Cards Reshuffled

It is very easy to fall into the trap of assuming that all people of a certain kind resemble each other. I’m sure I’ve done it myself, more than once, despite trying not to. Any group of people may contain anything from the nastiest, most cruel person imaginable, to somebody truly good and gentle. Of course, it isn’t easy to keep that in mind if the nasty one is the first one you meet.

Excerpt from ‘Ruminations Of A Master Bard’

It was very good to finally have a Witch again, Minsc thought. It filled an empty space within him, the Witch space, and made him feel like he did when he had a pleasantly full belly and was getting ready for sleep, except not sleepy. He was supposed to have a Witch, and it had been very worrying to have to do without one, even if Boo had of course always been there to tell him what to do.

The large ranger smiled happily as he watched his new Witch pouring through some old dusty papers that were apparently very important. Minsc wasn’t sure why, but he wasn’t about to question what his Witch told him even if he couldn’t understand it all. Zaerini had said that finding the right papers would help them find the Evil Man who had made poor Jaheira look so sick, and that was good enough for Minsc. If this had been the forests of Rasheman, he knew that he could have tracked the Evil Man across barren rocks or icy fields, or over deep rivers, even without the aid of Boo’s keen hamster nose, but this was not Rasheman. If tracking was done with papers here, then that was how it was and he would leave it to those who understood such things.

So that was why they were in this place, the great Hall of Records in the Government District of Athkatla. The building was a sprawling marble monstrosity, filled with lots and lots and lots of papers, and lots and lots and lots of nervous little people. The nervous little people hadn’t wanted to let Minsc’s Witch see the many papers at first, but after Minsc had got angry with them they had changed their minds, which was a good thing.

Zaerini was sitting at a large table, absentmindedly twirling a lock of her red hair around her finger as she read, and Jaheira was opposite her, hunched down over a large and moldy old tome. The druid had a nasty cough now, and now and then Minsc could see his Witch giving the other woman a worried look. Minsc was worried too. He didn’t like seeing people sick or hurt, even Evil people he tried to kill quickly, and Boo had told him that Jaheira wasn’t getting better, but worse. At first he didn’t understand why she couldn’t make herself better like she always did, but Boo had explained that it was a magic sickness, and that the Evil man was the one who had caused it. That had made Minsc very angry, but the Evil man wasn’t here right now to get the butt-kicking he deserved, and so Minsc had to try to control himself, something that always made his head hurt, almost as badly as his old head wound. He hoped that his Witch would pick up this paper track soon, so they could do something where he could help better. But she was very smart, so he thought she would probably do it soon.

This made Minsc compare his current Witch with his previous one. Dynaheir had been smart too, but apart from that they were very different. Dynaheir was usually calm, and very careful about how things ought to be done, and very proper. And she had never really learnt to appreciate Boo’s greatness, something that had always saddened Minsc. Zaerini was hardly ever calm, and didn’t care at all about what was proper, and always did things her own way, which was a confusing change, but not a bad one, since they were still doing good, and that was what was important. And Zaerini did like Boo, and didn’t think he was at all ‘unhygienic’ whatever that meant. Minsc was a little bit worried about the pretty little cat that always followed his new Witch about though. He knew that cats liked to eat rodents, and he wouldn’t want Boo to hurt his Witch’s cat.

Yes, little Rini was going to be a Good Witch, Minsc decided. True, she had refused his suggestion of Bursting The Eardrums Of Evil With The Heroic Songs Of Goodness, saying that she wouldn’t want to strain her voice, but she cared about her friends and did many nice things, more than she pretended to. That was what was important. It was a shame she also wanted to be friends with the Evil Wizard though.

Minsc frowned a little as he tried to puzzle through this. Dynaheir had been very clear on the subject of the Evil Wizards, and it confused him that his new Witch didn’t seem to think like that at all. Quite the opposite in fact. It was confusing, and it was worrying, and he thought that maybe he ought to ask her about it soon. But in the meantime he would follow his Witch’s lead, as he always did. And he had at least been able to help with one very important thing already today. The little men who took care of all the books in this place hadn’t wanted to let the adventurers inside to check the important books and scrolls that little Rini wanted to see, but once Minsc had carefully explained that they should be happy to help Heroes out to do Good they had soon changed their minds. Minsc was very sorry that he had happened to break that one man’s arm though. He really hadn’t meant to, but sometimes when he got excited he forgot how strong he really was. He had made certain to say how sorry he was to the man after Jaheira healed him, and he thought the man had forgiven him. All the men who ran this place of books and papers had been very nice and polite afterwards, which was nice. He much preferred to get along with people.

Does that mean I should try to get along with the Evil Wizard as well? Dynaheir would not have liked that, but Dynaheir…isn’t here any more.

Minsc felt very sad whenever he thought of Dynaheir, and now he could feel the tears trying to rise in his eyes again. Boo noticed something was wrong, and he could feel the soft hamster fur against his cheek as the little animal cuddled closer to him. Oh Boo, it was all my fault. I promised to protect her, but I failed. The Really Evil One killed poor Dynaheir and I…could only watch.

Boo squeaked encouragingly into his ear, and Minsc immediately felt a little calmer. “Yes, Boo,” he whispered. “I know. We have a new Witch now, and we will do better this time. Minsc promises. We will keep her safe and not let the Really Evil One get her again, and show him terrible Hamster Justice.”

“Hmmm?” Zaerini said, looking up from her scroll. “Did you say something, Minsc?”

“Yes. Minsc has been thinking.”

“Yes? What about?”

“Minsc knows that not all Witches are the same, and Minsc knows that he must do things like his Witch wants them done, even if it’s strange.”

The half-elf smiled warmly at him. “Minsc, you’re not my slave. You’re my friend. If you think I’m doing something strange, you have a right to ask me about it, you don’t have to obey me blindly or anything, unless maybe if we’re in a life threatening situation where I don’t have the time to explain.”

“Little Rini is nice to say so, but Minsc wants to do what his Witch wants. And if she wants him to be nice to the Evil Wizard, he will be, even if his belly churns at the thought of it, and he would rather spank the Evil Wizard ferociously like he deserves for his wickedness.”

Minsc was very pleased to see that his Witch looked happy at this, her eyes shimmering brightly as they met his. Then she got up from the table and gave him a big hug, and he hugged her back, this time remembering to be careful. “Thank you, Minsc,” Zaerini said. “That is very kind and generous of you, to do that for my sake. I know you and Edwin don’t exactly get along, but I like you both, and it makes me very happy that you want to try. I’ll make certain to try to make him behave himself as well.”

“Minsc knows that little Rini is a Great Hero, but he would not ask the impossible.”

The bard laughed. “I guess you’re right. All right, I’ll try to make him behave himself better. I know your countries are enemies, but we’re all working together here, and right now you’re both far from home, aren’t you? Surely everything doesn’t have to be the same here as it would there?”

Minsc thought about this. “Rasheman is far away…but once she has your heart, it belongs to her for always.”

“I know. And I don’t mean you have to forget that, or stop loving your country. Learning new things doesn’t mean you have to forget all the old ones, only the ones that no longer make sense.”

This was a new thought, and a scary one. Old things no longer make sense? How could that be? Isn’t something either true or false? How could it be true first and then false? But Aerie was like that, Good first and then Evil, so maybe other things could be as well. Boo will have to help figure out which ones. “Minsc will think more on this,” the ranger says. “But not now, if he thinks too long he will get another headache.”

“Like the one I am currently having,” Jaheira muttered. “While you have been discussing philosophy, I have been busy working. Listen to this.” She pointed to a section in the scroll that she had been reading, and Zaerini walked over to interestedly lean across her shoulder. “It is a will,” Jaheira said in a triumphant voice, and then had to break off due to another coughing fit. Once she could breathe again, she went on. “A copy of the will of one ‘Albertina Ployer’, the aunt of Baron Ployer himself. Apparently she left him one significant piece of property, apart from gold. A tavern, by the name of ‘The One Cup’. There is no address given, but it would not surprise me if we were to find it somewhere within the slums district. And when Ployer lost his fortune, there is no record of him having sold this tavern.”

“The One Cup,” Zaerini said, grinning with ferocious glee. “That would be the Ace of Cups from my Reading, I’d bet anything on it. And the Four of Coins – the inheritance. ‘I came to Ployer from Ployer’. ‘He sleeps against my bosom every night’. If that’s where the creep is hiding, it all makes perfect sense.”

“So it does,” Jaheira agreed, and she was looking more pleased than she had since the curse had first struck her. “Of course, we still need to find the place.”

“Minsc and Boo will find it!” Minsc promised, happy to once again understand something of what was going on. “We will find it, and break it, and SMASH THE EVIL MAN INTO TINY LITTLE EVIL BITS, AND THEN STOMP ON THEM!”

All over the great reading hall, nervous-looking people tried their best not to attract Minsc’s attention.

Zaerini was still grinning as she headed for the exit. “Sounds like a working plan to me,” she said. “But first, let’s go see what the boys have found…”

At that exact moment, far away from Athkatla, a woman with brown braids neatly gathered around her head was sitting serenely on a marble bench in her gardens, pondering the words of the red-haired woman who had once again been to visit her this morning. There was much merit in what the other one said, certainly. Dangerous creatures such as the ones spoken of should not, could not be allowed to exist, to threaten the existence of all. Somebody would have to take steps.

And I believe I am called to be that somebody. I must make certain all these abominations are destroyed, like the dangerous pests they are.

The woman’s eyes swept across the perfect, emerald-green lawn. How utterly smooth it was, every blade of grass cut just so, none of them sticking its head up above the others. The ones who had done so had already been carefully introduced to a scythe and a pair of pruning scissors. And so a ruler must act as well, carefully pruning out the disturbances for the greater good of all. Disobedience leads to disorder, disorder leads to chaos, chaos leads to anarchy, and anarchy leads to death. Thus, disobedience merits death, to protect every innocent soul put at risk from such acts.

The redheaded woman who came to visit had many interesting things to say, yes. But she could not be trusted. The woman in the garden knew this perfectly well, and her own intelligence network was now devoting a large part of its capacity towards finding out the other one’s plans.

I do not doubt that she seeks power for herself, and thinks that I do so as well. How little she knows. I do not seek it out, it is my sacred duty, and I will not be swayed from it. I will use her aid for now, but my own influence is growing daily. The time will come when I will stand against her, as I was meant to do, and then the world will be as it should be, for the very first time. Clean, orderly, efficiently run.

A small groundhog suddenly burrowed up out of the pristine lawn, sniffing nervously as it looked around. A small frown appeared between the elegant eyebrows of the woman on the bench, and then she pointed her finger at the animal. There was no squeak, just a small puff of air as dust drifted and scattered where the groundhog had been moments before. Pests. Always these annoying pests, making nuisances of themselves. They will not be tolerated.