04
I know you won't be happy about it, but I'll skip many details. Oh don't make that face! I'm telling you about my private life after all. Just listen or I'll leave without telling the end of my story.
Ok that wasn't true, sorry – I won't leave. I desperately need to tell you about it, to get your attention maybe… I should have been a bard… Oh well…
The time I made it to the city of Neverwinter, I had three people traveling with me. The first one I met was Khelgar, a dwarf. He was a troublemaker and that's probably why we got along perfectly from the beginning; me, patient but violent, him, a roaming volcano constantly on the edge of bursting.
It didn't take longer than a day before we met Neeshka. Some supposed patrol guys were trying to harm her since she was a tiefling. Khelgar and I didn't hesitate – we attacked. After all that had happened in West Harbor, it was a pleasure for me to throw my rage at them. It felt good to bash, kick and slash with my short sword.
The last one we met was Elanee, a druid wood elf. We were once more fighting when she appeared, casting spells on our enemies and enhancing our abilities with her chant. I later learned she was watching over me for a very long time. Some people might find that creepy, but I knew she had her reasons and respected her commitment.
We arrived at destination after a tiring one-week trip by boat that left us pretty drained. It was worst on Elanee and me since we came from the swampy forest, though Khelgar found a way of whimpering as well. Only Neeshka seemed excited the entire time, relating what she knew of the city and where we should go. Khelgar and her seemed to be on a constant bitchy-contest state, swearing like low-class sailors and bugging each other with the slightest thing they could find.
Poor Elanee had to endure that on the top of my brooding figure that became worst on the last two days we spent on the boat. I wasn't only fed up by the sea, but from my thoughts as well. They were stubbornly shifting from Daeghun to Daeghun, and back again. Whatever distraction I tried ended up inefficient, till I got literally depressed and spent my time sleeping. I guess Elanee must have sensed something, because she did her best to distract me whenever I left my small cabin.
I was maybe the leader as they said, but the druidess was really the center of our group relationship. I liked the way her calmness tinted on us so easily; though I knew the other two were often annoyed by it.
When we finally landed in the docks, I asked Neeshka to lead the way straight for the Sunken Flagon, Duncan's inn. I thought she and Khelgar would sooner or later take their leave, but they never mentioned anything like that. Plus, they seemed curious about this shard story. Do I really need to tell you I was glad? I didn't want to be alone, because then my head would be hunted either by Daeghun, Bevil or Amy.
When we entered the Sunken Flagon, we were greeted by the warm smell of cooking bread, coffee and tobacco. The place was probably some kind of restaurant during the day, but it wasn't very crowded. There was only one group of people on one of the tables, while two other lonely customers occupied different places. My nose wrinkled as I got the strong smell of one of them; alcohol and wet fur.
A half-elf man was standing next to the counter, drinking ale and speaking with the barman. Judging by his clothing and appearances, he could have been the owner, but I was pretty sure I was looking for a wood elf. I had forgotten Daeghun had emphasized the "half" part when he had spoken about him.
I greeted him politely and demanded to meet the proprietor. He played innocent for a while before admitting it was him, but as soon as I mentioned Daeghun's name he stopped joking.
"So, running around and you barely know why. You shouldn't learn anything from me though, that's Daeghun's duty."
"It isn't anyone's duty so please, tell me whatever you can about this shard."
Duncan proved to be a joyful person. He loved drinking and you could smell him houses away if you concentrated on his scent. He was always alert and careful though, even if it didn't look like it.
As Daeghun had said, his half-brother had another shard in his possession, which he gladly gave to me. I quickly understood there were probably many other missing parts from whatever those shards were at the beginning.
Duncan suggested visiting the local wizard for further information on the shards, which happened faster than I expected. As soon as he ended his sentence, the moon elf in question entered the inn while throwing insults at the innkeeper. They were obviously old friends and were amusing to look at. A little like Khelgar and Neeshka, though a bit more fancy in the choice of words.
It turned out the shards emanated magic, but the wizard, Sand, said I provoked it. I didn't know how this was possible – I hadn't any magical powers that I was aware of, and all of the spells I had stolen from Tarmas, none which to be working.
Sand recommended speaking about that with some kind of scholar, a sage who lived in the Neverwinter Blacklake district. Sadly, this area was closed due to some strange murders – as if we needed more complications than we already had! I sighed, for nothing could be simple in my case.
To gain access for the Blacklake district, I had two options; either joining the city watch and eventually being given permission, or working with the street gangs. Of course, there was no way I would blend with the thugs – I preferred breaking their noses and stealing their goods. You can say I was a criminal for criminals.
Still grinning, Duncan told us his place was available and that we could use his rooms for a very small fee. I was glad… till he called me kin and said I could call him "uncle". I wanted to vomit.
"Please Duncan, I would prefer to call you by your name." I said as politely as possible. "Daeghun and I are not exactly comfortable together and for me, he is… just Daeghun. So I'm sorry, I could never call you uncle. How about being friends?" I smiled. He looked unsure, but after a shrug, he smiled back and accepted.
After we chose separate rooms, we left to join with the watch. To make a very long story short, I went through a lot of trouble. Need me to name it? Well, saving merchants, in ern investigations, dealing with thieves till we got rid of most of them, saving street kids from thugs, looking for stolen material, dealing with Orcs…
Time simply flew, though I didn't mind much at first. I could easily accept where life decided to carry me out, but I was starting to feel homesick and missed Daeghun. "Damn fool!" He was going to pay for ignoring me for that long!
By the time we got access for Blacklake, our little party grew with a few people. All of them had reasons to join us, let it be gold, adventure or personal interest. One of them was Qara, a real pain in the back sorceress. She was an always-complaining brat, but I liked her pyromania and funny comments on everything. I felt compassion for her because it was easy to see beyond her attitude. I knew she had grown without much care, and that she was lonely – probably a lot lonelier than me.
After the sorceress came the gnomish bard Grobnar. He was… special. I didn't understand how exactly his brain worked since he was constantly joyful, full of energy and passionate with whatever he was doing. He sadly stumbled on our nerves most of the time.
While dealing with another problem for the watch, we were joined by a human paladin named Casavir. Quiet and reserved, Casavir was easy to be with for most of us. I personally enjoyed teaming up with him during fights, but something about his modest blue-eyed beauty gave me the creeps. I would have probably at least flirted him if I wasn't that messed up in the head, but I didn't. I felt somehow trapped within.
I must say Duncan became a little uneasy with us. We soon occupied a lot more rooms than expected, but we solved the problem by sharing. That's how Neeshka ended up with Elanee and Casavir with our lovely bard… Casavir was the only one patient enough with Grobnar and probably never fantasized of transforming him into pie.
I willingly teamed with Khelgar. Why? Because I alone could endure his snoring. I didn't have any merits though, for I was just using another elfish invention – the sound potion. When drinking of it, you can change any sound that bothers you into something you enjoy.
For example, if Khelgar is already snoring when I go to bed, I simply need to take a sip of the liquid and concentrate on the noise that bothers me. Ii has to be replaced by something else though – you can't just make the sound waves disappear, since the potion works as an illusion. I personally concentrate on the noise of falling water, like waterfall or raindrops. It makes me relax and finally sleep, while my friend is still snoring.
As for Qara, well, she got the basement. After all, Duncan was making her work for him after she almost burnt his inn the first time we met her.
Our stay in Neverwinter promised to be long and we soon developed daily habits. I needed to progress faster, but I knew I couldn't outplay destiny – I was respecting the coming events with the usual acceptance that I got from Mystra knows which parent.
