In The Cards

The Tower means change of circumstance or location, usually with a negative implication. It implicates loss, death, despair and misery. When you see the Tower, expect unforeseen problems, and to be moved from the frying pan into the fire.

Excerpt from 'The Chaltar Deck Of Cards - An Introduction'

"So where do we go from here?" Imoen asked, looking curious.

"I've been thinking about that," Zaerini responded. The party had reached Beregost the night before and taken this opportunity to get a good night's rest. Now she'd gathered her friends together in a private meeting room in order to discuss their options. "The obvious thing to do would be to head to Baldur's Gate. The Iron Throne is there, Sarevok is there, and I'm going to have to deal with both sooner or later."

"That is true," Jaheira agreed, her green eyes keen and sharp. "But somehow I sense you have another plan in mind."

"Yes. If Baldur's Gate is the obvious place to go right now, then Sarevok surely knows it. He may be somewhat insane, but he's not stupid. And I did that Reading not long ago, remember? It showed me where I need to go."

"No!" Edwin exclaimed, slamming his hand into the table. "You cannot seriously contemplate doing something that insane! Not Durlag's Tower. Anything but that. The place is a deathtrap. (I haven't gone through all of this simply to see her blithely walk to her doom. I will not stand for it.)"

"Oh, come on Eddie," the bard said, flashing a quick grin at the wizard. "It'll be exciting."

"Exciting? Exciting?! Seeing you torn to pieces by some fiendish trap will be exciting?"

"Have some faith in me, why don't you? Anyway, you heard me explain the Reading. If I don't go to Durlag's Tower I will die. I've thought it through, and there doesn't really seem to be much choice. It's the only logical thing to do. I'm going in there."

For some reason this innocent comment only seemed to incense the wizard further. "Logical?" he sputtered. "Logical? Putting yourself in certain mortal peril in order to avoid a possible one is logical? (Now she's doing it too! As if one wasn't bad enough. Between them they'll drive me insane, I'm sure.)"

What's wrong with him?

Oh, I don't know, kitten, Softpaws remarked in an innocent voice. Maybe he just has issues about seeing people he cares about risk their lives.

"Look," Rini said, trying to sound reasonable. "I'm not making this up or anything. My Readings always come true, sooner or later. I have to do this."

If she'd hoped for this to calm Edwin down she was disappointed. A multitude of conflicting emotions flickered across the wizard's face, too quickly for her to read. "Yes," he said. "Yes, I see. Of course you have to. (Such is always the case, isn't it?) I just hope the dead dwarves have all decomposed by now. A deathtrap I can handle, but not a stinking one!"

"Now hold on there!" Yeslick protested. "That's the home of my kin yer speaking of!"

"And your kin can keep it for all I care. From what I've heard of Durlag's Tower their idea of receiving guests means mauling them savagely in a spike trap, then having a monster stomp them to mush, and then setting fire to them. Not the most hospitable place in existence."

"Aw, try to relax," Rini said, patting the Red Wizard on the arm. Then she bent closer to whisper into his ear, close enough that her lips were almost touching it. "And think of all the lovely treasure waiting for us inside…"

Edwin's eyes lit up at this. "Treasure?" he said, suddenly sounding eager. He gingerly touched his ear with one hand. "Yes, I'd forgotten about that. Yes, very…very lovely, I'm sure. Very well, I will do as you ask. And after all, the rest of you wouldn't last five minutes in that place without my peerless skills as a mage to assist you."

"Right," Zaerini said, careful not to smile at this rather endearing display of vanity. "How about the rest of you? What do you think?"

"It will no doubt be dangerous," Yeslick said, "but I do wish to gaze upon the fabled halls of Durlag's Tower."

Jaheria nodded. "The tower itself holds no interest to me," she said. "However, we must do what we can to keep you safe, and if your Reading is clear then I counsel you to follow its advice."

Imoen nodded as well, pink hair bouncing. She looked a little forlorn though. "Yeah, me too I guess," she said. "If that's what you think. I…I just wish we were going to Baldur's Gate straight away instead."

And this would of course have nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that that's where Adahn said he was going. "Any particular reason?" Rini asked innocently, happy for this chance to be able to get back at her friend a little over her recent teasing. "Hoping to run into somebody in particular?"

Imoen grinned, looking a little sheepish. "Well…maybe. I just miss him, you know?" She started rummaging inside her pack. "But I'm making this really awesome drawing of him to keep me company while we're apart, d'you wanna see? I think it's going to look almost as hot as the real thing…"

"Maybe later," Zaerini hastily said. If she knew her friend that drawing would probably be pretty daring, probably lacking in the clothing department and not all that fit for everybody's eyes. "Any other opinions? Khalid?"

The half-elven warrior was sitting very stiff, staring in front of him with unseeing eyes. "D-d-d-durlag's T-t-tower…," he moaned between chattering teeth.

"He will be following you," Jaheria explained. "We both swore an oath, and we intend to keep it. Do we not, Khalid?"

"Ye-yes," Khalid stuttered, almost green in the face by now. "O-of course. Of c-course we will."

After yet another day of replenishing their supplies the adventurers set out on their journey south. They made their way towards Durlag's Tower without incident, until they could finally see the massive shape of it rear up against the horizon like a giant wart on the landscape. It was an enormous structure, dark and forbidding, with just a few tiny windows surveying the surrounding blighted landscape where no living things grew, staring out at it like unfocused eyes. The Tower itself was rather squat and ugly, Rini thought, but it certainly gave an impression of barely controlled power. As she watched it she felt a shiver run down her spine. If I don't go to Durlag's Tower I will die. I just hope I won't die despite going there. She'd gone a little apart from the others in order to try to calm her nerves. So far it hadn't helped much.

"Regretting the folly of your decision in coming here?" Edwin asked as he came up behind her. "Prepared to come to your senses and do something a little more reasonable, like sticking your head into the maw of a dragon?"

The bard gave him an exasperated look. "You know my reasons for doing this," she said. "It's not some sort of sinister plan created solely to annoy you. I'm just doing the only reasonable and logical thing. You could be a little more supportive."

"I am. I'm trying to make sure I won't be forced to support your corpse on its way to its grave. (And besides I'm tired of people ignoring their personal safety entirely and telling me it's the reasonable thing to do.) Your cards could easily have been wrong. (I hope they were. About this and…other things.) You could try to be a little less obstinate."

"Obstinate? I'm being obstinate? And my cards don't lie. I'll show you. Just you wait." The redhead took out her deck of cards and drew one out at random. It was the Tower, a dark building crumbling to ruin, people falling screaming from its battlements. "See? Get the hint?"

"You could have been using sleight of hand," the wizard protested stubbornly. "And don't tell me you wouldn't do that in order to prove your point."

"I'll show you sleight of hand you…" Then Zaerini interrupted herself. She'd heard something. A clanking sound. Like the footsteps of an armored man. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Two large figures stepped out from behind a large rock, their armor ruddy with a hellish red glow, flaming swords held aloft. As they spotted the two adventurers they both hissed with pleasure. "Oh," Edwin said in a small voice. "That."

No creatures wearing heavy plate-mail should be able to move that fast, Rini thought as she and Edwin ran for their lives back towards the rest of the party. It's not fair. She just had time to spot the surprised faces of her friends before the two armored figures were upon them. Then all she knew was the song of spells and blade. Jaheira called lightning down from the sky, she and Edwin sent magic missiles, flame and acid arrows at the enemies. Yeslick used the same trick he had back in the Cloakwood Mines, making the two flaming swords wink out of existence. The two magical knights were still dangerous, but no longer quite as deadly, and eventually they went down.

"Nice welcoming committee," Edwin said with a pointed look at Zaerini. "Yes, I'm sure you'll be perfectly safe here. Do try to explain that 'logic' thing again."

"Don't be grumpy," Imoen said. "It could have been worse. At least these two guys were nothing compared to…"

Lightning stabbed into the ground like a glowing sword, just a short distance away, accompanied by booming thunder. And then Zaerini felt something, like a prickle at her neck, like a tug at her soul. She turned her head, and there, outlined against the sky on the path they had just descended on their way towards the tower… "Sarevok!" The large warrior raised his sword as if in a mock salute, and even at this distance Rini thought she could see the flash of golden eyes. Then he started walking towards them. "Run!" the bard shouted. "We can't fight him, not here, we're too unprepared! The Tower, head for the Tower!" And then she ran, after making sure that all her friends were following her.

The dark Tower was getting closer now, and as Rini ran it came to her that maybe it wasn't her running for the Tower. Maybe it was the Tower running to meet her. If I don't go to Durlag's Tower I will die. Looks like that much was right. I'd have preferred a less dramatic way to prove my point though.

The adventurers raced across the open drawbridge over the dried out moat, grateful that at least their path wasn't blocked. Behind them they could hear Sarevok's deep and mocking voice, much closer than they would have liked.

"Why in such a rush, little one?" the warrior called out. "I'm almost starting to think you're trying to avoid me. Come now, stand and face me. You know it's inevitable."

Zaerini wasted no time in answering. Instead she thundered across the small courtyard in front of the tower, and up to the tall black wooden door, immensely relieved to find it open. Once all her friends were inside she slammed it shut. She just managed to catch a glimpse of Sarevok, who was even now crossing the drawbridge, heading towards them like some unstoppable avalanche with a sword. A very large, very sharp sword at that. If I don't go to Durlag's Tower I will die. I just hope that means there's some chance at survival if I do.

And then she spotted the balcony above her, a stone outcropping on the inside of the tower wall, just above the door. "Fireballs!" she screamed to Edwin, pointing. "Quickly!" The wizard stared at her for a moment, and then he caught on. Two orbs of searing flame struck the outcropping directly, exploding with a deafening roar. Large rocks rained down like overly large hailstones, making the adventurers dive for cover as they piled up behind the door. Despite the noise Rini had no trouble hearing Sarevok's frustrated scream of rage as he suddenly found his path blocked, and it was followed by several powerful blows that made the door shake. Maybe he'll dull his sword at least. I only wish it was his head he was using, then maybe he'd break his neck. The door held though, braced as it was by a large pile of heavy rocks. Eventually Sarevok's assault subsided into ominous silence.

"Well," Rini said, her voice rather shaky. "That should keep us safe for the moment."

"Oh yes," Edwin said. "Shut up inside Durlag's Tower with our only exit blocked behind us. Yes, I feel so much safer now."

"Hey!" a strange voice suddenly interrupted. "What do you morons think you're doing?!" The adventurers slowly turned around to face a skinny man in somber clothing, who was looking very much annoyed. Behind him a group of five more strangers huddled, all of them looking very wide-eyed and worried as they looked at the party.

"Who…who are you?" Imoen asked.

"I'm Ike," the stranger said in an irritable voice. "Ike the Guide. And I don't know what your problem is, but I demand compensation for this. Now how are my tourists supposed to get out of here? Not to mention myself. It isn't as if there are any souvenir shops to keep them occupied, they'll grow bored soon and there's nothing as dangerous as bored tourists." The tourists tittered nervously. "I think you ought to pay me…oh…everything you've got, this will really damage my business."

If I don't go to Durlag's Tower I will die, Rini thought. Pity the Reading didn't mention the fact that if I do go to Durlag's Tower I will probably commit bloody murder within five minutes of crossing the threshold.