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...

7. Shadows of the Night

Chapter Seven: Shadows of the Night

Lord Firkraag had issued a challenge to me, and was holding a hostage to ensure that I accepted, but even so I did not lead us directly to the northeast. Always protect your flanks, always cover your rear. I took us on a sweep through the area to clear it of all potential threats.

We encountered a band of apparently human warriors fighting against gnolls. We joined in to assist them and then discovered that they were, in fact, werewolves in human form who transformed and attacked us as soon as the gnolls were dead. They managed to wound Minsc severely but otherwise all they achieved was to make us use up some of our store of enchanted arrows and sling bullets. Jaheira healed Minsc, and ensured that he would not be afflicted by lycanthropy; she had, she revealed, once been marooned on an island infested with the creatures, and it had given her both an extensive knowledge and an intense hatred of them.

An ankheg arose from under the ground and was slain before it could do us harm. We took its shell, which might be turned into armor if we could find a smith as skilled as Taerom Thunderhammer of Beregost, but it was heavy and awkward to carry and so we stored it in a rock crevice to be retrieved later. A war-band of orcs blocked our path, briefly, and their bodies provided us with ample enchanted arrows to replace those we had expended against the werewolves. A few gibberlings and goblins were the only other foes, if such a word could be used to describe such weak monsters, that we encountered before we reached a place that could only be the one referred to in Firkraag's challenge.

A walkway of stone flags led up to a massive doorway set into a cliff face. Pillars flanking the entrance were inset with designs of dragons and, atop the pillars, thirty-foot gilded statues in the form of draconic heads and necks towered over us.

"To my eyes, this has the air of an ancient place recently restored," Viconia said, "but I am no expert on such things. A hargluk would be able to give a more informed opinion."

"We don't seem to have one," I said. "We could go back to the Copper Coronet and recruit that dwarf who wanted assistance retrieving a lost book, I suppose." I looked back at two smaller pillars at the start of the walkway, crumbling and wreathed in ivy, and then back at the pristine pillars and gleaming statues at the entrance, and decided that Viconia's deduction was correct. "Or we could just go in."

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There was a welcoming committee inside. A party of hobgoblins and an orog in plate armor. The orog, who seemed to be in command, gave orders to attack and then turned and left the area. We slew the hobgoblins and then found ourselves under attack by vampiric mists. I held them off with my sword and Minsc destroyed them with Azuredge.

We traversed a paved corridor and emerged into a natural cavern. There we found another band of hobgoblins and slew them. A Rakshasa confronted us and commanded a small band of kobolds to attack. When we hit one with arrows it exploded into a ball of fire, killing the other kobolds, luckily too far away to affect us. The Rakshasa fell to our swords and we found a Ring of Fire Resistance on its body. I had owned an identical one myself, before our capture, but they were common enough items that I could not tell if this was mine or not. I took it anyway.

Orc archers engaged us from one side of the cavern. As we were killing them more vampiric mists emerged from a smaller cavern and attacked. Minsc and I destroyed the mists, with some difficulty as they had an irritating habit of turning invisible between attacks, and found some minor treasures in their cave.

Behind where the orcs had stood was a deep shaft that went down further than we could see. Descending it would be difficult and perilous but an easier path presented itself. The Rakshasa had been standing at the head of a short corridor leading to a door. We opened it and passed through.

Into a nasty ambush. The room beyond the door had galleries to each side, screened by walls containing arrow slits, from which plate-mail clad orc archers loosed fire arrows at us. We were sufficiently protected to take little harm, save for Jaheira who seemed to be their preferred target, and she was severely hurt before we managed to slay all of the orcs. A spell and a couple of our less potent potions restored her to health and at least we managed to profit by a full four score of fire arrows.

The next room looked identical but, thankfully, was free of orcs. Beyond that lay a more serious threat. A corridor full of golems. One each of clay, stone, and iron golems and, unlike when we had destroyed the golems in Nalia's castle, they were all active and came at us all at once. Luckily the iron golem, like its fellow in the De'Arnise keep, could not pass through the doorway and once the others were destroyed Minsc was able to batter it slowly to pieces with Azuredge whilst remaining out of range of retaliation. We then discovered that there was a second stone golem, that had been hidden from our view behind the massive iron golem, and we were lucky not to be injured by its surprise attack. Minsc and I destroyed it and the way ahead was clear.

There were doors to the left, to the right, and straight ahead. We investigated the left-hand door first and found nothing there save for two orcs who did not even try to fight. They surrendered immediately and said they just wanted to get out alive. I let them go.

Beyond the right door was a kitchen in which a troll cook prepared food for a troop of hobgoblins. The cook wanted to add us to the menu. We had a different opinion. Ours prevailed. A hobgoblin wizard made the mistake of casting Lightning Bolt in a confined space, and managed to hurt Nalia, but did far more damage to his own side.

A midden behind the kitchen held nothing of interest other than the usual otyugh, which we slew when it tried to escape and attack us. We looted the bodies of the hobgoblins, which held little of interest, and found a cookbook belonging to the troll. That was interesting because I hadn't realized that trolls could be literate. It contained recipes obviously compiled by the troll itself, mostly disgusting, with notes about possible ingredients that gave information about things in the complex. Genies in a tomb, wolf men in 'the west dungeon', and a treasure in a well that was guarded by an 'air monster'. I made a mental note of those things and then, as I doubted that it would be saleable, tossed the book away.

On to the central door. This led to a corridor full of orcs but, without the advantage of position that had benefited those we had fought earlier, these ones troubled us little. Further on, though, we came upon a room which was far more perilous. A horde of vampires, mummies, and ghasts greeted us and, even with my immunity to the life-draining powers of vampires and Minsc's use of Azuredge to slay them with a single good blow, I was so badly hurt that it took a full Heal spell from Jaheira to restore me. Had Viconia not sent her Skeleton Warrior to our aid we both may have perished. Even when we slew the last of them the danger was not past. A corridor from that room led to a ruined chapel infested with Shadows, Shadow Fiends, and Wraiths.

We found little in the chapel, once we had cleared it of Undead, save for a key, a score of twice-enchanted sling bullets, and a handful of Darts of Stunning. There was nothing to show what lock could be opened by the key but the answer was soon revealed. The very next door that we came upon.

There were two possible ways to go once through that door. To the right was a wall with multiple doors, and to the left a single door. We went left and found ourselves in a corridor swarming with Dread Wolves and Wolfweres, some of which were the 'Greater' variant. This was another hard struggle. After that we faced orogs, on a bridge that crossed what seemed to be a well, and that was a much easier fight. I was just wondering if this was the well referred to in the troll's cookbook, and if so what was the 'air monster', when a wave of golems rushed upon us. Two stone golems, a clay golem, and an iron golem.

We managed, once again, to defeat them in detail. We retreated through a narrow door, followed by the stone golems, and Minsc and I hacked them apart. The iron golem could not get through the doorway and, once again, it fell to repeated throws of Azuredge after a long and tedious time. After that we had to deal with the clay golem. Viconia took the Flail of Ages from me, now that the Girdle of Hill Giant Strength gave her the necessary strength, and wielded it with some success as Minsc fought with a mace in each hand. That golem, too, crumbled and collapsed.

Now that those threats were removed, I investigated the well. The 'air monster' proved to be an Air Elemental, which was immune to non-magical weapons, but we had enough enchanted weaponry to dispose of it without too much difficulty. The 'treasure' in the well's bucket was a slight disappointment at first sight, being only a helmet, but a closer look showed that it had dragon scales worked into it, from red, blue, and white dragons, giving the wearer resistance to fire, electricity, and cold. A worthwhile treasure indeed, slightly superior to the Gift of Peace helm that I had worn before acquiring the Helm of Balduran. It went to Jaheira.

Again we faced a choice of directions, this time either right along a corridor or straight ahead through a door, and I decided to go straight ahead. All options in this place seemed to lead to danger.

This led us to a room in which two apparent adventurers in plate mail stood. They claimed to be trapped there by orcs, and to have wounded, but their speech patterns seemed somewhat odd and their story unconvincing. And they were Evil.

They abandoned their human guise and became Wolfweres. One fell to us quickly but the other one, a Greater Wolfwere, put up a stiff fight. The supposed 'wounded' in the room behind them were Wolfweres too, and their injuries were fake, but they didn't last long against us. Their rooms held some minor items, the most useful being enchanted sling bullets, and also a Horn of Blasting. A potentially deadly weapon, but none of us knew for sure how to use it safely, and we packed it away for the time being.

North from the Wolfwere's lair, which presumably had been the 'west dungeon' mentioned in the troll's cookbook, was a cave that seemed small enough to require little exploration. We found a secret door there and opened it. A golem burst out; this time an Adamantine Golem. We followed our usual tactics of retreating to a door through which it could not pass, and leaving it to Minsc to destroy it with Azuredge, but this golem was even more resistant to damage than the iron golems and it seemed to take forever. We killed the time by all of us, other than poor Minsc, taking a break for refreshments. Eventually I became so bored that I decided to try out the Horn of Blasting against the golem and, with everyone else well out of the way, I blew it. It sent a sound wave at the target, as I had expected, and none of us were harmed by it. Alas, it seemed to have only the most minor effect upon the golem. Its use for the day had been expended and I packed it away again.

Eventually, after a quarter of an hour of tedium, the Adamantine Golem went down. We returned to the secret door, which led to a cave, and discovered two more golems inside. The much less formidable stone golems, this time, and after disposing of them we searched the cave and found treasure. A Bejuril gem, once of the most valuable types of gemstone, plus two gems of lesser value and a quite remarkable longbow. Heartseeker, it was called, thrice-enchanted and equal in accuracy to the Elven Court bow we had found in the De'Arnise castle, but with a greater draw weight and, as a result, much harder-hitting. It would serve Minsc well.

We returned to the well and took the path we had refrained from following before. It was a corridor that led to a room full of orogs and a clay golem. I took on the orogs with my sword, Minsc and Viconia battered the clay golem with blunt weapons, and the others peppered the orogs with arrows. We prevailed.

The room had one door, which we went through, finding ourselves on a downward-sloping stair. It was trapped, but Yoshimo disarmed it without difficulty, and we proceeded onwards to another door. We opened that and were attacked by three orcs and the plate-armored orog we had seen commanding the hobgoblin guard where we first entered the complex. We fought them on the stairs, our usual formation serving us well, and they died without harming us. We stepped over their bodies, went through the door, and found ourselves faced by an unexpected foe.

Tazok. The half-ogre bandit who had commanded the bandit gangs working for Sarevok and whom we had last seen in the old temple of Bhaal beneath Baldur's Gate. I had seen him slain, stabbed in the back by Imoen and then struck a finishing blow by Minsc, and I had never expected to see him again.

"Ah, you did come," Tazok greeted us. "He said you would, but I thought you too much a coward. My kin shall have your flesh after all."

"Tazok? I saw you slain, in my last fight against Sarevok," I said. "I must admit I'm surprised to see you."

"Sarevok took too much for his plate, left us in a bad position," Tazok replied. "Korlasz Raised me, sent me south with Sarevok's sword, and then I took this job. You'll find my new master much smarter, and me much harder to kill. Seems Firkraag has a special treat in store, recruited me just for you. Got a special bug in his craw about seeing you perform. Who am I to disagree if it means putting my foot to you once more? Fight! And know that behind Tazok is a power greater than you have ever seen!"

He fought well. He was wearing enchanted full plate armor, and wielding a two-handed sword that looked familiar. He managed to connect with damaging blows against both me and Minsc. Against both of us, with missile support from our comrades, he could not hope to prevail and he died for a second time.

And behind him, in a cage of thick steel bars, was Taar Windspear.

"Thank the gods!" Taar exclaimed. "Free me, and we shall away! I fear the locks are magical; the mage who brought me here had some sort of special key. I don't know how you might obtain it."

Yoshimo and Nalia examined the lock, tried to open it, and failed. It was, as Taar had said, magical; like the lock on the door that had imprisoned Hendak and the other gladiators in the Copper Coronet, the lock and key were magically attuned to each other and no normal method of picking the lock would succeed, and nor would a Knock spell. There was no way to open it without the correct key.

"I have seen Firkraag," Taar told me, "and he is a red dragon! Do not risk yourself for my sake. Find a way to get the key from the mage, and we will flee this place."

A dragon! I had encountered a dragon once before, on the way to fight the Crusade, and we had slain it with ease, but that had been a small green dragon and we had attacked it whilst it slept. A full-sized red dragon would be a very different proposition. I could only hope we could find the mage without having to fight the dragon.

We checked the corpses of the orog chieftain and of Tazok. The orog's plate mail was the twice-enchanted Delver's Plate, superior to anything we possessed save for the full plate that I wore, and Tazok's full plate was once-enchanted making it the best of all. The sword Tazok had wielded was, indeed, familiar; it was the Dragon Blade bestowed upon Minsc by the Rashemi warrior Rigah at the entrance to the underground river beneath Dragonspear Castle. Not only was it thrice-enchanted, a match for Lilarcor or my lost blade the World's Edge, but it bore an additional enchantment that chilled and slowed foes when a particularly shrewd blow was struck.

Deciding how to allocate these items in the most efficient fashion proved difficult. There was the weight of each piece of armor to consider, as well as its protective qualities. Eventually the enchanted full plate went to Minsc, the Delver's Plate to Viconia, and Jaheira took back her suit of dwarven mail from Viconia. Although the Dragon Blade was a Rashemi weapon, and Minsc's property by right, he was well satisfied with Lilarcor and the protections it gave him against charms and confusion. I, being almost immune to charms and with a good chance of resisting confusion, needed Lilarcor less and so I took the Dragon Blade and packed the Blade of Chaos away for sale later. With the Dragon Blade I would be even more formidable than when I had wielded the World's Edge.

I doubted, however, that it would be sufficient against the dragon.

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We descended a staircase leading down from the room in which Taar was imprisoned and entered the dragon's lair. The mage we sought, the one who had snatched away Taar from his father's cabin, was there.

So, alas, was the dragon.

He was huge. Colossal. Immense. Sitting up on his hind legs, he towered way above us. I couldn't begin to estimate his length. Eighty feet? A hundred? He was big enough to have devoured one of the wyverns we had slain in the Cloakwood with a single bite.

"If he attacks," I warned my fellows, "don't try to fight. Just run." Luckily, he didn't.

"Welcome," he said, his voice a deep rumble. "You have come as I wanted. It has been an interesting game, but to tell the truth… I tire of it."

"So, here I am," I said. "Why have you done this? Why have you forced this confrontation?"

He related a long tale about a past encounter with Gorion, long ago, that had left him wanting revenge. As Gorion was dead he had turned his attention to me. My Bhaalspawn heritage intrigued him and he had planned to torment me, both for his amusement, and to get a measure of revenge upon Gorion through me as a surrogate. He had decided against destroying me, however, as he believed that my confrontation with Irenicus would be interesting. He told me that, for now, his game with me was over and I was free to go.

"I cannot go without Garren Windspear's child," I told him. "You must know this."

"Do I?" he said. "Oh, very well. The brat was just a by-product of my scrutiny of you anyway." He ordered the mage, Conster, to go to the cage and, if I failed to take Taar from him, to slay the boy. Conster used a Dimension Door spell to depart and we turned to follow him.

"I will save the boy and return for you in the future, Firkraag," I told him, as we left. "I swear it."

"I will await that day with interest," Firkraag said. "Now… go!"

"I would strike for goodness, T'rissae," Minsc said, as we hurried back up the stairs, "but this dragon is so… so… It would not be cowardice to come back another day with bigger swords!"

"Hey!" Lilarcor protested. "I'm big enough. You just need to hit harder. The bigger they are, the harder they fall."

"But the harder it is to make them fall," I pointed out, then felt foolish at trying to argue with a sentient sword.

We reached the room in which we had left Taar. Conster was waiting for us, with several protective spells in place, but he had made a poor choice. He was shielded against spells, and seemed to have Protection From Normal Missiles and Protection From Normal Weapons active, but we loosed enchanted arrows and bullets at him and Minsc and I rushed at him with our enchanted swords. His protections were useless and he died almost at once. We took the key from his body and unlocked Taar's cage.

There was still part of the complex unexplored but by this time we were battered and bruised, exhausted, and laden down with as much as we could carry. We left that for a future visit and escorted Taar back to his father's cabin. We had slain most threats in the area and nothing bothered us as we went.

Garren Windspear greeted us with relief and gratitude. He said that he had nothing to give us as a reward, which didn't bother me as we had accumulated much of value from Firkraag's lair, but advised me that if I went to the Order of the Radiant Heart building, in Athkatla's Temple District, and spoke to the prelate he was certain that I would be admitted to the Order. I was not altogether sure that I would want that, but thanked Garren anyway. We ate there, slept, and late the next morning we bade them farewell.

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Once back in Athkatla we headed straight for Waukeen's Promenade to sell off all the heavy armor and weapons we were not using. Before we could reach the Adventurer's Mart we were accosted by a young boy.

This had happened before, but this time it was not Gaelan Bayle's nephew. It was a stranger, a young lad in the garb of a rural farmer's child, who approached Minsc and addressed him hesitantly.

"Umm, excuse me, sir," the boy said. "You… y-you look like a warrior. Are… are you a warrior? Could you help me?"

"Minsc and Boo are the greatest of warriors, small one," Minsc declared. "I will crush your foes into foe-shaped chunky bits! Who dares pick on you? Just point the way!"

The boy explained that his name was Delon, and he came from the village of Imnesvale in the Umar Hills, where some unknown threat was causing people to disappear. He had been sent to seek for heroes to come to the village's aid but had been robbed, had become lost, and had been unable to find any warriors before trying Minsc. He promised that Minister Lloyd, the village headman, would reward anyone who could free the village from this evil.

Minsc was eager to go and I didn't want to disappoint him. I agreed that, as soon as we'd traded in our surplus gear and rested, we would set off for Imnesvale.

Our goods sold for a considerable amount and I was tempted to spend most of it on a magnificent set of full plate armor that had once belonged to Balduran. Reluctantly, I decided that its advantages didn't justify its great cost and, instead, we purchased an enchanted mage robe, the Robe of Vecna, for Nalia. Not only did it give protection superior to that of the bracers she wore but it would speed up her spell-casting time significantly. A greater benefit to the party, I felt, than improving the armor of one of our fighters. Although I would have looked very good in Balduran's Plate… I gave myself a stern talking-to and tried to forget about it.

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We had a minor adventure on the way out of the city. At the city gates we saw a merchant stallholder being threatened by a minor thug. I intervened, forced the thug to back down and flee, and the grateful merchant offered us a discount on purchases. We could not take full advantage of this, as we had bought most things we needed at the Adventurers' Mart, but we replenished our stocks of enchanted ammunition. More interesting was the tale the merchant told us as we browsed; apparently the Crooked Crane Inn, a shabby establishment just across the street, was the abode of a lich who dwelt in a secret room opening off the lower floor.

I felt this might be worth investigating. It might be another lich guarding one of the pieces of Kangaxx; I had not yet decided what to do about that being, and the golden torso was still stored away, but acquiring the missing legs and arms might be handy for later. We entered the inn, located the secret door, cast Protection From Evil on everyone and went through.

It wasn't an elaborate crypt, and there was no Elemental Lich guarding a tomb. We were greeted, instead, by a fully awake undead necromancer who made the mistake of making a speech declaring that he would slay us for our intrusion. He should have struck first and declaimed later. Minsc's thrown axe hit him mid-word and, again, the enchantments of Azuredge proved deadly. The lich crumbled to dust and we were able to loot his coffin.

A treasure trove indeed. We found a Ring of Invisibility, wands of Fire, Cloudkill, and Lightning, a Rod of Terror, and, most valuable of all, an arming-sword named Daystar, the Sunblade, a weapon created for slaying the undead. Twice-enchanted against normal foes, its additional enchantments made it the equal of a four-times enchanted blade against creatures of evil and doubled the effect of blows struck on them. On top of that, it could unleash a blast of energy, the Sunray, that would hurt or blind all foes but against the Undead it was lethal. It had been a treasured weapon of the paladins of Torm before being lost, presumably to this lich, who must have been keeping it to prevent it being used against him. For the first time I almost regretted that I had specialized in the use of the two-handed sword to the exclusion of all other blades.

Minsc, too, had little experience with single-handed swords. Yoshimo and Nalia, however, had acquired a fair proficiency in their use. Yoshimo's katana had a much weaker enchantment than Daystar and so, despite his fondness for the blade of his own culture, he took the Daystar with great pleasure.

The Rod of Terror was valuable, and its power of striking great fear into opponents was formidable, but it could have a deleterious effect upon its wielder and I decided the benefits were in no way worth the drawbacks. We left the inn with our acquisitions, and I would have sold the Rod to the merchant, but he said he did not have sufficient funds in his cash float to pay us what it was worth. I stowed it away for future sale and we left the city.

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Our journey was not without incident. Not an attack by bandits, or wild beasts, this time but something far more serious. As we drew near to the village a darthiir woman, clad in plate mail and bearing a halberd, came to meet us.

"What is this? Reviane!" Jaheira greeted her. "What are you doing here?"

"It pains me to do this," the woman replied, "but a traitor's death is what you deserve."

"What?" Jaheira exclaimed. "If this is about the attack at the Harper Hold, you know I would not do such a thing if I had any alternative. They left me no choice!"

"I know not of what you speak, Jaheira," Reviane responded. "Explain yourself!"

Jaheira recounted how Galvarey had tried to use me to advance himself, hoping to gain enough influence to become a Herald. Reviane wanted to know what was special about 'this Drow', spitting out my race as if it was an insult, that made me important. Jaheira looked at me with a questioning expression on her face.

"Tell her what I am if it will help your case, Jaheira," I told her. "I will not keep secrets that can harm you, and it's not as if plenty of people don't know it already."

"As you wish," she said. "Reviane, T'rissae is of interest because she is one of the Children. Galvarey wished to capitalize on the fear around the prophecies of old."

"This… Dhaerow… is a Bhaal child?" Reviane said, her lips curling in a sneer as she used the Elvish term for 'traitor' from which 'Drow' was derived. "And you trust her over one of your own?"

"I most certainly trust her over Galvarey and his kind," Jaheira said. "You must do as you will, Reviane. I have told you of my circumstances. There is little more to say."

I had cast Detect Evil and the elf, despite her attitude and her apparent bigotry, did not show up to the spell. Three other people, almost certainly more Harpers, were surrounding us at a distance. I hoped that a fight could be avoided.

"Stand down your weapons, Jaheira," I advised. "We need not shed any blood here today."

"I will not draw arms against you, Reviane," Jaheira said. "This has been a huge mistake, and I will not be party to making another."

I breathed a sigh of relief… and then Reviane spoke again.

"The evidence is obvious, Jaheira. My fellows are dead and you admit to the killing. You travel with T'rissae, and another Drow… I must do this. I am sorry."

"As am I, Reviane," Jaheira said, and then the fight started.

It was hard and viciously fought. The Harpers were well-equipped, and skilled, and there had been an invisible and undetected member of the group surrounding us. He backstabbed Viconia, and seriously injured her, as she was fighting one of the others. Their mage wasted his spells targeting Nalia, who had protected herself with a Globe of Invulnerability as well as Stoneskin and Mirror Image, and Yoshimo killed him before he could correct his error. Minsc and I teamed up against Reviane, boxing her between us and cutting her down, and then rushed to Viconia's aid. Jaheira healed Viconia and then kept the back-stabber at bay whilst we finished off Viconia's original opponent and then concentrated our efforts against the next foe. Before long all the Harpers lay dead and we could gather ourselves and heal our hurts.

At least our physical ones. Jaheira was badly affected emotionally and broke down in tears. Viconia did her best to console her, but with little success; her skills were more suited to dealing with bereavement than with betrayal by friends, which amongst Drow was not such a shocking and unexpected experience. Still, Jaheira seemed to appreciate the effort, and their relationship might not yet class as true friendship but at least no longer had any element of hostility and prejudice.

There was much to regret about this conflict, pointless and tragic as it had been, but at least we had come out of it with a profit. As well as a suit of non-magical full plate, large enough to fit Minsc without alteration, we gained so many magical items that we ran out of Identify spells, even including those from the Glasses of Identification, with some still unidentified. We reorganized our equipment, yet again, to maximize our protections and, heavily laden once more, set off for Imnesvale where I hoped we would find merchants.

And a book-seller. I had not forgotten the cryptic message in the lair of the skinner murderer, Rejiek Hidesman, directing him to an accomplice in the Umar Hills. This might be my opportunity to find that person. And kill him.

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We arrived in Imnesvale in time to hear the last part of a town meeting at which the mayor, Minister Lloyd, was addressing the villagers. He was trying to calm the people down, with limited success, as they voiced their concerns about disappearances and murders in a manner that sounded uncomfortably close to all-out panic.

We talked to a villager named Nelleck and he told us of the background. There were three suspected causes of the troubles. Some blamed them on wolves, some on a legendary witch from the past named Umar, and some on a band of ogres who had recently moved into the area. Once the meeting had finished, we went to talk to the mayor to get a clearer picture.

He told us of the run of killings and disappearances. Some people had simply disappeared but others had been found mutilated. The local ranger Merella, to whom they normally would have turned, was one of those who had disappeared. The mayor had hired a famous adventurer named Mazzy Fentan, and her group, to investigate and they had set out but not returned. He repeated the list of suspects we had been given by Nelleck, although he pointed out that the witch Umar had been dead for five hundred years, and the wolves had never been any trouble before. His wife blamed the ogres, but he was not so certain.

"Wolves? Ogres? Witches? Oh my!" Minsc exclaimed. "It is too much for Minsc's poor head to comprehend. Which of these are Evil? The edge of my sword shall find the truth."

"To be honest," Minister Lloyd said, "I think you should check out these ogres and their fellows before chasing after legends and stuff. So… will you help us?"

"That is why we have come here," I said.

"Oh, excellent!" he said. "Please, my lady, go to Merella's cabin and find out where she has gone. Since my men first went there and found that she wasn't there, they have become too frightened to go back again. It lies to the west. Or… go north, and speak to the ogre Madulf and his beasts. I suspect they may be the ones responsible, but I must be sure."

Our first stop, however, was a small market-place that operated just outside the village inn. Four peddlers had set up stalls and we sold off the Rod of Terror and some of the items we had taken from the fallen Harpers. One of the merchants had a stall selling mainly books and, following the instructions in the note we had found in the home of Rejiek Hidesman, I bought a copy of 'History of the Zhentarim'.

"You have made an… interesting selection," the book-seller said. "You know, I used to peddle books in Athkatla under another name. Perhaps you were a customer? Call me by the name I used before and perhaps I will have a discount for you."

I had worked out the simple code almost as soon as I read the note. "Darcin Cole was your name," I said. I used the Silent Tongue to send a secret message to Viconia; 'If I draw my sword – kill him.'

"Indeed, indeed it was," he confirmed. "As I said in the letter, I am sorry for these simple games. Merely a ruse to throw off the foolish guards of Athkatla. I trust you have the armor almost complete?"

"And I trust you realize what a mistake you have made," I said. "You should never have made a deal with someone who makes armor from human skin. Prepare to die." I was hoping that he would attempt to fight, so that it was clear to the villagers that I was justified in killing him, but he made no offensive moves.

"What?" he exclaimed. "Who are you? No matter, you'll be dealt with soon enough if you're crossing the Rune." He tipped over his stall, trying to create a barrier between him and me, and started to run.

He made it only a few steps. Viconia had passed my message on to the others and my colleagues were ready. He didn't manage to outrun the reach of my sword, I slashed a cut across the back of his legs, and a volley of arrows and sling bullets finished the job. The other merchants were somewhat perturbed, at first, but they had heard him refer to 'throwing off the foolish guards' and were easy to convince that the dead man had been involved in nefarious schemes. They were even happy to purchase his enchanted leather armor, his warhammer, and the 'History of the Zhentarim' book in which I had no interest beyond its use in exposing the skinner's accomplice.

We took a walk through the village and spoke to some of the locals. I discovered that a member of the Cowled Wizards lived here, and I took the opportunity to ask him where they kept their prisoners, but he said he wasn't involved in that side of the organization's activities and neither knew nor cared much about it. He did know that the prison had been purpose-built by followers of Gond, specifically for holding magical 'deviants', but other than that he knew nothing. He didn't know anything about the killings either. His sole interests seemed to be stopping his daughter Colette from marrying an impoverished knight named Daar, apparently because he regarded only a wizard as a suitable match, and completing a golem on which he was working. He told us he needed one more ingredient to complete the golem, the blood of a mimic, and said that if we could find that for him then he would pay us well. I had encountered a mimic before, on the expedition to Dragonspear Castle, and had no particular wish to fight another, but I promised to keep an eye out if I passed any caves of the sort they tended to inhabit.

Few of the villagers had much to say about the murders other than wild fancies. One little girl did give a coherent and convincing account of seeing a black shadow in the shape of a wolf leaving Merella's cabin and leaving a trail of what she thought might have been blood. I wondered if, in fact, the one responsible for the murders might be a werewolf or wolfwere.

One local farmer, Jeb, told me that he had information useful to an adventurer but insisted on being paid for it. I bargained down his original inflated request to a more realistic twenty danter and heard his tale. He told of seeing a farmer named Hendrick, whose daughter had been an adventurer who had recently died, hiding something in the gizzard of one of his chickens. Other adventurers had come seeking the girl, claiming that she had something valuable of theirs, but Hendrick had merely shown them her grave and sent them packing. Jeb told me where to find Hendrick, who had fled his farm and come to the village bringing only his wife and his chickens, and pocketed his twenty danter.

I saw no reason not to seek Hendrick out, as he was not far away, and I led my band there. After asking about the murders, and finding that he knew no more than any other local, I raised the issue of the chicken and offered to buy the chickens from him. I considered the possibility that this was, in fact, a scheme concocted between Jeb and Hendrick to trick money out of adventurers but, as both were refugees who were unable to work their farms at this time, I felt I wouldn't really begrudge them their profit if my suspicion turned out to be correct.

I had judged them unfairly. Hendrick tried to deny that there was anything unusual about his chickens but, when I offered to buy the one that had swallowed something valuable, he sighed and accepted that if he didn't take my offer some other adventurer might try to take it by force. I gave him a hundred danter, which he said would pay for a fine headstone for his late daughter, and he gave me the treasure; a Bejuril gemstone worth at least five or six hundred danter. I felt somewhat guilty at profiting from his bereavement and insisted on giving him an extra hundred. Viconia took the time to talk to him about his daughter and offer words of comfort. She took her role as a grief counsellor very seriously and Shar continued to look upon her with favor.

To the ogres, next, and we spoke to their leader Madulf. He told us that he and his fellows were deserters from the Sythillisian army and were tired of fighting. They just wanted to live in peace but they, too, had lost members to mysterious disappearances, always picked off one by one. Madulf said that he would be willing to agree to a deal with the village to protect it from raiders such as orcs, and to trade, if they were otherwise left alone. They did not show up as Evil to my spell, and their story was convincing, and I agreed to pass on their offer to the mayor.

After doing so, we headed for the ranger's cabin. What we found was disturbing. The bedroom was a blood-spattered mess, as if a violent struggle had taken place there, and there were paw-prints in the blood that looked like those of a dog or wolf. Minsc and Jaheira examined them and could not decide which canine was the originator. It appeared that someone, presumably Merella, had been dragged out of the cabin, confirming the tale that the young girl had told us. A note lay on the bedroom floor, addressed to someone named 'Wallag' and signed by Mazzy Fentan, stating that she had scouted the region, confirmed that there was a large pack of wolves operating in the area, and including a hand-drawn map showing where the wolf den was located.

We found Merella's journal on a dining table. In it she had recorded details of her recent dealings with the wolves, that had been friendly in the past, but now were either wary or hostile. She was puzzled by the way the bodies of victims disappeared, as if the wolves were returning to take them away, and talked of 'shadowy creatures' and 'wolves with the cunning of men'. My hypothesis that one or more werewolves, or wolfweres, were responsible seemed more and more likely to be correct.

We had traveled far already that day, and the wolf den was shown as being quite some distance away, and so I decided that we would leave investigating it until after we had rested at the inn. First, though, we would investigate the area around the cabin, and see if Minsc could find any more tracks and perhaps learn something from them. We found nothing like that but we came upon a cave and I thought it worth investigating this potential lair, near at hand, before trekking for miles to the wolf den. Who knows, we might even find a Mimic!

We did.

What seemed to be a treasure chest, lying in plain view not far from the cave mouth, was in fact one of the shape-changing monsters. It spat out sticky fluid to immobilize us and attacked. Jaheira, Yoshimo, and Nalia were stuck fast but Minsc escaped and, perhaps because of our magic resistance, Viconia and I were unaffected also. We killed the Mimic, filled an empty potion vial with its blood, and found a diamond and some enchanted darts and sling bullets in its remains.

Once the effects of the creature's glue had worn off, and the rest of our party were able to free themselves, we investigated the rest of the cave. Two Umber Hulks lurked in the innermost section, their Confusion ability making them a potentially deadly threat, but Minsc took the lead with Lilarcor to protect his mind and the rest of us loosed missiles from a distance. The tactic worked, as it had when I had borrowed Lilarcor to fight the Umber Hulks in Nalia's castle, although Minsc needed some healing once the monsters were dead. There were some partially eaten and decayed human remains nearby and we found a few enchanted arrows and bolts, and a once-enchanted short-sword, on the corpses.

The Cowled Wizard was delighted with the Mimic blood, rewarded us with the gift of an enchanted short-sword, and at once started completing his golem. We stayed to watch and it was well that we did, for he lost control of his creation almost immediately and it attacked him. We had to intervene to save him, and his daughter's suitor Daar rushed in and joined in the rescue, and the golem was destroyed. The contrite wizard admitted that he had overreached himself, accepted that he might not be as wise as he thought, and gave permission for the two lovers to marry. A happy ending for once.

We retired to the inn, where the innkeeper regaled us with tales of the legendary Umar witch, and he presented us with a copy of a book purporting to be the journal of an ill-fated expedition to track her down. His stable-boy told us that he believed the innkeeper, Vincenzo, had written the book himself. It was a moderately entertaining tale but, almost certainly, devoid of factual information. I still regarded a werewolf as the likeliest culprit.

We rested for the night and then, in the early morning, called upon the mayor to report what we had found at Merella's cabin. He told us he had spoken to the ogres and agreed to their proposal. We set off for the location of the wolf den, but stopped off to speak to the ogres on the way. Madulf was grateful for our help in arranging the deal with the humans and presented us with a shield, formerly the property of the Sythillisian army, as a thank you gift. It was a magical shield, twice enchanted, and possessing the property of slightly increasing its bearer's magic resistance. Useful, and it went to Viconia. We resumed our journey and after walking for some four hours reached the vicinity of the rumored wolf den.

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It was oddly dark in the forest. Even though it should have been full daylight the light that filtered through the trees was no brighter than at dawn on an overcast day. This was not a problem for most of us, and in fact for Viconia and I it was more comfortable than sunshine, but neither Nalia nor Yoshimo had any items to provide infravision and they were at a disadvantage when we were attacked by Shadows. Minsc's helm gave him that ability, however, and he used Azuredge with its usual deadly effect.

Someone else had not been as fortunate. We found a freshly-slain corpse close to where we had fought the shadows, a man in the garb of a Shadow Thief, but the journal we found on his body showed him to have been a member of Mazzy Fentan's adventuring company. The journal told a tale of fighting swarms of Shadows and black wolves, of almost being overwhelmed at the ruins of an old temple, and of only surviving when Mazzy had used an ancient mirror there to drive off the Shadows with reflected light. The journal's writer wrote of the next day being when they would try to enter the temple, that he dreaded what they would face, and he hoped that he would find the courage not to run. As there was no temple here, I guessed that his courage had given out, he had fled, and he had been caught and slain anyway.

The account of Shadows being what they had faced, and our own encounter with those undead beings, cast doubt upon my idea that the killings were the work of a werewolf. Then, only minutes later, we came upon… a werewolf! A female, who cried out "You shall not steal my vengeance!" and fled into a cave.

We followed, of course, and found her standing beside a pool in human form. A partially-eaten human body lay nearby and I was on the verge of attacking… but she made no move to fight and, when I cast Detect Evil, she did not register. I held back, asked her for an explanation, and she told a sad tale.

Her name, she told us, was Anath and she had lived as the leader of the wolf pack for quite some time, avoiding humans, until a creature she called the Shade Lord had come. It had arisen from the ruins of the Temple of Amaunator, a few ten-days ago, and had dominated and slain the wolf-pack. Those slain by the Shade Lord rose as Shadows, or Shade Wolves, under the Shade Lord's control. Her attempts to fight had proven futile and she had fled and hidden until she was close to starving. She had killed, and eaten, the man only out of desperation before making one last attempt to enter the temple and fight the Shade Lord.

I was revolted by her having killed and eaten someone but, in her circumstances, I could understand her motivation sufficiently to forgive her. I agreed that we would help her fight the Shade Lord. She responded by telling us to meet her at the temple, to the east, and rushing out. It would have made much more sense for us to go together but she was too fast for me to stop her. All we could do was to follow and try to catch up before she got herself killed.

Viconia hesitated. "A Shade Lord may be doing the will of Shar," she said. "If so, I cannot act against him. I must commune with my goddess. Wait for a moment." She closed her eyes and stood motionless. I waited patiently; Yoshimo spent the time poking around in the cave, and found a couple of minor pieces of jewelry. After a minute or so Viconia opened her eyes. "Shar looks upon me with favor," she said. "This Shade Lord was a servant of Shar once, hundreds of years ago, but no longer. We can go forth and destroy him with Shar's blessing."

"That is good to know," I said. I didn't know what I would do if Viconia's faith in Shar came into direct conflict with what I saw as my duty to protect innocents. I could only hope that the situation never arose. "Let us be on our way."

We left the cave and headed eastwards, although the terrain caused us to drift south of due east, and made our way through the wood. We were attacked several times by Shade Wolves but destroyed them without too much difficulty. At length I thought I saw signs of a structure to our north and led us in that direction. We emerged from the woods onto an area paved with stone in which we could see a large black pit. The edges of the pit appeared to have been clawed by some large creature climbing out of the hole.

There was no opportunity to make a closer examination of the pit because a horde of Shadows and Shade Wolves swarmed toward us. Yoshimo unleashed a Sunray blast from Daystar, destroying several of the Shadows, and that cleared enough of a path for us to advance. We went up a flight of steps and saw Anath the werewolf battling more of the undead. She was close to a pedestal on which a large mirror was mounted, seemingly trying to reach it, but the Shadows blocked her path. Their blows were weakening her and, before we could intervene, she dropped to her knees.

"It's a trap!" she called out to us. "Use the mirror… to the left of the crystal there… to reflect what light remains and avenge… my… pack!" With one last despairing cry she fell dead. The Shadows and Shade Wolves turned on us.

I made for the mirror, as Anath had advised, and cut my way through the swarm. Viconia called upon Shar and her Turn Undead power drove enough of our foes back for me to reach the mirror. I turned it until it caught the light and the reflected beams destroyed all the Shadows in the vicinity. More were gathering, beyond where the light reached, but I saw a staircase leading down into the ground and guessed it to be the entrance to the temple. We made it to the stairs unscathed and descended. The Shadows did not follow.

We reached the bottom of the stairs and emerged into a corridor. We paused to gather our breath and then advanced. There were two doors leading from the corridor, a large one straight ahead and a smaller one to our right, but the one ahead resisted all attempts to open it. We took the door to the right and found ourselves in a large chamber in which were several Shade Wolves and two Skeleton Warriors. They attacked, and we slew them, at the cost of wounds to Minsc and Yoshimo. Viconia and Jaheira healed them and we investigated the room.

There seemed little of interest there, other than weakly enchanted two-handed swords dropped by the Skeleton Warriors, and a table that held only non-magical arrows and throwing axes. And some bones, the skeleton of a human child, showing signs of having been gnawed by animals. We ignored the bones, and the non-magical weapons, and went through a doorway that we saw ahead.

Three Shadows confronted us. One spoke, not something that I had ever heard a Shadow do before, saying "You shall not free the master's consort, mortal!" They attacked, and we slew them. The one who had spoke dropped a key and, of course, we picked it up. It opened a door behind which we found a prisoner.

A halfling girl, but unlike any halfling I had met before. Her hair was worn in warrior braids and, even though she wore a chain-mail hauberk, it was plain to see that she was of wiry and slim build rather than having the plump figure typical of halflings. She clenched her fists, on seeing us, and adopted the pose of a pugilist.

"Drow!" she hissed. "From one evil to another!"

I cast Detect Evil and she did not register. "Easy, we mean you no harm," I said. "We are here to destroy the Shade Lord and remove the menace to Imnesvale."

She lowered her hands. "Forgive me," she said. "In this place it is wise to be suspicious. I am Mazzy Fentan, a valued servant of justice and righteousness, and I was hired by Minister Lloyd of Imnesvale to find the ranger Merella and look into the rash of killings that has plagued this area."

She told us of her party's ill-fated attempt to fight the Shade Lord. She believed that the key to defeating it was to reach, and perhaps destroy, a perverted altar of Amaunator that lay on the far side of this ruined temple complex. The way was barred by doors that could only be opened with a 'sun gem' sacred to Amaunator, and with three parts to a key that could only be obtained after passing a series of tests. She had led her party through part of the temple, searching for the gem and the parts to the key, but they had been faced by foes too powerful for them to overcome and had been driven back to the temple entrance. They had gathered at the mirror to regroup and there had been attacked by a Shadow Dragon.

Some had been slain by the dragon, otherwise had been afflicted by the dragon's fear aura and had fled in panic, only to be picked off by the Shadows and the Shade Lord. Some, including Mazzy's beloved, had been turned into undead Shadows and the rest had been slain outright. Only Mazzy had been taken captive. The Shade Lord wanted her alive to serve as his 'consort'. She told us that he had no body of his own but had to possess a mortal body and, currently, he was possessing the ranger Merella. Possession by the Shade Lord, she gathered, caused the mortal host to deteriorate and grow weak. Her belief was that he planned to move on from Merella into her once Merella's body became too weakened to be of use. A horrible fate.

Mazzy thanked us for her rescue but remained suspicious of myself and Viconia. She declined to join our party and said that she would make her own way back to Imnesvale and then to her home in Trademeet. I was not overly sorry at that; she struck me as rather arrogant and self-important, and that, and her anti-Drow prejudice, grated on me and I did not feel we could have worked well together. She was convinced that alone, without a large party to draw attention, her natural Halfling stealth would let her pass safely through the forest. I would have offered to equip her from our spare weaponry but her own sword and bow, both enchanted, were in the adjoining cell. She took them, we wished her luck and bade her farewell, and then we moved on.

In the next room was a statue that, according to Mazzy, held one of the pieces to the key. The statue would ask a series of questions about Amaunator's three daily rituals and would part with the key only if they were answered correctly. Mazzy had said that she believed there were clues about the rituals to be found in the temple and we set off to search for them.

We moved on into a chamber in which stood a pillar with a recess holding the sun gem. Its light kept the chamber free of Shadows but, once we took the gem, the undead creatures appeared and attacked. They did not delay us long and we continued on to find a pillar on which was engraved instructions for the Morn Ritual of Amaunator. Part of it had worn into illegibility but we copied down the rest. From there we continued around in a loop that brought us back to the chamber in which we had found the old, gnawed, bones. We went through that room into the corridor with the door we had failed to open before. This time, with the gem in our possession, we were able to open that door and move on.

We crossed a bridge over a chasm, fighting off Shadows on the way, and reached a square chamber with a pool of what seemed to be lava in the center. A narrow walkway led around the sides. In the lava, seemingly floating, were two containers. I guessed that whatever they contained must be valuable, to warrant such protection, and Jaheira, who wore the Dragon Helm that gave her some protection from fire and heat, volunteered to investigate. I loaned her my Ring of Fire Resistance, she cast Resist Fire and Cold on herself to boost her resistance still more, and she walked out across the lava and retrieved the containers' contents suffering only minor harm.

It proved to be worth the effort. A minor gem, two score each of Arrows of Ice and Crossbow Bolts of Lightning, and – the real prize – a Pearly White Ioun Stone, which bestowed the power of Regeneration on its wearer. The rest of us, after Jaheira had returned with her prizes and they had been identified, walked around the outside of the pool.

The room on the far side presented us with a deadly challenge. Two Skeleton Warriors, one of which was an archer loosing Arrows of Ice, a hideous Bone Golem with bladed wrists, and a Mummy far more resistant to damage than the ones we had faced in Firkraag's lair; a Greater Mummy, I deduced. They attacked as soon as I reached the entrance to the room, with the others still on the walkway and unable to move to the side to get a line of sight on the monsters, and I had to fight almost without assistance. By the time the last of them fell, and we were able to move on into the room, I was bleeding from a dozen wounds and felt that I was close to death. Viconia cast a Heal spell on me; in the nick of time, for another Bone Golem crossed the lava and attacked us. This one, exposed to attack from the entire group, fell more swiftly, but I did suffer a relatively minor wound that might have been enough to finish me off had I not already been restored to health.

A recess in a pillar held a spell scroll, a tome detailing the dogmas of Amaunator, and forty enchanted sling bullets which our two sling-users, who were using up their bullets at a great rate, seized upon with glee. And, engraved on the pillar, were the instructions for Amaunator's Noontide Ritual. Part of it was illegible, as on the previous pillar, but the information in the tome might well be enough to fill in the gaps.

We made our way over the walkway along the side of the lava to a room in which we found a tomb and two ghosts. The ghosts pleaded for our aid to help their prophetess Amuana find rest. Amuana, the Child of Light, had been the last prophetess of Amaunator. She had died with her mission of restoring the temple unfulfilled and, when the Shade Lord arose, he had defiled her tomb and given her body to his Shade Wolves to gnaw. Only with the restoration of her bones to her tomb could Amuana find peace.

I realized that the gnawed bones we had seen before must be the bones of Amuana. We would have to retrace our steps all the way back. We gathered up the bones and then it occurred to me that there was no guarantee that we would find any more clues to the statue's ritual and, even if we did, it would mean yet another journey. I decided, therefore, to attempt to answer the questions with the information that we had gathered so far.

The questions about the Morn and Noontide rituals were simple enough. I ventured an attempt at the Dusk ritual questions, but made an error on the second question, causing the statue to declare me a heretic and unleash a Flame Strike upon me. My magic resistance saved me. I took back my Ring of Fire Resistance from Jaheira, borrowed her Dragon Helm, and tried again. The precautions proved unnecessary as I was able to answer correctly this time. The statue disgorged a segment of a golden disk, no doubt part of the key, and then fell silent.

We returned to Amuana's tomb with the bones and placed them in her coffin. The first two ghosts disappeared, leaving behind a pile of gold pieces, and the ghost of Amuana herself appeared in their place. She thanked us for her release and presented us with gifts. A spell scroll, a score of 'Sunstone' sling bullets endowed with a fiery enchantment, another segment of the key, and a wardstone. She told us that the wardstone would make us undetectable to the Shadow Dragon that had its lair in the final room of the temple. As long as one of us carried it, and we made no offensive moves against the dragon, it would treat us as if we did not exist. A valuable gift indeed. Then, with her gifts delivered, she faded away and moved on to her afterlife.

Further on we faced another group of deadly opponents. Two more Greater Mummies, another Bone Golem, and two more Skeleton Warriors. This time, however, we were not hampered by a pool of lava and were able to face them on better terms. Viconia summoned her Skeleton Warrior, Jaheira her Fire Elemental, and we sent them ahead to engage our foes whilst we used missiles from a safe distance. The Skeleton Warrior was destroyed first, and then the Fire Elemental, but by that time only one Greater Mummy remained, already badly damaged, and we were able to finish it off without taking further hurts.

The side corridor from which these undead foes had emerged led to a room paved with slabs engraved with letters. A voice intoned, as we entered, 'Only the name of the Master shall keep thee from the power of the Darkness'. I guessed that this meant that the slabs had to be traversed by stepping only on specific letters and, when I surveyed them, I saw that a certain course would spell out 'Amaunator'. I ventured the path, keeping to those slabs, and nothing untoward occurred.

There were two doors on the other side. I chose the right-hand one and was greeted by a Shadow. It spoke.

"Merciful being of light!" it addressed me. "I offer you a simple exchange. Information on what you seek in exchange for my freedom." It went on to tell me that it would ride within my shadow and, once we had crossed the deadly slabs, it would divulge vital information.

I didn't trust it, but decided that a single Shadow was not a great threat and, if it truly had important knowledge, it was worth a risk. I agreed but only on condition that it gave me the information first and only then would I carry it across.

"Untrusting elf," said the Shadow. "Very well. There is a chapel next to these cells. I took a key from there and hid it in this cell. You will need it to reach the master's lair. Now please take me across."

I let it enter my shadow and went back across the squares following the name 'Amaunator' in reverse.

"Fool!" the Shadow said, as soon as we reached the other side. "You think that I would let you live?"

I killed it with a single blow. "Not really," I told its dispersing essence. "I just didn't think you'd be able to accomplish anything." I turned around and crossed the squares again. It didn't take long to find the final section of the key in the Shadow's cell and, once I picked it up, it joined with the other two pieces to form a golden disk.

The other door led to a cell containing a statue in the form of a woman. A shelf in the statue's base held several things of value. A gem glowing with light, which I guessed was the key to some other door within this complex, ten more 'Sunstone' sling bullets, two high-level mage spell scrolls, and a sling. This, when identified, turned out to be one of the more valuable things we had found thus far. A thrice-enchanted weapon, named Arla's Dragonbane, once owned by a famed halfling dragon-slayer. Viconia took it and passed on her twice-enchanted sling to Jaheira. With that weapon, and her dexterity, Viconia would seldom miss any target.

We were near the end of this complex now. A barrier of shadows blocked our way but the glowing gem destroyed it. Beyond that was the door opened by the disk-shaped golden key. Behind that door was a flight of steps leading upwards. We ascended the stairs… and saw the dragon.

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We had emerged into a great hall, no doubt once the place where the congregation of this temple had assembled, hexagonal in shape and paved with smooth stone slabs. Light filtered down from a large hole in the ceiling. Under the hole sat a dragon. It was jet black, darker even than me, and seemed almost to be made of living shadow. It was much smaller than Firkraag but still enormous; some forty or fifty feet in length was my estimate. I was very glad that the wardstone would permit us to pass by without fighting.

An archway on the far side of the hall was an obvious exit. We passed through and, at long last, were back in the outside world. This was a large paved area, its stones cracked and in places pierced by growing trees, in the center of which was an altar in the form of a statue of the dead sun god Amaunator. The statue might once have been golden but now was blackened and begrimed. Close to it stood a Shadow, and a little further away another Shadow that seemed more solid than those we had seen and fought before. The Shade Lord.

"Something is awry," the Shade Lord said. "I… I sense fresh souls. Who intrudes upon me? More unlucky adventurers come to swell the ranks of my dark army?"

"To shrink the ranks of your dark army, rather," I said. "It's more of a dark company now. Perhaps even a dark duo."

"Mere bravado," said the Shade Lord. "Your kind grows tiresome and predictable, yet you may be of some use to me. This body that I inhabit grows tired. You shall make an excellent replacement. Come, my shades! Open the portal! This brash fool has some strength." The altar seemed to become a pool of inky blackness. A Shadow emerged and headed for us.

Of course, my colleagues had been using the time of this conversation to cast enhancing spells. "Destroy the altar!" I commanded, and I made for the Shade Lord.

Nalia blasted the altar with a Fireball, destroying the Shadow that had just come out, and Minsc hit the other Shadow with Azuredge. I slashed at the Shade Lord with the Dragon Blade and sent it staggering back. Arrows and sling bullets hit the altar, then another Fireball, and the pool of blackness shrank to nothing. The Shade Lord went down and lay still. Above us the sky cleared and rays of sunshine shone through the trees and illuminated the clearing. Those parts of the altar, or statue, not covered in grime gleamed in the sunlight. Birds in the trees began to sing.

The body of the Shade Lord transformed. No longer was it black, with indistinct features, but instead the body of a woman lay where the Shade Lord had fallen. She had pointed ears, making her most likely a tu'rilthiir, and she wore a blue cloak. Merella, the ranger. She seemed emaciated, her skin stretched taut over bone, and the gashes made by my sword were not bleeding. I thought her dead, but then she spoke.

"Uh… freedom from his domination," she croaked out. "Thank… y…" Her words trailed off and her head lolled sideways. Dead indeed.

I considered getting her Raised but suspected that her body was so ravaged by the possession that it would not work. Viconia and Jaheira concurred. We decided, instead, to take her body with us back to Imnesvale for a decent burial. We took two valuable gems, some gold, and the magical cloak from her corpse. One of the other fallen Shadows, now a leather-clad halfling I guessed to be one of the deceased members of Mazzy's party, gave us an enchanted halberd and an interesting set of chain-mail armor. As highly enchanted as the dwarven mail that had belonged to Jaheira, this black suit bore additional enchantments of fire resistance. It might prove useful if we had another confrontation with Firkraag.

I contemplated going back into the temple, and attempting to slay the Shadow Dragon, but dismissed the thought as foolishness. Perhaps at some future time, once we were better equipped, but not yet. We gathered everything up and set off to return to Imnesvale.

Glossary of Drow Phrases

Hargluk = dwarf

tu'rilthiir = half-elf