Darkness and Light, Into the Chaos!

Kina groaned as she stepped off the boat. "I really don't like boats." She complained as she stepped off the dock, her friends close behind. After a few seconds, Kina looked up. "So this is Neverwinter." she whispered.

"Pretty good city by human standards." Khelgar admitted. "Though if you want to make a decent city, you build down, not up." he added.

"The stone and wood here is so unnatural. Like it's been silenced." Elanee said in slight worry.

"You sense that too, huh?" Kina asked, turning to her fellow druid. "I don't like this at all. The Mere was much better."

Neeshka rolled her eyes. "Hey! This may not be much by your standards, but it is my home!" she snapped. "So, where to first?" she asked.

"The Flagon shouldn't be too far from here. Let's go meet my uncle." Kina suggested. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can get back into the forest." she added quietly.

They wandered the city, not sure where to go, but found the inn quickly enough. They found a half-elf at the far end, and Kina approached with Ishi at her side while the others hung back. "What can I do for you? Bit of venom for the belly, perhaps? Or maybe a tankard or two to shave the edge off your day?" the man asked.

"I'm looking for Duncan. Daeghan sent me." Kina replied.

The man recoiled slightly. "Daeghan eh?" he muttered. "You're Kina then. No doubt trouble's chasing on your heels and you barely know why." Kina nodded. "Suppose Daeghan told you less than half of what you need to know, then sent you packing. Don't take it hard, done it to me a few times in my life, all for good reason. So, why are you here?"

Kina sighed, taking the shard from her pack. "I need to know why I'm being hunted for this." she explained. "West Harbor was attacked for it, and I've been getting dogged by bladelings for weeks because I had it in my pack."

"Well I can't say why. There's nothin special about the thing. Trace of enchantment by what Sand said, but nothing of importance. Probably residue from demon's fire or wizard magic. Anyway, barely worth mentioning. More sentimental value than anything else. That really why you came here? To hear about your mother?"

"Who what huh?" Kina asked, confusion and shock clear on her face. "What does Mom have to do with this?"

"It's a wonder Daeghan doesn't crack down the middle." he muttered. "You might have been better off raised by wolves if Daeghun didn't share that." Duncan commented. Kina decided not to mention she had been the one to raise the wolf. "There's a lot, I'm sure, he never told you, but it's his place, not mine. He'll tell you when he's ready. Let's stick with the shards for now."

"For now." Kina agreed. "You mentioned a 'Sand.' Would he/she be of any help?"

A moon elf approaches. Ishi informed, glancing at the door.

"Sand's got a dry wit, and he'll always rub you the wrong way, so his name's well chosen, but it's telling enough he can only run a business down here in the crack of Neverwinter." Duncan replied dryly. "Still, I suppose I trust him enough, and having an wizard close by certainly tends to keep fools from causing too much trouble."

"Let me guess, he's the one you brought the shards to?" Kina asked dryly. Duncan nodded and Kina sighed. "Well there's more than a 'trace' of magic in them now. Where's the other shard?"

"Here." Duncan replied, handing the shard over. "I've always kept it close, for some reason, didn't want to leave it out of my sight. Seemed unremarkable, but I find sometimes time will tell."

"Where can Sand take another look?" Kina questioned.

"Well, it's worth a shot." Duncan replied doubtfully. "But don't pay him any coin in advance, that's all I'll say. In fact, that fiper would best be off-"

The door to the inn opened. "Ah… it seems I have arrived just in time to deflect the usual barrage of slander from the local innkeeper." A dry voice mocked. Kina turned to see the moon elf Ishi told her about approaching. Thus commenced a small back-and-forth between the half and moon elves.

Kina tuned them out mostly, waiting for them to finish. "...and we need your help concerning the shard. Both of them." Duncan finished.

"Shard?" Sand asked, confused before realization came over him. "That chunk of silver you showed me so long ago? As I recall, you said the piece of junk had sentimental value, which upon viewing your establishment is perfectly understandable." Another back-and-forth commenced and Kina was getting fed up.

"Can you just look at the shards?" she growled, pushing said objects toward the mage.

"Oh very well. Give them here and let me see what my keen arcane senses can determine." the mage replied flippantly, casting his spell.

The explosion knocked all three elves off their feet. "Owie." Kina groaned, sitting up. She absently noticed Neeshka and Elanee looking her over. "I'm alright." she assured, using Ishi to help herself to her feet. "Let me guess, the shards don't want to be scryed?"

"Indeed." Sand groaned, getting back to his feet. "Are these truly the same shards? They were not nearly so powerful when last I saw them."

Kina sighed, sensing another back-and forth. "So now what? There someone else I can talk to?" she asked, cutting off the argument.

"Well, there could be something about you that causes them to resonate, but I have no idea why that would be. You could try and speak to Aldanon… but I don't think you'd have much luck reaching him. The Blacklake district where he lives is currently closed down." Sand explained. "The Watch has locked it tight, no one going in or out, no messages in or out, quite cryptic really."

"I heard about that." Duncan added. "Lord Dalren was killed, wasn't he? I've heard rumors, but no official word of what happened."

Kina remembered something she had heard on the way to the inn. "And some Cloaktower mages are involved, right?" she asked.

"Yes." Sand confirmed. "Which means sorcery or demons were at work."

After another fifteen minutes(or what felt like it) of conversation, Kina sighed, sitting at one of the tables. "So, the way Duncan says it we need to either get into the Watch or rub shoulders with Moire and her gang. Thoughts?"

"Well, crackin some skulls and doin some good while we're at it sounds like a good plan to me." Khelgar replied.

Neeshka scoffed. "Clearly you've never seen the Watch. I think Caleb is our best bet." she suggested. Elanee only shrugged, Naloch doing the same in his own badgery way.

Kina sighed, thought, and sighed again. "I don't like the idea of killing people the way Duncan and Sand made it sound like Caleb was into. Plus the Watch sounds like fun."

Elanee looked at her "sister" astonished. "That's not something I'd expected to hear from you of all people."

"Oh come on!" Kina replied, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Think of all the trouble I can make for the thugs pushing people around. And there are always ill-gotten gains we can help ourselves to. Evidence goes missing all the time."

"That sounds more like you." Elanee said ruefully, wondering if the drow would ever change. Probably not. She thought.

The group left the inn, heading for the Watch post. Of course things couldn't be that easy as they heard the shout of "Kalath-Cha!" and were confronted by the rather pitiful group of bladelings. Elanee and Naloch double-teamed one, Neeshka and Khelgar the second, and Kina and Ishi the third. They fell easily and the group progressed after getting some gold and potions from the dead creatures.

Coming inside, Kina caught that Cormick was talking to someone. "There must be someone you can spare, lieutenant. He's the first shopkeeper to take a stand against these thugs and deserves our protection!" he was begging.

"You know the number of men I have available to me, Marshal. You also know the efforts I've been taking to weed out turncoats." the lieutenant replied with a long-suffering sigh. "I can send some watchmen to this shopkeeper, but then we'll have to postpone the sweep through the northern district. I'm sure you'll agree that we want every man available for that operation."

Cormick shook his head. "The Council hasn't done us any favors with that last vote, have they lieutenant?" he asked. "We'll have to make due."

"Sounds like you could use a hand." Kina cut in.

"Ah, Kina." Cormick greeted warmly. "I managed to speak with my captain, and she agreed that your services were quite valuable and that you deserve some monetary compensation." he informed, handing her a bag of gold.

"Tell her I said thanks." Kina replied, pocketing the money. "But that's not why I'm here. I need into Blacklake and I heard you were the best bet to make that happen."

"I'm afraid the entire district is locked up tight. You won't be getting in any time soon." Cormick said darkly. "Even if you were in the Watch, Captain Brelania has to personally approve anyone who wants to enter Blacklake. She takes her job very seriously. She won't just give you one if you ask."

"Sounds like I need to get into this Brelania's good graces. I heard something about a shopkeeper in need of some protection?" Kina said, smiling.

Cormick rolled his eyes. "So you intend to join the Watch then?" he asked. Kina nodded and Cormick handed over a cloak before explaining the situation.

Kina sighed as she wiped her scimitar of Caleb's blood. After…..handling the thugs that tried to kill them at the shop, she told Cormick that Caleb had been mentioned. He of course told her to arrest Caleb, who didn't come quietly. They put up a good show of force, but a slash and a Call Lightning put a quick end to that. Unfortunately, she may have put too much power into her swing, and accidentally killed the guy she was supposed to arrest. Cormick wouldn't be happy.

The small army was put on patrol. Kina actually smiled as she walked away from the guardpost by the north section of the docks. "Well, now we have an ear on the inside." she chuckled.

"Don't you think you should have had him talk to Cormick instead of yourself?" Elanee asked.

"I can get permission to enter Blacklake even faster if I can stop the crimes before the Watch even finds out they're in progress." Kina reasoned. Neeshka giggled and the wood elf and dwarf rolled their eyes. "Come on! We still have one more patrol to check." she called, running toward the Sunken Flagon. So far today, they had stopped a Luskan bribe, arrested a group of turncoats(entangle made it really easy), and gotten the CI at the watchpost. Now all that needed handled was the guardpost behind the Flagon.

Of course things weren't that easy.

And the gang has joined the Watch! I considered Caleb for about a second before deciding Kina wasn't that bad. Plus it seemed like a decent idea to just rob the bad guys. Get some money and arrest some criminals. Yay! Anyway, leave a review telling what you thought, and I'll see everyone next time!