Shadows Of The Knight

by Speaker-to-Customers

Sequel to Black Knight but you don't need to wait for that one to be completed before reading this. Captured by Irenicus, with some of her friends slain and even worse having been done to others, T'rissae must work with Jaheira to survive and rescue Viconia and Imoen. The mutual dislike between them is going to make that difficult...

11. Somebody's Baby

Chapter Eleven: Somebody's Baby

We arrived at Trademeet just as an attack by animals was in progress. A palisade surrounded the town and the main gate was under assault by tigers, wolves, and giant spiders. Jaheira was reluctant to slay the animals but I pointed out that they were going to die anyway, inevitably, and the only question was whether or not they would kill any of the town militia before they died. We entered the fight on the side of the militia, mainly by the use of missiles at distance, and brought the attack to an end.

The militia captain was not as grateful for our help as I would have expected, and seeing two Drow in our group made him wary, but he unbent somewhat when we explained that we had been asked by Flydian to come to the town's aid. He directed us to the High Merchant, Lord Logan Coprith, to be told in detail about the situation and what was required.

Logan Coprith was not a typical merchant. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and wore full plate armor. He was handsome of face, in a distinguished way, and only his iron-grey hair and receding hairline betrayed that he was perhaps a little past his prime as a fighting man. He greeted us in friendly fashion, seemingly not put off in the slightest by me and Viconia being Drow, and said that he had heard of our exploits in the Umar Hills and was delighted to welcome heroes of our stature.

He told us of the town's troubles. After many years of peaceful coexistence, druids from a grove not far from the town had seemingly turned against them, and were directing animals, and even plants, to attack the town and its folk. He did not know the reason. Either something had changed with the druids, or one or more of the townsfolk had gravely offended them, either unwittingly or deliberately, and the attacks were acts of revenge. Attempts to negotiate with the druids, even just to discover the cause of their grievance, had thus far proved futile.

A short time before our arrival the townsfolk had captured a druid, and had been about to execute him when Logan had intervened, and had questioned him and kept him in protective custody. This druid, a man named Cernd, claimed that he was not a local druid at all but had been sent by a higher druidic authority to investigate what was going on. Logan was inclined to believe him, and would have released him, but he feared that the townsfolk would simply murder him in the street. He asked us to question Cernd and, if we believed his story, to escort him out of the town and then assist him in his investigation.

The town had other troubles, on top of the druid-instigated animal attacks, as we were informed by Guildmistress Busya of the Merchants' Guild. A group of Dao Djinn had set up a tent just outside the town gates and were intercepting any incoming trading caravans that braved the animal attacks. They used no force but simply bought all the incoming goods, at prices the town merchants could not match, thereby monopolizing all trade and threatening the local merchants with ruin. If we wanted to purchase anything the djinni would be our only option. Something else that I thought we should look into, perhaps, but first we would speak to the captive druid.

Cernd was quite handsome, and I might have found him attractive, had his conversation not been so full of nature-oriented similes that it soon became annoying. He told us that he was originally from Athkatla but had gone to the north to study under the Great Druid. His familiarity with Amn had led to him being the one given the task of investigating why the druids of this region had severed their ties with the traditional hierarchy. The animal attacks worried him from the point of view of the animals; the attacks might be killing some humans, and causing economic damage to the town, but the wildlife itself was being decimated in the process. He believed that there must have been a change in the leadership of the local druids and needed to meet the new leader to find out more. That seemed a good idea and we agreed to escort him out of the town and to the Druid Grove.

We paid a visit to the Dao djinni, partly to get their side of the story and partly to purchase a sling for Cernd, and met with their leader Khan Zharaa. Viconia's fluency in Calishite Alzhedo came in handy, for although the djinni spoke the Common Tongue, her use of their own language gained us respect in their eyes. The Khan told us that they had come to the region in pursuit of a Rakshasa criminal named Ihtafeer. They had tracked her, together with two accomplices, to this area but then lost the trail. Rather than continue to search they had decided to blackmail the humans into finding their quarry for them, and were ruining the town's trade to that end. Thus far the local humans had been of no help. The Khan was growing bored and would be delighted if we could find Ihtafeer, bring them her head, and bring their mission to an end so that they could go home to Calimshan. As the Rakshasa in question was a cannibal murderer, I was only too happy to agree to help, although I had no idea of where to look.

I was given a starting point soon enough. We did a quick patrol of the outside of the town before setting off for the Druid Grove and were met by the local representative of the Shadow Thieves. She told us that she believed she knew where the Rakshasa could be found. The Shadow Thieves were all in favor of ending the genies' stranglehold on the town's trade, as it meant that there was little available locally for them to steal, and she freely told us what she suspected. An old woman named Adratha lived in the woods north-east of the Druid Grove, making and selling potions, and even with the animal attacks some locals had still been visiting her to make purchases. Recently, however, all of those who went to her alone had disappeared. Only those who went in groups had returned, and those had mentioned that she now had two men living with her. Adratha claimed they were her grandsons, but the Shadow Thieves knew that Adratha had no living relatives. Rakshasa were shape-changers and she believed that Ihtafeer had slain Adratha, and taken her form, and was now impersonating her and luring in locals to be devoured. It seemed a likely possibility and well worth checking out.

We were challenged on our arrival at the outskirts of the Druid Grove by a druid named Pauden. Cernd questioned him and discovered that the Great Druid Gragus, former leader of the Grove, had been overthrown and replaced by a Shadow Druid woman, named Faldorn, who had come from the north. It was at her command that the druids were sending animals to attack Trademeet. She had undergone a ritual called 'Bonding with the Grove', something normally forbidden, which had made her too powerful for any of the other druids to challenge her, and they had no option but to follow her orders.

I had met Faldorn before, in the Cloakwood, and she had offered to join us to fight the Iron Throne. I had thought her dangerously fanatical, even by the standards of Shadow Druids, and had turned her down. It wasn't a big surprise to find that she was at the heart of these troubles.

Pauden let us past, not that he really had any choice, and we began to wend our way through the swamps and rocky outcrops that lay between us and the Grove proper. We encountered trolls, and giant spiders of several breeds, along the way and, eventually, came upon a large, crudely-built, domed structure that seemed to be the trolls' fortress. There we fought and slew more trolls, including the dangerous Spirit and Spectral variants, and found treasure in their nest. A twice-enchanted spear tipped with unicorn horn, giving its wielder immunity to Charm and Hold spells, and a set of Bracers of Archery that had belonged to Safana. I doubted that Irenicus would have sold them to trolls and deduced that he must have sold them to an adventurer who had ventured here before us and been slain.

Next we met a group of druids, allied with two of fighters and a mage, engaged in battling several trolls. We joined in on the side of the druids, slaying the trolls, but the druids displayed extreme ingratitude and turned on us. A bad mistake, and their last. Another group of druids, five in number, barred our path a little further on. They fared no better. An Insect Plague from Jaheira ruined their spell-casting and we peppered them with missiles until all were dead.

More trolls barred our path as we approached two huts. They were in the right area for one of them to be the hut of the potion-seller Adratha, or of a Rakshasa impersonating her, and after slaying the trolls we checked them out. The first we entered was being used as a barn, and its only living occupant was a cow, but we saw something sticking out of a bundle of hay, investigated, and found a twice-enchanted Scimitar of Speed. We moved on to the next hut.

An old woman in peasant clothes started to greet us and then hissed "You! You have the stench of those filthy Djinn about you! I know what you have come for. You fools! We shall devour you." In the time she was making her speech we were ensuring that all our missile weapons were loaded with enchanted ammunition and, as soon as she transformed into her Rakshasa form, we filled her with so many bolts, arrows, and bullets that she dropped dead on the spot.

Her two companions made better use of their time. They had been out of sight at first and emerged ready to cast spells. We loosed shafts at them but were unable to prevent one from getting off a spell of Cloudkill. We beat a hasty retreating, leaving the hut, and they did not follow. After waiting long enough for the spell to expire, and the gas cloud to disperse, we went back in and killed them. We took all three Rakshasa heads, which would satisfy the Djinn beyond doubt, and found some nice items. A thrice-enchanted quarterstaff, a store of fire and acid arrows, envenomed crossbow bolts and Bolts of Lightning, and a Periapt of Proof Against Poison. Minsc took the periapt.

The inner sanctum of the Druid Grove was tunneled into a cliff face. Outside it two druids, accompanied by a fighter, barred our way. Our missiles kept the druids from casting spells and only the fighter made it to close quarters. He tried to get inside the arc of my two-handed sword, to make effective use of his shorter blade, but I cut him down. His weapon was another that had once belonged to us; the Burning Earth, a once-enchanted flaming sword that had additional powers against the undead, beings attuned to cold, and creatures, such as trolls, that regenerated. It was a weapon that we had found in Durlag's Tower, but rarely used, as none of us had been particularly adept with the one-handed longsword, and I had sold it. Jaheira revealed that her party had bought it and Khalid had been wearing it at the time of our capture. Now Yoshimo took it, for use against trolls when Celestial Fury would be unable to deal the finishing blow, and its particular enchantments made it an excellent weapon against the undead. It would even be able to harm Kangaxx!

It wasn't the only valuable weapon we gained. One of the druids had carried an unusual club, a twice-enchanted weapon named Gnasher, which had the property of leaving splinters of wood behind in wounds it inflicted, worsening the wounds, and continuing to cause pain for some time after the initial strike and thus disrupting spell-casting. Jaheira adopted it in place of her quarterstaff, as she would be able to defend herself with her shield whilst striking with the club, a move impossible with a quarterstaff. Its effect on spellcasters was another advantage.

With the guardians slain, we were able to move on and enter the heart of the Grove. Faldorn ranted in almost insane fashion, laughing at us, and saying that we were helpless to do anything against her because of her bonding with the Grove. She was effectively invulnerable except under the conditions of a druidic ritual challenge. The other druids seemed gloomily resigned to following her as none of them believed they stood a chance against Faldorn in the ritual circle. Jaheira was about to issue a challenge, and my money would have been on her, but Cernd stepped forward and preempted her.

"This is why I am here, specifically for this purpose," he told me, and then faced our foe. "Faldorn! You perpetuate gross crimes here," he accused her. "You are unfit! I challenge you and, by the rules laid down ages ago, you cannot refuse."

"What makes you think I would refuse?" Faldorn sneered. "To the pit then, with no armor, and no weapon but a simple wooden staff, and let us fight to the death."

To be honest, Cernd had not impressed me overly much, being a reasonable healer and spell-caster but with only passable ability in combat, but he strode forward confidently. Once the fight started the reason for his confidence was soon revealed. He cast Summon Insects on Faldorn as his opening move, to interfere with her spellcasting, and then transformed into… a Greater Werewolf! The rest of the fight was more like butchery than fair combat, as he simply ripped Faldorn apart with her staff unable to harm him. He left the pit, once she was dead, and took human form again.

Naked.

I had caught glimpses of unclad males before, almost all of Minsc, but never had such an unimpaired view. I couldn't help staring. So that was what it looked like in real life rather than a statue. I didn't avert my eyes until he started getting dressed.

Technically that made Cernd the new Great Druid of the Grove. He was not yet ready to take up the position, however, and contented himself with ordering the other druids to cease their attacks on Trademeet. He appointed Verthan, the Challenge Master of the Grove, to handle leadership matters in his absence and said that he would continue to travel with us. I would have been content for him to stay with the druids, as I found Cernd to be a little irritating, but I didn't want to make him lose face by countermanding his decision and allowed him to stay.

Back in Trademeet the first stop we made was at the tent of the Dao Djinn. We presented Khan Zharaa with the Rakshasa heads and he was delighted. He gave us a twice-enchanted scimitar as a reward, although it was inferior to the one that we had found in the barn beside the potion-seller's hut, and then the whole party of djinni teleported away back to Calimshan.

The town showered us with rewards. High Merchant Logan Coprith gave us two thousand danter in cash and a banquet in our honor. Guildmistress Busya presented us with several valuable gems and the Shield of Harmony, a thrice-enchanted small shield which gave its wielder immunity to almost all magical kinds of mind control. At the banquet it was announced that statues of us were to be erected around the town's public fountain. I thought that excessive and embarrassing, and tried to decline, but my protests were treated merely as modesty and humility and I couldn't stop them from going ahead. Minsc was proud; the rest of us no more enthusiastic than was I.

Two rival nobles, one a lord and the other a lady, approached me after the banquet and said that they wanted me to do a job for them. Each asked me to visit them at their estate and not to accept any offers from the other. I gave non-committal answers and left consideration of their requests until after we had rested for the night. We left the High Merchant's building, intended to go straight to the local inn, but were intercepted.

A desperate townswoman approached us, begging for help, and it turned out that her son Tiris and his girlfriend Raissa had been attacked by a large man and a creature resembling a skinless human. Tiris had been knocked out and, when he recovered consciousness, he saw his girlfriend being tied up. He had fled, and barely escaped as they leapt after him, but had not been able to get to Raissa. I questioned him further and learnt that one had called the other 'Rejiek'. It had to be Rejiek Hidesman, the skinner murderer! I could not refuse to help.

We went to the location Tiris had described and met a warrior calling himself Darsidian Moor. He claimed to be hunting a monster known as the Skin Dancer, that could take the skins of victims and don them itself, and he asked us to follow him to a plaza where he thought it might be found. He rushed off, ahead of us, and we arrived at the plaza to find him with a young girl, fitting the description of Raissa, standing over a skinless body. They claimed they had managed to stun the Skin Dancer but to slay it required magic weapons, of which they had none, and asked me to finish the job.

I was dubious. The girl didn't seem to be acting the way someone narrowly rescued from a horrible fate should act. No panic, no questions about what had happened to Tiris, just pleas for us to kill the Skin Dancer. I have an ability that comes in very handy in such situations…

Darsidian Moor showed up as Evil and so did 'Raissa'. The body on the ground didn't. That I heard it mutter something sounding very like 'Tiris' clinched the issue. I pointed my sword at Darsidian Moor and the supposed Raissa, making it clear that they would be our targets, and they wasted time hurling recriminations at each other, about the stupidity of their plan, rather than instantly attacking. Not that it would have made any difference. It only took us seconds to kill both of them.

The skinless body clambered to its feet, staggered across to the body of the one who had claimed to be Raissa, and took its skin and climbed into it. The real Raissa. She sobbed as she cried out that it was good to be back in her own skin, and that she couldn't believe what had happened, and haltingly explained that they had told her that they had turned her into one of them. The one who had taken her skin had told her that she had been given a new identity, although only for a short time, as they wanted 'Rejiek' to be declared dead so that they would not have heroes chasing after them.

"He meant you, didn't he?" Raissa choked out. "He knew you were here. He meant to use both me… and Tiris… but Tiris got away, so their plan had to change. But now I can feel the magic, the evil, growing inside of me! Please, my lady, help me!"

I asked how, and she told me that Rejiek had said that only a spell of Restoration could help her, but that she would never receive one. She had no coin to pay a temple and could only hope that I could do something.

I couldn't, but Viconia could. One Restoration spell later and Raissa's skin, which had been slightly wrinkled and seemingly just a touch loose, now fitted her perfectly and her face lit up with a smile. "I can feel it! I can feel my skin turning back to normal! Oh, thank you! Thank you! I've got to go home! I've got to see Tiris! Thank you, thank you again, you wonderful, wonderful, women!"

The affair of Rejiek Hidesman and the skinner murders was now well and truly over. A good deed done.

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We went straight to the inn, where we had an odd experience. A customer at the bar cried out on seeing us, saying "What… no! No! A Bhaalspawn? Here?" and, with further protesting cries, disappeared in a flash that looked very much like an involuntary teleportation. I was taken aback, even astounded, but no-one seemed to connect his cry of 'Bhaalspawn' with me, we were treated as heroes for our ending of the town's two major problems, and we were able to bathe and find rooms without difficulty.

Our rest was disturbed by two guards, one from the retinue of each of the two noble families, getting into a swordfight in the bar. The rivalry between the families was intense and I wondered if getting involved, by taking a job from one of the two, would calm things down or make them worse. I decided to look into it in the morning.

Our first priority, though, was shopping. The merchants of the town were back in business and had plenty to offer. A particularly well-stocked caravan had arrived during the night, probably drawn by the inflated prices the djinni had been paying, and with the djinn gone the local traders had bought up everything they could get their hands on. We found several items to purchase and sold off most of our recent acquisitions. For me, a Belt of Inertia, generating a protective shield that enhanced my armor, and some Potions of Heroism. For Jaheira, a thrice-enchanted, acid-impregnated, Blackblood club, in place of her recently-acquired quarterstaff and club Gnasher. And for Nalia, a Cloak of Displacement – quite possibly the same one that had been Dynaheir's, although we could not prove it – and a bow that created its own magical arrows.

Next we paid a visit to Lady Lilith Lurraxol, head of one of the feuding families, who had seemed slightly the more pleasant of the two when she spoke to me at the banquet. Lady Lilith revealed that she wanted us to retrieve a golden circlet, called the Mantle of Waukeen, from a reputedly haunted tomb in the town graveyard. This circlet, she claimed, would prove her family's claim to be the descendants of the town's founders and so give them primacy over the rival Alibakkar family. She assured me that the tomb was abandoned, due to the haunting, and that it would not be disrespecting the dead. I interpreted that as meaning that the tomb was occupied by undead, which is why neither family was willing to enter it themselves, but I agreed to go to the tomb and she gave me its key.

Lord Logan Coprith met us outside the tomb. He did not want to stop us entering it, and taking the Mantle, but said that handing it to either family would merely escalate their feud as the one obtaining it crowed about it to the other. He suggested that giving it to him, to be held neutrally by the town rather than any individual family, might help to reduce the tensions to at least some extent. He offered no reward, but left the decision to my conscience.

The tomb proved to be inhabited by skeletons and Skeleton Warriors. Not a challenge for us, these days, but I could see why they might have deterred common household guards. We retrieved the Mantle and I decided that Logan Coprith's argument made good sense. We took the Mantle to him, rather than to Lady Lilith, and he rewarded us with his gratitude, two hundred and fifty danter, and his statement that he would spread word of our integrity and honor.

With that over, I considered carrying on from Trademeet to the Windspear Hills, but decided that the time was not yet right to face Firkraag. There was another matter outstanding; challenging Isaea Roenall to a duel, and killing him legally, thereby removing any threat from him to Nalia. We set off for Athkatla.

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As I should have expected, on past form, things did not go quite according to my plan. Instead of finding Isaea straight away we became involved in Cernd's surprisingly complex domestic affairs. He had left a wife behind when he went off to join the Great Druid in the north and, unknown to him, she had been pregnant. We found that out when he met an old friend in the street, greeted him fondly, and was met with cold hostility and scorn.

Further investigation revealed that Cernd's wife Galia, after being deserted by her husband, had sought shelter and comfort with a noble named Deril who, we were told, had treated her badly. Galia had given birth to a son and, a little later, had died from what might have been regarded as domestic abuse had Deril not been influential and rich. He now had custody of the child, who would be some fifteen months old by this time, and Cernd did not want to leave the boy there. We accompanied him to Deril's estate in the Government District.

A servant golem met us on our entry and, although it said that the master could not be disturbed, Cernd bullied it into going to fetch Deril. The noble, who must also have been a mage, reacted to being interrupted by destroying the golem with a powerful fire spell. Deril then emerged from an inner room accompanied by a lich. He was dismissive of Cernd at first, and seemed to have the moral high ground, but I cast Detect Evil and, as I had expected from the company he was keeping, he showed up red. I advised Cernd to report his suspicions that Deril was culpable in Galia's death to the authorities. Deril laughed the suggestion off, claiming that he could buy his way out of anything, and began mocking Cernd and saying that even if he had killed Galia, for instance by pushing her down the stairs, there was nothing Cernd could do about it.

At that point Cernd snapped and attacked. We backed him up, of course, and let loose with everything we had that wasn't likely to affect the nearby infant. I got between Deril and the lich and used one of my Orb Alur techniques to strike at both in rapid succession. Minsc threw Azuredge at the lich. The others concentrated on Deril.

Deril went down, permanently, and then the lich hit me with so many spells at once that he could only have been using Time Stop to cast several in what seemed to us to be only a split second. Alas for him, my magic resistance saved me, and I suffered no ill effects. Minsc threw Azuredge again, the lich staggered, and I hit him with a mighty stroke and he collapsed into a pile of dust.

Cernd collected his child and told us that he was going to return to the Druid Grove, take up his position as the local Great Druid, and bring the boy up according to his code. He assured us that he would respond if we called upon him again for a future quest. I had no intention of so doing, as not only would it not be fair on the child, I had lost most of what respect I had for Cernd and would be content never to see him again. Even if seeing his… naked assets… had been interesting.

It was just a pity he was such a… dick.

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We had ended up, conveniently, in the Government District. Before calling on Isaea I went to see Magistrate Bylanna at the government building to make sure that I would not face any charges over the death of Deril. I felt that our actions had been righteous and just, but it wasn't as clear-cut a case of self-defense as our other fights in the city, as this time it had been Cernd, a member of my party, who first resorted to violence. Bylanna, however, carried out only a cursory investigation before declaring that she was entirely satisfied with my account. My membership of the Order of the Radiant Heart no doubt helped, as did the good reputation I had acquired in the city by now, and the clincher was that Deril had been associating with the notorious lich Lagole Gon on obvious friendly terms. They had been playing cards together, it was revealed, when we turned up and interrupted their game. And some of the things found in the house had been… disturbing. Bylanna did not elaborate and I didn't press her.

With that over, we went along to Isaea's house and knocked. "Is your master home?" I asked Danterworth, when he answered the door.

"I shall enquire," he said, thereby giving away that the answer was 'Yes'.

Isaea kept us waiting for several minutes before appearing at the door. He looked somewhat less neat and tidy than would be expected of a noble.

"What do you want, peasant?" he snapped.

"Isaea Roenall, I challenge you to a duel to the death," I answered.

"You do not have the right, commoner," he sneered.

"I am a Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart," I informed him, "and I most certainly do have the right. Accept the challenge… or admit that your betrothal to Nalia is void and return Castle De'Arnise to her ownership."

"The deeds have been signed over to my father, Lord Farthington Roenall," Isaea said, his expression smug. "It's irrevocable. The castle belongs to my family now and there is nothing you can do about it."

"In that case," I said, "there is nothing you can do to avoid the duel."

"Oh, very well," he said. "Have your second call upon mine. Of course, the second must also be one of a suitable social class. That might present a jumped-up guttersnipe like you with some… difficulties."

I raised my eyebrows. "Nalia?"

"She doesn't count," Isaea said, his expression still smug. "It can only be someone who has reached their majority… and a male."

"Oh dear," I said. "I'll have to trail all the way back to Trademeet and Lord Logan Coprith. Inconvenient, but I know he'd be willing to go out of his way for me. Or… I know. Sir William Reirrac." Now it was my turn to look smug. "On whom should I ask him to call?"

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It took a full day to set the conditions for the duel and Isaea, who as the challenged party had the right, did his best to ensure that they were unfavorable to me. No magical weapons, armor, or other combat-enhancing items, no spells cast on the combatants beforehand, and no potions other than for healing. I had to buy back a suit of non-magical full plate from Roger the Fence, the very one I had sold to him when I gained an enchanted suit from the robbers in the sewers, and a non-magical sword. Isaea must have been under the impression that my prowess was derived entirely from external sources.

He was sadly disillusioned. He cheated; I could tell, as soon as we crossed blades, that he had consumed something like a giant strength potion before Sir William inspected his gear and he was still under its effects. I suspect he had done the same with a potion of regeneration, too. The strength potion did not help him. My own strength, although enhanced by the Manual of Gainful Exercise, was a permanent part of me, as was my speed. My skill far outclassed his. And the regeneration potion did not help him either. I parried his blows and riposted, not piercing his plate but sending him off balance, struck him again and made him stagger, then reversed my sword and dazed him with a murder-stroke. I changed my grip again, tripped him, put the point of my sword to his visor, and drove it in, with all my weight and strength, until it came up against the inside of his helm at the rear.

It had cost four thousand danter to re-purchase the armor and sword, and I would get nothing like as much back when I returned it. Never has four thousand danter seemed so well spent.

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It was not a total victory, as Nalia's lands remained lost to her, but at least now there was no longer even a remote possibility of her being forced into marriage. I deemed it worth celebrating and we went to the Five Flagons Inn, to dine on the finest cuisine, and then attend the theatre the inn housed in its lower floor. The company of actors currently appearing, the Sigil Troupe, had the reputation of being the best outside of Waterdeep. We took our seats expecting a pleasant experience.

It wasn't. If these were the best actors outside of Waterdeep then I shuddered to think what the worst must be like. Although perhaps I was doing them an injustice. The actors portraying the heroine, the villain, and the peripheral characters seemed to know their business. The speeches were overly melodramatic for my tastes but that, I gathered, was the fashion. The problem lay with the central role; Rodrigo, the dashing hero. The actor playing Rodrigo was dreadful. He stumbled over his lines, did not properly respond to those spoken by other characters, and omitted some lines altogether, or said them in the wrong order, to the obvious bafflement of the other players. They became so occupied in trying to prompt him, and guide him on the correct course, that they began to lose track of their own places. The performance degenerated into disarray. The audience reacted with a mixture of boos, catcalls, and laughter.

Some of the audience walked out. I might have done the same had Viconia's acid-laced commentary, some of it in the Common Tongue and the most vitriolic comments in Ilythiirra, not amused me and, although she might not have admitted it, Jaheira. Nalia felt sorry for the actors, Yoshimo was impassive, and Minsc seemed to be oblivious to the errors and just enjoyed the high-flown language.

And then came the climax, the swordfight between Rodrigo and the villain Kirinaldo, with virtuous maiden Lunisia standing to the side watching and wringing her hands. It should have been spectacular. The actor playing Kirinaldo had the necessary skills. Alas, Rodrigo… didn't. He flailed wildly with his sword, leaving himself so wide-open that any half-competent swordsman could have killed him in ten seconds in a real fight, and then one of his wild swings caught Lunisia across the side of her head. The swords were blunted, of course, but even so the blow sent the actress reeling. The hero dropped his sword, put his hand to his mouth, and cried out "Sorry! Sorry!" He stumbled away, saying "I'm just the understudy! I can't do this!" He failed to look where he was going, went too close to the edge of the stage, put a foot onto thin air and toppled into the audience. It might have been funny if he had landed on a fat man, for instance, or Minsc, or tangled himself in the strings of the harp that stood near the stage. But he fell onto a child, a girl of perhaps ten, and broke her arm. Her screams of pain killed the laughter instantly.

There was a frantic flurry of activity as a healer was sought. There were other healers in the audience but Viconia and Jaheira were the closest and responded first. Once the child had been treated a woman, apparently the troupe manager, came out from backstage and addressed the crowd.

"I am sorry, good folk of the audience," she said, in a sultry voice with an accent I did not recognize. "As you can see, things are not quite right with our troupe, due to circumstances beyond our control. I beg of you, good people, come back another day, when we shall have restored matters. We shall prove to you then that the Sigil Troupe is worthy of your attention, and your coin, and we shall do so for free, of course. And… one final… odd… request, good folk. If you or another knows of those who are skilled in the arts of sword and adventure… do send them to speak to me. It is a matter of utmost urgency. Tell them to come and speak to I, Raelis Shai. Until then, I apologize again, and bid you a fair evening."

A call for adventurers? How could I resist?

0=≡≡≡≡≡≡≡ {[[≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡=-

Raelis Shai, up close, did not look like any race with which I was familiar. Her ears were longer, and more pointed, than mine, or any other elf I had met, but her features were more like those of a human and she was more… curvaceous than an elf maid. Not a half-elf, not with those ears, and her hair had a greenish sheen. Part nymph, perhaps? I did not voice my curiosity, feeling that it would be impolite, and stuck to business.

She told me that the company's leading actor, a man named Haer'Dalis, had been abducted by an evil wizard who coveted a gem belonging to him. The Sigil Troupe had often been treated unfairly by city authorities in the past and they had been left with a distrust of authority in general. Consequently, she was unwilling to go to the guard for help especially, she said, as the wizard could claim that the gem was his and they could not prove otherwise. She wanted me to rescue Haer'Dalis and bring him, and his gem, back.

I wasn't entirely convinced by her story. Why would the wizard keep the actor if all he wanted was the gem? I suspected that the truth lay the other way around and that the gem really was the property of the wizard. There was a considerable overlap between actors and thieves, and I thought it more likely that the actor had sought to steal a gem from the wizard, had been caught in the act, and was being imprisoned as punishment. None of the acting troupe showed up as Evil, however, and I agreed to look into it. The wizard Mekrath, she told me, could be found in a lair that was accessed from the sewer hub under the Temple District.

We were still fresh, and had our full complement of spells, and I decided to set off at once. Our first stop, in the sewers, was at the stall of Roger the Fence. I sold the armor and sword back to him, getting twelve hundred and twenty for them, making my loss just short of twenty-eight hundred danter. I did not begrudge it. I asked about Mekrath and Roger told me he was aware that the wizard had a door somewhere in the sewer hub, but there were two possibles, and he did not know which was the right one. He indicated where we could look and we set off again.

The nearer of the two doors in the sewer wall was locked, but opened with a key that we had found in Firkraag's lair but had not opened any of the locks we had tried there. We went through into a corridor in which several dead adventurers lay on the ground. Some powerful force lashed out at our minds, stunning us briefly, and I realized that this would be a dangerous mission. I was not deterred, however, and we continued on cautiously.

At the end of the corridor a flight of steps led up to a door. We went through it and emerged into a circular chamber decorated in a strange fashion unlike anything I had seen before. It did not seem either human or elvish in style. A corridor from that room led to another chamber in which were several adventurer types, an Umber Hulk, and a far deadlier opponent. An Illithid.

The adventurers reacted by rushing at us. We all had missile weapons ready and met them with a volley. Nalia sent a Cloudkill into the room, killing the Umber Hulk instantly, and we backed away, continuing to loose at the oncoming foes, until we reached the first chamber. Minsc and I stopped there, to meet the attackers with swords at the bottle-neck, as the others kept up their volleys.

The human foes fell, and the Illithid tried to attack Minsc with its facial tentacles, but our two swords slashed it apart before it could harm him. I had fought an Illithid before, in the temple of Bhaal where I believed my mother had been murdered, and knew that their powers of mind control were to be feared. No doubt these adventurers we had been forced to slay had been merely helpless thralls of the Mind Flayer.

"Haszak," Viconia spat out, using the Ilythiirra name. "We must be wary, Jabbress. I have Chaotic Commands memorized, and that would give one of us protection, but only the one. My Skeleton Warrior will be called for, I think."

Jaheira grimaced. "I did not think to memorize Chaotic Commands, T'rissae. The Shield of Harmony protects me from most of the same things, as does Minsc's sword, and your Drow blood and magic resistance. I thought it unnecessary. It seems I was wrong."

"Do not blame yourself, Jaheira, I would have thought the same," I said. "Who would have thought to meet Mind Flayers under the Temple District of Athkatla? Still, there might only be the one… although I suspect otherwise."

My suspicions were correct. Beyond the chamber that now held only the dead was another, longer, corridor with a door at the end. We prepared in advance and sent the Skeleton Warrior ahead. Nalia, with the Chaotic Commands spell cast on her, took a Potion of Speed and accompanied Viconia's undead servant, intending to use another Cloudkill and then run back to join the rest of us. Our missile weapons were loaded with our deadliest ammunition; Bolts of Lightning, Acid Arrows, and Arrows of Ice. Nalia opened the door and sent her Cloudkill into a room filled with deadly foes. An Umber Hulk and, not one, but four, Mind Flayers. She retreated with all her potion-enhanced speed, using her Wand of Monster Summoning to create allies to slow the pursuing Illithids, and made it safely back to us. The Illithids were hot on her heels, the Skeleton Warrior and the ogres and dire wolves from the wand barely slowing them, but Nalia kept summoning more and more creatures, we bombarded the Mind Flayers with missiles, and one by one they fell. The last survivor broke through, and I had to fight it sword to tentacle, and it scored a hit upon my face that caused temporary brain damage before it went down.

For a few minutes I acted like an idiot, having to be restrained from rushing ahead through the complex and taking on any Mind Flayers without thought of tactics, but the effects wore off and I was myself again. By this time the Cloudkill would have dispersed and it would be safe to proceed – safe, that is, apart from attack by Mind Flayers.

The next chamber was, thankfully, the final one. This time we prepared even more comprehensively, with a Fire Elemental from Jaheira backing up a fresh Skeleton Warrior from Viconia, Bless and Chant spells active, and Nalia having summoned her monsters in advance. It was well that we were thorough, for it was defended by a positive horde. Two Umber Hulks and six Illithids, including some of greater than the common type, swarmed out of the room so quickly and ferociously that only one of the Umber Hulks succumbed to the Cloudkill's toxin. Once again we stayed back, loosing missiles at a frantic pace, with Nalia summoning more creatures to replace those that fell quickly enough to just manage to keep ahead of the losses inflicted by the Illithids.

Our tactics triumphed, just as they had done in the fight at the old Bhaal temple and in the chamber before, and at last the Illithids were all dead. We found a journal in that final chamber, written mainly in scripts and languages we could not decipher, but one section in the Common Tongue talked of the base in Athkatla having been completed; the structure in which we stood, presumably. It seemed that we had saved the city from an unknown peril without even knowing that we were doing so.

We had not profited from this in financial terms. Nalia had used an incredible eighteen charges from her Wand of Summoning, and when we went back to Roger the Fence it cost us so much to get it recharged to full capacity that we were three thousand danter worse off even after selling off almost all of what we had won in the Mind Flayer lair. There was one thing we did not sell, however; the Hammer of Thunderbolts, a powerful thrice-enchanted warhammer, that was one of the components Cromwell had told us was required for the creation of the super-weapon Crom Faeyr. A serendipitous find; and, until we could acquire the final component, it would serve as my weapon against Clay Golems, replacing the lesser-enchanted mace. I had no skill in either weapon, and the hammer's greater enchantment would compensate, and selling the mace reduced our deficit by six hundred.

We were free, now, to try the remaining door, in reasonable certainty that it would take us to the lair of the mage Mekrath. It did, but we had to face more perils before we found him. A helical staircase took us up into a sitting room and library, where we were at once attacked by several mephits. There were two exits from the room and the first one we took led to a room inhabited by Umber Hulks. We retreated, hastily, and a Cloudkill from Nalia's wand took care of the monsters. Hopefully the actor Haer'Dalis would not have been sharing the room with the ravenous beasts.

We explored the other exit, whilst waiting for the Cloudkill to disperse, and it was less hazardous. A corridor led to what seemed to be the wizard's study. There we found Mekrath himself, and he challenged us verbally, asking our business, rather than attacking.

He showed up as Evil, as Raelis Shai had informed us, and as his sharing his residence with monsters had implied. He had addressed us in as civil a fashion as could be expected when confronted with uninvited intruders, however, and I did not feel it necessary to resort to violence. Instead, I simply answered his question, although I mentioned only the actor and not the gem. I asked what price he would ask for releasing his captive.

Mekrath told us that the actor had, indeed, entered his sanctum as a thief, and had been captured and enslaved as a suitable punishment. Very much as I had expected. The wizard would be willing to free him, however, if we would perform a task for him. An imp he had summoned had escaped his control, stolen a magical mirror, and fled with it into the sewers. If we could retrieve the mirror, he would free the actor in exchange.

That sounded fair enough, and easier than fighting a mage of unknown power on his own ground, and I agreed to his proposal. The retrieval mission was easily accomplished. The mirror seemed to be some sort of summoning device, and the imp used it to summon a minor Earth Elemental, but both were easily slain and we took the mirror, which was disfigured by a crack in the glass, back to Mekrath.

He exclaimed in disgust when he saw the cracked glass. "The moronic beast has cracked it! Pfah! It shall take a ten-day to repair. I certainly hope you killed the imp for this indignity."

"We did," I informed him.

"Excellent. Go and claim your little thief, then. I left him in the north storeroom, counting rice. Warn him not to bother me again, or I shall be much harsher. I shall need to gather some materials to fix this blasted mirror. I trust you will not be bothering me again…" With those words, he teleported away.

We found the actor, or would-be thief, where Mekrath had said he would be. Haer'Dalis was another of the same race as Raelis Shai, with the same long and pointed ears, and his hair was bluish. He had been a mindless thrall under Mekrath's control, set to a pointless task to keep him occupied, and was extremely grateful to be freed. He insisted that we must take the gem before we left with him. It was in a room and chest protected by traps that he had not even been able to detect, never mind disarm, and that is how he had been captured.

"Never set a bard to do a thief's job," said Yoshimo, and he disarmed the traps without difficulty. He took the odd-looking gem from inside the chest, and also a magical harp and a valuable Laeral's Tear necklace. In fact we looted the whole place, as it would be plain that we had taken the gem, and I could justify it to myself by remembering that Mekrath was Evil. We found, and took, a Rod of Resurrection, a Cloudkill wand, an odd amulet that had a slight protective affect against Polymorph spells, and some minor jewelry and potions. The Rod of Resurrection was the real prize.

Back at the theatre we handed the gem over to Raelis Shai. She, and Haer'Dalis, explained the true worth of the gem. It was no mere gemstone, but a portal stone capable, with the right spells, of opening gates to other planes. They, themselves, were denizens of one such plane, Sigil the City of Doors, and had been forced to flee after performing a play satirizing one of the most important, and dangerous, lords of the city. A strange deity, the Lady of Pain, had transported them to Faerûn and they hoped to use the gem to return home where, hopefully, the vendetta against them would have been forgotten. Raelis gave us some coin, rewarding us for our service, and asked of us one more boon. When she operated the portal gem, it would take her some time to attune it to the right destination, and in that time creatures from less friendly planes might emerge from the portal. She asked us to protect her, and her company, during that time.

I thought it best to agree; after all, if I declined, any unfriendly beasts entering this world might overwhelm the Sigil Troupe members and escape into Athkatla. We prepared ourselves and stood guard.

Some creatures did come through; imps, fire elementals, and Shadow Fiends. We slew all of them without difficulty. And then something else came through. An organized party of warriors, seemingly humans, under the command of a Yuan-Ti mage. They took no offensive action, at first, and the Yuan-Ti addressed Raelis Shai in calm tones. We held back from attacking as there seemed to be no immediate danger.

I was wrong. These were bounty hunters, acting on the orders of a Duke Darkwood, the one who had been satirized in the Sigil Troupe's play and who had felt sufficiently offended to order their deaths or capture. The bounty hunters were here to arrest them.

I threatened to intervene to protect the actors. The lead bounty hunter declared that there was nothing that I could do, as he had already attuned the souls of the actors, and with that the whole group, bounty hunters and actors together, were sucked into the portal and disappeared.

We were taken aback and it took a few moments of discussion before we agreed on a course of action. Really, as a paladin, there was nothing else that I could do but pursue.

We leapt into the portal.

Glossary of Drow Phrases

haszak = Mind Flayer, a.k.a. Illithid

Jabbress = Female commander