Chapter 10: Off to the Mines Day 9
The party met for a quick breakfast and discussed the plans for the day. Jaheira and Khalid had already met the mayor, one Berren Gashkel, and he had requested assistance to determine what evil was plaguing the Nashkel mine and corrupting the iron ore. Jaheira stated that this was an opportunity to help restore the balance, while Garrick viewed it as an opportunity to gain heroic tales for the retelling in lore and song. For his part, Ajantis viewed it as an opportunity to prove his virtue and ability to his Order and to Helm. Imoen and Jeral just nodded and went along with the group.
They left the inn and headed south on the only road in town, small children, chickens and town folks doing about their business made the small lane chaotic. A quick stop at the general store replenished supplies. While at the store they sold Khalid's old chainmail and replaced Khalid's shattered sword and battered shield. Khalid hefted the newly purchased blade and looked at it skeptically, "This one may not be much better my friends. What with the iron crisis and all. But I, I. I am sure it will work out for the best."
Past the temple an obese sweaty man tried to give the party gold for a reward due to one Greywolf the bounty hunter. Before Imoen or Jeral could reach for the money Ajantis had pointed out that there was some mistake and that the party was not due any bounty and that they had nothing to do with any bounty hunter. Muttering under her breath, "stupid goody goody" Imoen stuck her tongue out at Ajantis. Fortunately for all concerned the paladin did not notice.
The party next came across a giant of a man who was clearly distraught. The agitated man before them was well over six and a half feet tall, broad of shoulder and heavily muscled. Clad in splint mail he had a large two handed sword strapped to his back. His head was shaved and a large purple tattoo covered half of his friendly open face. A small furry rodent perched on his shoulder and the man appeared to be taking guidance from the animal.
In a cheerful yet booming voice the large man intoned, "Stop and go no further, Minsc and Boo would have words with you." Jeral identified the accent as that of Rasheman, a wild and untamed land far to the north and west. Jeral stepped forward and greeted the giant. "Greetings Minsc, I am Jeral, this is my sister Imoen, and my companions Khalid, Jaheira, Ajantis, and Garrick."
"You must greet Boo as well small one."
"Who is Boo?"
"Boo is my miniature giant space hamster, and my friend."
"Are you serious?"
"Minsc is always serious. Unless Boo tells a funny joke, then Minsc is not serious."
Following his personal policy of never angering large, heavily armed men who appear a little bit imbalanced, Jeral bowed and formally introduced himself and his companions the miniature giant space hamster named Boo. The hamster sat up and chattered in a way that made Jeral feel he was being greeted in return.
"Boo appreciates your greeting and we request your aid. Minsc has lost his witch. He is charged with protecting the fair witch Dynaheir. The smelly dog people knocked Minsc on the head and took his witch. Misch and Boo tracked them to the castle in the direction of the setting sun. Minsc needs aid to free her. Boo says that Minsc cannot free his witch without help."
"A damsel in distress, how can we ever refuse?" Garrick cried. "The bards will sing our praises."
"You are a bard Garrick." Cracked Imoen.
"I know that, I mean other bards will sing about me. I mean us. How delicious is that?"
Interrupting the sidetracked pair the paladin spoke, "These foul beats must be exterminated and the lady rescued," Ajantis intoned.
Elbowing Imoen as she approached Minsc Imoen spoke back up. "They are right brother, we have to help him, besides his hamster is cute." With that Boo ran down Minsc's body and ran over to Imoen, perching himself in her hands as she cooed over him. Looking at Khalid and Jaheira, and receiving slight affirmative nods in reply, Jeral agreed the group would go with Minsc. The mines and the larger iron crisis would have to wait for a few more days.
The newly enlarged party headed west out of town. Crossing a small bridge they were approached by a young wizard sporting garish bejeweled red robes and a closely cropped beard. He looked disdainfully at the party and started walking towards them.
"You there, unwashed ones, I have a task for you."
"What task might that be?" Jeral asked.
"Accept or not before I explain. You should be honored to work for one such as myself."
"We do nothing without an explanation." Jeral started to walk by the annoying mage.
Quickly moving to stand in front of Jeral again he said,"I need to have someone killed.
"Keep talking."
"I am searching for a witch called Dynaheir, a member of the lesser gender and a lesser nation of magic" Jeral realized that this annoying man was in a lot of trouble.
"RRRRAAAAGGGGRR. Dynaheir is Minsc and Boo's witch! No evil red wizard will harm her! Minsc would kick the pants of evil but the evil wizard does not wear pants so Minsc does not know where to kick." Minsc stood with his hands at his sides trembling with rage. The remainder of the party simply stared open mouthed at Minsc.
The red robed mage shook his head in resignation, "As allies of the witch, you must now die. I the great Edwin Odessarian must now destroy all of you." With that he started muttering the words to a spell. Before anyone else could react Minsc had closed with the wizard and clubbed him across the face with a meaty fist. The wizard collapsed in a heap. His nose was bloody and broken and not a few teeth were on the bridge. A faint rise of the chest showed that he was still alive, just knocked out.
Jeral walked up and knelt by the body. "Jeral, you cannot kill him now that he is defenseless." The paladin laid a firm hand on Jeral's shoulder.
"Relax Ajantis, who said anything about killing him?" Smiling Jeral took the cursed belt from his pack and affixed it to the red wizard. In an instant the battered wizard had changed into an equally bloody and battered – yet not unattractive – female wizard. Jaheira and the others could only laugh.
"Minsc does not understand what happened to evil wizard but Boo says that he got what he deserved so Minsc is happy." With that the party set off across the bridge westward in search of the captive witch. Once they crossed the bridge they were accosted by a man who had to be the town dolt, there was no other explanation. He followed along behind the party asking inane questions and repeatedly touching the female party member's arms. Noober was extremely annoying; they knew his name was Noober because he announced that fact in every other sentence. Jeral was almost ready to strike the fool when Imoen came up with a better solution. Imoen leaned in close and whispered in Noober's ear. With a shout of joy he took off at a sprint back towards town. Everyone looked at Imoen in amazement. Smiling she stated that she informed the lovely gentleman that a beautiful maiden awaited him on the bridge and that she needed a strong man to take care of her. He went running off while stating how he wanted to meet a nice girl and this could be his chance.
"A fate far worse than death lies ahead for the unfortunate red wizard,' Khalid intoned. The group shared a laugh as they walked further away from Nashkel.
The group headed west out of Nashkel, Minsc scouted ahead and Imoen was following behind Minsc trying to copy his stealthy yet swift strides. Imoen had begged Jeral to be the party scout and he had reluctantly obliged her so she was working hard to keep up with Minsc. Imoen was walking along the edge of a recently plowed field when she suddenly stumbled and fell into a small tree. Jeral and Jaheira rushed up as Imoen picked herself off the ground and dusted herself off.
"Stupid green rock," Imoen muttered as she kicked at a shiny green object that was protruding from the ground.
Jaheira bellowed, "Stand back children, that is an Ankheg and they can swallow a man whole!" Jeral let the child quip slide and they all scrambled back with their weapons ready. After a few seconds they realized that the green rock had not moved at all.
Jaheira slowly approached it and prodded it with her enchanted quarterstaff. Khalid and Ajantis followed her up and the three were soon on their hands and knees digging furiously. After about 10 minutes of hard effort they stood up holding a shining green suit of armor. Jaheira announced that it was Plate mail made from the shell of an Ankheg, as such it was highly prized for its strength, resistance to acid and light weight. Jeral eyed the armor and was impressed with its beauty. "I wonder who lost this armor in a farm field. Oh well finders keepers. Only you, Khalid, Ajantis and Minsc would wear such heavy armor and it clearly is too small for Minsc."
"T-t-t-t-try it d-dear. It is from nature after all."
Jaheira shed her studded leather armor and tried on the green plate mail. It fit like a glove and she tried to hide her smile as she stretched and moved in it. Imoen shed her leather armor and tried on Jaheira's old studded leather. It fit well enough and Imoen beamed happily in her new heavier armor.
Marveling at their good fortune they continued to the west. The remainder of the day passed uneventfully and near sunset Jaheira suggested they stop for the night. The party set up camp. Minsc busied himself by gathering wood for a small fire. He explained that by using certain wood and by building a shallow fire pit they could have a fire with very little smoke or glare to give away their position. Minsc seemed one with nature as much as Jaheria. Jeral took the first shift on watch and the party settled down for the night.
Day 10
The next morning the party awoke refreshed and well rested and resumed their trek westward. Minsc was clearly concerned over the fate of his witch and held many hushed conversations with his hamster. Other than an attack by a pack of hungry wild dogs the morning passed uneventfully.
The party crested a small rise and saw that their way was blocked by a small river. Jaheira stated that there were bridges across the river to both the north and the south. Minsc stated that the gnoll tracks headed south so the party continued on to the south. After a short while they approached a narrow wooden bridge that spanned the river. The companions prepared to cross the river but before they could they heard screams from across the river. As they readied their weapons they saw a tall slim man racing across the bridge. He was dressed in colorful silks and was clearly some member of the lesser nobility. At the end of the bridge he saw the party and quickly skidded to a halt.
"I am Jared of Baldurs Gate." He gasped, "There is a bear at the other side of the bridge, and it tried to kill me. Please protect me."
"Bears only attack people if they are hungry," Jaheira replied haughtily.
"Well he must be hungry. Please kill it so I can cross safely and I will do anything in gratitude."
"Mince is a ranger and friend of nature and furry animals. He does not want to hurt nice bear."
"Let us cross the bridge and see for ourselves and then decide. Maybe the bear wandered off," Imoen suggested.
With that the seven party members cautiously moved across the bridge.
As they reached the far side of the bridge they saw a large black bear rolling in the dirt. It sniffed the air, stopped rolling in the dirt and quickly returned to standing on all four legs. It looked at the party, roared, and charged.
"Well what do we do now?" Jeral cried.
"We return to the far side of the bridge and try the northern bridge, and quickly!" Jaheira said.
The seven turned around and started running across the bridge. They reached the end of the bridge and stopped, they were all breathing heavily with the exceptions of Minsc and Jeral.
"Well we have outrun the bear but he is still coming. And looking at some of you we cannot outrun him forever." Jeral directed a pointed glance at Khalid who was panting heavily and had his hands on his knees.
"Well some of us do have to wear heavy armor, you know. And p-p-p-plate mail can be a bit unwieldy when one is trying to run."
Smiling Jeral replied, "Forgive my ill time jest. Your armor may be heavy but I for one am glad you wear it for it keeps those of us who stand behind you safe."
"Enough chatter, the bear is clearly mad with sickness or hunger. The poor beast must be killed. I see no other way, unless someone knows how to charm the creature." After receiving no positive reply Jaheira reluctantly pulled out her sling and launched a bullet at the charging bear. It glanced of his side harmlessly. Garrick's crossbow joined in, as did Imoen's shortbow, Jeral's long bow and Khalid's long bow. As the bear continued to close the gap Jeral marveled at the ability of the bear to shake off damage. It had at least a half dozen arrows or bolts protruding from its body and seemed unaffected by the wounds.
As it reached the foot of the bridge Minsc attacked the bear with a massive overhand slash from his great sword while Ajantis flanked the large ranger. Minsc's blow dug deep into the bear's neck and fore leg. The bear lashed out and struck Minsc in the side. With a roar Minsc fell to the ground as blood gushed from his side. Before the bear could strike Minsc again sword strikes from Ajantis struck home and the bear fell to the ground dead.
Jaheira rushed up to Minsc to tend to his wounds. After a few healing spells and a couple of minutes time the ranger was back on his feet shaking off the effects of the blow. Other than some small slashes in his splint mail Minsc looked unaffected by the attack.
They noticed that the agitated noble Jared was standing off to the side shifting nervously from foot to foot. "Um, I thank you for your assistance. Here." With a rush he handed a pair of boots to Imoen and dashed across the bridge.
"So much for anything we wanted as a reward. Oh well. Anyone want a pair of boots?"
Garrick approached Imoen and examined the boots closely. "They appear to be enchanted and provide some limited protection against the cold." It was quickly decided that Minsc deserved the boots and he happily put them on.
"Look Boo, the boots are furry just like you." After a serious of furious squeaks Minsc continued, "Boo, I am sure these boots are not made from the fur of hamsters, they must be the fur of evil ice weasels or other icky but furry creatures."
Laughing and shaking their heads the party resumed their trek across the river. At the end of the day a massive fortress, perched atop a lightly wooded hill loomed in view. It was on the other side of a deep chasm crossed only by a narrow rope bridge. Well worn paths headed down the hill, up the hill, and straight towards the fortress from the base of the footbridge.
"My witch is in there."
"Assuredly you are correct, we must rest and move out at first light tomorrow," Jahiera said.
"We must go now to save Minsc's witch."
"J, j- j- j Jaheira is right good ranger. We need the rest and some of you cannot see at night."
"Minsc, I agree with Khalid and Jaheira, we need to be at full strength if we are to save your witch." Minsc glumly nodded at Jeral and the party quickly set up camp. Since they were so close to the gnolls they dared not light a fire and spent a cold night on hard ground.