At the same time Ralis, Anomen, Valygar, Aerie, Haer'Dalis and Cernd arrived at the Copper Coronet, Jaheira, Abdel, Tashia, Yoshimo, Edwin, Jan and Rasaad have reached the docks of the Center District, searching for a man named Barg. Jaheira, who has appointed herself as substitute leader couldn't help but notice one single detail that Khellor forgot to mention: where exactly to find this Barg. And so Jaheira and her companions spent the next five minutes asking sailors at the pier where to find Barg.
Some of the sailors have never heard of the man, and it seemed the search would take an hour, maybe more to find someone who knows him, but fortunately, Jaheira and her companions met a man who admits that he knows Barg. He tells Jaheira and her companions that Barg was once a sailor a few years ago, but for some unknown reason has now become a pirate, probably out of greed for more money, and he is a common visitor at the Sea's Bounty tavern, drinking wine, mead, whatever he feels like drinking in his free time. So Jaheira and her companions headed over to the Sea's Bounty Tavern. As they walked down the streets, Abdel looked at the warehouses nearby, finding them familiar.
"What's wrong, Abdel? Something about those warehouses caught your interest?" Tashia asked him.
He nodded. "Yeah," was all he said in reply.
Tashia grew interested. "What's so special about them?"
"I took a job there a few years ago. I don't remember the year, though. Me and two other mercenaries, Eagus and Kamon were hired to guard some supplies there for an anonymous employer," Abdel explained.
"Does that always happen? The identity of your employers being kept a secret to you?" Rasaad asked Abdel before Tashia could.
"Yes, but it doesn't bother me. In the end, whether you know the identity of your employer and their motives or not matters little, as long as they pay you handsomely for the job," Abdel said.
Tashia frowned in concern, she didn't like the thought of working for someone without knowing who they are or why they need a mercenary. "So you just accept your jobs without questions?"
Abdel looked back at her. "What's the point in doing that?"
"Because I'd want to know what I am paid to do and why I am doing it. I prefer not to be employed by a person with ill intentions," Tashia said.
Abdel shrugged. "I never thought about that," he admitted.
"You should give it a try once in a while, if you have a heart," Tashia said warily.
That felt like a punch in the stomach for Abdel. He never considered himself to be a heartless, evil person. It reminded him of the brief pain of guilt he felt when Jaheira, upon discovering the body of her late husband shouted at Abdel, telling him that the only thing he knows how to do is take away the lives nature gave.
"There's the tavern up ahead," Jaheira pointed out ahead.
"I'm so thirsty I could drink some cold ale with a raw turnip sandwich, just like how my mammy used to make them," Jan said.
Abdel rolled his eyes in relief. "Whew, I'm so glad he didn't ramble on with another one of his random stories."
"Oh don't worry, Abby, I got plenty of stories to go around," Jan said with a grin.
Abdel flinched. "What did you call me?!" He whirled around to face Jan.
Tashia snickered.
"Hey! Need I remind you all that we are on a mission here? We have no time for petty squabbling! Now come on!" Jaheira berated Abdel and Jan, then she moved towards the tavern, and Abdel, Jan and the others followed.
They entered the tavern to find dozens of men and women there talking, drinking, eating, laughing and telling stories and jokes. Jaheira immediately walked up to the bartender.
"We're looking for a man named Barg," she told him.
"Barg? He's over there getting drunk and singing himself into a stupor," the bartender pointed to his left with his right hand and laughed.
Jaheira followed the bartender's finger until she saw a man with a semi long black beard sitting alone at a table, drinking wine. Only Jaheira and Abdel approached him.
"Yo ho ho for the lads now at rest!" Barg exclaimed as he swung his right arm holding his flagon of wine around as if he were celebrating someone's birthday as Abdel and Jaheira approached his table. "Yo ho ho so they say! We'll drink for the lads that have sunk to their rest, and we'll drink for the living just the same!" Then he set his flagon down on the table then put both hands on his forehead, feeling suddenly lightheaded. "Oooh, my head is barely on my legs today. Too much of the miller's tales and his damn home-brew," he moaned.
At that moment, Abdel and Jaheira took a seat on both sides around him.
"Are you Barg? We're looking for a friend named Barg," Abdel said.
Barg scratched his beard in thought. "Let me think now... er... yes! Yes, that is my name. What can I do for you, friends?" He asked Abdel and Jaheira.
"We're here to ask you a few questions. Do you work for a man named Isaea Roenall? What does that bastard pay you to do?" Jaheira asked him,
Barg took another drink of his wine before replying. "Pirating, of course. Oh, the others'll be all quiet about it, but-" he hiccupped. "- but I'm right proud. Keeps them merchants on there toes," he said with a chuckle. "Of course, that Isaea is into other things too, but me and the boys don't go in for slavery and such."
"Slavery?" Jaheira asked Barg, frowning.
"Yes. Me, I've never talked to that slaver contact, Dirth. Hey, what do you suppose they pay to get the guard to look the other way?" Barg directed his question to Abdel.
"Well, I don't..." Abdel started to say.
"Must be thousands to overlook it. Wow, that's a lot," Barg said in surprise at the mere thought. "Anyway, I've never talked to Dirth-" Barg hiccupped again. "- even though he spends hours here. Wanna drink?" Barg offered his wine to Abdel, but Abdel refused it.
"No, no, that's not necessary. This is more than we needed to know," he said.
"*Hic* Almost more than I know my... myself. Good travels to you, strangers," Barg said, then Abdel and Jaheira returned to Yoshimo, Rasaad, Jan and Tashia.
"So? What did he say?" Rasaad asked curiously.
"He said that Isaea Roenall is involved in some pretty shady activities. Piracy... slavery... you name it," Abdel said.
"Indeed?" Rasaad raised his left eyebrow in curiosity.
"Well, my friends, this is all well and good, but, we need evidence in a scroll or book, not in words," Yoshimo reminded them.
"That's not all. Barg gave us the name of another man who might have what we need. A man named Dirth, who is also a common face here might have the evidence we're looking for," Abdel explained.
Tashia nodded. "So... any ideas on where to find Dirth?" She asked.
Jaheira turned her head slowly towards the bartender, watching him serve a flagon of ale to a dirty blond haired woman.
"Hey," Jaheira called to him after he served the woman a drink.
"What do you need?" The bartender asked as he approached.
"You know a man named Dirth, right?"
"Dirth? Yeah, I see him here as often as I see Barg. Why? Do you want to meet him?"
"As a matter of fact, yes, I do," Jaheira nodded.
The bartender frowned. "Ah... see, therein lies a problem. Unlike Barg, I never see Dirth leave the tavern."
"What? How is that possible? Does he drink an invisibility potion and walk by you?" Abdel asked.
The bartender shook his head. "Nah. If he did that, I would see the door open when he walks out as if the wind blew it open. The only thing I can think of is this tavern probably has some secret rooms. You know, I heard rumors that pirates make secret deals in secret rooms of this tavern. I don't know if its true, but I'm an open minded guy," the bartended said.
"Well... I suppose we should find a secret entrance of some kind. Tashia, do you know a spell that lets you find secret doors?" Jaheira asked the elf.
"What? Uh, yes, I do, but I've never used it before," she admitted uneasily.
"Well then, now is a good a time as any," Jaheira said with a smirk.
Meanwhile, back in the Copper Coronet, in the pit room, it is intermission time, and the nobles were making their next bets on the next fight, on whether the next gladiator will live, or the next animal or beast they'll send out. The owlbear that killed its latest victim is still in the pit, devouring the corpse of its human victim, but none of the animal tamers of the Copper Coronet wanted to get in there and disturb the owlbear. Ralis and his companions were still sitting in their seats making plans on how to free the slaves. Korgan wasn't into the idea of freeing the slaves, but he liked the fact that soon he'll use his ax to chop some arms, legs and skulls. Ralis assumed that probably the beastmasters, or animal tamers have the keys to release the slaves from their jail cells, and the slaves are held somewhere beyond the gates where the beasts come in to the pit and out. It is only a matter of time before they arrange another unlucky slave to fight in the pit.
"I'll be back. I need to... check on something," Ralis said to Aerie and the others.
"Where do you think you're going, abbil?" Viconia asked him.
"I'm going to ask Frankie if I can meet these so-called gladiators..." Ralis replied and he left, walking down the stairs towards the exit, where Frankie stood with his arms crossed.
"Can I help you, my Lord?" Frankie asked him.
"I was wondering if I could... uh... meet with the gladiators. You know, ask them how it feels to be part of these... epic fights," Ralis said, trying to feign enthusiasm as if he actually enjoyed watching these pit fights.
"Really? Ah, well, normally Lehtinan doesn't let his visitors visit his gladiators. I could get in trouble, but..."
Before Frankie could refuse, Ralis gave him 300 gold coins.
"... I suppose I could make an exception this once," Frankie admitted, looking down at the gold pieces in his hands, then stuffed them in his pocket.
"Thank you. Were are the gladiators being kept?" Ralis asked.
"Go out this door, go in the door to your right and go down the long hallway," Frankie instructed.
Ralis nodded courteously at him and walked out the door, following Frankie's directions. He walked down the long hallway until he reached a door at the end. He opened it and stepped inside. Inside the room, he found himself in the jail cell room, with more than a dozen prison cells full of slaves, men, women and children. There were also jail guards too, and they almost immediately spotted Ralis and accosted him.
"Halt! Who are you and what are you doing here?" A guard with gray eyes asked.
"I wanted to meet the awesome gladiators in person, Frankie allowed me to come in," Ralis said, trying to sound enthusiastic.
"No one is allowed to meet with the slaves. Begone!" Another guard, with a small black mustache and beard demanded.
"I can't just speak to one of them?" Ralis pressed.
"No! Get out!" the third guard, who appeared to be older than the other two said.
"But you don't understand, I was invited-" Ralis pleaded as he reached for Albruin sheathed to his left side. He quickly pulled it out as soon as he wrapped his hand around the handle.
The guards immediately reacted, but they were a little slow. Ralis impaled Albruin into the older guard. Then with his left hand he reached for Kondar, pulled it out at the same time he pulled Albruin out of the older guard's chest and parried the strike form the gray eyed guard's claymore sword. The other guard shouted, attempting to slash his longsword at Ralis's exposed back. Ralis heard him coming then brought Kondar around without turning his body or disengaging the gray eyed guard and parried both guards swords from both sides.
The gray eyed guard kicked Ralis in the chest, causing him to stagger back into the bars of a prison cell, startling the 28 year old Calishite woman and her brother and sister inside, who appear to be 9 years old. The guard with facial hair charged at Ralis with a furious shout, and Ralis parried his longsword with both of his bastard swords, and he saw the gray eyed guard coming.
Ralis kicked the guard in the chest, started slashing at him furiously, but never completely taking his focus off the gray eyed guard, parrying his sword strikes then causing him to lose his balance. Ralis managed to find an opening in the gray eyed guard's defenses and stabbed Kondar straight up into his abdomen. The guard coughed up blood and collapsed dead when Ralis pulled his sword out to engage the last guard.
By this moment, the tired, sad slaves heard the swords clashing and peeked out their prison cells to have a look at what's going on. They couldn't believe their eyes when they saw Ralis fighting the last guard and saw the other two guards lying dead on the floor, pools of blood surrounded their corpses. the guard got careless parrying Ralis's swords, and paid the price when Ralis cut into his +1 leather armor, damaging his lungs, and he collapsed dead.
Suddenly the slaves in the prison cells started speaking at once.
"Who are you?"
"Have you come to save us?"
"Please help us, we beg of you!"
There were so many of them talking and pleading at once, Ralis had no idea who to speak to. he was about to shout "calm down" to everyone, but someone else managed to do that before he did.
"Hold!" It was a man's voice.
Everyone quieted down.
"Let me speak to the stranger." Judging by the unseen man's Illuskan accent, he could be from Luskan or Mirabar, a city far north.
"Where are you?" Ralis called, his voice echoed in the room.
"In front of you," the voice replied.
In the jail cell in front of Ralis, he saw a tall, tan skinned man with a very lean, muscular body. He has long, shaggy black hair, bushy eyebrows, and has only a thin mustache, no beard, and eyes gray as pure steel.
"I watched your battle. You are obviously not aligned with our captors. Might I know your name?" The man asked.
Ralis cautiously stepped towards the man's prison cell.
"My name is Ralis, and I am certainly no friend of Lehtinan and his men. Who are you?"
"I am Hendak, a proud warrior from the North until my capture by slaves. I have been imprisoned longer than any of these men have survived, though only barely."
Ralis widened his eyes in surprise, clearly impressed. This man has lived as a slave for years and is still alive? Amazing. But that means he has seen many of slaves who were his friends fight and die. That's got to be tough.
"That's impressive, yet sad. It must be hard for you to watch your friends fight and die in the pits..." Ralis said solemnly.
Hendak nodded. "I have done what I can to aid these other slaves and keep them living through the battles that Lehtinan puts on to amuse his noble fiends," Hendak said darkly.
"I am terribly sorry... I want to rescue you, I really do, but I don't know exactly what to do..." Ralis said sullenly.
Hendak saw that Ralis is really sincere, and he did not want him reconsidering giving up on this rescue mission.
"I beg of you, please free us! I have never begged before, and yet I do it now so I might wreak vengeance on Lehtinan and end his sick, twisted enterprise!
Ralis looked around, seeing the hopeful, sad faces of the tried men, women and children, pleading with their sad eyes to help them.
"All right. It will be challenging, but I'll do it," Ralis siad, then he checked the pockets of the guards he kileld to find their jail cell keys.
"What the hell? None of them have the keys!" Ralis told Hendak.
"The beastmaster has the key to our cells. If you get the key from him, we will be able to escape! May the gods aid you, Ralis. I wish I could help you, but I shall have to be content with the hope that Lehtinan will fell the cold swiftness of my blade," Hendak replied.
Ralis nodded once, then turned his head to the right and noticed a door leading to a different room at the far end of the prison cell hallway. As he walked towards the door, he heard the sobs of slaves in the prison cells he passed by, and their pleas for assistance. It served to strengthen his resolve to help Hendak and his fellow slaves. He reached the door, opened it and stepped inside to find himself in a large room. There are prison cells in this room like the previous room, but the cells seemed to hold all kinds of animals known in Faerun here.
As Ralis cautiously walked deeper into the room, he identified the animals that are kept in the prison cages- all of them are carnivores or just naturally hostile, like two grizzly bears, two panthers, a mutated gibberling, a minotaur, and, much to Ralis's surprise, even a juvenile female bulette, also known as a "land shark", a creature commonly found in the forests of Cormanthor, where the elven city of Myth Drannor is known to be. Bulettes are very dangerous creatures, they burrow underground and ambush their prey from underground, they hunt by detecting vibrations in the ground.
Their physical appearance is a strange mix of an armadillo and snapping turtle. Their bodies are heavily armored, around the head and rear, with a dorsal fin like protuberance on their back which is why they are known as land sharks, because the protuberance of their armor looks like the dorsal fin of a shark when they are underground. The armor is a mix of the colors gray and blue, their eyes are dark with blue or green pupils, (the female land shark Ralis is looking at has green pupils), their two front claws are long and sharp like the claws of a mole, meant for digging underground, and they can see very well in darkness and they have powerful jaws, and they are capable of swallowing a grown man whole, clothing, swords, armor and all, their stomach acids can digest flesh and steel with ease. Fortunately this land shark is a juvenile, making her three times bigger than an adult panther. An adult bulette is four times bigger than a juvenile, too big to fit in a prison cell, and would be a highly impossible challenge for even Hendak to fight.
As soon as Ralis stepped into the center of the room, a voice suddenly stopped him in his tracks.
"Hey, I don't recognize you. Who are you?" A man stepped out of the shadows ahead into the light made by the torches on the walls. He is a muscular man, dressed almost like a barbarian in armor made of animal hide. There's a whip attached to the left side of his belt, and a sword on his right.
"Who I am is none of your business. I'm here to free the gladiators from their cells. Just hand over the keys and this won't get ugly." Ralis warned him.
"You fool! You'll never leave here alive! Come, Tabitha! Open the cages and aid your master!" The beastmaster called, and almost immediately, a tigress emerged from the shadows. Tabitha is a mature adult tiger who has been the beastmaster's closest companion ever since she was a cub and the beastmaster was a young rookie animal trainer. She appeared to be a very intelligent tiger, unlocking all the animal cages except the one containing the bulette.
Then after unlocking the gates, Tabitha stood next to the beastmaster, snarling at Ralis as the two panthers the two grizzly bears, and minotaur advanced towards him. The mutated gibberling shrieked loudly.
"This is just swell..." Ralis muttered as he dual wielded his bastard swords.
"Get him!" The beastmaster pointed straight at Ralis.
Meanwhile back in Isaea Roenall's estate, Isaea himself, Althir and Khellor were walking down the hallway, their destination is the front door exit of the Roenall estate.
"You puzzle me, Althirion," Isaea glanced over at Althir to his left.
Althir looked at him but said nothing in reply.
"You've done something most of my hired hands have failed to do, track down Nalia on my behalf, but here you are, I never hired you, I intended on paying you for your hard work, but instead, you slap the very coins you worked hard to obtain out of my hand. Are we on good terms, friend?"
Khellor, walking next to Isaea on his right glanced over at Althir to see how he would respond. Althir stayed quiet for a few seconds. They reached the end of the hallway, turned left to face a spiral staircase and went down.
"Officer Roenall is awaiting your response," Khellor reminded Althir, walking down the stairs behind him.
Althir quietly grunted.
"... We are not friends, we will never be, but understand I have nothing against you," he finally admitted. Other than the fact that I know you're a damn slave trader... Althir remarked in his thoughts.
Isaea nodded in approval when he reached the end of the stairs. "Good. For a moment I thought we were going to have some kind of misunderstanding."
He moved towards the front door to his immediate left and opened the odor, stepping outside with Althir and Khellor.
"Well, apparently you've made it clear that we won't ever work together again, but I appreciate you for what you've done. You've been a great service," Isaea said as he turned around and locked the door with his key.
Khellor, knowing what he promised to Abdel and the others eyeballed the locked doorknob for a few seconds, but Isaea never noticed.
"That's right. This is where we go our separate ways," Althir said, going down the other side of the street.
Khellor and Isaea waited until Althir moved far enough away from them not to hear their private conversation.
"When is the next shipment? Lehtinan has been pestering me for the past five days me about buying more slaves because the ones he already have are quickly getting killed in that fighting pit of his, and he also reports that there are a few slave women who have been accidentally impregnated by their depraved clients." Isaea harshly whispered to Khellor.
"Well, I haven't spoken to Captain Haegan or Officer Dirth lately, but I heard recently that Haegan and his pirates have returned from the Sword Coast North with more slaves. I'll go to the docks and confirm the rumor," Khellor replied.
"Good. Please report back good news. Lehtinan is giving me enough of a headache right now..." Isaea moaned and he walked away without Khellor following him.
Khellor found this as a good opportunity to unlock the front door to Isaea's estate. Watching Isaea as he headed towards his personal stagecoach down the road a few feet away, climbed inside and the stagecoach carried him off. Not hesitating, Khellor walked back towards the front door, and used his key to unlock the door, then he walked away.
Little did he know that Althir was standing on the roof oa building across the road from Isaea's estate, watching Khellor as he unlocked the door. Althir had no idea why he would do that, but this unexpected action didn't matter to him, it saved him the trouble of picking the lock. Getting back down to the ground level, Althir entered the estate when no one was watching, then he shut the door behind him. Going back up the spiral staircase, he backtracked to Isaea's office. He opened the door to Isaea's office, wondering where would he keep documents involving his business in slave trading.
Meanwhile in the Sea's Bounty Tavern, Tashia, who is busy reading her spell book, memorizing the x-ray vision spell suddenly got interrupted by the bartender when he saw Dirth arrive.
"Ah! There he is, the man you're looking for, Dirth," the bartender announced to Jaheira, Abdel and their companions.
They turned their attention and saw the man. He wore the usual standard issue Amnian guard armor, but without a helmet over his head, revealing his smooth, oily black hair.
Tashia felt annoyed that she got interrupted from studying the spell. "Urgh! This is why I prefer to read at a library..." She muttered.
Abdel walked over to Dirth, who sat at a table not too far from a muscular human man with a shiny bald head and having a hook where his left hand should be, nicknamed the "Thumb".
"Hello, sir. May I have a word with you?" Abdel said by way of introduction when he sat at the table with Dirth.
"No. Leave. I'm expecting to meet someone here, and I don't need them scared off." Dirth said, looking and sounding rather grumpy.
"I'm waiting for someone too. We have a mutual friend," Abdel said.
Dirth scoffed skeptically. "I doubt that is so. Whom is it you claim to know?"
"A pirate named Barg," Abdel said.
Dirth frowned. "Barg? Sorry, but I've no scraps to give you." Then Dirth leaned toward Abdel over the table, looking annoyed. "Tell you what. The next time you see him, tell that soused fool to stop sending beggars my way."
"Hold on, I also know Isaea Roenall as well," Abdel admitted.
Dirth relaxed back into his chair. "Well, I do know Isaea Roenall, know him well enough that he would never tell his dealings to another person!" Before Abdel could say anything else, Dirth spoke again, his eyebrows frowning. "Hold on a second. I know you. Oh, you have some nerve showing your face to me!"
"What are you talking about?" Abdel asked, trying not to let his body tense up visibly.
Dirth slowly tried to reach for a dart in his belt pocket without alerting Abdel to knowing he is doing so.
"Officer Roenall warned me about a few louts who journey with a man named Ralis Rutela. You're one of them! You're that seven foot man he described, Abdel Adrian! If you think you're getting these documents I have, you got another thing coming!"
Immediately, Abdel flipped the table at Dirth, startling him and causing him to throw the dart into the wooden surface of the table! The visitors of the tavern shouted and yelled in fear and confusion.
The man known as the Thumb frowned and headed upstairs. Abdel jumped out of his chair and pulled his broadsword out of its scabbard, and Dirth did the same with his weapon.
"Abdel! What the hell are you doing?!" Jaheira exclaimed.
Dirth jumped out at Abdel from behind the turned over table and before Abdel knew it, they were clashing swords, the noise threatened to damage Abdel and Dirth's ringing eardrums. Regardless, Dirth came at Abdel very aggressively, putting him on the defensive.
The Thumb came back downstairs with four pirates by his side.
"He's over there! Get him!" The Thumb exclaimed.
"Time for some keelhaulin', boys!" Pirate #1 exclaimed to his fellow pirates, and they drew their scimitars and longswords and charged at Abdel!
Jaheira, Rasaad and Yoshimo jumped into action drawing their swords!
"KIAI!" Yoshimo shouted his Kozakuran battle cry to grab the attention of the third pirate, and the pirate parried Yoshimo's katana in time to save himself from a fatal blow.
Rasaad intercepted the second pirate as two frightened waitresses moved away from them. The pirate laughed at Rasaad for desiring to fight him without using his own sword. Rasaad ducked and dodged the sword strikes from the pirate, then grabbed the wrist of his hand holding the sword then punched him in the ribs with his free hand, stunning the pirate, giving Rasaad the opportunity to score a few combo punches then uppercut him so hard, Rasaad sent him flying towards the piano against the wall behind him! The pirate's body hit the piano, making several distorted key note noises as his body slumped down off the key board and landed unconscious on the ground.
Jaheira engaged Pirate #1 in a sword fight. Jaheira almost nicked the pirate in the shoulder but his dodge avoided that minor injury then he jumped over the table he and Jaheira stood near, landing on the other side, then flipped the table at Jaheira's direction.
Rasaad was suddenly attacked by Pirate #4, being forced to dodge the pirate's swinging blades. Rasaad grabbed a dinner plate on a table to his right, spilling cuisine on the table, then holding it up at the pirate to parry a blow that would have cut Rasaad's head in half. Then Rasaad continued to bat away the pirate's striking sword a few times until he found the opportunity to attack back. He slammed the dinner plate into the pirate's forehead about 4 times, stunning the pirate temporarily, then he jabbed the pirate in the stomach before he could recover, causing him to bend over in pain, then Rasaad brought his left knee up, hitting the pirate in the face, causing the pirate's head to snap up, looking up at the ceiling as blood leaked from his nostrils, then he fell on the floor unconscious.
Jan loaded his Flasher Launcher with Flasher Master Bruiser Mate bombs while Tashia fired a magic missile at Dirth, who found an opening in Abdel's defenses and almost ran his sword into his chest, but after being hit in the back by Tashia's magic missile, he misdirected his stabbing blow and stabbed Abdel in his left bicep. Abdel cried out in pain, and while enduring the pain, he grabbed stunned Dirth by the neck, used the pain in his numb arm to channel energy to his rage and strength, crushed Dirth's windpipe, then removed the sword stuck into his left arm, although it was very painful.
Jan fired a Flasher Master Bruiser Mate bomb at Pirate #3, the bomb exploded in his face, causing the pirate to clutch at his face and scream in pain, staggering back and tumbling over a table behind him. Tashia and Edwin, being mages, didn't do much in the fight, since they know they don't have the license to cast spells in Athkatla without having the Cowled Wizards come down on them.
Meanwhile back in the Copper Coronet's prison rooms, the first tiger roared and lunged at Ralis! He dodged the panther and noticed the minotaur coming at him with a large club! Ralis moved away just when the minotaur tried to strike him, then the other animals tried to overwhelm Ralis. The other panther one of the grizzly bears tried to double team on Ralis, forcing him to use one of his Bhaalspawn powers, Call Upon Holy Strength, then parrying the claw strikes of the grizzly bears and panthers didn't make his hands grow numb with pain. The mutated gibberling jumped at Ralis when he was distracted parrying claws and trying to strike back, but his ears never fell deaf on the shrieks of the gibberling and sensed it coming.
Ralis rolled back to dodge the lunging gibberling, curling into a ball as he rolled for a second, then stood back up on his feet to see that the gibberling landed on the minotaur's face instead, wildly clawing at it, causing the minotaur to howl in pain and try to pull the crazed gibberling off, but Ralis couldn't watch this long, because the other animals still came at him. The beastmaster and watched the minotaur struggle with the gibberling in confusion and worry. He thought he trained the minotaur to be a better fighter than this. He looked down at Tabitha, and she looked up at him probably having the same worried thoughts.
With an angered yell, Ralis slashed Kondar at a panther, the blade cutting into its head and its blood splashed on the wall, then he dodged attacks from the other panther, and even the two grizzly bears. Ralis swiftly dodged them, while at the same time cutting his swords into their bodies. By that moment, the minotaur pulled the gibberling off its face, threw it down to the ground and stomped on it s head with its right hoof. Before it could react, it looked over at Ralis to see a spinning dirk flying at its face. The beastmaster couldn't believe it as he watched his best trained animals, even the minotaur, get killed by a human who appears to be no older than 23.
"Tabitha, kill him!" The beastmaster ordered his tiger companion, though he feared she too might get killed, but he had no other choice, Lehtinan will reprimand him if he lets Ralis release the slaves.
Tabitha growled loudly and rushed at Ralis head on. Dropping Kondar to the ground, Ralis tapped into his Bhaalspawn power and activated Ghoul touch. Then when Tabitha got close enough to try and strike him with her sharp claws, Ralis dodged, then reached out and touched the tiger's head, and the tiger immediately froze, paralyzed by the touch. The beastmaster looked confused at what happened. Then, without hesitation, Ralis picked up Kondar, and impaled both of his swords into the tiger's head.
The beastmaster dropped to his knees in shock as he saw his companion tiger's body collapse to the floor, a pool of blood forming around it.
"No..." He started to cry even though he knew this is not the time to. "My Tabitha... loyal to the end." He lowered his head for a second then looked up at Ralis who is slowly approaching him. "Your death I shall avenge, on that I swear," he said through bared teeth, then stood up on his feet then drew his sword.
Then he charged at Ralis with a yell of rage! Ralis parried the beastmaster's sword strike with both of his swords, then kicked him in the chest. The beastmaster was relentless, coming back at Ralis and slashing aggressively, wanting nothing more than to make the man who killed his tiger companion suffer. He backed Ralis towards the cell where the land shark is being kept. It bellowed in frustration and rammed the bars, bending it slightly. The sound of the noise startled Ralis so much he backed away from the cell a bit and he moved away from the slightly bent cage. The beastmaster smiled, realizing a good way to avenge his favorite tiger. He walked towards the cage and stood in front of it, with Ralis a few feet away, watching.
"You've never fought a land shark before, have you?" The beastmaster questioned Ralis.
Ralis said nothing in response, but the beastmaster didn't need him to answer.
"Their armor is tough, hard as the shell of hook horrors from the Underdark. I'd like to see you try to fight this one, and I will enjoy watching it swallow you alive." The beastmaster unlocked the cage and stepped back, allowing the land shark to step out.
"Now, kill him!" The beastmaster ordered the creature, pointing at Ralis.
Ralis readied himself for a fight, but something went wrong, the bulette didn't listen to the beastmaster, it just stood there, breathing calmly.
"What are you waiting for? Attack him!" The beastmaster demanded.
The bulette turned around and faced the beastmaster with a low growl, its green eyes fixed on him. The beastmaster now clearly realized that the land shark has no intention of listening to him.
"What?! Impossible! I tamed you! NO!" He yelled just when the land shark opened its maw wide and clamped down on the beastmaster's torso, his legs kicking outside the creature's mouth, then it lifted its head up as high as it possibly could, then opened its mouth once more, and Ralis saw the beastmaster's legs slide into the creature's gullet.
He also saw the beastmaster's jail cell keys hanging on the side of the land shark's mouth, the ring which held the keys caught on one of the bulette's teeth. He was relieved that the keys didn't fall into the creature's belly with the beastmaster, otherwise he would have no choice but to forget about freeing Hendak and his fellow slaves or find a way to break down the prison cell doors, but he couldn't risk getting the keys without getting eaten too. The land shark now turned its attention to Ralis and roared. Ralis sheathed his swords and ran for the gate that leads out to the room where the pit is, then the land shark gave chase. For a creature with heavy armor on its body, it didn't move slowly at all! It got in front of Ralis, blocking his path and snarled. Ralis clearly felt cold sweat on his face and body, realizing that this creature will be very hard to escape from.
The bulette attempted to slash at Ralis with its front right claw, and Ralis jumped back, avoiding the the strike, then the land shark lunged at him. Fortunately Ralis' footing was in the proper position for him to roll to the left as soon as his feet touched the ground, away from the bulette as it landed where he was a second ago. Then Ralis decided to do something suicidal, but possibly work. He hoped that his Bhaalspawn Ghoul Touch ability would work on the creature as he activated the spell, making his right and left hand glow. Then he jumped at the land shark and touched its armored body before it could turn around and bite him, then it became paralyzed, frozen.
It worked! Ralis then immediately ran for the gates leading out to the pits arena. He noticed simple machinery that operates the gates, and the gates can simply be opened by someone strong pulling the chain to his right. He ran for the chain. Fortunately his Call Upon Holy Might strength is still active, otherwise pulling the chain to open the gate would be difficult. As he pulled the chain, he noticed that the steel gates began to rise up slowly.
"Come on...! Faster...!" Ralis muttered under his breath, then looked behind him to see if the bulette is still paralyzed.
It is still paralyzed, but 5 seconds later, the paralyzing effect wore off, and the land shark gazed at Ralis just several yards ahead of it, and growled, then came charging towards him.
"Oh damn...!" Ralis whimpered.
The land shark is approaching him fast, and knowing this urged Ralis to pull the chain faster. The sharp ends of the gate's metal bars are now 9 feet above ground, just 4 more feet to go. By the time Ralis managed to raise the gate fully, the bulette was 6 feet away from him, and Ralis quickly bolted for the door! With no one to hold the chain, the bars of the gate quickly descended down. Ralis made it out, and the bulette almost made it out too, but the sharp ends of the bars impaled the land shark's back, on the front part of the jutting rock protrusion that looks like the dorsal fin of a shark. The bulette got pinned down and the bars penetrated its armor, mortally wounding it.
The nobles on the viewing balconies, even Ralis's companions looked at Ralis in surprise, and the creature that has been impaled by the gate. Ralis turned around, seeing the creature dead and with its mouth open, the key still hanging on the edge of its mouth. He walked over to it, grabbed the keys and ran for the exit.
"Hey! What is going on?! Who're you?!" a few of the nobles exclaimed at Ralis in confusion.
Ralis ran around the pit counterclockwise then went up the stairs to the viewing balcony where his companions are and signaled them to come with him.
"What's going on?" Hexxat asked.
"We're going to do something crazy but heroic," Ralis said.
"Like what?" Minsc asked curiously.
"Saving a warrior named Hendak and his fellow slaves," Ralis replied.
Minsc liked the sound of that as they left the pit room.
"We are going to free this warrior and his people? This is a task of great honor! We shall be great heroes for this, heroes doing heroic things for all to see!" He exclaimed proudly.
"I knew we would take action soon," Mazzy smiled.
"Bah, who cares about honor? I'm just lookin' fer a reason to crack some skulls," Korgan said.
Back in the prison room where the slaves are, Ralis approached Hendak's prison cell first and unlocked the door. Hendak couldn't believe his ears or eyes when he heard the keys rattling and saw the jail cell door open with Ralis and his companions standing outside.
"You have the key! You have it! Thank the gods!" Hendak approached Ralis and shook his hand. "Thank you truly, Ralis, for what you have done."
"No problem, Hendak. Here are the keys, hurry releasing everyone, I think Frankie and the others have caught on to what I've been doing," Ralis said.
Hendak went to jail cell after jail cell unlocking doors. The freed men and boys couldn't believe this was happening. Most were so overjoyed they exclaimed their praises loudly, and some cried out "Praise be! We are free! Free at last!"
And some took the time to personally thank Ralis.
"We are free, my brothers! Go now and free the women! Hendak will strike his blade into the heart of our so-called owner, so that he shall never trouble you again! Go and savor your freedom!" Hendak announced to everyone, holding his bastard sword firmly in his hands.
"All right! It's time to get all the men armored up!" Ralis instructed. Minsc led all the men to the armory room, where the guards of the Copper Coronet get their weapons and armor.
"No pushing, no shoving! There is enough swords for everyone!" Minsc exclaimed joyously to all the former slaves preparing themselves for the rebellion, and Boo squeaked too.
Valygar laughed. "I never imagined that I would be doing such great things with you, Ralis!"
Ralis frowned awkwardly, because this is the first time he ever saw Valygar smile and laugh.
"Aye, I agree, we've done these people a great service," Anomen nodded approvingly.
"This makes me proud to be by your side, Ralis," Mazzy said.
"We do good things here! All will remember the heroes that are Minsc, Boo and you!" Minsc said to Ralis, giving him a congratulations pat on the back, knocking the air out of Ralis's lungs.
"*cough*, *cough*... Right you are, Minsc. Only good things will come from the examples we set," Ralis replied to him.
"Yes!" Minsc grinned. "Lead evil by example, and one day we need no longer put the boots to those that stray off the path of goodness into the muck and bile of villainy and track great bloody footprints across our lily-white tiles! Boo will have clean wood shavings, you evil bastards!"
Ralis, Valygar, Mazzy, Viconia, Hexxat and Anomen looked at Minsc with blank expressions for a few seconds.
"Oooookaaaay," Ralis said slowly, wondering if Minsc will ever recover from the head injury he suffered years ago.
"Thank you again my friends," Hendak thanked Ralis and his companions again. Now to the task of killing that fiend Lehtinan. Assist me if you wish. Otherwise, stand back and watch the vengeance of Hendak be fulfilled!"
The former slaves raised their swords and cheered, then they charged out of the dungeon room, heading for the room where Ralis fought the beastmaster and his animals that were trained to fight in the pit. Minsc opened the gate to the pit, and the slaves ran out past the corpse of the bulette. The nobles on the balconies saw the slaves charging out with their swords and dressed in armor!
"Oh gods!" One of the noblemen gasped.
"Run! Run! The slaves have escaped!" Another nobleman exclaimed.
"Ahhh! Run for your lives! They'll kill us for certain!" Another nobleman cried out.
All the panicking noblemen left the balconies hoping to get to the exit before the freed slaves could cut them off. Most of the noblemen didn't make it, feeling cold steel pierce their bodies. The slaves who escaped warned Frankie and the guards about what is going on. The guards weren't thoroughly prepared for the vengeful fury coming their way, along with the people who helped them escape.
The freed slaves overpowered the guards like a hurricane! Frankie's face turned pale with fear and he turned and ran. One of the former slaves took aim at Frankie with a bow and arrow and fired, the arrow hitting Frankie in the left calf! He screamed and fell to the ground, tumbling a few feet before coming to a complete stop. The slaver with the bow approached Frankie and drew his sword. Frankie tried to crawl away, but the freed slave who shot him placed his bare feet on Frankie's back, pinning him to the ground. Frankie looked over his shoulder in fear at the scowling slave, whimpering like a scared puppy.
"You slaving bastard! My family's blood still stains your hands!" The former slave snarled before he impaled his sword into Frankie's back.
"Fall back! Fall back!" The commander of the Copper Coronet's guards exclaimed just seconds before an arrow from Hexxat's shortbow pierced his neck, causing him to sag to the ground choking.
The rebelling slaves split up into two groups from here. The first group went straight to the secret rooms of the Copper Coronet where men who desire... "companionship" from slave women are. The rebelling slaves attacked and killed the bouncer, including Madame Nin, and even her clients who were in the bedrooms with their chosen companions. The women were overjoyed at there being a rebellion. The Copper Coronet guards had their hands full fighting the slaves, but they never expected to fight a group of adventurers, or even a halfling knight. Some guards underestimated how threatening Mazzy can be. As for Hexxat, in the fight, she would drag an unlucky guard into a back room and suck his blood in privacy among the battle.
However, before Ralis, Minsc and Korgan could join the action, a close friend of Hendak, named Tenlin told Ralis, Minsc and Korgan that in the basement, there is a room where the slavers train children slaves to fight in the pit. This outraged Minsc, and to Ralis's surprise, even Korgan. For some reason, even Korgan draws the line at using children as slaves. So instead of watching Hendak confront Lehtinan with the others, Ralis, Minsc and Korgan followed Tenlin down to the basement levels.
The patrons of the Copper Coronet shouted in confusion and fear when they saw the rebelling slaves appear from the back rooms. Lehtinan came out to see what the commotion is, and he immediately caught sight of Hendak with the slaves. His eyes frowned in confusion and anger.
"What?! Hendak?! You ignorant, barbaric slave! You're behind this chaos, are you? I'll take it out of your hide!" Lehtinan hissed angrily.
"Enough, fiend! You no longer own me, and I'll ensure that you no longer claim ownership over any other as well!" Hendak exclaimed as he approached Hendak, pointing his bastard sword towards his face. "I have survived your hellish fighting pit for years... you are no match for me!"
Even Hexxat and Viconia could see that Hendak is right, Lehtinan's days are severely numbered if he believes that he can defeat Hendak in a sword battle.
"We shall see!" Lehtinan wielded his custom made falchion with a "V" shaped cross guard, ready for battle.
All the patrons of the Copper Coronet, even Bernard, moved back, giving Hendak and Lehtinan enough room to fight.
At that moment, Ralis, Minsc, Korgan and Tenlin reached the basement, where they found a room full of barrels, crates, and a few more slavers who seem to be unaware of the rebellion going on upstairs. One of the men is Captain Haegan himself, who unknown to Ralis, is Isaea's accomplice in the slave trade business.
"What?! Who are you four, and how did you get down here? Are you lot with Lehtinan?" Haegan demanded.
"That slaver bastard? No, we're not. Right now, he's paying the price for disrespecting the free will of others. Even as we speak, he's fighting Hendak right now, so he's likely dead!" Ralis retorted spitefully.
Haegan frowned angrily. "You! How dare you! We were doing good business in this town before you showed up and mucked everything up!"
"When it come down to slavery, scum, you need to be put out of business!" Tenlin sneered.
"Why? Why are you out to ruin us?" Haegan asked.
"Shut up, slaver scum! You brought this misery upon yourself!" Ralis growled.
"Wait. I know you! Isaea Roenall mentioned you! You're Ralis Rutela, Nalia's friend!" Haegan exclaimed.
"What? You know who I am? And how do you know Nalia? Tell me!" Ralis demanded.
"What, your friends didn't tell you? Isaea has arrested Nalia, and we couldn't have done it without the help of your friend, Althirion De'Alselah," Haegan grinned.
"HE WHAT?!" Ralis couldn't believe this! Althir betrayed everyone?!
"I... forgot to tell you about this, Ralis, I'm sorry," Minsc apologized.
"This changes nothing! I'm freeing these slaves and Nalia, and there's nothing either of your scumbag friends can do to stop us!" Ralis declared.
"You're risking your neck for these slaves just to free them? These dregs could nary be called persons! This is no different than trading in cattle! Speaking of which, it's time for you four to be butchered!" Haegan said.
His comments about the slaves being less than people really angered Ralis, Minsc, Tenlin and Korgan.
"What?! They have no shame in trading the lives of others?!" Minsc exclaimed.
"You motherless scum are so dead!" Ralis exclaimed.
"Damn right, lad! Even I would nae trade children an' women as if they were cattle! Let us plant an axe firmly in their skulls, Ralis!" Korgan growled, holding the handle of his axe tight.
Minsc pointed Lilarcor at Haegan and the slavers. "Evil, meet my trusty sword! Sword, MEET EVIL!"
"Hands up, kiddies! Who wants to die?!" Lilarcor sneered in excitement.
"RAAAAGHH!" Korgan and Minsc immediately charged forward with Ralis and Tenlin following.
"Charge!" Haegan exclaimed, then ran to the back rooms to warn the other slavers.
"Kill, kill, kill! Yeah! HAHAHA!" Lilarcor cackled excitedly.
Meanwhile, back in Isaea's estate, Althir continued digging through Isaea's personal documents in his office, looking for some incriminating evidence to present to the officials of Athkatla to tarnish Isaea's legit reputation.
"Damn it... Gods damn it, where is it...?" Althir muttered to himself as he thumbed through page after page of meaningless documents on the desk.
It took him 2 minutes to find what he is looking for. Or something close to it. He found a ledger of income for the last season, marking major purchases and trades in Isaea's household. The ledger also details a number of gem and jewel transactions, from mostly non-local dealers. Even more strange, the importation prices don't meet the market value, and even though Althir is not an accountant, he could sense foul play at work here, avoiding local tariffs and such. This ledger hints that Isaea is not just a slave trader, but also a gem and jewel smuggler.
He had his back turned towards the door, with the door opened, and a few seconds later and suddenly, an Amnian guard appeared at the door, pointing a loaded crossbow straight at Althir's back!
"Halt! What in the Nine Hells are you doing?!" The guard demanded.
Althir looked up from the documents, but he didn't turn around.
"I'm looking for dirt on your boss. Roenall is a damn slave trader and smuggler, and I'm here to find evidence show all of Athkatla the bastard that he really is," Althir said.
"That isn't going to happen on my watch. Put your hands on your head and turn around!" The guard demanded.
Althir slowly put his hand behind his head. Then the guard cautiously entered the room, approaching Althir, with three guards armed with swords behind him. As soon as the guard got 7 feet close to Althir... He stepped on a tripwire! The guard heard a *ping!* noise and gasped in horror. Suddenly, to his right, hidden behind a vase with zigzagging green and blue color patterns holding beautiful red flowers, a hidden mechanism fired a pocket knife blade straight at the guard who stepped on the tripwire! The blade lodged itself deep into the guard's neck and he sank to his feet, choking and gargling. The other three guards watched in confusion at what just happened, then they drew their swords.
The distraction was all that Althir needed to spring to action! He unsheathed his swords as he turned around to face and charge at the guards, then he hacked and slashed at them with such amazing precision, fluidity and grace, the guards never had a chance against him, even when they tried to parry his attacks, Althir always managed to find a weak spot in their defenses in a matter of seconds. After the guards fell dead, Althir sheathed Edwyn, turned around and grabbed the ledger off the desk, then ran out the office! He heard the sound of a dozen footsteps coming his way down the left side of the hallway. He ran down the opposite end of the hallway. The Roenall guards on the other end took aim at Althir with their crossbows and fired!
Instinctively, Althir pulled open a door near him to his left and used it as a shield, standing behind it as the crossbow bolts bounced off or dented the wooden surface of the pristine white door. Then Althir continued running for the stairs at the end of the hallway as the guards armed with swords chased him, shouting at him to stop.
At the Copper Coronet, Lehtinan came at Hendak, slashing at him furiously, and Hendak parried each blow calmly, keeping his distance from Lehtinan four feet away. The waiters, waitresses, customers, patrons, rebel slaves, and half of Ralis's companions stood back as far as they could, giving Lehtinan and Hendak enough room for their epic duel.
Lehtinan quickly crouched down then tried to slash his sword's blade at Hendak's legs, but he missed, as Hendak jumped, dodging the strike and landed on a table. Lehtinan stood up, then slashed at Hendak's legs again, but he missed again, because Hendak somersaulted over Lehtinan gracefully and landed behind him and quickly dodged a stabbing blow that would have pierced Hendak's heart. Hendak grabbed Lehtinan's outstretched sword arm and brought his knee up into Lehtinan's chest, knocking the air out of him. Lehtinan bent over in pain, slashing furiously at Hendak, but he kept his distance from the swinging arcs.
As much as Lehtinan hated to admit it, Hendak is an experienced fighter than he is, and knew he is toying with him a bit. Although the knowledge of that made him even more angrier. He charged at Hendak, yelling with anger. Hendak swiftly dodged, then counterattacked, slashing Lehtinan in the back, making a horizontal "l" shaped wound in his expensive tunic and blood gushed out, staining his clothing. Lehtinan screamed in pain and staggered forward, crashing into a chair.
In the basement, Korgan and Minsc led the charge. Some of Haegan's fellow slavers were brave enough to take enraged Minsc and Korgan head on. They were fools. Minsc and Korgan in berserker mode cut through the lot of them as if they were mere obstacles in their way. Tenlin and Ralis decided it best to stay out of Minsc and Korgan's rampage. However, Ralis used his longbow to help.
"Graaaah!" Korgan yelled, charging straight at the third slaver he will soon kill, slamming the blade of his ax into the slaver's tower shield. The impact of the blow was incredible, coming from a dwarf, causing the man to stagger backwards a few feet and lower his tower shield like a ramp! Then Korgan jumped on top of the lowered tower shield, jumped up in the air, then buried his ax into the slaver's head! Blood spurted from the cracked head into Korgan's face as he fell down with the slaver's body!
Minsc, with Lilarcor in his hands mercilessly charged through the slavers as they tried to overwhelm him with their superior numbers, but superior numbers weren't enough!
"DIE, EVIL! DIE! RAAAAGHH!" Minsc yelled as he swung Lilarcor in a very wide arc, cutting into the neck of one slaver, the chest of another, the forehead of the third, and cutting the heads of two more, and hitting one slaver armed with a large shield so hard, the force of the blow caused him to spin sideways in midair and land on his right arm!
"Keep 'em coming! Ha ha ha!" Lilarcor laughed.
Ralis aimed his longbow at Haegan who was trying to aim his crossbow at Minsc's head, and fired! Ralis's arrow hit Haegan in the shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain and fire the bolt up to the ceiling. Then Tenlin, with his shortbow, fired his own arrow, and the arrow hit Haegan right in the forehead!
Soon all the slavers were dead, and Ralis, Tenlin and Minsc found the keys in Haegan's pockets then went to the prison room and released 14 boys and 14 girls from captivity. Korgan, however, stayed behind to relentlessly slam his ax into the dead bodies of the slavers, causing blood to spray on his face and beard, as he clearly despises the fact these people have enslaved children, even though Korgan himself has his own reasons of hating them.
Lehtinan struggled to stand back up on his feet despite the furious pain from the gash on his back and turned to face Hendak, and this time, Hendak yelled and charged at him, slashing at him, putting Lehtinan on the defensive this time. After clashing his sword against his own about 7 times, Hendak and Lehtinan crossed swords, Hendak's sword inched its way down to the cross guard of Lehtinan's sword. Then Hendak bent his sword arm, causing his blade to attach itself firmly on the end of the "V" cross guard of Lehtinan's weapon, and twisted it out of his hands. Even with Lehtinan unarmed, Hendak didn't show him mercy. He ran his sword straight into Lehtinan's heart!
Lehtinan gasped as he felt sharp, cold steel punch through his chest and heart, and the last thing he saw before his eye vision went completely black was Hendak's scowling eyes before a pitch black haze clouded his vision. Hendak pulled his sword out of Lehtinan's chest and his body slumped down to the ground. Lehtinan lie dead facing the ceiling, his eyes wide open.
"It's over, fiend. My brethren and I are free to create our own future without the likes of you controlling us like cattle in a pen," Hendak spat.
At the Sea's Bounty tavern, with Dirth, the Thumb and all the pirates dead, Abdel and his companions now have the opportunity to check if Dirth has the papers they need. As Jan spoke to the bartender who complained about who will repair the damage done in the tavern, Abdel checked Dirth's body. He found a document in his pocket.
"What is that?" Tashia leaned over Abdel's shoulder to get a better look at the document.
"It's... a document that contains a register of slaves..." Abdel said.
He was right. This document lists the number of slaves sold to local slave lords in Amn, and Lehtinan's name is among the list of slave lords in Amn. It also bears a signature in wax, pressed by a signet ring. Abdel didn't know this, but the crest on the signature made by the ring is the greater crest of the family Roenall, along with the individualized markings of Isaea Roenall himself. Jaheira took the document out of Abdel's hands.
"Let me see that," she said as she did so. Then she read the papers carefully, then smiled. "Well well, I think we have our first piece of evidence. Before we head over to Isaea's estate, let's go back to the Copper Coronet and pay this Lehtinan a visit since he is one of the slave lords Isaea does business with," Jaheira announced, and they immediately left the tavern.
The Copper Coronet is in chaos. Lehtinan, the proprietor of the tavern with dirty secrets is dead, Bernard resigned from being a bartender of the Copper Coronet because he felt guilty realizing that his boss was running illegal operations right under his nose, and he has no intention of looking Ralis, Hendak, or even Jaheira in the face, since he felt he should have known his own boss is as dirty as Baron Ployer. Hendak volunteered to be the temporary proprietor of the tavern until he can find someone else who can take the job, and his friend Tenlin took over for Bernard as bartender, and some of their fellow slaves volunteered to be the new guards of the Copper coronet, making the tavern more legit than it used to be. When Abdel and the others regrouped with Ralis and his other companions, Jaheira, Tashia, Yoshimo and Abdel were surprised to learn that Ralis has already heard of Althir's betrayal and Nalia's kidnapping.
"Why hasn't anyone told me this, huh?! Why?!" Ralis demanded.
"Now, now, Ralis, there's no need to get angry over spilled milk. Besides, we have found everything we've needed to send that bastard where he belongs," Jaheira said.
"Like what?" Ralis asked skeptically.
"We've found documents linking his activities in the slave trade," Tashia said, then Abdel handed him the documents.
Ralis read them, and his eyes widened in amusement.
"I'll be damned. This could work," he said hopefully.
"He also might have more damning evidence at his home. We better go there and get them while we still have time," Abdel said.
"No need," a mysterious voice said.
Everyone turned around to see a figure in gray holding a book.
"I've got exactly what you need right here," Althir said, approaching.
Abdel, Yoshimo, Aerie, Viconia, Hexxat and Minsc expected Ralis to lash out in anger at Althir for his betrayal, and they were right. Ralis stomped towards Althir.
"You got a lot of nerve showing your face to me, after what you pulled," Ralis growled.
Althir pulled his hood off from over his head.
"We don't have time to argue about this. We need to expose Isaea as quick as possible before he finds a way to escape with his crimes!" Althir urged.
Ralis wanted to know why he betrayed Nalia without telling her or anyone else what he planned on doing, but that can wait.
"*sigh*, all right. Come on, let's get to the Government District, and quickly!" Ralis said ot his companions, and they left the Copper Coronet.
A couple hours later, in the court house at the Government District, Ralis, Jaheira, Althir and Abdel met with Corgeig Axehand, Isaea's superior officer in his office. He is a 43 year old man with short chestnut colored hair and beard, bright green eyes, and wore full steel armor. The rest of their companions were in the waiting room.
"You're Corgeig, right? I must speak to you about Isaea Roenall," Ralis said as soon as he met him.
"If you want to lodge a complaint, you should make an appointment to request an audience, or speak directly to Officer Roenall. He serves well as liaison to the nobility." Corgeig suggested.
"You should examine Officer Roenall more carefully. He has dark secrets," Ralis said.
Corgeig raised an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting that one of my officers has behaved inappropriately? What is your evidence of this? What are your claims?"
"He imprisoned Nalia Arnise to force her submission to an arranged marriage," Abdel said for Ralis.
Corgeig stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Serious charges indeed. However, I am familiar with the young woman in question, and she is hardly considered to be innocent by default. I also have it on authority of Isaea Roenall that Nalia was distraught after the death of her father, and that he has placed her under his care as a protective measure."
"Against her will! She never liked Isaea before her father's death, and she has been under my care, and I have been named the new owner of Arnise Hold, but Isaea went against the rules of nobility!" Ralis retorted.
"I am afraid it is his word against yours, and no matter what you think Nalia has said of her motivations, Isaea is the more credible claimant." Corgeig said.
"Wait! He finances pirates. We have a witness to these events, a man named Barg," Jaheira said.
"Hmm. A scathing claim, but not enough to pursue a man. Barg is a known scoundrel, his testimony is questionable. Have you other charges that cast further doubt?" Corgeig asked.
"He has smuggled gems. I have this ledger here to prove it," Althir handed Corgeig the ledger, and Coregeig read it over carefully.
"... This may have been a simple clerical error. Combined with other charges, it might warrant an inquiry, but alone it does not. Have you other charges to make?"
"Isaea Roenall deals in slaves. His insignia was used on slave documents," Ralis said, handing Coregeig the document Abdel filched from Dirth's body.
Coregeig frowned after reading the documents. "Any hint of association with the slave trade can ruin a man, and your claims are all circumstantial, but there is enough here to warrant investigating officially."
Ralis and Abdel sighed in relief.
"Remember, nothing is proven yet. Any number of factors could place his insignia there and not directly involve him. Whatever the truth is, we will be sure to expose it. It will take some time to fully investigate, but we should know by tomorrow if an inquiry is warranted. I suggest you return then. If the allegation you have made are true, we owe you a debt. Such bad apples are a very destructive influence on our effectiveness. If your allegations are false, however, you may find yourself indebted to Isaea. I will have Isaea summoned here, and we will see what course must be taken." Corgeig said.
A few hours later, things started to look good. The Amnian guards have taken Isaea and Nalia and brought them to the courthouse before he could find a way to make a good cover story to save face. Corgeig reviewed the evidence carefully and after a full investigation, has reached a conclusion. Ralis, Abdel and Jaheira sat in the court room. again, everyone else were in a different room. Corgeig turned to face Ralis.
"Ralis, I have reviewed this matter extensively," he informed him.
Ralis felt his heart pounding in his chest.
Then suddenly, Isaea blurted out: "The indignity! I demand satisfaction!"
Nalia took great pride in watching Isaea yell in anger, knowing that he is done for.
"You have not been wronged here, Isaea. There has been no slander if the allegations are true," Corgeig said.
Ralis smiled triumphantly. Isaea vehemently stood up, pointing straight at Ralis.
"You believe the lies this ditch rat is spewing? Need I remind you how respected I am? I am Isaea Roenall!"
"And if it turns out to be true that you have done what these people says, I will have you stripped of your rank, regardless of how "respected" you may be," Corgeig said.
Isaea's face turned red with anger. "This is preposterous!" He exclaimed.
Nalia grinned.
"This matter is closed until further investigation! Nalia, you are free to go. Isaea, you are not to leave Athkatla until further notice."
As soon as Corgeig said that, Nalia stood up and rushed over to Ralis, embracing him in a heartwarming hug.
"AN OUTRAGE!" Isaea screamed as the guards took him away.
"Don't whine, Isaea. It makes you seem even less of a man," Nalia smiled at him.
"This is not over by any means!" Isaea said before the guards escorted him out of the room.
A minute later, Nalia, Ralis, Abdel and Jaheira regrouped with everyone else and left the courthouse.
"Thank you for your help. You have helped me again, and I am grateful," Nalia thanked Ralis.
"Think nothing of it," Ralis said.
"I will try to be less of a burden on the group in the future..." Nalia promised.
"Eh? Ye already are! 'Tis a waste of time bringing ye back, Nalie!" Korgan growled.
"Pay no attention to him. Welcome back, Nalia," Tashia said.
They headed to the park near where the Council of Six building is, and there they found Althir, resting against a tree with his hood over his head.
"I got arrested because of him!" Nalia exclaimed.
Althir stood calm and collected, he never even tensed to run away, much to Nalia's surprise.
"I'll handle this," Ralis said to Nalia.
He approached Althir while everyone stayed back, watching.
"I see you got her back," Althir said nonchalantly.
Ralis snorted.
"After all you've done, that's all you have to say? "I got her back"?" He said in increasing outrage. "Who gave you the right to put one of my group members in jeopardy, huh?"
"I did it by necessity," Althir said, looking straight at Ralis with his eyes hidden under his hood.
"You cold hearted bastard!" Ralis threw a right hook towards the half-elf's head!
Althir crouched, dodging Ralis's swinging arm, then tripped him, and when Ralis landed on the ground, Althir quickly jumped on top of him and tied his left arm behind his back!
Minsc, Valygar and the others tensed to help Ralis, but they quickly got the feeling Althir means to subdue, not kill.
"Do you want to know the cold, hard truth I've learned about life, human?" Althir said remorselessly. "I've learned that no matter how hard you try, you can't save everyone... And that sometimes you have to treat your companions like baggage. When they become too heavy for you to carry, you must leave some of them behind."
"Lies! I'll never treat my companions like that!" Ralis snarled, trying to break loose.
"My beliefs are based on my experiences in life, human. It is foolish to question them. Sometimes to do good, you must perform a necessary evil. I had to let Roenall arrest the girl so that I would have the window of opportunity to seize the evidence we needed to expose his illegal activities to his superiors," Altihr said.
""The girl" has a name! It's Nalia Arnise! If you're going to address her, you better call her by name!" Ralis snarled.
"I don't care what her name is, or anyone else, because in the end, forming emotional attachments to people is a hindrance to the heroic deeds you must perform. That's a lesson I wanted you to learn, but Gorion refused to let me teach you this."
"I see why! You want me to become a detached, shattered, emotionless soul! I refuse to be like you!" Ralis growled, struggling a few more seconds.
"You're just like Gorion, as I feared... Someday it will be your downfall one way or another if you don't heed my words," Althir said.
"All right. Let me up will you?!" Ralis snarled.
"I will. Think over what I've said carefully. I am your ally, but not your friend. Friendship and romance is meaningless because in the end, one way or another, it doesn't last forever, it fades away," Althir said, then he stood up off Ralis, allowing him to stand up.
Ralis's left arm felt numb for a few seconds, but the numbness slowly abated. And so, Ralis led his group out of Athkatla back to Arnise Hold to think of their next course of action. However, Ralis felt that his heart is becoming as heavy as Rasaad's, with more bleak thoughts to endure. Althir has given him something to think about. Beliefs that he doesn't agree with.