Of Sorcery and Ale: Chapter 11

I think I scared all of you by posting up 8 chapter in one night. I probably shouldn't be posting this up, since it's 4AM in the morning and I'd told myself not to do anything important after midnight...but I doubt anyone's going to review anyway...which is why I'm posting up more stories, muahahahaha!!
Don't mind me.

--Chapter Eleven--
--Reunion at the Copper Coronet--

Kita and Kyron crawled out from the Copper Coronet fireplace once more, soot on their faces. They intended to find more jobs they could do-they still needed about 10,000GP in order to rescue Imoen. There is an advantage to having the keep, however, as the people in the villiage pay a certain amount of tax each tenday, like Nalia promised. Kyron had instructed a minor tax increase, simply for the sake of Imoen. This time, Nalia and Jan had stayed at the keep, Nalia to deal with some land issues and paperwork, and Jan was making something in his room/laboratory again, and every so often a bang came from it.

Kita was very tempted to slid down the banister and start drinking ale, but tried to restrain herself. Kyron sighed...if only Jaheira was here. Jaheira and her husband Khalid are Harpers, and Kyron and Gorion both have involvements with that group-Kyron basically did whatever Gorion told him to do when they were at Candlekeep. Before Gorion's untimely death, he had instructed Kita to meet up with Kyron, who then Khalid and Jaheira. They had seperated at Baldur's Gate, as Jaheira & Khalid left to do Harperish duties. Jaheira may also be the only person alive who could stop Kita from drinking.
If only she was here right now, Kyron thought as he absentmindedly walked down the stairs.
And Kyron found himself face to face with Jaheira

"JAHEIRA!" he called in surprise. "Ja-Jaheira!"
"Yes, Kyron, it is I." Jaheira said calmly. "No need to create a racket."
"Sorry." Kyron said. He had forgotten to note that Jaheira is calmer than he is. "Wh-Why are you here? Where is Khalid?" the two were rarely seperated.
Upon the mention of her husband, Jaheira's face twitched painfully.
"Khalid is...is dead." she said.
"What?!" Kyron cried out, then realized that Kita was already downstairs, happily drinking ale and banging on the table, and therefore totally ignoring Kyron and Jaheira.
"Yes."
"Who killed him?!"
"A slaver by the name of Baron Ployer." Jaheira said, her face again twitching. "We ruined his trade a couple years ago at Cormyr...he has hated us ever since. He hired assassins to do the job."
"Bastard..." Kyron muttered. Khalid was a good man, perhaps a bit jittery, but a good man overall.
"Well, that's enough about me." Jaheira said, trying to change the topic. "Where is Kita, and Imoen? What has happened since we parted?"
"Kita's there..." Kyron pointed at her amongst the crowd. "Imoen's...gone."
"Gone?" she asked, as the two headed down the stairs. "What happened?"
Kyron very briefly explained what had happened to Imoen.
"Hm...interesting." Jaheira said. "Perhaps we could work together?"
"That would be up to Kita, as usual, but I would advise her to take you along."
"Thank you." Jaheira replied...Kyron noted that Jaheira didn't often thank others. Khalid's death must have been a rather large blow to her.

"Hey, Kita." Kyron greeted his female companion, who was drinking yet again. "Look who I ran across."
He stepped aside to show a very angry-looking Jaheira. Kita instantly dropped the mug, spilling the ale all over the table.
"Ja-Jaheira..." Kita muttered sheepishly. "I was just, er, drinking to, er, relax...yes, relax."
"Indeed?" the druid asked in a dangerous tone.
"Yes...indeed."
Kita chuckled humourlessly.
"Err...where IS Khalid?" she asked, hoping to change the subject.
"He is...dead."
"WHA?!" Kita cried. She had always liked Khalid a lot more then Jaheira.
"A man named Baron Ployer killed him." Jaheira said simply. "Now, I understand from Kyron that you are trying to find Imoen, yes?"
"Y-indeed." Kita said.
"Well, shouldn't we work instead of sitting here, drinking ale?"
"We?!" Kita dropped her mug again.
"Yes, we. Gorion would have wished that we worked together, no?"
"I suppose." Kita said weakly, and decided to have a last attempt. "Um, ale?"
"No, thank you." Jaheira said sharply. "Too much of those could harm one seriously."
"Like she said." Kyron added.
Kita shot Kyron a venomous glare that would have killed lesser men, and sullenly stood up. "Fine, fine." she muttered and paid the barkeep. "Let's go back to the keep, then."
"Keep?" Jaheira echoed.
"Kyron got a keep from a girl named Nalia." Kita explained. "And it's just though the fireplace of a room here."
"Indeed?" Jaheira asked.
"Indeed." Kita said mockingly.

The three of them once again crawled into the fireplace, and entered the library, and they headed downstairs where they found Major Domo, Korgan, and Nalia.
"Greetings, lady. I do not reconize you?" the Major said, looking up.
"This is Jaheira, who used to travel with us. We met her at the Copper Coronet." Kyron said.
"Greetings to all of you." Jaheira said, nodding slightly. Korgan nodded.
"Kyron, I've found us reliable mercenar' company, called the, err Fentan Knights...or some such." Korgan reported, actually looking a little...shy?! "Very reliable, honest too. They says they'll be 'ere soon."
"They rode?"
"Yea, thought it better if'n they didn't know 'bout the fireplace, aye?"
"'Aye.'" Kyron replied. "Good thinking."
"I would have thought it natural." Jaheira sneered.
Korgan gave a little hmph, glared at Jaheira, then announced that he was going down the cellars to check on the water. Currently, Jan hadn't yet come up with a plan to remove it, but some of the barrels were still reachable. Kita decided to follow, and Kyron took Jaheira upstairs.

Kyron reached the door labelled "Jan Jansen, Gnome Extrodinaire", and pushed open the door.
"This is Jan-" he begun, but stopped in shock once he saw the room.
It seemed like a labotory or a temple of Gond. Pieces of tools were all over the room, and in a corner lay an alchemy set bubbling with magical liquids. In another corner was a small bed, and in the third corner, a golem that was strangely green.
"Um, Jan?" he asked experimentally, as he couldn't see the gnome.
"Yes?" Jan asked, popping his head out from behind a table.
"This...is Jaheira." Kyron said.
"Nice to meet you, then." Jan said. "Your curly hair reminds me distinctly of my third aunt Ulora. She was a gnomish amazon, never received any postcards from her, oddly enough. Anyway, she was a little paranoid-she stalked rabbits in fear of them starting a rebellion. And one day, what do you know...she ventured too far into a griffon lair, and the griffon swooshed out and bumped right into her. She fell off and landed on a rabbit hole, stopping the rabbit meeting to take over the forest. From that day on, she was remembered by gnomish amazons thoughout Faerun. Of course, I think she's the only one." Jan added as an afterthought.
"Nice to meet you...too." Jaheira said, a little taken aback.
"Is that a golem?" Kyron asked, gesturing to the golem in the corner.
"Yes, indeed it is! I've decided to name it Ochentarkinish." Jan said happily.
"Sorry?"
"Ochentarkinish." Jan repeated. "Ochen for short."
"Who is it named after now? An uncle?" Kyron asked curiously.
"Nobody, of course. Are you suggesting that I name things after my relatives and make up stories about them?" Jan looked positively hurt. "How dare you!"
"Sorry..." Kyron mumbled. "What is that green thing around it?"
"Turnip. Turnip peels."
"...why?"
"Because it is a well-known fact that turnip peels soak up water." Jan said matter-of-factly, folding his arms. "And Korgy wants the cellar empty, no?"
"Yes."
"So I'll just send Ochey down there and soak up the water, then, Octo can come out, and we'll give him a giant squeeze!"
"And?"
"And water will be squeezed out!"
"Good...luck..."
"Awgh, I don't need luck." Jan said, waving his arms about, causing a tool to fling out of his hand and over Jaheira's head. "But thank you anyway. Jaheira!" he called, turning around already. "Want a turnip?"
---
Now all you Jaheira fans can stop attacking me.

Now all you Jaheira fans can stop attacking me.

Actually it was a pretty neat way to bring her into the story. Too bad that you choose to kill of Khalid - since he was not in the dungeon I hoped he would survive. I would love to see a BG2 story in which K&J are still together.

That segment with Jan was quite good, I have to say - especially the part about the golem. Hehe.

[quote]I think I scared all of you by posting up 8 chapter in one night. I probably shouldn't be posting this up, since it's 4AM in the morning and I'd told myself not to do anything important after midnight...but I doubt anyone's going to review anyway...which is why I'm posting up more stories, muahahahaha!!
Don't mind me.
[/quote]

But i do.

[quote]
Kita was very tempted to slid down the banister and start drinking ale, but tried to restrain herself.

Her drinking tendencies is bordering on alcoholism.

Kyron sighed...if only Jaheira was here. Jaheira and her husband Khalid are Harpers, and Kyron and Gorion both have involvements with that group-Kyron basically did whatever Gorion told him to do when they were at Candlekeep.

Being harpers is not much of an endorsement.

Before Gorion's untimely death, he had instructed Kita to meet up with Kyron, who then Khalid and Jaheira. They had seperated at Baldur's Gate, as Jaheira & Khalid left to do Harperish duties. Jaheira may also be the only person alive who could stop Kita from drinking.

jaheira could make and demon salute and obey.

[quote]
"JAHEIRA!" he called in surprise. "Ja-Jaheira!"
"Yes, Kyron, it is I." Jaheira said calmly. "No need to create a racket."

It's jaheira alright.

"Yes."
"Who killed him?!"
"A slaver by the name of Baron Ployer." Jaheira said, her face again twitching. "We ruined his trade a couple years ago at Cormyr...he has hated us ever since. He hired assassins to do the job."

The bastard.

[quote]
"Hey, Kita." Kyron greeted his female companion, who was drinking yet again. "Look who I ran across."
He stepped aside to show a very angry-looking Jaheira. Kita instantly dropped the mug, spilling the ale all over the table.

like a child caught doing something she knows that she is not supposed to do.

"Ja-Jaheira..." Kita muttered sheepishly. "I was just, er, drinking to, er, relax...yes, relax."
"Indeed?" the druid asked in a dangerous tone.

Like an angry mother.

[quote]
Kyron reached the door labelled "Jan Jansen, Gnome Extrodinaire", and pushed open the door.

And that's no lie.

---
Now all you Jaheira fans can stop attacking me.[/quote]

I thought that it was nice seeing a story without her