The guard watched me as I approached the gate, wondering if I was the one he had been informed of. In my right hand I held a piece of parchment paper, and so the guard assumed that I was indeed one of the summoned. Of course, I admit, I didn't look like much; fairly young, negligently done-up brown hair, heavy robes and a severely weather-beaten cloak. The butt of a heavy crossbow protruded from over my shoulder. The guard watched until I came to a halt before the gate.

"State your name and purpose!" He said at once, drawing himself up before me. He had barely enough time to get a good look at my face before I slammed the paper in my hand up against the gate bars in front of his face. I was in not in the cheeriest of moods and I could only hope that he understood and gave me no trouble.

"My name is Malkat. I'm to see Lady Aribeth de Tylmarande." I answered flatly from behind the sheet, "Let me through.".

The guard eyed the note in front of him and recognized the seal of the paladin Aribeth, "Of course, madam." He replied and moved to the side to pull the gate release lever. As soon as the gate opened wide enough, I swept through and strode off into the city core. It was my first taste of freedom since the plague had begun. For a moment, the guard watched my retreating back.

"I always said all the weird ones are from Blacklake…" He mumbled to himself and shook his head before returning to the release lever.

Just out of earshot, I wrinkled my nose as I strode through the streets. Stacks of burning corpses were almost everywhere and the stench they gave off was most foul; it was thick and nauseating, and there was no getting away from it. The odor was not so strong in Blacklake, though curiously, there were less people in the streets there. The Blacklake district was the only district in NeverWinter that hadn' t yet been touched by the plague; ironically, it was there that all the nobles and wealthier families resided. The moment news of the Wailing Death entered public attention, Blacklake barricaded itself to keep safe; the people there lived like prisoners in their own homes.

The last few weeks had been tedious and lonely for me. As a necromancer, I was inherently immune to diseases of any kind – which was the primary reason for my summons -- and so I could not fear for my life as the Wailing cut through NeverWinter. I could not venture through town like a tourist on vacation in order to keep busy and satisfy my curiosities, as the guards watching over all the gates throughout the city would not let me pass. One would think that it wouldn't be so bad in Blacklake considering that the plague was absent there, but that was not the case. The district had just about died; there were no people in the streets except for a select few militia patrols, and the shops weren't open. Everyone was hoarding their food and playing dead. In my humble opinion, the summons from Aribeth didn't come soon enough.

Though I was relieved to see life again – even if it wasn't normal, healthy life by any means, I did not dawdle. I kept a brisk, quick stride on my way to the Hall of Justice where Aribeth awaited my arrival. I did not make eye contact with anyone and stared mostly straight ahead; the sick roaming the streets like zombies were distracting and eerily surreal. The endless rhetoric of doomsayers and the shrill cries of mourners turned what was once a pleasant city core into something acutely depressing. It was a wonder the soldiers of the militia were not committing suicide after weeks of bathing in the ambient misery.

In the central-eastern part of the core sprawled the dignified Hall of Justice; a few soldiers loitered at the base of the wide polished-stone staircase leading up to its entrance. As I hurried by, the men exchanged looks and returned to their idle conversation.

Inside, the lighting was bright and the room was abuzz with action. Along the walls to the left and right of the doorway lay a dozen or more ailing citizens being looked after by a handful of stressed nurses. Directly ahead, on a raised dias surrounded by hanging tapestries depicting the marking of Tyr, an armored woman and two men argued heatedly about something that I could barely make out over the cacophony in the room. Sprinkled about, seemingly-healthy people stood around and talked amongst each other.

I blinked and smirked, "Wow…life." I cooed to myself. After standing at the door for a good while and just taking in the sights and sounds of other human beings, I moved through the crowd and headed for the armored woman standing on the dias ahead. As I approached, one of the men the woman was speaking to looked my way and gestured.

"Your lackey is here, Aribeth." He spat and watched as I came to a halt beside the paladin.

Aribeth immediately stopped talking and turned to face me, her youthful elven face flushed and her eyes wide, "Oh thank Tyr you've come, Malkat!" She gasped. Behind her, the same man who spoke earlier rolled his eyes. Aribeth let out a pained sigh, "The situation has grown terribly dire. The creatures brought here from the Waterdeep are gone! They've fled into the city!" She cried.

Not one for drama, I frowned, "Fled? Why?" I asked, "Weren't you keeping them in cages or something of the sort?" Beside Aribeth, the man who as of yet had been quiet stepped in. I blinked idly. It was an elf – and he looked terribly meek. I had never been fond of elves because I hadn't yet met one that suited my tastes, and this particular fellow was as far from pleasing as I could fathom. Simply put, he was girlish.

"We were attacked last night!" He explained hastily, as if the world was going to end in the next minute. I raised an eyebrow at the little man and nodded as if to hurry his story along, but Aribeth jumped back in before he could muster another word. Thank the Gods. Another word out of that one and I would have been forced to rub my temples.

"Yesterday evening a group of spellcasters just…" She gestured with her hands, "…appeared in here and attacked myself and the others." She frowned and shook her head, "The attackers were killed, but in the mess we lost the Waterdhavian beasts! The attack was obviously a distraction so that the creatures in the infirmary could be dealt with, but…" She sighed and shook her head again, "…anyway, there was nothing on the spellcasters that hinted at their identity or anything else. It's very frustrating…those creatures…we need them more than anything!"

The task ahead was now painfully clear to me. I leaned forward, "So you would like me to recover them, yes?" I asked, eyebrows arched. Near Aribeth, the human man glared at me.

"Your powers of deduction are astonishing." He drawled flatly. I met his gaze; had I not been in such a bad mood, I would have been amused by the quip. Cynicism and sarcasm usually hit the mark with me. Unfortunately, I was not in a good mood…and this guy would have done best to hold his tongue.

"Listen, if—" I started but Aribeth quickly cut me off with a wave of her hand. A good thing too, because I was just about to deliver the world's finest verbal beating.

"Please, ignore his insolence." She said tiredly, "He's worked up about everything that's been going on lately and I can't hold it against him." Her eyes went wide for a moment, "I might as well introduce us; my apologies for being rude. This is Desther, Watchknight of Helm." She gestured to the insolent one and then to the elf, "And this is Fenthick." She motioned to me, "And this, gentlemen, is Malkat – a necromancer from Blacklake."

"What?!" Desther cried, startling the whole group. He came forward and pointed an accusating finger at me, "I wasn't informed of her arcane leanings!" He turned a foul glare over at Aribeth, "We hire villains now?! What is this madness, Aribeth?!" He grimaced, "Do you mean to tell me that you trust this…this rabble?" He towered over the paladin now, a great armored dog in scarlet and gold.

Though intensely offended – and admittedly a little impressed at the gall of this man --, I remained quiet. Fenthick – that disturbingly effeminite man, him -- was aghast. Aribeth, however, took the heat. Bless her elven heart.

"You will keep your prejudices to yourself while you are under my command, priest!" She snapped, her hands balling into fists at her sides, "Who I deal with is my business, and my business alone!" Desther sneered contemptuously.

"This is costing us money, Aribeth." He growled, "If you pour the contents of the city's coffers into a mercenary's pocket, there will be Hell to pay, woman!" He drew back, "And besides, the Helmites have the situation well under control. Our blessings are offering the hope the people need to make it through this plight." He shook his head and waved a hand dismissively at me, "You've no need for the help of opportunistic, traitorous street rats."

My eyes were wide as saucers. Opportunistic? Definitely. Traitorous? Maybe. But a street rat?! How could this man be a priest? Was the plague making him this way in truth, or was he just a complete asshole? And if Tyr's clerics could not undo the Wailing, then what on earth made him think Helm's could? Priest or not, Desther had just made my blacklist.

"Enough!" Aribeth cried, glaring hotly at Desther, "Firstly, your priests' blessings have offered me no concrete evidence of helping anyone! Second, the city's coffers are not of your concern. And third, I will be the judge of those who are traitors and those who are not!" She took a breath, "Is that clear?".

Desther stared at her for a long moment before turning to stare flatly at me. Beside him, Fenthick cleared his throat and rested a gentle hand on Aribeth's arm.

"Please, love…" He said quietly, brow furrowed in thought, "…you'll really have to stop this infighting. It's disgusting and childish, and ever so counterproductive." He patted her arm, "NeverWinter is what really matters just now, hmm?" He smiled at Aribeth and the woman nodded solemnly.

I watched the scene with amusement, wondering why in the world Aribeth's lover was meddling in city affairs. Was he just a peacemaker between she and Desther? Was he part of the Wailing Death investigation or just tagging along for the ride? Either way, he apparently had enough influence over Aribeth to prove an interesting character. Despite his questionable appearance. But anyway, back to business.

"So, once again." I said after a while, trying my very best to not stare back at Desther, who had not yet turned his eyes away from my person, "Am I to retrieve the Waterdhavian creatures?".

Aribeth nodded and seemed to compose herself, "That is your task – at least for now. It's a very pressing matter as I'm sure you'll understand." She gathered her wits for a moment, "It's impossible for any of the beasts to have left the city, and so they are still around somewhere. Bring them to me dead or alive, I don't care…as long as you get them back."

Fair enough. I nodded, "I will do as you ask." I replied, then I finally caught Desther's eye and grinned, "Can I bring Desther?" I asked mockingly. I couldn't help myself – he just seemed to have such a problem with me that it was almost comical. The Helmite made a disgraceful sound.

"Go to hell." He spat and continued his examination of me.

"Oh, you've just reminded me!" Aribeth piped up suddenly, "I have summoned four others like you and they will be on the lookout for the creatures as well. Should any of the creatures be found, I will let you know through this." She produced a small etched coin from a leather pouch on her belt and handed it to me.

I took the coin and examined it. It was made of simple copper and had the images of four creatures engraved upon it: a beautiful nymph, an intellect devourer that looked like a brain on four legs, a snake-woman yuan-ti, and a bird of sorts.

"What's the bird?" I asked curiously, somewhat ashamed that I didn't know. I silently blamed it on the size of the engraving.

Aribeth smiled, "It's a cockatrice." She answered pointedly.

Making a mental note of that, I slipped the coin into my robes, "So how does the coin work?" I asked.

Aribeth made a ring with her thumb and forefinger, "If a creature if returned to me, the matching engraving will disappear." She explained, motioning to her imaginary coin, "So you'll want to check it now and then so you know what it is you're looking for." She dropped her hands to her sides and nodded, "Alright, that's about it. I wish you luck, Malkat. And if you need anything, just let me know."

I nodded to her and headed back through the crowd and out the door. Just as I pulled the door closed behind me, I heard Desther blow up at Aribeth again.