Oof, so many reviews! My heart is all aflutter, you guys, thank you for your kind words and helpful insights! 3 I'm sorry for how slowly this has been coming. Rest assured that it WILL come, it may just take a long time to do so.

A note in which I admit that I f'd up: In looking through the maps for the dungeons and watching Youtube video walkthroughs (I am NOT going through the first part of the game again – everything I've written up to this point has been from memory with an assist from Youtube and GameFAQs), I realized an error I made. I tend to go to the holding tanks and then immediately to Rielev because I know where he is and what he has for me. My brain said, "Well DUH, that means Rielev must be right across from that room!" when in actuality, he's up a hallway – the Sewage Golem room is the one across. Whoops. For the purposes of the story, let's just assume that Rielev's room IS across from the other holding tanks and go from there. That means I've altered the initial dungeon. Irenicus hasn't redecorated in what, 12 years? He needs it. *whistles innocently*

Edit, 10-20: due to some confusion, I altered the beginning of the chapter some. I was sloppy with that section, so hopefully, the newer text clears things up and reads more as it should.

She'd almost missed it! Imoen's heart thumped loudly in her chest when she thought about how one small trinket nearly cost them their lives.

A small, unassuming stone was laying in the heaps of junk in Rielev's room – well, Rielev's former room. The red-haired thief, still introspective and disturbed from Rielev's euthanasia, was almost out of the door and back in the hallway when a stray light from the hallway illuminated the stone and caught her eye. She paused, falling behind the rest of the group to go and pick it up. There was some sort of design on it, a sigil of some sort, but it was difficult to discern exactly what it was in the uneven light. "Hm," she murmured softly, picking it up and shoving it into a pocket in her armor to look at later.

"What kept you?" Eli asked in a low voice once she'd caught up.

Her right hand travelled to the pouch, but she shrugged; she'd mention it later. "Nothing important, just a shiny rock. Don't worry about it."

"L-look…" interrupted Khalid.

Aataqah had reappeared outside the door, misting out from his lamp and giving the group a slow round of applause. "Well done, well done!" he praised, a large smile on his dark visage. The faces of the party reflected what they'd all just been through - Eli gave him a sour look, Imoen shook her head, Khalid looked guilty and uncertain, and Dynaheir had retreated back into her blank-faced headspace.

"Sod off," Imoen responded. "We found Rielev, like you asked, then we killed him and took the crystal. Now we're stuck again, so don't patronize us if you please, unless you're planning to help."

"Ah, but!" The djinn held up a long finger and his expression hardened at her tone. "Quid pro quo, little red mageling… You've one more task, and then I'll help you to help yourselves."

The 'little red mageling' sucked in a deep breath while she locked in a stare-down with the elemental. "Khalid, Dynaheir… go take the power cell and go see what you can find in the next room. Eli and I have to talk shop with Aataqah here."

"Erm." Khalid looked uncertainly over at the Wychlaran. Dynaheir didn't look up for more interaction with the tube-people. "I d-don't know how good of an idea t-that is…"

"Just do what she said," Elioth said quietly, still staring at the djinn. "We'll catch up in a moment."

"…all right." The older man wet his lips nervously and looked between them and the djinn, but gestured for Dynaheir to go in front of him with a light touch on her shoulder. "Just holler if you n-need us, okay?"

Imoen spoke first once their companions had left earshot. "I'll square with you, Aataqah. We have no food," she said to the genie, allowing her arms to flop to her sides helplessly. "No spellbooks, either, and we're running out of time today to go any farther. If you want us to complete our end of the bargain, you need to help us now and not later, either by making it possible for the four of us to go on one more night…"

"Or - or by giving us the means to regain some modicum of power back," Elioth cut in, sensing where she was going with her plea. "This whole experience would be easier if we had any spells between us, for example."

Imoen had knelt while the half-elf was speaking and was rifling through their belongings, spreading them out in the ground around them. In front of the two youths from Candlekeep was the sum total of their rations. "We have two vials of what I sincerely hope is health potion and… maybe half a skin of water between the four of us?" Imoen calculated, holding the leather container up and giving it a small shake. She looked up into the genie's impassive face. "Please. We can't be the special and unique snowflakes of Jon Whatsisface here if we're dead."

The half-elven wizard gave the mage/thief a sidelong look at her phrasing; she shrugged unapologetically. "… we can't help your friend, either, without even the barest minimum of supplies," he added.

The djinn regarded the young and pathetic duo, a deep frown forming on his chiseled face. "What did you get from Rielev's room, exactly?" he asked after a long period of silence.

"T-the power cells," Imoen answered, hand unconsciously resting upon her hip, where she'd stashed the etched rock. Perhaps it was something useful, after all.

"…that's it?"

His tone of voice suggested he'd somehow expected more from the duo. Elioth sighed and nodded; Imoen's eyes darted around, making sure the hallway was clear before she reached into her pocket. She drew the etched rock out and offered it to Aataqah. Instead of taking it, he gave her an irritated, disappointed look.

"Idiot."

"What?" she asked. "Hells! It was a rock in a rubble pile, didn't think it'd be important…"

"… what is that?" Eli asked slowly, stepping forward to examine the rock. "Some kind of key?"

Imoen turned it around a few times, trying again to make sense of the markings. "I didn't think it was much of anything, but I'm guessing yes, going by the genie's 'I'm not angry, just disappointed' look. It… just kinda looks like a fancy rock to me." She glanced up at the djinn, a thought forming. "Wait. Waaaait. *This* is why you sent us to Rielev's? To find the key out?"

"Half of the reason..." Aataqah'd voice was crisp as the less-corporeal half of him swirled underneath. "The other half being that Rielev's been punished for long enough and I've been… shall we say 'compelled'?… to not give direct aid. He was one of the better men here during my tenure."

"Geas?" Eli ventured.

"Hmm." The djinn didn't elaborate; that was answer enough for the duo.

"So what now?" Imoen tossed the rock up into the air and caught it deftly. Eli winced at the cavalier way she was treating what could possibly be their salvation out. "We must've missed something else in our search, then, if we have a key and no door."

"You have half the problem solved," Aataqah said cryptically, a trace of a smirk coming out in his features and softening the angry expression he'd worn before.

"Heh! That's one way to look at it." She grinned, and for a moment, her bright eyes glittered. "Want to scout out exits while Khalid and Dynaheir are in the tank room?"

"Yes, but…" Eli looked cautiously down the hall before returning his gaze to her. "There are goblins and mephits about. I don't think it's wise without Khalid as backup."

He had a point, she conceded. "All right. Let's see what the others are up to."

The power cell fit into the back of the third tube seamlessly; Khalid nodded to Dynaheir, who tossed the old one into a growing heap in the center of the room. The figure inside the tube burst to life with a torrent of words, Elvish, in a dialect Khalid had some trouble understanding.

"The light!" it screamed, throwing its hands over its eyes to keep the unwanted illumination out. "Terrible, searing light, it burns! Take it away, take it –"

Suddenly, the tube went silent, and the figure slumped back over, dead this time. Dynaheir stood behind the apparatus, holding the still-sparking power cell in her hands. Her expression was haunted, and she was shaking.

"I… I could not bear…" she stuttered in apology before trailing off.

"N-no apologies," Khalid reassured her, closing the distance between them. For a moment, he thought about putting an arm around her to steady her, but held back out of fear for how she would react and how the gesture would be taken. The sparking of the power cell was the only sound in the room for several long seconds until he'd decided on something sufficiently neutral and friendly to ask: "What d-do you n-need, Dynaheir?"

"Nothing," the Wychlaran declared shakily. "Nay, I am recovered." Slowly, she drew herself up to her full height and squared her shoulders. It was such a Jaheira-like action that it nearly brought a smile of remembrance to the half-elf's face, but the expression Dynaheir wore was the opposite of jovial, which dampened the mood and spoiled the memory.

"Another tube, then?" he asked. Slowly, as if giving it some consideration, the witch shook her head.

"Nay. These are more like Rielev, only less important," she said quietly, looking about at the dimmed and darkened tanks. "These were examples, methinks. People who have been made examples of, I mean, making this room a … mechanical pillory of sorts?"

"W-without the rotten vegetables. And for longer. And w-with less p-public humiliation and m-more torture."

"'Tis not the best metaphor, I agree." She looked down at the stone-flagged floor for a long time, scuffing her foot against the rock. "Khalid?" Dynaheir asked, looking up. "Can we leave? There is no use in investigating further, and the emotional strain…"

"U-understood," the warrior agreed, and this time he did place a hand upon her shoulder. She started, but didn't remove it, and together they left the room.

Eli and Imoen were having a quiet and tense discussion when the warrior and the witch returned. The duos looked at one another awkwardly; Eli spoke first.

"Ask Imoen what she found," he said with an edge, jerking his thumb towards the redhead who managed to simultaneously look both wholly innocent and supremely guilty.

"Way to spoil the surprise," she muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. With one hand, she held out the rock she'd found to Khalid and Dynaheir, the latter of whom picked it up and began examining it. "This was in Rielev's chambers. I picked it up thinking it was a shiny, pretty thing; turns out -"

"A pass-stone?" the witch asked quizzically, turning it about in the light to get a better look at its etchings.

"Think so, yeah," she agreed. "That was basically what Aataqah confirmed, too, so now we just need to find out what it unlocks."

"Finally, some g-good news." Khalid took a deep breath of relief. "If s-some food and my w-wife appeared, I'd almost be h-happy."

"Then let's make you happy!" Imoen declared, plucking the key from Dynaheir's hands. The look the Rashemi woman gave her was less than pleased; as if to mollify her, she added – somewhat less exuberantly – "Let's, uh, start at the end of the hall and work our way back." She was pleased that Dynaheir had started interacting with them once more, and it hadn't escaped her notice that te witch had allowed Khalid to touch her; it would be better for all of them to delay going back to the room where Minsc's remains were.

Looking down the hallway, it was clear that whomever owned this… complex or laboratory… or whatever it was might have been very meticulous when it came to their subjects and the physical and psychological abuse inflicted upon them, but was less than stellar about upkeep. The magical torches lining the hallway were flickering, with a few out altogether; scraps of trash were heaped haphazardly. Whoever "Irenicus" was either cared only about meeting his end goal quickly enough to not have to deal with cleaning and maintenance, or was just deranged.

Irenicus… Imoen thought while canvassing any open crevices or piles of trash. Such a strange name… "Hey, Khalid?"

"Y-yes?" He looked up from where he'd been searching with Dynaheir.

"Irenicus." She paused, thinking of how to phrase what was running through her mind. "It's a weird name, yeah? Doesn't really sound like a 'name', per se… is it elven?"

"He didn't look elven," Eli responded, even though the question wasn't directed towards him. Flicking one of his slightly-pointed ears, he added, "He was too burly and, uh, missing some essential parts."

The warrior thoughtfully scratched at the auburn stubble on his chin. "I-ren-i-cus," he said slowly, drawing out the syllables. The vague Calishite accent – normally hidden behind his stutter and long years on the Sword Coast - was more obvious when he spoke elven. "R-roughly? 'Cus' i-implies something that's been b-broken. 'Iren' is an o-old way of saying 'Eyren', or person... so… 'Person that has been broken?' It's an odd d-dialect. Old."

"Really old," Eli agreed.

"Huh. So the one who captured us goes by – if I have this right – "The Broken One?"

"More or less."

"Deranged, then," she murmured to herself, causing Eli to raise a dark eyebrow at her questioning. "I, uh… I was thinking about the kind of wizard who would do all of this," she explained sheepishly, resuming her sift through the cluttered halls. "The only things I could think of were power-hungry and pressed for time, or insane. A fellow who goes by 'the broken one'? Probably the latter…"

"I'm hoping we can get out without personally finding out," Eli responded, tossing aside some wood. "You know. More than we already have."

"That assumes he won't come after us when –"

"Oh!"

Dynaheir's voice echoed down the hallway from slightly up ahead. She herself was difficult to make out in the dimmer torchlight of that part of the hall, but a few seconds later she'd come over to where the other three were gathered, her dark eyes wide. "There is an alcove we missed, methinks, but I need thy help to clear it."

Imoen nodded, dropping what she was doing; Khalid and Eli followed suit and soon, the foursome was gathered between Rielev's room and the tanks. The Wychlaran had cleared a space on the wall, making it was clear there was an indentation they'd missed on their earlier, more cursory search. They all set to work upon it some more, finally clearing out a bricked-up archway.

There were murmurs of relief from Eli and Khalid. Imoen was studying the door, head cocked, with her hand playing with the stone absently when she felt the light brush of fingers against her shoulder. The touch startled her, and did the same to Dynaheir – the witch shrunk back at the little thief's reaction, a look of panic on her face.

"Seven bloody lay - ah, sorry," Imoen quickly apologized, both for her words and the reaction. "Dyn – I'm sorry, I didn't see you next to me."

It was several moments before the wild-eyed expression on the witch's face faded. "'Tis fine." She nodded as if to emphasize her words, but the thief didn't find it believable. "I was… I was going to ask thee if thy had thought of a way past the door."

"Don't suppose disbelieving it's there is a viable option?" She eyed Dynaheir from her peripheral vision – the Wychlaran's lips had quirked slightly. It wasn't a smile, Imoen conceded, but it was better than abject terror.

"I doubt so. Perhaps—" she gestured to the hand in the thief's pocket.

"Yeah, I was kinda thinking along those lines too."

The stone shimmered a little in the hallway's dim light when she pulled it out. Once again, the formerly pink-haired woman marveled that she'd even seen it at all, heaped together with all of the other junk in this dungeon. She walked past Eli and Khalid, both of whom watched her with interest, and up to the stone façade to find an indentation or keyhole. Instead, when the piece of rock made contact with the wall, Imoen found her hand on the other side. She started, nearly dropping their salvation in the process, and stood there frozen, half-in the room and half-out.

"Shit!" she exclaimed. "Um… I… did not expect it to be that easy."

Eli broke the uneasy tension in the room by laughing. "Pull your hand back, goose," he instructed. Imoen did so, and found both the passkey and her right hand in the same working shape they'd been in. She let out the breath she'd been holding and laughed shakily.

"I could kiss that genie right now… anyone want to try going through without the key?"

Khalid eyed the doorway apprehensively, one dark eyebrow raised at the thought. "I w-would rather link hands and t-try going through that way," he admitted. "It seems s-safer than testing it y-your way."

"Aye," agreed Dynaheir. Eli wordlessly held his hand out for Imoen – she grasped it firmly, the first link in their short human chain.

"M-might want to g-get ready to run, or shoot, w-when we all go through," the Calishite fighter instructed the group before Imoen stepped through the wall and into the hallway on the other side. "Imoen's h-hand could have attracted who-knows-what." Shortly afterwards Eli stood next to her, then Dynaheir, and finally Khalid.

"My hand definitely attracted something," Imoen agreed, wrinkling her nose at the olfactory stench that greeted them on the other side.

The new area of the dungeon looked basically the same as the old hallway, but was kept up better. The torches were flickering, but the floor lacked the debris they'd seen in the other part of the dungeon. It also stank; Not quite 100 yards from where they'd entered, a heap of goblins lay on the floor, slowly decomposing. They – Khalid and Imoen, as Eli was busy trying not to gag and Dynaheir averted her eyes - held their noses as they approached, but the endeavor ended up with more provisions to get them through the day.

Both to their right and in front of them, in the distance, were unlocked doors. Listening to the other side had gotten them nowhere – they sounded as abandoned as the previous portion of the dungeon they'd just left. The mage-thief decided to do a little scouting while her companions were munching on scavenged trail rations, trying not to think about where they came from. Ostensibly, if there was silence behind the doors, it made more sense to assume the rooms were empty rather than full of enemies being very quiet.

"So I'm gonna guess…" she began around a mouthful of hardtack, "That this part of the dungeon is, uh… 'off-tour', shall we say?"

"S-seems about right." Khalid patted the ground, imploring her to take a break. "Imoen. S-stop for awhile. You haven't had a b-break in a long time."

"Too wiggly to quit," was her response. Finally, after walking a couple of wide circles around them but not going too far, she bounded over but still didn't stand. "I didn't hear anything. There aren't any keyholes, either, so barring magic, I don't *think* anything's locked, and I think they're all empty."

Dynaheir chewed thoughtfully, contemplating her meal of dried meat and very dry bread. "How did the goblins die?" she asked in a low voice.

The elder of the two half-elves craned his head over to look at the stinking pile they'd left in the distance. "Hammers. That's damage you c-can't manage with anything s-sharp. Why?"

The Wychlaran washed down the jerky with some water. "Because we should be careful where we tread. The thieves did not come through here, by the look of the doorway, meaning there is another presence afoot that killed the goblins we passed."

THAT was enough to silence the whole group, and the foursome quickly ended their temporary rest to keep moving.

"A sewage golem," Eli said, in the most deadpan voice he could muster. They were in the room Imoen had approached but not entered several minutes before. "It's a golem… made of sewage. Deranged indeed."

"Made of *and* for it!" Imoen added brightly. "That's one way to get cheap materials, I guess. Never thought of a trash golem before…"

The filthy mess faced the party, unnerving them all with its eyeless gaze. "Master?" it asked in an almost quizzical, gravelly voice, which was a neat trick to Imoen considering the golem – being a golem – had no handle of tone or inflection. "Are you there? You have given me no eyes with which to see you."

Eli shared a sidelong glance with his red-haired companion, and another with Khalid; Dynaheir was investigating the rest of the room, it having been deemed trap-free. "Uh… Yes! It is I," he intoned in what was actually a fairly spot-on imitation of what Imoen had remembered Irenicus' voice to be like. It was close enough for Khalid to twitch and Dynaheir to go pause in her search, clenching her fists at her side. "Have… you… been performing any tasks for me?"

"I cleaned the sewage chambers and fed your guardian approximately four days ago. Do you wish me to open the doors to the pit and begin my duty again?" A gash in the trash golem's "face" corresponded roughly to about where a mouth would be on a human; it moved this mouth awkwardly up and down, rather like a puppet.

"Ich," was Eli's response in his own voice, before he remembered himself and the part he was playing. "Is that all you can do?" he asked hopefully.

"That is all you have ensorcelled me to do," the golem intoned, as if it was the most obvious question in the world.

"Ensorcelled?" Imoen asked softly. "Is that even a word?"

"I'm m-more worried about this g-guardian, personally," Khalid remarked.

"Yes…" Eli answered, forgetting himself once more to answer the thief's question. "Er. Yes. I do… uh, wish for you to perform your duties once more." He shrugged to his party members, in silent apology for the imitation and awkwardness of his phrasing. "Go on," the half-elf chided the golem.

"Sir has not activated my movement functions."

"How in the hell …" Eli turned to the rest of his party, confused, but Imoen pressed the pass stone into his hands.

"Couldn't hurt," she murmured, side-eyeing the golem the golem to make sure she didn't trigger any other functions. "It's worked for everything else thus far."

The half elf looked down, gave a sort of small, resigned shrug, and held it out to the golem. "Of course. I'd forgotten. Here." He pressed it into the thing's stinking hand when it didn't reach for the talisman automatically, grimacing the whole time and immediately wiping the soiled hand on the nearest surface, which happened to be Imoen's garment, as his own were torn practically to shreds. She swatted him, but he easily dodged the blow.

The golem eyelessly regarded the stone, then in a blaze of sudden action, it moved across the room and through the exit quickly, and took off down the hall. The foursome trailed behind in pursuit, through once-locked doors, and down unfamiliar hallways, but they ultimately couldn't keep up and lost it only a short time later.

They had found themselves in a set of hallways not entirely unlike the ones they started in, despite not having phased through the walls again. The tunnels here were metal, rusted in some spaces, and looked suited for containment rather than decoration.

"Just like old times," Imoen remarked to no one in particular, breaking the silence. "Except for, y'know, the torture."

THAT got a chuckle out of Eli and Khalid; Dynaheir didn't seem to find the statement particularly amusing. Deflated somewhat, they continued on until suddenly, they found themselves in front of a set of double doors. The trash golem had left them open, and a breeze flowed through the opening, warmer than they'd felt before. The lighting was different, too – the hall was torchlit, but this new room was dimmer, and the illumination was softer.

"Book!" Eli exclaimed, suddenly darting forward, away from the rest of his group. "Gods above, it's a library!" Before Imoen could yell at him to wait in case it was trapped, the half-elf had crossed the threshold and grabbed the nearest volume available. "Ims! Dynaheir!" he called, ocean-blue eyes wide and excited. "There… there are spells in here! We can cast again!"