The Harpers had just given me a new mission. They had received intelligence of something called the "infernal engine" located deep within the Calim desert. The Harpers had long known of this device, but it seems recent that interest in it had increased and numbers of mercenaries, treasure seekers and adventures were pouring into the desert to try and reach this machine. Which was worse, it seems that a group of Necromancers was responsible for encouraging this nonsense. The Harpers were generally certain that nothing good would come of these amateur explorations, so I was tasked to investigate the machine and report back to the Harpers; if it was dangerous, I would neutralize it by any means necessary, keep it out of the wrong hands and do all the other dangerous things the Harpers asked of me.
My instructions were to leave at dawn. So I decided that if it was going to be my last evening in Waterdeep I would give one last performance at my favorite venue, the Flaming Dragon. It would be a memorable performance, and also, in order to protect my cover, I would let the fans know I would be gone for a few seasons. At the end of my performance I told the audience I was going the road in search of new songs and lore, but soon I would return to my dear Waterdeep and entertain them like never before.
After this announcement I was approached by one of the regulars. He seem to have taken the news of my departure rather hard, and decided tonight was the night to proclaim his undying love for me. I politely tried to brush him off, but he was too drunk, too smitten, or too stupid to take the hint. After my politeness took on a bit an undeniable edge, he let me know that he wasn't taking "no" for an answer, and if it wasn't going to be forever it was going to be at least be one night.
Typically, I would simply play along until we were somewhere private and then bury a dagger in his ribs, find a convenient place to hide the body and not return to town for a while. However, I live in Waterdeep and this man was a regular. The Flaming Dragon maybe not be the nicest tavern in Waterdeep but it is comfortable and affordable for most travelers, and it was one of the first places to let me play and earn some coins. As an agent of the Harpers, the confluence of travelers makes it an ideal place to perform. Losing this venue wouldn't necessarily hurt my operations, and I know the Harpers could make it all disappear, but it would still be bad form. I also felt I had a bit of loyalty to the place. However, the other advantage to such a tavern is that it is a crowded place with many would-be heroes looking to assist a "damsel in distress". So I pushed him away, and said so most of the bar could hear "I don't want to go anywhere with you, please leave me alone."
About that time, a hooded man stood up. He was tall, dark, had broad shoulders, and spent the whole night brooding over his ale. He had that look about him of a soldier that had seen too many battles, and probably lost more than he had won. Instinctively, I knew my hero had just arrived and Mr. Drunken Regular was about to get hurt, bad. The hooded man knocked him out in one blow. I think most of the bar heard the crunch of bones, but by the time he landed in a heap everyone was looking somewhere else. The hooded man put his arm around me, and as we walked away I felt a little bad for Mr. Regular.
"Come along bard, I've been on the road for a long time, and I'd like you to give me a personal performance".
Well, shit. I was hoping this was the sort of hooded man that I could appeal to his nobler side and with a kiss walk away, but he was leading me toward the stairs and likely his room. I could also feel that he was wearing some serious armor, and the way he took down Mr. Regular wasn't a lucky blow. Whatever his past was, killing him quietly or easily wasn't likely. To make matters worse, the whole bar saw him "save me". As he led me toward the stairs we passed a table of tieflings. They were eyeing everyone in the room suspiciously and I knew this was my last chance.
"Oh my god, did you just say that tieflings are good for nothing, except their women make the best wh-". The words weren't even out of my mouth when the biggest one at the table, threw it over and punched the hooded man right under his dark hood. Not my best bit of improv, but it got the job done. The hooded man released me and I dove behind the table. Just then, someone else shouted something about tieflings and the bar erupted into a brawl. I was about to look over the table when I saw a magic missile break all the glass in the window near me.
I stood up and looked across the bar to see an elven wizard looking at me. I was shocked. When he first walked in, I instinctively labeled him as a mama's boy. His hair was disheveled, and it looked like he slept in most his clothes, except for his relatively-new looking traveling cloak. When someone bumped into him and spilled his drink, I couldn't tell if he was going to cry or hit the guy, and I wasn't surprised when he just skulked to the hearth. Now he was standing there with his arm outstretched and was starting to look like the most dangerous thing in the bar. Our eyes locked for a moment I nodded him my thanks and vaulted out the window. From the street I heard the bartender yell, "Someone stop that wizard before he destroys my tavern". I watched through the window as a fire bolt hit the vat of Fire Dragon Flaming Whiskey behind the bar. I ducked down as the vat exploded.
As I was thinking about how my last performance really was memorable the wizard came flying out of the bar through the same window I had just escaped from.
Mama's boy rolled to a stop at my feet. He didn't look so dangerous anymore, but he could still be useful. I heard the town guards coming, so I helped him to his feet and dragged him by the arm into the alley behind the tavern and kissed him deeply. I knew that if the town guard saw us, we could play it off that we had been trysting in the corner and didn't notice the tavern was on fire. And Mama's boy would be too flustered to tell them differently. After I saw the guard's pass, I pushed the wizard away. Fun time was over. I had to get ready for tomorrow.
"Thank you, kind sir. I appreciate your assistance, but I really must be off." As I turned to disappear down the dark alley, he caught my arm.
"Wait, I need you to go to my room".
Did I miss the part where Waterdeep imported the most persistent men that thought just because they helped a girl out that entitled them to a night of carnal delights? This time the alley was dark and empty, he was a complete stranger, and only his mother would miss him. I reached into my thigh-high boot to pull out a dagger, and just as I was getting ready to slit his throat I noticed he wasn't even looking at me rather he was looking down the alley at the second floor windows like he was counting them.
"Yes. That one with the window open…hmmm seems to be the only window open, ah that is probably bad," he mumbled under his breath.
He didn't turn around, but he spoke up to address me, "Listen, clearly you're a thief, and they will never let me enter this establishment again, perhaps you would do me a favor and slip into my room and collect my belongings."
Alright, so he wasn't trying to bed me. So that meant there was no need to kill him, for now. He had helped me escape the tavern and the town guard. He may be clueless about the world, but he might be useful. The Harpers value taking advantage of the serendipity. He might know something that can help us, even if it doesn't further my current mission. I returned my dagger to it's sheath.
"Is there something of value in your belongings?" He looked back at me and didn't seem to notice that I had assumed a defensive stance.
"Nothing a thief would like, just the work of my dead uncle about a machine in the Calim desert, really it's some ancient and esoteric knowledge only valuable to scholars, and sentimental nephews. Though I have some money if you require it."
Really? A machine in the Calim desert? Well! Mama's boy could be of more help yet. Though he clearly lacked any street smarts, I could see that he was a skilled wizard, and the value of a good wizard can never be overestimated.
I decided it was time to turn the charm back on, though it didn't seem to affect him like it did other men. "I'm not really a thief, and I like knowledge. I'll get your things, but I would like to know more about this machine in the desert."
I practically purred these words, and I realized if I was going to keep this wizard around he would need a name, and the best way to get that was to introduce myself. "My name is Su'riel, by the way."
He seemed to be thinking about something, perhaps my charms were affecting him, but he was reacting differently. "Rolan. It is a pleasure. Now if you would kindly…". He still had a pretty strong grip on my arm, and I could see him blushing. Oh, I was affecting him. Once he let me go I handed him the lute.
His room was toward the back of the tavern, so there was no risk of smoke or fire. It was an easy thing to get into his room, a few leaps up and over the various obstacles in the alley and I was able to pull myself in. Once inside it appeared that he had simply opened his window and thrown his pack on his bed. I was starting to suspect I wasn't dealing with a mama's boy so much as a young absent-minded professor. Of course either way I would still need to toughen him up a bit if we were going to make it to the desert.
As I was starting to rethink my new best wizard friend, I could hear that the fire in the inn was put out and the guard was starting to sort out what had happened. Hopefully the tiefling would bear most of the blame, but the guards would probably come looking for Rolan before too long.
I gracefully leaped back out the window and into the alley and exchanged Rolan's pack for my lute. I watched him as he mumbled some more things under his breath, but once he saw a leather-bound journal he seemed to relax. I was starting to worry the town guard would start searching the alley. Finally, Rolan looked up and jumped a little like he was surprised I was still there.
"Come on, I have a place where we can stay tonight and you can tell me more about this machine in the desert. Tomorrow we can figure out what to do next".
I grabbed him by the hand and quickly started pulling him down the alley at a brisk pace. Before long we were far from the fire gutted remains of the Flaming Dragon. I had participated in enough "nocturnal activities" around Waterdeep to have a good idea of where most of the guard patrols would be and how to avoid them. Besides most of their attention was down at the Flaming Dragon.
We soon came to my apartment; but I made sure that, between the darkness, and the back alley paths we took, it would be hard for Rolan to find his way back here. I did this just in case I needed to distance myself from him, for whatever reason. I needed to learn about this journal of his, and if he was seeking the same thing the Harpers had tasked me to find. If it was worth my trouble, I would also need to convince him that he wanted to take me along on his journey. Obviously I could just tell him that we would be traveling together, but my experience with these things, and particularly with men, is that it is best if he thought it was his idea.
I was pretty sure that this meeting wasn't a coincidence, but I thanked the gods anyway. When I first chose this unassuming and naive wizard to become my travel companion, I thought he would be the key to my success, what I didn't count on was that he would come to mean much more to me. Looking back, I thought I'd had everything under control and Rolan would simply be a means to an end. What I didn't know was how completely wrong I had been, and how happy I would be to have been so mistaken.
