Melissan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Melissan is a fictional character appearing in the computer game Baldur's Gate II-Throne of Bhaal. On the player's first encounter with her she appears as a good-aligned maid who is attempting to protect the Bhaalspawn (of which the player is one). For this reason she gathers the Bhaalspawn to the city of Saradush, but the army of the Fire Giant Yaga Shura (also a Bhaalspawn) is besieging the town when the player arrives.

Melissan claims that the mad Bhaalspawn general of the town, Gromnir Il-Khan, needs to be eliminated and has the player carry out this task. Following his death, Melissan guides the player through encounters with a group of Bhaalspawn known as the Five, who are attempting to resurrect the dead god Bhaal. In this, Melissan becomes a seemingly benevolent ally who acts as both a guide and an advisor.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

However, when the final member of the Five is defeated, Melissan is revealed to be Amelissan the Black-hearted, the evil senior priestess of dead god of murder Bhaal. Seeking to ascend to Godhood by absorbing the life-essence of defeated Bhaalspawn, she has manipulated the player into slaughtering her enemies for her. Her ability to use the Bhaalspawn's life-essence was a power gifted to her by Bhaal himself, so that she would be able to resurrect him, however her own ambition has led her to grasp this power for herself.

Remain dust, my foolish god. (quote from Amelissan the Black-hearted)

Since the Five have been defeated, the player character is the last Bhaalspawn left for her to kill (along with Imoen, if she is in the party). The apocalyptic battle which follows is the final encounter in the Baldur's Gate series, with the player having to fight Amelissan three separate times before she is finally defeated. The battle takes place in the suitably epic location of Bhaal's Throne of Blood, with Amelissan taking the form of an enormous, overgrown version of her former self, armed with a spear the length of a fully-grown man.

Amelissan is a powerful mage with the ability to summon demons and cast the most powerful AD&D spells. Should this challenge not be enough, she can be made far deadlier with the Ascension mod. If this is installed the player is forced to fight the Five again, all at once, with Amelissan remaining in the background (and invulnerable) until the fight is done. On higher difficulties she also summons demons unique to the Ascension mod, making the battle one of the hardest in the Baldur's Gate series, along with the battle against Kangaxx in Baldur's Gate II-Shadows of Amn. It is considered a test of any player's skill to defeat Amelissan in this way.

Come to your mistress, minions of hell! (quote from Amelissan when she summons demons in the Final Ascension battle)

In the end, when defeated, her soul is destroyed no matter the choice of the player, whether he/she decides to be a god or whether they reject the evil essence.

The price of ambition is always high (quote from Solar, upon Melissan's defeat)

Spoilers end here.