Chapter 119: Home Sweet Home

"Here's to… to never ending up in a vile and pitch-black place like the Underdark ever again!" Anomen declared, pausing a little to consider his toast as he raised his tankard along with the rest of the party. They were seated comfortably in the Five Flagons inn, having returned to Athkatla barely two hours before, and after leaving their affairs back at the Delryn estate, they had proceeded down to their old haunt for a large and lavish meal. Along with them was Sir Keldorn, meaning the group of now nine had to commandeer one of the larger tables and was a lot more distinctive than Harrian would have liked.

"Definitely! And no more Balors," Imoen interjected, clinking her own glass against Anomen's tankard. "And no drow, and no demons, and no eggs…"

"And no illithids," Aerie suggested with certainty, suppressing a shudder. "Or beholders, or Koa-Toa, or… or…"

"Anything from the darkness. Including dragons," Harrian finished, sipping his wine with a smug grin on his face, leaning back in his chair at the head of the table. "Unfortunately, whilst I see none of these things in our immediate future, there are other, equally unsavoury things in abundance." Silence fell on the table as the party members looked grim. "Sorry to ruin the mood," the Bhaalspawn continued. "But there are matters to address."

Imoen nodded unhappily. "Bodhi. And the Rhynn Lanthorn. And the elves." There was another long pause, and her eyes dropped to the table. "And Irenicus," she mumbled, then took a quick sip of her drink to hide the grimace.

Harrian merely shrugged regretfully. "These aren't things we can ignore. We need to find Irenicus. He's in Suldanessellar. To get to Suldanessellar, we need the Rhynn Lanthorn. Which Bodhi has." He looked around the table, leaning on his elbows. "I don't think this group here has resources to take on a horde of vampires by itself. Which is rather why I invited Sir Keldorn along as well – it was not just out of the goodness of my heart to thank him for keeping Anomen's house intact."

The grizzled paladin nodded slowly, his expression thoughtful. "I expected as much. Ask what you will of me – however I can lend assistance to rid the city of a vile presence such as these vampires, I will be happy to assist."

"I'll be getting to that in a second," Harrian assured him, then scanned the table, his eyes eventually settling on the only Red Wizard in their numbers. "Edwin. You have performed the services we requested, and for that we are grateful. I believe it is here that this partnership ends," he said firmly, his eyes quite clearly saying that this was not up for debate.

Edwin nodded slowly, not shifting at all or showing any discomfort. "As I expected. I have matters I need to attend to, in any case." There was a pause as he leant forwards, a slight sneer crossing his face. "There is only the matter of my payment," he said firmly, raising an eyebrow with a superior air.

Harrian considered this for a fraction of a second. "Ten thousand gold, which we shall hand over when we return this evening. And… either the Staff of the Magi or the Robe of Vecna; take your pick." We don't need either of them. He'll pick the staff, anyway, as the Robe of Vecna isn't red. Aerie can have the robe… if she stays.

There was a silence as Edwin contemplated his options, then nodded again at last. "I shall take the staff, the gold. That should be suitable, considering the fact that I constructed a portal for you monkeys (bah, I feel cheated here. If only it had been any other party on this endeavour, then I'd be rich beyond my wildest dreams…)."

The Bhaalspawn shrugged, glancing around again until his gaze settled on Aerie. There was an uncomfortable pause as her eyes flashed with… something. Shyness? Not too odd for the Avariel, but something was a little off. He filed this away for consideration later, then spoke. "Aerie, you are free to do as you wish. If you wish to leave, we can help you with any supplies you need, and wish you the best. However, if you want to remain with us, we could use someone of your skills."

Aerie nodded quickly, and there was no hesitation in her expression or voice. "I'd… I'd rather stay with the party, if that's alright. If I can help at all, I owe you a great deal already that I'd like to pay back. There is plenty of time in my life for other things to be done," she reasoned, smiling a little.

Harrian grinned back, and nodded. "Then it's settled. We have a group of seven. Which now leads to exactly why I asked Sir Keldorn to come here today." He looked straight on at the retired knight. "You still have connections with the Order, right?" he asked hopefully.

Keldorn nodded, then shrugged. "Though I am not held in quite the same esteem I was in before – and I have you to thank for that, my friend," the paladin commented wryly, "there are still friends I can talk to. I take it you want their assistance for uprooting the vampire's lair."

"I do," Harrian said. "We have not made that many friends in our time in Athkatla. I think it's time we rather tried to go back on that and make some amends. The Order does no need to be persuaded that I am a risk, but I doubt they will stand by idly if there is this sort of evil to be removed. Even if it will be spiting a Bhaalspawn."

"I know you have a low opinion of the Order, my friend, but not everyone is going to act as Wessallen and Trawl did. You have encountered many people in the past who fear you because of your nature; they are no different. You are an oddity, Corias. They do not see the world in black and white as you may believe, but because of who, or what, you are, they see you as a dangerous shade of grey. Remember, they never condemned you, or attacked you, or judged you because of your Bhaaltaint – they merely asked me to watch you."

"And were ready to eject Anomen from the Order if he was going to remain in my company," Harrian mumbled bitterly. "I had done nothing to suggest that I was an evil influence, or even evil a little bit. Bhaaltaint alone does not make darkness."

"They don't know that. The Order is not completely clueless in how to handle Bhaalspawn – there have been others in the past they have encountered, and they tended to lean more to the side of darkness," Keldorn reasoned. "You had done nothing to suggest that you were an evil influence, but then again, you had done nothing to suggest you were benign. Since then, you have more good deeds to your name – freeing Keep De'Arnise, helping Garran Windspear, and freeing the Umar Hills from their Shade Lord. Before, you were almost perfectly in the middle, with neither good or evil deeds attached to you, and that, I believe, is what made them wary. The uncertainty."

Harrian shrugged, throwing his hands in the air a little. "To be honest, I don't need their approval. I would like it, and it would make my life easier if I wasn't seen to be a dangerous killer by an Order of paladins. We are on the same side after all, and I have nothing against paladins themselves." There was a pause, and his expression darkened. "The fact that we killed Ajantis and others in the Windspear hills didn't, I think, help us that much."

"An illusion. They know that. If you come before them, explain the situation, explain that you need their help to uproot evil, you shall not find the Order wanting. They will listen to you, I am sure," Keldorn assured Harrian.

The Bhaalspawn shrugged. "That's nice, but I'm not the one who's going to be handling it. That's up to you, Anomen," he said, nodding at the cleric. There was a pause, and Harrian managed to look mildly concerned. "That is, if you have no problems with such a duty being given you," he back-pedalled a little.

Anomen shook his head. "There is nothing to be done here that I will not have to eventually face. I cannot ignore the Order forever, and they cannot ignore me. I am not anticipating any cheerful reconciliation on our part, but, as you said, it is not good to have paladins as your enemies." He shrugged. "Besides, I do still have friends within the Order."

"Good. Then it's settled," Harrian said, nodding. "Anomen, you, Imoen and Minsc will go with Sir Keldorn to the Order's headquarters tomorrow and try to get our pleading done for our cause. Also, stop by the temples of Helm and Lathander; see if they're willing."

Imoen glanced curiously at him. "What will the rest of you be doing," she asked lightly, curiously.

Harrian grimaced a little. "Jaheira, Haer'Dalis, Aerie and I will be trying to gather support from the Shadow Thieves," he said grimly, not in the least hiding his unhappiness. "It is not the most ideal of solutions, but they have their own problems with Bodhi and her guild, and I do not doubt that it is in their best interests to join forces and help us get rid of the vampires." His grimaced deepened. "I just need to make sure they don't stab us in the back again. Somehow."