Author's note: Okay if you happened to not get Caldor's description he's 6'2", copper toned skin, about 150 years old, muscular, elven features (mostly in the face), the wingless copper dragon tattoo, dark brown semi-shoulder length hair, and milky green eyes with the round dragonish pupils. There we go, oh and about the spacing, I don't know what's up with it. In word it's nicely spaced and readable but is clumped together for some reason on here. The action will get better in this chapter, can't really make killing an extremely pathetic goblin more dramatic.
I am amazed at how quickly you answered the summons!" Fenthick exclaimed as Caldor entered the room.
"This is a mistake Fenthick! We don't know anything about this paladin! How do we know if he can be trusted?" Desther questioned.
"Please Desther. Caldor is a man of his word. Aribeth requested his presence here in Neverwinter strictly to assist us in our endeavors."
Caldor's brow furrowed at the sight of the human.
"Why isn't this task given to my Helmite brethren? Surely we could perform this task just as well." Desther added.
The paladin grimaced, "You are a follower of Helm?"
"Yes he is a Watchknight from Helm's hold that came to assist us in curing the plague."
Caldor frowned and watched a nurse tending to a patient on the other side of the room.
"Humph, I was at Helm's Hold three months back and I had never seen you there or heard of you. The faces of your Helmite brethren are not familiar to me either. I know everyone at the Hold." The elf turned his eyes towards Desther and watched him squirm.
"Well my clergy and I must have arrived after you left." Desther mumbled.
"I don't know. If you are not originally from the Hold then you would have not been sent here to Neverwinter to help. My friend Tomas Ship would have been sent here." Caldor watched Desther suspiciously.
Fenthick watched Desther silently waiting for his response.
"Enough of this, don't you have something you need to tell Caldor?" Desther said to Fenthick while keeping his eyes on the ground.
"Err yes, Sir Caldor you must go see the Lady Aribeth. She is in charge of finding the creatures. If you find anything regarding the culprits behind the attack please tell me."
Caldor nodded to Fenthick and looked at Desther once more before walking out of the room. He heard a sight of relief emit from the human and he grinned. 'I knew it.'
Aribeth tapped her foot impatiently as she watched the door for Caldor's appearance. Hearing the creak of the now opening door, she stood upright. When Caldor walked out the door, Aribeth's breath caught in her throat.
The handsome elf walked briskly toward her and bowed. She inspected the new set of armor that he now sported. It looked to be made of supple blue leather accented with golden chain mail and like his previous suit it lacked pauldrons. On the breastplate a golden symbol of Helm glowed brightly in the torchlight. The silken blue cloak brushed against his back as he stood upright.
"Nice armor." She complimented with a smile.
"Thank you m'lady. I started working on it the day after the attack and just finished it yesterday." Caldor told her.
"Ah, a blacksmith." Aribeth stated.
"And a tailor among other things, now Fenthick said you would brief me on what I am supposed to do."
"Yes, you will need to go to the four districts of Neverwinter to find the lost creatures. There have been sightings of strange creatures in these areas since the attack on the Academy. The four creatures are a yuan-ti, an intellect devourer, a cockatrice and a dryad. You'll most likely have to kill the first three so I want you to get the yuan-ti's heart, the devourer's brain and the feathers of the cockatrice. The Dryad is a gentle creature so just bring her to me."
Caldor nodded and watched her intently, "Anything else?"
"Oh aye, here take this recall stone. If you need to come back here quickly you can use it from wherever you are and be transported back here. If you need to get back you can use the portal you came from but will need to leave a small donation. Also if you need any assistance in this task, you can hire someone at the Trade of Blades out in the City core." Aribeth replied.
"Okay, oh and is it true that you and Fenthick are to be wed?" Caldor asked.
"Yes it is indeed true." Aribeth said with a smile.
"Well, my congratulations to you." Caldor smiled, bowed then headed toward the exit.
Aribeth watched him leave and noticed the copper dragon skillfully embroidered on the silk cloak. "Hmm."
"Her and Fenthick? Heh, now that's funny." Caldor said under his breath.
Once he stepped outside, a frantic looking woman grabbed him.
"Please sir you must help me!" the woman wailed.
"Slow down there lass. Now what seems to be the problem?" Caldor said as he steadied the woman back on her feet.
"Well I live in the Peninsula district and the whole place has been overrun by criminals!" Caldor quirked an eyebrow and tapped his chin.
"Yes, I have heard about that, please continue."
"Yes, well it was the head gaoler that let them out! Such a strange thing that he would just release all of those animals!" The woman added.
"Indeed. I will be heading there shortly. You just stay here in the city core where it's safe."
"Thank you kind sir." The woman did a slight curtsy.
Caldor nodded and headed down the ramp towards the Trade of Blades. The building was bustling with many scruffy looking mercenaries and the general atmosphere was smoky and smelled heavily of tobacco and alcohol. Caldor surveyed the room intently then started walking through the crowd. After looking around for close to fifteen minutes, Caldor sat down at the bar and ordered a pint of ale.
"This is hopeless." He grumbled.
"What's hopeless paladin?"
Caldor looked towards the voice and was taken back by the beautiful human female sitting next to him. She smiled at him and swirled her glass of elven wine.
"My search for a suitable henchman is what is hopeless." Caldor replied with a slight smirk.
"What are you looking for in a henchman, hmm?"
Caldor looked her up and down, "Hm, I am looking for a bard. A beautiful, red-headed human female bard." Caldor licked his lips and looked her straight in the eye.
The bard turned to the bar and gave him a sideways glance.
"What's your name paladin?"
"Caldor Erion. What's your name bard?"
"Sharwyn."
"Just Sharwyn?" Caldor asked.
"Just Sharwyn." She smiled at him and finished the rest of her wine.
"Why do you need a henchman?"
"Playin' hide and seek with some Waterdhavian creatures to get the ingredients for the plague cure. Basically, I'm working for the Lady Aribeth." Caldor replied.
"Hmm, sounds interesting. I'd be interested in helping you...for a price of course. Say 250 gold?"
"Eh, that's a bit steep. How about 150?"
"Um...no, 250." Sharwyn told him.
"Please." Caldor flashed a smile.
Sharwyn laughed and said, "Well since you asked so nicely, 150 it is."
"Great!" Caldor took out the gold and dropped it into her outstretched hand.
"And this is for you. This is my contract saying that I'm working for ya." She passed Caldor a piece of paper and he put it into his pack.
"Well that's settled then. I vow to keep you safe from all harm while we are searching for the creatures." Caldor told her.
"That's good to know and by the way, what exactly are you?" Sharwyn asked.
Caldor had stood up to stretch and now stared at the redhead curiously. Sharwyn stood up and circled around him.
"Well you definitely aren't a pure blood elf. You're taller than me, have coppery colored skin, extremely built for an elf and you have the strangest green eyes I have ever seen. Explain yourself." Sharwyn looked up at him and patiently waited for his explanation.
"Well if you must know, I am part dragon. Copper dragon that is. My father is part dragon and part human. He lives with my grandfather, Jinkej, in the Spine of the World where the rest of my clan resides. Including my mother."
Sharwyn stared at him in surprise and he just smiled. The bard looked closer at his smile and saw that he had semi-long and sharp canines.
"Wow, this is so weird." Sharwyn laughed.
"What? I'm still a normal guy...somewhat." Caldor grinned and finished off his pint of ale.
"Well my adventures with you should make an interesting ballad.
Caldor just smiled and shook his head.
"So shall we go? The peninsula district is our first stop." Caldor told her as he took off his cloak and placed it into his pack. Sharwyn disappeared into the back of the building and returned with her pack and a two-bladed sword.
"Ah, so that's your weapon. Expected you to have a rapier or something."
"Nah, too weak."
Caldor grinned and turned towards the door, pushing his way through the crowd. Sharwyn, who was following him, was grabbed by the wrist by someone in the crowd and instinctively grabbed the collar of Caldor's chain shirt.
"Where you goin' Sharwyn? I thoughts we was going to get together." A burly looking human who smelled of hard liquor asked the bard.
"I've been hired to work for someone and I never said we were getting together." Sharwyn answered.
"Nah, who's tha punk that's takin' you huh? I'll smash 'is face in!"
"I'm the punk she's working for scum." Caldor folded his arms across his chest and glared at the man.
"Ah, tha pretty boy. Well you can't take Sharwyn! She's stayin' here wit me!" The human threw a punch at Caldor and the paladin caught his fist.
"You are quite the rude one." Caldor said as he began to crush the man's hand.
"Agh! Lemme go! Stoppit yous crushin' ma hand."
"Obviously." Sharwyn said with a smirk.
Caldor continued to squeeze the hand until he heard the bones shatter. "There, that should teach you some manners."
Caldor turned and led Sharwyn out of the room as the mercenary stared dumbly at his broken hand.
"Ah much better!" Sharwyn took in a deep breath of air.
"But it smells like burning corpses out here."
"That's true but it was a brief reprieve from the smell of cigars and ale."
Caldor nodded and lead the way to the peninsula district gate, only stopping to purchase a map of the city from the nearby merchant. He saluted the guard standing in front of the gate and told him that he was working for Aribeth. The guard nodded and let them pass into the district.
Once they were inside the guard captain of the district stopped them. "What are you doing in here?"
"We're working for Aribeth to find some creatures." Caldor replied.
"Well I don't know anything about any creatures but I do know that this place is crawling with prison escapees. Damn that Alaefin! He's been actin' so weird lately."
"Hm, well we're going to the prison. See if we can find out what's going on."
"All right then, I hope you know where yer goin'. Just go up that ramp and watch out for the escapees. Oh and you might want to go see Sedos Sebile too. I'll mark her headquarters on your map."
Caldor thanked the man and headed toward the ramp followed closely by Sharwyn. Four escapees dashed out from between the buildings and ran towards them. Before either could react the guard bowmen showered the prisoners with a volley of arrows.
"Well that was pointless." Caldor said to Sharwyn as he stepped over a dead dwarf.
She just grinned and shook her head as she followed him through the rubble.
"So uh, what was a nice girl like you doing in a place that resembles a giant's asshole? You don't seem like a mercenary to me." Caldor stated.
Sharwyn smirked and tossed her hair to the side, out of her face. "Just looking for work."
"Hm, I don't know. There is something about you. You were really out of place there, like you were above all those lowly mercenaries. Someone...noble perhaps." Caldor stopped walking and glanced at her sideways.
Sharwyn kept walking and stopped only a short distance in front of him. "Noble? Heh, where did you get that idea?"
"The way you hold yourself, perfect posture I might add. The way you speak, carefully articulating everything you say. That haughty look you're giving me now." Caldor said with a smile as he walked in front of her and turned to look directly into her eyes.
"Humph, well you guessed right. I am of noble blood. What of it?" Sharwyn huffed.
"I'm just curious about how you come from nobility to the life of a mercenary bard."
"I...I don't know you well enough to tell you that. Maybe at a later time." Sharwyn said quickly.
"All right then, you'll get to know me well enough before this is over." While saying this Caldor took her hand in his and gently rubbed his thumb along the palm of her hand. "Such soft hands, definitely noble."
Sharwyn yanked her hand out of his and glared at him. "You're a terrible flirt Caldor! What kind of a paladin are you?"
"Well I'm obviously not a normal one." He replied with a laugh.
'Hm what is this I hear?' Caldor glanced behind him then gently pushed Sharwyn back against the wall.
"What are you doing Caldor?" Sharwyn asked with a small hint of fear.
He didn't answer her. He just places each of his hands on the brick wall on either side of her and pushed her closer against the wall.
Sharwyn was about to pull out her hidden dagger when Caldor placed a finger on her lips.
"Don't scream and stay your hand on that blade, lass. We are being watched." Caldor looked to the side and watched some dark shapes move quickly behind them.
He looked back at Sharwyn and leaned down to her ear.
"Just going to wait for them to make their first move."
"What? Why don't we attack them first?" Sharwyn whispered harshly.
"That would take out all the fun." Caldor smirked at her and she just rolled her eyes.
Caldor blew out the torch above them and waited in the darkness. Sharwyn stood up on her toes and looked over Caldor's shoulder trying to spot their attackers. The paladin smiled and let out a heavy sigh as he felt her lean up against him trying to get a better look. Soon a round bullet from a sling hit him in the back of the head.
"Oof, well they've made their move." He swung his fist at the human rushing toward them and hit him in the jaw. He unsheathed his sword and slashed downward at the human but the man reflected his attack with his hand axe. Caldor stomped one of the man's knees then stabbed him in the heart when he dropped his axe to grab his leg.
Sharwyn cast Sound burst on the slinger and he and the others around him were dazed. Caldor jumped over the dead human and swung upward at the group and sliced off the arm and shoulder of a dwarf.
The dwarf was instantly aware of what was going on around him and screamed in pain once before Caldor finished him off with a decapitating slice to the head. The two half-orcs and the human shook off the effects of the spell and jumped at the paladin. Sharwyn cast another spell and the slinger was hit by a jolt of electricity then fell to the ground, dead. She took out her two-bladed sword and slashed at the half-orc attacking Caldor from the rear. She cut a deep wound into his back and he screamed and turned to the side to deflect the second blade. Caldor dodged the attack of the other half-orc and hit him in the side with the hilt of his sword. The escapee fell to the side and rolled away from Caldor's great sword as he brought it down on him. Unfortunately he did not move in time to escape the second sweep from the paladin's blade.
Sharwyn deflected an attack from her escapee and hit him in the neck with the second blade of her weapon, cutting a deep wound into his neck. The half-breed grabbed his now bleeding neck and fell over, soon dead from loss of blood.
Caldor looked over the corpses and steadied his breathing. He looked over at Sharwyn who was brushing some of her hair out of her face.
"Nice job." Caldor said as he smiled at her then stooped down to pick up the gold dropped by the escapees.
"Thanks, you didn't do too bad yourself." Sharwyn sheathed her weapon and rotated her arm in its socket to loosen the muscles a bit.
"Right, let's keep moving." Caldor said as he walked toward an outdoor market sitting near the center of the district. Upon reaching the market they heard a yell for help off to the right.
Caldor turned to see saw an older looking man being attacked by some of the prison thugs. He ran over to the group and bowled them over with his shoulder. Sharwyn followed him and cast Sound burst. The thugs were instantly dazed and Caldor finished them off quickly.
"Are you all right sir?" Caldor asked the man as he cleaned off his blade.
"Yes, yes I am fine. Thank you for your help kind sir." The man said.
"What are you doing out here anyway?" Caldor asked.
"I was just heading back home from Lady Tanglebrook's house. I am very worried about her sir. With all of these criminals running about I fear for her safety but I dare not go back lest I be attacked once again by those hooligans."
"Well I'll go by Tanglebrook's and see if she is safe, you get back to the city core ok." Caldor told him.
"Thank you kind sir. Her estate is in the Northwestern part of the district near the prison's outer walls. There is a key under the doormat." With that the man ran off toward the gate.
"Okay let's go see how she is faring then." Sharwyn said as she turned towards the north.
Caldor followed her as she began running towards the estate. They quickly jogged through the district, jumping over fallen debris and the many corpses that littered the ground.
"Hm, before we go to this estate it might be a good idea to go see that Sedos Sebile character first." Caldor said.
"Yea, let's do that."
They ran in the direction that the house should be and found two guards standing on either side of a door.
"This must be it." Sharwyn said as she walked towards the door. She quickly noticed that Caldor was not moving and turned to him. "Come on Cal."
Caldor didn't make any move to follow and instead stared directly at the Helmite standing under a torch bracket. He frowned deeply at the man who in turn stared back then quickly looked down at the ground, avoiding his gaze.
"Caldor... come on. We have to go." She tugged at his arm and he finally began following her, his eyes not leaving the man.
Once inside the building, Caldor quickly scanned the room. He noticed the dark-haired woman standing behind the desk, shuffling through a stack of papers.
"Sedos Sebile?" Sharwyn asked.
The woman looked up at them both and nodded acknowledgement of their presence.
"Can I help you?"
"Yes...we were sent by Lady Aribeth to investigate the happenings in this district." Caldor said.
"Ah, they finally sent someone to help. So who might you two be?" Sedos asked.
"I'm Caldor Erion, Paladin of Helm and this lovely lady is Sharwyn." Caldor glanced down at Sharwyn and she glared at him.
"Well it is indeed a pleasure to meet you two. I'm guessing you will want a little information about what's going on. As you know the prisoners have escaped and caused a massive amount of trouble here in the Peninsula district. Some guards that had managed to escape from the prison alive informed us that it was the Head Gaoler that released them. Now the cause of this sudden show of madness is not known and I haven't sent anyone into the prison to investigate for obvious reasons. It would take a load off my shoulders if you two could go in there and find out what happened."
"Well that's what we came here for. When we find out what happened we'll come back and tell you, deal?"
Sedos smiled and reached out a hand, "Deal."
Caldor shook her hand firmly and turned to the door. "Let's go Sharwyn. We still need to go to the Tanglebrook estate."
Sharwyn followed him out the door and they quickly headed toward the estate.
Upon reaching the door, Caldor bent down and picked up the doormat to reveal the key. He picked it up and unlocked the door then pushed it open slowly. Peeking inside he searched the foyer for any sign of movement.
"Lady Tanglebrook? Are you here?" Caldor asked as he cautiously stepped into the room. Sharwyn searched the room as she stepped in behind him.
"I wonder where she is." Sharwyn murmured as she walked into the estate further. Caldor closed the door quietly and walked toward the door on the right. As he opened the door he found that it was only an empty bedroom. He stepped back into the foyer then walked forward to the open doorway at the back of the room.
He heard scraping noises in the corridor and took out his sword. Peeking around the wall he saw two giant beetles in front of a set of stairs leading down.
"Two nasty beetles at 9 o'clock, a stag beetle and a stink beetle." Caldor said.
Sharwyn nodded and took out her two-bladed sword.
Caldor watched her as she moved up beside him in the doorway then he rolled out into the corridor bringing his blade up to cut the stink beetle in half. The stag beetle screeched and jumped onto Caldor biting deeply into his arm.
"Agh! Gerroff!" He punched the beetle in the head trying to dislodge its mandibles from his arm.
Sharwyn slashed at the beetle's back, only to anger it. The beetle let go of Caldor and jumped onto her, biting deeply into her shoulder. She screamed and tried to kick the beetle off while stabbing it with her dagger. Caldor stood up and kicked the beetle sending it flying into the wall. The beetle recovered from the blow and leapt at Caldor. The paladin sent his fist up into the beetles head sending it straight into the air. Swinging his sword upward he separated the beetles head from the rest of its body. Once the beetle fell back to the ground it thrashed violently on the ground before it finally stopped and died.
Caldor looked over at Sharwyn and inspected the bite on her shoulder. It wasn't a very deep bite but blood flowed freely from it.
"Here let me help you with that." Caldor said as he helped Sharwyn to sit upright against the wall and pulled out a Healing kit. He cleaned off the wound and pressed a gauze bandage to her shoulder and held it in place.
"Thanks." Sharwyn said as she placed her hand over the gauze allowing Caldor to tend to his own wound.
"Damnable insects, I still wonder how those things got so big." Caldor grumbled as he cleaned and bandaged his bite.
"Probably some wizard." Sharwyn said with a smile.
"A gnome wizard most likely, knowing those inquisitive fellows I wouldn't doubt it." Caldor grinned and drank a healing potion. He passed another potion to Sharwyn and watched her as she drank it. Sharwyn lifted the gauze to inspect the wound and found it to be healing quickly.
"Well I'm ready to go when you are Caldor." She told him as she stood up.
"I'm ready." Caldor said as he stood up and put the remaining Healing kit back into his pack. He turned around and looked at the trapped up door behind them. "I wonder what's in there."
He walked toward it and inspected the door before placing his hand on the door knob.
"Um Caldor, you know that door is trapped right?" Sharwyn asked.
"Yep." Caldor opened the door quickly and jumped up as a multitude of spikes sprung up from the ground. The spikes quickly disappeared back underground and he let go of the doorframe to land back onto the ground.
Sharwyn stared at him with her jaw dropped a little. Caldor smirked and walked into the study and looked around. "Now let's see what we have in here."
He walked over to a bare desk on the other side of the room and opened the drawers. He saw a small green glass vial in the drawer and picked it up.
"What's that Caldor?" Sharwyn asked as she walked up behind him.
"Hm, says on the label that it's a Celestial Elixir." He heard Sharwyn gasp and moved the vial out of reach as she made a grab for it.
"Give me that Caldor!" She said as she tried to grab the vial.
Caldor held it above his head out of her reach and asked, "What is so special about this, Hm? Why do you need it?"
"None of your business Cal just give it to me." Sharwyn squealed as she jumped up to try to grab the Elixir. Caldor grabbed her by the waist with his free arm as she jumped and held her to the side away from the vial.
"Tell me what it is for." He said with a smile.
Sharwyn huffed and wiggled out of his grasp. "Fine if you must know I need it for my mother. She is ailing from some rare disease and that elixir will heal her."
Caldor inspected the elixir and raised an eyebrow. "This stuff looks rather pricey. Wouldn't your mother already have this, being a noble and all?"
"No... my mother is no longer a noble." Sharwyn looked down at the ground.
"Oh." Caldor handed the elixir to her and stared at the bard inquisitively, "How come?"
Sharwyn placed the vial into her pack and looked up at Caldor, "Now is not the time for stories Caldor."
"Okay then, how about after we are done here we head back to the City Core and you tell me your story over dinner, my treat." Caldor said with a smile.
Sharwyn smiled and shook her head. "Fine then you nosy thing. It's a date."
Caldor walked out of the room and headed toward the stairs leading down, picking up a dagger on a nearby weapon rack. He opened the door slowly and looked into the large room. Inside was a giant chess set with many large chess pieces littering the chess board. In the center he saw what looked to be a bleeding woman.
"Hm, that doesn't look good." Caldor walked toward the corpse weaving his way through the traps placed all over the board with Sharwyn close behind. Once he reached Tanglebrook's corpse he bent down to inspect her.
"There is a large hole on this side of her head and it looks like the brain was taken out." Caldor said as he lifted the corpse's head with his newfound dagger.
"Ugh that's horrible! What could have done something like this?" Sharwyn stared at the body in disgust.
"Well I doubt it was a prisoner, maybe it was that intellect devourer." He looked up across the room and saw a metal gate with a set of stairs leading up. On the catwalk leading to the door a group of fire beetles sat watching them.
Caldor stood up straight and took out the throwing axes he had picked up from one of the prisoners. Taking aim he threw an axe at each beetle, killing them instantly.
"Well let's see where that door leads." Sharwyn picked her way through the remaining traps with Caldor close behind.
The staircase turned out to be a back entrance to the prison. Caldor cracked the door and saw that there was no one in the room, "This must have been the Gaoler's office."
He walked over to the desk and searched the drawers but found nothing of interest. Sharwyn headed toward the door and pulled a nearby lever that opened the door. She peered outside and saw that no prisoners were around.
"C'mon Caldor let's check out the rest of the prison." She headed out the door and Caldor followed closely behind her.
The pair walked down the halls cautiously, one hand over their weapon at all times. The few prisoners that attacked them were dispatched quickly. While moving towards the rear end of the prison, they met up with a prison guard who was hiding in one of the prison cells.
"Were you the ones who released me?" the guard asked timidly.
"Indeed we are my good man. The prisoners locked you up in the cell I suspect." Caldor said calmly.
The guard nodded glumly and licked his lips, looking down the hall.
"Hm, get out of here then, we'll take care of everything here."
The guard nodded and ran toward the front door. Once the guard was out of sight the pair continued toward the door at the far end of the hall. Caldor opened the door slowly and looked around the barely lit room. Sharwyn peered over his shoulder and glanced at the two groups of prisoners. Taking out two scrolls of Fireball she cast one at the group nearest to them and another at the group at the other end of the room. Upon impact the prisoners were instantly killed by the spells.
"What the hell?" came a loud voice near the door at the center rear of the room. A burly looking human stepped out of the shadows and stared straight at the pair. Caldor stepped out of the doorway and took out his sword, flourishing it gracefully before smirking at the prisoner.
The man growled and took out his sword and charged Caldor. He managed to dodge the prisoner's attack and swung his sword hilt at the back of his head. The thug dodged his attack and slashed at Caldor's side making a shallow cut through his armor. Caldor winced and swung his knee around into the thug's back. The man teetered over and turned quickly bringing his sword up and cutting the side of Caldor's neck.
Caldor's hand flew instinctively to the fresh wound and he swung his sword around hitting the man hard in the shoulder. The man screamed and gripped his arm and Sharwyn took this moment to run the man through with her blade. Once the thug had finally dropped she stepped over the corpse and pulled Caldor's hand away from his neck.
"Here let me see. Hmm... the wound is shallow but deep enough to cause problems. Hold on." She turned to her pack to look for some bandages with one hand still covering the wound.
Caldor let a small smirk creep over his features as he leaned into her hand a little more. "It's feeling better already."
Sharwyn glanced up at him then glared at the paladin when she saw the smirk. "Oh stop." She pulled a bandage out and covered it with some salve and pressed it to the wound, lightly slapping his cheek once he put his hand over it to hold the bandage in place.
He smiled at her and looked at the cut in his side, "Hmm, it's not so bad." He took out a potion and drank it quickly and watched the small wound disappear. The cut on his neck was soon healed and he nodded towards the door.
The two went down the winding staircase quickly, hearing no other activity nearby. Once they reached the bottom, Caldor pulled the lever near the door and saw a ruffled looking elven guard down the short corridor. The elf looked over the pair quickly then motioned for them to follow him. Caldor and Sharwyn followed him quickly into the nearby lockdown and the elf pulled the lever to lock the door.
"Who are you two? Were you sent to see what happened here?"
"No, actually we were sent to find something else. What exactly has been going on in here anyway?" Caldor asked.
"Well if you haven't noticed all the prisoners aren't in their cells and that, of course, is the doing of the Head Gaoler Alaefin. He just suddenly went crazy and released all the prisoners. We guards didn't have a chance. We were either killed or locked up in the cells."
"Ah, what level of the prison is this anyway?"
"This is the containment level. Below is the Pits were the prisoners were pretty much left to their own devices. Alaefin is hiding down there now with his new right hand man Kurdan Fenkt, one of the meanest prisoners we've ever had."
"You mentioned that you and some of the other guards were locked up. How did you get out of your cell and where are the other guards?" Caldor asked.
"I managed to slip through the gates and snap the neck of the prisoner guarding me. As for the other prisoners, I'm not too sure. Some were taken below but either came back dead or in a zombie-like state." The elf shrugged and watched Caldor intently.
"It must be that intellect devourer." Sharwyn said as Caldor turned to her.
Caldor nodded and looked back at the elf, "Well we're going to head out and find out what the hell is happening down there. You stay up here."
"Will do." The elf saluted and hit the lever allowing Caldor and Sharwyn to leave the lockdown. They moved through the halls around the containment room quickly and killed any prisoner patrols they found walking about.
Sharwyn looked down the small corridors leading from the main halls and saw a prisoner sitting at the large desk in the center of the room. A few more prisoners milled about inside.
"A bunch of prisoners are waiting inside."
"All right then let's get ready to go." Caldor hefted his weapon and stepped into the room quickly. The prisoner sitting at the desk quickly stood up and smirked, "Ah, at last I got to use my magic once again." He began muttering a spell and the beginnings of a fireball formed between his hands.
"Uh oh." Caldor said then pulled Sharwyn to the side and covered her with his own body as the Fireball hit them.
"A spell caster...great." Caldor grumbled as he felt at his now singed hair.
"Heh, well it's a good thing I have some spells to fend off his magic." Sharwyn quickly cast Endure Elements on both of them.
"Thanks love." Caldor said with a grin as he turned from her and jumped at the sorcerer.
Sharwyn rolled her eyes and cast Sound burst at the group of prisoners in the corner, quickly killing them.
The sorcerer tried to cast Fireball at Caldor again but the spell had no affect and gave Caldor ample opportunity to crush the prisoner's skull with his sword hilt.
With the room now silent, Sharwyn brushed off her shoulders smiled at Caldor, "That was surprisingly easy."
"Heh, did they really stand a chance against us?" Caldor smirked and Sharwyn laughed.
"All right Paladin let's get going I'm really getting tired of this prison.
The companions ran through the final level of the prison, quickly dispatching any prisoners and their hounds. Soon they finally reached the final leg and stopped at a closed and trapped door. Sharwyn had decided to learn how to disable traps and quickly took apart the negative energy trap.
Caldor cracked open the door and peeked inside. A large half-orc was inside talking to an older looking human man.
"I think we've finally found Kurdan and Alaefin." He whispered to Sharwyn. She nodded and took out her weapon, waiting for his signal.
Alaefin walked into a door inside the room leaving Kurdan alone in the room. Caldor nodded toward the half-orc and the pair rushed into the room.
Kurdan looked at them in surprise but quickly regained his composure and brandished his weapon threateningly. Caldor brought his sword down into downward slash and Sharwyn swung one blade of her weapon towards Kurdan's side. The large prisoner twisted his double axe so that both attacks were easily blocked then jumped away from his attackers. Caldor came at him again this time swinging his sword upwards and from the side. This caught Kurdan at too awkward an angle to be blocked easily and he was knocked off balance.
Sharwyn jumped at the opportunity and caught Kurdan in the back. He keeled over a bit and Caldor slashed him across the stomach causing a deep gash.
"Argh, hold! I surrender!" Kurdan said as his hand flew to his abdomen.
Caldor let his weapon drop and leaned on it casually. Sharwyn relaxed and leaned the double-blade against her shoulder.
"So...you hunt da Head Gaoler, ya? You know what you face?" Kurdan asked.
"A man like any other though...he's most likely possessed by an intellect devourer."
"Ah ya, isn't a man no mo'. Must be possessed by yer intellect devourer."
"So what's he been doing with the guards, hm?" Caldor asked calmly.
"I dun know. Dey go in dere," Kurdan points to the door behind him, "And dey come out lookin' like zombies."
"Well that's all I need to know. Now, what should we do with you?" Caldor looked at the half-orc, "You're a dangerous criminal so we can't just let you go. Sorry but you have to die."
Kurdan sneered, "Fine den! But don't expect me ta sit here and die!"
Though badly injured the half-orc swung his double-axe at Caldor's head. The paladin ducked and ran Kurdan through with his sword than pushed the half-orc off his blade.
"Well let's go finish what we started." He walked towards the closed door and Sharwyn followed behind him quickly. Once inside Caldor noticed four former guards wandering around with blank looks on their faces. In the middle of the room near a covered work table stood Alaefin. Noticing the pair inside his lair, he took out a halberd and rushed toward them.
"I'll take care of Alaefin! You get those guards to get out of this room!" He said to Sharwyn as he ran toward Alaefin. Sharwyn ran toward the nearest guard and started trying to talk him into leaving.
Caldor blocked Alaefin's attack and pushed his blade to the side, kicking his legs out from under him. The man hit the ground hard then rolled to the side as Caldor brought his weapon sword down to his face. He pushed himself off the ground quickly and swung his weapon at Caldor's side but missed as the paladin dodged to the side. Caldor slashed at Alaefin's arm cutting it off. He hissed at the paladin as his limb and the halberd fell to the ground. Caldor brought his sword around again and separated the man's torso from his legs. The body then quickly dissipated and an ugly little brain with legs appeared and began to cast an invisibility spell.
Sharwyn had finished persuading the guards to leave and rushed to Caldor's side. She grimaced as she looked at the small creature. "How repulsive."
"No time to be grossed out now, we have to kill it." Caldor said as he tried to stomp the dog-like monster. The devourer jumped out of the way and tried casting a Daze spell on Caldor. The paladin managed to resist it and swung his sword at the creature but missed as it jumped away again. It then tried casting Invisibility on itself and vanished from the pair's sight.
Caldor frowned and looked around the room. Sharwyn took out a couple scrolls of True Seeing and cast it on herself then onto Caldor.
The creature had thought it was safe and was preparing to cast Daze again when Caldor's foot came down on it. The devourer managed to dodge and seeing that all of its attempts were futile it decided to run away.
"Come back here you little bastard!" Caldor chased the creature around the room trying desperately to stomp it and yelling obscenities as it ran away. Sharwyn couldn't help but laugh at his attempts as he and the Devourer passed by her for a third time.
"Hey you could help me out here instead of giggling you know." Caldor shouted back at her.
"Heh heh, but you look so ridiculous chasing that thing around." She laughed.
Caldor roared in frustration as he brought his sword down onto the Devourer's back, splitting it in half.
"Finally!" he dislodged the brain from the rest of the body and placed it into a bag.
"Now we can finally get out of here." Caldor said triumphantly.
"Good because I really need a bath." Sharwyn said.
"You and me both." Caldor wrinkled his nose and cleaned his sword off.
The pair quickly ran through the prison halls, jumping over prisoner corpses and sliding along slippery floors. Once outside the prison they headed back to Sedos's headquarters.
The woman looked up at the two as they entered the room and held her arms open wide.
"Ah, you're back. I assume you found out what was going on."
"Indeed. It was an Intellect Devourer that had possessed Alaefin." Caldor said as he held up the bag with the Devourer's brain.
"Wait isn't that one of the creatures that was taken to the academy? Well that explains a lot as the prisoners were released not long after the academy was attacked. Interesting, well here is 200 gold for your efforts." Sedos said as she handed a small bag to him.
"Many thanks, m'lady. Well we better get this back to Aribeth. Good fortune to you." Caldor pulled out the recall stone and activated it. The two soon vanished from the room.
Sedos blinked in surprise and stared at the spot where the paladin and bard were just standing. She quickly shook her head and went back to the papers on her desk.
Once back in the Halls of Justice, Caldor quickly walked down the stairs and towards Aribeth.
"Here is the Intellect Devourer's brain m'lady." Caldor handed the bag to Aribeth and adjusted the shoulder strap of his pack.
"Well done Caldor! You're well on your way to finding all the ingredients. Now who might this be?" she said nodding in Sharwyn's direction.
"I'm Sharwyn, just a simple bard m'lady." She did a slight curtsy and tried to stand up straight though she was quite tired.
"Well it is a pleasure to meet you." Aribeth smiled at Sharwyn then looked back at Caldor who was staring at Sharwyn.
She cleared her throat and Caldor looked at her quickly, "Err yea, well we've had quite a day and I think we should find a place to rest and get something to eat."
"The inns are probably still full so let's go see my mother." Sharwyn offered.
"That sounds like a good idea, let's do that." Caldor bowed to Aribeth before turning toward the door. Sharwyn rushed to his side and looped her arm with his, smiling up at him.
Fenthick came out from the back room and watched the pair leave.
"Well isn't that interesting." He said with a smile.
"I was wondering how long it would take before someone noticed him around." Aribeth laughed and wrapped an arm around Fenthick.
Fenthick just laughed and looked at Aribeth lovingly. "Soon...soon this will all be over."
"Yes, then we can get back to planning our wedding." Aribeth said with a smile.
"So what district does your mother live in?" Caldor asked as they made their way through the City Core.
"She is staying in a house near the gate to the Blacklake District."
Caldor nodded and followed Sharwyn in the direction of the Blacklake gate.
Sharwyn stopped at a splintering oak door and reached out to knock at the door but stopped.
"Sharwyn?" Caldor stepped up to the door and looked at her, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine...it's just that when I had come to see her previously when I first arrived here she was so angry with me. I don't really know if I want to go in there again."
"Oh...you never did tell me what happened to your mother." Caldor said calmly.
"That's true; we were going to discuss that over dinner weren't we?"
"Yes, but it wouldn't hurt to tell me now would it. You'll still get your free meal of course."
"I might as well then. My mother used to be a mage adventurer. I never met my birth father. She left the adventurers life and my father to marry a man of wealth."
"Why'd she do that?"
"She never discussed it with me so I do not know, though, I do know she wanted to live the life of the wealthy. Marrying my stepfather was the easiest way to do it. She forgot her craft and spent her time spending money. She spent a lot more than my stepfather could afford and ignored his complaints. When my step-father died unexpectedly she was distraught, not because he died but because there was a mountain of debts left from her numerous shopping sprees."
"What about you? How did you feel when he died?"
"I didn't know him honestly. I was always going to one private school to the next. Anyway, since she was on the verge of being poor she came up with a plan to pay the debts and still be able to live the life of luxury. She decided to marry me off to a rich bachelor, Lord Farthingdon. Since I was such a comely young woman hooking the young Lord wouldn't be difficult despite being considered 'poor nobility'."
"I went to a ball being held by Farthingdon and was to meet him there. When I went onto the dance floor and met the young man my mother pointed out to me, I quickly fell in love with him. He was so handsome and witty I couldn't help myself. Not long later my mother pulled me away and told me that was not Farthingdon I was dancing with. Too late for my heart though."
"I take it your mother wasn't too happy about that." Caldor said as he leaned against the wall of the building.
"Oh she was furious. I never got to meet Lord Farthingdon and she was even more upset when she found out that it was a penniless bard named Dannen in service to Farthingdon that I had fallen in love with. My mother told me to forget about him and to focus on what I needed to do but I couldn't help myself. I was torn. Do I do as my mother wished or run away with the penniless bard? Being a young fool I made quite a mess of things."
"That's understandable. So what did you do?"
"Well I did neither so I ended up seducing Farthingdon and loving my bard in secret. Dannen was kind and loving; enchanting me with his music and Farthingdon was just lustful and possessive."
"That definitely couldn't have gone on long." Caldor said with a grimace.
"Of course not, it was going to blow up eventually. When it came nearer to the date of the marriage Farthingdon began to notice that something was not right. My mother did all she could to convince the lord that I was true to him, and it was she that discovered Dannen and I together. She had guards chase him away, though they didn't manage to kill him.
My mother then forbade me to see him again but I would hear none of it. She begged me not to forsake her to poverty. I struggled with the decision, should I run away with Dannen or marry Farthingdon? Life of the wealthy frightened me so I chose Dannen.
Lord Farthingdon was not at all happy and tried to have us both executed so Dannen and I fled Neverwinter. My mother was devastated. She was turned out of the noble society and lost everything in trying to pay back my stepfather's debts. I left with Dannen and learned the trade of the bard as we traveled around Faerun. When I came back here and visited her for a short time, I learned that she was dieing from the disease bonerot before she cast me out of her home. Thankfully you found this potion and I can heal her."
"Why would you want to heal her?" Caldor asked without thinking and quickly winced.
"I don't know honestly. I don't feel that I need her forgiveness or anything but she is my mother after all." Sharwyn said calmly.
Caldor put a hand on her shoulder and lightly squeezed. "Well then, we should get this potion to her."
Sharwyn smiled at him and placed her hand on his, "Yes we should." She put her hand up to the door and knocked sharply.
"Who is it?" Answered a hoarse voice from inside the house.
"It's me mother. I've found the cure for you." Sharwyn replied loudly.
"Oh leave me be! Let me die and finally get away from this pathetic existence."
"No mother! Not like this, open the door!" Sharwyn said.
"Go away!" the woman answered harshly.
Sharwyn twisted the doorknob but found that it was locked. She looked up at Caldor pleadingly and he nodded. He quickly removed the wedges from the door hinges and picked the door up, gently shaking the sliding bolt out of the door.
The woman inside watched in quiet shock as the tall man removed the door and moved it aside to allow the young bard to pass. Once Sharwyn was inside, Caldor set the door back in place and placed the wedges back into the hinges. He moved over to the woman and stood behind Sharwyn.
"Here you go mother, I won't leave until you drink it. The disease should clear up soon with this." Sharwyn handed her mother a cup with the Elixir. She stepped towards Caldor and he placed an arm around her shoulders smiling broadly at the woman.
Sharwyn's mother sipped gingerly at the cup, her eyes never leaving Caldor's. Once the elixir was gone she looked straight at her daughter. "Why did you come back? Why do you care if I live or die?"
"Because you are my mother, the past is irrelevant." Sharwyn replied.
The woman shook her head and looked up at Caldor. "What happened to that bard you ran away with and who is this young man? A fiancée I hope."
Sharwyn's eyes opened wide in shock and Caldor merely grinned. "NO! Where did you get that idea?"
"Just wondering since you seem to be quite comfortable with his arms around you and all, " Sharwyn pushed Caldor away and he merely snickered, "Hm, from the look in his eyes I would say that he wouldn't mind such an arrangement."
Caldor opened his mouth to speak but Sharwyn quickly elbowed him in the gut. "No mother, we are just friends." She glared at Caldor who merely laughed.
"Unfortunately, that is indeed true m'lady. I am Caldor Erion, paladin in the service of Helm."
"It is pleasure to meet you Sir Erion. If my daughter hasn't already told you, my name is Marise." She told him.
Sharwyn allowed herself to smile a little as the physical effects of bonerot were beginning to disappear.
Marise rocked in her chair a short time before gesturing to the seats in front of her. "Why don't you two sit down? You look dreadfully tired." Both nodded and quickly sat down in the sofa opposite her.
"Now then, was giving me the elixir the only reason you came here or is there something else?"
Caldor looked at Sharwyn who merely rubbed her arm. "Well I was wondering if you would let us stay here for the evening as all the inns are pretty much full." She looked her mother directly in the eyes as she waited for an answer.
Marise stared at her daughter then looked to Caldor who merely sat staring at the floor. "I suppose...it wouldn't hurt to let you stay tonight. Though I only have one room so you two would have to stay in the living area."
"That sounds good." Caldor mumbled then looked over to Sharwyn.
"Yes, thank you mother."
Caldor reached into his pack, pulled out 200 gold pieces and placed it on the table in front of Marise, "For letting us stay and a bit extra for you." He said with a smile.
Marise speechlessly stared at the gold. "I...I thank you m'lord."
Sharwyn smiled at him and gently nudged him in the side. He merely smiled.
"Is there somewhere we could wash up mother?" Sharwyn asked.
Marise looked up at her daughter and nodded, "Yes, go back into the kitchen and there is a door next to the stove. A wash room is back there with a tub, an old working fountain and fireplace with a pot to boil water in," Marise stood up and stretched her back muscles, "I'll go make supper while you two wash up." With that she shuffled into the kitchen.
"All right then, let's go." Sharwyn stood up, shouldered her pack, and grabbed Caldor's hand. "Wha...!"
She dragged him towards the washroom and he quickly grabbed his pack from off the floor.
Marise turned from the cupboard in time to see Sharwyn drag Caldor into the washroom and shut the door. "Hm."
Sharwyn dropped her pack by the door and tossed some logs into the fireplace, igniting them with the flick of her wrist. Caldor dropped his pack next to hers and walked over to a door in the side of the room. Inside he found some towels and a screen. He pulled the screen out and set it up near the tub then placed a couple towels and small cloths on a stool next to the tub.
Sharwyn had finally gotten the fire at a good blaze and nudged the filled pot over the flames. "There we go." She sat down cross-legged by the fireplace and looked through her pack, quickly finding her journal.
Caldor watched her for a moment before he began to unclasp his armor and set it aside. His tan colored shirt caught in the chain breastplate as he tried to take it off and he struggled with it a moment before finally getting it off, undershirt and all. Sharwyn glanced up at him and caught sight of the dragon tattoo on his chest.
"Nice tattoo you have there."
Caldor looked at her and smiled. "Thanks, it's kind of like a visual representation of my nickname which is 'wingless dragon'. In elvish it would be Raamanerloki.
"I see." Sharwyn watched him as he separated his shirt from the chain breastplate and inspected the damage made by the thug in the prison. The small room was quickly heating up with no visible source of ventilation. Sharwyn wiped sweat from her brow and she quickly looked back down at her journal.
Caldor barely noticed the heat since he had long since built up a resistance against fire. When he saw that Sharwyn was sweating heavily and squirming uncomfortably in the leather armor he began to laugh.
"You okay over there love?" he asked with a grin.
"Yes, I'm fine. And stop calling me love." Sharwyn told him irritably.
Caldor smiled and stood up. He walked over to the semi-boiling water and removed the pot from over the fire. "It's a little too warm in here for a hot bath, don't you agree."
Sharwyn looked up at him and nodded.
He poured the water into the tub and filled the rest with the water from the fountain. He swirled his hand around in the water and smiled. Picking up the bar of soap, he threw it into the air and bounced it off his knees and shins before holding it out to Sharwyn.
"Ladies first." Sharwyn took the soap from him and walked over to the tub, moving the screen so that she could have some amount of privacy.
Caldor sat down next to the fireplace and flicked at the pages of her journal.
"Don't you dare read that Caldor!" Sharwyn warned from behind the screen.
"Bah, I'm not that nosy m'lady." Caldor flipped the book closed and stretched out on the ground.
He stared up at the ceiling, tracing the numerous cracks with his eyes. Soon becoming bored, he closed his eyes and tried to imagine his home in the Spine of the World. Thoughts of his childhood spent playing with his draconic cousins and his time as an adolescent spent hunting the Red Dragons with his clan swam around in his head. He let out a contented sigh and slipped into a light sleep. It only seemed a few minutes before he felt a gentle nudge in his side.
Caldor opened his eyes slowly and looked up at Sharwyn. Her still wet hair glistened in the firelight and her blue clothing stuck slightly to her still wet body.
'Gods she's beautiful.' He thought as he stood up.
Sharwyn handed him the soap and sat down where he was lying before and picked up her journal. She took out her quill, dipped it in the inkbottle and continued where she left off.
"It's nice in there isn't?" She asked Caldor without looking up from her journal.
"Oh yes." Caldor replied as he slipped underwater. "It's nice to finally clean off after spending the whole day messing around with those smelly prisoners. I mean damn! Didn't they ever take showers in there?" Caldor exclaimed.
"Maybe you should complain to Lord Nasher about it." She laughed. A derisive snort was heard from the other side of the screen.
"That's another thing; I haven't seen this Lord Nasher. Where is he hiding anyway?" Caldor asked.
"Last I heard, he was holed up in Never Castle supposedly suffering from early signs of the plague."
"Oh, well that doesn't sound good at all. That only means we're going to have to double our efforts then." There was another splash and the grey clothes hanging over the top of the screen disappeared. Caldor appeared moments later, still drying his wet hair.
"Ah, much better." He said with a smile as he poured some more water in a pot and placed it over the fire. Once the water started boiling he pulled the pot from the flames and tossed his clothes and the towels in with a bit of soap.
"You want to wash yours too m'lady?"
"Yes." Sharwyn stood up and dropped her clothes into the pot and Caldor set to stirring the clothes with a large wooden paddle.
"So tell me about your clan in the Spine of the World."
Caldor glanced at her then looked back at the pot, a slow smile forming on his face. "Yes my home. As I said before my parents live there with my draconic cousins. My mother was originally a druid that would occasionally wander into the forest below the mountains. That's where she met my father. Anyway, um... my clan is full of a lot of tricksters. My grandfather had built the caves into a sprawling maze where we would catch any foolish adventurers hoping to walk away with some of our hoard. As a youth I remember spending time walking along the roof of the caves and whispering to the adventurers. Heh, they would freak out and start yelling into the path before them but they never thought to look up. Ah those were the days."
"Wait a minute; did you just say you walked along the ceiling?" Sharwyn looked up at him in surprise.
"Indeed m'lady. After all, Copper Dragons are known for the Spider walk. That is one trait that I thankfully inherited. It saved my rear end from countless potential deaths mind you. Now where was I? Yes, tricking the adventurers was a fun pastime. We rarely killed them though. Mostly we'd lead them into going back to the exit then block the cave entrance with a ward spell. Only if the adventurer was a particularly evil and cunning one did he meet the inside of one of my cousin's belly. Whenever we had a bard come by, he was always led away from his group into the common where we would hear his tales, jokes and then feed him more stories for the writing of his own ballads and such. Of course not every bard got that privilege."
Caldor stopped and dumped the water out of the pot. Sharwyn picked up her clothes and wrung them out hanging them over the screen to dry then sat back down. Caldor did the same then sat down in front of her.
Sharwyn nodded at him to continue. "Unfortunately, life wasn't always fun and games. A good portion of the time the clan fought with our enemies the Red Dragons. By the time I was 90 years old I had helped to bring down two adult red dragons. Nasty business that was." Caldor sighed and looked up at the ceiling, "I miss my clan...I never was much of a city person."
"Well after this is all over with you can go home."
"For some reason I doubt that. I don't know but I have a feeling that something really bad is going to happen." Caldor mumbled.
"Pfft, you're just being silly Caldor."
"Sharwyn! Caldor! Supper is ready." Marise's voice called to them from the kitchen.
"Finally! Come Caldor, time to put something in our bellies." Sharwyn led the way out of the washroom with Caldor close behind.