Chapter 4.2 - The Spire of Ba'aal

As soon as the group was shown to their quarters, the nightly shenanigans began.

Nala

There were two rooms, big enough to accommodate groups of three each. Alatar had retired to his own room earlier. That left six people, including Sarasshan. If he even slept at all. By now, the group was used to a standard sleeping arrangement – but this time, Echo immediately went for Mialee.
'Share a room with me,' she winked at the elf, pulling her towards one of the doors.

Nala knew her companions well by now. She knew that they were about to get into shenanigans, if they were left alone. Not this time. Nala immediately moved in after them, claiming the third bed in the room. The Dragonborn threw her weapons down, let out a sigh and moved in front of the doorway.
'Why aren't you sleeping with Yorda?' Mialee asked the Tiefling. Echo raised an eyebrow with an amused smirk on her face, but chose to ignore her poor wording.
'I've been told to behave one too many times today without being told what to stay away from. We're in a giant magic mage tower full of unexplored rooms and hallways. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Come on. Don't tell me you're not curious. They're definitely hiding some interesting things here.'
Mialee took a moment to ponder that. Then she nodded.
'I am curious.'
'Right? Forget stealing underwear in taverns. That was just the warmup. This is where the real fun starts. I bet that Yorda and Sarasshan want to join in, too. What do you say?'
The elven ranger frowned for a while, before a mischievous smile crept up on her face.
'All right. I'm in. Let's find out what Alatar is being so mysterious about.'
'That's more like it! I knew we'd see eye-to-eye,' Echo grinned. The Tiefling dumped her backpack on her bed. She was absolutely down for this. The two of them turned around to leave the room-
Only to see Nala, still in full paladin armor, blocking the doorway. Looking down at them with a strict, judgmental glare.
'Hey, you fall asleep there, Nala?' Echo joked. 'Mind taking a step to the left?'
'No. You're not leaving the room.'
'Aww, come on, partypooper!'
But the Dragonborn stood firm, shaking her head at them.
'These people have been very kind to us. We are not betraying that trust. Not on my watch.'
'We're not betraying anything! We just want to take a stroll. Look around a little. Stretch our legs!'
'I wasn't born yesterday, Echo. I know that's not what you have in mind. It's not going to happen.'
The grin vanished from Echo's face and was replaced by a frown. She turned towards the wall, where the other room was.

A few moments later, the three of them could hear a soft knock on the door. The knob turned, and it creaked open an inch to reveal Yorda's pale form. Then the door was blocked from opening further by the paladin. Nala had turned into a literal doorstopper.
'Nala, why are you blocking the doorway?'
'Go back to bed, Yorda,' Nala growled over her shoulder. Across from her, Echo let out a huff of frustration.
'Come on, Dragonborn! Live a little!'

Alatar

Meanwhile, a floor higher up, Alatar had retired to his old quarters. They hadn't been disturbed since he had left them all those months ago. Everything still was exactly where he put it. Alatar was sitting down at a well-used desk.

He also wasn't alone. Capricornicus stood next to him. In between the two of them floated a crystal ball, transparent and see-through. Displaying the scene that was happening right below them. Capricornicus was glaring at Alatar, judging him hard.
'It has not even been five minutes.'
The wizard groaned, facepalming. He shouldn't have expected anything else. Alatar let out a long, deep sigh.
'Fine. Might as well.'

Yorda

The pale half-elf was stuck in the hallway, staring at the massive form that was Nala's backside. Her front was occupied with keeping Echo and Mialee in the room with her. Her chest was puffed out, and she clearly wasn't moving.
'You can't keep us in here,' Mialee said. 'We can slip past you.'
'Want to try?' the Dragonborn replied. The elven ranger took it as a challenge. She sprinted to the left- and feinted, going for Nala's right instead at the last second. But the paladin had anticipated that. Mialee ran straight into Nala's outstretched arm, ramming into it with a loud clang.
'Oh, come on!'
'No.'
They continued arguing. It was mildly amusing. Yorda leaned back, waiting for the problem to resolve itself, when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. It was Alatar. Looking annoyed, as usual. As he saw the group gathered in the hallway, the wizard let out a deep sigh.
'Fine. A tour. Let's go.'
'That's more like it!' Echo yelled from inside the bedroom. She wiggled her way around Nala, who finally seemed to have given up. 'Lead the way!'
'I'll give you a tour, if you'll behave and stay respectful,' Alatar warned them. 'And don't go wandering off. Got it?'
'Got it,' Echo grinned. The rest of the group nodded too, albeit a bit more sincerely. Telyn and Sarasshan came along as well. It was quite the entourage. With another sigh, Alatar began the tour of his home.

He first took them to the Simulacrum – a testing area to train and experiment with various spells and magic. Alatar (and Mialee with her bow) had fun hitting targets for a while, before moving on. He made them climb another long, long set of stairs, all the way to the top of the tower. Up there rested a giant observatory, including a retractable dome that showed the stars. His favourite place in the tower, or so Alatar told them. It was a very impressive sight.

They stayed up there for about twenty minutes before going back down.
'Where are we going next?' Mialee said, an eager grin on her face. She seemed ready for the next room to be even better than the sight they'd just been given. Alatar was silent for a second, before coming to a decision.
'The library.'
Both Echo and Mialee did not seem to like that.
'The library?' the Tiefling replied. 'A room of stuffy books? What's so interesting about that? Surely you have something more interesting than a library.'
Alatar huffed.
'Just because you don't find it interesting, doesn't mean that nobody else in the group does. I'm sure that this will be worthwhile for some of you.'
As he said that, Yorda noticed Alatar glancing in her direction. There seemed to be something on his mind. Echo happened to catch it, too.
'What, Yorda? Have you ever seen her with a book?'
The wizard did not respond to her jab. Echo fell silent, mumbling under her breath about stuffy rooms and stuffy mages. She slowly trailed to the back of the group, where Mialee and Sarasshan were. They started whispering among themselves. Nala and Alatar didn't seem to notice it.

Eventually, they arrived at their final destination. The library. It was a giant room, taking up almost an entire floor of the Spire by itself. Even though it was getting very late, the group could see multiple students and apprentices at tables, surrounded by piles and piles of tomes. The light in the library was dimmed. They didn't seem to have any problems with reading, though.
'So, this is it,' Alatar said to the group. 'This place has information on basically anything. You're free to look around, but don't disturb the others.'
'Information on anything?' Telyn replied. 'Anything at all?'
'If you can find the book.'
'Don't mind if I do,' she smiled, before skipping off to the nearest book shelf. Nala did the same, with something in between a sigh and an unwilling growl. The pale half-elf was about to follow her, when Alatar tapped her on the shoulder.
'This way.'

Now she was sure about it. There was definitely something on his mind. Yorda followed him curiously. He led her away from the rest of the group, towards a series of bookcases around the corner. One of the Spire's librarians caught sight of them. She quickly approached.
'Alatar, is that you? My, it's been a while. What can I help you with today?'
'I'm looking for some information,' he said, while glancing at Yorda from the corner of his eye. 'Information on worlds other than this one.'
Yorda felt herself tense up at his words. She cast the both of them a glance, observing their body language. As hard as that was, with the both of them wearing baggy robes that basically covered everything. The librarian did not seem to notice.
'You'll have to be a little more specific than that,' the woman smiled. 'Are you talking about the Astral plane? The primordial realms? Alternate realities? That one's always interesting to study.'
'I'd say... the ones closest to this plane,' Alatar thought out loud. The librarian nodded and snapped her fingers. Almost immediately, a number of thick tomes removed themselves from the surrounding bookcases and gently floated towards the nearest table.
'The basics should be described in there. If you need more detailed books, you know how the library works.'
'No, this should be enough for now,' Alatar answered. 'Thank you.'
'Welcome back, Alatar.'

Meanwhile...

With Alatar and Nala focused on the library, they had forgotten about keeping tabs on a very specific part of their group. Echo, Mialee and Sarasshan the Djinni were left on their own. With nobody to keep tabs on them. And no supervision.

The three of them immediately made use of that. As soon as Nala and Alatar had their backs turned, they started walking backwards (floating, in Sarasshan's case) and snuck back out of the library. They were stealthy enough to not be noticed by either of them.

As soon as they were outside, three grins spread on their faces.
'Now what?' Mialee asked Echo. The Tiefling had a mischievous spark in her eyes.
'Now the real tour begins. Let's move.'

And they took off. With the hoods of their borrowed robes up, pretending that they belonged there, the trio swiftly made their way down the nearest hallway. Down a flight of stairs. Into another hallway. They weren't entirely sure what they were looking for – until they came across a large, sealed door with the name "Arcaneum" on it.
'Jackpot,' Echo whispered. Mialee looked from the name to her, and back to the door.
'Why? What's Arcaneum?'
'I have no fucking clue. Let's go find out.'

And she pushed against the door. There was no reaction. Locked. Echo reached for her lockpicks, bending down to demonstrate her lockpicking skills – but there was no lock to be found. Or a handle. It was a massive, handleless sealed door.
'Well, shit.'
'Now what?' Sarasshan asked. He seemed to be very amused by it all. Mialee looked at the door for a second, frowning. Then she stepped forwards, raised her fist, and knocked on the door. Hard.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then she knocked again and a voice rang out from the other side.
'What?! I'm busy! Who is it?!'
'Watch this,' Echo grinned. Her eyes lit up in an eerie yellow. The next second, Echo's form had vanished. In her place stood the spitting image of Alatar. She'd pulled that stunt before. Way back in Phandalin, when she had used it to impersonate a Redbrand gang member named Jean. Her bag of tricks had expanded since then, though. Mialee and Sarasshan watched as Echo moved up to the door and, in a voice that couldn't be told apart from the wizard's, yelled out:
'It's Alatar. Hurry up and let me in already.'
'Genius!' Mialee whispered. From the other side of the door, they could hear the shuffling of footsteps. And cursing. They did not sound like they were in a hurry. As Echo and Mialee's grins widened in anticipation of the incoming shenanigans, Sarasshan decided to join in on the fun as well.
'I bet I can top that,' he whispered at Echo. The next moment, his form shifted and morphed into that of Adoriil Pegasus. Down to the last detail, including the specs of gold in his eyes and the smile lines around his mouth. He was indistinguishable from the real Pegasus. Mialee and Echo's smiles widened even further.

This was going to be good.

Next to them, the heavy doors opened from the other side. peeking out from that opening was a human man with dull brown hair and green eyes. A very, very annoyed expression played on his face. He looked ready to slam the doors shut again at a moment's notice. With an angry glare, he spoke to Alatar.
'For Pelor's sake, don't you know I'm working in h-'
And froze as his eyes fell on "Pegasus". His complexion went from pale to white to bright pink in less than two seconds.
'I-I mean, Alatar! It's been a while!'
'A pleasure to see you again,' "Alatar" smirked. 'As you can see, I'm in the middle of giving an important tour. Pega- the Archmagus has given me permission to show our facilities. Move out of the way so we can give the Arcaneum the attention it deserves, would you?'
'Excuse me,' the man replied, getting even more pink around his cheeks, 'but I am in the middle of important research here.'
There was some clear hostility from his side. Or maybe all apprentice mages were like that around here. The trio didn't know. Sarasshan's disguise provided the solution.
'Excuse you, indeed. Now let us in, please.'

The effect was instant. His face turned even pinker than before. The poor guy looked like he had been struck across the face with a whip. Apparently Pegasus was not to be talked back to around here. The poor guy stammered:
'I... but he... yes, Archmagus.'
With an angry glare at Alatar, the mage stepped back in order to let them pass. Success! The trio shared a smug look among themselves. They moved into the Arcaneum, very pleased with their deception.

It wasn't as grand and mysterious as they had hoped. It looked like a research facility, with piles and piles of notes stacked over spell circles and arcane formulas. Most of the place was empty at this time of night. The only one there was the green-eyed mage. He'd claimed a table for himself. There was a large, half-copied scroll on that table – a scroll that he quickly hid from sight by standing in front of it. The move did not go unnoticed.
'What'cha working on?'
'That's none of your- I-I mean,' he said, as soon as he noticed Pegasus looking, 'It's just some research! Nothing special. I'll clean it up right away!'
'I want to see,' Mialee said, making a beeline for the table. But the mage was quicker. He snatched up the scroll, quickly rolling it up and out of sight.
'S-sorry. Rough drafts and all. I'm sure you understand, as a fellow... uh... what are you, actually?'
'What?' Mialee responded. Her momentary hesitation seemed to give the mage some of his spine back. With a slightly suspicious glare, he looked Mialee over.
'Where are you from, elf?'
His gaze lingered on her short swords and the bow strapped to her back. The elven ranger quickly tried to improvise. It was something that she had tried in the past... and had proven to be bad at.
'Don't... don't let the bow fool you! I'm a magic user. Yeah!'
'Oh?' the man replied, his voice dripping with suspicion. 'Then how did you end up here?'
Mialee was stammering for a response. At the last moment, Echo stepped in.
'Can't you tell, you idiot? She met ME.'
'Oh, y-yeah! I'm Alatar's apprentice!'

The sentence hung in the air a good few seconds after she blurted it out. A short, very uncomfortable silence fell in the room. The mage glanced at Alatar. At Mialee. Back at Alatar.

After which he gave the elf a long, very judgmental stare.
'I mean, no disrespect, but... seriously?'
'Hey! What's that supposed to mean?' Echo replied, quasi-offended. He shrugged, not explaining himself. He didn't have to. It was very clear what this wizard thought of Alatar.

Mialee seemed to take that little remark as further suspicion towards them, though. As a sign that they hadn't bluffed well enough yet. So she decided to lay it on just a little thicker.
'Seriously! I'm... I'm in love with him!'

It was a good thing that none of the other party members were there to witness this. Echo could barely contain her laughter. She somehow managed to keep a straight face while Mialee blurted that out. The wizard's face turned even more judgmental.
'...You fell in love. With him. Seriously.'
'Are you calling her a liar?' "Alatar" replied, this time unable to keep an Echo-like smirk from spreading across her face.
'No, but-'
'I happen to be desirable enough to actually get a girlfriend. Unlike someone I know.'

The wizard opened his mouth to snap back at Alatar- but held his tongue at the last moment because of "Pegasus" being there. By now, the poor man was fuming in silent anger. And the three of them were enjoying every moment of it. Echo looked around, trying to see if there were any other interesting things in the room to look at. But the Arcaneum was empty. Other than that scroll, which the wizard still held behind his back. It was less exiting than what the Tiefling had hoped for. Just a stuffy room with a stuffy nerd in it. She was a little disappointed. But this was only one room. There was surely more to be discovered. She turned away from the wizard, gesturing her companions towards the door.
'Well, this has been fun. We'll be going now. I'll be showing my apprentice some of the other facilities. Our time is precious, so make sure not to disturb us, understood?'
For a moment, it looked as if his head was about to explode. That's how angry he looked. Then the moment passed. The wizard shot Echo a truly venomous look, growling:
'Of course. Wouldn't want to impose on your precious time with your girlfriend.'
'Naturally,' Echo smiled back. And they exited the Arcaneum, the wizard slamming the door behind them.

As soon as they were sure they were out of earshot, the three of them burst out laughing.
'Did you see his face?!'
'I thought he was going to explode!'
They laughed some more, wiping the tears from their eyes. Eventually, Echo turned to Sarasshan.
'So you shapeshift, too.'
'Occasionally,' the Djinni shrugged. He was looking very pleased with himself. Echo and Mialee gave him a big smile.
'It was perfect! We couldn't have topped that if we tried!'

They looked at each other, in a rare moment of bonding. Echo nodded as she looked at the two people in front of her. Mialee and herself connected well here. For a moment, she wondered how the ranger would have fared back in Baldur's Gate. She wasn't the most charming, but good at sneaking and very resourceful. She might have done well in the city. She nodded to herself, smiling at Mialee. Her eyes were gleaming with the thoughts of future mischief.
'I think we're going to have a lot of fun like this.'

Meanwhile, back at the library...

Nala

Telyn and Nala had gathered at tables near each other. Each had a pile of books stacked up next to them. While Telyn rapidly flipped through illustrations of past musicians, Nala was struggling to read a massive history tome. It was dusty, too. The Dragonborn growled as she read. Of course, out of all the books in this place, she got the big, scary old one. Nala was not good with books.

She'd managed to get some valuable information, though. The Dragonborn had been wondering about the conflict near her home for a while now, but her village didn't have a big library. Her paladin order did, but it was of a different sort. She hadn't really had the chance to dive into things. But now she did. She'd found a passage on historical wars in Tymanther, her home region. Nala had a little note sheet next to her, scribbling down anything that seemed of importance.

Turned out that the tensions between Ocendra and Fortiis Dolèn were even older than Nala had imagined. Far, far beyond her lifespan. And that of her parents, for that matter. Relationships had been bad for over a thousand years. The tome actually made a point to mention that the reason for the fighting itself had been lost to history a long time ago. Now nobody remembered why they were at war anymore. Yet tensions continued, even today.

That was... weird. Something about that passage bothered Nala. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but... something about that made her feel uneasy. There wasn't any other information in there, though. The Dragonborn sighed, giving up.

Enough books for the day.

Around the corner, a little ways away from the two of them, Alatar and Yorda were examining the contents of another, even bigger tome than what the paladin had been struggling with. Or more specifically, Alatar was examining it. The half-elf hung back, observing Alatar instead.
'Here,' he said, pointing at a passage in the book. 'I think this is it. Interplanar travel. Let's see... "In addition to the necessary arcane power, one requires the presence of an object to act as a divining rod in order to successfully reach the intended destination. Such an object must be attuned to the intended plane of existence for the transportation magic to take root." So just casting a spell alone isn't enough. That's a problem. Let me see if they have anything on divining rods...'

And he started flipping through the pages again. As he worked, Yorda had slowly walked up next to him. She wasn't looking at the tome. She was looking at Alatar.
'Why are you showing me this?'

He turned another page. Hesitated. Then stopped reading and faced the half-elf.
'You knew what I am. Almost right from the beginning. And you kept that to yourself. I'm grateful for that. But I'm not an idiot. I know what you are, too. I've known for a while now.'

That had an effect on Yorda. Her eyes grew a little wider, surprised at Alatar's words. For a moment, she seemed truly stunned. Then that moment passed, and a smile spread on her face. Wordlessly, the half-elf brought a single finger up to her lips.
'I know,' Alatar replied, nodding at her. 'I won't tell. But maybe this can help you get home. Or find what you're looking for. I can help. If you want.'
She bowed her head at him, acknowledging his words for what they were.
'Maybe.'
Then she gave him another smile.
'You're a good person.'
A slight blush spread on Alatar's cheeks. He quickly broke eye contact with her, looking away awkwardly while scratching the back of his head.
'Yeah. Erm. Well. That's all I wanted to show you, so.'
'We should rejoin the others,' Yorda nodded at him.
'Yes! Yes. Right. We should do that.'

He quickly put the tome away, still a bit awkward in his movement. The two of them joined up with Nala and Telyn just as they were doing the same. It took them about five seconds of looking at each other, in their group of four, to realize what was wrong with this situation.

Then Alatar's eyes narrowed, and Yorda said:
'...Where's Echo?'
'Oh, no,' Nala groaned. Mialee and Sarasshan weren't there, either. That could only mean one thing.
She felt sorry for Alatar already.
'God damn it,' the wizard growled. 'I leave them alone for one second-'

At that moment, the heavy library doors opened again. Casually strolling in were their two missing party members, and the Djinni. All with mischievous grins on their faces.
'Where have you been?' Nala snapped at them. The three looked at each other, still grinning.
'Just on a walk. Relax. We didn't want to disturb your reading.'

Her tone, combined with their facial expressions, told Nala exactly what they had been up to. The Dragonborn sighed, facepalming. They were incorrigible.
'I give up. It's too late for this. Let's just get to bed.'

And they went, their mischievous allies in tow. That followed them properly...

This time.

Idiots.

My laptop broke down the other day. I bought a new one. It has fancy lights under the keyboard that light up when you press a key. I can't stop typing random things now just to see the keyboard light up. IT'S MAGICAL. qjwkdbhejgvfegffcqwfasdfghjkl;

*cough*

right. Comments are appreciated! What do you think of the story so far? Which of the cast is your favourite? We have a bet going (and I really really really want to win), so let me know!

-Yimi