The Dragon Guarded Hoard
Jhelnae breathed a sigh as warmth entered her finger from the ring she'd just slipped on. The magic spread to the rest of her hand, crept up her arm, through her shoulder, her chest, then traveled to the rest of her body to finally thaw out her cold backside - which sat on a hard, dusty stone floor. Somehow, even though she was deep underground, she basked in sunlight that streamed down from an enchanted ceiling. But that sunlight, she'd discovered, still didn't make subterranean stone warm or comfortable to sit on. Aleina, having just given up the magic ring of warmth and seated cross legged next to the half-drow, hugged herself and gave her own sigh, but not in contentment.
"And that's how we ended up here in front of you," Kuhl said.
He stood, along with Sky, as they had been the primary tellers of the tale of why they were down here seeking an embezzled hoard guarded by an old dwarf that, according to the Stone of Golorr, was actually a dragon in disguise. The shed golden scales glinting in the sunlight about the dusty floor supported this claim.
"I see," the crimson robed, ancient looking dwarf-perhaps-dragon said.
He'd introduced himself as Barok Clanghammer and something about the way he languidly lounged atop the small pile of treasure made it look like the most comfortable thing in the world - as if he lay on a cushion filled divan rather than a pile of half a million gold coins. A cloud of smoke from his long-stemmed briarwood pipe hung about him and molten golden eyes under bushy blond eyebrows stared into the distance as he contemplated their story. Presently, he drew in a breath on the pipe and the burning tobacco embers in the pipe-bowl flared orange, then he puffed a couple of expanding smoke rings towards the ceiling, adding to the burning herb smell clinging to the air around him.
"That was a very detailed and very long telling of events," he finally said. "I particularly liked the part describing the rescue of Nutmeg the cat and the part about solving the case of the missing socks for the laundress client."
There may have been sarcasm in his tone, but Jhelnae couldn't be sure. The dwarf's red hued leathery skin crinkled at the corner of his eyes as he smiled, and his voice seemed sincere.
"That last one was tough," Sky said, tail lashing. "Who knew brownies had a compulsion to snatch single socks?"
"But I do feel it is unfair and unnecessary," Barok continued. "Despite your request, for me to arbitrate whether the half-elf and tabaxi were rescued from Skullport or were already escaping on their own."
"Rescued," Aleina muttered. "Selune's Tears, it's so obvious."
"Also," the dwarf said, either not hearing or ignoring the aasimar's interjection. "The monk Hlam is a friend. I haven't been free to venture up Mount Waterdeep to visit him in many years, guarding this treasure as I have, so do say hello to him for me the next time you join him for a workout. Though why anyone, including Hlam, would put themselves through that sort of regular torture is beyond me."
"Beyond me too," Jhelnae said under her breath.
"It's good for us," the aasimar whispered.
"Funny, you look like my aasimar friend," the half-drow whispered back. "But sound like my drow mother."
"Since you are implying you won't be free to visit Hlam yourself," Kuhl ventured. "I'm guessing we haven't convinced you? And that you intend to keep guarding the treasure?"
"I suspect that what you are telling me may be true," the dwarf said, shaking his head and taking another puff on his pipe. "That this gold was embezzled, that there is a new Open Lord, and that she sent you to find it, especially with you bearing official looking and enchanted Watch badges."
That the gifted badges might be magically enhanced caused the companions to share a glance, but considering who gave them, Jhelnae reasoned, it made sense.
"But it also seems to me," Barok continued. "All that being true, that you could then get Lady Silverhand and return with her here. Then I would know what you say is true rather than just suspect."
"That is… fair," Kuhl reluctantly conceded.
It was fair, but that didn't mean Jhelnae was happy about it.
"By all that dances," she groaned. "Well, this has been a waste of time."
She held out a hand and Kuhl helped haul her to her feet, his grip strong. Aleina followed her lead, and the half-elf pulled her up as well.
"Sorry you feel that way," the dwarf said, sitting up on the pile of gold and giving an apologetic shrug. "I was glad to have visitors. You're the first in many years. The only visitors in all my time down here, actually. Which is why I have no tea, no pastries, not even another pipe to share. I've been a terrible host."
As he sat upright, he placed his staff, the one carved and painted to resemble a pair of entwined dragons - one red and one gold - on his lap.
"Well, we might be back before you know it," the aasimar said, dusting off her backside then hands. "We sent a friend to tell Laeral where to find the treasure before we came down here."
"Oh, dear," Barok said, glancing about. "Laeral Silverhand might be here soon? I suppose I better start cleaning up a bit."
He apparently decided to start with his blond beard as he used fingers to comb through it while still puffing at his pipe.
"Since the stone already revealed you're really a dragon," Sky said. "And since I've never seen a gold one, could we see your true form?"
"You've seen another dragon?" Barok asked, one bushy eyebrow rising. "What type?"
"Red," Kuhl answered. "In the Underdark in the duergar city of Gracklstugh. We saw the Wyrmsmith. From a distance."
"Themberchaud," the dwarf said, nodding. "It is good for you that you saw him from a distance. I hear he has a big - some would say gluttonous - appetite."
The half-drow recalled their sighting of the dragon. They'd been walking across Gracklstugh, going to see the chieftain of a stone giant clan of all things, when there he was, breathing fire into stalagmite chimneys to reheat forges, red scales like burning embers in the glow of his own blazing breath.
A dragon.
It had taken all her willpower to keep following their Stone Guard guides-captors instead of sprinting in the other direction. Remembering that made her certain she did not want to see this gold dragon's true form. She was well satisfied with his unassuming and seemingly harmless dwarf shape. Thankfully, Barok apparently felt the same.
"I'm here to guard this treasure," he said. "Not to satisfy the curiosity of those who drop by."
"Not even a tiny, small peek," the tabaxi asked, holding up her thumb and forefinger in a gesture of something small. "And then you can change back. After maybe giving a short, very short, ride on your back to someone very light?"
"Not even a tiny peek," the dwarf said. "And it's a definite no to the rest as well."
"Come on, Sky," Kuhl said. "Let's go find the Open Lord and then get some sleep. After that, who knows what cases might come into the detective agency."
"I guess," the tabaxi said, tail drooping.
Jhelnae glanced back as they left the vault and headed up the stairs. Barok sat on the pile of gold still sending expanding smoke rings up to break apart on the ceiling, humming to himself and, despite his earlier words, making no effort to clean the place up.
"Years down here all by himself," Aleina whispered. "Can you imagine that? It's a wonder he isn't crazy."
"I'm not sure he's not," the half-drow whispered back. "He might be. But at least he is a polite form of crazy."
"Thank Selune for that," the aasimar said.
Or rather Eilistraee, Jhelnae thought, as she always did when her friend used that phrase.
The companions ascended the stairwell and pushed through the trap door into the chamber where the half-drow and Aleina had voiced a secret to reveal and unlock the way down to the treasure vault. Apparently, the door shut and sealed itself again after a time.
"Well," Aleina said. "Someone else can reveal a secret the next time we come through."
She leveled her gaze at Kuhl.
"I'm sure Lady Silverhand has plenty of secrets," he said with a nervous chuckle, cheeks reddening. "Seven hundred years of them."
"What is it you don't want to tell?" the aasimar demanded.
"We better get going," the half-elf said, with a not-so-apologetic shrug. "Barok has been waiting for years to be relieved of his guard duty after all."
"This reminds me," Jhelnae cut in. "Someone owes me a vase. But I'll take favors in compensation instead - fetching snacks from the kitchen, shoulder massages, cleaning dishes I'm too lazy to do myself."
"I already do the last one plenty," Aleina huffed. "And you're really going to hold that over me? You never cared about that ugly thing. It was an impulse purchase."
That was true, but the half-drow was not about to give up easy leverage.
"Just saying 'remember my vase' is going to be an oft-used phrase in our room in the near future," she said with a smirk and a wink.
"Yeah, well don't think it's going to work on me," the aasimar said, chuckling and shaking her head.
But it would. At least for a little while. Jhelnae knew her friend well enough to know that.
They crossed back over the broken bridge in the same way as before - Kuhl stepping into the mist and Aleina flying Jhelnae and then Sky across.
"I still say I can jump it," the tabaxi muttered as she and the aasimar landed.
"If we have to cross again you might have to," Aleina grunted as she put Sky down. "I think I've tapped out my power of flight until I get some rest."
Her pale wings of light faded and winked out of existence even as she said this. Now all together again on the other side of the broken span, they proceeded to the hall with pillars shaped like war hammers standing on their heads and the mural of dwarf god forging the first dwarves out of diamond and black metal. The secret door containing the five copper urns of treasure remained open and reminded the half-drow of the ring of warmth they found there. She took it off, immediately missing the comforting feel of its magical heat and passed it to the aasimar who put it on.
Traversing the hall, they went down the steps to the room with the vibrant fresco that had so captured Aleina's attention Jhelnae had resorted to snapping her fingers in front of the aasimar's face several times to break her fixed stare. Remembering this, she took her friend by the elbow and guided her towards the far door, away from the painting, and they left the room without a repeat of the same odd behavior.
Now they were back in the massive chamber just beyond the vault door that had required the Stone of Golorr and three magic keys - herself as the invisible creature, Nim's little metal bird creation, and a gift from a queen. If the half-drow shaded her eyes from Dawnbringer's interfering light, she'd be able to see the three crumbling bridges high above with her dark vision. The piles of fallen stone littering the dust laden floor made her want to hurry out of here. Instead, the group stopped not even halfway to the open adamantine door. Footsteps and golden light came from the opposite direction.
A lot of footsteps.
Jhelnae tensed then relaxed. This is what they'd been expecting. What they'd hoped for. Bonnie must have been successful in getting their note to Laeral Silverhand and now she came with a force to secure the embezzled gold.
"It's probably the Open Lord," Kuhl whispered, voicing the thought aloud.
"Probably," Aleina agreed.
But she pulled her moonstone orb from its pouch and pale armor of light settled around her form before fading from view.
"Just in case," the aasimar said in response to the half-drow's questioning look.
Jhelnae nodded and conjured her own warding armor. It turned out to be a wise precaution. The approaching group was a small army who made their way under light emanating from the top of four wizard staffs.
And not a single one of those staff bearers was Laeral Silverhand.
The half-drow couldn't get a good count of them. More than ten and less than twenty she judged, some of them men-at-arms in chainmail with no house livery to identify them. Three of them were masked, one made of black metal and silver and two golden with devilish visages. The man wearing the black metal one wore charcoal-colored robes and the hand clutching his rune engraved dark staff was crafted of some kind of golden alloy. Jhelnae recognized the robes and metal hand from earlier tonight.
The simulacrum Aleina turned into a pile of melting slush wore the same and possessed the same type of artificial hand, though no sign of either had remained once it reverted to ice and snow. The golden masked pair were a man and a woman, richly attired in tailored velvet, silk, and brocade that was nevertheless practical for a dungeon delve - capes to keep them warm and riding breeches for the lady rather than a gown.
The companions were recognized in turn.
"Two are those we fought in the Market," the fourth staff bearer said.
She was a thin, olive complexioned woman with raven locks that only partially hid the telltale indigo tattoos marking her scalp - the Red Wizard of Thay from the Pink Flumph Theater. Though she wore malachite-colored robes rather than red.
"But the other two are different," a burned brute with a scarred cheek and neck growled. "It was a moon-elf and a human bitch who flew off with the stone. Not a drow and whatever she is."
When the companions encountered the trio in the market, they'd been under a seeming spell making them appear as Watch officers with Jhelnae and Aleina further disguised.
"They're the same people," a young man said. "Same hairstyles and I've met them before. These two helped the three brats the Shard Shunners caught escape."
The golden masked woman's gaze shifted to fully rest on the aasimar and the half-drow and though the devilish visage cast in metal did not change, it seemed more baleful.
"You were part of the group chasing Jenks, Squiddly, and Nat?" Aleina said, voice angry but also questioning.
"Don't recognize me?" the man said. "Maybe you recognize this form better?"
He shifted then, skin and hair darkening and figure growing more feminine until Jhelnae stared at a duplicate of herself, emerald eyed gaze mocking.
"You!" the half-drow yelled. "We have unfinished business."
"Oh, we are about to finish it," her duplicate said, matching her voice perfectly. "Rest assured."
The shapeshifter fixed her with a confident smirk that remained in place even as his form flowed back to his previous shape of a young man.
"Back the way we came," Kuhl whispered. "We can make a stand with the dragon."
But when they turned, they found a shimmering wall of force blocking the door they'd come through. It was the repeat of the Market encounter all over, but this time they were badly outnumbered.
"Don't run off just yet," the man behind the black metal mask said as he led his group further into the room until they were mere paces away. "We're just getting to know each other."
His voice shared the same urbane, well-mannered cadence as the simulacrum they'd encountered earlier, which meant this must be Manshoon, but the mask gave his speech a hollow echo that made it unnerving.
"And I believe this is one happy reunion after another," the black masked man continued. "Samara, didn't you tell me about a half-elf paladin and a tabaxi when you reported on escaping the Xanathar?"
"I did," a stoic faced female halfling said. "These are the same two."
"Hi Samara," Sky said, waving. "Good to see you also escaped Skullport."
The halfling didn't even acknowledge the tabaxi's greeting with a change of expression, but she did give a compliment of sorts.
"Don't be fooled by her nature," Samara said. "From my observations of her during Blood and Fortune my assessment is - very skilled and very dangerous."
"High praise coming from Samara," Manshoon said. "And I have to concur. I sent my most skilled apprentice, Kaevja, to Grahlund Villa to rescue Urstul and retrieve the stone, and she only accomplished one of those two tasks. The least important one, truth be told."
The malachite robed woman winced at his statement and the burned man cringed.
"No matter," the black masked man continued. "My network of spies uncovered where the stone was taken and this time I took no chances, sending my simulacrum, my very self, to get it. Instead, my simulacrum was somehow destroyed and here you are. In the open vault. Suggesting you succeeded where it failed. Such individuals could be useful to me. So I'll give you a choice, join us, take us to what you've found here, or… well you know the other choice."
"This is not what I was promised," a young woman said. "You said they could live."
Jhelnae was surprised by the outburst. She didn't recognize the woman who directed her ire at the shapeshifter. Her features resembled his - blond hair, blue eyes and they looked like they could be related. But then a shapeshifter could take any shape they wished, so it might be a coincidence.
"I was present when that promise was made," the gold masked man said, speaking for the first time. "He said they could live, and that is true, the choice is theirs."
"You lying snakes!" the blond woman said. "I should have known better, but at least I thought I could trust my own brother."
She looked at the companions.
"I'm sorry," she pleaded. "I had to. That treasure can save the souls of three innocent children."
The half-drow was confused and at a loss for any coherent response. The woman acted as if she knew them, but Jhelnae had no idea who she was or what she meant about the souls of three innocent children. It was Aleina who figured out part of the mystery.
"Bonnie?"
The woman who looked nothing like the red-haired barmaid of the Yawning Portal nodded. How could she be Bonnie? Then the half-drow understood. She'd called the shapeshifter her brother.
"She should not know about the children!" the gold masked woman snapped, mask turning towards the young blond-haired man. "None of them should! They all need to die. Your sister included."
"That was not the deal," the shapeshifted Bonnie insisted.
"He took a calculated risk revealing our secret," the gold masked man said. "And it paid returns. Here we are, Neverember's embezzled fortune within reach. He knows his sister well."
"They can not be trusted," the gold masked woman emphasized. "We'd be fools to think otherwise."
"There are ways to ensure their loyalty," the gold masked man said. "Infernal pacts. Or we kill them here."
"Which would give you five very useful servants," Manshoon said. "While I get nothing. Here is what I suggest instead. Keep the siblings as a matched pair, an infernal pact for her. As a doppelganger she's worth the most, so the deal favors you. We get the others with Keresta making them spawn to ensure their loyalty."
At his master's words, the burned scarred man seized Bonnie and pinned her arms behind her back. She struggled briefly, but his size and strength quickly overcame her.
"Don't fight," her brother said. "It isn't like you're going to lose your soul. The Lord of the Nine gladly gives power to such as us for the abilities we bring and we can to reclaim our birthright together."
"I can make these four members of my brood," a feminine voice called out from the back of the group, hidden by the men at arms. "But someone extinguishes that damnable sun sword first."
"That is agreeable," the gold masked man said.
He might have said more, but Jhelnae had enough of being divvied up like goods between a pair of bartering merchants. And becoming spawn as part of a brood of someone afraid of the sunlight radiance of Dawnbringer could only mean one thing.
A vampire.
The half-drow had long ago vowed to never let another one anywhere near her neck again. Ever. She stretched out her hand and her abyssal blade misted into existence.
"Death first," she said.
"Just like an adventurer," Manshoon said, hollow voice behind the mask conveying amusement. "To summon a sword to a spell battle."
He raised his dark staff and the runes etched down its length blazed with pale eldritch light. But before he could cast anything a new voice called out from the vicinity of the adamantine vault doors.
"Did someone say spell battle?"
Into the room, silver hair glittering under the light emanating from her upraised hand, stepped the Open Lord of Waterdeep. A huffing Mirt, flanked by two female swordswomen was with her as well as Jalester Silvermane.
"I wouldn't call myself a typical adventurer," Laeral said. "But I did bring a sword."
In her hand not raised to shed light, a flaming blade burst to life.
I've imagined this set up from the beginning of writing this out this module. Now that I get here, I don't know if it works. I wanted to work in the story of the souls of the Cassalanter children and to do that I decided to use the doppelganger Bonnie. Setting her up as a friend and then having some POV chapters where she discovers what is at stake should the Cassalanter not get the gold (or so she thinks). But it might not have been enough. Those chapters were few and I can see readers totally forgetting about her trip into the Cassalanter attic from all those chapters before. Especially reading them as I wrote them (chapters with Bonnie were presented a long while ago).
However, if I failed, and the way I set it all up is not coherent to a reader, I'm not going to worry about it too much. This is, after all, fan fiction, and I was performing an experiment as to how to bring in villain backstory without a villain monologue. I've been trying to have a healthier attitude of this hobby than when I used to fret endlessly and feel like I 'just hadn't gotten it right' and how what I intended to convey seemed to always remain 'just out of reach' of my writing skills. :)
But I am curious. Did using Bonnie work for you? Or was it a swing and a miss?