Lidia entered the Copper Coronet to find the group already gone and Bernard at the sturdy double doors to the former gladiator pits.

"I took the liberty of opening this place up for the lot of you at Jaheira's request," he said. "Just don't fall over the railing, and you'll be fine."

Lidia passed through the doors. This place seemed now more like a cave than a gathering space. This room, which once was alive and abuzz with milling nobles, gladiators spending their blood, and illicit meetings, was now empty and dark, like a void opening its giant maw. Every step made an echo; every sound seemed to float upwards and grow lost.

But from here, someone had carved a small oasis of warmth, which drifted out through a crack in the door of one of the meeting rooms. Lidia approached, and the room smelled of cedar and that odd, torporifying floral scent, faint enough this time not to exert any power or dull the senses.

Inside, the Company had settled into the room with the giant, gold-plated bas-relief of Waukeen. Someone had dragged in additional chairs from the nearby meeting rooms, and everyone had found a spot around the edge of the room. A fire flickered in the hearth below the carving, lending a glowing majesty to the image of the goddess of coin.

Jaheira had already taken a bottle of wine and handed small glasses of its contents around amid spirited conversation between her and the others.

"Hail there!" Jaheira called across the room to Lidia. "I am glad to be back in this company, though the circumstances could be better."

Lidia slid into the last empty chair, taking a glass of wine. Even if the wine had no actual effect on her, she could get into the spirit of the occasion easily enough. "Welcome back," she said. "I wish you could have joined us — I'm sure you would have preferred the forest."

"I'm sure I would have, too, and I am sorry to have missed it," Jaheira said. "I've only received small parts and pieces of the whole matter. But, now that you're here, I'd better have it again, this time in order."

After the main part of the Company's adventures in Imnesvale had been told, Lidia tried to ask Jaheira what she'd been up to. Jaheira refused to say much, hiding behind a deflection and diverting instead into some detail or question posed to another group member. After one or two rounds of this, Lidia dropped the matter entirely.

In any case, Jaheira was especially interested in the Shade Lord. "If someone like that could sap the very light from the sun," she said, "that would threaten the balance like none other. It seems fitting that we would remove the actual threat to the land and its people, not the phantoms that Lord Jierdan had you chase. I certainly hope that the Order was satisfied with that."

"Well…" Lidia said, "they were not." She told the others how the hearing went.

"You mean…you'd actually get to join the Order?" Aerie asked, suddenly excited. "I…I think you should do it, I mean, not that I'd know anything about that."

"Boo approves," Minsc said. "A lodge filled with butt-kicking heroes! It sounds much like the Ice Dragon Berserker Lodge in my homeland."

Jaheira said, "Their offer seems less of an honor and more of a verdict."

"The best one I'll likely get," Lidia said. "At least one of the knights at the hearing wanted blood."

"Sir Anarg is a traditionalist, true, but that hardly means he was after your head," Anomen said. "And Sir William came around easily enough. All in all, I think things went far better than either of us could have anticipated."

Lidia considered this. Of all the people who had named her an abomination deserving death, the Radiant Heart had certainly dealt with her the most politely. But none of their words could disguise the fact that they had her over a barrel.

Minsc spoke up. "All this talk and still little Imoen is in the wizards' clutches? We are brave heroes! We must do something to unclutch her, says Boo!"

"Have you heard anything?" Lidia asked Jaheira.

"Not a word or sign," Jaheira said, "not from the Wizards or the government. I believe that we will not unless we act."

"I was hoping we could discuss this," Lidia said.

The room fell silent.

She continued, "Over a month ago, shortly after I found myself in Athkatla, a man named Gaelan Bayle met me near the bridge, claiming that he could help us find Imoen. And just now, he sent me this note."

She began to read:

"Lidia,

You have aligned yourself with the Radiant Heart and made an enemy of those who would help you. I tell you that my friends are your only hope of seeing Imoen alive. Consider whether you would spend her life for a sense of self-righteous honor. Our services to you are worth more for a much lesser cost.

Gaelan."

"Smug bastard," Anomen said. "How dare he tempt you thus."

"Gaelan is dealing with her straightforwardly," Yoshimo said. "Plenty of the Thieves would not extend the same courtesy."

Lidia's brow furrowed as she rolled up the note, momentarily lost in thought. "Still, Gaelan has a point. The Order wouldn't dare move against the Cowled Wizards. The Shadow Thieves would."

"This Gaelan is one of the Shadow Thieves? I hope you will not even consider his offer. You could lose the favor of the gods if you associate with such a group," Anomen said.

A silence fell over the group until Jaheira finally asked, "Lidia, is that true?"

"It's possible," she said. "But if they can help, and I refuse them…"

As far as Lidia knew, there were two paths before her. Of course, she could break faith with the Order, but she would pay dearly for that, as would Imnesvale. Or she could continue to remain in Athkatla, serving out her time, waiting and hoping for the news of Imoen's release, news that might never come...

Her hand tightened around the letter, finally crumpling it completely. "No. There has to be another way."

"What other way is there?" Jaheira asked. "Is there something you're aware of that we're not?"

"There isn't. But no one thought Sarevok could be stopped, either."

"What are you suggesting?"

Lidia closed her eyes for a moment. Unthinkingly, she slumped slightly, as though she were shouldering a heavy burden. "I will take responsibility for finding Imoen," she finally said. "And, if I must, the blame."

Jaheira sat up. "You suggest that you will uncover secrets hidden from all but the highest levels of this government and find a place no one knows about. Think carefully about what you intend to do."

"I have thought about it," Lidia said. "I know the Shadow Thieves only by reputation, but they have caused great misery. I couldn't stand to give them my blood, sweat, or coin."

"Have you considered the time it might take?" Jaheira said. "The longer we spend fumbling in the dark, when those holding a torch are close at hand, the more Imoen will suffer. And the less likely it is that we shall find her alive at the end of it."

"The rescue of a childhood companion is a worthy cause," Anomen said, "and all the more so since you refuse to sully yourself by working with these thieves."

"Perhaps we shall have to sully ourselves anyway," said Jaheira, "not just that particular way."

Yoshimo suddenly spoke up. He'd been reticent, trying to keep his hands from fidgeting. "Well, I think it best if we avoid tangling with the Thieves, regardless of how we choose to go from here."

"Me too," Aerie said. "I've…I've only heard whispers about them, but…I'd rather not associate with them at all if we can help it."

For the next hour, the group tried to brainstorm alternative routes to find clues. But with the Shadow Thieves' numbers and the Harpers' information network out of play, the Company's options were considerably narrow. Eventually, Lidia suggested ending the meeting, long past the point where it was clear that no one had any idea of substance.

The others didn't need to be told twice. They dispersed towards the main hall of the Coronet.

Jaheira, however, stayed seated. "Lidia, a moment."

"What is it?" Lidia asked.

Jaheira shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "I had no desire to share this with the group at large, but perhaps I ought to tell you something about what I have undertaken."

Lidia resumed her seat and was all ears as Jaheira told about the group she was working for — they that promised to shield her from the Harpers.

Jaheira left significant parts of the story out, not saying anything about where she went for them or what she did, but Lidia was used to that; Harpers kept their true business close to the chest, even among themselves.

After Jaheira finished, Lidia said, "Since 'Gorion's Company' seems to be a lightning rod for trouble, how about we rename the group? I think 'Too Useful to Die' would at least fit both of us nicely."

"Clearly, you're in some kind of mood," Jaheira said, "if a glib comment is all you can muster."

"Sorry, Jaheira, I —"

"Oh, you need not fall over yourself to apologize," she said. "But there is plenty on your mind, isn't there?"

"About these 'Enlightened Ones,'" Lidia said. As soon as Jaheira had dropped the name, a memory from over a month ago had resurfaced. "Have they ever said anything about why there was a chuul in the sewers near the Coronet?"

"A chuul? What are you talking about?"

"This giant lobster-shaped thing. It was six feet high with a tough shell —"

Jaheira said, "I know what a chuul is, but did Lehtinan have one?"

"I don't think so. I ran into it that night when we were dealing with Lehtinan," Lidia replied. "In the sewers, there was a tunnel filled with toxic gas where a mind flayer was luring people in, probably to have them for dinner. The first thing the mind flayer said to me was that I wasn't one of the Enlightened Ones."

Jaheira looked genuinely puzzled. "Perhaps this mind flayer wasn't referring to the same group that Dermin works for."

"But you don't know," Lidia said. "Maybe it's nothing. Still, if there's any way you can find out more about them, I'd suggest you start — and be careful how you go."

"You're telling me to be careful, now?" Jaheira said. "That's rich."

Lidia leaned forward, lowering her voice. Though they were alone now, she took no chances. "Another thing I'm concerned about is that the Shadow Thieves already know of the Order's offer, which only happened a couple of hours ago."

"Another month or two in Athkatla, and that will hardly surprise you; the Thieves have ears everywhere," Jaheira replied. "The more you account for their spies, the safer you will be."