Melicamp the Chicken (quest)

Melicamp the Chicken, also known informally as Restoring Melicamp, is a multi-part side quest that begins in the Red Canyons area south of High Hedge, and then continues and is completed in the High Hedge area itself. It optionally begins with the Madness Most Fowl side quest from Kissiq in the Red Canyons, which leads to Melicamp the Chicken and this quest.
==Involvement==
In the north east part of the Red Canyons, the party will encounter a chicken named Melicamp. There's a lone wolf nearby and the chicken feels threatened. Melicamp must survive or this side quest is voided. If the party talks to the chicken before the wolf is killed, it will ask for their help. Once the wolf is killed the chicken will explain that he really is a human who tried to perform a spell that went wrong and he got transformed to this form. The party can attempt to dispel the magic but it won't work. The only option left is to take Melicamp to his 'master', Thalantyr the Conjurer, at High Hedge Estate. If you agree, the chicken will hop into your inventory as an item.
Part 1: The first part of the quest has you taking the chicken to High Hedge, and speaking to Thalantyr (he may need speaking to twice, the first time he dismisses you). Tell him that you have a talking chicken. The conversation goes on for some time. At no point tell Thalantyr that you'll leave him to it, as this will leave the quest permanently incompletable.
Part 2: Thalantyr tells you that he'll need the skull of an undead creature, and so begins the second part of this quest. Skeletons are a spawning creature in High Hedge, outside the estate. If you're having trouble finding some, try resting in the outdoors. Only the skeletons in the High Hedge area will provide you with the skull you need.
Collect a skull from a skeleton and return to Thalantyr (or maybe you've sold one to him in the past but he forgot all about it and you can buy it back to give it to him). It is recommended that a save is made at this point because the reversal process might kill Melicamp; another way to render the quest permanently incompletable. Unless you want to take your chances.
Talk to Thalantyr and he will cast the Antichickenator spell. If it goes well and Melicamp is restored back to his human form, talk to the mage again to receive your reward. If it fails, Thalantyr will say that magic is unpredictable, that they shouldn't feel responsible for his death cause there was little more they could have done, and that the party should treat whatever magic items they happen to come across with caution and respect.
==Journal==
*Triggered By: Agreeing to help Melicamp the Chicken
*Journal Section: Quests
*Quest Title: Melicamp the Chicken
*Entry Title: Melicamp the Chicken
*Quest Begins (part 1):I have met an unfortunate wizard in the shape of a chicken. I am to take him to see Thalantyr, just to the west of Beregost.
*Quest Continues (part 2):I must bring a skull back to Thalantyr so he can try to restore Melicamp to a human form.
*Quest Completed: Special, morphs into two Done Quests if successfully completed: Melicamp Restored and Melicamp's Transformation. If the Thalantyr's spell fails, there will be no Melicamp Restored, and an alternate version of Melicamp's Transformation will be recorded.
===Melicamp Restored===
*Journal Section: Done Quests
*Quest Title: Melicamp Restored
*Entry Title: Melicamp Restored
*Quest Completed: Thalantyr has successfully transformed Melicamp. Hopefully the young mage has learned his lesson.
===Melicamp's Transformation===
*Journal Section: Done Quests
*Quest Title: Melicamp's Transformation
*Entry Title: Melicamp the Chicken
*Quest Completed: I brought a skull back to Thalantyr as he requested, and his attempt to restore Melicamp was a success. The young man's body withstood the strain of transformation again, and he seems eager to learn from his mistakes. Thalantyr cautioned that a tragic ending was just as likely, and that care should always be taken in the use of magic, no matter how benign it seems.
: -or-
*Quest Failed: I brought a skull back to Thalantyr as he requested, but his attempt to restore Melicamp was, unfortunately, a failure. Apparently the young man's body could not stand the shock of transformation again. Thalantyr said there was nothing we could have done in order to have changed the outcome: it was simply a matter of luck. Magic remains an uncertain force, and care must be taken with its use.
==Bugs==
* In the Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, it may happen that after giving Thalantyr the requested skull, the cutscene of him casting Antichickenator will not play at all. Instead, when either he or Melicamp is spoken to, the dialogue for successfully restoring Melicamp will play and the party will receive the appropriate rewards, even though Melicamp will remain in his chicken form. On subsequent visits, and still as a chicken, Melicamp will have his post-"successfully restored" dialogue when spoken to.
==Gallery==
Thalantyr and Melicamp (BGee).png|Thalantyr successfully turned Melicamp back to his natural form. (BG:EE)