Jaheira had seen the twisted wild forest as a repellent abomination, but her adopted daughter was growing quite fond of it. With the exception of the mushrooms, to which she was giving a very wide berth. They followed a windy mud track through dense fir trees to a round wooden palisade in a clearing. Flammable timber was not the best material with which to build a wild mage encampment, but perhaps it was all they had. Some of the wooden beams were charred black and the wall had been patched in several places.

Yoshimo stole a sideways look at Arowan. She was eyeing the nearest tree wistfully, wondering if there might be time to climb it later. He smiled fondly at her then looked at his feet.

"Hey, hey, Hayes!" Neera hollered. An invisibility spell lifted before their eyes to reveal a bad-tempered man in purple robes drumming his fingers together. His face had a pinched, pointy quality which reminded some of the party of Duke Silvershield. He glared at Neera, who wiped a small tear of mirth from her eye. "Oh gods, that never gets old does it?"

Hayes' face contorted in irritation. Neera pulled him into an unreciprocated hug. He scowled suspiciously at their party.

"I thought you were just bringing Minsc and his friends," he said accusingly. "Why these people as well?"

Neera introduced Arowan, Yoshimo, Rasaad and Viconia. The rat's eyes narrowed and she tilted her head to one side. Then, very slowly, she crept along Rasaad's muscular arm toward Hayes. The monk winced where her tiny claws pricked his skin, but she stretched her pointy nose toward the wild mage, sniffing carefully. Hayes recoiled.

"Viconia's not normally a rodent," Neera pointed out cheerfully.

"I beg to differ," Hayes muttered under his breath.

"Stop giving them dirty looks Hayes," sighed Neera. "You have no need to be suspicious. They're a good sort. How is everyone settling in?"

"We are tired," Hayes replied sharply, "Very tired. Me especially. Best that you give me a wide berth."

"Aww, that's too bad!" cried Neera. "But why are you so fatigued Hayes? We finished setting this place up weeks ago. Nothing to do now but kick back, relax and wait for the Red Wizards to come and harvest our brains."

"I do not have time to answer your inane questions!" Hayes snapped defensively. "Leave me in peace woman!"

"Is something the matter Hayes?" asked Neera, her eyes full of concern.

"Are you scapegraces deaf as well as stupid?" asked Hayes, suddenly aggressive. "I told you to leave me alone!"

"Alright, alright! Sheesh!" Neera said, edging around Hayes. She whispered to the others as they slipped past him and through the gate; "Sorry about that. You get a lot of random when you're dealing with wild mages. Personality and spells can go a bit haywire."

Hayes' wife came out to greet them, an apologetic but stilted woman named Telana.

"He's been like this ever since we returned from Athkatla," she whispered fretfully. "It didn't go well. The wild mage we were trying to recruit didn't believe us about the Red Wizards and refused point blank to come. Hayes went back alone to try and persuade him one last time. I don't know what was said, but he refused to speak to me all the way home and has done nothing but be rude to everyone since. I've never seen him like this."

Not everyone welcomed them in such a chilly manner as Hayes.

"Aha! Finally you came!" Minsc's unmistakable, friendly voice boomed across the camp. He strode over to them, followed by Aerie and Hexxat. Elf and vampire were keeping further apart from each other than seemed natural.

"Finally," the vampire said sourly. "Let's sort out this mess and get back to civilization. I'm starving."

"Don't… don't you think about eating anyone here!" Aerie said tremulously. "I'm watching you vampire!"

"I would not dare to taste any of this lot," Hexxat replied coldly. "One drop of their blood would leave me hallucinating for a week."

She looked at Arowan with deep dark pools of eyes, and the ranger took a step back. Hexxat might be able to walk about in daylight like a human, but she had never seen her eat like one. Something about the way she was watching her neck made her want to invest in a very thick scarf. Aerie already had one. It smelled strongly of garlic.

"How can we help?" Arowan asked.

"The sneaky Red Wizards of Thay will not leave these nice wild mages in peace," Minsc said. "So we must take the fight to them. As you know we have been searching for Edwin, so that Minsc may crack his skull like an egg and serve Dynaheir an omelette of justice!"

"You have discovered his hideout?" asked Yoshimo curiously, ignoring the strange but graphic metaphor.

"Not exactly," admitted Minsc, "But our search did lead us to an enclave of other Red Wizards. Now we shall put a stop to their evil machinations. Our party, yours and the wild mages should be plenty enough to boot them from Athkatla. But wait! Where is friend Jaheira? Where are Anomen and Viconia?"

"Forgive us, Jaheira and Anomen have gone on to the Umar Hills," Rasaad replied in a low voice. "As for Viconia…"

He reached into his shirt and pulled out the plump, silvery Viconia rat. She wriggled free of his fist and clambered onto his shoulder like a parrot, glaring at them all as though daring them to laugh at her. Her long wormy tail curled about Rasaad's neck. Minsc's face broke into another warm smile.

"Wonderful! Boo, look! A new friend for you!" he exclaimed, holding Boo out to Viconia.

The rodents sniffed one another instinctively. Then both turned their backs on the other with indignant squeaks, each scurrying back to the safety of their own bald human.

"Ah, I forgot. Boo is not liking rats," Minsc said sorrowfully. "He is not liking Hayes much either, he bit him on the finger yesterday. 'Boo,' I say, 'You must try to be more tolerant!' But when a hamster's mind is made up, what can you do?"

"These are as many adventurers as are coming then?" asked Telana, looking worried. "I hope we have enough. "We'll make for Athkatla in the morning. Do explore the camp. Get to know everybody."

They took her up on her invitation, though the wild mages were a peculiar bunch. There was a bearded gnome surrounded by feral cats whom he was feeding with greasy chunks of offal. A pair of children were chasing each other around a halfling, watched by their worried mother. He tried to shoo them away from a complex contraption of gears and leavers that he was working on. It looked extremely dangerous. In one corner a morose half-orc stood muttering to himself. Another mad gnome calling himself 'King Gramm' took a shine to Rasaad and offered to knight him into his court.

One of the oddest characters, however, was already known to two of the party. They found him near the back of the encampment, hidden behind a mismatched assortment of tents and caravans. He was taking deep drags from a long pipe and smiling lazily at the clouds drifting above him.

"I could swear I recognize that man," Arowan whispered to Yoshimo. "The one blowing smoke rings and staring into the trees."

"You do?" Yoshimo blinked in surprise. "I didn't know that you partake. In that case…" Without waiting for her to answer, he strode over to the smoking mage, who was shirtless but had painted himself in luminous colours. "Zaviak, a most unexpected pleasure. What can you rustle up for me and my lovely friend on this fine day?"

"Yoshimo!" the wild mage said vaguely. "Small world man, small world. Not seen you since Baldur's Gate. You look better man. Told you those herbs would mellow you out."

Arowan looked from Yoshimo to Zaviak and back again. Her expression was altogether less friendly, for she too knew the wild mage, though she had not realised that he was such at the time. Presumably nobody else had known either or he would never have been let in to Candlekeep. Given how prone these people seemed to random fire surges, nobody in their right mind would let them near so many precious books.

"Zaviak," she said frostily.

Slowly, Zaviak lowered the pipe from his mouth. He had a dreamy far-away smile playing over his lips and his eyes focussed about two inches from the back of her head. His hair fell in long, lank curtains almost covering his face, though his nose protruded out like a periscope.

"Hey man."

"Who are you calling man? I'm a woman," Arowan snapped.

She knew she was being pedantic but Zaviak had a reputation at Candlekeep and she had been forbidden to speak with him. Rumours as to the reason had been vague, but it had to do with practising 'inappropriate magic on the dead.' That accusation could mean many things, but none of them were hygienic.

"Yeah, I see that," Zaviak drawled. "I haven't seen you since Candlekeep. How are the rest of you?"

"The rest of us?" the ranger asked suspiciously.

"Yeah man… woman… dude. The rest of you. Afoxe and the others."

She blinked. Candlekeep had been home to twelve Bhaalspawn of whom she was the last survivor. 'Rescued' by Gorion so that he could use pieces of their souls to create Imoen, they had lived alongside one another unaware of each other's presence. Gorion's memory charms had fooled everyone, including the Bhaalspawn themselves, into believing that they were all one person. As far as she knew she, Eric and Freya were the only three of the twelve to learn of the existence of the others, and only then long after Gorion's death.

"You… you knew there were more than one of us?" Arowan asked dumbfounded. "How? I didn't even know that! Gorion cast a spell to make us believe that we were all one person!"

"Huh. So that's what that was about. Guess my special cookies broke through the charm," Zaviak pondered. Already his eyes had slipped off them and were drifting to the treetops. "Do you see the trees?"

"Of course I see the trees!" she cried, exasperated.

"Yeah, but do you see them?" he pressed.

"Zaviak," Arowan asked assertively, trying to bring him back to the original topic. "How well did you know the others?"

"Only by sight mostly," he replied. "Except for Afoxe. He was chill. Not just a customer man… like… a friend you know? Where's he at these days?"

This did not quite stack with the mental image Arowan had formed of the paladin. He was a hero who'd died at Sarevok's hands barely a day's walk from Candlekeep. Then again, she had never really known him, or any of them, except for Eric and Freya. She'd only seen them fight in her dreams then die.

"I'm sorry Zaviak," she said gently, "But they're dead. All of them. Including Afoxe. If it's any comfort it was quick, he didn't suffer."

"Bummer," Zaviak's face fell. "He was sound, man."

Whatever was in Zaviak's pipe (Arowan did not recognize the smell but it certainly wasn't tobacco) he soon forgot what they'd been talking about, and started asking if they'd seen a bear called 'Wilson.' They promised to keep an eye out for him to humour the mage.

"Thanks. That's real prodigious of you," the mage grinned dozily. "I miss Wilson. Best bear in the world. That guy had heart, you know?"

"Bring it in, friend," Yoshimo said, unexpectedly. He hugged the wild mage like a brother, but Arowan noticed that when he pulled away he had a fat pouch of leaves clutched in his hand. He tucked it discretely into his tunic and when Arowan asked him what it was he muttered repressively; "later!"

"On the house dude. We really appreciate what you're doing with, like, the spooky Red Wizards," he said, shuddering. "Those guys are epically not cool."

As they walked away, Rasaad meandered over to Yoshimo, curious as to what the wild mage had given him.

"Just a few herbs," Yoshimo replied evasively. "For medicinal purposes, yes?"

"I would be wary of these 'herbs' my friend," Rasaad cautioned. "Sincere though his friendship appears, I suspect that the content of his pipe may have been clouding the clarity of his thoughts."

Yoshimo was spared having to answer by the sight of Hayes disappearing into one of the caravans and looking shifty. They followed him but could hear nothing through the door. The thief scaled up the side and peered in through a gap in the curtains.

"Our friend has a crystal ball," the thief whispered landing in a crouching position at their feet. "He is speaking to someone in it but I cannot make out the words."

"Perhaps we should have a chat with this Hayes," Rasaad said, his mouth tightening. They mounted the caravan steps and piled in without knocking. When Hayes saw them, he hastily covered the crystal with what they assumed must be his spare robes. They were a deep crimson.

"Begone simians, I am busy!" Hayes snapped.

"Busy doing what, burning down an incense store?" Arowan choked, for the air in Hayes' caravan was heavily over perfumed. In this tiny space the smell was almost overpowering. There was something very familiar about his scent though she struggled to place it.

Viconia, on the other hand, had no trouble recognizing it for she was much more familiar with this particular smell. She began jumping up and down on Rasaad's arm, squeaking urgently.

"Viconia? What is the matter?" Rasaad asked concerned. He stroked the top of her silver head with one finger, a gesture of familiarity that he certainly would not have attempted had she been in human form.

"Squeak!" she stared frantically at Hayes and his crystal ball, imploring the monk to understand. "Squeaky, squeak, squeak, SQUEAK!"

"What is this?" Hayes demanded, flicking his greasy hair. "Not only do you disturb me with your boarish presence, but you bring a filthy rat into our midst. Luckily for us all I count pest control amongst my many talents."

Without warning, he threw a bolt of lightning at Viconia, who flung herself to the ground just in time. She scampered frantically to gather herself to all fours and flee the tent. A second lightning bolt scorched the ground where she had been moments before.

"STOP!" Rasaad cried. "Viconia! VICONIA?"

He raced from the tent just in time to see the silvery little creature fleeing into the wild forest. She was pursued not only by another crackle of electricity from Hayes but by a number of the camp's feral cats, who dropped their offal in favour of this better offering. Rasaad pelted after her, leaving Hayes to grumble under his breath.

"Need to hurry now, yes, we do not have much time," Hayes muttered to himself, glaring after Viconia. He was plucking at his purple robes, as though something about them irritated him.

"Is there a problem with your clothes?" Arowan asked, pleasantly. She was warming to the unpleasant wizard, having frequently felt the urge to attack Viconia herself. "If you have lice, my mother taught me a recipe for-"

"I know perfectly well how to cure kobold lice myself! There are no lice this time, these robes are just not my colour," Hayes replied crossly. Then his head snapped up and he thundered at her, "Now GO AWAY!"

"He's as crazy as the rest of them," observed Yoshimo.

"SILENCE you blithering imbeciles. Take your verbal incontinence somewhere else!" Hayes snapped. "Go on, scram!"

There was no point hanging around with the irate wild mage. In fact, thief and ranger were starting to wonder whether there was any sense in staying at all.

"They're all lunatics," whispered Yoshimo. He was leading them out of the palisade. "Neera and Telana are the only ones who can string a coherent sentence, and even they're a bit strange."

"I think they're making a mistake," agreed Arowan. "Attacking a Red Wizard stronghold with this lot? They're just as likely to have a wild surge and blow us up as the Thayans." Then she looked guilty. "But they are being hunted, Yoshimo. They need help."

"They definitely need help," the thief nodded vehemently. "I just don't think we're qualified to provide it."

Arowan looked back at the Hidden Refuge with its mentally addled denizens. By these people's standards Minsc looked like a stable and responsible leader. Perhaps with him and Hexxat they might be able to set the Red Wizards' operations back for a while. Yet her own feeling was that for their own safety (and everybody else's) it would be better for them to hide here in their little warped paradise than take their wild magic to the busy streets of Athkatla.

"One problem at a time," she sighed. "We'd better find Viconia before she gets eaten by one of those feral cats. That'd be an ignoble end to the Servant of all Faiths prophecies."

They combed the nearby woods, but as the hours drew on and they found nothing they were not overly concerned. After all, the gods had demonstrated that they would not allow Viconia to die. Frankly if a feral cat got hold of the rat-drow and tormented her for a while, as far as Arowan was concerned she had it coming. So long as Rasaad did not eat any of those mushrooms. She'd dealt with enough dysentery for one lifetime in Baldur's Gate, without holding the bucket for her former flame.

Pine needles had filled their boots by the time they heard the monk's calls answering their own. He had followed Viconia to a nearby river, where she had scurried into a pile of damp rocks to hide. One of the cats had squeezed in after her and there he had lost her. He looked tired and strained with worry. They noticed that several very large rocks had been overturned in his search for her. More of the cats were stalking over them, watching the party with malevolent eyes.

"You're a ranger! Can't you track her?" Rasaad howled.

"You want me to track a rat. One rat. In a forest?" Arowan sneered.

Yet she did try. They searched long into the evening until the light began to fail and there was no sense carrying on. Rasaad would not turn in until the drow was found but the other two unfurled their bedrolls for the night. They did not bother to return to the camp, for both agreed that they would sleep better minus the ever-present threat of random colour sprays and fireballs.

"Arowan?" Yoshimo whispered softly, "If you're ready, there's something I'd like to do with you tonight."

Arowan's heart began to thump. She had not been expecting this at all. Yoshimo, though affectionate, seemed to have felt no need to rush the physical side of their relationship. Neither had she. The past year had put them both through an emotional meat grinder, and she was not at all sure that she was ready.

Worse, if they did it right here and now, there was a strong possibility that Rasaad would stumble upon them in his search for the Viconia rat. That scenario didn't bear thinking about.

"What, right now?" she asked, hesitantly.

"I see no reason to wait," the thief said. "What better time than when Jaheira is away?"

"What business is it of Jaheira's?" Arowan asked, mildly affronted. "I'm a grown woman, I can make my own decisions."

"You can hardly believe that she'd approve," Yoshimo replied, raising his eyebrows. "She would try to stop us, I am sure."

"I doubt she would go that far," Arowan replied.

After her initial shock wore off, she was starting to warm to the idea. The moon rising above the towering fir trees was a very romantic setting and the scent of pine all around them made her feel at home. It was not quite cold in her sleeping bag, but cool enough that she'd welcome the warm press of his body against hers. He smiled at her with his dark, twinkling eyes, and she felt a sudden urge to see what he looked like with his hair down. She smiled back shyly.

"Yeah, ok," she agreed.

"Great!" beamed Yoshimo eagerly, and at once pulled out the pouch of leaves that Zaviak had given to him along with a thin wooden pipe she hadn't known he had. "Would you care to do the honours?"

He held out his pipe and herbs to her expectantly. Arowan blinked at it as her brain caught up with the situation. By now she was so onboard with making love, that she found herself disappointed.

"Oh," she replied dumbly.

"I have papers if you'd prefer to roll-up," Yoshimo assured her. "But I'm fond of a pipe. Something about the shape of the bowl you know? They're tactile objects."

Arowan took the pipe and fingered the smooth wood.

"I've not used a pipe to light up before," she told him truthfully, omitting the fact that she'd never smoked herbs period. "Show me."

Yoshimo grinned and took a generous pinch of Zaviak's leaves, rubbing them between his thumb and forefinger into a dry scratchy ball, which he poked into the bowl of the pipe. Then he lit it with a tinder box. The herbs did not flame but smouldered slowly. He placed the end of the pipe between his lips and sucked a few light breaths of air through it to get it going. Then he handed it to Arowan.

She breathed in, letting the smoke fill her mouth, then puffed back out trying not to cough. It was what she thought she had seen others do when smoking outside of taverns, only she did not take the pipe out of her mouth to exhale. As a result she blew flakes of smouldering weed and embers out of the bowl. Yoshimo laughed and took it from her, while she waited for it to take effect.

Colours grew sharper, the air fresh and clear. All about her the forest seemed more alive. Zaviak had been right. She'd seen the trees, but until now she had never really seen the trees. The forest was immense. Pointed treetops swayed against the glittering sky. She could stare at them all night. Yoshimo placed his hands behind his head and lay back contentedly.

After a while he said something deeply profound. They stayed up for hours having the most intense and meaningful conversation that she had ever had with anyone. Though come the morning, neither of them would remember a word of what they'd been talking about. What she did remember was them eating every scrap of food they had with them while curled up together in their bedrolls. It was perfect.

Near dawn an owl screeched, and they woke bleary eyed to an orange world. It was so bright that at first they thought the sun had already risen. Then they realised that the camp was on fire.