Cards Reshuffled

Animals are nice, right? Not cold and calculating like people can be, never malicious or hurtful. Unfortunately, that isn’t really much of a comfort if they happen to want to rip your head off simply for getting close to them. Under such circumstances, cuddling is not an option, at least not if you want to keep your hand.

Excerpt from ‘Ruminations Of A Master Bard’

There was a large bear running straight for her, and it didn’t have the attitude or general demeanor of a cuddly teddy bear. No, this was a large brown bear, big enough to practically make the ground shake beneath its feet, with mad and vicious little red eyes, wicked claws that could take a person’s head off with one blow, and nasty fangs. Not quite as sharp as those of the wolf that ran alongside the bear though, approaching with that easy loping gait that made it look as if it was almost floating across the ground. The wolf had its eyes fixed on her throat, Zaerini thought, fixed with a horrible purpose, and it had its mouth slightly open. My, what big teeth you have…the better to tear you to pieces with, my dear. Oh, and then there was a horde of spiders, and even a few deer, kicking and trying to gore people with their antlers. Yep. Looks like Trademeet really is in trouble.

The journey from Keep De’Arnise had gone well, with no major problems. No bandit attacks, no monsters, nothing to worry about. Well, not unless you counted the fact that Edwina seemed to get more morose daily, and that little detail Rini was seriously worried about. She’d tried talking to her about it, but the wizard kept withdrawing into herself more and more, and getting more and more waspish. Something needed to be done, and soon. But what? When I try to tell her that I care about her in this form as well as in her normal one, she doesn’t really believe me. She thinks I’m only trying to reassure her. I’ll have to show her somehow…that is, right after I avoid getting eaten by this rabid bear.

The animals were all about the walls of Trademeet, mounting incessant attacks at the city gates. Wolves, panthers, bears, snakes, spiders, deer, badgers, and many more, they all charged furiously again and again, pitting fangs and claws against the defenders’ swords and arrows. Many animals already lay slain, their rotting carcasses swarming with flies, but they kept coming as if possessed, and the soldiers were beginning to weary.

The bear shrieked as Edwina sent a fireball directly at its head, and as the poor creature flailed and burned it almost set fire to the wolf, which ran away yipping, its tail between its legs. Minsc was facing off against another, smaller bear, his sword swinging through the air with a whistling sound. “Wooohoooo!” Lilarcor screamed. “Take that one, and that one too! Teddy goes down, baby!”

Anomen was using the Flail of Ages with great precision, hitting one animal just long enough to slow it down by the weapon’s magic, then turning to another one, thus helping to make the battle easier for his friends.

Jaheira was staring at another group of wolves, her green eyes a little unfocused as she concentrated. Her lips moved silently, and then the animals suddenly backed off and ran, looking highly confused. “These animals are being dominated!” the druid barked. “They have no will of their own, they will fight to the death against any odds.”

Jan’s crossbow was hard at work, and the gnome had selected his special ammunition, his beloved Flasher Bruiser Mates. Whenever they hit an animal, it froze in its tracks, paralyzed and unable to move.

As Rini cast a spell of her own, putting three panthers to sleep before they had the time to reach her, she heard Edwina chanting words of magic close by her. The wizard had stuck to area damage spells, in order to take the animals out as swiftly as possible, and it had been working well. Now though, she suddenly broke off in the middle of a word, cursing violently, and as Zaerini turned around she understood the reason for it. What seemed to be hundreds of small mice were swarming across the wizard’s feet and legs, biting and squeaking in their tiny voices. Anybody would have a hard time concentrating under such circumstances.

Without thinking, the half-elf slipped into her alternate shape, and a red cat lunged at the mice, spitting and hissing. The mice squealed with terror and ran. They might be charmed into attacking all humans without mercy, but they knew and feared a hungry cat when they saw one. Food! Play! Funny, furry toys! Zaerini wasn’t certain if it was her own thought or Softpaws’, for the black cat was chasing the mice just as eagerly as she herself was. Run faster, faster! Want to play! She pounced, and her claws slammed into the back of her chosen prey, neatly impaling it, as her jaws opened. Food…play some more?

And then there was a hand grasping her firmly by the scruff of her neck, hoisting her into the air, and she hissed out her protest.

“No, child,” Jaheira said. “I really do not think you want to eat that.”

“Ooops…” Rini said, blushing a little as she turned back to her normal form. She hurriedly hid the dead mouse behind her back. “I didn’t really mean…I mean, I just wanted to…”

“I know, child,” the druid said. “A shapechange is an insidious thing, the urges of the body you inhabit can easily make you forget yourself if you do not make a conscious effort to control them.”

How boring, Softpaws huffed, batting another dead mouse about with her paw. Well, if you don’t want a perfectly good snack, then I’ll have yours too.

You’re welcome.

Shame they won’t run anymore…think the priest might reanimate it?

No Softy. I don’t really think Anomen wants to create an army of undead mice as toys for you. And I agree with him there.

Just get back on four legs and I’m sure you’ll change your mind.

“Minsc and Boo feel sorry for all the poor animals,” Minsc said, his eyes filled with honest tears. “Minsc didn’t want to fight them, but they were all funny in the head and wouldn’t even talk to Boo.”

“They were being dominated by somebody,” Jaheira explained, her face hard as she surveyed the carnage. “Somebody has severely twisted the powers gifted to those who follow the Balance, twisted them to make these poor beasts into an army, with no concern for the blood shed by them. They were not asked to aid, the way a druid normally might, they were forced against their will, ordered about like vassals.”

“Oh,” Jan said. “Just like when you assign kitchen duties, right Jae?”

“I do not order anybody about! I simply happen to be the most experienced campaigner amongst us, and as such it is natural for me to divide the work fairly.”

“Fairly?” Edwina asked, scowling. “I cook twice as often as the gnome, I’ve been keeping careful count.”

“That is because you actually can cook when you limit the spices. Whereas he…well, do you really want to have Turnip Surprise every night?”

“That’s beside the point, druid! You’re only trying to make me do all the work because I happen to be a woman, you chauvinist pig!”

“Edwina…” Zaerini said, trying to get a word in. “Jaheira is a woman too.”

“Ha! That’s not an excuse!”

“What’s wrong with Turnip Surprise?” Jan asked, sounding puzzled.

“The same thing that is wrong with Turnip Delight, Turnip Salad, Turnip Stew, Turnip Mash, Tunip Porridge, Turnip Gruel, Turnip Juice and Plain Turnip,” Jaheira said between clenched teeth. “It is all turnips!”

Anomen groaned quietly. “Please, lady Jaheira…do not mention Turnip Gruel again,” he complained. “With Helm’s aid I had just managed to forget it.”

At this point, somebody cleared a throat nearby, and the adventurers turned to see some of the soldiers who had been fighting the animals earlier. For people who had just been rescued, they looked astonishingly ungrateful, even downright hostile.

“You!” one of them said, pointing at Jaheira. “You are one of them, aren’t you? A druid? Don’t bother denying it!”

Jaheira drew herself up proudly, and when she spoke her voice was icy cold. “I am a druid, yes, and proud of it. I do not know these ‘them’ of which you speak, but I give you my word that I mean you no harm.”

“That’s right,” Rini said, feeling insulted on her friend’s behalf. “We are adventurers, and we only came here because we heard this place was in some kind of trouble. Fine way you have of showing gratitude for our help!”

“We do not want any help from druids!” another soldier sneered. “Not after all the suffering they’ve caused around here, with their beasts. The only good druid is a dead druid!”

Several of the other men cheered loudly at this.

“Quiet!” the leader ordered, then turned to the party once more. “Since you did seem to aid us, we will trust you enough to let you depart in peace. But no druid will get inside the walls of Trademeet, nor will the rest of you while in her company, not while I am yet alive to defend my town.”

“Oh, I love it when people make that sort of comment,” Edwina murmured, reaching for her spell components.

“Not now,” Zaerini whispered, grasping the other woman’s wrist. “We don’t want the entire town to turn against us, after all.” Then she turned to the soldiers again. “Fine, we’ll go. But you’re wrong, and you’re making a big mistake here.”

“Child,” Jaheira said as they turned around, “the rest of you could go inside while I wait outside the walls. I would not mind.”

“No! We’re friends, and I won’t leave you behind. I won’t. We’ll think of something else. Let’s just explore outside the walls first, there seem to be some tents over there…”

The druid nodded, smiling faintly. “As you wish then. It is perhaps a somewhat foolish sentiment on your account…but I appreciate it, all the same.”

“You’re welcome,” Rini said, grinning at the older half-elf. “So, let’s just go see if anybody in those tents has any nice ideas about how to get inside those walls.” As she walked, she recalled her latest reading, or rather one particular part of it. Temperance, balancing life and death. Balance…as in druids. However druids are involved in these animal attacks, for whatever reason, I’m already mixed up in it. And what else did I get told? That I had to restore the balance…and that only by doing so I would be able to go on to the Lovers. She sneaked a surreptitious glance at Edwina. The wizard was walking in silence, her dark eyes painfully distant. I would do anything to achieve that. Anything for her. What else did the Reading say…the Three of Coins would somehow serve the Lovers. Three of Coins…how odd. I don’t see how that could help. But one thing at a time. The druids first, and then, the Lovers.