Gaelan Bayle
The smell of the Slums reached them long before they reached the Slums; the stagnant water, rotting beggars, salty beef, and cheap ale was so thick in the cramped air that it seemed to permeate every pore. The hum of the overstuffed taverns, the barking jests and jousts of drunks, and the pleasure-filled cries of ladies of the night maintained the daytime energy of the rest of the city. Even in darkness, the Slums remained awake and alive.
They carefully picked their way through empty and better lit streets, avoiding alleyways and narrow passes as they worked their way deeper into the heart of the Slums to where they'd been told The Copper Coronet stood. She knew they were being followed. She sensed the movements in the shadows and caught glimpses in her peripherals of moving figures. What did they want? She wondered. Thieves looking to make easy coin? Spies tracking her movements? She only wanted a hot meal and a warm bed and to wake up and realize it had all been a terrible nightmare and she was back on the Trade Way with her friends, when Imoen was chirping funny tales and Khalid was bantering playfully with her while he held Jaheira in his arms and Minsc fussed affectionately over Dynaheir.
As she lost herself in her better memories, her fatigue set in and she almost didn't notice the person in the shadows in front of them.
"Coo! You'd be the one I be lookin' for, if I not be mistaken," he began with the Slum-drawl as he kicked off the wall and stepped out to block her path. "Jayda be yer name, ay?"
His handsome face was partially cast in shadow and his hands were stuffed in his pockets. He wore a simple black tunic with matching pants and boots. There was a curious glint in his eyes, and the way he carried himself confidently told her he was more than met the eye and not to be brushed aside or underestimated.
"I am she," Jayda replied, glancing back at Jaheira and Minsc to warn them to prepare for a potential fight. "What do you want?"
"Oh, 'tis not what I want, but what I can be doing for you." He took a casual step forward. "Ye might be wantin' information about a young lass arrested by the wizards on your arrival here, ay?"
"Imoen!" Minsc gasped angrily, sliding his longsword from its place on his belt.
"Minsc," Jaheira warned even as she gripped her quarterstaff with both hands.
"You're talking about Imoen!" Jayda blurted as she rushed toward him. "What do you know?"
"Now, Imoen, aye… that be her name," he mumbled. "Young lass made the misfortune of castin' a spell or two in a city that frowns on such business."
"What do you know?" she reiterated as she grabbed fistfuls of his tunic threateningly. He calmly held his hands up in surrender, grinning down at her without an ounce of fear in his expression.
"Coo!" he howled, amused. "I knows very little meself, me Lady," he told her. "I can, however, link ye up with a group that knows. Or can be findin' out."
Warning bells chimed in the back of her head and her muscles drew up tight, momentarily shaking off weariness. Here she was, directionless, and out of the darkness comes a mysterious stranger offering answers to questions she desperately needed to ask. Her fingers uncurled from his shirt and she let him go. He casually took a step back.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Well bless me for bein' an idiot if I haven't gone and forgotten me manners," he laughed. "My name be Gaelan Bayle. Ye needn't stretch your brain thinkin', I be sure it's a name ye haven't heard." His gaze drifted across her body, from head to toe, before he proceeded. "You be a different matter," he began quietly. "You be renown enough that someone might be willin' to find this Imoen for ye, or maybe this wizard who held ye. Either way, they both went to the same place."
Jayda narrowed her gaze on him. He knew more than he pretended, of that she was sure.
"Who is this group?" Jaheira asked.
"That I cannot tell ye. Rest ye fine that they be willin' to help… and havin' enough power to challenge the Cowled Wizards. That all ye be needin' to know." He glanced around. "But this be not the best place to hold such a dialogue. I be having a place that would suit far better. It be just a short walk from here. Why don't I take you there right now?" He smirked, sensing her apprehension. "Unless ye have some reason for not wantin' to come along."
Jayda took only a second to think it over. She needed answers and he was offering. So far, he was her best lead. So she nodded.
"I'll go," she confirmed. "But if this is a trap—"
He scoffed. "I have no interest in settin' up a trap," he assured her. "It be more profitable to serve." A shallow bow was given and then he pointed down the road they had been traveling. "The Copper Coronet be straight down this road here if ye friends wish to continue on."
"What is this?" Minsc asked. "We stand with Jayda, wherever she goes."
She glanced back at her friends and nodded. "It's okay… I'll be along soon."
"Jayda, are you… sure?" Jaheira asked, hesitant.
"I'll be fine." She looked at Gaelan Bayle. "Lead on."
He bowed again, enjoying the game, and slipped into an alley she had hardly noticed before. She gave a last reassuring look to her friends and then followed him. He led her through tight alleyways, twisting and turning in a maze of streets. It was clear he intended to disorient her, but he had underestimated Jayda's past; she had done plenty of sneaking around Candlekeep in her youth, not to mention the labyrinths of Baldur's Gate and the trials to defeat her brother Sarevok she had endured. It was a strange city, but she did not allow herself to lose her bearing.
They finally arrived at a humble house tucked into a corner of the Slums. He opened the door and led the way inside, nodding to a man in the corner of the room. He scurried upstairs as Jayda took a look around. For the derelict appearance on the outside, it was well-furnished inside. She was surprised by the elegant rugs that covered the wooden floor, by the paintings and cherry furniture and iron candle fixtures.
In the light she got a better look at him. He was tall, built like a rogue—strong but slim—and had blue eyes. His black hair was unkempt and the shadow of stubble on his jaw and chin created a devilishly handsome illusion. He looked every bit a working man, but he was too clean to be pure Slum-dweller.
"Ye kept up well," he said, probably intending to compliment her, but she was almost insulted.
"I find where I need to be just fine."
"I've no doubt," Gaelan said as the other man came back.
The servant set a water bowl on Gaelan's desk and handed a rag and looking glass to Jayda, then dismissed himself. She took a look in the mirror and sighed at her own appearance. Her red hair was tangled and wild, gray eyes weary and face streaked with dried blood and black dust. So much for first impressions. If she had ever meant to be intimidating to Gaelan, she now understood why it had failed.
Jayda dipped the cloth, wrung it out, and, with the help of the mirror, began rubbing at her cheeks and forehead. Gaelan leaned against his desk and crossed his arms across his chest, watching her.
"I tell ye straight that I know a powerful group that can be helping ye. They can be findin' the wizard and the young woman both, they can. But they can be doin' far better than the tellin', me Lady, if ye catch me meanin'."
"You mean they could help get her back," she guessed, scrubbing vigorously at some of the black smudges that seemed to only want to spread. She flicked her gaze at him. "I'm listening."
"But ye should know that it requires me friends to cross the Cowled Wizards. Not something ye would be able to do on yer own. Tsk."
She gave up on her face and turned to him. "All I need is to know where she is. I can handle the rest on my own."
"Ye might think this," Gaelan said, taking the rag from her and dipping it in the water bowl once more. He rung it out and, catching her chin, gently began rubbing at her cheeks with the rag; she would have refused but was too weary to argue. "But I be tellin' it isn't true. Without my organization, there be nothing ye could do."
"All right," she began, tense, "I see where this is going. And how much is this help going to cost me?"
"A fair price, if ye think about it," he replied. "Twenty-thousand gold pieces for their help."
Jayda coughed and jerked back, gawking up at him.
"Twenty thousand?" she yelled. "Are you out of your mind? That's an outrageous sum!"
"Outrageous, is it?" he asked, not the slightest bit intimidated by her outburst. He dipped the rag again and wrung it out. "We be crossin' the Cowled Wizards for ye. I told ye it not be a thing to be done lightly." He stepped over to her and continued cleaning her face.
"Is… is there no way to lower the cost? What you spend it on—the labor… I could help, contribute. I could work—"
"Not me price to alter, me Lady," he told her quietly. "This time, I'm just the messenger."
Jayda sensed his sincerity and slumped her shoulders. "I do not have that much money… How am I supposed to raise it? I know no one in this city."
"That don't matter much, I'm happy to report. There be plenty of work in this city for someone of yer skill." He dropped the cloth into the water bowl. "Besides… ye know me."
"That's hardly comforting," she scoffed.
"It will be," Gaelan said assuredly. "Ye should try Renal Bloodscalp for some employment. He's 'round the Docks in the Shadow guild building. Tell them I sent ye…" He grinned.
"You're serious…" She nodded and took a deep breath. "Okay… I'll get the money. Tell your friends I accept. I'll be back when I have the sum."
"Aye, I'll wait for it."
She started to go but turned back to him. "I don't like this! I don't like not knowing who I'm giving such a large amount of money. I don't like that you know so much about me and my situation. And you're just… a stranger in the night… So if I find another way, I'm taking it."
"Better a stranger in the night than nothin' at all, ay?" he asked, and her silence must've told him she agreed. "Brus'll be waitin' for ye outside. He's me nephew, an' he'll show you to the Copper Coronet. Ye'll find work easily enough there, ye will."
"We'll see."
"Fare ye well, then… an' give me greetings to Lehtinan if ye happens by 'im…"
"If I do," she mumbled and reached for the door, tired and annoyed but somewhat hopeful; it was an apprehensive hope, but hope nonetheless. "Farewell."
"Remember that here is where your help is," he called and she glanced back. "Strangers are not always to be feared."
She stared hard at him and then left.
/
The Copper Coronet was a warm and inviting pit of rough-housing and ale. The main hall was a long rectangle of tables, each one overflowing with patrons, and in the center was a massive roasting pit. All kinds of meats were being turned over bright red coals. Three large, iron chandeliers spanned the room. The bar was on the far side but Jayda noticed her friends had claimed a table near the roasting pit so she made her way there.
"Good, you've arrived," Minsc began. "Another minute more and I would've torn up the Slums searching for you!"
"I'm fine," Jayda assured him as she plopped into a chair and took a swig of the drink Jaheira slid in her direction.
"This place is not a friendly one," the druid mumbled. "Be wary of who you deal with."
"Simple cutthroats and hooligans I can handle…" Jayda replied tiredly. "Bayle's going to hook us up with a group that can help us find and rescue Imoen, but it won't be cheap…"
"How much?" Jaheira asked.
"Twenty-thousand."
Her friends coughed and gaped.
"Twenty-thousand…" Jaheira gasped.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we have only twenty gold," Minsc announced as he pulled some beef, laid it on a plate with potatoes and greens, and passed it to Jayda. "How will we obtain so much?"
"We're going to have to raise it," she replied. "Bayle assured me we won't have trouble finding work in Athkatla. And he threw me a name I'll look into tomorrow."
"Imoen could be dead or worse by the time we raise that much!" Jaheira protested. "Who knows what Irenicus will do to her. You saw how he bested those wizards. Do you really think the Cowled can hold him?"
"I agree, but we don't have much of a choice. We don't know where she is and this is our best lead. If something better comes along, I'm jumping, but until then… this is all we can do." Jayda pushed her fingers back through her hair and grunted in frustration. "I hate this. I hate not being able to act… I hate waiting. I hate having to rely on someone else's power… But what can I do?" She slammed her fist on the table and murmured, "Blood of Bhaal or not… I'm still just as powerless as any mortal… I cannot snap my fingers and make the things I need appear. I cannot wish myself to the places I need to be. I have no power of any use to anyone… not even the people I love."
"And that is good," Jaheira said at length. "Who knows the price such a power would come with…" Jayda only nodded. "You said Bayle threw you a name?"
"Aye," she confirmed. "Lots of secrecy around it, but I know where he sends me. To the Shadow Thieves."
"Tch," Jaheira scoffed. "I know in the past you've made a living off of your talents, but the Shadow Thieves are at war right now. It's too dangerous…" She glanced to their ranger friend. "Minsc and I can't help you with this. Besides, it's not as if they were a group we would want to be involved with were they not at war."
"Its work," Jayda reminded her. "If something better comes along, I'll take it. But you know how profitable working with thieves can be—"
"And how dangerous!" Jaheira reiterated.
"And I can take care of myself. Besides, I'm more likely to bring trouble to them at this rate. Who knows what sort of deranged wizard or godspawn will descend next?" she asked bitterly, then stabbed at her dinner.
The three friends sat in the sober quiet and ate until there was nothing left to hold back their exhaustion. They ascended to the rooms Minsc had purchased. Once alone, Jayda stripped off her armor, tossed herself onto the bed, and immediately fell asleep.