Chapter 16: Bassilus - Day 28
After a hearty morning meal the five departed Beregost and quickly settled into the usual formation. Ajantis was in the lead, the perfect image of a paladin. A handsome clean cut warrior with a strong jaw, clad in shining Anhkeg plate mail, visored helm with the visor raised, and a highly polished medium shield strapped to his left arm. The image was completed with a mighty enchanted sword hanging on his left hip. Jeral could only watch in awe as the Helmite lead the way. Minsc was nowhere in sight, off patrolling in the woods and keeping an eye on the party's flanks. As a ranger he was happiest off the trail and despite his large size he could move quickly and quietly through the thickest forest.
Imoen and Dynaheir followed the paladin at a distance. Imoen slung her short bow over her back while she peppered the mage with questions about the arcane arts. Dynaheir moved her hands rapidly showing Imoen the basics of a few simple cantrips while Imoen cooed in excitement. Jeral brought up the rear of the party. He walked slowly along and periodically turned and walked backwards to ensure no threats accosted them from the rear. He held his long bow at the ready, ready to face any threats that emerged from the woods.
The day was clear and unseasonably warm for spring and everyone was sweating heavily as they followed a narrow game trail through the woods. Despite his armor Ajantis maintained a brisk pace and seemed untroubled by the conditions. Jeral regularly drank from his water skin to quench his thirst, and he watched Imoen and Dynaheir do the same. Imoen was whining about sore feet and sweaty under clothes as the morning wore on. Clearly the heat was starting to take a toll on all of them. Near midday Jeral was ready to suggest a pause to have the noon meal when he saw Ajantis abruptly stop and draw his enchanted long sword.
"You surrender or you die."
"You make choice and you make choice quickly."
"Zargal has no patience to wait for slow witted city folk."
Jeral tensed and pulled an arrow from his quiver as he heard a gravelly voice growl out a threat in the common tongue. Despite a heavy guttural accent Jeral could understand the words well enough. Looking past Ajantis, Jeral viewed three well equipped hobgoblins standing in the middle of a small clearing that intersected with the game trail. All three creatures were clad in studded leather armor and two held long bows. While Jeral was taking the scene in Ajantis was already moving forward to the attack.
"In the name of Helm I strike at thee!" Ajantis moved towards the creatures at a controlled jog as he rapidly closed the gap. Both archers aimed at the paladin while the largest hobgoblin moved to engage Ajantis with a short sword. Even at the distance Jeral could determine that the short sword was enchanted. Jeral quickly knocked an arrow and fired at the lead hobgoblin. He smiled grimly as his arrow struck home, striking the creature in the left shoulder. Howling in pain it stabbed at Ajantis as he came into range and the two combatants began to duel fiercely. Imoen, Dynaheir and Jeral focused on one archer, and then the other. Both hobgoblins soon fell to the combined onslaught of two bows and one sling.
Once the archers were dispatched Jeral dropped his bow, drew his short sword, and moved forward to support Ajantis. Ajantis and the hobgoblin were dueling fiercely and the pair seemed evenly matched. Ajantis was successfully using the longer reach of his sword and his shield to keep the creature at a safe distance but he could not get inside his opponent's guard. The hobgoblin responded to every strike with a lightening quick parry or counterattack.
As Jeral stepped forward the creature quickly turned and attacked the newly arriving enemy, perhaps viewing him as an easier target. Short swords clashed as Jeral frantically parried the creature's attacks. The hobgoblin gasped in pain as a short sword stabbed into its back and he spun around to face the new threat. As the creature turned he lashed out with a fierce back handed punch with his sword pommel. Imoen's head snapped back from the strike and her sword fell from her grasp as she crumpled to the ground. Turning from the downed Imoen the hobgoblin turned to square off against Jeral again. Focused on Jeral the hobgoblin was unprepared for a wicked overhand strike from Ajantis. The creature's sword arm fell to the ground as Zargal dropped to his knees and fell forward, bleeding thick black blood out onto the lush green grass. The flow soon slowed to a trickle and then stopped entirely as the hobgoblin bled out onto the ground. Jeral raced over and checked Imoen. Other than a bloody nose and a black eye she appeared uninjured. Helping her to her feet he could not help but chide his sibling.
Imoen spent a few moments rolling her neck and shoulders to ensure she could move without too much pain. "Ok, I am ready to continue on. Ajantis, I thank you for protecting me."
Nodding gravely Ajantis replied with the barest hint of a smile. "It was an honor to do so my lady."
"Stick with the archery Imoen, backstabbing and melee combat clearly do not agree with you."
Wiggling her tongue around in her mouth to check for loose teeth Imoen nodded grimly, "That is a true statement Jeral. Although to be fair, you are not much better. You need to spend some time sparring with Minsc and Ajantis. Maybe you would learn a few things from the two of them." Smiling Jeral nodded his agreement.
"Speaking of the ranger, where is my protector? It is not like him to miss the opportunity for combat." Dynaneir's question brought the party back out of their reverie. The group realized that Minsc had not come to the sounds of the battle and that was a cause for concern. Jeral and Imoen quickly searched the corpses. Imoen located about 100 pieces of gold and three potions that Jeral identified as healing draughts. While Imoen was looting the corpses Jeral closely examined the leader's short sword. Jeral picked up the weapon and took a few slow practice swings. As the blade sliced through the air the blade whistled softly. Furrowing his brow in concentration Jeral turned the weapon over in his hands and scanned it for runes. Smiling he straightened and took a few more energetic practice swings with the weapon. It moved with blinding speed and whistled softly as it sliced through the air. Smiling he twirled the sword in his hand.
"Well I think an enchanted whistling sword is the perfect accessory for the well equipped bard such as myself." Smiling Jeral took his lightly enchanted short sword and placed it in his pack. He then removed the jeweled scabbard from Zargal's belt and placed it on his own belt, spending some time arranging it just so on his left hip. Sheathing his new sword he picked up his bow and nodded down the game trail. "Let's go find Minsc; and then we can find this wayward cleric." With that the four adventurers left the clearing and continued heading southwest. Imoen pulled an apple from her back and munched on that sighing about missing a meal.
After a few more hours of following the narrow game trail Ajantis signaled a halt and Jeral moved forward to stand next to the Helmite. Ahead stood a small grove of trees arranged in a circle around a stone altar and some low stone benches. Seated on one of the benches was Minsc and he appeared deep in conversation with a chain mail clad man who could only be the mad cleric Bassilus. Scattered around the grove were piles of bones and the corpses of various undead creatures. Jeral motioned for Dynaheir and Imoen to remain back while he and Ajantis cautiously moved forward into the grove. Minsc noticed the approaching companions and nodded in greeting. As Jeral approached he could see that Bassilus was sobbing and asking for forgiveness for his actions while Minsc patted him gently on his leg.
The weeping man finally noticed the newcomers. Glancing up harshly he spoke in a loud clear voice.
"Who are you? Why are you here? I am having a quiet conversation with my family here, how dare you interrupt!" Before Jeral could figure out how to properly reply Ajantis stepped forward holding his holy symbol high.
"By Helm you shall answer for your crime. Your Temple has instructed us to return you to face the justice of Lathlander!"
Upon hearing the name of his God Bassilus flew into a rage and launched himself to his feet.
Pointing at Minsc he screamed, "You tricked me! You are no family of mine! I KILLED my family at your suggestion." The cleric started to back away from the group as he prepared to cast a spell. The three men charged the cleric but could not interrupt his spell casting. With a start Jeral realized that Minsc and Ajantis were now standing immobile, victims of the cleric's power. Bassilus hefted his golden war hammer and advanced on Jeral. As he approached Jeral an arrow and two magic missiles struck Bassilus in the chest. As the cleric recoiled from the blows Jeral saw his opportunity and lunged forward to stab him in the stomach. Bassilus easily turned the blow aside and countered with a short jab with his war hammer. Jeral twisted his body and moved his buckler to intercept the blow. As the hammer clanged into his buckler a jolt of electricity ran through Jeral's body.
That is quite a weapon, if he gets a good strike on me I may be finished.
Jeral slowly backed away, parrying strike after strike from the deranged cleric. He made no move to counterattack and just focused on defending himself and avoiding a blow from the clearly enchanted hammer.
Parry, step back.
Jeral focused on flicking the hammer away with short swipes of his sword.
Parry, step back.
Jeral snapped his wrist time and time again, diverting the hammer strikes with quick flicks of his sword.
Jeral knew he had no chance to defeat his opponent in close combat so he was stalling until someone else in the party could take care of the mad cleric. Ajantis and Minsc were out of the picture so he was depending on Imoen and Dynaheir to come to his aid and turn the tide of the battle. Bassilus flinched as a sling bullet whizzed by his head, missing his eye by inches. Jeral seized upon the distraction and lunged forward with his short sword. Bassilus chopped downwards with his hammer and drove Jeral's short sword into the ground. Stepping forward he smashed his hammer into Jeral's chest with a mighty backhand swing. Jeral staggered backwards under the blow, quivering as his whole body shook from an electric shock, and backpedaled to avoid a follow on strike. Jeral watched as an arrow struck Bassilus in the shoulder and then a second buried itself in the center of the cleric's chest.
Bassilus staggered back under the blows and coughed up blood as he readied another strike on Jeral. A pair of magic missiles slammed into the cleric's chest, followed quickly by a second pair. Bassilus fell to his knees and slowly crumpled onto the ground.
Jeral looked over his shoulder and saw Dynaheir walking forward holding a wand in her hand. Imoen trotted forward and quickly looted the body. With the cleric dead Minsc and Ajantis regained their freedom of movement and rejoined the others. Jeral struggled to remain upright and counted at least three broken ribs.
Wheezing slightly from his injuries Jeral broke the silence, "Ok I think we need to head back to Beregost. We can visit the temple, collect our reward and I can get some healing from the clerics there."
Day 29
"Jeral, can you believe it? Less than a month out on our own and we hold a small fortune in our hands." Imoen held a pouch heavy with over 1,000 pieces of gold and a few pieces of fine jewelry. The priests in the Beregost Temple were exceedingly generous paying a reward of 5,000 gold for the death of Bassilus. Ajantis, Dynaheir and Minsc had departed earlier to go shopping while the siblings lingered over a late breakfast. Imoen was stuffing bread, fruit, and cheese in her mouth as fast as she could grab it.
Jeral answered and a trace of bitterness crept into his voice.
"Apparently there are upsides to having your father murdered and fighting off wave after wave of bounty hunters." The smile quickly left Imoen's face and she absently picked at her food as the two sat at the table in an awkward silence. After some time Jeral excused himself and headed off to the Beregost blacksmith. He pushed open the doors to the Thunderhammer Smithy and was welcomed with a rousing cheer from Taerom Fuirium the head blacksmith. Taerom was a short man, broad of chest with large arms and a gleaming bald head. A sheen of sweat cover his body as he wiped his brow and broke into a large grin showing cracked and yellowed teeth.
"Ahhhhh, you must be Jeral of Candlekeep. Some of your companions were in here earlier and they spoke very highly of you. What can I do for you?"
"I just wanted to see what you carried here. Your shop is known across the Sword Coast."
"Well you are right there young man. Please take a look around. Unfortunately, I do not have any enchanted chain for sale but I do carry various enchanted arrows and an enchanted buckler that would be improvements over your current equipment. That short sword of yours is finer than anything I carry in this shop. In fact I will give you 2,000 gold for it."
"Thank you but no. How much for a couple score of the lightly enchanted arrows as well as the buckler?"
"For you, eh let's say 600 gold."
Smiling Jeral shook his head. "Too rich for my blood my good man. How about five hundred gold instead?"
Taerom rubbed his hands together and licked his lips. "Let's just split the difference and call it 550."
"Done."
Jeral counted out the funds and handed them over to the blacksmith. Shaking hands he placed the new arrows in his quiver and strapped the new buckler on his left forearm. With a wave he departed the store and returned to the tavern.
Jeral entered the tavern and spied Minsc sitting along at a table in the common room. The large man was feeding pieces of cheese to his hamster who was lying on his back gnawing on a large hunk of cheese and Minsc warned him to chew slowly.
Jeral helped himself to a chair and sat at the table opposite the ranger. Minsc eyed Jeral and motioned to his new equipment. Boo says you have some new equipment to help apply the boot of justice to evil. Smiling Jeral could only shake his head in response. Scratching the back of his neck Jeral looked down at the table. "Uh, if you have some time this afternoon do you think we could spar? I could definitely use some practice."
Smiling Minsc slammed a meaty fist down on the table. The table shook under the strain and Boo squealed in annoyance as he was bounced around in a pile of cheese crumbs. "Minsc would be please to practice with little Jeral." Jeral chuckled as he stood up. Standing almost 6 feet tall and weighing slightly more than 12 stone no one had called Jeral little in a long time. But coming from a man who was six and a half feet tall who must weigh around 19 stone Jeral could hardly argue. Minsc gently picked up Boo and placed him on his shoulder as the pair walked around back to the stables.
The pair entered the stables and placed their equipment on bales of hay piled on the sides of the barn. Minsc located a pile of empty feed bags and wrapped his great sword in a number of them, securing them in place with some twine. Jeral removed his sword belt and placed it on a bale of hay. Reaching into his pack he removed his old lightly enchanted sword and wrapped it in burlap. "Why does Jeral not use his pretty new sword?"
"That sword is incredibly sharp and I worry it would cut through these wrappings too easily. I do not want to risk you getting hurt. You have saved my life too many times already to risk you getting hurt."
Minsc chuckled, a deep rumbling sound that shook the large man. "I am not too concerned about you hurting me Jeral. Minsc and Boo have watched you fight. You have spirit, however you have much to learn about fighting."
Jeral looked at the large man with a glare and the ranger surprised him by responding quickly. "Do not be sad little Jeral. You shoot arrows very well, as well as Minsc in fact. We can teach you the way of the warrior in close combat as well. Although at some point you need a bigger sword. Where I come from only children wield swords of such a tiny size." Smiling tightly Jeral stood and faced the large man. The pair stood and saluted one another before they began.
Jeral lunged in to stab at the ranger's stomach. Minsc blocked the blow easily and slid to the right away from Jeral's sword arm. Reversing his grip Minsc slashed out with a sweeping horizontal swing. Jeral threw himself backwards and watched as the padded weapon grazed his tunic. Struggling to regain his balance Jeral dodged from side to side as Minsc pressed his advantage home. Jeral threw himself forward and tucked into a forward roll. From his knees he slashed at the ranger's left knee. The big man deftly raised his leg up and watched as the weapon swung helplessly under his foot. Switching his balance Minsc smashed his leg down and pinned Jeral's weapon to the ground. Swinging his sword downward he smashed it into Jeral's side and smashed the man into the side of the barn.
Jeral struggled to his feet eyed the ranger wearily. Wiping the sweat from his brow Jeral smiled at the ranger. "I thank you for the lesson my friend. That is enough for today."
Walking back inside Jeral shook his head in despair.
There is no way I can avenge Gorion's death unless I get much better with a blade.
Gorion's killer was more than a match for Minsc and Jeral was not a match for him at this rate. Jeral was awake for a long time thinking on that before sleep finally brought him peace.