In Baldur's Gate 3, a bugbear beckons on a horde of goblins towards the gate of the Emerald Grove. Behind him, a large ogre looms and two giant spiders skuttle down a pathway to join the fray. After the drow Minthara walks onto ledge to preside over the ensuing battle, a chorus of metal clangs can be heard as the goblins shake their crude weapons in the air. Then all attention turns to Zevlor. As the leader of the tieflings who are now forced to defend themselves, Zevlor begins to do a rallying speech. "I know that you are all afraid… but I also know you've been fighting your whole lives," he cries as inspiring music starts to swell.
Suddenly, I feel like I'm in scene plucked right from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, but instead of an army of orcs there are goblins, and instead of King Theoden addressing his people at Helms Deep, it's Zevlor before a crowd of tieflings. With almost 400 hours behind me and multiple runs in Baldur's Gate 3 so far, I can't quite believe it's taken me this long to witness this. Who would have thought one deviation away from my tried and true method to clear out the goblin camp would put me in the midst of a Lord of the Rings-style battle with high stakes. It would be epic if it weren't for the fact that I can't shake the feeling of guilt that this is happening at all.
