Chapter 39: Old 'Friends'
"I do not see why we have to come to this place. There are Shadow Thieves on every corner, and if they get it into their heads to attack us, I do not feel that, formidable as we are, we can honestly face them all," Harrian mumbled sulkily as the party walked through the streets of the Docks District a day later.
Yoshimo gave him an evaluating look, with only the suggestion of a smile on his face. It was clear that he was trying not to grin outright at their party leader. "Why, are you afraid of them, brave thief?" he asked lightly. At Harrian's withering look, he sighed. "You have never told us of why you hate the Shadow Thieves so."
Corias exchanged a look with Jaheira, who shrugged. She seemed in slightly higher spirits than she had been before, and although they had made no attempts to continue the conversation they had been having before Anomen had interrupted them, things were far less stilted between them.
"Let us just say," Harrian replied, talking to Yoshimo haughtily, "that I left Baldur's Gate for a reason. You understand that it would have taken a considerable amount to bring us from the favour we enjoyed as heroes of Baldur's Gate, yes?"
"Cease your prattling, Harrian," Anomen muttered, shaking his head. He was at the front of the group, striding at an incessant pace that left them all scurrying in his wake. "If you have no desire to be here, then… well, I did not ask for you to accompany me on this task of mine. I shall go and see what Tevvis has to say by myself, if necessary."
Harrian looked surprised. "No need for that," he responded hurriedly. "I'm here to back you up fully if you want it, I assure you. I just want you to know that… I don't like this. Not one bit. The Shadow Thieves…"
"Cannot be trusted, yes, I know," Delryn replied, still as frustrated as before and making Harrian take up a defensive grimace. "We are not supposed to trust them. We are just to stay out of their way. If they wanted us dead they would have already tried instead of waiting for us to appear on their turf."
Anomen spoke sense, so Corias dropped into a sulky silence. Fortunately, they made it to the Sea's Bounty without incident, which was where Harrian really started to stay alert and try to be inconspicuous as they descended the stairs leading to the main tavern area.
Being inconspicuous was hard when your companions were a Helmite in shining armour, a massive berserker warrior, and a tiefling. But nobody gave them a second glance, and Harrian realised that the patrons were probably used to all manner of strange arrivals.
Tellis was seated at the bar, looking more nervous than the shifty informant usually did, and greeted them with his jumpy little chuckle that made Anomen visibly bristle with irritation. "You're here, heh heh… wasn't sure if you were going to be coming. You wants information, right?"
Jaheira nodded sternly. "We want whatever you have regarding –"
She got no further, for the cloaked man sitting next to Tellis looked up at that moment and removed the cowl of his robe, fixing her with a broad smile. Harrian recognised the tilt of his head and the posture of his seat as that of a nobleman, but the state of his clothes seemed to suggest he had fallen upon bad times. His dark hair was scruffy and dirty, and his cheeks somewhat hollow. But the smile on his face, the bright, too-cheerful smile, sent a chill up Corias' spine.
Jaheira flinched only a very little as she looked at the man's face, and this went unnoticed by anyone else as the robed man began to talk, his voice still too cheerful. "Jaheira, my darling, so good to see you. Won't you come sit and chat a while?" he asked lightly, the smile broadening so much that Harrian subconsciously placed a hand on the hilt of his longsword.
The druid's brow furrowed as she regarded him. "I...I am sorry? Do I know you?" she asked blankly, which eased Corias's spirits somewhat.
There was a flash of anger in the man's eyes which was subdued instantly, and the voice became quite sorrowful. "You do not remember? Ah, but this is understandable. It has been years since we last spoke. Far too long, really." He shook his head as if this was indeed a great loss for the realms.
Jaheira's face hardened a little. "Forgive me, but I will require a little more information. Your name again?" she asked, her voice as falsely cheerful as the man's, and Harrian felt himself tensing up once again.
The man coughed surreptitiously, then looked firmly at her. "My name...is Ployer, Baron Ployer?" he told her lightly, then his expression darkened a little as her face remained blank. "Of the Calimshan Ployers? Come now, you must have some inkling!" he insisted as Jaheira's expression stayed emotionless.
The druid shook her head, apparently nonplussed. "No...no, I am terribly sorry but your face is unfamiliar. Perhaps if you told me what you do..." she suggested, and from the subtle shift in her tone, everyone else could see that there were undercurrents here they seemed to be missing.
The man leapt to his feet, livid in a moment. "My name means nothing? Nothing?" he raged, practically hopping with anger. "I am Baron Ployer! PLOYER! You ruined me! Not remembering is an even greater insult! You are why I am destitute today!" he continued in a shriek.
"You and your Harper kin accused me of breeding slaves in Calimshan! My businesses in Athkatla were taken! I was made a pauper and you do not even remember?!" he continued, still shaking with rage and frustration. He took a step forwards, but Harrian, now with his grip firmly on his longsword's hilt, half-unsheathed it meaningfully, and Ployer stopped.
Jaheira smiled tightly as she regarded the former Baron. "I remember well, but I wanted you to say it, and I wanted others to hear," she told him lightly, folding her arms across her chest. "Quite the outburst, Mister Ployer, I assume you are still at odds with your new life?"
Ployer came to a halt and spluttered for a moment, glaring daggers at the druid. "You...you..." He stopped, and regained control of his voice. "This is the type of insolence I was talking about! It is not enough that you ruin a man, you must also berate him!"
"MISTER Ployer, I wanted you dead instead of merely humiliated! The courts did not seem to think death was warranted, so they claimed your assets instead," Jaheira spat back, her own venom beating the Calimshite's easily. "That you live in poverty is gratifying, if you must live at all!" Then she calmed down somewhat, and merely glared. "I would suggest you change your tone. I am not in a mood for giving charity to old slavers."
Ployer chuckled in a way that Harrian did not like in the slightest. "Haven't lost your fire, I see. Still a Harper? This scrawny lout one too?" he mused, nodding at Harrian, who gave him his own glare – insignificant in comparison to Jaheira's, but of similar venom. "That fellow Khalid you were once with was a better compliment. Is he here as well?" Ployer continued, ignoring the swashbuckler's look.
A muscle in the corner of Jaheira's jaw tightened, as did her grip on her quarterstaff. "He is none of your concern. If you value your teeth you will not speak that name again. You dirty it," she spat virulently.
Ployer hesitated a moment, then backed down somewhat. "Uh, yes. Very well." He coughed lightly, then looked at the other five. He started somewhat at the sight of Minsc and Haer'Dalis, but strove to remain oblivious to their odd presence. "How about your companions, Jaheira? Do they count themselves among the Harpers as well?"
Harrian's head snapped up to glower at Ployer. "I am not a member of the Harpers, sir, though I would accept the offer if it was made," he lied easily, managing to stick enough venom in the 'sir' to get his point across.
Ployer regarded him thoughtfully. "Perhaps I should include you in this matter then." He fixed his look on the druid. "But first... Jaheira, my dear, I have not found you by accident. You ruined me, slandered my name."
Jaheira frowned. "Well, the slander is going a bit far. You actually were a slaver, you know. It's not slander if it's proven," she responded easily, and Harrian found himself grinning at her.
Ployer glowered at her. "That is beside the point!" he raged. "What matters is that you ruined me, and now I'm going to ruin you!" At that, a trio of mages and black and green robes entered the tavern via dimension doors. Harrian's sword was in his hand in a second, and Yoshimo had an arrow in his bow a moment earlier, but before they could react, the mages muttered incantations under their breaths, and a shining red light engulfed Jaheira.
Harrian leapt at the nearest one with the intention of skewering him against the bar, but just as soon as they arrived, they disappeared, and the swashbuckler found himself swinging at thing air. He stumbled, and grabbed Tellis – who had been watching the whole display with near panic – to stop himself from falling.
Jaheira, however, was looking even worse for wear, and Anomen had to take a step forwards to prevent her from slumping to the ground. She looked up at the former baron, shock on her face. "What have you just done, Ployer?! Speak!" she commanded, but her voice lacked some of its usual strength.
Ployer's voice became excessively cheerful. "It is my gift to you. You will be slowly destroyed, just as my family was. It is my curse, my nasty, nasty curse. A little something I had made just for you," he told her, his tone becoming a little bit of a sing-song. "I may not see your lingering death, but I will smile, knowing it will happen. Tonight I sleep beneath rags so I could afford this wasting death for you..."
Jaheira's expression became incredulous. "Nobody made you a slaver; you just loved the profit! Now you blame those that caught you because you cannot take responsibility? You are a weak, weak man!" she spat, though even weaker than before.
The baron grinned. "Ah, but I am a weak, weak man that will live, while you are a strong woman that will die. Give my regards to Belgrade when you see him." Ployer laughed almost manically, then tossed a bag of gold at the panicking Tellis. Harrian lunged at the baron again, but once more, before he could reach him, Ployer was gone in a dimension door.