Shadows Of The Knight

by Speaker-to-Customers

Sequel to Black Knight but you don't need to wait for that one to be completed before reading this. Captured by Irenicus, with some of her friends slain and even worse having been done to others, T'rissae must work with Jaheira to survive and rescue Viconia and Imoen. The mutual dislike between them is going to make that difficult...

4. Little Too Late

Chapter Four: Little Too Late

I spent time, as we walked on, briefing Nalia and Yoshimo on the way we would fight. With our current members I decided that, if we fought in open country, Minsc and I would take the lead, once the fight came to close quarters, with the others staying back to use missiles and spells. In confined spaces, such as the corridors within the castle, we'd form up with a front row of Jaheira and Viconia, fighting with club and mace, with Minsc and I as the second row using the superior reach of our two-handed swords to thrust over and past them. Jaheira was nearly as tall as me, and so I would be behind Viconia, and Minsc behind Jaheira. Yoshimo and Nalia would stay at the rear and use arrows whenever they had a clear shot, with Nalia casting spells as she felt appropriate. Outside of combat Yoshimo would take the lead and watch out for traps. Nalia revealed that she, too, had some training in the skills of a Rogue, rather surprising me considering her social status, but she wasn't up to Yoshimo's very high standard. I recommended that she stay near the rear.

I questioned Nalia about the layout of the castle and its immediate surroundings, about the number and composition of the enemy force, and how the enemy had penetrated the castle's defenses. She was able to describe the castle interior in reasonable detail but had no idea of how the trolls had entered. They had suddenly appeared inside the keep while the drawbridge was still up and without crossing the courtyard. I guessed that they had tunneled under the walls, as only the most powerful wizards could teleport multiple creatures and they would need a very clear picture of the destination, although possibly a wizard could have made his way in invisibly and then Summoned the monsters. That reminded me of the tactic we had used many times in our fights against Sarevok's forces, and against the Crusade, and I checked with the others to see what summoning spells they had available.

Viconia had her very useful spell that conjured a Skeleton Warrior, and Jaheira could call animals to our aid, if they were in the area, and otherwise could summon a nymph, a fire elemental, and one or two mountain bears. Nalia could manage only the most basic of Monster Summoning spells and she reported that her Wand of Monster Summoning, one of those retrieved from the trap room in the lair of Irenicus, had only a single charge remaining. I advised her to use it only as a last resort, as using that single charge would render it permanently useless, but I resolved to get it recharged as soon as we had sufficient funds.

Nalia revealed that there was a legendary weapon hidden in her castle; a multi-headed flail called the Flail of Ages. Its heads inflicted cold, acid, and fire damage upon those struck; an ideal weapon against trolls, or would have been if any of us had been skilled in the use of a flail. Still, I believed I was dexterous enough not to injure myself with it, as was Viconia, and it would be useful to finish off trolls downed by our weapons of choice. The down side was that the flail was a sacred weapon of the Rakshasa, and had been stored in three separate parts, to minimize the chance of them detecting it and coming to take it back. Nalia's father had been trying to assemble the parts when she had last seen him but she didn't know if he had been successful or not. Something for us to watch out for, anyway.

"You are more… organized than I had expected," Jaheira remarked.

"I like to be prepared, whenever possible," I said. "Of course, as the saying goes, no battle plan survives contact with the enemy."

"The words of Lady Bloodhawk," Jaheira said.

"I have heard them attributed to Hodo Tademashi," Yoshimo chimed in.

"I have read works attributing that adage to Azoun IV, and to Yamun Khahan, and Aunt Cierre told me that it is taught in Melee-Magthere as having originated with Menzoberra the Kinless," I said. "It's one of those principles that everyone discovers for themselves eventually. Still, good planning makes it easier to improvise when circumstances force us to abandon the original plan." I turned to Viconia. "And that, khal'abbil, is why we're not going to rush off to rescue Imoen the moment we have the twenty thousand danter necessary to buy the help of the Shadow Thieves. I believe Irenicus planned our escape, and engineered his own arrest and that of Imoen, specifically so that we would rush to the rescue. I don't know what he's after, or why he came up with such a convoluted plan, but I am sure that he spent a long time learning everything he could about us and made his plans on that basis. I want us to have resources he doesn't know about, at least as good or better than what we had when he abducted us, before we make our move."

"You are wise, Jabbress," Viconia agreed. "I am less effective without my Gauntlets of Ogre Power, and recovering them would greatly aid us."

"There was something even better in the Adventurers' Mart," I told her. "A Girdle of Hill Giant Strength. Far too expensive for us, as yet, but when we have the funds…"

I was interrupted by a warning from Yoshimo. "We are being followed, Ja… my lady."

"If you were going to call me 'Jabbress', carry on," I said. "It would please me greatly. You say followed, rather than someone coincidentally heading in the same direction?"

"I am sure of it… Jabbress," he said. "We wandered from the direct path a little while ago, whilst you were busy talking, and they are following our detour rather than the straight path. Ten to a dozen of them, gaining on us."

I looked in the direction he indicated and could just about make out movement. It was full daylight and, although my distance vision by day was superior to Viconia's, it couldn't match that of a human or surface elf. "How long before they catch up?"

Yoshimo pursed his lips. "An hour, perhaps less, unless we increase our pace." Minsc agreed with Yoshimo's estimate.

I could think of several reasons why a group pursuing us might be hostile but no scenario in which they were friendly came to mind. It couldn't be ruled out altogether, though, and so ambushing the pursuers wasn't an option… or was it? If we could engineer a confrontation at relatively close range, somewhere the terrain favored us…

"Very well," I said, "this is what we shall do…"

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The first to emerge into the clearing was a surface elf woman. A little shorter than Jaheira, with fair skin and hair of flame red, clad in leather armor over a green tunic, and with swords belted at both hips. She was holding a longbow, not drawn but with an arrow nocked, and side-stepped away from the path to clear the way for those who followed behind. I assessed her as a Ranger, or someone with training along the same lines, and more competent than I wanted to see in a potential foe. Still, if she actually was a Ranger, she might not be a foe after all.

Those who followed her didn't give that same impression. One was a human man in plate mail, also carrying a bow, another wore the robes of a wizard, and one was armed with a mace and could well have been a cleric. The rest, sword-wielders in mail or leathers, I assessed as common thugs. I cast Detect Evil and saw that the woman didn't show up as Evil but her companions did. I stepped forward, closing the range, and called out to ask what they wanted. My companions were in position to back me up.

The red-haired elf lowered her bow. "Nalia De'Arnise? Is that you?" she called.

"Yes, I'm Nalia. You're… Valygar Corthala's girlfriend? Soon something?"

"Suna Seni," the elf corrected her. She turned to face the armored man in her own group. "What is going on, Eldarin? Nalia is no bounty-hunter. Either there has been some misunderstanding… or you have lied to me." She began to raise her bow again… and a leather-clad man stabbed her in the back. She collapsed instantly. Her former colleagues went onto the attack.

As did we, and we were prepared. I had been moving closer all the time and my sword gave me considerable reach. I went for their wizard first, killing him in two strokes, and then struck at the cleric. Minsc loosed a couple of arrows, killing the man who had stabbed the Ranger, and then charged out to join me. I'd advised the others to refrain from casting spells unless absolutely necessary and so they were only loosing missiles. Even so, the fight didn't last long. The cleric fell quickly, as did the lightly-armored swordsmen, and then Minsc and I boxed the plate-mail clad warrior, presumably Eldarin, between us. I held back from finishing him, briefly, and demanded to know why he was attacking us.

"You killed Captain Hagen!" he shouted, in reply. "I shall avenge him!"

That was all I needed to know and I stopped holding back. I killed him and then turned my attention to the woman who lay motionless and bleeding on the ground. She was still alive but obviously badly injured. "Vicky, here, quickly!" I yelled.

Viconia scurried over to join me, stuffing her sling into her pouch as she came, and bent over the injured elf. "This will require a Cure Critical Wounds," she said, waiting for my approval, and didn't cast the spell until I gave her the go-ahead.

Once the spell was cast, and Suna Seni was able to get up and talk, I had questions for her.

"I was hired to track you," she revealed. "They told me you had taken a contract from Tolgerias the Cowled Wizard to capture or kill Valygar. They offered me five hundred danter, but I'd have done it for nothing to save Valygar. Only, when I saw Nalia, I realized they hadn't told me the truth."

"I don't even know who Valygar is," I told her. "I talked to Tolgerias but he wanted me to agree to his contract before he'd reveal what he wanted me to do. There was no way I would consent to that and so I walked out on him. The Cowled Wizards have imprisoned a girl who is as close as a sister to me. I don't trust them in the slightest."

Suna Seni grimaced. "That makes me feel even more ashamed," she said. "I would have fought you, and killed someone, or been killed myself, for no good reason at all, if I hadn't seen and recognized Lady Nalia. It isn't even the first time I've made such a mistake. I am a Fallen Ranger because I killed an innocent man, and I nearly did it again. I was told you were a Drow, and I jumped to a conclusion without thinking further, and assumed you were evil. And then you healed me, as I lay bleeding, and probably saved my life."

"I'm used to people making assumptions about me, and Viconia, based on our race," I said. "I'd advise you to be more careful in future, but I think you're already telling yourself that. So, who is this 'Valygar', and why is Tolgerias after him?"

"Lord Valygar Corthala is a Ranger, and a noble of Amn," she replied. "We used to be… close, but we parted after I fell. I still care for him, deeply, and would risk my life to protect him. The wizard claims that Valygar murdered two Cowled Wizards, something I do not believe for a moment, and I am sure that they attacked him first and he killed them in self-defense. As for why they might have attacked him… that is not my secret to tell."

I was considering inviting her to join us in liberating Nalia's castle, although teaming up with a stranger would be something of a gamble. Yes, we'd done so with Yoshimo, and it had worked out well, but considering where we had met him it had really been the only option. There was something about that thought, once it occurred to me, that rang vague bells. Had Irenicus planted Yoshimo on us so that we'd have a rogue immediately to hand, one without allegiance to the Shadow Thieves, and thus eliminate the need for me to find and recruit a thief before setting out to rescue Imoen? Something to think about later. I turned my attention back to Suna Seni. "What will you do now?" I asked.

"I shall go to Valygar," she said. "I'll get the full story from him, and see if we can come up with a way of clearing up his problem. Again, I thank you."

My companions had been investigating the corpses as I was talking with Suna Seni. There was a moderate sum of money, a couple of scrolls and some useful potions, and two enchanted items; a mace and a suit of plate mail. The mace was far inferior to the Mauler's Arm that Viconia bore, and the Krotan's Skullcrusher that Minsc carried as a spare weapon, but it would serve against foes that could be struck only by enchanted blunt weapons. And, of course, it would bring a few hundred danter when sold. I hung it from my belt. The plate mail went to Minsc. All told, a minor but useful addition to our fighting strength, and to our funds, at the cost of a single spell and a slight delay to our journey.

And then Suna Seni, who had started to walk away, turned about and unbuckled the short-sword from her right hip. "Take this," she said, proffering the sword. "I owe you a debt and, if you hadn't healed me, you'd have been able to take it from my dead body anyway."

The weapon looked to be a fine piece, almost certainly enchanted, with an elaborately decorated hilt and pommel. "You don't need to give us anything," I told her. "Keep it."

"No, I think it's the right thing to do," she said. "If I want to get back to being a proper Ranger, I need to start doing the right thing. And I'm not proficient in the use of a short-sword. I've only been keeping it because it protects its wielder from Hold Person and paralysis, and it can cast a brief Haste spell once a day. It's twice-enchanted, which made up for my lack of skill to some extent."

"That's… impressive," I said. "Far too much just for us healing you. And, honestly, I don't feel you owe us any kind of debt."

"Hold Person proof… and a Haste…" Nalia muttered, then spoke more loudly. "Suna… is that Arbane's Sword of Agility?"

"It is," Suna Seni confirmed. "I took it from the person that I killed in error. I no longer feel comfortable owning it. Please, take it."

I could see that Nalia's eyes had lit up. "What weapons are you proficient in?" I asked Suna Seni.

"I specialize in longbow, longsword, and two-weapon fighting," she replied, "and I can use a mace moderately well. Why do you ask?"

"If we take the sword, I will give you something in exchange," I told her. "We did have an enchanted longsword but, unfortunately, we sold it. But you can take this." I unhooked the mace from my belt. "It bears a basic enchantment and might be of some use to you."

"And my short-sword," Nalia said. "It's once-enchanted and should sell for a decent price."

We made the exchange. Suna Seni was happy that she was still making some recompense to us, Nalia was delighted with her new sword, and I felt that we weren't taking advantage of Suna Seni's feelings of guilt too badly. A satisfactory outcome all round, I thought. And I resolved that, as long as it didn't interfere with our mission to rescue Imoen and serve justice upon Irenicus, I would do my best to help Suna Seni regain her status as a Ranger.

First, though, we had to get rid of the invaders from Nalia's castle and, if he was still alive, rescue her father.

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On arrival at the De'Arnise castle I followed my normal practice of checking the surrounding area for any threats that might attack us from behind. The pathway that led up to the drawbridge held a grisly sight; human corpses impaled on stakes. Nalia went pale, fearing that one of them might be her father, but a closer examination showed that they were servants and castle guards. A slight relief, but still a shock to her, as these were people she knew. There were tears on her cheeks as we left them and moved on.

We walked all the way around the stronghold and encountered two small ice trolls. They weren't much of a threat but did use up two of our limited stock of fire arrows. I kept an eye out for any sign of the tunnel that I suspected the trolls had used to gain entry but saw only a patch of disturbed earth. Presumably it had been collapsed behind the attackers once they were inside. There was a secret entrance to the castle, Nalia told us, but she had escaped that way and it had been clear of trolls. Hopefully it was still undiscovered by the enemy.

Completing our circumnavigation brought us to a wooden stockade, some twenty yards outside the outer wall, in which we found the surviving members of the guards. Only eight of them, in reasonable shape physically but with their morale shattered, under the command of a man who gave the impression that he knew his job well but who was well past his prime. They greeted us with a mixture of gladness, to see that help had arrived, and disappointment because there were so few of us. Our small number did, at least, give us the advantage that we should be able to sneak in through the secret entrance undetected. Captain Aral, the guard commander, promised that, if we could get the drawbridge down, he would bring his men in to help us. I took it to mean that the visible sign of our success would lift their spirits enough to overcome their defeatism. He was able to provide a score of fire arrows and told us there were more stored inside the keep. Useful to know.

And then, as Nalia was talking to one of the other guardsmen, Captain Aral told me something else. If Lord De'Arnise was dead then the Roenalls would be able to use Isaea Roenall's betrothal to Nalia to claim the castle and its lands. Inheritance in Amn was through the male line and women could only inherit if there were no male claimants; even though there had been no marriage, the betrothal was enough of a link to put Isaea ahead of Nalia. And she couldn't break the betrothal herself until she reached her majority at twenty-one, and she was three months short of that mark. I rather regretted not forcing a duel, and killing Isaea, when I retrieved Viconia from his home. Too late now.

The secret entrance was well concealed and seemed to still be undiscovered by the trolls. The passage led into storerooms in which we found sling bullets, enchanted arrows, crossbow bolts including some that were enchanted, and an enchanted crossbow. Only a basic one, without the Army Scythe's speed enchantment, but even so I might not have spent so much money regaining the Army Scythe had I known I would find a decent, although lesser, weapon here. Nalia told us to help ourselves to whatever weapons we found and so I took it for sale later.

Beyond the storerooms was a room that had been sleeping quarters for guards. There we found our first troll, engaged in beating one of the castle servants to death, and the monster finished him off before turning on us. Bad tactics; it gave us time to hit it with three arrows, two sling bullets, and a crossbow bolt and for me to close to sword range. It went down in seconds and Yoshimo finished it off with an acid-tipped arrow. The servant, unfortunately, was too torn apart for a Raise Dead spell to have any chance of working.

Nalia was distressed, of course, but somehow managed to see a bright side. If one servant had still been alive then others could be. The beating had, from what we had overheard before the fight started, been the servant being punished for not being quick enough to obey orders. It would seem, then, that the invaders wanted the castle in working order including the staff; strange behavior for trolls, which I'd always thought were more likely to eat humans than to insist on prompt service. Taking over a castle was uncharacteristic for trolls, too. They had to be working for someone more intelligent and organized. Almost certainly a human. Roenall? This affair was to his advantage, and he had contacts with the slavers, and they had had trolls in their base. There might be other possibilities, I had only just arrived in Athkatla and had no idea of the relationships between the nobles, but certainly Roenall would be my prime suspect. Perhaps more evidence might turn up once we were deeper into the castle.

The guards' bedside chests contained more sling bullets, including enchanted ones, and a sheaf of enchanted crossbow bolts. Our stock of ammunition was building up nicely. The next room was an armory, where we found more weapons and ammunition, and also another survivor.

This was a senior servant named Daleson. He was able to give us a lot of useful information about the situation and the trolls. He had seen Nalia's father, alive but a captive, being taken by the trolls down into the castle's dungeons – a term to which Nalia objected, insisting that they were merely cellars. This had been only hours ago and it seemed that there was a good chance he was still alive. He also told us of huge insectoid burrowing creatures that the trolls had used to create the tunnel through which they had entered. These creatures, which I believed must be Umber Hulks, were now held in one of the cellars and Daleson had been given the task of feeding them. Dogmeat stew was their preferred food, apparently, and they had rushed to its scent so urgently that Daleson had only just managed to escape being an extra dish on their menu. This might be useful to know, as we might be able to use it to lure them into a trap, and there was one more revelation; he had heard mention of Yuan-Ti along with the trolls. We'd encountered a couple of those creatures in the slavers' hideout, as well as trolls, which was a little more corroborative evidence supporting my hypothesis that Roenall was involved in this affair.

The conversation also revealed that Nalia, who tried to be egalitarian, was more of a snob than she perhaps realized herself. At least she meant well, and did her best to help the 'less fortunate', even if she did it in rather a patronizing fashion. I wasn't going to hold it against her.

We moved on to a forge room and the storage room where one of the pieces of the Flail of Ages was hidden inside a sarcophagus. I couldn't get overly excited about a weapon I wouldn't be able to use to its full potential, especially as this particular head was enchanted to do cold damage which would do little harm to trolls, but there was something else in the sarcophagus that interested me much more. A Ring of Earth Control, which had the power of briefly charming earth elementals, casting Stone to Flesh, and its most valuable property as far as I was concerned was that it acted as a Ring of Protection even in conjunction with magic armor or other protective rings or cloaks. It would be useful for any of us but cold logic dictated that I should have it, as I would be taking the lead and engaging in the most close-quarter combat.

And close-quarter combat ensued almost immediately. A troll confronted us as we made our way through the corridor than ran around the great hall. Our tactics worked perfectly. The corridor was the ideal width for my two-handed sword and I kept the troll at a distance, slicing up its limbs while my colleagues bombarded it with missiles, until it went down and Minsc delivered the coup-de-grace with a fire arrow. An ice troll in a side room met the same fate. In a room from which stairs led up to the upper floor we met another troll, in the act of attacking a servant, but we slew it too late to save the man.

We left the upstairs for later and went out into the courtyard. The castle's otyugh had escaped from the midden, in the chaos of the invasion, and was wandering freely. It attacked us on sight, of course, and died. It had been chasing four dogs, which had been fast enough to evade the lumbering scavenger, but they would have tired eventually and I was glad that we had been able to save them. Until Viconia suggested that we should kill the dogs.

"You expressed an intention to use dogmeat stew to lure the Umber Hulks out of our way, or into a trap where they could be killed with minimum risk to us," she said. "Here are dogs, and we saw a stove in the kitchens. Why do you hesitate?"

"Because I am not as ruthlessly pragmatic as you," I said, "and I don't want to kill friendly domestic animals." The dogs had scampered over to us once the otyugh was dead, wagging their tails, and Nalia was stroking them and telling them what good boys they were. I shook my head. "I can't do it," I said. "I'll kill animals that pose a threat, or for food, but I will not slay these innocent dogs just to use their flesh to bait a trap."

Viconia sighed. "There was a time when I would have regarded such sentiment as weakness," she said, "but we have been through too much together for me to see you as weak. But Umber Hulks are dangerous. Your qualms may put us in peril."

"If they do, I'll take it upon myself," I promised. "I'll borrow Lilarcor from Minsc, to protect me against their Confusion ability, and face them alone if necessary. But the dogs live."

We set off up the stairs that led to the walkways atop the outer walls. Another troll faced us there but delayed us only briefly. The windlass that operated the drawbridge was unguarded and it took only moments to lower. The De'Arnise guards were quick to arrive, and crossed the drawbridge and entered the courtyard, but the noise attracted attention and a couple of trolls and a large Yuan-Ti rushed out to meet them. We hastened down the steps and joined the guards in fighting the creatures. They died, none of the guards died, and none of us were even wounded. Another couple of trolls met us when we reentered the keep and we killed them too. I hadn't been overly impressed by the fighting skills of the guard and decided that they would be best employed in securing the gate area, keeping it clear in case we had to retreat, and we left them behind and ascended the stairs.

The layout of the keep was odd in that the cellars – or dungeons – could only be reached by way of a secret staircase leading down from a room in the upper floor. I didn't head for that room immediately; I wanted to completely clear the floor of foes first, as I didn't want to risk us being surrounded. We passed some doors that we couldn't open; Nalia told me that there was a master key, that was normally kept in the library, and with that we would be able to open all the doors. We continued along the corridor along the outer edge of the floor and encountered several trolls, luckily as individuals and not in a group, and slew them without difficulty.

We reached the library and found two small trolls and a Yuan-Ti wizard there. One of the trolls surprised us when, instead of dying when injured and struck by a fire arrow, it split into two and attacked again. We killed them a second time and this time they died properly. The Yuan-Ti cast a Confusion spell, which might have caused us problems, but luckily Minsc had drawn Lilarcor, my magic resistance saved me from being affected, and the rest of the group were standing back and loosing missiles and were outside the range of the spell. The Stoneskin that the wizard cast next postponed its death only for moments.

We retrieved the master key, as well as a couple of useful spell scrolls for Nalia, and also found a stash containing a sheaf of twenty fire arrows; a useful addition to our dwindling stock. A staircase in the library led up to the roof of the keep and I decided we should investigate that next. We cleared that section of the roof of another troll and two Yuan-Ti; there was another part of the upper works that Nalia told me couldn't be reached from the part where we stood, only by taking a different staircase, and we went back down the way we had come. We found that other staircase, which was behind a door that we had been unable to open without the master key, went up it, and emerged onto the final roof section. Two Yuan-Ti were there, and of course attacked, but they were no match for us. I resisted the urge to tempt fate by voicing my thought that everything was going well.

All the outer parts of the upper floor were clear now, and we started on the inner rooms. The first we entered was, according to Nalia, the master bedroom. It was empty, and there was no sign of there having been any struggle, and Nalia frowned.

"I don't understand," she said. "Where are all the bodies? We've seen a couple of dead servants but only one dead guard inside and three others on those horrible stakes outside. I thought I might find Father's bodyguard Glaicus dead here, as I am certain he would have fought to the death to defend Father, but there's no sign of him, nor of any of the other guards. There were eight in the stockade, and Captain Aral said they were the only ones who made it out, but we had twenty-four guards altogether. With four dead that leaves twelve unaccounted for. Where are they?"

"In the dungeons, kept prisoner, perhaps?" I suggested. I suspected they'd all been slain, and their bodies stored somewhere as food for the trolls, but I wasn't going to say that to Nalia.

"That must be it," Nalia said, but she was still frowning.

After passing through one more room, in which we found a quiver of acid arrows and a spell scroll, we emerged into a large dining room. A man in full plate armor was standing there seemingly doing nothing other than standing staring at a wall. He turned as we entered.

"For the glory of my new master, whose sorcery has shown me the way," he said, in a flat voice without inflection, "I must destroy you." He drew his sword, in a jerky and uncoordinated fashion very unlike the smooth movements one would expect from an experienced warrior, and advanced toward us.

"Oh, no! T'rissae, he must be charmed!" Nalia exclaimed. "He's one of my father's most loyal guards. He would never do this otherwise."

"Don't kill him!" I ordered the others, and readied myself to parry his attacks.

"A second charm will break the first," Nalia said, "but I don't have Charm Person memorized. Oh, dear!"

Glaicus launched a series of strikes at me. I blocked them, holding back from riposting, but he was good enough that I knew I would not be able to keep him away indefinitely.

"I have," Jaheira said, and cast her spell.

Glaicus froze and then lowered his sword. "Wha… what's going on?" he said, shaking his head. "What am I doing? What is happening here?"

"You were charmed, I believe, by the trolls," Nalia said.

"More likely by that Yuan-Ti wizard," I corrected her.

"Yes… yes, I remember now," Glaicus said. "I was going to fight and then… there was this creature like a snake in human form… and then I couldn't do anything except follow his orders. Before that… there were the trolls, and a big one that was the leader… TorGal, they called him. I think if he was slain the rest of them will flee. They took Lord De'Arnise, I don't know where, I wish I did. But I do know something that might help you. Lord De'Arnise was looking for the parts of a flail that belongs to him. It was disassembled long ago and the parts spread throughout the keep. We had this piece," he produced and handed over a flail head and chain, "and were on our way to get the next when they found us. He said it was in the old temple chamber beyond Lady De'Arnise's room."

Nalia had never mentioned her mother, and I was puzzled for a second, but she must have read my expression. "My aunt's room," she explained. "I know the temple chamber. It's full of golems and Father warned me never to take anything from the stores there or the golems would awake and attack. He could pass them safely, but no-one else."

"So, we'll have to fight golems to get the rest of the flail," I mused. "I'm not sure it's worth it."

"There are other weapons there, too, said to be of great power," Glaicus said. He shook his head. "I should join you… but I can't face the trolls again, after what they did. Being controlled like that… I couldn't stand it happening again."

It was probably just as well. Another fighter might have been useful but he would not be used to our tactics, which were second nature to Viconia and Minsc and to which Jaheira and Yoshimo had already adjusted, and I had doubts about his mental fortitude and ability to resist further charms. Better no ally than an unreliable one. "Make your way downstairs, then," I told him, "and join the guards who have retaken the courtyard."

"Yes, do that, Glaicus, and wait for us there," Nalia said. "We shall retrieve the flail and rescue my father."

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Nalia's aunt was perhaps the most unpleasant person I'd ever met who wasn't actively trying to kill, sexually assault, or torture me, or have me wrongfully convicted of murder. She referred to us as 'hooligans', and 'the dregs of society', and accused Nalia of soiling herself by associating with her 'lessers'. I sensed Viconia fuming and preempted her inevitable explosion.

"I am a noble, madam," I told the aunt, whose name was Lady Delcia Caan. "My grandmother is Matron Mother of House Faen Tlabbar of Menzoberranzan. That is the equivalent of being one of the Grand Dukes of Baldur's Gate."

"That means nothing in human society," Lady Delcia said, with a pointed sniff. "I care nothing for how the lesser races comport themselves."

"Suit yourself, rivvil elg'caress," I said.

"Aunty, please!" Nalia said, obviously unaware that I'd just called her aunt 'human bitch'. "They are here to help us. Please treat them with respect."

"Of course they will help us," Lady Delcia said. "Now, mercenary rabble, go and find Lord De'Arnise. I believe the beasts are trying to get him to reveal something about a cache of gold. I doubt that he will say a word. He is as soft as Nalia sometimes but would not lower himself to submit to lesser beings. Go and rescue him, as is your duty. Come, Hendron, we shall go and wait outside for the hirelings of my disappointing niece to complete their task. We will have to fumigate the castle when they are gone to rid it of the stench."

I wasn't sure whether 'their stench' was meant to refer to the trolls or to us; probably both. Once she had departed Viconia voiced her opinion.

"A month of tortures among the spiders of… she who I will not name… would remove her sense of superiority," she said. "The elg'caress should know when she meets her betters, blood or no blood."

"What does that word mean?" Nalia asked.

"Bitch," I told her, "and I think it is apt."

"Oh!" said Nalia. "That's… not very nice. But I suppose I can see why you think that. She's not that bad, really, just very set in her ways and hard to deal with."

"It's not important," I said. "Let us find and deal with these golems."

There were two flesh golems, two clay golems, two stone golems and an iron golem. Too many to take on at once, but I wondered if we could take them on separately. It could be that they would not all activate if one was attacked. It was worth a try and, with everyone positioned ready to make a hasty retreat if they all came to life, I attacked one of the flesh golems. It activated, as did the other flesh golem, but the rest of them stayed lifeless. We killed – or destroyed, rather, as they had not been living in the first place – both of the flesh golems at the cost only of minor bruising to Minsc and Yoshimo. A couple of Cure Light Wounds spells restored both to full health and we moved on to the stone golems. They activated only one at a time and this made things much easier. We shattered both of them without suffering any injuries. The clay golem was a sterner test, as it could be damaged only by magical blunt weapons, and that was a category in which we were somewhat lacking. Only Viconia and Minsc had such weapons and were skilled in their use. Consequently they took the lead, with me doing my best with the partially-assembled Flail of Ages, and before the clay golem went down it had managed to injure Minsc badly enough that Jaheira used a Cure Critical Wounds spell to heal him. That left only the iron golem.

This was by far the most formidable of the golems, immune to most of our weapons, but it did have one weakness. It was too large to fit through the door of the chamber. I guessed that it had been brought in inert, being carried or dragged lying on its side, and it would not be able to leave under its own power. Most of our missile weapons lacked sufficient enchantment to damage it but the axe Azuredge, bought for Minsc to use against vampires, was thrice-enchanted and that should be enough. He threw the axe at the golem, waking it, and the axe returned to his hand to be thrown again. It pursued him to the door but was then forced to halt, with Minsc standing out of its reach, and he continued to throw as it stood helpless apart from sporadically releasing clouds of toxic gas which didn't quite reach far enough to affect Minsc. It was a long and tedious wait for the rest of us, time which Nalia spent learning new spells from the scrolls we had found, but eventually the huge construct collapsed and lay still.

The rewards made it worthwhile. As well as the remaining flail head we found a war hammer with powerful enchantments against giants and their kin, the thrice-enchanted axe Frostreaver bearing additional enchantments of cold and acid damage, and a thrice-enchanted Elven Court longbow. The Frostreaver axe, in particular, would be of great use to us against the trolls in the hands of Minsc.

Of course now we had to trail all the way back to the forge on the lower floor to complete the reassembly of the flail. Once complete it was a formidable weapon indeed; thrice-enchanted, with an additional charm to slow opponents on a good hit, and inflicting a measure of cold, fire, and acid damage that would be deadly to trolls. Unfortunately it was too heavy for Viconia to manage without strength-enhancing items, and I found the triple-headed weapon tricky to wield without risking hitting myself. Still, it might be a risk worth taking in the right circumstances and I kept hold of it.

Back upstairs we went, retracing our steps, until we reached Lady Delicia's room and the inconveniently-situated secret staircase down to the cellars. A storeroom there provided us with more arrows of fire and acid, plus some non-magical ammunition of all kinds, but the next room was less beneficial.

No sooner had I opened the door than three trolls rushed to the attack. Two normal trolls and a Spectral troll, immune to non-magical weapons, and even more powerful and ferocious than the others. Minsc joined me in battling the spectral troll, dual-wielding his mace and the new axe Frostreaver, while the others filled the normal trolls with arrows to conserve our magical ammunition. We prevailed, although Minsc suffered some nasty claw wounds, and the three trolls went down and were finished off with fire.

In the next room it was my turn to be injured. Six Umber Hulks faced us. I took Lilarcor from Minsc and, as I had promised Viconia, I took on the creatures at close quarters whilst everyone else stood well back and used arrows and sling bullets from out of Confusion range. It took several spells and a potion to restore me to full health once the fight was over. Still, we had plenty of potions, and although Viconia was almost out of healing spells Jaheira had a full Heal spell, the most powerful of all, in reserve. Nalia had rarely visited the dungeons but she was fairly sure that we had almost reached the final room, where we should find the troll leader TorGal and, hopefully, Nalia's father.

We checked out the dungeon cells next to where the Umber Hulks had been, finding nothing except dog bones and the collapsed inner end of the tunnel through which they had gained access, and then investigated several chests. We found some useful and valuable items but my thoughts were elsewhere. The location of the tunnel pointed to the invaders having been directed by someone who knew the layout of the castle well. A traitor in the guard, perhaps? Or… Isaea Roenall?

The others were more occupied with our finds. Enchanted sling bullets, envenomed crossbow bolts, and a set of leather armor of orcish make. It was studded with bone, rather than the usual metal rivets, making it ugly, but its construction and enchantments made it tougher and more durable than Yoshimo's own armor. He changed into the new set, more than happy to accept the ugliness in favor of being less likely to be injured, and stowed his old armor away. We then prepared for what we expected would be a fight against the toughest opposition we had faced in the castle thus far.

Viconia summoned her Skeleton Warrior, Jaheira summoned a Fire Elemental, and they and Nalia cast all the enhancing spells they knew. I Drew Upon Holy Might and opened the final door.

We were faced by three trolls. Two were much larger than the ones we had faced before but other than that there was nothing unusual about them. The third was not as large, although still taller and broader than normal trolls and bro, and unusual in that it was wearing jewelry. I guessed that it was the chief troll TorGal.

Nalia had put herself at the front, beside me, ignoring my orders about our formation. She addressed the trolls, ordering them to leave or die, and TorGal replied. The troll chieftain threatened us and said that we were 'too stupid to take gold and leave with other grrthns', presumably meaning either 'humans' or 'guards', and I realized that the missing guards hadn't been slain. They had been bribed to desert their posts.

Nalia declared that this was her home, and she was going to drive out the invaders, and TorGal replied that 'the deal' was that he would kill all who lived here for 'Stronger'. Nalia demanded to know what deal, and who had made it, and threatened that her father would have whoever made it quartered. TorGal's sneering reply was that her father was dead, and that had been part of the deal, and now she would die too. Then he charged.

The other trolls were slower to react and I saw the chance to defeat them piecemeal. "Back!" I commanded. "Face them in the doorway!" Nalia didn't move and I grabbed her, lifted her from her feet, and ran back carrying her and ignoring her protests. I set her down and we took up fighting positions in the doorway, with the Skeleton Warrior and Fire Elemental at the front to bear the brunt of the trolls' attacks, and the rest of us behind them where we could use missiles and spells, and long-bladed swords, to strike from positions of relative safety. I'd developed these tactics over scores of fights and, yet again, they proved effective.

TorGal clawed at the elemental and the skeleton, damaging but not destroying them, and died without harming any of us. The giant trolls, following behind him, fared little better and succeeded only in slightly wounding Minsc before they fell. The rest of us were untouched. Yet our victory felt hollow, for beyond the dead trolls lay the shattered and mutilated corpse of Nalia's father.

Glossary of Drow Phrases

Jabbress = female commander
khal'abbil = most trusted comrade
rivvil elg'caress = human bitch