Cards Reshuffled

The ability to bluff successfully and dupe people can be very dangerous if applied correctly. Just as valuable as weapon skills, mage-craft or other weapons. Of course, even a trained trickster may occasionally meet a match, or even find herself outmatched.

Excerpt from ‘Interview With An Assassin’

“So, how do I look?” Zaerini asked, turning around.

”Simply disgusting,” Edwina said, wrinkling her nose. “Like a malevolent rat, if you must know.”

“I agree,” Anomen said, looking about ready to gag. “Truly my lady, thy visage is repellent enough to give even the stoutest of knights pause.”

“Oh, excellent!” the half-elf beamed, looking herself over. “Now let’s try the voice. ‘Hurrrrrnnnnhhh…I’m always happy to offer…entertainment.’ How’s that?”

“Perfect,” Jaheira said, nodding with approval. “It makes me want to break your skull open with my staff, just the reaction it is supposed to elicit.”

Grinning, Rini turned towards the ladder. Now and then Daddy Bhaal’s inheritance really comes in handy, I have to admit that.

You could have taken on your cat shape, you know, Softpaws remarked from the floor. Far more attractive.

Yes, but then I wouldn’t be able to actually talk to them, would I? No, for this party I plan to attend as ‘Lethinan – Repulsive Slaver’.

The brief illusion that her divine blood could provide her with wasn’t a full shapechange as such, but unless she came into close contact with the slavers upstairs it should suffice. “Well,” she said, still marveling at the hissing sneer that seemed inherent in Lehtinan’s voice, “wish me luck, you guys.” With that, she climbed the ladder, going as fast as she could in order to try to suppress the brief flutter of fear in her stomach.

As she reached the top, she found herself at one end of a fairly large room, with barrels and boxes stacked in the middle. She could see two doors at the other side of the room, one of them on top of a small staircase. All around was the persistent sound of creaking wood, as the old dry-docked ship that was the slavers’ headquarters shifted and settled with the movements of the people within. Speaking of people, there were some of those present as well. A few strong and tough-looking men, armed with swords and bows. One of them was especially large, not as tall as Minsc but not far behind either. As he noticed her, he turned and gaped.

“Lehtinan? What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to pick up the…merchandise,” the bard said, using her skill at mimicry to imitate the dead innkeepers voice. “The…small merchandise.”

“What, now? Have you run out of them already?”

One of the slavers grinned and nudged his companion. “Plenty of uses for young merchandise, you know. If they don’t go to the brothel, the monsters down the fighting pit are always hungry. Some of the crowd down there really enjoy that sort of thing.”

Rini tried to force herself to maintain a passive expression, but it was extremely difficult since she felt as if she was on the verge of throwing up. The brothel…I didn’t see any children there but…oh gods. How could anybody actually…and the fighting pit? “Yes…” she managed after a few seconds. “They…do go through them. The…monsters that is. Bring out the new ones. I’ll take them myself.”

The large slaver frowned a little. “You? Don’t you want us to bring them as usual? It’s only down the street, I know, but suppose one of the un-bribed guards runs into you? You’d be swinging before the next dawn.”

Zaerini thought for a few seconds. “I’ll bring them through the passage,” she said. “Safer that way, no risk of…interference. Nobody will see them except my own men. Now bring them out.”

“What about payment?”

“Hrrrrnnnhhh…come by the Coronet in an hour or so, once the merchandise is in place. I’ll pay you then.” She forced a hideous grin onto her borrowed face. “What? Surely you cannot think I mean to…cheat you? After all, where would I go with a bunch of little brats?” Have to keep it up…mustn’t let him see that all I want to do is to split his skull. The children are what’s most important.

“Right…” the large man said. “Wait here.” He barked an order to two of his underlings, and they disappeared further into the bowels of the ship.

I just hope I can hold the illusion for long enough, Rini thought, feeling a few beads of sweat trickle down her neck with the strain. If I turn back here, with all of them around me…It wasn’t really something she wanted to think about. Finally, there was a shuffling sound coming from up the stairs, and she felt her heart catch in her mouth. The slavers were bringing out a group of children, about a dozen of them, both boys and girls. The youngest seemed to be about four, the oldest maybe twelve or so. All were thin, dirty, and had a fearful, despondent look about them. They were chained together, chains connecting iron collars around their necks. She was biting the inside of her cheek now to try to keep her temper under control, biting it hard enough that she could taste blood.

As the children were walking down the stairs, one of the slavers gave the last one, a little girl, a sharp lash across her legs with the whip he carried, laughing as the child cried out with pain. “Move it!” he shouted. “Your new owner doesn’t have the time to wait while you laze about all day. And if you cross him, he’ll carve all your little hearts out.”

The children looked at Zaerini, their eyes wide and frightened. Clearly at least some of the murderous rage she was feeling was reflected on her face. She just hoped her eyes hadn’t started glowing again. “Go down the ladder,” she ordered the children. “Quickly, or you’ll be sorry!” Have to keep it up until we’re all out of here…have to play the part. She managed another cruel sneer. “You don’t want to make me…hnnnnrrrhhh…unhappy with you.” I can take this. If they have to, then so do I. As the first children timidly started descending into the darkness, she sent a mental warning to Softpaws. Softy, they’re coming down now. Tell Edwina to warn the others to be ready. One of the slavers is standing close by me, straight ahead from the hatch. The other three are off on an angle, to the left. Like this. She sent the mental image along the familiar link. Got it?

Got it, the cat replied. Transferred it too.

Good. Tell her to aim carefully. The children were almost completely gone now. Then, there was a frightened cry from below. Presumably, the children had run into her friends. Poor kids…I guess Minsc alone would be enough to frighten anybody if you run into him in the dark and aren’t expecting it.

“What was that?” the slaver leader cried out, and now his eyes were dark with suspicion. “What are you trying to pull here, Lehtinan?” He drew his sword, even as two of the other men reached for their bows.

NOW, KITTEN! DUCK! Softpaws’ voice rang out inside her head, and she threw herself flat on the ground, rolling aside even as a fireball roared over her head, close enough that she could feel the heat scorching her skin. She gasped for air, but it was hot enough that it almost burned her lungs, and her eyes were tearing from the stinging smoke. The large slaver was screaming, screaming as his blackened flesh cracked and melted, the fat sizzling. For a second, she couldn’t help noticing that it smelled very similar to bacon. Then she tried to put that thought out of her mind. There were more important matters to deal with.

One of the slavers was chanting a spell now, nervously watching the hatch. Then, Edwina almost jumped out, surrounded by so many magical protection spells that she was glowing like a streetlamp. Rini wished she’d had some too, but she hadn’t dared, since she wasn’t certain if her illusion would be able to mask them. Speaking of which, now the illusion was definitely slipping, she could see her own red hair tumbling forward as she frantically scrambled to try to get to her feet, Minsc’s roaring battle cries ringing in her ears, accompanied by Lilacor’s shouts of ‘Yeeeeha! Poke me in his liver!’ and ‘Blood!’. Presumably her other friends were close behind. Yes, she could hear Jaheira’s voice now, chanting a spell, and the slaver in front of her broke off his own attempt at spellcasting, screaming as thousands of tiny insects swarmed at him, stinging his skin wherever they could get at it. Got him! But what about…

The sword struck her from behind, biting deeply into her unprotected side as she was taken by surprise by one slaver who had abandoned his bow for close combat. It hurt. Oh, how it hurt. She gasped with pain, a feeble croak all she could get across her lips. It hurt far too much to scream, it hurt almost too much to breathe. Reflexively, she tried to get her own sword out, even as her other hand pressed against the wound, but she could feel herself weakening second by second. Her hand was slick with blood now, and still it was welling forth, pulsing out of the wound in a red torrent. No…please, no. The slaver was before her, triumph in his eyes as he raised his sword for a final, lethal stroke.

And then there was more blood, spraying over her, splattering her face, almost blinding her. Dimly, she was aware of the dull sound of a body tumbling to the floor, and she soon followed it as her legs gave up and toppled her rapidly into the approaching wet and warm darkness. The last thing she was aware of was Minsc’s voice, sounding as if it was coming from a great distance, raw with desperation. “No! Minsc’s Witch! Not MINSC’S WITCH!”

She was…in the sunlight? Rini blinked, shielding her eyes against the warm light that trickled down from above. She was lying on the ground, which was actually pretty soft and comfortable, and far above there were leaves, beautiful leaves which were that particular light green color you only see in early spring, when all the world is new. Little white and star-like flowers gleamed on the ground, resembling heavy snowdrifts. What happened? How did I get here? She could remember getting wounded, that terrible pain as the sword bit into her side, and the blood streaming out from between her fingers. All that blood…I thought I’d die. Then an uncomfortable thought struck her. Maybe I am dead? I can’t remember what happened? Tentatively, she tried to reach out with her mind. Softy? Can you hear me? There was no reply. Perhaps she was too far away, wherever she was. Or perhaps she was dead.

“Hello!” a voice suddenly said right next to her ear, and she sat bolt upright, staring about her in apprehension. Then she noticed who had addressed her and felt very silly about her frightened reaction.

The speaker was a small boy, maybe about seven years old or so from the way he looked, and he was sitting next to her in the grass, watching her interestedly. He was elven, with the typical gracefully pointed ears and somewhat slanted eyes, the same bright green as the fresh leaves, and as the tunic he wore. His hair was dark chestnut. “Feel better?” he asked.

“I guess so,” Rini said, uncertain about exactly how to address this strange child. He looks harmless…but I have no idea where I am, or if he is what he seems. And I’ve had a few too many nasty dreams for me to trust easily in them. “What happened to me?”

“You almost died,” the child said, very matter-of-factly. “You still could, though the druid and the priest are doing their best. It was a bit of a gamble, wasn’t it?” Then his eyes brightened. “I like it! Not a bad trick either, even though you messed up a little in the end the scam itself worked nicely.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“So,” the boy said, “why did you do it that particular way? You could have just charged in, you know.”

Zaerini thought about this. “I could have,” she said, twining a strand of her hair around her finger as she spoke. “I thought about it. But then I thought…suppose they notice they’re under attack and decide to hurt the children, out of spite? And once I’d thought of that, I couldn’t not get the kids out first, you see?”

The little elf nodded. “That’s what I thought,” he said, smiling. Then he stood up, and patted her on the head in a gesture that seemed pretty odd coming from a small child. “I guess I’m not really supposed to do this…but what the hey! Rules are meant to be gotten around after all, and I like you! I want to get to know you better.” With that, he winked, and pretended to extract something from inside his pointed ear. Rini was almost confident that she could spot the sleight-of-hand trick he used, but not entirely. As he handed her the object, she saw that it was a leaf. A fairly large leaf, about the size of her palm, and heart-shaped.

“What’s this?”

The little elf turned around, waving at her. “It’s an invitation to a party!” He laughed, a mischievous giggle like bubbling water. “If you can find it, that is! Bye-bye for now!”

“Wait! You haven’t told me who you are!”

“That’s right!” the boy said. “I haven’t!” Then he was gone, with only the hint of laughter ringing in the air, and the sunlight was dwindling as darkness closed in on her once more. Party…what party…well, as long as I don’t have to go as Lehtinan again. Then there was nothing but pain.