"Lassie, tell me again why ye've dragged us to this cesspool o' human filth," Korgan stated gruffly as the small group of adventurers entered the government district, "filled with these useless noble gully-warts."

"I hate nobles as much as you do, Korgan," Laska replied sharply, "but some of these corrupt bastards might know something of Imoen's fate..."

"Aye, lass," Korgan conceded. "But I donnae hav'ta like it..." he added, wanting to have the last word.

"Live with it, Korgan..." Laska replied with a smirk as she scanned the goverment district. 'Typical,' Laska mused. 'People are dying on the steets in the slums, and look at the noble villa's here... Look at the park... Look at the servants running after their masters like a faithful dog. Look at... Guards dragging a Drow to a stake? And a very familiar Drow at that...'

"Let's go!" Laska shouted to her friends. Minsc, having seen the Drow as well, followed suit.

"OY!" Korgan shouted, who had been occupied staring at the bottom of a passing noblewoman. "Wait fer me!"

The Drow female had been tied to a stake by the time the adventurers had arrived. A beshaban was continually ranting useless religious slurs, while his assistant was screaming sob-stories about murdered parents. The crowd of nobles was unimpressed however, and all of them were more interested in watching the Drow burn, than hearing the underlying religious message. The Drow female know as Viconia, however, remained stoic and brave in the moment of her impending doom, but Laska could see the mortal fear in her eyes even from afar.

"Bah!" Korgan said disgustedly. "Watchin' someone burn at the stake is cowardly. Now if they threw her in a fighting-pit with a couple of umberhulks, that would be good entertainment," he chuckled.

"An old friend is in distress!" Minsc shouted. "It is our duty as goodly and kindly heroes to save the day!!"

"Shar... My deliverance is in your hands..." Viconia whispered to herself, but she gasped when she saw a familiar elven female working her way through the crowd. She wanted to plead to the elf for help, but Laska flashed her a handsign, asking her to stay calm and let her take care of things. Laska took on an thunderous expression and strolled over to the Beshaban priest.

"AH! Look here, people!" The priest shouted. "One of the fair folk is here! Tell me, my elven lady, does it do your joyful heart good to see an ancient enemy, one of the fallen of your race, to be judged in the cleansing fires of Beshaba?"

"I am NOT your friend, you religious freak!" Laska shouted, temper flaring. "You do not even know what you are talking about, human! Do not pretend to know elven lore, only to confuse it with that religious bollocks you prattle about! I want that Drow released and I want it NOW!"

The priest was taken aback. Normally, he would punish such blasphemy, but something out this tall, tattooed female quite frightened him. Besides, how much did he actually know about elven lore? He might have unintentionally insulted her. But releasing the Drow... That was a no go!

"Excuse me, my lady," The Beshaban chuckled. "But this Drow was captured because of her evil intent."

"Oh?" Laska raised her eyebrow. "Let me guess. She was walking across the market-square minding her own business, when you saw the oppertunity to increase the size of your flock and thus nabbed her?"

"It... it was nothing like that! She is evil I tell you!" The bashaban replied a bit too quickly, letting Laska to believe she was on to him.

"So you will not release her?" Laska asked calmly.

"NEVER!" The priest shouted.

"Well, then I guess your luck has run out..." Laska replied and, quick as lighting, grabbed both the sides of his face to jerk his head around violently. The Bashaban, his neck cleanly snapped, was dead before he even sank to the floor.

The archer with the obviously faked sob-stories fumbled with his bow as soon as he overcame his shock, but, suddenly, he too jerked violenty and doubled over with an Axe in his skull.

Korgan flashed a 'Who? Me?'-look in the direction of the crowd of gathered nobles, while giving Laska a 'taken-care-of'-sign with his stubby fingers...

A dazed crowd looked on as the tattooed elven female helped a smiling Drow off the stake.

"Vico..." Laska said cheerfully as she extended her hand to the Drow.

"My Lady..." Viconia joked and smiled back.

"Okay! Show's over folks! Nothing to see here! Move along!" Laska told the nobles, who still had no idea what was going on.

"THAT'S RIGHT YOU IGNORANT NOBLE WANKERS!" she shouted this time. "SHOW'S OVER!!!" But it still had no effect.

Time for drastic measures, then. Laska drew both her longswords and stepped towards the nobles threateningly. "BOOOOOO!!" she shouted. This time, she nobles squealed bloody murder and ran in every direction.

"My thanks, abbil," Viconia said sincerely. "It seems I owe you my life once again."

Laska simply smiled and flipped her the Beshaban's mace. The irony was not lost on the Drow. "I still have a magical chainmail and shield in my Bag of Holding here, Vico," she said as she rummaged around in the small bag and handed Viconia the mentioned items.

"So, yer takin' this indigo heart-carver with us then," Korgan stated.

"I see your taste in companions is still the same..." Viconia said as she ignored the dwarf and took a look at Minsc.

"Oh, joyous day!" Minsc suddenly shouted and swung his large arm around Viconia's shoulders, taking her in a crushing hold. "Minsc and Boo are reunited with an old friend!"

"You're killing me, you addled fool!" Viconia shouted in a laboured voice as the air was crushed from her lungs.

"Let her go, Minsc." Laska told him gently. "So I can tell Vico what has happened the last few months." Then, Laska led her group to a bench in the small park.

"So, this is the council chamber, then?" Laska spoke out loud as she looked around. "I am unimpressed." And even moreso when she noticed the disgusting clerks and all those useless paper forms.

"Do you think this Tolgerias-fellow knows about Im..." Viconia asked while she suddenly interrupted by a female clerk, who ran up to them.

"YOU!" The clerk directed at Viconia. "Hang on a moment... Let me check these papers," she said, while Viconia waited impatiently. "Ah, here it is," the clerk said with a smug, superior smile on her face. "A Dark elf tax was brought into being by the council of 1107. All Dark Elves must pay a daily fee to remain in the city!"

"What!!" Laska suddenly jumped back from Viconia with atonishment... "White hair... pointy ears... ebony skin... Vico! I never knew!" she joked.

"Come to think of it," Viconia said, playing along. "I always thought I was a bit odd. I just considered myself a really tall halfing with dark skin."

"But... But... A DROW!" Laska continued. "Does your mother know?"

"No..." Viconia said with a mock-sad look on her face, "I can't tell her. She'd be devastated."

"Look here..." Laska told the clerk as she took her aside. "Viconia is actually a halfling trapped in the body of a Drow... Nasty incident involving magic. She's still sensitive about it and still in denial. Let me tell you, somewhere out there, her orginal body is walking about with a Drow spirit inside of it... Nasty business..."

"Oh, I see," the clerk said. "How awful for her..."

"Could we just wave the tax for know?" Laska asked. "You see, she also inherited the temper of that Drow priestess whose body she's in and you don't want to be here when it breaks free."

"Ah, yes... That would be for the best, I think..." the clerk replied with a hint of fear and receded back into the dank hole that was her cubicle.

Viconia and Laska shared a look and a smile. Viconia remembered their days together in Baldur's Gate. Before meeting Laska, she had never seen the enjoyment in a horrible and immature prank (usually at a male's expense...). She remembered they had once seduced a Flaming Fist soldier and had lured him to the bridge, with a promise of spending the night with two elven females. But when they were standing on the bridge they had both pushed the hapless male into the water and... found out the man could not swim in full plate mail. Viconia was then forced to dive in after them and they ended up dragging him back to the Inn where Imoen gave the soldier mouth-to-mouth... Imoen had scolded Laska then, making it painfully obvious that Imoen was the mature one of the two. And that was saying a lot since, Viconia knew the two sisters quite well. Laska weathered Imoen's scoldings however, and afterwards, went one a Bender to end all Benders, only to end up with a new tattoo around her knee.

"Oh, hold on a minute..." Laska said. "I've heard we can buy a magic license here. Let's get one while we still can."

"Excuse me..." she asked a man, whose name-tag said 'Corneil'. She felt her quick temper flare as the man simply ignored her.

"EXCUSE ME!" Laska shouted again as she practically pulled the man over his desk by his lapels.

"What is it?" The man asked irritatedly as he readjusted his clothes.

"One magic license to go..." Laska asked icily.

"What for?" Corneil asked. "You only have a cleric with you, and those are covered by our laws."

"I like to be prepared," Laska replied through clenched teeth.

"Oh? Well then, you must fill out this questionnaire then, " Corneil said. "And then there's the two-month waiting period while we evaluate your request. Of course, you can also pay a minor fee to 'speed up' the process," he added with a grin.

'Bloody hell... Another corrupt government offical...' Laska thought disgustedly and stepped a little closer to Corneil.

"Only a small fee. About 5000 gold pi..." Corneil suddenly gasped as he felt a very cold and very sharp object press into a very sensitive part of his anatomy.

"How much was that?" Laska asked icily.

"Ummm," Corneil, faced with loosing two important (well, they were important to him, at least) parts of his anatomy, decided to take the easy way out, "Did I say fee and, ummm, waiting period? I meant... you can have his one here!" Corneil said as he grabbed a license from his pocket with tembling fingers. "Here... on the house! Urmm... Welcome to the city! Enjoy your stay! You can go now... Back to your Inn! Faraway from me, I hope!"

"My, my, what a quick service you have provided!" Laska mocked, took five gold coins and put it in his breast-pocket. "Here's a little tip for you. And thanks again." She added as she withdrew the dagger and left a trembling Corneil to sink back in his chair. She then tossed the dagger in a waste-basket, because... Well, let's just say she knew where it had been.

"Ah, you have return then, my dwarven enforcer!" Tolgerias adressed Korgan while rubbing his hands. "I have job that needs doing, one of utmost urgency!"

Korgan sighed heavily, and it was obvious to anyone but Tolgerias that the dwarf hated the wizard with a passion. "Aye. I'd be up to any task, wizard. But it'll be good Laska here who will decided if I'se take the job or nae."

"A dwarf taking orders from an elf?!" Torgerias snorted. "That I live to see that day! But even for her, it would be obvious to see the advantages of serving the Cowled Wizards!"

"Aye," Korgan whispered to Laska, "now ye see why I 'ate this cowled bastard. One day, he'll be lying in the gutter bleeding from a severe axe-wound, I can tell ye that!" Laska nodded at the dwarf and took on a look of 'all business'.

"What would you have us do?" she simply asked.

"Ah, yes... A certain ranger has been causing trouble as of late. But I'm afraid, I must ask for an oath of allegiance before I elaborate on any details..."

Well, this started out fine... Laska didn't like signing contracts before reading the small print. And there was another matter that needed to be adressed.

"My sister Imoen has been taken by you Cowled Bastards! I want her back! Tell me where she is and I'll do the job for you, otherwise..." Laska said.

Tolgerias snorted. "Outsiders are not privvy to information as such... But maybe after you have completed the task, I could..."

"Goodbye," Laska simply said and motioned her friends to follow her.

"What!?" Tolgerias raged. "Come back! I command you! The Cowled Wizards command you!"

"Up yours!" Laska shot back.

"Korgan?!" Tolgerias tried desperately.

"Oy, the elf has spoken!" Korgan laughed heartily as he walked off as well.

"That male knows more than he let on," Viconia said as the group made it's way out of the council-chambers.

"I know," Laska replied.

'Impudent northern adventurers' Tolgerias thought as he made his way back to his house at the docks. 'Were they simply too ignorant to follow orders?' Now he had to use Cowled Enforcers to find Valygar, and that did not fit in with his plans. He wanted the sphere for himself, not for the Cowled Wizards.

"Excuse me, sir," he heard a deep, throatly and seductive voice say from behind. For a moment, he expected to see one of Bodhi's vampires, but instead came face to face with a cloaked, but obviously elven female.

"What do you want?" he asked sharply. "I do not give alms!"

"I am poor and new to the city," she said. "But I do not need alms. I would, however, like a place to spend the night without having to worry about... the guildwar plaguing the city."

She stepped a little closer to him, but he still could not make out her features in the dark. "I would be willing to pay... anything for a safe place tonight," she added.

Tolgerias smiled imwardly. It seemed this would not be such a bad day after all!

"And so would my friend..." The elven female continued and pointed behind Tolgerias. As he turned around, he noticed a familiar tattooed elven female briefly, before she punched his lights out.

"WAKE UP!" Laska shouted at the downed wizard after she and Viconia had dragged him into an alley.

"Typical male..." Viconia said disgustedly as she kept a watch out for nosey passer-by's.

"What? what... You!" Tolgerias said as he recognized the two women, but a swift kick to the stomach silenced him.

"Where is Imoen?" Laska asked calmly.

"You'll never get away with this!" Tolgerias said as he prepared a spell. Laska was one step ahead of him, however, and smashed him into the wall. After he had sank to the floor stepped on the fingers of his right hand with the steel nose of her boot. The wizard screamed in pain.

"Keep him quiet!" Viconia hissed from the entrance to the alley.

Tolgerias rubbed his painful hand and, to his horror, found out he couldn't cast anymore spells because of his broken fingers.

"Where is Imoen?" Laska asked again.

"Listen to me, I can't..." he began, but Laska grabbed him by the neck and smashed him face-first into the other wall.

"Where is Imoen?" she asked again, while holding a bloodied wizard.

"I don't..." the wizard replied, but was treated to a succession of rapid punches.

"Where is Imoen?" she asked for the fourth time.

"I can't tell..." he said, but this time, Laska drew he dagger and put the sharp end against the fingers of his good hand. Realizing her intend, Tolgerias eyes grew wide with horror.

"Wait!" he shouted, "wait! I'll tell you!" And Laska let him sink to the ground.

"Sp-Spellhold!" he stammered. "She's in Spellhold!"

"Now we're getting somewhere..." Laska said as she turned towards Viconia, "We're a bit closer to Imoen now. Now we only need to figure out where and what this 'Spellhold' is..."

"LOOK OUT!" Viconia shouted, pushed Laska aside and quickly cast a spell. A towering column of flame engulved a screaming Tolgerias as he was reduced to ashes.

"What was that about, Vico?!" Laska asked in surprise.

"He was about to draw a wand," Viconia said with indiffence.

"Damn," was Laska's simple reply.

"Don't tell me you were actually planning to let him live?!" Viconia stated, but she saw understanding in Laska's eyes. "He could identify us and send the wizards out for our hides!"

"There was no wand, wasn't there?" Laska said and was answered by Viconia with silence. "You never have to lie to me, Vico. I trust your judgment. Between me, Minsc and Korgan, you're the only mature one here, now that Imoen is... gone."

Viconia nodded once as they stepped out of the alley. "Come on, Vico... Let's get back to the Inn."

"Ah, Boo is happy to see you have returned!" Minsc greeted the two elven women as they entered the Copper Coronet.

"Aye, what have ye been up too, anyway lassies?" Korgan looked up from his cups.

"Oh," Laska replied, "Girl-stuff."

"Aye..." the dwarf nodded and returned to his drinks.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Laska asked cheerfully.

"I be 'avin' a drinkin' contest with yon Minsc, there." Korgan replied, "Oy, that reminds me! Bernard! Other twenty mugs o'ale here!"

For Laska, the prospect of drinking ale was maddeningly alluring. Faster than normally possible, she sped to the table and sat down beside the two men. "Say, is this a private party, or can anybody join in?!" she said cheerfully.

While Laska downed the first ale in one go, Viconia looked on and realized what a terrible position Laska has put her in by proclaiming her the mature one. Instead, Viconia sighed and walked to her room for much deserved rest, but briefly wondered, with a smile, if her friend would wake up with any new tattoos the next morning before leaving her to her drinks.