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5. Losing My Religion


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#1 Guest_Oryx_*

Posted 12 November 2002 - 04:56 PM

5. Losing My Religion

9 FLAMERULE 1900
OUTSIDE NASHKEL

After their confrontation in the Cloudpeaks, the party had ridden under the last rays of dusk through the Cloudpeaks, barely making it out of the treacherous pass before night fell, and ridden through the foothills and across the plains all night and the next day, and were just now reaching the environs of Nashkel.

"Halt!" Valygar held up an open hand and the party held back their reins. "Another rendezvous here."

Everyone immediately drew bows and scanned the area for another ambush. Valygar and Minsc hopped off their horses and began examining the tracks. "A cloud of bootprints and footprints meets up with the caravan while it's stopped," Valygar pointed out. "They must have hopped on board, at least for awhile."

"Salty!" Minsc peered into one of the footprints. "Bare footprint with saltwater in bottom! As if walked out of ocean! Saltwater not evaporated, must be recent! The boots of heroes are getting close to the evil ringleaders' butts!"

"From the ocean?" Valygar wondered. "Sea elves?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Minsc. "The feet were thin like elves, and the toes were webbed like sea elves!"

"If they trade in avariel, why not sea elves," Onyx grimaced. "In any case, we must pursue."

The rangers mounted and the group continued riding. Nashkel was only a few more minutes to the north. As they reached the first farmsteads, Valygar stopped them again when he spotted another set of footprints leading away from the caravan. "The caravan didn't even stop to let these off," he examined. "The boots match the ones that got on, but the bare footprints aren't here - they're still on the caravan, no doubt."

"And I wonder," Jarek mused, "Where the boots lead, eh?"

"Indeed," Onyx nodded. "Jarek, you and Valygar follow them. If they lead somewhere in town, find their owners, hopefully drunk or asleep in a tavern. If you can easily overpower them yourselves, great, if not, reconvene with us to take them out together. If they lead into the wild, reconvene and we'll split up to follow them, as well as the circus to Beregost."

"Splendid," Jarek grinned. "Arra and I know of a contact or two in this hamlet, might I suggest we pry them for information too?"

"Yes," Arra nodded, "Father Optus, actually."

"He is a Harper agent?" Anomen gasped.

Arra laughed out loud. "Who better to be one than a follower of the All-Seeing Eye of Helm?"

"Alright, you two visit him,” Onyx commanded. “Minsc and Jaheira, see if the animals around here haven't seen or heard something useful."

"Boo has already told you all he knows!" Minsc confessed.

"No, no, Minsc, he means the LOCAL animals," Jaheira sighed. "We should link with them."

"Get a bird's-eye view of the situation, so to speak," Jarek quipped.

Anomen groaned at the pun. "Onyx, perhaps you should come with us. You aren't as stealthy as Jarek or Valygar, and last I heard you weren't a big communicator with animals, and…"

"Say," Onyx interjected and mused, "That reminds me. I need to get around to finding a bonded warhorse." Onyx's current horse, as if understanding, shot him a jealous glance.

"...and, AHEM," Anomen scowled at the interruption, "Perhaps you should actually pay your respects to Helm once in awhile?"

"I'm a paladin, not a priest, priest," Onyx dismissed the lecturing, "But fine. Everyone meet at the front of the temple of Helm in no more than an hour."

The party split into the three groups. Jarek and Valygar followed the tracks, which did appear to lead within the town, Minsc and Jaheira wandered into the fields, which were interspersed with the buildings in the farm community, and Onyx, Anomen and Arra walked in the direction of the temple of Helm.

**********

9 FLAMERULE 1905
FIELDS OF NASHKEL

"Keep your beady eyes peeled and your furry nose sniffing, Boo!" Minsc instructed his hamster. "What's that, you say? The hamster down there, she knows something?" The humongous ranger bent over and scooped a hamster off the ground. He set it on his shoulder and the two hamsters began chirping to each other. "What, Boo? You say she didn't see anything, but she's pretty and you think we should take her along? Boo, this is no time for such things!"

Nearby, Jaheira closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and concentrated. She began to sense the presence of the birds over her head and the creatures romping through the grass around her. A sparrow swooped down, perched on her shoulder, and began singing. Jaheira cupped her hands and the sparrow hopped into them. The druid lightly placed the tip of her index finger on its forehead.

Jaheira could see all of Nashkel from the air. Approaching it was the caravan. She saw a group of rogues, Purple Sun Assassins like those they had slain at the Cloudpeaks, waiting hidden in a copse of trees just ahead of the caravan but a safe distance outside of Nashkel. As the caravan approached, one gave a howl, a poor imitation of a wolf, and the first wagon slowly came to a halt, followed by the rest. The rogues emerged from the trees and lead forty shackled sea elves to the caravan. Some of the circus crew helped hoist most of them into one of the larger cars, but then they took eight of them back to the last caravan and loaded the rest in there. They hopped on and the caravan resumed moving. A few minutes later, the assassins emerged again, now headed by a tall figure with a treasure chest in one arm, two katanas over his back, and an unchained but docile moon elf lady by his side. The man barked some instructions at the rogues, some more directly at one of them, a pony tailed woman, then some at the elf. The elven lady began chanting a spell, and opened a dimension door, which she and the man stepped through. The rogues, acting more casual now, talked a moment among themselves and then wandered toward Nashkel and into a tavern, which Jaheira recognized from her Sword Coast adventures as the Belching Dragon.

"Thank you," Jaheira whispered to the sparrow, and opened her hands to let it fly away.

"No!" Jaheira's thoughts were interrupted by her ranger companion's shout. "No, you frisky hamsters! Not in my armor! Oh, get out!" A series of exciting squeaks could be heard emanating from within Minsc's armor as he frantically tried to unhinge it and pull it off.

**********

9 FLAMERULE 1920
NASHKEL - TEMPLE OF HELM

Anomen glared left and right as he walked up the path to the temple of Helm. To his left and right, Onyx and Arra were reading the amusing tombstone inscriptions as they went by and laughing out loud.

"It's bad enough that you laugh just outside a temple," he scolded, "But to mock the dead."

"Aw, Ano," Arra laughed and tousled his hair, "Read these! They're meant to be funny!"

Onyx pronounced, "Here lies the body of Rob. If not, please notify the undertaker at once," and laughed hysterically.

Arra countered with, "Mike: I feel my body rising towards the bright light...wait, not it's falling...what the HELL!"

Anomen sighed with relief as they reached the front doors of the church building and got through without his companions reading off any more tombstones. "Father Optus!" he cried as he looked to the altar and saw an aged figure in silver and blue. He noticed another priest wearing rose and bright yellow and adorned with the emblems of Lathander.

"Ah, my dear son Anomen!" Father Optus cried happily, outstretched his arms and stepped down the altar toward the knight. "This is Lady Dawn Raybringer, priestess of Lathander. She has just brought me news from Athkatla, including that of your completing your Order trials! Congratulations, my boy! I see you've brought friends - ah, Miss Flyte, good to see you again - say, sir, you wouldn't be that Onyx fellow? I can't tell you how grateful Nashkel is for that bit you did routing the saboteurs of the mines around here! My grandson's been yammering he wants to be a paladin ever since! Truly good work, sir, truly! Say, I was thinking, Anomen may have mentioned this, Onyx, have you considered joining the hallowed ranks of the Watcher Knights?"

"I have suggested this," Anomen added and glared at Onyx, "He isn't exactly the most pious of paladins and a little more faith in the Watcher might suit him well."

Onyx tried to hold a poker face. "Well, the last contact I had with Helmite Knights was a group that tried to seal us inside Watcher's Keep with Demogorgon. Things didn't end up so well for the knights, thanks to him, or the demon prince, thanks to me."

Dawn let out a muffled laugh. "Ah yes, the already-legendary slayer of Demogorgon! You know, Onyx - pleasure to finally meet you, by the way - I was just thinking what a fine Morningknight you'd make. Why, look at you, you're practically the spitting image of the athletic and handsome Morninglord himself!"

Onyx tried to suppress a wide grin with a polite one as Optus mediated, "Now, Dawn, pridefulness is not something either faith would want to appeal to."

"Oh, I disagree," huffed Anomen, "quite a vain one is Lathander," he glared pointedly at Onyx while speaking the god's name, "Quite given to excess and opulence the Dawnbringer is. Why, he hardly seems to care about governing the world like Helm, he's more interested in playing sports and courting Chauntea!"

"Ah, but look at what good has already come of it," Dawn smiled, "Wondrous benefits to all have spawned from his close alliance to the Earthmother, and through her Eldath and Mielikki and rangers," she walked aside Onyx and leaned close to whisper to him; Anomen and Optus politely avoided eavesdropping and mumbled to one another, while Arra appeared to listen in on the Helmites' conversation but with a pointed ear perked high.

"Onyx," Dawn whispered, "I can divine more of your heart than you know. It is as clear to me as the bottom of a mountain pond when struck by the rays of dawn. Though long at odds with the druid ethos, I know that you sometimes feel a ranger's call in your heart. I know that you wandered outside of Candlekeep as a child and across the Sword Coast and Amn since. I don't need to be able to detect the vampiric aura of Blackrazor at your belt to know that you believe in a time for bending rules. The faiths of Helm and Tyr hold them strict and sacrosanct, but Lathander is more neutral, Onyx. He understands the importance of achieving good above the unthinking abeyance of laws. I can feel the same tugging in your heart away from strict lawfulness toward pure good. I know there's a line you won't cross, but you wouldn't have to. Take this, Onyx," she slipped a ring into Onyx's hand, "It bears the insignia of Lathander's paladins, the Order of the Aster. I know of your mission, and you will need to shine the light of truth upon the lies of your enemies. Wear it with pride, and speak to me again at the temple of Lathander when you return victorious to Athkatla."

"Thank you, Dawn," Onyx whispered back and slipped the ring on as she leaned away again.

"I was just telling Anomen," Optus 'happened' to say just then, "That I'd heard a group of rogues had just gotten in to the Belching Dragon last night. Perhaps they work for the organizations you seek?"

"Quite possibly," Arra nodded. "Two of our party are probably already there."

**********

9 FLAMERULE 1930
NASHKEL - THE BELCHING DRAGON TAVERN

Valygar and Jarek strolled into the Belching Dragon. "Why, quaint little joint, eh?" Jarek smirked. Valygar nodded silently while scanning around. "You check out the back rooms, chap, I'll try to fish something out of the crowd up here." Valygar left his side to go down one of the hallways, and Jarek quickly judged who was most likely to know about - or be - who they were looking for. At one of the card tables he noticed a woman wearing leather armor, which imperfectly concealed a multitude of hidden daggers.

"What's the game, ladies and gents?" he asked in his typical brogue while sitting down.

"Eight-card Spider," droned the dealer, "Ante up or get out."

"But of course," Jarek nodded politely and anted. The cards were dealt and Jarek barely lifted his off the table to peek at them. The two to his left passed and Jarek called a large raise. The woman to his left saw and raised again and the next two, including the dealer, folded. One of the remaining two saw and the other folded.

"I'll....raise you again," Jarek challenged the woman and slid more coins out.

"And I'll see you anytime," she smirked back and slid out the same number. The one remaining player folded.

"Don't suppose you'd care for a third," Jarek arched an eyebrow.

"Go ahead, raise me higher," she arched back. Jarek slid out another small pile of coins, and the woman followed without a further raise.

"That's it," Jarek smiled. "Time to show it all," they each flipped over the cards and the woman let out an unrestrained curse.

"I'm sorry, I'd thought you were rather enjoying this," Jarek feigned disappointment.

"It was fun, but over much too fast," the woman sneered. "Might I have the honor of your name, sir?"

"Bond. Jarek Bond. And you?"

"Oh, I'm Bucki. Bucki Ryder."

"But of course you are. What do you drink?"

"Blood. Bloodwine, I mean."

"Waiter!" Bond called. "One bloodwine, and one vodka martini. Shaken, not stirred."

“So what brings you to Nashkel, Mr. Bond?” Bucki asked.

“Just passing through, actually, on business. Thought I’d come in and see what pastimes this nice quaint town has to offer.”

“Well, Mr. Bond,” Bucki shook her hair back suggestively, “I have offer that might be to your liking; whether you consider it business or pastime is up to you.”

“Funny; I was just about to ask if you’d join me in a different sort of game,” Jarek let his cards drop fall from his hand.

“Right this way, Mr. Bond.”

Meanwhile, Valygar was wandering through the halls, keeping to the shadows to maintain a low profile. He heard lots of noise coming from behind one door and paused, placing an ear against the wall. He could hear drunken laughter from within, and peered through the keyhole. A number of Purple Sun Assassins lay about the room, whistling and catcalling to the performance of a stripper. Valygar drew away and immediately crept back down the hall. He had to gather Jarek and the others and take them out. He went back to the bar, but Jarek was gone, as was the woman in leather he'd seen the swashbuckler approaching when they parted. He looked at the grandfather clock against the wall. It had almost been an hour. He needed to get back to the temple of Helm, and hoped that was where Jarek had gone. He ran back up and down another hallway once more, listening out for Jarek, but finding nothing, went back out the front doors and raced to the temple.

**********

9 FLAMERULE 1950
NASHKEL - THE TEMPLE OF HELM

Onyx, Anomen and Arra had continued discussing theology with Dawn and Optus, but as the hour neared they stepped out the front doors of the temple to meet up with their comrades. Minsc and Jaheira soon found them and Jaheira reported what they had seen.

"Thank you Jaheira; excellent work; your druidic skills have become impressive indeed," Onyx nodded, softening her usual glare. "Valygar and Jarek would thus be at the Belching Dragon, or coming back from it about now. I know we agreed to meet here, but we can already see the back of the building across the way, let's just go around both sides and we'll be sure not to miss them.”

They had scarcely gotten back down the path through the tombstones when Valygar ran up to them and reported finding the assassins and not finding Jarek. Arra groaned. "That Jarek, I think I know what he's up to. Let's get those assassins, if he's not already among them, he'll pop up soon enough."

**********

9 FLAMERULE 2005
NASHKEL - A ROOM AT THE BELCHING DRAGON TAVERN

"Oh, Mr. Bond!"

"Yes, darling?"

"A break, please! There's a decanter of scotch on the table across the room, fetch it dear will ya?"

"But of course, Bucki," he gave her a squeeze as he hopped up.

While he strode across the room, Bucki reached under the bed where she lay and grabbed and flipped open a pouch she had hidden there. Inside were a few darts, and some green and blue vials or liquid. She began to open the green vial, then, looking at him, dapperly pouring the drinks, she hesitated, replugged the vial, and opened the blue one instead. She dipped the head of one of the darts into it. She sat up on her knees on the bed and craned her arm for a toss. Just as Jarek was picking up the glasses and turning, she tossed the dart expertly. It sunk into Jarek's neck and he dropped the glasses, which spilled and shattered while he clutched his neck. He looked up at her and tried to clamber across the room, but soon crashed to the floor in a drugged sleep.

"Sweet dreams, Mr. Bond," she cackled and stepped over him while rubbing her foot against his back and licking her lips.

**********

9 FLAMERULE 2010
NASHKEL - THE BELCHING DRAGON TAVERN

The other six adventurers were poised just outside the door that Valygar had led them to. Arra's elven ears were perked up. "The stripper is still in there, we'll have to watch she doesn't get caught in the crossfire."

The other adventurers nodded. They were all experienced enough to know how to fight with an innocent amidst the enemy. No indiscriminate evocations, no confusing the enemy, who might then attack the innocent, and no missile aimed without care.

Onyx and Minsc stood just in front of the door, holding two longswords or maces high. Jaheira and Anomen stood behind them, scimitars and mace raised or ready to invoke divine magic. To either side of them, Valygar and Arra had their longbows drawn.

"One..two..three!" Onyx counted and he and Minsc kicked the door open. Their combined strength sent it flying across the room and flattening one of the assassins against the far wall. The rest shouted and drew daggers or swords while the stripper clutched her arms around her body and ran screaming to the opposite end of the room.

Onyx and Minsc immediately charged and smashed and slashed down the first pair of assassins. Anomen and Jaheira cast hold and entangle spells into the fray, and assassins froze midswing or yelped as vines broke through the floorboards and ensnared them. Two arrows whizzed by Minsc's head and plunged into two more assassins, then Valygar fired a second arrow to finish one off while Arra cast chain lightning and guided it from assassin to assassin, around the party and the stripper.

Onyx grimaced as an assassin seemed to come out of nowhere and managed to slip a dagger through his armor into his back. He felt the poison neutralize in his blood and immediately turned to skewer the assassin on Blackrazor. Absorbing the rogue's energy, he continued to swing about with greater strength and sent other hurtling into a wall. Two assassins jumped up on top of Minsc and he screamed hysterically and brained them with his maces while they tried to stab through his helmet. He struck one with his mace Stormstar a second time, sending another circuit of chain lightning through them. They fell off him, sizzling and screaming, and he finished them off.

Several rogues bolted for the door and came face to face with Jaheira, who dual-scimitar-beheaded one in a blinding flash or curved steel, and Anomen, who knocked one back with his shield and then called a column of flame down to incinerate the helpless thief.
Another popped out of the shadows and lunged with a shortsword at Anomen's back, but Valygar's arrow whizzed through his forearm and pinned it to the doorway, leaving him helpless against Anomen's mace as it crashed down on his head.

Just then Jaheira, Anomen, Valygar, and Arra all yelped in pain as a fireball blossomed among them. Jaheira shot an accusing glance back at Arra, but then noticed one of the enemy assassins incanting magic. Arra began chanting back at the apparent thief-mage, and before he could finish his spell, she'd sent a horde of flame arrows flying into his chest. They burned his leather but fizzled harmlessly against his skin, but then Valygar's next arrow pinned him through the neck, disrupting and slaying him.

After a few more swings from Onyx and Minsc, only two frozen assassins remained. While Anomen and Onyx cast healing spells on their comrades, and various party members swigged antidote and healing potions as necessary, Minsc and Valygar held their hands out but each had to cast several times to charm the two rogues, but managed to do so before they unfroze.

"Okay," Anomen cautioned, "no proper names, or placenames?"

"That's what it usually is," Arra sighed.

"Okay, thieves," Jaheira began, thinking back to her sparrow, "You delivered about forty sea elves to the circus here, yes?"

"Yes yes!" they nodded in unison.

"And your master, he's a tall man with two katanas?"

"Yes yes!"

"Would it hurt you if you told us where he teleported to?"

"Oh...yes...please don't!!! ohh!" They clasped their hands over their ears and eyes and trembled.

"Unless," Valygar began darkly, "You're going to get something else out of them first, we might as well try."

Onyx nodded and Jaheira shot them both scowls. "Evil and good alike are the earth's children all."

"Fine," she continued, "Do you know where the circus is going after Beregost?"

They shook their heads.

"What instructions did your master give you?"

"Go back to Athkatla! To conduit behind stage of Five Flagons Theater!" one yammered. "Meet master's Baatorian tieflings in Sigil to help them capture Erinyes kind!" babbled the other.

Arra yanked off the hood of the dead thief-mage. "This one is a Baatorian tiefling! No wonder he was immune to my flame arrows!"

Lots of eyebrows went up around the room but Jaheira continued. "Is your master's base east, west, north, or south of here?"

"W-....OWWWWW!!!!" "w...AAH!" they began screaming and clutched their heads.

"Okay, stop! You don't have to tell me!" Jaheira commanded them quickly and their pain subsided.

"You know," Valygar mused, "If we can get the first sound of any word, we could probably piece it all together."

"Indeed," Onyx scratched his chin, "Master is called a saint, or ‘the Saint’ maybe, base is to the west....but what's west of Nashkel? You hit the ocean pretty fast."

"Tell me," Jaheira began, "would it hurt you to write down the location?"

Both assassins nodded their heads fearfully.

"Try yes or no questions," Arra suggested. "It usually hurts, but they can get a head nod or shake off and then the pain subsides."

"Is it the gnoll stronghold? Minsc and Onyx and Jaheira once went west from here to rescue dear Dyanheir!" Minsc asked. Both assassins shook their heads, and spasmed for a moment, but then it subsided when they stopped.

"Is it in the Cloudpeaks or further south?" Onyx asked. They shook their heads and spasmed again. "As far north as Beregost or further?" another negative. He and Jaheira exchanged confused glances. There wasn't much left matching those parameters. "Is it underground?" another negative. "An island?" This time one nodded its head and one shook it.

"Great," Anomen groaned. "A difference of opinion.”

Just then the charm spells wore off. The two assassins screamed and the warriors surrounded them closely. One dove under a bed but Minsc grabbed his legs and pulled him back out. The other jumped onto a chandelier but Arra shot a volley of magic missiles that sent the fixture crashing to the floor with him. Arra then began chanting a charm person spell at him while Valygar began charming the other one, but both assassins, whimpering like lunatics, drew out poisoned daggers and stabbed themselves through the hearts.

"Dammit!" Arra cried as her spell fizzled against the lifeless body.

"I can resurrect them," Anomen reassured her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't bother," she moaned and put her hand over his. "I recognized the purplish-black shine of that vile poison on their daggers. It's a neurotoxin, even if you brought them back, their minds would be scrambled."

"I'd say they were pretty scrambled already," Jaheira sneered.

"Well, there's only one thing to do now," Onyx stated while exchanging nods with Valygar, "Find the ringleaders and interrogate them."

"Why you still hiding under the bed, lady?" Minsc asked the cowering stripper. "Only heroes are left, and we will avert our righteous eyes while the innocent lady dresses and leaves the tavern for good to start a better life!" He had gathered up the clothing she'd left strewn about the room and placed it in the bare arm, which reached out from under the bed to snatch it.

A few minutes later, a disheveled but clothed woman emerged and gave a quiet "Thank you," before creeping out of the room.

"Actually," Arra corrected, "There are two things. We still need to find Jarek."

Onyx counted the number of bodies strewn about the floor. "Seventeen. Great job guys, by the way. Jaheira, could you tell how many there were from your, um, sparrow-vision?"

Jaheira closed her eyes and concentrated. "There were eighteen."

The other members of the party, except Minsc of course, all gave knowing, melancholy nods. "And you said the master gave spoke to one of them specifically, a woman, not the one he teleported away with?"

"Yes. She looked to be a human female, fairly fall and shapely, in leather like the others, was rather tight actually, had a long blonde ponytail," she recollected.

"Oh, Jarek," Arra sighed. "I didn't need any sparrow to tell me that. Well, let's see who's checked in lately."

After quickly searching the bodies for useful clues or treasures, of which they found none beyond a few coins and some weakly enchanted weapons and ammunition, Onyx tossed a generous number of coins on the table for the housekeepers’ trouble of cleaning up the seventeen bodies the party had added to the furnishings of the room.

The party went back to the bar. Jaheira described the woman in question to the bartender, who acted befuddled until Jaheira slipped him a few coins, at which point his memory seemed to return and he gave directions to one of his rooms.

The party went back down another hallway, but the door to the room was stuck shut. Arra quickly picked it and the group spilled into the room. There was broken glass and spilled scotch on the floor, and the bed was a complete mess, with most of the sheets ripped in half, nail scratches all over the headboard, and bitemarks in some of the pillows, many of which had been thrown across the room.

"It must have been a mighty fight!" Minsc gasped. The others rolled their eyes, the proper forensic inferences obvious to them.

"You could say that," Arra sighed, "Well friends, this is 007 for you." She looked down and noticed a few drops of bluish liquid amongst the broken glass. She kneeled down, touched her fingertip to it, and brought it up to her nose and sniffed it. "Tranquilizer poison," she explained, "For when you want to capture - not kill."

Onyx asked "Other than Jarek's continued absence, are we sure of who got whom? We did pick up sleeping ammunition from Jan, er, 'Q'."

Valygar was carefully inspecting the rest of the room, putting his tracking skills to the task of indoor forensics. "Note the scratchmarks on the headboard - there's paint lodged in the grooves, so unless Jarek painted his nails after we parted," he winked at the group, "they must be her's...now, over by the window, which has clearly been climbed out of, we see more scratches on the windowsill, and those are also hers."

"Could she have carried Jarek's unconscious body out?" Onyx wondered. "She must be pretty strong, or else have stuffed him in a bag of holding or something."

"She could have lowered him out on a rope, then stolen a horse and rode off," Anomen suggested. "In any case, he is in grave danger and must be rescued!"

"Well, yeah," Arra smiled at him, "But 007 kinda has a knack for these things, so I wouldn't get too worried just yet. Let's get to Beregost and kick some butt under the big top. The way to the slavers is surely the way to him." Turning to the door, the normally extremely dexterous lady yawned and in doing so knocked her elbow against a bedpost. She coughed and stumbled sideways, but quickly regained her balance with a little help from Anomen. "Heh, sorry guys, I'm fine," she smiled with chagrin.

"No," Jaheira shook her head, "You are fatigued, child."

"Child?" Arra snapped back, "I'm - YAWN - not a child!"

"She says that to everyone," Onyx chuckled, earning a laugh from Valygar and a glare from Jaheira. "It's okay, we have been riding hard for days."

"Well, Sir Stamina," Jaheira continued glaring, "I don't recall you being so compassionate to us on our last adventure.”

"Jaheira," Onyx sighed, "I know...now's that the time to discuss this." Jaheira stared him down and Onyx gave her an unspoken but understood promise to resume the matter later. "But perhaps Anomen's right. With Jarek in enemy hands, every hour we delay could mean his death."

"SeriYAWNously," Arra leaned against Anomen, "He does this all the time. Sometimes I almost think it's his deliberate way of infiltrating the enemy."

"Gutsy," Onyx smirked with approval, "Bold and unconventional. I like it."

"Perhaps it's unconventional because it's so obviously stupid," Anomen opined and Jaheira nodded in agreement.

"Though he is in danger," Onyx continued, "He's been taken by the slavers, not the circus, and unless someone knows of a place west of here that's both an island and not island, we're going to have to go through the circus to get to them. And I think it's actually going to be easiest to infiltrate the circus during or after a show, not while they're setting up; they'd all be together in large numbers then. Now, as fresh as the tracks of the caravan were, and based on the flyers in town, the first show in Beregost will be tomorrow night. We easily have time to spend tonight here and ride to Beregost by midday tomorrow..."

"Onyx?" Valygar interjected, "I can see the consensus for staying here the night, so perhaps we discuss plans for tomorrow in our own rooms, rather than a few doors down from seventeen bodies we've just added to the furnishings."

"Er," Onyx grinned sheepishly, "Good plan." The group left the Belching Dragon and headed across the village to the Nashkel Inn - less likely to be ambushed, lest another squad of assassins were on their way to the Belching Dragon congress with the one they'd dispatched - and got a suite of rooms for the night and hammered out there plan of attack for Beregost there after grabbing a surprisingly edible dinner in the main room.

**********

Dawn Raybringer
Female Human
Neutral Good
Cleric of Lathander
Level 20
STR 16
DEX 17
CON 16
INT 12
WIS 17
CHA 15
Clubs +
Flails +
Hammers +
Maces +
Slings +
Whips +
Sword and Shield Style +

Bucki Ryder
Female Human
Neutral Evil
Purple Sun Assassin
Level 20
STR 17
DEX 17
CON 15
INT 13
WIS 11
CHA 18
Crossbows +
Daggers +
Darts +
Short Bows +
Shortswords +
Whips +
Single Weapon Style +




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