Of Sorcery and Ale: Chapter 15

--Chapter 15--
--Rum! Oh, and some Adventuring.--

"Good day, Mae'Var!" Arkanis said as he strode into Mae'Var's torturing chamber fearlessly. "Guildmaster Renal Bloodscalp sends his regards." he said, and aimed his crossbow at Mae'Var.
Who was smiling.
"You did not actually think that I didn't know, Arkanis Gath?" he spat. "I still have those loyal to me!"
Behind Arkanis, two men rose from the ground like shadows. Mae'Var gleamed.
"Strike now!"
But the two men fell as soon and as suddenly as they got up, sliding back into the shadows, one with a throwing knife to its neck by Kita and another fell to an arrow from Nalia.
"So does Renal." Arkanis said, smiling cruelly, re-aimed his crossbow...and fired.

"Where the bloody hell is the temple, then?" Korgan asked, still on horseback. His face was rather pale, but he'd rather not let anyone see that.
"It's very close by." Lyman said, for once not stuttering. "It is, in fact, in a forest."
"Is that so?" Jan said, looking quite at ease on his horse. "Well, let me tell you about the time my cousin Tavarin..."

"I guess I nailed that bastard." Arkanis said, then chuckled mirthlessly at his own joke. Mae'Var was indeed nailed, he now have about ten crossbow bolts nailing him deeply into the wall behind him. After the rather gory battle which featured six thieves (three of which are now charred corpses, one is blugeoned into the wall, and two are throat-slitted), Nalia had found though detection magic a secret stash which contained a powersuit of armor, the Shadow Armor. The armor was designed for females, and in the stash they also found a love letter from Mae'Var to one Ama of the Night Knives. Since wearing armor restricts Nalia's spellcasting, Kita is now flexing her muscles in her new Shadow Armor.
"I'll go back to Renal, now, with the evidence." Arkanis said, then disappeared into the shadows. Kita hummed a tune as she skipped forth happily, watching as her new armor seem to abrosb the light. Kyron stared at her and chuckled slightly.

"Arr, shiver me timbers! Crew, quickly, load the rum! LORI LORI LORI!" yelled a female voice from nearby. Turning around to see who was speaking, Kyron wished he hadn't. In front of him stood one of the oddest person he had ever seen: she had a hairstyle that later people would know as dreadlocks, a red bandana with pictures of skulls on it, an eye patch on her left eye, a hook on her right hand, and a parrot sitting comfortably on her shoulder. The pirate was waving her cutlass around, instructing her crew to carry barrels of rum on board. Kita's eyes lit up when she noticed the captain had a gigantic keg in her hands, filled to the brim with more rum. The swashbuckler took a giant swig from it and sighed contently, then turned around to look at the astonished party.
"Heya!" she said cheerfully. "Want some rum?"
"Some rum?" the parrot echoed.
"And who are you?" Jaheira demanded.
"My name is Fin." she said, extending her hooked hand. Kita shook the tip of it fondly.
"Well met, Fin. I'm Kita."
"Nice to meet you too. Listen, have you seen this handsome guy in red and yellow robes? He has this fuzzy moustache?"
"Well, actually..." Kita begun, but Kyron wisely cut her off.
"Actually, we haven't seen anyone like that." Kyron said. Fin didn't seem to notice anything was wrong.
"Oh...too bad then." she said with a sigh. "My third wife Eddie ran away again, I've been looking for him forever."
"Your third WIFE?" Nalia asked.
Fin gave a little hrmph.
"Well," she said, as if she had came to a very important conclusion. "I have an idea."
"Yes?" Kyron asked, one hand gripping his staff tightly.
"Let's all go to the Sea's Bounty and have some RUM!" Fin yelled. "LORI LORI LORI!"
"I second that notion!" Kita said, and the two of them wondered off in the general direction of the Sea's Bounty, arms around each other's shoulder like old, long-lost sisters.

"Come in!" Renal called, again fondling his dagger. This time, only Kyron entered.
"And where is Kita? She is not with you?" Renal asked with a hint of surprise in his voice.
"She went to have rum with a random pirate she met on the street." Kyron replied coolly. "Has Arkanis given you the evidence?"
"Yes, he has indeed...Mae'Var is an ambitious fellow, like I said..." Renal said, smiling and shaking his head dismissively. Kyron stared at him unblinkingly.
"Our reward, if you'd please?" he said finally.
"Ah, yes, I was hoping you would forget that!" Renal said, laughing. He held up a bell and rung it, and two thieves entered, one carrying a gem, the other a short sword.
"This sword is from my own personal armory." Renal explained. "And this gem is well worth 10,000 gold, in the hands of the right merchants. Now, about my deal with Kita? The thieve's guild?"
Kyron's mind raced though a series of possible solutions. The Shadow Thieves arn't exactly known for their honour, or mercy, or kindness of heart.
"No." he replied. Renal's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"No?" he echoed, now changing into a much more dangerous tone. "And is that a result of a discussion between you and Kita?"
"No." Kyron said again. "It's not. It is my own decision."
"Well..." Renal hummed. "At least it was rather...brave...of you to admit that. You may go. I shall see you soon, my friend."
Kyron nodded, and took the sword and the gem. Not looking back, he strode out of the guildhouse and took a deep breath.

"Ayaha!" Fin yelled, while downing another keg of rum. Kita tried to follow, but she was already half-drunk when Kyron entered the rowdy tavern. Most of the customers were surrouning Kita and Fin's table, and were cheering as the two young woman drank cup after cup of rum. Pushing spectators aside, he noticed that Jaheira and Nalia sat at a seperate table, apparently too ashamed to join them.
"Had enough yet?" Kyron asked Kita, who was slumped down on the table.
"Whazzat?" his companion replied.
"Nah, she hadn't had enough yet." Fin said merrily, stuffing a keg into Kyron's hands. "Have a drink!"
"No, thanks." Kyron said then handed her the keg back. "Kita, wake up!"
"I'm not ashleep!" Kita shouted, trying to push herself up febbly.
"You're drunk...as usual..." Kyron sighed. "It's turning dark. We've nearly the gold we need to rescue Imoen. Let's go."
"I swear to drunk I'm not god!" Kita said, flailing her arms around comically.
Kyron sighed again, and knew that it won't be his last time in this day.

Somebody approached Jaheira. It was a slim elven rogue, and Nalia noticed Jaheira's eyes flicker somewhere near the sword in the newcomer's scabbard. There was a symbol of a harp on it. Jaheira nodded slightly.
"Meronia." she said, addressing the elf, who gave a slight bow and ignored the noise emitted by the other patrons of the bar.
"Jaheira, I must have a word with you. In private." the elf said, glancing at Nalia, who stood up and joined Kyron in persuading Kita to leave.
"I'm sure those fools or drunkards will not overhear us, Meronia, now what is it?" Jaheira questioned, her voice betraying no emotions.
"Those who Harp needs you, Jaheira. Follow me."
Jaheira sat in silence for a second or two, then stood up and nodded.
"Will this take long, Meronia?"
"No." her associate replied. "Two, maybe three hours, tops. Say farewell to the child, then come with me."
"Fine." Jaheira said, and strode purposefully over to Kita, and others automatically made way. "Kita!" she said, raising her voice slightly.
"Whazzat?" Kita replied again. Jaheira sighed, and saw Kyron standing in the crowd, and made her way over to him. "Kyron, I will be gone. Those who Harp has need of me. I will be back in two, maybe three hours."
The young sorcerer nodded. "We'll be here." he replied.
"NOW!" Kita shouted suddenly, bolting up from the table. "IF ONLY OUR GOOOOOOOOOOOD FRIENDISH KORGY ISH HERE!"

"Korgy" was dismounting from his horse, a Cormyrian grey, at the moment. They had finally arrived in the forest Lyman spoke of, and it was...dark. Unaturally so. Even though it was around eight past noon, the sky was not yet THIS dark normally, yet it felt more like midnight here.
"Why be it so DARK?!" Korgan grunted, taking out a cautious axe. "It feels more like midnight 'ere!"
"Magical influences from the temple..." Lyman muttered softly.
"What's that, Lymy?" Jan asked, ever cheerful. "Magic turnips from Cormyr? Indeed! How did you know about the Jansen Magical Turnip Incident back at '76? I thought nobody outside the family knew!"
"Where be this temple, then?" Korgan asked, ignoring Jan.
"Follow me." Lyman said simply, and begin to walk slowly but surely forward. Korgan and Jan shared a look, and they follwed, weapons in hand.

"Is Jaheira here yet?" a man in his late thirties questioned another.
"No, Galvarey, not yet. Soon."
Galvarey nodded, his face forming a smile.
"Excellent."

Kyron's mind raced though a series of possible solutions. The Shadow Thieves arn't exactly known for their honour, or mercy, or kindness of heart.

Nonsense! You can just ask aran. "you're on the morally right side here" as he said when he sent you aginst the wampires.

Hunter

Oh, he's just the lesser of two evils. Seriously, you pay him 15,000GP, a fortune for most, and then he uses you to defeat Bodhi. Where did that money go?

Oh, he's just the lesser of two evils. Seriously, you pay him 15,000GP, a fortune for most, and then he uses you to defeat Bodhi. Where did that money go?

To his pocket no doubt. You pay him for assitance, yet it is you who get to assist him, without payment.

Exactly my point.