You'd think I'd have learned my lesson and never taken up writing again, considering I just accidentally took a four month break for no acceptable reason at all.
Oh well. Here we go again. Time for Round 2, folks.

Damiondred stared at the ceiling of his cage, wondering a great number of things. He could figure out the first one (that being how long he had been down here) through the senses of his familiar simply by eavesdropping. Three months, two days, and a handful of hours since it currently was roughly noon. He knew too that he was somewhere in the city of Athkatla, the city of coin and capital of Amn. He also knew that the mage that had him imprisoned wasn't an idiot, and that it was only sheer, dumb luck that his familiar wasn't stuck in there with him or killed.

Or worse. Experimentation seemed to be the name of the game, and some days he felt like he only knew who he was because of Noirog, otherwise his head felt three feet thick and stuffed with cotton. The bhaalspawn had tried to escape a number of times already, and each failure had been met with an increase in pain and (currently) a large flat board loaded with weights pressing down on him. By his reckoning, he would be slowly crushed for another hour until the mage came by and removed them from-

"Pssst! Hey, are you alive?"

He jerked slightly, frowning as he was pulled from his thoughts. "You're early. Look, I didn't believe in your hallucinations last time, why do you think I'll fall for them this time?"

"Don't be all buffleheaded, it's really me!"

Eyes narrowing, he tilted his head as best he could to blink as a blurry pinkish form pulled the door open and started hauling weights off of him. "... Imoen?"

"Just hold on, I'll get these off of you. Geeze, he sure loaded you up, didn't he."

"Probably something to do with how I ripped the door right off of the cage last time." The bhaalspawn fought the urge to suck in a deep breath of air, trying to get his ribs used to the lack of weight on them before he shifted his arms and pressed upwards on the board. "Look out. I'm going to slide this while thing sideways. How did you get out?"

"There's people fighting all over the place. I think some of his enemies found the place, and are tryin' to raid it." Imoen shifted aside, turning and keeping watch as the archer grunted and heaved. The board tipped to the side, sending weights crashing to the floor before he weaseled out from under the rest of it and slowly pushed himself up. "We've gotta escape this place, Dami. Jaheira and Minsc're just over there."

"What about Khalid and Dynaheir?" The Bhaalspawn stretched, wincing slightly at the ache in his bones before stepping out of the cage.

"Dami... Dynaheir died when we were attacked. Don't you remember?" She peered at him, and he blinked for a moment before frowning. "Hey, it's okay. We'll talk about it when we get out've here, alright? I hurt all over, like my bones're made out of little knives and my head hurts. I don't think he was much nicer to you. I don't know where Khalid is, either."

"No, no he wasn't. Let's get everyone we can and get out of here, Immy." He turned and scanned the area, meeting Jaheira's eyes before finally settling on where Minsc lay, languishing in his own cell.

First things first.

"Minsc." Damiondred leaned casually against the bars. "So much for the Mighty Rashemi Berserkers. Look at you, laying there."

"You dare? After all that Minsc and Boo have done for you?" Haunted eyes looked back out at the archer and narrowed at the mocking expression they found. "Go awa-"

"All you've done for me? You barely did anything. You couldn't protect Imoen! Small wonder why, when you couldn't even protect Dynaheir." Damion idly started to pick at his nails, stepping back from the cage as Minsc surged to his feet and slammed his hands against the bars of the cage. The door rattled in its frame.

"Don't you DARE speak to Minsc about-!"

"She's probably rolling over in her grave, every time she thinks about how you failed her. Oh wait, that's right. She didn't get a grave, did she. Sorry, rolling over in her ditch."

"YoooUUU!" Minsc slammed into the door of the cage, hauling on the frame and twisting the metal out of shape before tearing the door off the hinges and stepping forward, snarling and seething before a slightly dirty hamster chomped on his earlobe and tugged hard. "Eh? Wh-? The bars bent and broke before my strength! Ohh, you sneaky... You said all that just to get me mad!"

"Worked for me. I figured you should be able to do the same thing, considering I've never beaten you in an arm wrestling competition while you were angry. I'm sorry, for what I said." The archer offered out a hand, and the rashemi echoed the gesture, reaching forward so that they clasped forearms instead. "Let's get Jaheira and get out of here."

"There should be a key in the office just over there. It's not our gear, but I saw some weapons there too." Imoen turned and pointed, before looking back at the two that had been freed and then at the druid.

"Take Minsc with you. You said this place is being attacked, and I need to try something before I get much further." He waved at the two of them as they nodded and left, before sitting down next to Jaheira's cage. "I know roughly where we are, if only because Noirog only has a mental range of about a mile. We tested it a few times to see if we couldn't triangulate where we are, so the only thing I can think of is that we're somewhere under Athkatla."

The half-elf eyed him frowning. "Your familiar yet lives?"

"Yeah. He was out scouting ahead when we were hit from behind and followed the horses. After falling behind it was a lot of flying around trying to mentally contact me, and eventually he managed to. I've asked him about any disturbances topside, and he said he'd keep an eye out."

"We got the key! There wasn't all that much in the way of armor, either, and nobody's spellbooks but Minsc's got armor on now and brought some for both've you too." Imoen stuffed the key into the lock, twisting it and pulling the door open. The half-elf nodded, stepping up as the ranger offered out a set of splint, a shield and a scimitar, before helping her don the items. Imoen offered a chain shirt to the archer, who nodded and slipped it over his head before accepting the shortsword and dagger she offered. He looked over the group assembled and nodded as Minsc hefted a two handed sword.

"Alright. Let's go."

The bows the kobolds and goblins used were a bit short for his tastes, so Damiondred left all the arrows and the bow to his sister as they four of them stepped quietly through the halls. All seemed to be going well until they found a room filled with tanks, and Imoen informed them that the things in them had once been human. Jaheira had gone a little pale at that, but it was no worse than when they met one of the creatures in a tank that actually spoke to them and begged for death. They obliged, and after pulling the power crystal from its casing he set a hand on his sisters shoulder, rocking her gently. He told everyone to stay outside of the room with the tanks while he went through and plugged the crystal into each tank, learning what he could before leaving the room. They activated the sewer golem, collected acorns for the dryads, freed the Djinni and raided two bedrooms after thoroughly disabling the traps and alarms in both. This resulted in looting two partially filled spellbooks, a double handful of scrolls, a number of wand-like keys and a two handed sword that was 'supposedly' touched by Damiondred's essence, though as he studied the blade he felt more that it had only been 'touched by his essence' by way of Sarevok trying to kill him with it. Minsc gave him a few pointers on how to use it during the short rest they took to give Jaheira a chance to tend to the group's wounds and to give Imoen and the archer a moment to study the spellbooks as best they could.

Girded and prepared as best they could be, they stepped through the portal and immediately stalled as they came face to face with a dusky skinned human with black hair and a piercing in his eyebrow.

"So, there is sanity in all this madness! If you are not in league with the evil that dwells in this place, Yoshimo begs your assistance." He smiled uncertainly, hands raised, and Damiondred lowered his shortsword to peer at him and then at the air over his shoulder where his double frowned and nodded.

His name really is Yoshimo.

"Well met then, Yoshimo. How did you end up here?"

"Captured, much as yourself I would say by the look of you." He smiled good naturedly, and the bhaalspawn returned it easily, gesturing for him to fall into step with them. "Ah! We will escape this prison together then! Good."

"Stay behind Minsc and keep that bow of yours leveled and at the ready." Damiondred gestured to the rashemi - arguably the healthiest person in the group and least likely to die if he was shot in the back - while moving to the door at the end of the hall. Jaheira and Imoen exchanged a glance that said the placement of the new guy spoke volumes to them about how little he trusted them. "Alright. Everyone ready?"

They were not, in fact, wholly ready. It took long enough for the bhaalspawn archer to destroy the portals that the druid called for a rest as the last of them fell to do what she could for the newly acquired wounds. As he and Imoen cased the room for valuables they were thankful that they were doing so while she was busy, because they found the remains of Khalid.

"He would cut and they ask 'do you see?', ask again while he cut, over and over and over. I didn't want to see, didn't want to watch-" The thief lifted her hands to her head, shaking as Damiondred wrapped his arms around her and rocked where they stood. It was only after she stopped shaking that he turned and dragged one of the tapestries over his corpse, almost jumping as Jaheira came up behind him.

"What are you...? No, Sylvanus no, Khalid-!" Jaheira stepped around Damion as the bhaalspawn turned, wrapping his arms around her as she reached for the cloth. She shrieked and fought until she finally gave up, slumping and muttering.

"He was... He was already dead, when he did this. He didn't suffer-"

She twisted slightly in the mandatory hug to practically spit at Imoen, who flinched back and raised her hands. "Shut up! You-"

"Jaheira, I know. I -know-. I watched my father -die-. We've all lost people. We can mourn him once we get out of here, but right now we need to -move-. Fight for the living until we can get a moment where we're not looking over our shoulder every twelve seconds."

The druid looked up at the bhaalspawn, swallowed and nodded quietly before he let her go before narrowing her eyes at him. "... What... Did you do to me?"

"Emotional manipulation enhanced by logic and bit of bhaalspawn taint. It started working on more than just Xzar after I killed Sarevok. It'll wear off, but I don't have much of a choice. If we get caught, we're going to end up dead and I'm not leaving you behind. Khalid would haunt me forever if I did."

In loading my old save for my fighter/mage/thief into BG2:SoA, I realized something. I don't remember how (I'm guessing I found all the manuals in game) but I ended up having Grey (who is Damion in the save file, aren't you glad I gave him a better name than that for the story?) somehow have 19 strength, 19 dex, 11 con, 19 int, 11 wis, and 19 cha. So those are the stats that Damion now has, because Bhaalspawn, I guess, and he -did- find a number of books. Who's to say that during three months he didn't adventure up and down the coast and find the rest of them? Also, you know, imprisoned work out montage. RIP Uncle Iroh, you are missed.
Also I have no idea what gender the flying snake that was his familiar was named, so it's now male. And named thus Noirog.
Questions? Comments? Consistency issues?
Leave a message after the tone.
-KD