4. The Chase is On

4. The Chase is On

8 FLAMERULE 2100
THE CLOUDPEAK MOUNTAINS

Just before reaching the Cloudpeaks, the party, coming from the southwest, reached the trail of the circus, which had come from the southeast. It hardly took a ranger to track it, being marked by the deep groves from the wheels of overburdened wagons and an abundance of scattered trash. Food, paper, clothing, and even demihuman bones littered the road leading to the mountain pass. They party rode along into the pass and the trail continued.

"Halt!" Valygar called and held up a hand. "They appear to have stopped here."

"Camped?" Onyx asked.

"No," Valygar shook his head, "I don't think this circus ever does. Between that and the heavy wagons, would explain why they supposedly restock horses continuously."

Minsc gasped and covered Boo's ears. "Those bad circus-men would ride poor horsies to death? They must be evil indeed!"

"At least we're finally agreeing on something," Jaheira sighed.

"So why did they stop?" Arra asked impatiently.

"It appears..." Valygar looked around, "there's another track coming down from the mountains themselves...like they rendezvoused with someone here. We should check this out."

"Indeed," nodded Onyx while Valygar and Minsc hopped off their horses and begin to inspect the ground for clues. "Seeing as how the circus has been dealing with slavers, and there are avariel in these mountains, there's only one thing that comes to my mind."

Jaheira growled under her breath. "Curse his avariel fetish. Curse it! Who does he think he is, Sir Courageous High Protector of Petite Blonde Elves Everywhere?"

The fully elven woman's ears perked up at this comment. "So, Anomen, what's your elf fetish?" she asked the other knight, knowing he hadn't heard Jaheira, and grinning devilishly at his sudden surprise and discomfort.

"I...what are you talking about, mi’lady?" he stammered.

"C'mon, don't play dumb....drow? moon? sea?....avariel, like your fellow shiny-armored-knight?" she laughed as he reddened.

"Why none!" he gasped.

"Awww," she feigned offense, "You don't like elves?"

"That's not what I meant!"

"So you DO like elves, but just the regular kind?"

"Why yes, I mean no, er um...ah, 'each lady is her own lady.' "

"But do you have your own lady?" Arra laughed and he gave a simple head shake.

"Slaves, all right!" Valygar called from off his horse. The other five dismounted and walked over to where he was, near some rocks at the side of the pass. "See those prints? Some of the group coming down from the mountains were shackled. I'd say about two score of 'em. There prints disappear alongside the tracks of the caravans, they were surely loaded in."

"And the captors who brought them?" Onyx asked, but his question was answered by a bolt whizzing into his shoulder and piercing the armor. "Hit the dirt!" he cried.

The seven ducked behind the rocks, but not several more bolts sailed into them from up the mountain. Only one other managed to get through armor, that was Arra's elven chain.

"Poisoned!" she cursed, the irony not lost on her at all. "They get you too, knight?"

"Yeah, but I'm immune," Onyx shook his head while Anomen handed Arra an antidote which she swigged in an instant.

“I do say, they are good marksmen, pity their skills at hospitality are not as refined,” Jarek quipped.

The group, slouched behind their rocks, looked up at the bolts sailing overhead. "We're not quite pinned!" Arra decided. "I can magically deflect these missiles, I'll take them!"

"My shield can offer me the same protection," Anomen joined as Arra nodded approvingly.

"We'll have to do with our shields themselves," Onyx grinned at Jaheira as he drew the huge Fortress Shield from his tiny bag of holding, looking like a street magician. Jaheira drew out their tiny but unfailing Shield of Reflection.

"Maybe we can kill or at least stall them with a little avalanche," Jarek grinned. He unstrapped his crossbow and loaded one of Jan’s exploding orange bolts into it. Minsc, Valygar and Arra unstrapped their longbows and drew orange arrows. The archers, peering just over the tops of the rocks, quickly popped up to fire just above their assailants' position and ducked again. Screams could be heard as explosions over their heads caused rocks to roll down at them. The bolts stopped and screams and crunches could be heard.

The seven all leapt from their hiding spots and charged up the narrow path.

"Purple Sun Assassins!" Arra shouted, recognizing the Cyricist rogues. Onyx too recognized them from his recent confrontation with Cyric in his pocket plane. Before the party had gotten up the mountain to their position, some of them managed to rise from the rubble and start firing again. Jaheira, in front, reflected many of them back toward the assassins and a few of them were hit and poisoned by their own bolts. Any that got past Jaheira bounced off the magical cylinders around Arra and Anomen or were almost magnetically pulled onto Onyx's shield.

The assassins drew their blades as the party got close. While flashing Belm about, Jaheira hooked her shield into her belt and drew a second weapon, the Water's Edge, from her back. With both scimitars blazing, she ran into the fray and slashed through Cyrcists. Arra and Anomen soon joined her on the rock terrace, smashing with a quarterstaff and mace. Onyx sprung onto the terrace and quickly beheaded an assassin with a vorpal slash from the Axe of the Unyielding, followed closely by Minsc, Valygar, and Jarek swinging their blades.

Jaheira went into a whirlwind attack, becoming a cyclone and scimitars, and none of the rogues could even get close. Onyx used his large shield to crash into one and send him over the edge of the terrace, cracking his skull on the rocks below. Arra cast a chaos spell and half of the assassins turned on themselves or also went leaping mindlessly over the edge, while Anomen froze more with a hold spell and easily struck them down. Valygar danced around and slashed through them with his katanas Celestial Fury and Hindo's Doom, while Minsc cleaved them clean in two with his vorpal halberd Ravager and Jarek danced about slicing through them with some souvenirs from his trips to Kara-Tur and Calimshan.

When only one assassin remained, held by Anomen's spell, the knight swung his mace at the rogue's head, but Arra parried the blow with a sword. "Questioning," she smiled, and the others held their weapons low. Minsc and Jaheira found themselves swigging antidote and healing potions, after which the party was none the worse for wear.

The Purple Sun Assassin came back to life bound, but not gagged, and screaming and kicking furiously. "See if you can't charm him," Arra grinned at Valygar, who cast a charming spell over the rogue. He immediately stopped kicking and lay there passively.

"Now," Arra smiled at him, "Who is your master?"

"The mighty Cyric!" he laughed. "All hail the Dark Sun! We are the Favored of Cyric!"

Arra sighed. "Who do you work for?"

"The Prince of Lies!" he screamed. "Cower before him!"

"What person sent you here?"

"None! We camps here, then sees you snooping, and attacks!"

"Why were you here?"

"Deliver slaves!" he screamed. The party sighed with relief that at last they seemed to be making progress.

"What kind? How many?"

"Avariel! Two score! Pretty oneses, yes!"

Onyx pounded a rock, hating being right.

"To whom?" Arra continued.

"Chaos Circus!"

"Do you work for the Chaos Circus?"

"No!"

"You work for who sells the slaves?"

"Yes!"

"And who is that?"

"Not know name! Just calls himself Sa-…errrmmm...Saint...OWWWW!!!!" the assassin began to writhe horribly and bleed out his ears, nose, and eyes.

"What's happening?" Anomen asked. "It looks like some sort of..."

"...geas," Arra nodded. "I've seen this before. They can be used to keep minions silent."

"But he's charmed, he should answer if it kills him," Onyx looked confused.

"Yes," Arra nodded, "but the pain literally keeps him from speaking. Okay, assassin, what is the name of the organization you work for?"

"Nones that I know! I just works for the master!"

"Hmmm...well perhaps you can tell us if he has a base of operations, and where?"

"Yes!....ermmm...OWWWWWW-......OW....AAHHHHAHHHHAHHHHH!" the assassin's eyes popped out of his head, his veins puffed up and exploded through his skin, and after a final spasm he lay still.

“I suppose he just couldn’t take the pressure,” Jarek quipped to Jaheira, who groaned.

"Curse it!" Arra screamed and nearly cried, kicking the lifeless body. "The Thayvians did this too!" Anomen reached a hand out to her, but she swatted it away and continued to kick the body.

After she'd had another minute to blow steam, Onyx broke the silence. "On to Beregost then, we shall learn more there."

************

9 FLAMERULE 1400
NASHKEL

"And then did battle-drums resound
And armies to them marched in pace
Toward one another, and that ground
Is now their final resting place."

The traveling circus was passing through Nashkel, too small a hamlet to be worthy of a performance, but crewmembers were running alongside the caravan and posting flyers about the town encouraging its citizens to journey to nearby Beregost for their upcoming show.
In the last car lay the Skald upon pillows. Like the Jester, he wore elven chain and a mask, and though his clothing had the same basic look, it fit well and was dapper rather than comical. He had a number of tattoos and piercings, but whereas the Jester's gave his face a more freakish look, the Skald's made his expressions more intense. He was devouring a leg of meat as Erinyes tieflings lay about and shackled sea elves were ushered in by The Saint's Purple Sun Assassins and pushed down upon the cushions around him.

"Now that sea elves thou did provide
And fresh indeed as the Skald craves;
Take this chest of gold with pride
And begone to catch us more rare slaves."

After finishing this verse, the Skald theatrically pulled a gilded cord, causing a nearby curtain to life and reveal a treasure chest. The Saint opened and inspected it and, satisfied, he closed it and with superhuman strength effortlessly lifted the gold-filled chest with one arm and strolled out, snapping his fingers for Iri to follow.

As the Saint and his brigands were running off, the Jester came cartwheeling into the room. He popped into a dramatic stance before the Skald and cleared his throat as two of the Erinyes tieflings approached him with wine and black lotus. He took a sip and a puff before demanding, "Riddle me this, Skald!"

"I am a man, but also a monster,
I am a hero, but also a fiend,
My home is everywhere, but also nowhere,
It is under the tent, but also upon the stage,
Who am I?"

The Skald grinned. "But that's as easy as riddling is for thee, orating is for me, and quipping is for he! For the answer is the Blade!"

"He gets it, yes!" the Jester laughed and clutched his sides. "Contestant number three, come on down!!!!" He began playing a strange, showy tune on his arm as a third masked man walked into the room.

"Greetings, all," the Blade bowed politely but theatrically to the Skald. "My heart doth flutter for joy at seeing my dear brothers again. Ah flutter, that word gives me pause, for a bird doth flutter, as doth anything with wings, eh? And have we wings, my fellows?"

The Skald grinned and cleared his throat.

"Two score wing-pairs have we of your true loves,
That from the Saint we bought ourselves;
They look as they belong to doves,
But truly they belong to elves."

The Blade's grin grew even wider. "A most fortunate happenstance for my rightfully joyous return! Produce the fair creatures that I might treat my eyes to a banquet!"

The Skald did a dramatic spin and then pulled down another cord, lifting another curtain. Behind it was a large alcove of the room, already filled with cushions, wine, and some of the avariel the Saint had delivered at the Cloudpeaks.

"A most wondrous fellow this The Saint must be!" the Blade exclaimed.

"He cheatses us!" the Jester cried. "He doublses the prices for Erinyes, it makes Jester sad!" the Jester now wore a mask with teardrops painted under the eyes.

"Cheer up, my gloomy ghoul, you've still some about you, I see," the Blade smiled and put an arm over his brother, "Do try to see these last longer than the last batch, yes?"

"Lecture us not!" Jester screeched. "You tookses not good care of your avariels before you left, and always were we the wings sawing off! Such waste!"

"I disagree heartily," the Blade smirked, "They made ever such wondrous stew."

"Mmmm," the Skald licked his thin lips, "As the appetizer to a nice fresh sea elf steak, of course."

“Followed by elf moon pies!” the Jester laughed.

"Prithee, good brother," the Blade hooked his other arm over the Skald's shoulders, "Who is this The Saint, anyway? I've not heard his name before. Does the Jeweler not still supply us?"

"Oh," the Skald smiled, "The Saint works for the Jeweler. The master has become...reclusive...and sends the kensai to do his delivery and negotiation."

"Oh, and a tough one he is!" moaned the Jester.

"As long as his deliveries are made, I'll sing his name with praise!" the Blade sang.

"And of the followers he brought with him," the Skald grinned.

"Do tell, good brother," the Blade cajoled, "of the story of this Saint."

"Very well. Ahem," the Skald stood, holding a tambourine, and began to beat it in rhythm.

"When times were troubled and Bane did fall,
And Bhaal and Myrkul too;
It seemed strict good would consume all,
And leave no places for a fool.
Until the young Cyric, a mortal then,
Their portfolios did collect;
He spread insanity fast as the wind,
Chaos keeping order in check.
But Lathander and Tyr retook their seats,
Upon the pantheon;
With Helm, their followings filled the streets,
Preaching order to everyone.
Crazed priests of Cyric did wander and babble,
Until the mortal man
The Saint did unite the faithful rabble
And hatch a clever plan.
To fund the church of the Princes of Lies,
And the conversion of more,
He'd join the Jeweler’s secret enterprise
And brings slaves to our door!"

"Bravo!" clapped the Blade.

"Thank you, thank you," bowed the Skald.

"Hoo hoo!" laughed the Jester.

************

The Blade
Male ????
Chaotic Neutral
Blade
Level 30
STR 18
DEX 17
CON 9
INT 15
WIS 13
CHA 18
Daggers ++
Darts ++
Shortswords ++
Two Weapon Style +++

The Skald
Male ????
Chaotic Neutral
Skald
Level 50
STR 20
DEX 17
CON 9
INT 17
WIS 17
CHA 16
Axes ++
Halberds ++
Longbows ++
Spears ++
Quarterstaves ++
Two-Handed Swords ++
Two-Handed Style ++

The Jester
Male ????
Chaotic Neutral
Jester
Level 50
STR 20
DEX 17
CON 9
INT 19
WIS 3
CHA 16
Clubs ++
Crossbows ++
Darts ++
Hammers ++
Katanas ++
Scimitars ++
Two Weapon Style ++

The Saint
Male Human
Neutral Evil
Kensai
Level 27
STR 21
DEX 21
CON 21
INT 18
WIS 10
CHA 15
Daggers +++++
Katanas +++++
Two Weapon Style +++