not sure. But after a time of searching Amn, our great hero finds a sneaky thief who 'employs' us to do some 'work.' After completing the jobs, the sneaky thief will finally tell our hero what needs to be done to move on. And our hero does indeed move on, finding some letters which leads them to the mysterious men. These mysterious men will explain the entire situation, and the hero can accept (continue the mod) or decline to help.
