Rush Of Blood To The Head, part 2.17.

Rush Of Blood To The Head, part 2.17.

The atmosphere back at the Shadow Thieves guildhouse is full of rush and anticipation - we receive many appraising looks as we head over to the second floor to meet Renal Bloodscalp. I think that their excitement will last only until someone is sent over to Mae’Var’s guild to clean up that mess…

Renal awaits us with outspread hands as if he would want to hug everyone of us, luckily seeing that we are in no mood for pleasantries he decides against it.

“Well done, I say,” Renal speaks in a pleased voice, “Of course, such things tend to reach my ears quickly, so I have gone ahead and prepared a reward for you,” he points to the desk behind his back. I walk over to see a large amount of gold coins, carefully sorted in many smaller piles and a short sword that feels strongly enchanted.

“Ten thousand in gold pieces,” Renal adds, “that’s a half of what is required, is it not? As I said, I am almost sponsoring your rescue of that lass…”

“Indeed, but I would expect nothing less for such a gruesome task,” I mutter while stocking the gold coins in my pouch and when it is too stuffed wave to Jaheira to pick up the rest of the money.

“Now, if there is nothing else you wish to ask me I must be returning to my work… can’t let these thieves without a supervision for too long time…” Renal sighs.

“Well… perhaps you could tell me Renal, where is Spellhold and how do we get there?” I ask with ironical innocence.

“Haha, Theodur, I really like you, my boy,” Renal laughs, “I hope we can meet later under different circumstances and chat over a glass of good wine… but now I really need to get back to serious business.”

“Somehow, I knew he would not fall for that…” I murmur as we leave Renal and his thieves guild behind us.

 

“Wasn’t that a splendid idea?” Nalia speaks as we sit at the table in Mithrest Inn, a table that is covered with now mostly empty dishes. A roasted wild boar and a lot of other assorted dainties have found our way to our bellies – it was Nalia’s suggestion to hold a grand celebration dedicated to the healthy monetary addition to “Imoen’s Fund” and it also served well to get some rather unpleasant and bloody images out of our minds.

Everyone except Nalia is feeling too overfed to even bother with replying and so we sink into a lengthy silence, interrupted only by one or two loud burps.

“So, what are our plans for the rest of the day?” Yoshimo is becoming slightly bored, “perhaps I can suggest a little game of cards?” and he retrieves a slightly used pack of cards.

“Somehow, I was waiting for this… especially now that we have seventeen thousands in gold coins…” my comment arouses a snort of amusement from Jaheira, “No, Yoshimo, I will not let you empty our “Imoen’s fund”…”

“After such a meal, I think that some physical activities are required, lest we all be out of shape by the time we find Imoen and Irenicus,” Jaheira muses, “I would suggest…”

“Oh, I know what activities you would want, Jaheira…” Nalia interjects absentmindedly, her thoughts obviously elsewhere and her brain not connected with her tongue.

“I beg your pardon?” Jaheira asks red-faced and angry. “I wanted to suggest that we take a stroll through the city, perhaps look for pieces of information and so on… what were you indicating, girl?”

“Err… sorry… I guess I was not thinking…” Nalia mutters and then remembers something to save her from this situation, “perhaps, we can look into this Haer’dalis disappearance? At least then our trip would have a purpose.”

“Eh, after such a dinner, I am not thrilled about the possibility to wander through the sewers… but then again – I have not seen the Temple district as yet, maybe we can pick up on something interesting on our way and if not, then let’s see what’s with this crazy Mekrath,” I decide, “All right. Everyone put on your sewer-suitable-attire! Here comes Theodur and his slime-exterminator brigade!”

 

The Temple district is really a sight to behold, the monumental temples devoted to Talos, Lathander and Helm conquer amongst themselves in beauty and pomposity, but nothing beats the Order of The Radiant Heart, the local paladin order building. At least in pomposity, I think looking at the large marble statues gracing the entrance to the paladin’s order.

Whilst making our way across the Temple district, we stumbled upon a blind priest preaching to the crowds about some kind of new deity, so called Unseeing Eye. His attempts to sway the minds of the gathered crowd caused a strong opposition from the nearby standing priest of Lathander, but even so when the sectarian left, some folks from the crowd decided to follow him. After that we were approached by a chosen of Helm, High Watcher Oisig and invited to visit the temple of Helm. When we arrived there, he asked us to investigate this newly formed cult and to our surprise it turned out that the cult of The Unseeing Eye resides in… sewers. Every time we visit a somewhat larger city, we end up taking up a stroll through sewers - I just hope that does not end up as a habit.

At first I was reluctant to accept Oisig’s plea for help, but after Jaheira’s comment about how this cult stinks of wrongness, I gave in. Otherwise I would have received a lecture on balance that needs to be preserved, and even though I sympathized with her views, I much more preferred her talking about other things… at least today.

Now, standing at the large manhole leading to the sewers, my thoughts shift back to our unpleasant adventures in the sewers of Baldur’s Gate.

“I hope that Athkatlan sewers are somewhat prettier,” I sigh helping Yoshimo to remove the lid covering the entrance to the maze of tunnels below. It would seem that Jaheira’s memories had been lingering the same way as mine as she answers with a faint smile.

The stench that meets us below is of a particularly exquisite sort and the large pools of feces that cover the floor of tunnels makes this trip that much more entertaining…

Slowly we make our way through the maze, without any real knowledge into which direction we should be going. Yoshimo scouts ahead and time and time again he warns us of small groups of goblins and kobolds, who need to be taught who is the real boss of the sewers.

Lord of The Sewers, I chuckle at this thought and Jaheira, who has been removing a particularly large piece of human excrement from her boots using her scimitar in the process, asks in annoyance “What is so funny? Am I supposed to do that with my hands?”

“I was not laughing about you, dear,” I speak soothingly, “but do you really have to do that with your weapon?”

“I will wipe it clean with the next kobold we meet,” she answers nonchalantly.

Yoshimo, who returns from his scouting ahead, interrupts our chatting. “I heard voices ahead,” he speaks, “one of them belonged to a dwarf, who was cursing loudly. They could be hostile,” he warns.

“Well, if they block the road ahead and we cannot pass… either way, we have to get by them. Hopefully they will not be hostile,” I conclude and we group more tightly and slowly approach the merry looking group of sewer dwellers.

“Who be ye?” the dwarf addresses seeing our approach, “I see a puny half-elf and a merry little bunch of sissy adventurers… well, if ye want to go further, ye haves to pay for the passage… a thousand golders would do nicely.”

Of course, I am not going to pay him anything, but neither do I wish a battle on our hands. I see that that they are seasoned veterans and even have a mage amongst them, which is always a concern.

“What is it that you are doing in the sewers, my dear gentlemen?” I try to be polite.

“That be none of ye business, half breed,” dwarf retorts, “now pay up or I’ll bury me axe in yer skull.”

“Ah, I understand,” I say, “it’s the famous “toll road” scam, isn’t it? My, my, you really have no conception of modern day marketing and economics…”

“What ye be muttering there, half breed?” dwarf is perplexed, “I nay be worshipping those gods.”

“Obviously, not. So you are standing here and cashing in money from anyone that walks by. Tell me, good dwarf, has anybody passed you by and paid you yet?”

“That’s right, Tarnor,” one of the dwarf’s comrades speaks, “we’ve been hanging around here for a week or so and yet nobody has came this way. That was a dumb plan, if there ever was one.”

“Shut yer yap, bastard,” dwarf exclaims angrily.

“As I said,” I continue, “now consider if you would set up your scam in a place that is visited more often, like… like in front of the Order of The Radiant Heart… people go in and out there all the time … think of how much you could earn that way…”

“Yeah! Yeah! That’s a good idea!” I hear shouts from Tarnor’s underlings.

“Let me also explain another aspect of marketing and salesmanship,” I make a mistake by continuing when I should have stopped… “Quantity is all that matters. Do you think that many people would pay you a thousand in gold for simply walking by? Nope, they would not. But some would pay a hundred rather than get into a fight with you. So, it would only take ten by passers for you to collect the thousand, whereas you would never find a fool that would pay a thousand right away.”

Tarnor is thinking very carefully and very long, all the time counting something and using his fingers in the process… “Rrraaaaagh!” his contemplation ends in a scream of anger, “Idiot half breed, you’ve given me a splitting head-ache… now, I’m going to split yer head…”

And with these words he and his merry little group rushes towards us, weapons raised. Nalia and Jan quickly hides behind our backs using every opportunity to place a bolt or an arrow into some soft, unprotected place of bandit flesh. Tarnor tries to charge me, but his attack is interrupted when Jaheira bravely throws herself in his path and knocks him back with her shield. I am facing a couple of thugs, not particularly skilled, but they have an advantage in numbers. As I duck to avoid one swing, the other man’s flail catches me in the shoulder as I feel a sharp pain flashing through my body and hear my bones cracking. Holding the two-handed sword suddenly becomes very problematic as I am now forced to only defend myself without any time to think about a counter-attack.

Jaheira is not doing well against the determined little dwarf either. She is not able to use her height advantage, simply because of the fact that the dwarf is not giving her opportunities to attack. Tarnor is swinging his axe so low, that Jaheira cannot block it with the shield and instead has to hop backwards to avoid her leg from being separated. I hear a very unpleasant sound as a result of Tarnor’s axe cutting in Jaheira’s leg, just above the knee and Jaheira’s scream of pain sends a chilling sense of fear and panic through my veins as I retreat in her direction.

Meanwhile, Yoshimo is fighting a loosing battle as well, as the warrior he is facing is equal in skill, but the archer that is supporting him is much more accurate than Jan or Nalia, who are at disadvantage as their eyes are not adjusted to the darkness that is customary in sewers. A couple of arrows protrude through Yoshimo’s shoulder and he receives another one in the ribs and winces from the pain that almost forces him to drop his katana.

As if that is not enough, I overhear the mage starting an incantation… “The mage, Nalia, the mage!” I scream in panic.

“I don’t see him, Theodur!” she screams in equally worried voice.

Suddenly I recognize that incantation. That is a death spell. I will not have any of my friends or myself killed in this dirty, filthy place by some random idiot thugs…

“RETREAT!” I scream, “Yoshimo, Jaheira, RUN!”

Yoshimo does not need to be told twice as he quickly turns around and runs toward the exit, grabbing Nalia by the hand as she stands like frozen in place. Jaheira seemingly does not understand my orders as she is trying a more dignifying retreat, all the time parrying the dwarf’s attacks, rather than turning her back to run. I realize that her leg might be the reason and she is unable to run…

With a mad dash I leave behind the two thugs who are trying to kill me, as I dart across to where the dwarf is slowly tiring Jaheira out. He does not hear me approaching as I kick him right in the left kneecap with my foot and watch him drop in the pool of excrements with a broken knee… I do not hesitate for a second longer as I grab Jaheira by her waist and throw her on my damaged shoulder, ignoring her not very loud protests and run as fast as I can towards the exit. I am relieved to hear that nobody follows us as the bandits all surround their fallen leader…