In The Cards

If it's possible, always try to prepare before battle. Not just in terms of weapons and armor. Study your foes. What spells might be effective against them, and to defend against them? Is there something else that may give you an advantage? Keep your eyes open, and you may see things you never would have seen otherwise.

Excerpt from 'Ruminations Of A Master Bard'

Rini eyed the huge gong in front of her warily. Yeslick had been able to reforge the mallet, and it looked as good as new. "Well, this is it," the half-elf told her friends. "Watch out, there's no telling what will happen once I hit this thing. It could be anything. Dragons, demiliches, Durlag's own ghost…" She raised the mallet, squeezed her eyes shot, and then struck the gong.

*Plink* The sound was an extremely unimpressive one. "That's it?" Edwin asked, looking incredulous. "We scavenge items all over this miserable cellar, then wait for hours for the dwarf to finish his smithing, and this is it? Not even a small dragon? What kind of a stupid gong is this?"

"You do not have to sound so disappointed," Jaheira chided him, shaking her head wearily. "A dragon would have slaughtered us all. "

"Maybe, maybe not. You, perhaps. Of course, my arcane skills would have seen me safely through."

"I am sure they would have. Through the nearest door, as the dragon fear took hold of you. I, for one, am pleased nothing bad happened."

"Um…sorry to disturb," Imoen said a little nervously. "But doesn't it look like the gong is vibrating?"

Five heads turned as one to see what she was talking about. The gong was indeed vibrating, more and more rapidly with every second, and it was starting to glow a bright white. "Uh-Oh…," Rini said. The sound wasn't so much a sound, as a deep and powerful vibration that ran through her entire body, that hummed in her bones and her blood. It was deafening, and yet she did not hear it with her ears. This is it, she thought. Any minute now my brain will come pouring out of my ears.

Cold fear twisted her insides, the fear of death, the fear of the grave. She fancied she could almost see herself lying in her coffin, cold and white, prey to worms and maggots. She was fighting the urge to scream and whimper in terror, but she didn't know how much longer she could continue to do so.

And then the terrible sound stopped, as abruptly as it had started, and the adventurers looked at each other, pale and shaky. "Now that," Edwin said in a slightly trembling voice, "that is what I call a real gong."

The companions made their way back to the great central hall, without mishaps. So far they'd seen no obvious effect of the gong. "We probably have to answer each riddle as well as provide the proper items," Zaerini said, watching the four marching warders. As she approached, they stopped in their tracks as they had before, watching her with their unblinking, lifeless eyes. The bard crossed the floor towards Love, the warder resembling a mage in red robes. As she tried to hand him the bottle of wine he shook his head however.

You have what I require. Do first what my brothers ask of you. Then we may complete this riddle.

"Right," Rini said to herself. "If that's the way you want to play it." She next approached the warder resembling a thief. The metal dwarf opened its mouth and spoke the same rhyme as before.

I am the warrior's curse
I steal his future
I mar his past
The more he has, the less it seems
He becomes a slave
Of glittering things

"You are Avarice," Zaerini said, placing the glittering Beljuril stone in the warder's outstretched hand, "and this is what you crave."

The warder nodded once, and then spoke again.

You have completed this riddle. I am AVARICE. I will bring doom upon you in this cursed place.

"Now, why don't I think that sounds very promising?" Edwin remarked in a casual voice.

"I have to agree," Jaheira stated, watching the warder suspiciously. "Once we hand over the final item we should be prepared for an ambush."

"Yes," Rini said, pushing her red hair out of her eyes to get a better look at the rest of the warders. "At least we should be safe until then though." She walked to the second dwarf, one of the warriors.

I am the warrior's bane
I live in the darkness of his soul
I bring him to his knees,
Trembling and weeping
Unable to lift a hand in his own defense

Yet I sleep - Awaken Me

"You are Fear," the bard told the warder, "and that gong I just hit ought to be enough to awaken the dead." And I sure hope it didn't.

This warder nodded as well, before speaking.

You have completed this riddle. I am FEAR. I will destroy you in this cursed place.

"Well, well," Edwin said in his most sarcastic voice. "These things just keep getting friendlier and friendlier, don't they? What's wrong with one promising to 'make us a nice dinner in this cursed place'? Or how about 'teleport us out of this cursed place'? (That does sound like a very preferable alternative.)" He knocked Fear on its metal head. "You there," he said, as Rini felt her heart leap into her throat. "How about it? Don't you want to take a break from all this 'destruction' business and prop up your feet for awhile? How about a nice vacation on the Moonshae Islands, and we can guard the stairwell?"

Fear simply stared at the Red Wizard, but he remained silent.

"I guess not," Edwin said. "Pity. (Perhaps they could all be melted down for scrap-metal, that seems to be the one thing they are good for. They certainly don't excel at conversation.)"

"Can you please," Zaerini hissed at the mage, "at least warn me before you get these suicidal urges? I thought he'd kill you!"

"I'm not suicidal! I'm perfectly able to handle whatever these things might throw at us!"

"Really? Well, as for me I'd really, really prefer it if the thing they want to throw at us isn't your decapitated head! I think it looks far better in its proper place."

"Children," Jaheria admonished. "Not now. There are two more warders to deal with, remember?"

"Right," Zaerini said, feeling a little embarrassed. "I suppose so." She headed over to the third warder, another warrior. It spoke as she approached it.

I am the warrior's fate
I raise him above his brethren
I amplify his deeds
He becomes scornful, where once he had respect
He becomes a giant, where once he was a man

Yet I lack the proper honor - Raise me up in glory
Through the chronicles of my deeds, pride shall be honored
Through the passing of knowledge my sword shall display its glory
Then you shall know that I am well pleased

"You are Pride," the half-elf said, "and I have read of your deeds and will remember them. You have been honored."

The metal dwarf nodded.

You have completed this riddle. I am PRIDE. I am the curse of this place.

"This is it," Zaerini nervously told her friends. "Just one left, and from what they've said already I really think we ought to be prepared for a fight."

"It will be very d-dangerous," Khalid said, "but it s-s-seems we have no other choice."

"Not really, no. But I do have an idea about how we might make things easier. Jaheira and Yeslick, I'd like to have a word with you both…"

A few minutes later Rini walked up to the final dwarf. All the spells that had been cast on her made her body shimmer and glow as if she were made from metal herself, but she paid it no mind. Her friends were watching her from a distance away as she stared Love straight into his ruby-red eyes.

"I have answered the riddles of your fellows," she told the guardian. "They are all satisfied. Now I will answer yours. You are Love." She placed the wine-bottle in the dwarf's hand. He didn't look at it, just kept staring at her.

You have completed this riddle. You are worthy to pass through this portal, though I yet guard the key with my life.

I am LOVE. I must be murdered in this cursed place.

Zaerini had expected it, but the attack still came as something of a shock, it was that quick. Avarice dove into the shadows, disappearing from sight, no doubt seeking a chance to get her from behind. Pride charged towards her, roaring a battle-cry made all the more horrifying by his metallic voice, and swinging a very large axe. Fear started to change, metal plates shifting and reconfiguring themselves as he transformed into a ghoulish shape that started lumbering towards her. And Love raised his hands and started chanting a spell, his ruby eyes still fixed upon her.

Now! she thought. Let's see how quick you little boys can run…

The hasting spell cast on her by Edwin made her much swifter than ordinary, and she was easily able to outdistance the three non-spellcasting warders. Yet she knew she mustn't lose them completely, or they'd be bound to go after her friends instead. The others were engaging Love in battle by now. She didn't have the time to see any details, but she could vaguely hear yelling, crashing noises and explosions. Fear, Pride and Avarice were the ones that mattered. Then she ran again, sincerely hoping that the other spells cast on her would work.

Almost there! Almost…there…

And then she was rushing past burnt and charred corpses, kicking them aside, hearing disgusting things crunch beneath her feet. There was no time to be delicate. Speed was what was needed. Past the corpses, and then, just as the warders could almost reach her, through the open doorway in front of her.

BOOOOM! The explosion was deafening, as five fireballs went off at the same time, triggered by the bard's feet. The fire was all around her, raging hot and hungry, flickering red and orange light all around. Heat in her eyes, against her face, in the air she breathed, fire everywhere, beautiful but deadly. And yet it did not burn her, didn't even singe her hair, though by all rights she should have suffered the same fate as those unlucky adventurers that had gone before her. The spells cast by Yeslick and Jaheira had done their work well, and the flames touched her gently, tugging at her hair, stroking her cheek, kissing her lips like a dream-lover. So hot…So beautiful…

The three warders following the bard weren't quite so lucky. Strong and swift they were, and well built. But they were not impervious to fire as she currently was, and now the delicate mechanisms inside their bodies melted and groaned, as they came to a creaking stop. One by one they toppled to the floor, making sounds like collapsing armories. Feeling almost giddy with triumph Zaerini turned on her heels and rushed back towards her friends, not caring about the fact that she set off all the traps once again. Ha! See, Durlag? I'm using your own traps against you. So there.

Edwin, meanwhile, was feeling a surge of triumph as another volley of Magic Missiles kept Love from getting off a spell of his own, allowing the warriors of the group to close with him. The magic was buoying him, lifting his spirits as it always did, filling him with delight. The magic was life, pure life and energy, coursing through him like a raging river or a late autumn storm. Surely there was nothing that could compare to it. Love staggered as a fire arrow struck him. Magic is the only kind of love I need, thank you very much. Yes, it certainly is. Then the Red Wizard blinked. Where had that odd thought come from? It made no sense at all.

He gave a minute shrug and went on with his casting, but now another nagging thought tried to distract him. Where is she? Thrice-bedamned accursed Durlag, I'll dig his bones out of whichever hole holds them and grind them to powder if she's come to harm. I told her to be careful. What…what if they've caught up with her? What if…

Then, just as his concentration almost broke, he raised his eyes and looked towards the door at the other end of the great hall. There was fire welling out of it, a large cloud of fire. Zaerini was emerging from that fire, almost as if she was taking form from within it, flame-red hair and glittering golden eyes clearly visible even at this distance, her gaze burning hot. Edwin hardly noticed as the red-robed dwarven wizard called 'Love' came crushing to the ground, several of Imoen's arrows sticking out of the chinks in his armor. He didn't hear Yeslick's and Imoen's happy cheering either. He just kept staring at the half-elf and the flickering fire surrounding her, as she met his eyes and smiled. Fire…just…like in that…that dream I had. My…my fire cat…I think that must be what a deva looks like…

And on the floor, the shadows almost made it seem as if Love had a small smile on his now lifeless face, as if he had finally fulfilled his mission.