Cards Reshuffled

I may not like it much, but the fact remains that I owe plenty of happiness to the existence of a sadistic Shadow Thief. If not for him, I might never have run into a certain other person, and would have been miserable ever after. I still enjoyed killing him though. Mae’Var that is. Though when I first ran into him I felt certain murderous urges towards that certain other person as well.

Excerpt from ‘Ruminations Of A Master Bard’

Zaerini interestedly examined the place she found herself in. That it was the Shadow Thief guild house she didn’t doubt for a second, nor that it was a dangerous place, but she was curious to take a closer look all the same. Near the entrance a few tables covered with deep red cloth had been set up, and various small and expensive items were spread out on them. Behind the tables a hooded woman watched the potential customers warily. I suppose she must be a fence. I’ll stop by later and sell that ring if I have the time.

The interior of the building was fairly dark and gloomy, with narrow beams of sunlight filtering in here and there from the small windows near the roof. Dust motes danced wildly in the sun like tiny pixies. There wasn’t much furniture, and this entry hall more or less gave the impression of an old warehouse, but Rini didn’t doubt that there would be plenty of secrets further inside the building. Now and then she managed to spot a shadowy figure watching her from the corners, but she had a feeling there were plenty of other thieves that she didn’t see, and that she would do well not to provoke them.

After getting directions from a helpful halfling pickpocket and slapping his fingers away when they drifted too close, she made her way up a narrow and dark stairway and to the second floor. There were more thieves here, watching her silently. Not exactly hostile, but she got the impression that it wouldn’t take much to make them so. Then the corridor opened up into a larger room. There was a short man sitting in a comfortable old armchair near one end, and several other people hanging about, talking quietly in small groups. Rini gave the man in the chair a curious look. He was short; shorter than she was even, with shaggy hair the color of old blood. His face was plain and unremarkable, apart from the bright gleam in his eyes, and he was idly petting a large cat sitting on his lap. A white cat it was, with luxurious long fur and haughty yellow eyes.

Not bad, Softpaws said appreciatively. Nice fur. Probably a nice body too. I wouldn’t mind a romp with that one.

Be my guest.

It’s tempting…but I’ve already got one kitten to look after. A few more might be too much to handle.

The man in the armchair gave Zaerini a brief smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You'll have to excuse me if I stare,” he said in a rather melodious voice. “You're not quite what I was expecting. From all I have been told, I was expecting someone...larger.”

“Like who?” the bard said, crossing her arms across her chest. “An enormous warrior with spiky armor, a booming voice and glowing eyes? Sorry to disappoint you. And anyway, I was expecting the Leader of the Shadow Thieves to be rather more impressive myself.”

“Fair enough,” the man said, stroking the white cat. The animal purred loudly. “I trade in rumors, you know. The ones about you have been coming out of the North for quite some time now, and they were very…vivid. Though as I well know, it is not only outward appearance that speaks of power. As for me, my name is Renal Bloodscalp. It’s really a reference to my hair, but it carries nasty enough implications with it that it helps keep people in line. I’m not the leader of the Shadow Thieves as such, but I lead enough that it need make no real difference to you.” He indicated the cat. “And this is Fluffy.”

“I doubt you asked us here for the purpose of socializing,” Jaheria cut in. “What is it that you wish of us?”

Renal nodded. “Right to the point, I see. Refreshing. I have far too many subordinates afraid to speak their minds. To be short, Gaelan recommended you, and I trust his word. I am in need of mercenaries to perform a particular task, and you are just the one to do it.”

“Really?” Rini said. “Must be a very special job, if none of all these thieves and assassins are up for it.”

“Quite so. Normally my own people would be all I needed, but this is a special case. I need someone of skill who is not one of the Shadow Thieves...someone more or less unknown to us. Someone, I trust, like yourself.”

“Ooooh, being nefarious aren’t we?” Jan said. “Must be something very tricky then, like when my Great Uncle Indiana Jansen was contracted to retrieve the Sacred Turnip out of the eye socket of the statue of the Great Griffin. He packed everything he knew he’d need. Lunch. Bull whip. Hat. Protective underwear. Crossbow. Mosquito net. Bathing suit. Snake oil. Snakes. There are always snakes, you know. Life boat. Unfortunately, he forgot the most important thing.”

”Which was?” Jaheira sighed.

“Griffin repellant. You see, it turned out that the Great Griffin wasn’t in fact a statue but a real Giant Griffin that had taken to wearing the Sacred Turnip as a prosthetic aid after it lost its real right eye in an unfortunate knitting accident. And as you can probably guess, the Great Griffin wasn’t too pleased about finding a gnome climbing about on its beak, trying to pull its prosthesis out.”

“So it ate him?” Anomen impatiently said.

“Certainly not! This is Uncle Indiana we’re talking about. No, he simply pulled his crossbow out and shot the Great Griffin in its other eye, rendering the poor thing completely blind.”

“And then he got away?” Rini asked.

“I’m afraid not. You see, since it was now blind the poor Great Griffin stumbled over a rock and fell on him. Sad, really. But it goes to show that you can never be too careful about which jobs you take on.”

Renal Bloodscalp was sitting motionless in his chair, his mouth gaping open a little, his eyes wide. Now he closed his mouth with a snap, shaking himself as if he was trying to wake up from a bad dream. “Right…yes…you needn’t worry about that. I’ll make certain to give you all the details. One of my guildhouses to the south is run by a rather ambitious fellow named Mae'Var. Good thief, but I never liked him. Now I know why. I've had some hints that he is getting too big for himself. Thinking of taking my place, I suspect, but I've had no real evidence to say that this is so. Now, you're likely thinking: why not just eliminate him? Yes, yes, I suppose I could. But without proof of betrayal, this would anger the other guildmasters and then I'd have a war on my hands and, well, just let it lie that I don't want that.”

“Hm,” Rini said, giving him a sly look. “And I suppose that ‘guild war’ we’ve heard about has nothing to do with anything? You have a nice place here, but if you’re already fighting this mysterious new assassin’s guild I doubt you’d be interested in a two-front war with this Mae’Var fellow. It would be much more convenient to have us deal with him, wouldn’t it?”

For a moment appreciation glinted in the thief’s eyes, but when he spoke again his voice was neutral. “I would like for you to join Mae’Var’s guild. It is not far from here, a few streets away only. I will give you papers saying you were being transferred by the Shadow Master. You will spy on Mae'Var from the inside and find me the evidence that I need. Once he is damned with proof, you can take care of this nuisance and eliminate Mae'Var. One less headache for a busy man such as myself to be concerned with. You'll need to reassure Mae'Var, naturally. He won't know who you are, but I am confident that you are more than capable of this. What say you? Interested? You will be well compensated for your troubles I assure you.”

“My Lady!” Anomen hissed into Zaerini’s ear. “Surely you cannot be considering doing this? Working for this…this scoundrel?”

“Yes Anomen,” the bard said out of the corner of her mouth. “I need the money, and I need the contacts. I’d do worse than this to save Immy, and you might as well know it. Besides, I doubt your Order usually interferes when thieves fight each other. Why should they care if we help one side against the other?”

“But…”

“Unless you had some crazy idea about the six of us arresting every thief in this place.”

“Well…”

“Because if you did, think again. I don’t plan on dying just yet, thanks.” The half-elf turned to Renal Bloodscalp again. “I accept,” she said, “assuming I get well paid, as you say.”

“Oh, you will,” the thief said. “A hefty sum in gold will be yours if you succeed, and possibly something else as well.” He tossed the bard a small pack of documents. “Mae’Var’s guild is marked on the map I’ve enclosed. Show the other documents to Gorch the barkeep, and he will arrange an audience for you. I look forward to seeing you again.”

Minsc shook his head sadly. “We do the bidding of thieves now? Ehhh... this churns my belly like a hamster running endlessly within a wheel. This can't be a good sign, little Rini.”

So preoccupied was the half-elf with calming the ranger down and coaxing him out the door before he would lose his temper that she hardly heard Renal’s parting words.

“Oh, and I almost forgot…you want to watch out for Mae’Var’s wizard. He’s an odd sort I hear, but still dangerous.”

Once the adventurers were out in the street Aerie sighed loudly and fanned herself with her hand. “Oh, that was so horrid!” she said. “All those dreadful thieves…I can’t believe you’d want to spend time with…with such awful people. How…how could you do s-such a thing!”

“As I said, because I mean to rescue my best friend,” Rini snapped. “Who also happens to be one of those ‘awful people’ as you put it.”

“But…but won’t it mean doing b-bad things? Anomen is r-right about this…”

“Listen you,” the bard said, glaring at the Avariel. “I plan to rescue Immy. I will do whatever it takes to do so, or almost whatever. If you don’t like that, you don’t have to come along, but you will stop whining about it right now. You’re free to leave if you want, and so is Anomen.” She turned and walked off down the streets, her steps jerky with anger.

Are they coming?

Yes, Softpaws said. Well done, kitten. You have foes enough without having to fight them off your back.

Yes. Well, hopefully this will be the end of it.

Mae’Var’s guildhouse wasn’t far off, fortunately, and after having shown the documents Renal had given her, Zaerini and her companions were let inside and directed down a staircase to a dark cellar. As she was navigating her way downwards, a terrible scream rose from the depths, almost making her lose her balance.

“By Silvanus!” Jaheira cried out. “What was that?”

Rini didn’t answer. She had to clench her jaws shut in order to keep her teeth from chattering.

“That came from a soul in great pain,” Aerie said, her voice eerily calm.

No kidding. That…that reminds me of…Irenicus.

The half-elf made herself progress downwards, and eventually she came out into a low-ceilinged cellar room, with damp stone walls and a raw chill in the air. It was nothing compared to the chill in her heart though, as she took in the surroundings. There were chains and whips hanging on the walls, still stained with blood and bits of rotting flesh. There were pincers and tongs, and a fire pit for heating them. There were all sorts of other items that she couldn’t identify and was happy not to be able to. And there was a rack. A naked man was bound to it. He was bleeding from many cuts, and there were bruises all over him. With a final groan he gave up his breath, succumbing to his wounds. Another man was standing next to the rack, smiling gleefully down at the torture victim. He was a fairly handsome fellow, but his eyes reminded Rini of a bird of prey. Cold and sharp, and utterly pitiless. She was very thankful that she had left Minsc and Anomen upstairs. Right now she was finding it difficult enough to keep from immediately attacking the sadistic thief, and she doubted that they would have been unable to resist. Sighing, he wiped some blood off on the well-made dark leather armor he was wearing and gave her a bored look.

“Hello there,” he said, his voice a curious mixture of amusement and hostility. “I certainly hope you've got a reason to be bothering me, because I'm quite busy, as you can see. Ah, poor Lin has left us. I've a few minutes to spare then. Who are you and why shouldn't I kill you?”

The bard tersely introduced herself, and explained about her supposed ‘transfer’. Mae’Var seemed to believe her explanation, but clearly wasn’t about to immediately trust her with anything sensitive. Instead he ordered her to steal a certain amulet from the Temple of Talos and then report back to him. Not trusting herself to keep the revulsion out of her voice Rini simply nodded before leaving. He’s like a tiny version of Irenicus. But I can do this. For Immy’s sake, I could do just about anything.

The burglary proved simple enough to carry out, thanks to Jan and a spell of invisibility. The gnome slipped quietly into the temple and came back with a large and very ugly necklace. Mae’Var seemed pleased enough with it. “It's a mystery how they walk with a dinner plate around their necks,” he sneered. “I'll file it with the other garbage sent to Calimshan. They like jewelry big, I hear. Now, let's put you to some real work. I haven't the time to piddle around with you, so my right hand man will keep you busy until you can work for me personally.” The thief giggled to himself as if he had thought of something amusing. “His name is Edwin. Bloody good spellcaster, but he likes his luxuries. Usually happens to adventurers that hate the road. He's on the third floor above us. Get going.”

“Excuse me,” Zaerini said, her voice entirely too calm, considering that her stomach was suddenly turning somersaults. “Did you just say…Edwin?”

“You’re not deaf, are you? I could poke some sharp sticks in your ears to test…”

“No, I’m not deaf. Tell me, does this ‘Edwin’ have a last name? I wouldn’t want to get the wrong person.”

“You can’t mistake him,” Mae’Var said. “Not as if there’s likely to be any other Red Wizards hanging about this place. But it’s ‘Odesseiron’ if that will make you shut up. Now go away before I…”

But Mae’Var was speaking for deaf ears. The half-elf had already disappeared up the stairs like a flash of lightning, her companions trailing after her. Only the blonde elf lagged behind, her face chagrined. “Odesseiron…” she whispered, too quietly for Mae’Var to hear. “Oh no…this is not the right time and place!”