Well, though I had felt rather inspired the last days, I had to rewrite and rewrite the second half of this chapter again and again and again. Thus I't had taken a bit longer than the other chapters.

Anyway, more things will change, a new character will make his premier and Azog will only get more confused.


Chapter 6: Back in town

I had thought the athmosphere when we rode towards the de'Arnise fortress had been tense. Then we rode back to Atkathla and the travel in the opposite direction seemed to have been a nice holiday. Nalia was downcast over the loss of her father, her home, everything she had known. Jaheira and Milira did not talk to each other and rode on the opposing ends of the small column. Anomen was grim. Aerie was sad. And I was miserable because my whole body still hurt.

We arrived in Athkatla without being held up this time, though we still needed more time than the first time. No wonder, on our journey back we were not hurried along by a distressed Nalia. Come to think of it, she had not said a single word beside the barest neccesarities to any of us. I turned my gaze to her, as we were riding rather close to another, and saw her downcast look and her miserable appearance, eyes sunken in, slightly pale. I would have loved to do something for her, but the wound was too fresh. So I remained silent.

As we arrived on the gates a pair of amnian soldiers tried to check our saddle bags, but a single look at our weapons and the sigil of the Order of the Radiant Heart on Anomen's breastplate and shield let them change their minds. Perhaps it was also the dark gaze from Jaheira, I'm not sure. Or our weapons.

"Where to now?", came the voice of the female druid once we were inside the city itself. I needed all my willpower not to roll with my eyes at the obvious way she was trying to provoke Milira.

"Let us return to the Copper Coronet. We will decide what to do then", answered the female half elven rogue who led us. I slowly got the impression that this woman was a saint, as she had apparently endless amounts of patience. She had to, if she was to lead such a colorful group as this one.

"I will take my leave here and return to the headquarter of the Order my Lady", we were informed by Anomen suddenly as we reached the first crossroad, though he made it sound like he was speaking to Milira only. "I'm sure they will be delighted to hear my report. I will join you in the establishment formerly in the hand of that foul man Lehtinan as soon as I can."

"Take your time, no need to return too soon." This mumbled comment from Jaheira only I was able to make out, as I was directly behind her. Or at least only I had heard it, as no one reacted to it.

"As you say", Milira said aknowleding Anomen, smiling at him.

We parted ways after we exchanged farewells, Anomen making his way to the temple district, we keeping on our way toward the slums. Somewhere between the city gates and our destination we were forced to dismount and lead our horses on their leashs. When we finally arrived at the Copper Coronet it the afternoon was half gone and the city was steaming hot.

I was glad to get out of the sun and into the cooler interior of the Tavern. However what I was not glad about was the fact, that inside the walls of the inn it was more crowded than outside on the streets. At least business was up and running again it seemed, which was good for my fellow former slaves.

Bernard managed to make a desk big enough to hold us free, he had the passed out drunkards sitting there thrown out, and the first round of ale was for free, though Jaheire retreated to her room immediately and thus I had two ale to drink. Works for me.


I was on my fourth ale when Hendak sat down next to me on the table. As it had been not even evening I had slowed down after the first ale and just sat there for a whole while before even sipping on my second one. Aerie had left us too and Minsc was engaged in a very animated conversation with a traveler from Rashemen, leaving only Milira and me at the table and for a long time neither of us had said anything.

Finally she had turned towards me and had said: "You have fought valiantly in our adventure. I had not yet the opportunity to thank you for your part in freeing the Keep. I thank you for standing with us and risking your life for us."

I had raised a single bushy eyebrow at her. "You're welcome. I had asked to join you in your endeavors and I plan to go through with this, as long as you don't start selling little children into slavery or start building an evil empire... Except when I could become the Grand Marschall. I would look good in a fancy armor with spikes and skulls on it."

"You certainly would my friend", she had said and laughed a bit. It had been a refreshing sound and balm for my ears after the rather tense athmosphere throughout the whole day. "But no, I am not planning to start a war of conquest any time soon. If I would, you'd be one of the first I'd inform."

"Ah, good to hear. May I recommend the Bloodstone Lands as a location to be conquered? It has great potential and is remote enough that the Harpers and other meddlesome organisations will most likely not take motice."

"I admit that it would have potential, you are indeed right in that regard, but I'm not much of a friend of cold winters. I think I'd would rather start a criminal empire somewhere were it is warmer. Tethyr perhaps or somewhere else on the swordcoast. Neverwinter perhaps." She had been grinning while saying this, taking a chuck from her ale. "Did you know that it is always warm in Neverwinter, even though it lies high in the north?"

"I thought as much from the name alone."

That was the moment Hendak pulled out the chair next to me and unceremoniously plopped himself down onto it. "My friend Milira", he said to Milira with a nod and a smile, then turning his face towards me. "My brother. I see you have returned in one piece. Was your journey met with success?"

"More or less", answered the half elven girl with a forced smile. "We did indeed deal with those occupying the keep, but we came to late to save the Lord de'Arnise."

"A pity and a shame. Bernard told me he had been one of the few good nobles in these lands", Hendak replied with what I thought was honest sadness.

"Noble nobles are in short supply everywhere, no matter where you look", I threw into the conversation, half serious and half joking. At least it produced another round of smiles.

"You are right again my friend", Milira said to that. "Though I fear there will never be a short supply of begging beggars or whoring whores or even thieving thieves. But luckily, there will always be guarding guards and warring warriors."

I stared at her for a full two seconds, before I broke down in laughter, she joined me a moment later. Hendak had Bernard bring more ale and beer and Minsc and his new companion joined us soon, the evening turning into a funny, joyfull event.

It was already long past sundown when finally Anomen did arrive, like he had promised. Only problem was, we were hammered. Totally. I have no idea what he was trying to tell us or what we answered in reply, all I remember are bits and pieces from the evening where I threw pieces of bread at some noble git, laughing and singing arm in arm with Minsc and stumbling up the stairs to my room, though not alone.


On the next morning my head felt like a group of dwarven miners were using it to build a new tunnel inside of it. When I opened my eyelids, very slowly I might add, the light coming from the window felt like it would burn out my eyes directly from my skull. My stomach was rebelling against me and trying to start an uprising of the organs inside my body. I tried to roll to the side and get out of my bed but my legs refused to do what I ordered and the rest of my limbs followed suit. Traitors.

However this was nothing compared to the shock I had when I heard a painful moan next to me. Clinging my eyes shut I slowly forced myself to turn around, before opening my eyes again, sending tiny prayers to any god that would listen. I was confronted with the sight of a human woman, one not so bad looking too. I admit it, I'm not a very deep person. The knowledge that in my drunken stubor I did go to bed with a good looking woman was putting me at ease, if only a bit.

I allowed myself a peak under the blankets and relieved I found myself, and her, dressed enough to make any kind of sexual intercourse strange at best and more or less unlikely. I also noticed that she filled out her linen shirt rather nicely in the chest area.

Using all my willpower I slipped from the bed, luckily we had not embraced each other or slipping out without waking her would have been impossible, and made my way downstairs to the kitchen, nursing my hangover as good as I could. There wasn't much activity at that time of the day and I managed to secure myself something, light, to eat and a lot of water to drink without stumbling around like the idiot I felt like at the time.

When I returned to my room and opened the door to step in I saw myself confronted with the sight of a rather sleepy, confused looking woman with her blonde hair in complete dissaray and all in all looking as miserable as I felt. I could not help myself, I chuckled slightly and then said to her as she looked at me: "Good morning. You look as shitty as I feel."

She pulled a face at me and shot me a glare. "Not the words a woman want's to hear in... ever."

Again I chuckled, despite my still hurting head, and stepped into the room.

"Have we...", she began. It seems there is a universal rule that whenever a woman wakes up next to a man and both don't remember the details about the night, one of them would start the question with these two words and stop then. Not that I would know, that was the first time something like that had happened to me.

"No. Unless you know a trick to do so with being fully dressed."

She did not grace me with an answer but fought her way out of the bed and began to search for her discarded equipment. For a second I watched her, then I began to help. Now that she was no longer hidden by the blankets I was able to see her fully. She was a big woman, for a human, and had a slightly broader build than what would be considered beautiful. Yet she was a fit woman and her face was, while not beautiful, pretty enough with a slightly to broad mouth and intense blue eyes. She moved with some sort of dignity through the room, trying to remain calm and proper while being in a completely unproper situation.

With a bit of surprise I saw her slipping on a chain shirt and putting on swordbelt, before she put on her, armored, boots. An adventurer perhaps? Could be. I had no idea and I did not ask her, I did not even know her name.

"Well... have a good day", she told me as she was about to leave.

I only replied: "You too."

And with that she was gone. Huh. Somehow I had thought the first time I would wake up without being able to remember how I got there and waking up with a good looking woman in my bed would be stranger. Perhaps I was just too hungover to freak out.


The second time I get down into the main room that day I found Milira and Nalia sitting on one of the tables, the first one looking up as she saw me approach, the second one busy with scribbling on a parchment and counting a large mass of money. Money was a strange thing in this world I had found out, consisting of a wild mix of different coins from all around the known world and even a lot of gems mixed in. Though I must admit that it was rather handy not being forced to hand over 2000 gold coins for real. Those are heavy you know?

"Good morning", I grumbled towards them as I pulled out a chair and sat down. Nalia only nodded into my direction while Milira did actually respond.

"And a good morning to you too. I'm surprised you're awake already, concidering the amount of ale, beer and cider you have consumed yesterday evening", she told me with a sweet smile. A perhaps too sweet smile. "I've known men who would be dead after drinking that much alcohol."

I was about to respond to that when I remembered the situation Nalia had just recently found herself in and swallowed my comment. It was most likely not very nice to make jokes about being dead next to a woman who had just lost her father. No, not at all. So I simply said: "That aside, what are your plans from here on? As far as I know you are in dire need of a great sum of money and thus on the look out for well paying jobs."

"Oh right, you have missed the conversation yesterday..." She snickered at something she remembered and I got the impression I was the one on whom the joke was. What have I done that she would snicker about? And why was Nalia trying to hide a smirk? Hmmm, a mystery for later and I shoved the thought to the side as Milira began to explain: "Yesterday while you and Minsc were singing battle songs together, both of you different ones I might add, I received a message from someone who would like to meet me regarding an opportunity to make money."

"Uhuh...", I groaned in reply and nodded once, only signaling to her that I was listening. "Any specifics?"

"Only the name and occupation of the possible employer: Renal Bloodscalp, a shadow thief guild master", she told me before taking a sip from her steaming hot tea.

While I only raised a single eyebrow and tried to recall the details of the thief stronghold quest from the original game, Nalia looked up from her parchment and draw in a surprised breath. With a slightly shocked voice she asked: "Milira! You... You are considering working for the Shadow Thieves?"

"If they pay... Yes. Yes, I do consider it." I could not helpt but to notice that the smile Milira gave in respond was a bit tight and the hand grasping her cup had clenched a bit. "Though I know of the reputation of them, I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I hope you will do the same."

"Um... of course." Our resident noble did not sound convincing.

"I will meet with him today, at sundown. I want Minsc and you two accompanying me." Another sip from her tea. "I don't think Anomen would be delighted to deal with such people in any way besides his weapon in hand and Aerie had expressed an interest in going to the circus this evening to meet with her friends there."

I did not ask after Jaheira. I was brave, not suicidal, thank you. Instead I asked: "So until then? Anything specific?"

"No", she answered. "We will meet up here an hour before sundown. Until then we are free to do what we like."

"Bummer, everything I like is either illegal, makes fat or is too expensive", I replied with a grin. A grin which she mirrored and made Nalia roll her eyes.


I don't like the govermental district of Atkathla. Too many large, imposing buildings telling people just how important the ones owning this building are, too much swank, too much wasted money on useless bauble. The nobles gave me pitying looks at best and disgusted ones most of the time, the private guards and city watch never left me out of their eyesight and all in all it was a very unwelcoming feeling I got from being there.

But I had to see it for myself before I could decide that I did not like it. I actually liked the temple district, I liked the promenade, I also liked certain parts of the docks and the great bridge, a district all in it's own, a small wonder of construction if you ask me as it was not only massive but there were actually houses and buildings build onto and INTO it. However the govermential disctrict...

Not so much to my taste.

Why again was I there? Ah, yes, accompanying Nalia to the govermental building of the Council of the Six, right.

"... and that is why I see it that way and I know that a lot of people think me naive, but I'd like to know what you think about that?", she finished her line of thought after we made our way across the main park again. For the I think seventh' time that day.

First she had dragged me to Council Hall of the Six in hopes of doing something about her being forced out of her house. After it became apparent that no one gave a damn about her there and she would have to wait months for an official hearing, she tried reasoning to friends of her family. Only that either they were not home or indisposed or were just not willing to see her out right. I slowly got the feeling that the Shadow Thieves were the most honorable "officials" in the whole damned city.

"Ummm..." I stared at her and unable to find an answer I decided to be honest with her. "What are we speaking about again?"

For a moment she stared back at me, then her shoulders dropped a bit and she turned around to keep on with her way. As I did not know what to say, I just followed her, hurrying after her to then walk next to her.

The park we were crossing through was actually quite nice, if you could ignore all the snoobish nobles that is. There were children playing in the grass, a few benches to sit on and a small fountain in the center. It was about forty times as big as the one depicted in the game, about as big as two football fields, right in the middle of the heart of the city. However I did not spend it much thought and preferred to keep my head busy with simple things. Because I still had a headache.

"Thank you for accompanying me on this fruitless endeavor", the chestnut haired girl suddenly said as we stepped of the grass back onto the cobbled street. Before us was some sort of tall official building of which I had no idea what it's purpose was, but the large open gate was adorned with two large lions next to it and the walls were covered with beautiful, colorful frescoes.

"Don't sweat it", I answered without taking my eyes from the art in front of us. I think it was really worth the time to stop and gaze upon it and I had a hard time tearing my eyes of it. "I admit, I had nothing better to do and I cherish the moments of peace and quit in my life."

"Azog, I must admit you surprise me. You are not what I would expect from a half-orc, especially one in your... um, profession."

I smirked at her. "And how many half-orcs in my profession do you know?"

She laughed at that. "You are right, you got me there. You are the first half-orc with whom I have spoken more than three words beyond the barest minimum. Don't get me wrong, it's not because I haven't tried, it's just... Your kind is rather seldom encountered in Athkatla and even then most of them tend to disregard me with contempt though I only try to help them."

I did not answer to that immediately but let it sink in for a moment while turning away from the large building, I think it was the amnian office of naval affairs or something, in front of us and began to make the way back to the Copper Coronet. After I have made four steps I said: "You see, I think especially those who share a certain background with me are suspicious of people trying to be kind to them. It's most likely nothing against you in person, it is just that a lot of people have been burned too often to trust the hand offered to them."

"Yes... I see your point. And I would still offer my hand to them, even if they don't want to take it", she responded, smiling sadly. She was walking next to me and I think we were quite the strange pair. Her robes were, even if a bit dirty, of highest quality and her pose and grace made it unmistakable that she was coming from a highborn background. I on the other hand towered over her like a mountain, dressed in plain and simple clothing, and people would have most likely thought me her bodyguard have we not walked next to each other.

"And that is the reason why I think you a good person, despite your, in my eyes, a bit naive choice of doing good." Before she could protest, and she was about to, I held up my hand to stop her. "I think it is a sign of charity and a good heart that you help those less fortunate than you. However, I think there are better ways of helping people than giving a freezing man a blanket and a hungry child an apple."

"So I should let the man freeze to death and let the child go hungry?", she asked me, her voice a bit colder than before. Seems I have poked into a hornet's nest with my statement.

"No, I think the man would be better served with a place where he could sleep and then work to earn something to eat and a warm fire. That way he would not only have something to eat and a place to sleep, he would also feel good about earning it", I answered her, trying to sound as neutral as I could. Problem with that was of course, that I did not feel neutral about it, I thought Nalia kind hearted but foolish in her endeavor to better the world, going at it from the wrong angle.

"If it were only so easy", she muttered with a tight smile, but then suddenly turned around to a commotion down the street. We had passed the largest buildings of the govermental district and had arrived on a central crossroad. To our left was the large prison, an imposing building about as pretty as a bull's behind, and it was there that a large group of people had began to gather in some kind of mob. "What is happening there? Come, let us check it out."

I had a hunch what to expect. Namely a female drow being to be burned at the stake by some fanatics.

"Gaze upon this evil monster! See the vile creature for what it is!"

In front of the crowd, over which I was easily able to look thanks to my size and the fact that people made room for me, stood a priest of some goddess I could not name. Beshaba I think, Mistress of... Pain? I can't really remember.

"This monster has tried to infiltrate our city to corrupt our children and eat our souls! What shall we do with her?!"

"Burn her!"

"Burn her!"

The crowd, it seems, had already decided what they want, not really interested in the words of the Priest. It was only luck that the priest, or perhaps only zealot, was ranting the same religious words over and over again and his assistant was yelling sob-stories about killed children and stolen souls, instead of just lighting the pyre.

"Azog, we have to help that poor thing", Nalia whispered to me and already fumbled through her spell components pouch. Not that I really noticed, because I was more or less staring. Most of the scene was familiar, kind off a like I had expected it to be, but there was one crucial difference: There was no female drow tied to the stake, but a red skinned, horned tiefling. At least I thought it was a tiefling.

"Please, I've done nothing! Let me go, please! Please, please, I'm innocent, I swear!", the poor female creature sobbed, her eyes filled with tears and her voice wavering. She was terryfied and to be honest, it nearly broke my heart seeing it. She could not be older than fifteen or fourteen perhaps, with big eyes and still childish features on her face, her body still not fully developed. And she was totally naked, only adding to her torture.

"Spit your lies, corrupt monster! The holy flames will burn your unholy body and destroy your vile aura, cleaning the city from your stench!", the zealot screamed with a mad gleam in his eyes, rising the torch high in the air.

"Quick Azog, before it's to late!", Nalia urged me and all but pushed me forward, even though she did not really have the strength to do so. This broke me out of my daze and I stepped forward, pushed several so called nobles to the side and then stood in front of the zealot, interrupting him in his raving about flames and pain and unholy creatures and stuff.

"You do know, that there are a lot of creatures from the lower planes who are immune to fire, don't you?", I asked him with a raised eyebrow. I was unsure of what to do with him. I could kill him, he wasn't a really dangerous man in my eyes, and he was about to kill a young woman because of her ancestry, making her in my eyes as evil as any raiding orc. But on the other hand he was a human. And we were standing in the middle of the govermential district of Athkatla, there were guards everywhere.

He stared up to me, his eyes wide with religious madness and his mouth trembling. "The flames of Beshaba will see to her demise! This horrible monster must die for the insult she is to the gods! She came to spy upon us and steal our children, bringing death and corruption with her!"

"Please... let me go! I'm innocent, I swear! I did nothing! PLEASE!" The girl screamed and cried and sobbed only louder and more. The people were yelling for her to burn and it did not seem like I could talk the idiot out of doing it.

I sighed. I was sure that if I make her lose, the idiots would attack me. So I had to be smart about it. I must admit, I had not thought that the mans neck would snap so easily and that it would sound so sickenly. It was sickenly easy to kill him. My muscles moved on trained instinct, my hands shooting forward and grabbing the head of the man, jerking it to the sound violently. He was dead instantly.

Then there was panic, people began to scream and run and I did not see the assistant of the man coming at me with raised sword, I was busy staring at the dead zealot to my feet. I could not shake the feeling that despite killing a human, I had done the world a favor by cleaning it from an evil creature. An unpleasant thought.

"Azog, look out!", Nalia screamed just in time for me to whirl around and dodge the blow with the sword. The man was bigger than the one I had just killed, a bit bulkier too, and dressed in chainmail, in one hand holding a torch, in the other a shortsword. With which he was trying to kill me.

He stabbed at me with a wild scream on the lips and flashed his teeth, but for all his wildness, he had no skill. I made a small step to the side and towards him, grabbed his wrist and jerked hard. He stumbled and then my forehead found his nose, producing a sickening crunch and a slight headache for me. I'm sure he felt worse.

I released him out of instinct, he made a step back and then his eyes got huge, a silent scream of shock on his lips. Behind him stood Nalia, her dagger buried in his back. He fell to the ground, the weapon still in his back, bleeding out and most likely dead in a few minutes. If I thought I had been shocked of killing a human, Nalia was worse.

She just stood there and stared at him, her whole body shivering. Slowly I stepped up to her and though I would have preferred to take her in my arms in show her that the world was not lost, even if she felt that way now, I knew that we had to hurry. So I slapped her across the face.

"OUCH! What... Are you mad?!"

"I'm sorry my friend, but we must hurry, I have no desire to explain the situation to the guards." While I said that I already was on the pyre and cut the ropes holding the girl up. I had not released how small the girl was, she could not be bigger than perhaps one fifty, until I stood next to her and pulled her roughly from the pyre. When I touched her she jerked back for a moment, but she complied.

Nalia pulled off her cloak and threw it around the girl's shoulders, she seemed to be swallowed hole by the fine wool garment, then pulling her along. "Don't worry girl... you're safe now... you're safe."

I admit, she was better at calming a terryfied woman than I was and I let her do the talking while we hurried away from the scene, hoping that we would not be bothered by the guards. I think they were just happy for the whole spectacle to be over, they ignored us as we practically jogged past them.


By the time we arrived at the Copper Coronet the red skinned girl had stopped to sob and to cry, she was only whimpering softly now and then. As she had no boots on her feet must have hurt like hell and the whole experience had visibly shaken her.

"Bring her to my room, will you? I'll organize something for her to wear", Nalia said to me as if I was a servant, releasing the girl in the process. When she pulled back her arm from the poor girls shoulders she jerked again, though this time a bit less violent.

"Don't you think it would be better the other way around?"

"Do you want to ask for women's smallclothes?"

"I'll bring her to your room, right away, as you command my lady." Her arguments were quite good, I must admit. I managed to smuggle the girl throw the thickening crowd in the tavern without any problems, courtesy of Hendak and friends, and was thankful for the cowl attached to the cloak, hiding the girls two small horns and her skin from prying eyes.

"Who is she?", asked Hendak as I pushed her into Nalia's room.

"Someone who needs help."

He did not answer but just raised an eyebrow in question. Then he nodded and left us alone, closing the door behind him, but not before mumbling something about having Bernard bringing her some hot soup and something to drink.

As the door closed I turned to the girl, by now sitting on the bed, making herself as small as possible. The cloak was too big for her, which was good as it hid her complete appearance and nude body fro view. I felt a bit dirty being alone with her, the small, vulnerable looking girl, but I could also not leave her simply alone. So I grabbed a piece of cloth, some water from a small pitcher and began to clean her face.

She whimpered a bit when I touched her face but she did nothing to stop me. In closer inspection I noticed how miserable she looked, her eyes downcast and confused, her expression frightened, her completey body shaking, her hair matted and dirty. I thought that it would perhaps good for her to visit a bathhouse the next day, not just because she would get clean, she could also feel better... a beauty day if you wish to call it so. I made a mental note to ask Nalia for that, perhaps the girls could do something together, would perhaps help with group morals.

"Don't worry girl...", I said in the best shoothing voice I managed. I think it came out as a deep growl, most likely reminding her more of a dragon than of a kind person. "... you're safe now. You're safe."

She sniffed, nodding slightly. Then she answered with a hoarse, croaky voice: "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"This... this wasn't supposed to happen...", she whispered, I think more to herself than to me. I let her continue, perhaps it would help her through this traumatic experience. "It was... just a story... Just a story, nothing more. It wasn't supposed to happen. I thought it was only a joke or prank or so."

Well, that sounded really strange, but hey, who am I to judge? I stood up and began to wash out the small piece of cloth I had used to clean her face. At least a bit. I only listened with half an ear what she was saying, my thoughts were elsewhere. If it was not Viconia about to get burned on the pyre, where was she then? Where would we meet her? Would we meet her at all? Perhaps she had died in the former game and would not be around at this time at all. Would be a real bummer.

By the time Nalia came back carrying a bundle of clothes, a simple linen dress and a pair of smallclothes, the girl had calmed down a bit, no longer shivering and mumbling and I let her alone with my female companion, bringing her something to eat and to drink.

The two young women, well one young woman and one girl, were peacefully talking with one another and stopping abruptly when I arrived. When they saw it was only me both releaxed visibly. "We should get going in about an hour or so", I informed Nalia. "Go get something to eat and drink before we go, I think meeting with the guild master could take a while."

She nodded and turned to the yet nameless girl. "I'll be right back, okay? Do you want me to come back or..."

"No, it's allright", she answered with a weak smile. She was still wearing the big cloak, yet was also wearing the dress underneath by now. "Go, I'll be fine."

"As you say." The young noble woman hesitantly grabbed the girls shoulder and squeezed it, giving her an encouraging smile, before standing up and leaving the slightly run down room, leaving me alone with the girl.

For a few moments I stared at her, me not really feeling comfortable in my position. I wasn't really good with women, never were, and I think it is a stereotypical behaviour of men to panic when a woman is crying. Though she was no longer crying, she was still clearly not well. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, before I began to ask: "You want me to leave or..."

"No no... it's okay... it's alright, really." She bit her lower lip. "Soooo... You're Azog, right?"

"Uh, yes, that's me. Azog I mean. Yes." Smooth, really smooth. Like I said, I was still not really comfortable being in the room alone with her. "And you?"

"Um... um..." She began to think, not meeting my eyes, chewing on her lips, before answering: "Um... uhhh... Arwen?"

I raised both eyebrows. Okay, so there was a tiefling girl named Arwen now. What a... coincedence. "Are you answering me or asking me if that is your name?"

"Answering. Totally answering. Like, um, really. Yeah."

"Uhuh." Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure. I let myself plop down onto the single chair in the room. It was neither a comfortable chair nor a very well preserved chair, creaking dangerously under by bulk, but for now it held. "So, how did you end up on that pyre anyway? If you're comfortably with me asking."

Again she bit her lips. "Um... that's a really, um, strange... Story. You wouldn't believe me, like, anyway."

"Try me. I have seen some very strange things, including a small gnome in a colorful dress riding a pink elephant." That was a lie, but it served it's purpose, she giggled a bit at the image.

"Okay", she then said. "I'm from, um, not around here. I mean, not only not Athkatla but, like, this world. I was just minding my own business, like, reading a fanfic-um, a book, when there was this bang and a storm and I got hit by lightning and PUFF, there I was, cute little me, lying naked in some gutter. When I woke up these jerks found me and... well, you know the rest."

I stared at her dumbfounded, my mouth hanging open. Finally, after several minutes of stunned silence in which she looked at anything but me, I said: "You're a SI?!"


Second OC. Another SI. This is about to get strange.

I have not yet decided what major quest they will tackle next. Perhaps two at once, splitting the group. Or something completely new. Not sure yet. If you have a suggestion, write me a review or PM.

The yet nameless woman in Azogs bed will return later in this story, though most likely not in a major role.