Cards Reshuffled

As somebody used to working with my voice, I am very sensitive to how others sound. A really annoying voice is physically painful to me, which can be a bit of a problem at times. It’s just as off-putting as somebody having bad breath or disgusting habits. Not a killing offence, but definitely enough to make me want to avoid their company.

Excerpt from ‘Ruminations Of A Master Bard’

Zaerini remembered how excited she had been the first time she had arrived in Beregost, thinking that the small town was very impressive. That sense of wonder had faded when she first saw the high towers and walls of Baldur’s Gate, making her feel very young and foolish. Here was a proper city at last, she had thought, and she had honestly believed that nothing would surprise her that way again. Yet here she was, walking through the teeming streets of Athkatla, and she ruefully had to admit to herself that compared to this place Baldur’s Gate was a mere village.

She truly loved big cities, the sounds and smells (apart from the smells of the sewers, naturally) the way that excitement and adventure always seemed to be around the next corner, the colorful crowds of nobles and nobodies, knights and knaves, jousters and jesters. A big and beautiful city was like a bulging pocket ripe for picking, spilling its gold into her eager hands. There was music in the air, and alleyways promising dark intrigue.

If only Immy was here to enjoy it with me.

We’ll get her back, kitten, Softpaws said from her perch on her Mistress’ shoulder, nudging her cheek with a small nose and tickling whiskers.

Yes. We will. Somehow. Rini admitted to herself that the very thought of Irenicus still was enough to make her whimper with fear and remembered pain, but her best friend needed her, and she wasn’t about to let her down. They needed some sort of plan though. Jaheira had suggested heading for the slums. Not only would it be easier to hide there, should the Cowled Wizards get it into their heads to search for them, but the druid also explained that she had an old Harper contact with whom she intended to get in touch.

“Bernard of the Copper Coronet?” Yoshimo had asked, grinning amiably at the druid. “A fine gentleman I am sure, even though he waters the drinks sometimes. Are Harpers in truth allowed that practice?”

Jaheira’s back had stiffened, and she had fixed the bounty hunter with a threatening stare. “You…how did you…”

“A man in my position must know things,” Yoshimo had said, winking slyly at Rini who couldn’t help laughing a little despite her worries. “It is part of my trade, and I am told that I am very good at finding things and secrets as well as people. Did I not tell you that I am the Yoshimo? You must learn to listen more closely, oh fierce one.”

The bounty hunter actually was very likable, Zaerini thought. With all she had been through, it was a great comfort to have somebody along who was able to help her smile again. Jaheira had her own sorrow, and Minsc was…Minsc. If he made her laugh, it wouldn’t be through the use of his wit, though that certainly didn’t make her like him less. Aerie was still an unknown factor, and so far the strongest impression the Avariel had made on her was that she had the most annoying voice she had ever heard, sounding as if it belonged to a breathless baby. I know she can’t help it, but it still makes me want to gag her with her own hair. Still, she’s a mage, and finding another mage willing to travel with us in a city that has practically outlawed magic won’t be an easy task. I’ll simply have to try to give her a chance and hope she improves.

“Oooh!” Aerie moaned at precisely that moment, making Rini silently grit her teeth and regret the necessity of her decision. “My legs are just aching! I’ve never walked this much in my life! Can…can we rest now, please?”

“What?” the bard exclaimed. “We’ve only gone a couple of miles, we’re not even into the slums yet. And where did you want to rest, exactly? In the gutter?” We need a mage. Must try to remember that. We need a mage.

“No, little Rini!” Minsc said admonishingly, shaking his enormous finger beneath the half-elf’s nose. “Don’t fight with poor Aerie. She cannot help that she is not strong like Minsc and Boo, but Minsc is certain that she will make a fine butt-kicking hero all the same. If she needs it, he can always carry her. Don’t you think so too, Boo? Boo?” He scratched his bald head, looking confused. “He still won’t come out. Minsc is worried, he has never known Boo to be this shy before.”

“Thank you Minsc,” Aerie said, smiling shyly up at the large ranger. “I…I am glad you understand. I…am not used to this sort of thing.”

“I was under the impression you were used to being gruesomely tormented though,” Yoshimo said, with the hint of a smile on his face. “Strange, I would have thought that would be a much more grueling hardship than a little stroll through the city.”

For a moment Aerie’s mouth fell open, but then she rapidly collected herself. “I…you…that is n-not the same thing at all! How…how could you be so m-mean to remind me of that! My wings have been clipped...oh, I wish you could understand how it feels to be bound to the ground, chained and weighted like a miserable prisoner of earth...”

“Well, it’s not as if we have it any easier,” Rini said, her voice a little more biting than she had intended. Does she truly have no idea how offensive she sounds? I guess not.

“Oh, y-yes, I know...” Aerie hastily said, her mouth once again half open in an expression of naïve bewilderment. “I meant no offense to you. I just remember what it was like...to effortlessly soar through the clouds like the birds overhead. To be truly free. But I suppose that place is forever denied to me, now. It...it just feels so slow and mundane to walk everywhere. I don't know how you can stand it.”

“Well, it is not as if we have much choice, is there?” Jaheira snapped. “Speaking of ‘slow and mundane’, do you have the intention to move any time soon, or shall we spend the next hour looking on as you perform a dramatic monologue in the middle of the street?”

“N-no,” Aerie said in a small voice, her eyes once again glittering with tears. “O-of course not. I…I didn’t mean to…to be a b-bother. I…I am certain I am far too sensitive about my l-loss.”

Minsc squeezed the elf’s hand encouragingly, giving Jaheira a hurt and confused look, and then picked Aerie’s pack up to carry it for her.

Gods, Zaerini thought. This really won’t work out, will it? He’ll be cutting her food and cleaning her toenails for her next, and we really can’t afford a party member who can’t pull his or her own weight. Not if we want to ever save Immy.

The streets were getting both narrower and dirtier now, and by now there were plenty of beggars to be seen. The houses were old and worn, frequently with the windows boarded up or broken, and in the muddy streets thin children watched the passing adventurers with eyes far too old for such young faces. Beggars were plentiful, many of them sporting colorful sores or boils, or missing limbs. “Be careful in this place, young one,” Yoshimo murmured to Zaerini. “There are many untrustworthy people about.”

“I don’t doubt it. And no doubt you know many of them personally?”

“Certainly,” the thief grinned. “Yoshimo knows everybody personally.”

Almost as if on cue, a man stepped out of a narrow alley a short distance in front of the approaching party, smiling at Rini in a manner that reminded her of a rat spotting a large piece of cheese. “Coo!” he exclaimed, making the half-elf wince as the sound grated in her sensitive ears. “You'd be the one I be looking for, if I not be mistaken. Zaerini be yer name, aye?” The fellow was a short and skinny man, with a mouth missing several teeth and a keen glint in his narrow eyes.

Careful, Softpaws said.

I was about to, Softy. When perfect strangers walk up to me and introduce themselves it’s surprisingly often that they turn out to be yet another assassin trying to kill me.

“Maybe,” the bard said. “I suppose it depends on what you want.”

The man’s smile widened a little. “Aye, ye fit the description all right. 'Tis not what I want, but what I can be doing for ye. You might be wanting information about a young lass arrested by the wizards on your arrival here, aye?”

Immy. “I do,” Zaerini said. “As you know perfectly well. And I’m sure you’re about to offer to sell it to me, but before you do I’d still like to know your name.”

“Coo!” the man said again, slapping his forehead with his palm. “Well, bless me for bein' an idiot if I haven't gone and forgotten me manners. My name be Gaelan Bayle. Ye needn't stretch your brain thinkin', I be sure it's a name ye haven't heard.”

Rini felt Yoshimo nudge her shoulder, and the Kozakuran whispered quietly into her ear. “I know of him. He is a man with connections, and he is said to be a man to keep his word. I believe we would do well to hear him out.”

The half-elf nodded. “What about this ‘information’?” she asked Bayle.

The man winked at her. “Coo! I knows very little meself, me lady. I can, however, link ye up with a group that knows. Or can be findin' out.”

“The Shadow Thieves,” Jaheira said in a flat voice. “They are whom you speak of, are they not? Enough dancing about, you will tell us plainly what you know now.” It wasn’t so much a request as a clear order, a statement of how things would be.

“Not here,” Bayle said, his eyes flickering here and there. “Too many eager ears about, if ye catch me drift. I be knowin’ of a good place fer a pleasant little chat though, just a short walk from here. What do ye say?”

Rini hesitated for a moment. It could be a trap, of course. But I can’t afford to miss an opportunity to help Immy. “Lead the way,” she said. “And let’s hope you’re right about the ‘pleasant’ bit.”

“Coo! Follow me then, me lady!” The thief scurried off along the alley, the adventurers following him warily at a short distance. He was right about one thing, the place he led them to wasn’t far off, only a few minutes walk. It was yet another one of those dirty and anonymous houses. A small and very skinny boy hung about outside, hunting rats with a sling. As the adventurers approached he paused, watching them with great interest. Bayle led them inside, with many a smile and a ‘Coo!’ That phrase was really starting to get on Rini’s nerves by now.

Inside, there also wasn’t anything particularly remarkable about the house. It was fairly dark, and what little furniture there was looked old and worn. At least there seemed to be no immediate danger, since there was nobody else in sight. “All right, we’re here,” Zaerini said. “Now tell me whatever it was you wanted to tell me, and skip the cooing please. I’m really not in the mood. Just tell me where I can find Imoen.”

“Co – “ Bayle started, and then hastily cut himself off as he met the half-elf’s eyes. “I mean…I’m glad ye’re willing to do business. I tell ye straight that I know a powerful group that can be helping ye. They can be findin' the wizard and the young woman both, they can.” He nodded briefly to Jaheira. “Powerful friends, if ye catch my drift. Athkatla be a place where ye need a few powerful friends on yer side. Rest ye fine that they be willin' to help... and havin' enough power to challenge the Cowled Wizards. That all ye be needin' to know.”

“Oh, do not be ridiculous!” the druid scoffed. “You are talking about the Shadow Thieves, we both know that. And I doubt they are willing to help out of the goodness of their hearts, so how about telling us what you really want.”

Bayle’s face kept smiling, but it seemed a veil passed in front of his eyes, their expression becoming distant and unreadable. “In a place where there be many foes, the foe of yer foe is yer friend, or might be. My friends know this, so should ye. Do nay question too closely, I be only a messenger. And do nay be too quick refusing aid, ye will need it to cross the Cowled Ones. Without my organization there be nothing ye could do. Choose, then, if ye be wanting their help or nay.”

“I suppose we don’t have much choice,” Rini reluctantly admitted. “Or so it seems, at least. And what would be the price of this ‘help’?”

“It may seem to be costly, but think of the danger in crossin' the Cowled Wizards. A fair price, if ye think about it. It be 20,000 gold pieces for their help.”

“What?” Jaheira said. “That is an outrageous sum!”

Bayle shrugged. “It is the price my friends demand. It may seem steep, but if ye want their aid, there are arrangements to be made. I’m sure ye’ll be able to raise the sum, if what I’ve heard o’ye holds true.”

“Very well,” Zaerini said, giving the man a hard look. “We will do it. And you had better keep your end of the deal.”

“Aye, I will,” Bayle said, his gap-toothed smile never quite reaching his eyes. “Pleasure doin’ business with ye. My nephew Brus will be waitin’ for ye outside. He’ll show ye to the Copper Coronet. Best place in these parts for pickin’ up ‘irregular work’. I’m sure ye’ll find somethin’ to yer likin’ there.”

There really didn’t seem to be very much to say after that, so Zaerini contented herself with nodding briefly to the man, before walking outside. Desperate as her situation still was, she felt better than she had in a long time. She had a goal now, a trail to follow, even if it looked to be a dangerous and winding path. I have to start somewhere, after all. And this ‘Copper Coronet’ place seems as good a place as any. Now I just have to make up my mind whether the ‘Coo-man’ or the Avariel wins the price for ‘Athkatla’s Most Annoying Voice’…