The doors opened to a large room filled with golden light, giving the appearance of warmth and luxury to everything it touched. The light came from eight round braziers and runes upon the walls, lit by their own inner fire. The walkway down the foyer had elvish letters inscribed upon the flagstones, and several runes glowed in brass sigils upon the walls. Adorning the center of the floor was a large black disk with seven stars. These were laid out in front of a statue of a long-limbed woman, the moon goddess Selûne, who looked down upon the entire gathering with a serene gaze and open arms.

A few people milled about the hall, but they kept their distance. They all wore a green beaded harp-shaped amulet on their tunics and cloaks. Lidia and Jaheira were finally approached by a man in plate armor with a large sword at his side. He wore a cloak with a massive feathered collar that covered his shoulders, which was also clasped with the same beaded amulet.

"Jaheira, my dear, it is good to see you!" he said. He shook Jaheira's hand; the cheerfulness in his voice was absent from his eyes.

She let go first. "Your welcome is forced; you know I am here at the bidding of the Herald," she said. She folded her arms. "Why have you come to greet me? This is too important to waste time on you."

"Ah, I know well the importance of this. It was I that called you."

"You?" She glared at him. "You are no Herald! What is going on here? Where is Meronia or Dermin?"

"We are all at work, as you should know. This area lacks a Herald currently, and I seek to establish one. You will help, by doing what is right. You know what is right, don't you?" He gave her an expecting look, as though he knew what her answer would be.

Jaheira shook her head forcefully, then turned aside from him. "I know you are an ambitious fool. You cannot be sanctioned to do this. Even this gaudy base is against our usual restraint. The position of Herald requires…"

He spoke up. "It requires the will to establish the position. The High Heralds will judge if it is deserved. Really, Jaheira, this is a matter aside."

"Fine, set about with your questions so I can get on with my job as well."

"Very good. You serve the greater cause that we all do."

The look on Jaheira's face was still far from friendly.

He called together the nearby Harpers, four in all. One of them, a half-elf in long blue robes, pulled out a tablet, a piece of paper, and a pen. He moved to Galvarey's side, standing poised and solemn like a warrior at the ready, waiting for the proceedings to begin. Jaheira stood off to the side, where the other Harpers watched, while Galvarey directed Lidia to stand in the middle of the circle of runes. He took his seat in front of the statue of Selûne.

Galvarey called the meeting to order and read the minutes from the last session. He barely acknowledged Lidia was there the whole time, so all that she could do was wait.

She sized him up as he began the meeting. He was a good speaker and had clearly earned command in some way, probably through force of arms. But he struck her as imperious, and if Jaheira didn't trust him, she wasn't inclined to, either. She had no idea why she was here, but she now had a chance to glean a bit of information about him for herself.

He seemed fully committed to boring everyone in the room with a series of bombastic speeches; this would be easy. Lidia shut her eyes and lowered her head, cleared her mind, and focused on him.

An almost imperceptible shiver ran down her left arm. Not a promising sign, but not strong enough to be useful. The room fell silent.

She looked up. All the eyes were on her. Galvarey's were baleful.

She met his gaze in quiet defiance. Still, she'd go along with what he wanted, for now.

He moved to begin Lidia's interrogation, and the rest of the group assented. His voice resumed the pleasant tone he'd used with Jaheira. "Lidia, do you know why you are here?"

Lidia glanced to Jaheira. She remained still, and so Lidia went with her first guess. "The massive crater in the Promenade?"

"In a manner of speaking. Things like that seem to surround you at every turn, certainly. That is why you are here." He looked down over to his side, and cleared his throat. Immediately, the Harper in the robes started scribbling.

Galvarey continued, "Let me ask you a few things straight away. Nothing too intrusive, I assure you. What are your earliest memories? Are they happy ones?"

Lidia briefly shut her eyes as she thought back.

She remembered being small, and sitting by the fountain, and the raven's reflection in the water, and the raised voices in the other room, their sound floating out to the day as they faded. As for the rest, she wasn't sure if it was a memory or only part of a bad dream. "I remember being outside in the Candlekeep gardens. My stepfather Gorion met with the Keeper of the Tomes and convinced him to let us stay in Candlekeep."

"Where you could hide away from your past. I remember Gorion - the idealist." Galvarey snorted, and Jaheira shot a glare in his direction. He didn't return it. "I was with those who thought it was a mistake. Ah, I will clarify later."

Lidia bristled. "Clarify now," she said. "What was a mistake?"

Galvarey's voice tightened. "Speak when you're spoken to." He cleared his throat. "Now, then. We know of your deeds in Baldur's Gate, especially those concerning the would-be tyrant Sarevok. Do you believe his death was…justified?"

Lidia said, "That's a loaded question - "

"Answer."

"He forced my hand. If I could have avoided killing him, I would have."

Galvarey considered this. "You are well-practiced in fine-sounding excuses, I see. A creature such as you would reach for anything to justify violence."

Jaheira cut in. "You are twisting her words, Galvarey. That is not what she meant."

"It is my duty and mine alone to judge, regardless of how you feel about it," he said, dismissing her with a wave of her hand.

"I know her! I have traveled with her for over a year, now. If you really wished to judge, then call on me as a witness. She has humored this farce, though you've tried to make this situation as difficult for her as possible."

Galvarey stared at Jaheira. "She is born of evil. I am amazed that you try to understand her thoughts - deception is woven into her very being. Could you understand an illithid, or a beholder?" He gestured with his hand. "This Lidia is like one of these."

Lidia said, "Perhaps if you looked, you would see a human being, no better and no worse than you." She turned to the other Harpers nearby. "I wonder whether any of you would agree."

"A bald-faced attempt to play on our sympathies," Galvarey said. "This antagonism is not helping your case."

Jaheira said, "You were to see Lidia as she is, not as you expected her to be. I was to bring her here so -"

"You were to bring her here so that we might have her here, nothing more."

Jaheira threw up her hands. "You did not discuss this with me!"

"Extraneous information would have endangered the mission," Galvarey said. "As Harpers we - "

"As Harpers we respect others!" Jaheira shouted, striding forward.

Galvarey rose from his seat, and the other Harpers began to stir, too. "We have a greater duty to maintain the balance. How can you, as a Harper, as a druid, sanction her freedom? What will she do to the balance?"

"And what if she will restore it? What if her intent is good?" Jaheira stepped forward.

He shook his head. "It is simply not worth the risk. No, there is no choice in the matter. Lidia, you are to be...confined."

"I've already been in two jail cells this tenday," Lidia said. "You're not going to make it three."

"I mean the spell 'Imprisonment,' to contain the chaos you might sow, intentionally or not," Galvarey said. "It is a humane solution: one incantation, you will be sealed away in a small container several leagues beneath the earth. There, you shall be in suspended animation for the rest of time. Quite peaceful."

Lidia's hand went for the hilt of her sword. Thank the gods Galvarey hadn't confiscated it. "You'll have to take me alive, first."

The other Harpers nervously glanced at each other, but Galvarey was unmoved. "You have no voice here and little choice in the matter. Certainly you can fight, but there are six Harpers to contend with. The odds are quite clearly- "

"Nay, Galvarey, there is but you and your four lackeys." Jaheira went to Lidia's side. She raised her staff into a guard, and in a moment the point of a spear appeared on its tip.

"You have made a mistake. With her imprisonment I could get sponsored as Herald! But now you fight the Harpers with this monster!" He motioned with his hand, and the other four Harpers drew their weapons.

Lidia drew her sword.

Jaheira said, "Harpers may interfere, but it is for the greater good, not this! I don't know you!"