hey everybody

I have passed Baldur's Gate quite a few times but there was always a question i could never answer.

In chapter 6 you return to candle keep and discover the truth about yourself in a letter from Gorion. Also, when you are teleported to the catacombs to escape all of the townsfolk turn into dopplegangars... what the hell is with this?? is it just a temperary trick in the catacombs? Were the townsfolk always dopplegangars?? (or even more unlikely) did sarevok and his father kill everybody in Candlekeep and get the dopplegangars to impersonate the town??

Thankyou to anybody who can clarify this.

Nope, it's just a trick. The townsfolk were never dopplegangers, they are just 'henchmen' of Sarevok's. You're just lead to believe so in order to let him escape.

I thought this was a really good part of the original game. [img]smile.gif[/img]

First time I played through I thought it actually was Elminster, Ulruant and Gorion there to help me. So I followed them and was ambushed when they shapechanged to their Doppleganger selves. And I didn't know if the dwarves down there were friends or foes; it was great. Good design work.

In my interpretation, the townspeople you meet aboveground are all their real selves (except for one), and those whose forms were taken by the Doppelgangers in the catacombs are not necessarily dead (we know for a fact that Elminster, Ulraunt, and Tethtoril are not). It is interesting, though, that the vast majority of the 'people' you kill down there are never seen in the game again. There's also the fact that all those Doppelgangers managed to duplicate nearly the entire population of Candlekeep without getting a single duplicate, though, which is an argument that they did kill the originals and take their forms.

Weirdness: If the entrance to the catacombs is supposed to be so secret, how the heck did Sarevok (and all those Doppelgangers) learn how to access it after only a couple of visits?

[ADD:] What exactly does this thread have to do with the city of Baldur's Gate? Or do you just enjoy making threads called "baldur's gate" in the Baldur's Gate forum? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[ 12-20-2004, 02:59 PM: Message edited by: SixOfSpades ]

lol yeah sorry i coulda been a bit more original.

Thanks for that.

I think that you are right and that they have only duplicated the townsfolks but not killed them.

In theory, Doppelgangers are supposed to kill and eat their victims to take their forms. But that doesn't explain Elminster and Tethtoril...

Lol. Now where did you get that idea from :rolleyes: ?

Dopplegangers can assume the shape of any humanoid they wish (small or medium) indefinately. Without having to kill. Monster manual.

I was thinking of Greater Doppelgangers and their ability to eat the brains of a victim and absorb memories (Monsters of Faerun) and not just altering selves. Close enough.

If that's true, imagine the war between the Doppelgangers and Aboleths that would ensue! With the Illithids waiting in the wings, I'm sure.