Cards Reshuffled

It never ceases to amaze me the kind of things nobles think are so extremely important. Sometimes I almost feel as if I belong to another species than them. One called ‘sane people.’

Excerpt from ‘Ruminations Of A Master Bard’

The secret passage proved to be just where Nalia had said it would, a hidden door in a rocky outcrop that hid a tunnel leading directly into Keep De’Arnise. The adventurers silently made their way through it, hoping they wouldn’t find a horde of trolls waiting for them on the other side. Fortunately that wasn’t the case, and only a dark storeroom greeted them, weapons racks and boxes of arrows and crossbow bolts stacked here and there.

“We made it in!” Nalia sighed. “The servants’ quarters are close by, and through them we can get into the Keep proper. Then we can start searching for my father and the others. I think we ought to…” She broke off as a terrified scream suddenly echoed through the dark halls somewhere ahead, the wordless cry of somebody on the brink of death. It was followed by a nauseating wet and tearing sound.

“Evil ahead!” Minsc cried out, drawing the Sword of Chaos while Boo squeaked excitedly from his position on the ranger’s shoulder. “Minsc and Boo will CHARGE AND POUND EVIL INTO PUDDING! AAAARRRGHHH! PUDDING!” With that he stormed out the door, heedless of danger.

“Let’s go,” Zaerini ordered, motioning Anomen and Jaheira ahead of her, and then followed along with Jan, Edwin and Nalia. The short corridor led into another storage room where a horrifying sight awaited her. The corpse on the ground had presumably been one of the servants. Now it was nothing more than a lump of partially eaten meat, and the creature currently munching on one pale leg seemed to be hungry for more. The troll was big, about as big as Minsc, with flailing spiderish limbs and a hunched back. It was mossy green in color, with a long nose and sunken black eyes. It also had very sharp teeth and claws and seemed very intent on using them.

Within seconds the battle was well underway. Minsc was trying to cut through the leathery hide of the troll, a task made more difficult by the fact that the monster was clinging to his arm, trying to chew through his armor. Anomen and Jaheira assisted as well as they could, but it seemed that blunt weapons had less effect on the troll than edged ones. Meanwhile the spellcasters hung back, trying to help, but in the general confusion they didn’t dare be too hasty or they might risk hitting their companions. Finally Edwin summoned up a confused-looking ogre that grabbed the troll from behind, trying to strangle it, and this helped Minsc break free. With a giant roar the ranger swung the enormous Sword of Chaos as easily as if it had been a toothpick, and the troll’s head flew through the air as its body tumbled lifeless to the ground. The ugly head landed right by Zaerini’s left foot, and she was just about to kick it aside when the thing snapped its teeth together, trying to bite her. With a startled yelp she leapt backwards, tripping, and before she knew it she was on her back on the floor, the troll head edging its way towards her by dragging itself with its tongue. The black eyes were still sparkling with malevolent life, and as the head neared her the mouth opened to display a row of very strong teeth.

There was a hiss and a flash of orange in the air, and the troll headed gurgled and charred, burning brightly. Soon it was a blackened husk, orange flames still leaping about within the now empty eye sockets. Zaerini stared at it in fascination until she felt a hand pulling her to her feet again. “As I said,” Edwin spoke into her ear, “trolls regenerate. Never underestimate a partial troll, fire and acid are the only things that will do.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” the bard murmured, still staring at the burning troll. “Thanks, Eddie.”

“It was my pleasure,” the wizard said, sounding very pleased. “Such is a simple matter for Edwin Odesseiron, the extraordinary master of magic, the most powerful and intimidating wizard you will ever meet.” He was still standing very close to her, close enough that she could feel the heat from his body, and he was still holding onto her hand which was very nice and…

“My lady!” Anomen said, instantly appearing at her other side. “Are you unharmed?”

Darn. “Sure, I’m fine,” Rini said, hoping she didn’t sound too impatient. “Not a scratch.”

“Good!” Nalia chimed in. “Now that that’s settled, let’s move on.” She gave the corpse of the dead servant a regretful look. “Poor man…I must ask father to help his family once this is all over.”

“Speaking of which,” Jaheira said, “let us go before more trolls turn up. We do not want them to surprise us, after all.”

In one of the adjoining rooms they encountered Daleson, the Keep’s stable boy, whom the trolls had apparently spared in return for him continuing to look after the livestock. He was able to provide them with some important information too. Apparently Lord De’Arnise had been taken into what Nalia carefully kept referring to as ‘the cellars’, in reality an old dungeon, but his most powerful weapon, a certain magical flail was still scattered about the Keep, in pieces. Also, the dungeons were guarded by some sort of monster other than trolls or yuan-ti. Daleson didn’t know what they were, only that they were very good at digging, and very fond of dog flesh.

“We should try to find the flail,” Nalia said once they had left the stable boy behind. “Father rarely uses it, I don’t know why, but I do know that it would work well against trolls. It does both fire and acid damage.”

“Any idea what those digging beasties might be?” Jan asked.

“No…I think Daleson might have exaggerated a little. He’s only a servant after all, they keep seeing things all the time or making up things to make themselves look good. They simply don’t know any better. It could be simply…badgers or something I suppose.”

“Right,” Rini said. “We’ll leave you to deal with the ‘badgers’ when we find them then, how’s that? Honestly Nalia, if only you could hear yourself…”

“What?” Nalia said, sounding honestly puzzled. “But it is simply the way things are! The lower classes have a hard time separating fact from fiction.” She laughed a little. “I mean, it’s not their fault, but they can’t even separate a napkin from a serviette, can they?”

Her laugh died out uncertainly as she met the bard’s yellow eyes.

“Actually,” Edwin said, breaking the deep and uncomfortable silence as he spoke his thoughts out loud, “the difference is clear and obvious, though it has less to do with noble blood as such and more with higher education and upbringing…”

“Yes, Edwin?” Zaerini said, her voice dangerously calm. “Please do continue, I’m sure a peasant such as myself could benefit greatly from a little education. Goodness knows Gorion prioritized other things as I was growing up.”

“Er…” the Red Wizard said. “I only meant that I…that is…I don’t really think of you as a peasant of course…I mean… (Damn. How to get out of this one?)”

“Oh, how kind. Well, this peasant thinks we ought to get going, so if all you blue-blooded ladies and gentlemen don’t mind…”

As she stalked off, she could hear Nalia’s voice behind her back, sounding almost tearful. “I said something bad, didn’t I?”

Zaerini was still in a bad mood a few minutes later as she entered what at first seemed to be an empty room. It wasn’t that she really cared about whether she had noble blood or not. She would have been happy to know the name of her mother. As for fathers, Gorion had been all she could wish for, and the other one…well, the other one had given her blood that was more than noble, but still wasn’t exactly anything you could boast about. No, what bothered her was Edwin’s reaction. I knew he was a noble of course, but I never really thought about it much. But…suppose we manage to work everything out between us and then his family gets in the way? Suppose they think I’m too common? Suppose they think I’m not good enough for him?

You’re good enough for anybody, kitten, Softpaws said. And the wizard doesn’t think like that, you know it.

I hope so.

I know so.

It’s just…I’d hate for him to get in trouble with his family over me. I know he misses them, even if he doesn’t want to talk about it. Me being a Bhaalspawn is bad enough, but for some people it would be worse that I’m a commoner.

Maybe. But do those people really matter all that much?

I guess not. Rini smiled, picking her familiar up and rubbing the cat behind one silky black ear. Thanks, Softy. I guess I shouldn’t have lost my temper back there either. Eddie didn’t mean any harm, and I don’t really think Nalia did either. She…just doesn’t know better, I guess.

It was at this point that Zaerini spotted a small indentation in the stone wall in front of her. Pushing curiously at it she was excited to see a door swing open, revealing a hidden passage. The room behind looked a bit like a burial chamber, there was a large stone sarcophagus, and curiously enough there was also a statue of an elephant. There was no corpse to be seen in the open sarcophagus though. The half-elf was just leaning over the edge to fish out the two objects that were in there as her companions entered the room. She could hear Edwin and Nalia whispering furiously to each other, clearly in the middle of a heated argument.

“You insulted her first!” Edwin said.

“You insulted her worse!”

“I didn’t mean to!”

“Well, neither did I!”

“Hey guys!” Rini said, unbending herself and turning around. “Didn’t see you there.”

“That,” Jaheira said, “could have had something to do with the fact that you had your behind in the air and facing the door. So unless you have eyes there…”

“Oh…er…” The redhead felt her cheeks heating a little, and she couldn’t help noticing that both Edwin and Anomen seemed similarly affected. “Ooops…well, take a look at what I found, anyway.” She held her two prizes up proudly. One was a spiky metal object, attached to a piece of long chain. “Nalia, is this one of those flail heads?”

“Yes!” Nalia exclaimed. “Yes, it is! Well done! Oh, well done! What’s that other thing?”

“This?” Zaerini said, grinning as she looked at the object in her other hand. “This, my dear Nalia, is a spell scroll, that I’m going to claim as part of our payment for helping you out. That all right with you?”

“Oh, by all means,” Nalia said, nodding. “I’m sure Father wouldn’t object to that.”

The bard climbed down from the sarcophagus and approached Edwin, still with a pleased smile on her face. “You’re gonna love this, I think,” she said. “What with how you’re a Conjurer and everything, and keep summoning up all sorts of beasts and monsters.”

“For me?” the Red Wizard excitedly asked, trying to catch a glimpse of the scroll. “What is it? What is it? Is it…a demon summoning scroll? (I know I can handle it, I’m absolutely certainly positive about it.)”

“No, something better.”

“Better?” Edwin asked, dark brows frowning in puzzlement. “What could possibly be better than demon summoning?”

“Well,” Rini said, depositing the scroll in his hands, “how about a pet of your own? Or, to be more exact…a familiar. No mage should be without one…”