In The Cards

Voices have always been very important to me, probably because they resemble music. Sometimes just a few words are enough to give me an impression of the person in question. Cheerful voices, kind voices, determined voices are all fine, as are the slightly dangerous-sounding ones that make me sit up and take an interest. The whiny, petulant, clingy ones are sometimes enough to make me want to rip out the larynx of the person speaking. But I remember them all, and remember them well, even the ones that spoke of hate and death. To me they are more than fond or unpleasant memories. They are also tools.

Excerpt from 'Ruminations Of A Master Bard'

Rini forced her face to remain neutral as the revenant bent forward to kiss her hand, even though she had a nasty feeling it might leave its lips behind. For one thing it didn't seem polite to yank away with a scream of disgust when the poor creature was simply trying to be courteous. For another, watching the stunned faces of her companions was a real treat. Jaheira's eyes were almost bulging from her sockets and Edwin looked like he was about to choke on his own tongue. Really, Rini thought, I wouldn't have expected a Red Wizard to be so sensitive. Just goes to show, you never can tell.

"You…have killed….Tween", the revenant groaned. "I thank you. You may now…have your reward. And I…will…rest…" With those words the undead man sank into the ground, an expression of complete peace on its decomposing face. As it disappeared from sight one of the sarcophagi inside the tomb sprang open to reveal some very interesting contents. A suit of magical chainmail that should fetch a nice price, a pearl necklace, some money and potions, and most importantly a wand. A wand of a kind she recognized from her studies.

"Oooh…" Zaerini said as she picked it up. "A wand of Monster Summoning…"

"Really?" Edwin asked, his voice almost childishly eager. "You're sure? Quite sure? Can I see it? Can I hold it? (I always did want one of these.)"

"You can have it, actually", the bard said, favoring the wizard with her best smile. "I've already got the lightning one and I can't very well use two at the same time. And you're the conjurer, so it seems fitting." She was secretly amused to watch the mage flounder for a moment, obviously without a clue as to what to say.

"Ah…yes", Edwin eventually managed. "Of course. I would be most excellently suited for wielding this sort of powerful magic. By recognizing that you show at least some measure of intelligence and judgement."

"I would not bet on the judgement part", Jaheira murmured. Rini ignored her. "Why, thank you", she said. "What a very…unique…compliment. And now, perhaps we should press on?"

Having left the tombs behind the adventurers headed north. Jaheira was now quite certain of which way they were supposed to go, and she explained that her natural sense of direction had probably been confused before by all the magic suffusing the area.

"Either by that or by chewing too many 'natural' leaves", Edwin muttered. Jaheira was just about to make a biting retort when the party entered a narrow ravine and found themselves facing a group of four strange women. Two of them were heavily armed and armored, the other two wore leather armor. One of these two carried a bow, the other no visible weapon at all. All of them looked very arrogant, and also very pleased to see the half-elven bard and her companions. Not a good sign.

"You there", said the one who was obviously the leader. "Is your name Zaerini? Hurry up and answer. Your answer better be the truth, for your life depends upon it."

Rini considered her answer for a moment. This whole situation was starting to feel extremely familiar, and she had a feeling that she was going to get attacked no matter what. And then something very strange happened. She reached into a part of herself that she hadn't known was there before, and her voice changed. Not just the regular sort of imitation that she'd been able to do before, but it actually changed into the voice of Sarevok, exactly as it had in her dream.

"No, it isn't", that booming and lethal voice said. "I'm the Great And Evil Sarevok, can't you tell? Now do you realize why I always wear that hideous armor? I had to do something to make myself look dangerous."

It was hard to tell whether Zaerini's companions or the four assassins were the ones who looked the most taken aback, but the strange woman rallied first. "You lie!", she cried out. "Remember what I told you about lying. You were foolish to even try, as my god Cyric allows me to see through all falsehoods. You shall now die, Zaerini. You will never interfere with the Iron Throne ever again."

I guess these are some of the less stupid henchmen, Rini thought. "Oh boo hoo", she said, still in the voice of Sarevok, creating an extremely odd impression. "Aren't you scary. Well, I've got just the one thing to say to you, girlie, and that's…CATCH!" With that she fired her lightning wand directly at the four women and was pleased to see the bolt bounce from one to the other, sizzling and crackling. Edwin wasn't far behind, and a swarm of small goblins emerged from his own wand to tackle the assassins. While each goblin was easily swept aside, their sheer numbers kept the Iron Throne assassins from closing with their enemies and forced them to defend rather than attack while the two wizards peppered them with spells. Behind her Rini could hear Jaheira chanting a spell and the sky grew suddenly darker. More flashes of lightning from above and one of the strangers fell. Suddenly the bard had an idea. Suppose Sarevok's wasn't the only voice she could now perfectly imitate? "They are too strong, girls", she shouted, her voice now that of the Iron Throne assassin who had spoken to her. "Retreat!" Two of the women faltered, shooting confused looks at their leader. Their confusion lasted just long enough for Edwin and Xan to bring one of them down, still with a very surprised look on her face.

Zaerini smirked. This new ability should prove very useful. And then the smile melted from her face as she tried to cast a spell. The words were there, but her magic wouldn't come. It was locked within her, unreachable. She knew what must have happened. One of the assassins must have disabled her magic with a spell of some kind. She would have to resort to other options then. Dashing over to one of the fallen assassins she grabbed the arrows out of the woman's quiver. Some were coated with what seemed to be poison, others had tips as cold as ice. The bard handed the cold ones to Imoen and kept the others for herself. The leader of the Iron Throne assassins cried out with pain as the poison entered her system, and then she was silent as Khalid's sword pierced her body. That left just the one woman, and another lightning bolt out of the sky quickly dealt with her. Rini wiped the sweat from her brow and surveyed the battlefield. Four dead women, skilled ones at that. She was getting better. I suppose I should thank you, 'Father'. Giving me a natural aptitude for killing is going to help keep me alive to cross you.

It doesn't come from him alone, Softpaws said. Your sire's blood adds to it, but all cats are skilled at the hunt and the fight. At least, all the live ones. Now sheathe your claws. You've made a good kill. Time to clean your fur.

Rini turned to her friends. Nobody had suffered any serious injuries, except for Xan who had been struck with a poisoned dart and was even now being tended to by Jaheira. She used her own minor healing spell to fix a cut on Imoen's leg.

"More bounty hunters?" Imoen said, her face still a little pale. "I'd almost managed to forget about them."

"I hadn't", Zaerini said. "Though I'm getting seriously sick of them. The next person who walks up to me and announces his intention of killing me is going to have to rest in pieces." A brief chill passed through her then as Varscona announced her approval of the words in a silent barrage of images. Blood. Death. She shook them off with some difficulty and started searching the dead bodies along with Jaheira. There were a few useful items, potions mostly, as well as an enchanted set of leather armor that would likely fit Imoen once the blood was cleaned off it. But most importantly, there was one thing that wasn't there.

"No bounty notice", Rini said and rubbed her chin. "That's a bit of a surprise."

"Not really", Edwin said. "These weren't freelancing bounty hunters after all. I'd say they were assassins regularly employed by this 'Iron Throne'. (Skilled, but not skilled enough of course. These westerners don't seem to understand the concept of discretion.)"

"What's the Iron Throne?" Imoen asked.

"A trade organization", Jaheira answered. "They have a chapter in Baldur's Gate."

"Y-yes", Khalid agreed. "They are p-pretty powerful."

"Really?" Zaerini said. "Interesting. I wonder what they have to do with Sarevok, though? These assassins obviously knew his voice."

That comment led into her friends demanding to know exactly what she had done before and her explaining that she wasn't quite sure. After some brief experimentation it seemed that she could imitate anybody whose voice she had ever heard, but she was starting to feel tired and she didn't think she could keep it up indefinitely. Though driving Jaheria nuts with talking to her in her own voice had been rather funny. The only one not dismayed by the sound of his own voice was Edwin who kept asking her to say something more. Figures, Rini thought with a wry smile. If there's anybody in love with the sound of his own voice, he's the one.

"We should go now", she eventually said. "We've done all we can here and I'd like to get back to civilization."

"Y-yes", Khalid agreed. "To Nashkel, then?"

"Not just yet. See, I heard there's a carnival right to the east of Nashkel, and I've been wanting to check it out ever since. We'll go that way first."

"Yes!" Imoen exclaimed. "A fair! Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"

"A place of merriment", Xan sighed. "How frivolous of you. Remember, we are all…"

"…doomed", Rini said. "Yes. I know. But doomed or not, right now I just want to have some fun for once."

The journey to the Nashkel Carnival was blissfully uneventful, and the fair itself seemed very promising, Zaerini thought. There were all sorts of wonderful smells in the air, spices and candy, sawdust and horses, all of them intermingled into a heady mixture. The sounds were equally enticing. There were hawkers of wares, street performers calling attention to their acts and the loud voices and laughter of the many customers. The bard immediately felt her spirits soar. She'd have to see about performing here later, she thought. But first she wanted to take a look around. "I think we should split up", Rini said with an innocent smile. "We probably all have different things we want to do anyway. No use in wasting time."

"Perhaps…", Jaheira said. "As long as everybody promises to be careful."

"Oh Jaheira, really! This is a carnival! What could possibly happen?"

Jaheira thought about this for a moment. "Very well", she said. "Now, about these groups…"

"Great! You, Khalid and Xan make up one group then, me and Immy and Eddie the other. See you all here later! Bye-bye!" With that the bard hurriedly grabbed the arms of the thief and the Red Wizard and dragged them off, a triumphant grin on her face. Yes! Rini thought. Jaheira can lecture Mr Gloom all she wants, and I hopefully get to have some fun for a change without getting scolded and without anybody insisting that I act 'responsible'. A perfect plan.

Jaheira remained silent for a moment, struggling with the feeling that somebody had just yanked the ground out from under her feet. Then she muttered something about rowdy children running wild.

"Oh, c-come now d-d-dear", Khalid said with a smile. "They're young. They w-want to amuse t-themselves."

"Amuse", Xan said darkly. "This is a carnival you know. There will be killer clowns and evil fortune tellers. Murderous villains around every corner. We're all doomed."

"Speak for yourself", Jaheira said, her annoyance with Xan quite overshadowing everything else. "I'm on my way to get something to drink, and so is Khalid. If you want to wallow in misery you can either do it quietly or you may remain here." She walked off towards the tents without giving the elven enchanter a second glance.

"Y-you may want t-to listen to h-her", Khalid said, sounding a little apologetic. "She usually m-means what she s-says when her face goes all s-stony like that." Then he followed his wife.

"Goes stony?" Xan said quietly. "I could see no great difference." He sighed. "Oh, what's the point. A doomed man deserves a final glass of wine, I suppose. Even if I'm sure it will be sour. At least it may dull my senses somewhat to the memory of those awful Iron Throne people." The elven mage headed after the druid and the warrior. He was completely unaware of the fact that somebody had been listening closely to every word he said, and equally unaware of the listener quietly slipping away through the crowd in the direction Zaerini had left.

I wonder where they dredged that one up, the listener thought with some amusement. Should make for an interesting tale, if most likely a depressing one. If he isn't either dead or booted out by the end of the week I'm changing careers to become a priest of Lathander, complete with pink and gold robes.