In The Cards

Imagine being able to look any way you wanted, take on any form you wished. Sounds nice, doesn't it? But now imagine having no true identity of your own, nothing except what you could manage to steal from others. That picture isn't quite so pretty. In fact it's downright horrifying.

Excerpt from 'Ruminations Of A Master Bard'

The corridor leading east from the great hall led into a small store room, where a group of large spiders waited. They weren't particularly difficult opponents, but one had to be wary while fighting them in order not to get poisoned. Then another room, a library, with bookcases overflowing with books and scrolls. A little like Candlekeep, Rini thought, fighting an urge of homesickness. She met Imoen's eyes and knew that her friend shared the same feeling.

Edwin sauntered over towards the nearest bookcase where Imoen was standing, examining the titles. "Ah," he said. "Perhaps we will find something of value here. (Not that there are many among us capable of appreciating arcane tomes, I'm sure.)"

"Hold it!" Imoen yelled, suddenly batting the wizard's arm aside. Then she pointed at a small metal object almost hidden by a large volume. "See? That's a poison trap. It could have killed you."

"But…but that's…that's an outrage!" the wizard protested. "You can't trap a bookcase. That's just…evil."

I wouldn't want to be Durlag's houseguest, that's for sure, Rini thought as she watched Imoen disarm the multitude of traps hidden in both bookcases, retrieving several interesting spell scrolls . Imagine waking up in the middle of the night and popping in here for a bit of light reading./I> Then a terrible thought struck her. "Oh gods," she said. "Do you suppose he's trapped the garderobe too, wherever that may be?" Her friends gave her looks that varied between disgusted (Jaheira), embarrassed (Yeslick), frightened (Khalid) and intrigued (Edwin and Imoen). "Just a thought," she said, a little defensively.

"I suppose he could have," Imoen said, her blue eyes very pensive. "I wonder what kind of trap he'd use in such a place. Perhaps a spiketrap when you sit down?"

"Or a trapdoor landing you in a pit of crocodiles," Edwin helpfully suggested. "That would be in keeping with his style, I think."

"Well," Jaheira said, "it is a fortunate thing we do not have to use it then. Is it not?"

"But," Imoen said, "then where do we…"

"Never mind the details," the druid said. "It is of no consequence."

"I certainly think it is," Edwin disagreed. "Very much so. (After all, I wouldn't want to accidentally step in somebody else's 'consequence'.)"

"That is disgusting."

"It's just a natural function," the Red Wizard said in an innocent voice. "Surely you must be well aware of such things, as a druid and a Harper both. (I always did think Harpers were full of…)"

"Perhaps we'd better press on," Yeslick hastily interjected. "No sense in standing about makin' target of ourselves."

"Yes," Rini agreed, hoping to resolve the situation before the druid and the wizard came to blows. She really was getting concerned about Edwin. He hadn't been this belligerent in quite some time. And That Picture seemed to have made him worse, though she couldn't fathom why he would care so much. He's…he's not jealous is he? He couldn't be interested in Immy, could he? The very thought filled her with unnamed and inexplicable dread.

Oh, stop it kitten, Softpaws said. That is just plain silly. If he were, I'd be able to smell it.

You would?

Oh yes. If a human approaches the one he wants to mate with, his smell changes. The cat's green eyes were very amused. So does that of a half-elf.

It…it does?

Certainly. And before you ask, no, his smell doesn't change for Imoen.

Oh. Good. Er…I wouldn't want any romantic complications in the party, you see. That sort of thing could create all sorts of awkward situations, don't you know.

I know, kitten. Believe me, I know.

Zaerini soon had other matters to worry about however, as the party entered the next room, another small library. There were more bookcases, some chairs and tables, even a comfy couch. There were also three men standing in the middle of the room. The first was a rather scruffy human, who somehow managed to look regal despite his worn apparel. He was dressed in dark green and brown, and carried a longbow as well as a sword. A ranger, Rini guessed. Next to him stood an elf, tall and slender, with golden hair. He too seemed to be an archer. And finally there was a stocky dwarf, who glared at the adventurers from out of an enormous orange beard.

"Ah, hello?" the bard said. Empty and abandoned. That's what this tower is supposed to be. Empty and abandoned. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

The three men exchanged rapid looks with each other. "We…are searching," the human said slowly, as if uncertain how his tongue was supposed to work. "For…some friends of ours. Halflings. Have you seen them? They were carried off by foul orcs, and we fear greatly for their lives."

"Sorry," Zaerini said. "We haven't seen any halflings. Or any orcs, for that matter." Then she noticed something very strange. Elf, dwarf and human, all of them had the same eyes. Different in color, yes, but now and then there was something else, a flickering shift, as of quicksilver.

Be on your guard, kitten, her familiar warned her. Something is wrong here, they do not smell right.

The half-elf tried to keep her face from giving her away, but the three men must have noticed something all the same. "Hsssst!" the human cried out. "Now you die, fleshlingsssss!" And then their faces rippled and changed, the semblance of normal flesh melting and dissolving to reveal three monstrosities. They were humanoid in shape, with dull gray skin, and in the shadowy library their eyes shone bright like quicksilver. Two of them rushed the adventurers, the third pausing only long enough to cast a spell, and then they moved like quicksilver, swift and deadly. Yeslick was down already, struck by a surprise blow to the head, and Khalid and Jaheira were battling for their lives against the three monsters, both of them bleeding from wounds of their own. Imoen was firing her arrows as fast as she could, her face tense and frightened, as the two spellcasters sent flaming arrows and Magic Missiles against the enemies, hardly stopping their casting long enough to take another breath.

Finally, as one of the creatures fell to a swift blow from Khalid's sword, Jaheira had a few seconds to spare, and managed to cast a spell of her own, disabling the monsters' enhanced speed. Once that advantage was lost they eventually fell, still hissing and spitting.

"What were those things?" Zaerini asked a short while later. The half-elf had collapsed onto the couch and was watching as Jaheira attended to Yeslick's headwound. "Eddie, you're our resident expert on strange beasts and critters. Any idea?"

"Dopplegangers, I would say," the Red Wizard answered. He was sitting next to her on the couch, frowning as he stared at the three gray bodies. "Shapeshifters of a sort, and parasites. They steal the identities of others, steal their lives. Sometimes they hire themselves out for assassination work, they have a natural advantage there."

"I can imagine."

"But these were larger than they ought to have been," Edwin said, sounding both puzzled and a little annoyed. "They aren't supposed to be spellcasters either. I wonder if these are a new breed, perhaps caused by some magical experiment." He paused. "I just hope there aren't any more of them. It would be very troublesome if we suddenly walked into a whole colony of the things. And given that Durlag's Tower was invaded by dopplegangers all those years ago, it's not impossible."

"Gee. Thanks for cheering me up."

"W-well here is an interesting f-find," Khalid suddenly said, holding something up. "It was on th-that table over there. What d-do you think it is?"

"Looks a bit like a mallet-head," Imoen suggested. "Hey, do you suppose it fits that handle I found before?"

"It's practically bound to," Zaerini said, her voice grim. "Again, very convenient. A mallet handle and mallet head. They just need to be reforged, and conveniently enough there's a forge. And then there's that gong that's just begging for us to hit it. I don't know about you, but I smell traps."

"What are you suggesting?" Jaheira said.

"I'm saying that I think we've just found ourselves a way to 'awaken Fear'. And once that is done all the warders will satisfied." Or so I hope. Somehow I have a feeling things aren't going to be quite that easy. Not with 'Crazy Durlag' picking the rules of the game we're playing.