Chapter 1
Wearing a light brown leather vest over his elven chain armor, the halfling Bowie Butterball quietly walked down the dirt path that led into Myth Drannor. A light chill swept through his brown curly hair as he continued down the road towards the ruins.
"Where are you heading off to Master Bard?" asked a soft voice from behind the halfling. Bowie turned to see the elf Merith Strongbow approaching him. A tall elven male with long black hair, and two eyes-one green and one blue-Merith was one of the Knights of Myth Drannor. It was his duty, as well as the other Knights to warn travelers about the dangers of the ruins.
"Good day Merith," Bowie greeted in his evangelist like voice. "What brings you out here?"
"You know very well why I'm out here Bowie Butterball," the elf replied. "The question is why are you going to Myth Drannor by yourself?"
Bowie shook his head, unsheathing his magical short sword Vithril. The pommel of the weapon was blue with black leather handgrip. "I'm going to visit the Lina Marde," the halfling answered," and I'm not going alone."
"That's right Merith, I'm going with him," a soothing feminine voice said in Merith Strongbow's mind.
"Sylune," Merith whispered in awe," I didn't realize that you would be going with him?"
"Do you honestly think I'd let my godson go into Myth Drannor all by himself?" Sylune ghostly voice asked with a laugh. Merith shook his head, and then Bowie continued down the road.
The Knight of Myth Drannor wondered if he should have told the halfling bard that two others were on their way to the Lina Marde.
Bowie entered the halls of the Lina Marde quietly. The walls were made of white colored stone with elven runes and pictures engraved one the walls, just below the ceiling. The halfling thought that if he could keep himself hidden in the shadows, he could avoid any wandering creatures, but then the sound of beautiful singing and metal clanging against metal filled the air. The bard drew his short sword and ran forward. He wondered if he would be encountering foolish adventurers who had ignored Merith's warnings.
When he arrived at the scene, he found a human and a drow elf fighting against four harpies.
"Perhaps the elf wasn't exaggerating when he told us that these ruins were dangerous," the human with raven black hair remarked in a calm voice just as his long sword ripped through a harpy's stomach. Bowie noticed that the human's long sword was emitting a fierce red glow.
"It is nothing that we cannot handle," the drow wearing an eye patch replied as his rapier sliced right through a feathery wing. "Besides, I thought the song they sang was quite lovely."
The remaining two harpies flew at the human. The human took a step back and held his long sword in front of him. He swung the long sword in the air, and black ash fell out of the red glowing blade, covering the harpies in darkness. The human drew his dagger and stabbed it in the cloud of ash, then swung his long sword through the cloud. When the cloud disappeared, the two harpies lay dead on the ground.
"As I said," the dark elf remarked in a cool voice. "It was nothing that we could not handle. But you know, from what I heard about Myth Drannor, I would have expected a devil to attack us."
"Usually the devils appear on the other side of the ruins," Bowie said casually as he walked towards the two strangers. "The Lina Marde isn't usually a place in Myth Drannor where would find demons or devils. Although there have been times where I've literally bumped into them."
"And who might you be?" asked the drow as soon he noticed the halfling approaching. Bowie could sense the curiosity in the drow's voice. He glanced over at the human, noticing his grey eyes staring at him.
"I am Bowie Butterball," he responded, holding his hand out. "I've never seen you two in Shadowdale before. Are you new to the city?"
The human continued to stare at Bowie. The drow however grasped the halfling's hand hard and shook it. "I am Jarlaxle, and this is my friend and associate Artemis Entreri," he answered in a charming voice. Once Jarlaxle released his grip, Bowie held out his halfling hand for Entreri to shake. The assassin didn't move from his spot. He continued to stare at the halfling.
"Let me get this right," asked Jarlaxle. "You've actually traveled these parts of Myth Drannor?" Bowie nodded and the dark elf continued," So would you know where the Hall of Angels is located?"
Bowie nodded once again. "It's far up ahead. I can take you there if you want. I was on my there myself actually."
"For what reason would that be?" questioned Entreri, breaking his silence.
The halfling turned toe the assassin. Entreri then noticed something familiar about the halfling's brown eyes. For a moment, Bowie reminded him of his friend Dwahvel Tiggerwillies. "I go there to write my songs. Its hard to write a song in Shadowdale when you hundreds of townspeople asking to see Storm Silverhand, or asking for directions to Elminster's Tower. Why are you two down here?"
Jarlaxle smiled as he removed his hat. "We are like any other eager adventurers who come into Myth Drannor to seek its treasure. As for why we are going to the Hall of Angels in particular, there is something that an employer of ours desires."
The halfling smiled. "Well then we should join up together. If there are any devils down here, we all would stand a good chance against them if we stuck together."
Out of the corner of his eye, Jarlaxle could see the assassin's eyes looking at him. He turned to the halfling and said," Let me discuss this with my friend."
Bowie nodded while Jarlaxle and Entreri walked over to a corner. "Do be careful of them Bowie," Sylune's ghostly voice whispered in his mind. "Something about them..."
"Its all right Sylune," Bowie whispered," I know who Entreri was the moment I heard his name. I learned some things about him and Jarlaxle when Roland, Val, and I went to Calimport a year ago."
Across from where Bowie was standing, Entreri continued to stare at the halfling. "Do you think we could trust him?"
Jarlaxle glanced back at Bowie, then replied," He seems to be a jolly fellow, and it looks like he knows these ruins pretty well. Still if he proves useless, we can always just kill him."
Entreri nodded, then watched as the drow mercenary walked over to the halfling. "Bowie Butterball, we've decided to accept your offer," the dark elf declared in a merry voice.
Bowie nodded, then noticed two men wearing shining black breastplate armor emerging from the tunnel. They wore black tabards over their armor with a yellow Z on the front. The halfling bard recognized it as the symbol of the Zhentarim Organization.
"We've got company," Bowie commented as he drew his short sword. Before Entreri and Jarlaxle could draw their weapons, Bowie began to sing a ballad written by the famous bard Mintiper Moonsilver. Both the assassin and the drow felt strength and powerful energy flowing into their bodies as they heard the halfling's song.
Containing to sing his song, Bowie ran up to the first Zhent, bringing Vithril's sharp edge across the base of his neck. The other Zhentarim soldier slashed his long sword at Bowie's side, but the bard dodged the attack and turned left. He quickly brought his magical short sword's blade down across the Zhent's arm.
The Zhentarim growled as he felt the warm blood from his wound run down his arm. He was ready to strike the halfling, but then the true power of the bard's weapon took affect.
Entreri and Jarlaxle watched as the Zhentarim's feet started to tap and shuffle. The soldier's body and arms began to rock back and forth as Bowie made two more slashes with his sword across the Zhent's midsection. He quickly finished the dancing Zhentarim soldier with a hard thrust in the chest.
"Well it's official, he is coming with us," Jarlaxle remarked as Bowie sheathed his short sword. Entreri noticed the cold look on the halfling's face. The assassin stared back at the halfling's eyes. Why were the halfling's eyes familiar to him?
"Were those Zhentarim soldiers?" Jarlaxle asked, recognized the symbol on the dead Zhent's tabard.
Bowie nodded. "We just may face something worse than demons. There has been a plot among the Zhents for along time to raid the Hall of Angels. If we want to rescue those treasures, then we better move quickly."