The Demiurge's Aegis
..
The party hurried from the ruins down towards the relative shelter of the woodlands. They were stopped briefly by a ghost, which Imoen hopped up to confront.
"You study this for errors!" she insisted, pulling out The History of the Sisters of Light and Darkness and placing it in his ethereal fingertips. The ghost became incredibly excited, somehow successfully picking up the volume. "Right. I'll be back for it in the morning, don't you forget! That book is going to Candlekeep, mister."
The rest of the group shrugged at one another and then they continued on their way. Kivan and Xan shared a brief and affectionate clasp of each others' shoulders to demonstrate that each elf was glad to see the other. Then the ranger had joined their leader's side.
[You were absent for days,] he noted, and Aegis grinned down at him.
[What? Were you worried?] she asked the green-clad ranger.
Kivan scowled. [Clearing ahead. Fit for a camp.]
Viconia hurried up beside them. "Have you seen Dynaheir?" she asked, still breathing heavily from the fight. Kivan turned a baleful look on her and Viconia grimaced. "I don't want to fight you! There was an altercation, and I am just asking if she is safe!"
An altercation? Xan thought sourly. An altercation you helped cause! But he held his tongue for the time being.
Kivan seemed to accept the question with less hostility than would have been normal for him, but he addressed Aegis in elvish and looked away from Viconia as he answered. [They passed through yesterday. I led them free and returned to wait for you.]
Ajantis discretely grasped the drow woman's elbow and pulled her backwards, fixing her with a stern eye. It was hard to say whether Viconia was genuinely sorry or simply acting. Either way, Kivan's side was a bad place for her to be.
[Thank you. Means a lot,] Aegis answered the elf.
..
Kivan led them to make camp for the night. Party members gathered wood, took time to relieve themselves, laid out their palettes, stretched, and tried to relax. Most of them were desperate to get their armor off.
Xan and Aegis told Kivan what they'd seen below. When Edwin came up, Xan glanced at Aegis, who discretely explained that the conjurer had stuck his hand in a bee's nest with Dynaheir and most likely gotten what he'd deserved.
[Hnh. I see you failed to leave the drow and dwarf down in the warrens where they belong. Foolish.]
Aegis sighed. [Kivan, they-] Then she suddenly realized the ranger was smirking beneath his hood. [Is that a smile?] she asked incredulously. [Xan, look! Look, is that a smile? No, can't be! He smiles less than you!]
Kivan lowered his hood, but Xan was shorter than him and had low-light vision. [Why, I think it is,] the enchanter realized, awed.
[Oh. Sweet Oghma,] Aegis gasped out each syllable as if staggered. [He told a joke.]
[Preposterous!] Xan disagreed. [Kivan can't joke. It is a physical impossibility.]
Kivan's mouth was painfully fighting and losing the urge to grin.
[Oh he cares about us!] Aegis cooed. [He likes us! He missed us!]
Kivan growled and then hissed in surprise and alarm when Aegis hugged him. Of course, her hug absolutely lifted him clear off the ground. As burly as Kivan looked beside Xan, he was still much smaller than Aegis.
[Xan! We are keeping him!] Aegis insisted joyfully.
[Put me down!] the startled wild elf hissed, flailing.
[Pleeassee Xan?] Aegis laughed. [I need a mentor!]
[Put me down!] Kivan repeated, his hood coming down as he tried fruitlessly to free himself. He was surprisingly strong, Aegis realized when she had to keep an ironclad grip on him. Most likely the only reason she was able to accomplish holding on to him at all was because he was off the ground and had bad leverage.
Xan grinned. [Be careful, Aegis! He has plenty of skinning knives, and I am not certain he registers that this is affection as opposed to an attempt to asphyxiate him.]
Aegis chuckled and eased Kivan down to his feet, earning a scowl from her favorite ranger as he dusted himself off. She reached up and picked a leaf out of his hair. He shot her an annoyed look. She beamed at him as innocently at Imoen had ever beamed at anyone. His shoulders slumped, and he gave a martyred sigh.
[I will accompany your group as you prepare for the bandits,] he told her.
Aegis blinked. [We just basically lost three members. It might take us a bit to regain our footing.]
He nodded curtly. [I know. I accept,] he retorted.
[And Viconia?]
Kivan gave them a somewhat patient expression which suggested he was prepared to make allowances but that there was only so much direct contact with the drow that he could take before he disappeared off into the woods again.
"Aegis!" came Viconia's shout as she rushed into the camp. The ranger woman blinked, turning to look at her.
"Speaking of Femme Fatales," Xan muttered. The drow was panting hard.
"It's Kagain and Ajantis!" Viconia heaved. "I have convinced Shar-Teel to stand out of it, but not for long!"
"What?!" Aegis exclaimed. "Show me!"
The drow nodded.
..
Neither Ajantis nor Kagain was amored, and both were carrying live steel. The two were bloodied by the time Aegis arrived. They were circling each other, shouting out verbal invective. Shar-Teel was just standing there, chewing on a sprig of wheat with her hands on her hips. She seemed mildly impressed, and Aegis could guess why. Anyone might have assumed that Ajantis would stick to high-brow insults, so the stream of filth coming out from both mens' mouths was certainly unexpected.
As their leader arrived, Ajantis took a swing at Kagain.
"Break it up!" she shouted. Ajantis pulled the shot but Kagain did not and the paladin barely managed to parry in time. "I said BREAK IT UP!" Aegis boomed, stomping in between them and grabbing at both of their arms when they refused to back off. She had no armor on herself, but fortunately neither man was so far gone as to strike at her. She threw Ajantis backwards simply because he was easier to move, and then whirled on Kagain. "Enough!"
The dwarf growled. "This moron ain't deserving of the life his mother gave him!" he snapped. "Let me at him, I'mma shut that mouth real good and drive some sense to that head with my axe!"
"Kagain, stand down," Aegis warned, noticing that Kivan and Xan had been right behind her and Branwen and Imoen was also coming to investigate with Edwin in tow. "I am not in the mood to be pushed."
"Yas warnings are hot air," he told her. "Yas ain't got what it takes to hit anyone proper, and yas ain't even armed."
Ajantis took a step backwards, wiping blood off of his trousers and wincing. "There is nothing decent about that hell-spawned bastard!" he exclaimed. "He reeks of evil and he cannot control his temper! This is not the first time we've come to blows!"
"Pretty boy threw the first punch," Shar-Teel vouched, flicking her wheat aside and sneering laughingly at the paladin. "Watched it myself."
Ajantis blushed. "He insulted my mentor, my father, my mother- my sisters-!"
"Whores and bastards!" Shar-Teel agreed enthusiastically.
"-in detail!" the paladin protested. "And spoke about how he wanted to rape and kill them all!"
"I don't fucking care!" Aegis roared. "Words you can't handle are an excuse to get the hell out of this party. I explicitly told you that while you are with us, you can't rise to bait! Ajantis, you swore to me: no infighting!"
"I threw a punch; he used an axe!" the paladin was clearly on the end of his rope. He had weathered through indignity after indignity, his roommate was a manipulative Sharite whom he nevertheless desperately wanted to believe could be redeemed, and Shar-Teel kept punching him for no apparent reason. He needed someone to give him some ground to stand on.
Aegis scowled and looked down at Kagain. "Leave off of him! He is just a kid," she told the dwarf accusingly.
"Aye, and a dumb one, set to become a dumb paladin screwin' in other peoples' business and sullying them's profits!" Kagain spat off to the side. "Throw the mamma's boy out before he speaks ta me again!"
"Let em fight!" Shar-Teel hooted, apparently oblivious or indifferent to all the reasons why this would be a terribly bad idea.
"Not a chance, on either count. Now both of you, stand down," Aegis told them. "Back off. Go to camp. Rest. Keep the hells away from each other." Ajantis looked ready to say something, but she raised her voice and talked straight over him. "And this is my final warning to every one. I will not tolerate another fight without acting. Not from you, not from Shar-Teel, not from Viconia or Xan, not from anyone! This is finished today." She looked to Ajantis. "Am I clear?" she hissed.
The paladin swallowed tightly. Then he muttered a curse and sheathed his sword, turning he stomp off towards camp. Viconia intercepted him after a few steps, touching his arm. She seemed more angry with him than concerned, and proceeded to say something about 'stupid jaluk' which he suffered through unspeaking.
Aegis turned to Kagain. "Clear?" she asked stonily. When he didn't immediately answer, her eyes narrowed and she stared him straight in the face. "I am not playing at threats, Kagain. I am at the end of my rope. Now, have I been clear?"
The dwarf grimaced. "Crystal," he growled. Aegis nodded and turned to start back to camp. "This sure is 'finished.'"
Aegis watched Kivan's weight drop, his hand reaching back rapidly for an arrow. Xan's eyes widened. "Ajantis!" Imoen called. A slow breath of air filled Aegis' lungs as her mind went blank with focus and her legs swiftly changed her momentum. She knew by intuition where she had left Kagain, and she could see where Ajantis was standing. Two steps. She got between them.
"AEGIS!" She heard Kivan loose his arrows
Focus.
There was a vibrant halo of green as something- a projectile?- struck Aegis hard in the back. It hit her in the shoulder blade of her off-hand, cleaving down to the bone. But then the weapon rebounded. Aegis lurched from the hit and then whirled around to figure out what had happened. Then she realized that Kagain had thrown his axe at Ajantis, and she had taken it in his stead. Her tunic was torn and blood blossomed down her back, slicking the vibrantly glowing Protection from Evil sigil which Xzar had tattooed there.
Momentarily staggered, Aegis looked down at where the axe had fallen to the ground. Then she looked to Kagain, who had caught Kivan's arrows with his shoulder and forearm. The dwarf stepped back in surprised dismay because the axe blow obviously ought to have killed her, and she hadn't been his intended target. For a moment, the ranger woman's face was blank. She was thinking of whether or not Ajantis would have survived such a blow, even with Viconia right beside him. Probably not. It had been intended as a one-shot victory, and Kagain could have felled Aegis herself had it not been for her necromancer's protective gift.
"Aegis-" Kagain protested, glancing from her to where Kivan had another arrow knocked, Branwen had summoned her malus, and Xan was ready to cast.
Silence.
Then Aegis' mouth parted and she pounced down on the axe, grabbing it up in her hand. "My turn," she breathed, bolting towards the dwarf. He stumbled back from her with a curse, drawing a knife from his boot for defense. He wasn't prepared for how hard Aegis could hit while enraged.
..
The party stood in unified silence as Aegis slowly righted herself. She had sunk the axe in so deep on the last hack that it had become stuck. She decided to leave it there, standing up and breathing heavily. She turned slowly into their stares, her back slicked with blood and the edges of the Protection from Evil just barely visible through her tattered clothing. Her trousers, face, and arms were all splattered with blood to; but that was not her own.
Imoen's eyes were wide and she had both hands over her mouth. Edwin, who had otherwise looked oblivious to everything, now appeared almost as if he were suffering from severe indigestion. At her gaze, he shrunk down behind Imoen. Shar-Teel was no longer laughing, and Xan was aghast.
Aegis shuddered, reaching up under her arm to touch her wound. Then she turned and walked up to a stunned Ajantis. She stopped inches in front of him, and stared the paladin down for a very long moment.
"What do you think?" she asked him at last, holding out her arms to showcase the gore. "Was it as noble and honorable as you had hoped?" Ajantis' lips parted, but no words came to him. Aegis shook her head. "Bury him," she told the man. "Bury the friend who died in your stead. The dwarf who braided my hair." Then she turned away, clutching at her wound and staggering towards camp.
Ajantis watched her go. Then he shakily moved to where the dwarf had fallen, murmuring prayers to Helm.
Aegis sat on a log just outside of the camp, shaking from adrenaline and looking down at her hands. Kivan was the one who reached her first, and she noted distantly that he acted almost exactly like Jaheira would have. He simply came up and jerked up the back of her shirt, rolled the fabric out of the way, and then felt along the wound.
She wasn't really present enough to hear words, but she registered that Kivan shouted out something behind him. Then Xan and Branwen must have joined her second, because she soon felt the soothing effects of healing energy being artfully applied to her gouged rib bones and cleaved muscles.
"Aegy? Aegis?" She lifted her gaze to see Imoen there. The other girl was gently touching her face and pushing stray curls behind her ears. "Are you okay?"
Aegis blinked slowly. "Yeah," she said after a moment. "Or, I will be."
"I thought you were going to die! We all thought you were going to die! You deflected a flying axe! A Protection from Evil did that!?"
Aegis thought about the question. "I miss Xzar," was all she said, and then she lifted a hand to rub her face and was horrified to find tears there. She quickly smothered them away, hoping the group wouldn't see this and think she was crazy. More came, and she snarled in frustration. "Did I do the right thing?" she asked, confused by the what the tears meant.
Kivan grasped her shoulder firmly. "You are young, but this is a world where questions like those often have no answers," he told her.
She touched his fingers, feeling a kinship with the elf she did not really understand but, at that moment, truly needed.
"That doesn't mean they shouldn't be asked," he added.
..
Shar-Teel ended up helping Ajantis bury Kagain. Viconia watched awkwardly for awhile before throwing up her hands and coming to help. The three were uncharacteristically quiet when they regained the camp, and Shar-Teel was remarkably civil. By then, Aegis' support group had successfully tidied her up, and there was no hint of tears on her face; important when facing down two of the most morally challenged women in the party.
The party was quiet in a uncomfortable and introspective way; not in the peaceful way which Ajantis or even Xan might have imagined. That evening the group did not chatter much. Branwen went to bed early. When Xan joined her but merely sat beside her to think, she threw an arm about his hips and dragged him over to her, and then tried to sleep like that. Xan looked down in surprise, his thoughts disrupted.
"Got a question for you," the cleric muttered. "If I restrain Edwin and Aegis restrains Imoen, should we or should we not cover Imoen's eyes when you put your Moonblade through his breast?"
Xan frowned, because that did actually make him feel guilty. He was also concerned for Aegis' sake, given both her heritage and her now thoroughly cracked innocence. "I do not like how everyone is ignoring the seriousness of his threats, out of pity for him. Or even out of pity for her. Dynaheir needs someone to stand up for her well-being."
"Tell me what happened," Branwen suggested. "In the detail Dyn shared with you. Not just the summary."
Elsewhere, Imoen was distracting a somewhat unsettled looking Edwin with sleight of hand. His distress was slowly dissolving into annoyance and begrudged interest. Shortly afterward, he forgot why he was supposed to be annoyed, too.
..
It was nearly dawn when Imoen began squirming from a nightmare. Her writhing woke up her companion. He shook her shoulder and, when that did not work, he remembered a trick involving pulling her hair. One sharp yank and Imoen jerked awake, breathing heavily and looking around the camp.
Everything was still. Kivan was on watch and appeared to be sitting beside Aegis' bedroll with a hand on her. The sight was bizarrely touching, although Imoen did not experience the same familiarity in Kivan's presence that Aegis did. Kivan glanced at Imoen to make sure she was alright. Seeing it had been a nightmare, he turned away respectfully.
After a moment of collecting herself, Imoen looked back down at Edwin. He was watching her face questioningly. {Monkey is okay?} he asked, petting her slightly.
She nodded and settled back down into place. {Dream,} she told him.
{What kind?} he asked, shifting so that his shoulder didn't fall asleep under her head.
{The bad kind.} He scowled, irritated with such a useless answer. Then he sighed as he had little ability to comprehend a real answer anyway. Imoen smiled. {The kind where terrible things happen to people I care about, and there's nothing I can do,} she confessed, thinking about Edwin, Dynaheir, Montaron, and Aegis.
Imoen had never had anyone on 'her side' die before, except Gorion. Even though Kagain had nearly killed Ajantis, watching Aegis split his head open had been tremendously... un-fun.
He didn't quite understand, but he appreciated being told something more material than 'the bad kind.' After a moment of thought he lifted his arm up around her curled form, and rested his fingertips in her braided hair. His nails traced gently over the interwoven locks as he watched the fading stars.
{I know what you were thinking with Dynaheir,} Imoen thought aloud. {You were thinking that if she attacked you first, and you killed her in defense, that I would forgive you and blame her. You were trying to figure out how to complete your task so that I would still let you tutor me.}
The Thayvian looked at her again.
{But it doesn't work like that,} Imoen sighed. {And now you're going to end up leaving anyway. You are an idiot, and you do not understand how friendship works at all.}
{Monkey not my mother,} he told her crossly, which made Imoen giggle.
{Suuurrre,} she teased, squeezing him lightly.
"Tam," he insisted sternly, easing a second arm around her. {Not.}
..
Edwin was not entirely sure he was alright with the deadly razor blade Imoen was holding near his throat.
But considering he had had needed help with everything else from putting his shoes on, to eating, to going to the bathroom that morning, he was inclined to submit to her wisdom. He fidgeted a bit until she finally coaxed him to stillness. Then the familiar sensation of metal over his skin helped him register what was happening.
"And now you're shaving for the bastard?" Shar-Teel asked, irritated.
"Yes," Imoen told her with heavy-lidded eyes and a mischievous smirk. "I like to keep my pet man-whores looking tidy." She was lucky Edwin did not appear to be capable of understanding anything other than his mother tongue, or this joke would have earned her a throttling.
That got the first laugh out of the fightress since the evening before. "You're a bratty pink little varmint, but you're alright," she said of the thief.
Branwen watched the shaving for a moment, trying to figure out what this seemed strange to her. It took her several moment of concentration, but then she sat up straight. "Elves don't grow facial hair!" she realized, as she had never seen Xan shave.
Xan gaped at her for a moment over breakfast. Then he swallowed his food. "Elves... elves do not have any noticeable body hair," he reminded her.
Branwen blinked slowly. "I though there was something I should have noticed at the spring, but honestly I mustn't have been looking... You were kind of upset at the time; I was distracted."
Xan stared at her for a moment. Then he smiled and scooted up close beside her to eat. Branwen might not have been the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she was definitely had a big heart.
"I noticed," Shar-Teel called from where she was chewing on a few sticks of jerky. "It was sorta unnatural really. Smooth as a baby's bottom, not even any wrinkles on the-"
Branwen calmly dropped her breakfast and covered Xan's ears, because he was cringing and twitching violently. "Excuse me," the cleric said loudly. "We are trying to eat."
"You guys brought it up!" the fightress complained, but at least everyone was in a slightly better mood than they'd been in the night before.
Imoen rolled her eyes and went back ensuring her companion was properly groomed. It felt reassuring to do something simple and mundane for another person. Fortunately for her sake, Feebleminded Edwin was not averse to human contact. Nor was he as surly as the full version, for that matter.
When she was done, she combed his hair and then realized it came down to just past his neck, and needed to be cut. Instead, she braided it loosely and stole a red colored ribbon from Aegis to tie it off with. Perfect! His hair was thick and wavy, and she was incredibly glad she had managed to keep him from shaving it off.
He frowned suspiciously as she tied off the braid, and then reached up his nails to feel what she had done. He scowled. {Let see!} he demanded
{You look fine,} she assured him.
He did not believe her, and so pouted until she eventually managed to produce a mirror. Then he preened so extensively that his companion had to cover her mouth to smother her giggles. He wetted his fingertips on his tongue to smooth back stray hairs and align his goatee. He fussed at the loose and unfamiliar style of braid most of all.
{You do realize you wear a hood, right? So your hair can't really be... seen.}
He rolled his eyes; as if that mattered! He was nobility, and he would not look the part of some common hedge-wizard! Or something. He wasn't really clear on the details, but he did know what he ought to look like!
{Peacock,} she teased.
..
Aegis came back from paying quiet respects at Kagain's cairn as Kivan scouted the paths ahead of them. "We're heading out in half an hour," she told them. "We'll do our best to avoid bandits and enter Beregost in disguise and in several groups again."
"What about Edwin?" Xan asked, coming up to her.
Aegis placed her hands on her hips. "What's your suggestion?" Imoen blinked and got up, coming over to listen. "Ah, nothing from you right now, Bubbles. Let him talk."
Xan took in a slow breath and then nodded. "We could leave him in Beregost or at the temple. There is work enough to be found for a drudge, one supposes. He is not our responsibility, and he forfeited the bulk of our protection by going after Dynaheir."
"Yeah," Aegis agreed. "Okay. Imoen, Edwin's out of the party once we arrive."
"Kay," the pink girl understood. "I'll just give him a potion outside the temple."
"Ah," Xan realized the problem. "Imoen, listen to me-"
"I've promised Edwin I won't abandon him," the thief told him. "And I won't. I'm not interested in what you have to say."
Xan looked at Aegis. "Please permit me to enact a demonstration." Aegis lifted a brow but then shrugged and nodded. Xan stepped back and began to cast. Imoen's brow furrowed. Then she stumbled backwards.
"Hey!" she exclaimed. "Wait!" Then the Hold Person spell had rocketed into her, and she was frozen solid.
"Xan," Aegis growled, but the enchanter held up his hands placatingly and then came up behind Imoen, tugged down her hood, eased her hair out of the way, leaned very close, and began tracing his fingers over her arms. He began to tell her the worst parts of Edwin's story, as faithfully as he was able to remember them. Aegis winced in realization of what had happened.
Xan was only a few lines into the story when Edwin pounced on the enchanter, unbalancing him and shoving him angrily off to the side. Xan caught his footing and scowled as the conjurer got between him and Imoen with a hiss. "Rewi! Tam a'wy djereta!" Edwin told him, though the only available translator was currently paralyzed.
"I-I- Damn this man!" the enchanter exclaimed. "Even when he is lame, he is somehow manipulative! But I will expose him for what he has done!
"Tam! Ma'wy djereta Kwefai'tsha!"
Aegis grimaced and slowly rounded her sister and Edwin both to come up beside Xan. "So I don't speak Mulhorandi, and I surely don't speak dumb Mulhorandi, but that was obviously the disabled Edwin version of: 'Get your hands off of my girlfriend.' Er, I mean, 'monkey.' Sorta ironic, given who you're copying..."
Xan nearly leaped out of his skin. "Girlfriend!?" he protested. "How can you use such vocabulary even in jest?! At a time like this!?"
Aegis shrugged tiredly, because this had not been a spectacular conclusion to Ulcaster on any count and she didn't need anyone to remind her. "Stress relief? Continue your description of this story. Imoen and I are listening, and we are now definitely aware it was both creepy and terrifying."
Xan was quiet for a moment and then nodded. It was as Branwen had advised him. He took in a deep breath and then provided his testimony in full. Finally, they were no longer dealing with summaries and assumptions; and Imoen could hear the damning evidence properly.
..
When they were not far outside of Beregost, Aegis stopped the group to count heads. "Alright. We need to deliver most of the loot to Thalantyr tomorrow, so we'll be heading out at dawn. Take the rest of the day to relax. Talk to me or Imoen if you have concerns. Speaking of Imoen... sis, where are you headed right now?"
The pink girl had been missing her usual chipper disposition when she'd picked up The History of the Darkness from the ghost of Ulcaster that morning. She had also walked most of the journey back to Beregost in uncharacteristic silence, although she certainly hadn't abandoned the helpless Red Wizard. In fact, Imoen had been leading Edwin by the elbow for the last hour or so. He had been repeatedly opening and closing a jar of apricots, with a frown of intense concentration crinkling his brow.
In any event, when Aegis called on her, Imoen lifted her head and answered: "The Song of the Morning. It's still the right thing to do."
Xan sighed quietly but nodded. "I worry at times your nobility will doom you." Still, they did not live in a black and white world, and Dynaheir's defense had been given its proper treatment. At least it appeared that while Edwin was to be repaired, he would no longer have Imoen's untempered allegiance.
The thief shrugged. "Dyn's a bright lady; if she can't figure out I'd un-dumb Edwin, than I'd be really, really surprised. I'll trust her to lie low and stay safe."
"I shall accompany you to glower disapprovingly at him, then" the elf decided, moving over to Viconia to magically disguise her for Beregost.
"I'll come," Aegis agreed. "Alright. Viconia, Ajantis, and Shar-Teel. Pick a tavern and get in with your hoods down. And keep an eye on each other, please. Three people is a hell of a lot harder to take down than one."
"Got it mom," Shar-Teel answered, an interesting choice of words at present. She didn't even seem particularly hostile. "Promise not to punch any pretty boys while I'm at it."
Ajantis had been doing some soul-searching on the route back to Beregost, and gave no response other than to nod quietly. Aegis clasped the paladin's shoulder briefly and then turned down the road to the Temple. Kivan picked the butt of his longbow from the ground and followed swiftly on her heels; Branwen, of course, followed Xan.
The fightress watched them go and then gave Ajantis a heft pat on the back. "Come on stupid kid, let's get some alcohol in you."
..
Although Blackstaff Tower typically had fifty apprentices at any particular point in time, this did not detract from the privacy Khelben easily created on his personal levels.
From the outside, the tower appeared but three stories tall. Within, the exact count of floors was currently at twenty-four, although half of them were not currently in use. All of the floors were accessible from the 'same' central stairwell, but none could be reached without the proper command words and magical know-how.
About two decades ago an apprentice, who will remain unnamed, had realized that while magical conditions such as Silence could never make use of this setup, there were perhaps less conventional means of causing mayhem. This unnamed apprentice experimentally ensured his mentor contracted a severe case of laryngitis one morning.
Afterwards, a cabinet of common medical remedies had been installed in the tower's default 'holding' floor. Obviously, the apprentice and his sugar glider were found out and ended up scrubbing floors for weeks afterwards.
This was the same time frame in which Khelben Blackstaff began inviting the young Gorion to play chess with him on weekends. Obviously these two things were completely unrelated and pure coincidence; and they did not demonstrate that pranking one's mentor was a good way to showcase one's outstanding cleverness. At all. Ever.
Very well, they proved that if one was going to prank one's mentor into being trapped in their own home, then one ought to show up very apologetically with a cup of ginger tea no more than an hour later, and admit to everything.
As almost everything in the tower was isolated and soundproofed, this meant Gorion had little to no warning that Elminster was in Waterdeep prior to the archmagi barging through the doors of his guest 'suite' one sunny afternoon.
Gorion was actually far across the suite, sitting beside the porcelain bathroom tub and spooning water gently over his daughter's head with a seashell. She was holding a cloth ducky excitedly in one hand and waving it about clumsily as she kicked and gurgled happily at each rush of water. He was careful not to get any in her eyes.
At the loud bang she jumped slightly, and Gorion twisted about to look out the bathroom door. He could hear shouting: "Absolutely irresponsible and- Gorion! I demand to see this child at once!"
The younger wizard sneered, but the last place he wanted to be caught angry was in the bathroom with his daughter; he had always possessed a strong affinity towards ice magic and now it almost seemed as if his power had a life of its own. He didn't put himself above accidentally freezing something.
Gorion leaned over and scooped her swiftly out of the tub, grabbing up a towel to dry her off with. She made a displeased mumble and put the wing of her cloth ducky into her mouth. He kissed her nose and she gave a big smile around the ducky wing, her nose wrinkling. Aegis had started smiling a month after he'd brought her to the tower.
Gorion took in a slow breath as he finished toweling Aegis' hair. Then he stepped out of the bathroom and headed towards the commotion. "I'm here," he called. "What's so important that it's worth interrupting bath time over?" He paused in the doorway of the master bedroom and then lifted a brow
Khelben was interposed between himself and two other Chosens. The first was of course Elminster, at whose head Khelben was very angrily pointing the butt of his staff. The other was Esmerae, the enchantress. "Gorion, don't bother," the lord of the tower growled. "I will handle this."
"We have heard this story in full now," Elminster said. "What madness possesses both of you!?" Gorion thought that was an unfairly loaded and terribly insensitive question. "Show me what you have done; show us this monster you've taken in, that we can assess the danger it presents!"
Gorion lifted a brow, looking down at where his daughter was squirming inquisitively at all the loud noises. "Ehrm. The one gumming on a yellow, cloth ducky?" he asked. "I don't know, she looks incredibly busy. We may not want to disturb her. She could decide this is a good time to go potty, and I just had these robes washed..."
"This is not the time for jokes," Esmerae murmured, dismayed. For his part, Elminster looked quite startled by this rebuke. He glanced to the bundle Gorion was holding, and then uncertainly at Khelben. His expression suggested he was trying to figure out what he had missed.
"Both of you are wearing on my very last nerve," Khelben warned them. "That we are all Chosen by the Lady of Magic does not make anything of mine also yours. Nor does our past friendships or our collaboration over the Bhaalspawn. You will heed me in my own home."
"I will talk to them if that will make things easier," Gorion offered slowly, lifting a hand to play with Aegis' feet. Of all the people he wanted privacy from, the two other Chosens most certainly topped his list. Yet they were also the only two people he likely could not avoid speaking with; they were too powerful.
"It's getting to be a matter of principle," Khelben grumbled, lowering his staff. "Speak your part, Elminster, but conserve your judgement. I am not in a good mood today."