Chapter 14: Return to Candlekeep
"'We will be monks again, for a time,'" Julius read from the dog-eared notebook. "'Return to the meeting place under the pillars of the Wise God.'" He looked at the grand duke, Sergeant Maerik, Buffy, Willow, Aquarra, Xan and Jaheira.
"Candlekeep," Aquarra said quietly.
"Can they get in there?" Eltan asked. "My understanding was that Candlekeep rarely if ever opens her gates. How could a whole cabal of conspirators use Candlekeep as a meeting place?"
"That's a misconception," Aquarra said as she looked at Eltan. "My father was a monk. He raised me behind the walls of Candlekeep, and he set me on the path I've been walking for what seems like a lifetime now. A series of events that started with him and led Buffy and I first to Khalid and Jaheira, then Willlow and finally to Xan. You can get in but you need a lofty entrance fee. A book worth at least five thousand gold. Still most folks couldn't afford such a lofty entrance fee."
"I can sooner go to war with Amn than come up with such a lofty entrance fee," Eltan sighed. He wasn't defeated, he was thinking.
"Seems a handy clue," Maerik piped in, and Eltan looked at him sharply. The sergeant took half a step backward and said, "My apologies, I—"
"Don't apologize, sergeant," Eltan said. "This notebook was a rather important text to leave behind."
"The Iron Throne has done sillier things," Willow offered. "How could they want us to know they've gone to Candlekeep?"
"If it's true what you—" Julius started, then stopped at a sharp look from Maerik.
Eltan held up a hand and said, "Go on, corporal."
Julius smiled weakly and said, "M'lord, if we can't get into Candlekeep, maybe they want us to—want you to know they're out of your reach."
"They're taunting me?" Eltan asked.
Julius shuddered. "I'm just—"
"It's possible," Jaheira said. "We—the Harpers—have thought there's one man behind this whole thing. A dwarf the Iron Throne had made a slave told us this man's name. He's a wealthy merchant from Sembia named Reiltar. I have reason to believe this man Reiltar is the—is a son of Bhaal."
Willow looked at Jaheira with eyes wide. Ever since Jaheira had said that Gorion had tested Buffy and confirmed that her friend was a child of Bhaal. She had been trying to find a way to broach the subject to Buffy.
Buffy looked towards Aquarra and sighed. She was sure now that Aquarra's destiny was to meet this possible brother.
"The son of Bhaal?" Eltan asked, incredulous. "The dead god Bhaal?"
Jaheira nodded, and Julius stood on shaking legs.
"That's madness," Maerik commented. "M'lord, who are these people?"
Eltan looked at Maerik, then at Jaheira, and said, "How could you know this?"
"There are others," Jaheira said. "Other offspring of Bhaal. The Harpers have been watching some, have lost track of others. And we have long believed that Bhaal even sowed some in other realms. No one knows how many have survived."
"And one of them wants to start a war with Amn?" Julius asked, forgetting his place.
"Murder," Jaheira said, "on a grand scale."
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Two days from Candlekeep, everyone was taking turns to wash away the grime and sweat of the road. Willow pulled out the book and held it in both hands. Her magic told her that the leather that made the book's binding was human skin.
She opened the cover, and the first page was blank. She turned the first page. There was a skull painted there, surrounded by what might have been either flames or drops of water. The writing was ornate and meaningless to Willow.
Willow turned the next page. The line drawing there made her heart race, and she closed her eyes against the horror of it.
"Will?" Buffy said, Willow jumped and a soft, startled sound escaped her open mouth.
The book bobbled in Willow's hands, but she grabbed at it, closing the cover with a loud crack.
"Are you all right?" Buffy asked.
"Buffy," Willow said as she looked around and saw the others were still bathing. She looked down at the book and decided she needed to tell Buffy what she had learned from Jaheira and Khalid, she needed to stop stalling. "There is something I need to tell you."
Buffy nodded. "What is it?"
"While you and Aquarra were going to take Gorion's body to Candlekeep. I overheard Jaheira and Khalid talking. Jaheira said that Gorion had you tested. For what reason she did not say. But the test confirmed that you too were a child of Bhaal," Willow managed to get out.
"Jaheira," Buffy called out as the Jaheira and the others walked over.
Jaheira sighed as she looked at Buffy and nodded. "It's time you know of your parentage. First let's get one thing straight." She looked at both Aquarra and Buffy. "You both are not who you were born to be. You can make your own way in this or another world, and your father, your brothers and sisters, don't have to turn you off that path."
"Our father?" Aquarra said. "How do you know anything about my father? Or Buffy's father? She wasn't even born in this realm."
"How I know," Jaheira said. "Is what the Harpers have always known. What the priests of Oghma and the paladins of Torm have always known. When I told Eltan that Reiltar is a son of Bhaal, I wasn't sure… I wasn't as sure of that as I am that… that you two are daughters of Bhaal."
"How is that possible?" Buffy asked. "I wasn't even born on your world."
"It has been long believed that during the Time of Troubles that Bhaal seeded his progeny amongst the many races of this realm," Jaheira said. "Some such as Gorion believed he had even sown his seed amongst races of other realms. When the portal that brought you here opened in Candlekeep through the wards. Gorion knew that powerful magic had to have been used. He contacted myself and others he knew and they confirmed the Key had been utilized."
"The Key?" Buffy asked.
"Yes," Jaheira said. "The very one you said resides in your sister. She opened the doorway to your father's realm, unknowingly."
"This just doesn't make sense," Buffy said. "I know who my father is."
"Do you, Buffy?" Willow asked. "Think, when was the last time you saw him?"
"It was in high school. He canceled on me for my seventeenth birthday trip to the Ice Capades and on my eighteenth birthday he was in Spain," Buffy said. "I couldn't even locate him when mom died. I remember mom saying they fell out of love. I wonder now with this information if it was more than just that. It's possible I guess. There is only one person who could answer that. But mom, died. Okay, let's assume for a second here what your saying is true, Jaheira. I'm not a god, and neither is Aquarra despite what you told me back in Naskhel."
"No," Jaheira agreed, "but your father was. Your mothers, I don't know, but your father was the god of murder."
"Is there a way to confirm any of this?" Buffy asked.
"There are two," Jaheira said. "The first I could perform the same test that Gorion had. It would show whether the two of you are related. The other will only work if one of your mother's is no longer among the living."
"I can perform a ritual that can call a spirit," Xan said.
"Perform the spell, Jaheira," Buffy said. "If we see proof then we will go from there."
Jaheira nodded and chanted in the elvish tongue as Buffy and Aquarra glowed blood red.
Aquarra looked at herself and then Buffy as the glow disappeared. "Looks like we won't need that ritual after all."
"Apparently not," Buffy said, "sis." She looked back to Jaheira. "Now you said Reiltar the leader of the Iron Throne was also a child of Bhaal. Which would make him our half-brother."
"Perhaps," Jahiera said. "We—the Harpers—suspected that a son of Bhaal was behind this attempt to bring war between Baldur's Gate and Amn, but we didn't know his name. It could be a sister, even. You have more half-sisters, also."
"Buffy," Willow said. "What about the Slayer?"
"That I do not know," Jaheira said as Buffy looked at her. "You told us an order of monks in your world created the Slayer to fight demons and vampires. It is possible that the Slayer is a separate entity from the Bhaal essence within you. But again I do not know for certain."
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Two days later they had finally reached the gates of Candlekeep. Eltan had given them a book for entrance, but had asked before they utilized it to try and see if Aquarra could gain them admittance.
"Good sir," Jaheira said, "you obviously know our companion here, you know her to be a resident of this fair city and," she indicated Aquarra, "the daughter of one of your own. Please understand that we have urgent business here and—"
"Go away," Hull said sternly. "Go away or I'll be forced to—"
"You'll be forced to what," Aquarra said.
"Go away!" the guard squealed and shut the little window in the big, sturdy oaken gate.
"This is ludicrous," Willow said to no one in particular.
Aquarra kicked a stone on the gravel path that ended at the gates of Candlekeep and sighed. "I've never been refused entrance to Candlekeep," Aquarra said. "Never in my life."
"Gorion was alive then," Jaheira said without really thinking. "He was in there to let you in."
"Regardless," Buffy said. "The Iron Throne is gathering in there. We need to get in there."
"Give me a book," Hull's voice sounded suddenly, making Jaheira jump.
"Hull—" Aquarra started to say.
"Ah," Hull interrupted, "a book, or a scroll, or a tablet, or a… something with writing on it. Give me something of use to Candlekeep and you can come in."
Buffy looked to Willow who pulled out a book and handed it to her.
"Hull!" Buffy called, looking at the little door. It took a while for Hull to finally make his presence known.
"A book?" Hull asked, and then grinned widely when his eyes lighted on the tome in Buffy's outstretched hand. "Well, well…"
"Let us in first," Xan said.
Hull laughed, and it wasn't a terribly pleasant sound. "Not on your life, sir. Tell her to slide it through the slot."
Jaheira said, "If there was a window a bit—" but stopped talking when a slot, easily able to accommodate the book, opened up on the door at Buffy's chest height.
"Slide it in there, Miss Buffy," Hull said softly, finally using any of their names.
"You remembered me?" Buffy asked, crossing the short distance to the gate with the book held out in front of her.
"I do, Miss Buffy," Hull said. "Not many falls out of a portal through the wards making the monks wonder how ye did it."
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Less than an hour later they were in Tethtoril's private chamber watching him make tea. Aquarra had all but shut down when Tehtoril had asked about Gorion and found out the man was dead.
"Your father," Tethtoril said quickly, obviously uncomfortable with what he was about to say, "left something in my care. He told me that if he ever met an… untimely… if he died before he'd had a chance to…"
The monk held back a sob but couldn't continue.
"What is it, brother?" Aquarra asked, finally looking up at Tethtoril.
"A letter," the monk said, then cleared his throat. "A letter and a pass stone—a stone that will give you free run of Candlekeep."
"A letter?" Aquarra asked remembering the scrap of parchment that Buffy had found on Gorion's body. "I saw it," he said. "Gorion had it with him when he died."
"Impossible," Tethtoril said as he pulled out a letter and handed it to Aquarra. "I have the letter right here."
After Tethtoril left with Xan to give them some privacy Aquarra read the letter aloud to Buffy, Willow and Jaheira.
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Hello My Daughter,
If you are reading this it means I have met an untimely death. I would tell you not to grieve for me, but I feel much better thinking that you might. If you can, it will mean I have done the best any father could hope to do.
There are things I must tell you in this letter that I should have told you before, but if my death came too soon and I have not been given the chance, you must know these things, and know them from me. I know you better than anyone on this world. You must believe what I have written here with the knowledge that, though there have been things I have not told you, I would never lie to you—not about this.
As you have known all your life, I am not your true father, but you have never known your sire's name. It is a name spoken only in fearful whispers, for so great was the terror of it that even though its power has fled the multiverse, it has meaning still. You are the daughter of Bhaal.
Your father is the entity known as Bhaal, Lord of Murder. A thing of evil, so vile it's nearly impossible to believe the multiverse itself could stand its hateful presence.
You do not remember the Time of Troubles, when the gods walked Faerun. Like other great powers, Bhaal was forced into a mortal shell. As is possible, I have read, with divine beings, Bhaal was somehow forewarned of the death that awaited him during this time. He sought out women then, of every race, and forced himself upon them or seduced them.
Your mother was one of these women… a mortal ravaged by murder incarnate. Your mother died in childbirth. I had been her friend and knew the paladin who brought you to me. I felt obliged, at first, to raise you as my own. As the years went by and I saw in you—every day—the promise of a life beyond some divine destiny, I came to love you as only a father can love his daughter. I have but one hope now, and that is that you will always think of me as your father.
The blood of the gods runs through your veins. If you make use of our extensive library you will find that our founder, Alaundo, has many prophecies concerning the coming of the spawn of Bhaal. Perhaps these prophecies will help you find your way.
There are many who will want to use you for their own purposes. You had many half-brothers, and nearly as many half-sisters. Over the years an order of the paladins of Torm—among which I have some friends—and the Harpers, and some other individuals—I'm not even sure who—have kept track of you, and as many of your half siblings as possible. We've lost touch with some, we know some are dead, and we've rediscovered one. This one may be your half-brother, and you may want to believe that he is family, that he can be a brother to you, but I beg you, do not. He means you only ill, and he was not raised in the calm, studious atmosphere of Candlekeep, but by a series of faceless cultists still clinging to the hopeless servitude of a dead god.
This one calls himself Sarevok.
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Jaheira gasped. Her eyes were red, brimming with tears, and wide with confusion. "Not Reiltar?" she whispered hoarsely.
"Sarevok," Aquarra said. "Do you know that name?"
"No," Jaheira said. "We only assumed that this Reiltar based on evidence presented was your half-brother."
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This one is the worst danger. He has studied here at Candlekeep and thus knows a great deal about your history and who you are. I have left you a token that will give you access to the inner libraries. You can find the secret entrance in one of the reading rooms on the ground floor. Do not tell any of the monks about your pass stone as they will take it from you. The inner libraries contain a secret route that leads out of Candlekeep. Use this only in the most pressing situations.
Your loving father, Gorion.
P.S. This Note is for Buffy Summers should she be with you, Aquarra. I apologize now for not telling you of the test I had performed on you or my suspicions that Bhaal had gone to other realms and had other children. But I knew it was possible. There is only one artifact to my knowledge that could ever bypass the wards of Candlekeep. The Key.
You told me the Key had been pressed into human form, created from your own blood, Buffy, to be your sister. If I had met Dawn, I would have performed the test and been one hundred percent positive, but I believe that she too is a daughter of Bhaal. In fact she may be the purest child of Bhaal there is because she does not have any blood but your own coursing through her veins.
Regardless if Dawn is also a child of Bhaal, we don't know how Bhaal even got to your realm, not for sure. There are spells of course that could take him, and it is likely he utilized one of them. Once there he either seduced or forced himself on your mother. I am sorry I did not tell you of this beforehand. In the inner libraries maybe your way home. Search for it. All I ask is that if you find it. You take Aquarra, your half-sister, with you. Once in your world she will be safe.
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Just then the door burst open and men came in. Buffy reacted, like she always did, and jumped to her feet.
The first blow was a solid one that Buffy blocked. She stood and used her Slayer strength to help propel the staff she'd been struck with up and into the low ceiling. It snapped in half as she grabbed the broken end of the staff as it began to fall and returned the attack without even looking at the target.
Jaheira, Aquarra and Willow were on their feet too, but they had no weapons. They had left them, just as Buffy had in their rooms.
The man Buffy hit fell heavily on the floor in front of her, and she used the broken staff like a club to parry one swipe, then another, then another, from two guards coming at her with stout oaken cudgels.
"Submit!" a commanding voice bellowed from somewhere just outside the narrow door as the guards continued to spill into the room. "Submit to the justice of Candlekeep, and it will all go that much—"
Buffy took another guard down with a fast, short jab to the temple with the rounded end of the staff.
"—easier for all of you!"
Buffy didn't submit, neither did the others as they continued to defend themselves against the onslaught.
"Sleep!" the voice from the corridor shouted, and slowly they slipped unconscious.
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Once again they were caged like animals. They were together this time, along with Xan.
"Is this yours?" Tethtoril said as he held up a bracelet.
If Jaheira allowed herself time to think, she might not have said what she said next. "Yes, where did you find it?" It was a bracelet she had had lost during the fighting at the Cloak Wood mines.
"Pilten," Tethtoril said, as a guard stepped forward. "Take these and… all of this… and secure it."
Pilten nodded once in acknowledgment then took the bundle that included their weapons, the letter from Gorion, the pass stone—Tethtoril made a point of showing Aquarra that he'd put it in the leather bag—and the incriminating evidence and walked away.
"Go with her," Tethtoril said to the others, "all of you."
The other guards were reluctant to leave the old monk.
"I will be quite all right," he said, lifting his chin in an expression of simple authority. The other guards shuffled off, and there was the sound of many doors closing. "I will do what I can, but you've left me little to work with."
"Send word to Baldur's Gate, perhaps," Willow said, "to Duke Eltan?"
Tethtoril nodded, though there was very little hope showing in the old monk's face.