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Rush Of Blood To The Head, part 2.42.


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#1 Guest_Theodur_*

Posted 29 June 2003 - 06:55 AM

Rush Of Blood To The Head, part 2.42.

After another round of tankards of ale, Jan returns and joins us at the table.

“Well, my Worship, the old Jansen charm does it again – it seems like we even have a choice on what to pick as the next job…” Jan sounds excited, “now, there is this friendly dwarf, Korgan Bloodaxe by the name and he is looking for someone to help him find an ancient tome of great value. He says that some book collector would pay a lot of money for this here book, so it must be valuable.”

“What sort of book is that and where is it located?” I inquire.

“Oh, he doesn’t really know about the content of the book, neither is he very interested, I would imagine,” Jan smirks, “and it is located in some old tomb in the graveyard.”

“Well, that rules it out, we are not going there now that Bodhi is after us,” I reply and Jaheira agrees with a supportive nod of the head, “what’s next, Jan?”

“Well, then there is this nobleman, Lord Firkraag, if I’m not mistaken. He sure was tightlipped and actually wanted to speak about the details only with you. He knew you by the name, my Worship,” Jan explains.

“Hmm, I don’t know of him and that is alarming, but in the same time – not really. I mean, most of the power groups here seem to know of my presence in Athkatla and a man with the right connections will probably have an access to such information,” Jaheira once again nods in support of my theory.

“Did you manage to find out any details of the job he is offering?” Jaheira asks.

“Only that his lands are beset by marauding ogres and trolls,” Jan replies, “Oh, by the way - now the worst thing is that his lands are in Windspear Hills. That is at least three days trip and another three days back… I’m afraid if you choose this task then I cannot accompany you…”

“Very well, that means it is out of the question for now, besides we cannot waste almost a week only for traveling,” I conclude with sadness.

“What about the third job?” Jaheira asks.

“It’s not really a job, as nobody asks us to do it or offers any reward,” Jan explains, “I overheard a couple of drunkards talking about illegal pit fighting going on in the back rooms, I suppose they could be using unwilling slaves for such entertainment. They also have courtesans in the back rooms for another sort of entertainment…”

“Hmm, I have not been with a worthy male for too long time,” Viconia muses, “Theodur, I think we should look deeper into this.”

“Err… yes…” I am taken a bit aback by Viconia’s reasoning, “well, if there is something illegal going on in there, then the owner of this place must know about it, eh? And slave trading is a very profitable business, is it not? I am sure we could help ourselves to their loot, if all goes well…” I ponder.

“How do we get admittance to the back rooms, Jan?” Jaheira asks, “and now I think I see the reason why Bernard actually continued to work here for all these years – those slavers must really have paid well for him to keep his eyes shut.”

“We should talk with Lehtinan himself and try to act interested, indicate that we have a lot of money to spend,” Jan suggests, “by the way, what did you ladies do to poor Salvanas?”

“Gnome, I would advise to use it as a reminder of what might happen to you if you keep up with your silly stories or if I catch you watching me in the bath again,” Viconia snarls, “now let’s go and speak with that Lehtinan person and finally get to some action…”

 

Lehtinan watches us approaching him with an expression of distrust on his face. Our polite greetings do not soften his face expression as he replies in a hissing voice, “Well, hmmm, hello to you. I don't recall seeing your face in here, before. Strangers aren't exactly welcome in these parts.”

“Well, that is an interesting attitude,” I point out, “I would imagine that this is an inn and attracting strangers should be your prime concern as an owner of this place.” Jaheira stamps on my foot to give a subtle message not to get involved in lengthy discussions and stay on the topic.

“We live in odd times. Hmmm, strangers can sometimes be...dangerous, if one is not careful,” Lehtinan speaks so slowly as if every word spoken is causing him a lot of pain, “Hmmm, now what is it you wish?”

“Oh, we have some spare coin we would like to dispense off,” I show Lehtinan my full pouch of money and his eyes lit up with a greedy spark, “can you suggest something?”

“Hmmm, coin is...always...welcome. And Copper Coronet is exactly the place where to satisfy your hunger for whatever your needs might be - drink, rest, or other sorts...of entertainment, hmmm…” Lehtinan hisses.

“Rest and drinks are offered in all inns in this city, old man,” I speak, “however, I think that the sort of other entertainment might be something that makes your place unique amongst them, eh?”

“Ohh… hmmm… you are keen on the uptake, boy,” Lehtinan even manages something that should be a smile, but it turns out as a wicked grimace, “Companionship, perhaps, or gambling on fights, and other things.”

“That sounds exactly what we were looking for,” I smile, “the lady here is very eager for some companionship,” I point to the grinning Viconia.

“Hmmm, very well… you look like a sort who might enjoy it,” Lehtinan finally is convinced, “Go over to the fellow by the door on the far wall and tell him I said to let you in. If you want to partake in the gambling on battles, talk with Frankie. See Madame Nin for companionship. Enjoy your stay, hmmm…”

As we make our way to the backrooms, Jaheira is unable to contain herself and several loud curses escape her lips… “What a despicable person and an equally despicable place… witness the crown of the civilization…”

While I ponder about what to reply to her statement, she stops in her tracks and I crush into her backside. In front of us stands the smiling squire Delryn – looks like he has finally gathered the courage to address us…

“Fair lady,” he addresses Jaheira with a gleeful smile on his lips, “What brings you to this cesspool of corruption?”

“Argh! Not another one!” Jaheira yells, frustrated and pushes Anomen on the chest and tripping him over so that he tumbles back and crashes into the empty barrels and remains lying there with a puzzled expression on his face… I am sure that she will have a good laugh when I tell her that that was the squire whom Keldorn suggested to us as a cleric instead of Viconia…

 

Once we have made our way inside the back rooms, Viconia heads upstairs, where according to the guard, Madame Nin offers companionship services… she has a very determined look on her face as she disappears from our view…

The rest of us head to a large hall in which several fighting pits are placed. Frankie explains that we have come in the middle of a fight, thus we have to wait for the next fight to place our bets. That is fine with me, as I don’t have any actual interest in gambling.

The loge for gamblers is separated from the fighting pits with a wooden railing, and it is half-full with excited man and women, most of them look to be of noble birthright, at least judging by the clothing. We come closer to take a look at the fight going on before our eyes and what I see makes me want to puke from disgust. A large troll is fighting a small, sickly looking dwarf, who is not wearing any protective armor at all – the only piece of equipment he has is a small dagger and he cannot hope to harm the troll with something as puny as that.

The troll quickly slashes the dwarf across the face, knocks him down on the ground and then proceeds to desecrate the corpse. All around the pit, the guards and the nobleman laugh as the troll shatters the dead body and starts chewing on the entrails of the victim…

A cynical voice in my mind asks what were the bets on the dwarf actually winning and something tells me that this is not so much a gambling on fights, but just a killing for the sake of it. Jaheira feels equally disgusted, but her temper is a lot shorter than mine as she draws her scimitar, while looking around menacingly and trying to pick out someone to direct her wrath to. I grab her by the shoulders and tell her to put the scimitar back in the scabbard…

“Jaheira, calm down, you seem to have forgotten the meaning of the word “subtlety”,” I whisper in her ear, “I thought that it was a prime requisite to become a Harper agent in the first place – the ability to be subtle.”

“Hmph. I am not sure whether I still am a Harper,” she snorts, “and I can not believe that such atrocities leave you unaffected.”

“Of course they affect me,” I speak, leading her away from the pit area with Jan following us in tow, “and we are going to do something about it, trust me. Let us wait for Viconia to satisfy her lust and meanwhile we can devise our plan.”

We stand in the middle of the stairs, leading to Madame Nin’s apartments, far enough from the ears of the guards, thus we cannot be overheard as we speak.

“There are three guards here and another one at the top of the stairs,” Jan whispers, “see that door in the left wall? That must lead to where the slaves are held, they are likely to be kept near the pits.”

“There could be any number of guards inside there, we must proceed with caution,” Jaheira has calmed down and finally her brain has resumed working as well.

“That’s exactly how we are going to do it,” I reply, “we are going to open the doors and head straight over to where the slaves are held, on our way disposing of every guard that opposes us. Agreed?”

“You certainly know how to reassure me,” Jaheira smiles dryly.

“That’s as good as plan as any other,” Jan chuckles, “I have a couple of fireballs and lightning bolts to throw at them as well… oh, here comes our drowsy, well, whatever she did there didn’t take her long…”

“Indeed, that was at least four times quicker as… uh,” Jaheira’s elbow in my ribs makes me shut up.

“Weak, pathetic males,” Viconia sounds frustrated, “what a disappointment, nobody was worthy of Viconia’s flesh…”

“Well, it seems you are stuck with me, drowsy,” Jan laughs.

Before Viconia has managed to unleash her frustration on Jan’s head, I explain the situation and our course of action. Of course, slavery is nothing despicable in Viconia’s eyes, but the prospect of a battle makes her forget her bad mood for a moment.

“Well, abbil, if I can’t get some carnal pleasures, then at least let me spill some blood,” Viconia speaks as we head downstairs to start our little crusade against slavery…




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