Chapter 21: Foul Odors
By what we had deemed, as the telling of time in my little slice of Hell was perplexing at best, it was still early morning. We had all eaten and taken a short rest, and were ready to proceed onward with our newest quest. To find some manner of weak spot in Yaga-Shura's invincibility, and to exploit it. Naturally, resulting with us killing him. Hopefully…
Once we had suited up and checked all our supplies, we were ready to move out. We stepped forward, towards the doorway leading back to the outside world. I began to concentrate, filling my mind with desires to be placed outside of Saradush, away from Yaga-Shura's army, and on the path to the eastern forest. As soon as I thought this, the lights around us went out, and we felt that peculiar sensation of being swept along by the wind, flowing through the blackness. And in a glare of bright luminosity, we were once more in the world we all knew so very well, and I could easily tell that the powers of my pocket plane had not failed me once again.
We were in the woods, no sounds or smells of war and death around us. Rather, we were surrounded by the sounds of nature; birds tweeting, the sound of rustling wind, the screams of the innocent? It took me a minute to realize that wasn't a typical forest noise, and I at once stiffened, and crouched.
Without even an order or command, everyone drew their weapons, and fell in behind me. Except Sarevok, who instead stood at his near monolithic full size, standing between me and the sound. Like having my own personal moving fortress wall. I nudged around him, and we all started to creep.
We didn't need to go far, beyond a small cluster of trees there was a patch of destroyed brush, occupied by at least two dozen armored men. All around them was signs of a slaughter, dead bodies strew about, blood drying on the ground, flies already settling on the corpses. In addition, there were many wooden carts around, a caravan, the packages and bundles having been sliced into, the wagons turned into kindling. A group of traveling merchants no doubt, who entered the wrong neck of the woods.
I was contemplating whether or not to engage them, a senseless battle with bandits when our time was pressed, but a shrill scream got me moving without thinking. There was still a merchant left alive, a portly fellow being taunted with blades, the band of thugs and soldiers grunting laughter at his shaking.
The moment I stepped into the open, one of the scouts caught sight of me, and whistled, prompting the whole lot of them to turn from their fun and face me.
"I think you'd best be off," I told them levelly, "and leave this fellow alone. You've caused enough damage for today."
One of the goons had this evil sort of expression, the kind that means he's about to make some overconfident nasty reply, but before he ever uttered a thing, he squinted at me, and at once his eyes widened.
"You're 'im ain't cha?" I didn't have an answer to this question, as "'im" is rather vague, but I did shrug. Perhaps I was. Another soldier was holding a rolled up parchment scroll, opening it up and he went from looking at it, to me, and back to it.
"He is!" he shouted, tossing the scroll aside and drawing his steel. "It's them!" he hollered to the score of men behind him, "The one Yaga-Shura wanted! The Bhaalspawn! Kill him!"
Things got messy after that. I drew my swords, and off my brother went, with that wild yell of his, stampeding towards the whole group, causing Yaga-Shura's mercenaries to waver. I didn't blame them; I'd faced down my towering bloodthirsty brother charging headlong at me more than once. It's not a very pleasant experience. We followed right on his heels, as he tore into them, hacking limbs and spearing guts as he strode. We split out, taking a few each. After all, these were the basic types of mercenaries; they looked tough, they acted tough, and they could swing a sword. But they weren't high class; they had no idea how to fight a group of dedicated sword fighters. Let alone a Bhaalspawn.
It was no surprise that most went after me; I was after all their target. But it mattered not. My two swords were out, and as another blade was descending, I parried and responded with a reflexive attack of my own. Each axe blade, each spear point, each arrow was turned away and repelled. While I'm focused on fighting, it takes much to break past my defenses. As more than half their number fell, the rest started to scatter, screaming and shouting curses. Despite my feeling bad for them, I made sure none escaped. Not that I wanted to butcher them, but I didn't want them to report back to Yaga-Shura as to where I was. We were marching to perhaps assault his stronghold; I didn't need to be attacked from both the front and the back. None escaped.
As we regrouped, I saw the merchant peeking his head out from behind a barrel, looking around with wide eyes, surveying the carnage. When he was sure that the six of us were the only ones left, he came trotting out, wiping his balding head clear of perspiration and a few trace droplets of blood.
"Oh dear me dear me," he huffed, looking mighty glad that he was safe, "I can't thank you enough kind sir, for your timely rescue. Those foul brutes came from nowhere I tell you, swooping in demanding gold and all of our supplies. Poor Lyle, he was always too brash and headstrong, refused, and they just started slaughtering us! Oh, it was too much to bear, to think it could have been me too!" As he calmed down, he began to smile, realizing he was safe, and looked me up and down. "To think that a Bhaalspawn of all people would be the one to save me. Imagine that!"
I lifted an eyebrow, this comment putting me on alert. "You know what I am then?"
"Oh certainly sir," he responded, his cheerful demeanor not flinching in the slightest, "But I try to make a habit of not being a judgmental salesman. It hurts business. Why, not too long ago I gave a drow a great deal on a set of swords I had acquired. Had I turned him away for simply being drow, I'd be a lot poorer, I can tell you that."
"For you display of tolerance sir," Jaheira told him, "You give me hope that other humans may one day be as such."
"My thanks, dear lady. But I will tell you this; it is certainly hard sometimes to remain civil in this day and age, what with the wars being waged by those Children of Bhaal. They have their reasons I'm sure, but from what I've been hearing, its one great big senseless bloodbath. I'm pleased that your friend and my rescuer here is not quite so…ferocious."
"Have you heard anything about the Bhaalspawn?" Jaheira asked politely, hoping for a lead or tip, "Who they are or where their camps might be?" The round man didn't give it much thought before nodding vigorously.
"Oh yes, I've many rumors regarding them as a whole. And I passed numerous ruffians on the road, saying Bhaalspawn this and Bhaalspawn that. Personally, I find the subject somewhat depressing, but then again, that's just me. It seems everyone nowadays is finding it awfully fascinating. But I know little more than you've no doubt heard I'm afraid. I hear about them as a group, rather than individuals. They all have armies; they are ravaging the lands, and things of that nature. Other than that, I've heard nothing important."
"Not surprising," I murmured, and then I turned to the chubby trader, "Well, I'm just glad to help. But I think you'd better find your way out of this wood quickly. Those men were from Yaga-Shura's army, and no doubt more will be around before long." That put him on edge in a hurry, and he began glancing over his shoulder, perhaps expecting more villains to come leaping at him from the bushes.
"Well I certainly don't know any Yaga-Shura, but then I suppose I really wouldn't want to either. And again, I must thank you for saving my life good sir. If you're every passing this way again, and need some weapons, I'll give you the best prices this side of the Sword Coast, I promise you that." We left him there, putting his scattered wares back in order.
"Seems you and your kin are known far and wide," Yoshimo pointed out, "It is a pity that you cannot readily bask in the limelight of fame. Perhaps when you defeat your wayward siblings, you may be dubbed a hero of the land yes?"
"Getting ahead of yourself aren't you Yoshimo?" I asked, smiling though the situation was rather bleak at the moment, "I think we need to find a way to hurt Yaga-Shura before we end up the ones being defeated."
"I have a good way," Minsc called from behind us, "I will stab him in the foot, then the face, and Boo will take care of the rest."
"I think it will take more than your barbarism and your hamster to deal with this particular foe," Jaheira levelly informed him, "Divine children are often more than even powerful warriors can handle, let alone rodents. He must be approached with caution and an understanding of his strengths."
"He is of no consequence," Sarevok rumbled, "Dietrich will crush him as he has others, and we shall move on to the next Bhaalspawn."
"Must you be so callous about everything?" Jaheira gave him an annoyed stare, "Can you show no compassion to any around you, enemy or ally? Or are you as heartless now as you were before?"
"Mercy to an enemy is both foolish and dangerous. I am certain Dietrich already knows this. And allies can be a danger when forced to worry about their safety." Jaheira didn't answer verbally, but stung him as best she could with her narrowed eyes all the same. In the midst of this banter everyone continued on, but I had slowed my pace, falling behind, and then I paused altogether. Something wasn't right…
"No wait!" I called out. Everyone stopped, glancing back. I had my head up, and I was sampling the wind. "Keep your eyes open," I warned, "I'd be willing to stake my left foot there's a giant or two lurking about here." Everyone froze, and began scanning the nearby trees, going on alert.
"Giant?" Jaheira asked me, "What sort?" I sniffed again.
"Fire." My action prompted everyone else to follow suit, and take a whiff of the air. But everyone seemed to grow puzzled.
"That is strange," Minsc said aloud, "But even my ranger nose isn't picking anything up…What about you Boo? Is your hamster senses detecting smelly giants close by?" If Boo had smelled something, he must not have felt like sharing it with us, for he said nothing.
"I'm afraid I must agree with Minsc my friend," Yoshimo admitted, "I do not smell anything unusual? Could it be you merely have fire giants on the brain perhaps? One certainly wouldn't blame you for that."
"I do have them on my mind, that's true," I agreed, "but those men were part of Yaga-Shura's army. And he's supposed to have some fire giants in his ranks too. No, they're around…I can smell them…"
"How?" This seemed like a rather silly question.
"How do you think? I...I can just smell them; I recognize the same stench while we were in Saradush. And it's strong, a lot stronger than I'm really comfortable with too."
They all tried again, testing he air around us, but their bemused faces only became even more baffled.
"How can you not smell that?" I pressed, "They're stinking the whole forest out. It's…rank." Everyone exchanged looks, and I sighed. "I guess that it's not just my imagination then…" I muttered. Keldorn picked up on it.
"What do you mean? What's not?"
"Well, rather recently I've been able to…well, smell things more clearly. For example, I could tell you, and I'm not even sure how I know this, but I know the name of the soap Cespenar used to wash our clothes."
They all stared at me dumbfounded; even Sarevok looked bewildered that I'd know such a thing. "How recently?" Jaheira inquired, her tone urging me to try and remember. So I tried, thinking back over recent events. In the sacred grove, waking up in my pocket plane, going to Saradush, going…
It was then that I had found the answer. When it dawned on me, I gave a chuckle and shook my head.
"What is it?" Keldorn asked, "Did you remember?" I nodded.
"Gromnir," I answered, "Right after I killed Gromnir. Yeah, now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense; I kill him and some new weird ability starts manifesting. Now I know what. An extremely keen sense of smell."
"Why would slaying Gromnir have anything to do with that?" Sarevok asked quickly, studying me closely.
"Well, in the past, when I've killed or…been near a Bhaalspawn who died, I sort of…I don't know, gain some new ability or power. Nothing really extravagant, sometimes hardly noticeable, but I know its there."
"You absorb the essence of others?" he asked, his own dull gold eyes flashing briefly. "When you slay them?"
"Yes." He fell quiet, seeming to think on this.
"Look, we can all talk about how fascinating I am later. Right now, we need to be moving out of this area, because frankly, I don't want to be around if the giants decide to take a stroll over this way." There were no arguments. We headed south, so as to steer clear of the giants and found a crossing over a rivulet, a rickety wooden bridge having to utilize some large slippery rocks mired in the current to complete the crossing.
This plan backfired completely, as instead of avoiding the giants, we all but ran into them. My first clue that something was amiss was right as we stepped onto the opposite bank, I heard Jaheira cry out, her hands over her aghast mouth. There was a mauled headless deer, or what was left of one in the weeds near the waters edge, pieces of its hide and patches of congealed blood dotting the foliage.
Further along, there was a more recently gutted and skinned moose carcass, the blood still dripping from its flayed body. It was quite the grizzly scene, and next to it we found a few tracks in the soft dirt, really really big tracks, of grossly oversized boots. They were leading up a somewhat worn path, past some boulders and dense underbrush, which was growing over some manner of structure. Some sort of crumbling remains of an old building, the slanted and pointed roofs, what was left of them, suggested perhaps a church or house of worship of some sort. And there were the giants.
We could see their heads sticking over the tops of the ruins; as an idea to how big they are, the ground trembled as they strode, a quaking herald to their approach. As they came out into the open, there were many other warriors, normal sized folks at their feet, avoiding being crushed. More of Yaga-Shura's men, accompanying the giants. They saw our group as soon as they rounded the corner of the building, and stood dumbfounded for a moment, staring back at us. Then the two giants, with a quick glance at one another, both raised their unnervingly large hammers, bellowed out a growling war-howl before stampeding towards us.
"Oh yeah," I heard the Lilacor gleefully shout as I drew my own swords with a groan, "Let's dance!"