In The Cards

Doing good deeds can be very satisfying, as well as rewarding in many ways. Still, if there is a choice to be made, I will always choose my friends and family above any abstract idea of goodness, and before any stranger.

Excerpt from ‘Ruminations Of A Master Bard’

The Temple of Umberlee was furnished with water, as befitted the sea goddess. Shallow waterways crossed the floor inside, intersected by narrow bridges. Seaweed hung from the walls and ceiling, and the sharp smell of saltwater was heavy in the air. The High Priestess Jalantha Mistmyr was a middle-aged woman, with a calm face and cool gray eyes. She wore a shimmering ceremonial robe in blue and green, but her feet were bare, and she stood in the water with no indication of feeling the chill. “So,” she said. “You wish the Bitch Queen’s aid in the removal of a Geas? Know then that Umberlee offers nothing for free. If you wish for her aid, you must first do something for me.”

“Let me guess,” Edwin said. “You’re going to ask me to go on a ‘quest’ for some ludicrous item that you really ought to be able to buy for yourself at the nearest market. This in turn will force me to run around all over the city fetching junk for a dozen other obnoxious people, most of it to be found in remote and dangerous locations. (And then there’ll probably be a labyrinth to top things off.) He was getting increasingly annoyed by this delay. What he really wanted to do was to magic himself into the Iron Throne building and teleport Zaerini out of there. Which would have been just fine and dandy if he’d only known any teleport spells. Charging the gates with brute force was obviously out of the question. His teacher would probably have been able to sneak him past guards - if only he’d been available. And we all know whose fault it is that he isn’t, the Red Wizard morosely told himself. But I did what I had to do, though he may never forgive me for it. And I’d rather have him alive and despising me than dead.

So, with all other options closed to him Edwin found himself with no choice but to obey the wishes of the reluctant assassin Lothander who claimed not only to have an antidote to the insidious poison that would eventually kill Zaerini and his other companions, but also to be able to get him inside the Iron Throne. That didn’t mean he had to like it however.

Settle down, wizard, Softpaws cautioned him from her place on his shoulder. Don’t annoy her too much, we need her.

The black cat had firmly declared that she didn’t intend to get her feet wet, and that he would serve admirably as her chair. Annoying as she was, Edwin couldn’t help but appreciate the company and wonder what it would be like to have a familiar of his own.

“All right,” Edwin sourly said. “We’ll fetch the stupid thing, whatever it is. (Probably a magical flower growing on the dark side of the moon, or the horn of a black unicorn.)”

The priestess gave him a rather odd look. “Who were you talking…never mind. As long as you do as I ask I don’t care about your mental health. What I want is a certain item necessary for a holy ritual I soon intend to perform. The Book of Wisdom. It is currently held by the weakling acolytes of Tymora, in what they call ‘the Lady’s House’. I do not care how you acquire it, but that is my price for the removal of the geas. Do not come back without it.”

A short while Edwin headed into the more luxurious parts of Baldur’s Gate. Running was out of the question or he would already have exhausted himself, but he had the terrible feeling that time might well be running out for Zaerini and walked as quickly as he could. “Can you sense her yet?” he whispered to the cat on his shoulder, not caring who heard him.

Only vaguely. Softpaws sounded as worried as the wizard felt. She is alive, but she is in pain. I cannot make direct contact with her mind though. I think that’s because of the poison, it’s blurring her thoughts.

Damn! Edwin thought. Anything could be happening to her. She…she could be tortured. She could even be dieing. His jaw set stubbornly as he blinked to keep his vision clear. Well, I won’t let her, and if she thinks I’m about to let her go and die on me I’ll show her differently. She will be well. She has to be. And whatever Sarevok is doing to her, he will get repaid tenfold.

The Red Wizard was so deep in thought that he hardly noticed the small redheaded boy until he almost tripped over him. “Oh!” the child cried out. “Sorry, sir. I…I was just…” He sniffled, wiping at his eyes and smearing the dirt in his face even further. Then he seemed to notice something. “Sir…you’re a wizard. Please, you have to help me!”

“Do I look like a wandering paladin?” Edwin scoffed. “If you want your playmate turned into a frog you’ll have to ask somebody else, I’m extremely busy.” To his horror he saw the child’s eyes open like a floodgate.

“My…my friend is dead, sir!” the boy wailed. “Please, I know you can help me! It’s…it’s all my fault for daring him!” He suddenly hugged the wizard tightly, sobbing into his robes, desperate for any kind of support.

Edwin felt at an utter loss as to what to do. He didn’t really have any experience in handling children. Once again, he desperately wished that his mentor had been present. Dekaras would certainly have known what to do. Come to think of it, what had he done the times when Edwin himself had been this hysterical? “There, there,” the wizard managed, awkwardly patting the child’s back. “I suppose there can be no harm in telling me what’s happened, though I’m certain whatever it is can be ridiculously easily solved by a mage of my superior skill.”

Awwwww! Softpaws sounded annoyingly amused. Never knew you had it in you, wizard.

“Shut up, you,” Edwin muttered. “I’m only doing this to get him to stop making my robe soggy, you know. There is no other reason. None whatsoever.” Of course he wasn’t. He was pretty certain that Red Wizards weren’t supposed to be publicly hugged by small children, and certainly not to…somewhat appreciate it. Then he had an idea that made a wicked smile cross his face. “Here you go,” he told the child, hastily depositing the cat in his arms. “Now you can hug her and keep from annoying me.”

The outraged look on the cat’s face as the boy adoringly hugged her so hard she could scarcely breathe was absolutely priceless.

“Oh thank you sir!” the boy said, smiling. “Thank you ever so much! My name is Varsi by the way. Here, if you follow me I’ll show you to my guardian, it will only take a minute of your time. He’s a Lord High Priest of Tymora, he lives just over that way.”

“Now wait a minute! I didn’t promise…(Hold on. A High Priest of Tymora, is it? That could be useful.) Lead on, I meant to say.”

As it turned out, the priest in question was the father of Varsi’s best friend. The two boys had dared each other to sneak into the temple of Umberlee, where the priestesses had shown no mercy and slain one of the children while the other barely escaped with his life.

“I know I could raise my son if only I could have his body back,” the priest explained, his face haggard and strained with grief, “but the priestesses of the Bitch Queen will not give him to me. If you will negotiate with them on my behalf, I will do anything in return.”

Edwin carefully stroked his beard. “Anything, you say? There is really only one thing I need from you. Grant me the Book of Wisdom from the Lady’s House, and I shall do as you ask.”

The priest went quiet for a moment, closing his eyes as if listening to an inner voice. Then he nodded. “Tymora tells me that your need is great, as great as mine. You may have the book even now – if you swear to bring me my son.”

“Very well,” the Red Wizard said. “I swear it. You strike me as a gullible fool though, to trust me so easily. How do you know I will not simply take off with the book? (And I cannot say it isn’t tempting.)”

The priest smiled faintly. “Tymora wishes her servants to put their faith not in security, but in chances and luck. I am doing so, and hope that she will repay me by aiding us both.”

So, Softpaws asked as she silently padded by Edwin’s side back towards the Temple of the Bitch Queen. Do you intend to keep your word?

“Of course I will!” the wizard said, feeling quite insulted. “I happen to take that sort of thing very seriously. And the arrangement gained us what we needed.” He patted the heavy tome he carried beneath one arm. Soon, my Hellkitten. Very soon I will have you out of that place, and then those responsible will pay dearly.

And would you have aided that man if you didn’t think it would serve my Kitten’s interests?

“Certainly not.” Edwin thought for a moment. “As I said, I am not some wandering knight, constantly distracted by ‘noble quests’. My loyalties are few, but strong, and no stranger may lay claim to them. I care not for what the ‘noble’ thing to do would be, only to see Zaerini safe, and I will not waste any time when every second may be important.”

The cat purred quietly. That is exactly what I wished to hear, wizard. I am pleased.

“You are?”

Oh yes. There is nothing wrong with being nice and polite to others…but your first loyalty should lie with your mate.

“She’s not my…”

Softpaws gave him a withering look. Oh please. Not you too. Now keep walking. We have things to do…how do you intend to gain that child’s body by the way?

“Oh, I have an idea. Somebody owes us a favor after all.”

Once back in the temple, Edwin turned the magical tome over to the High Priestess in return for the geas removal scroll, and then requested to see the child priestess Tenya, the one for whom the adventurers had retrieved a magical bowl. “You have a debt to pay,” he said, “and I have come to collect it. Hand me the body of the boy killed here recently, if it still exists, and we will make no further demands of you.”

Tenya pursed her lips and watched the wizard with eyes as fathomless as the cold sea. “Very well,” she said. “The Sea will sometimes return what was taken…and you will serve the purpose of the Mother nicely. She has no wish to see a…resurrection, with all it entails. Your friend will oppose that – if she lives.”

“What do you know of her?” the wizard angrily demanded, his eyes flaring with fury and concern. “I have told you nothing!”

The girl sneered. “The Mother has told me, for she sees much. Now, go…and hurry. Delay much further – and it will be too late. The Mother would not like that.”

“The Mother’s opinion matters about as much to me as that of a freshly cooked cod,” Edwin spat. “Now get out of my way. I have a corpse to deliver.”

The journey back through the city was a nightmare, and Edwin constantly had to keep to the back alleys in order not to be spotted. Walking about with the body of a dead child was definitely the wrong way to attract attention, and he didn’t want to suddenly find himself chased by an angry mob. It was a great relief when he was finally able to get rid of the corpse, and saw Tymora’s priest gratefully first hug, and then scold his newly raised son. The sight caused a painful twinge in his heart. After all, his teacher had given him plenty of similar lectures under similar circumstances. If only he were here…he would already have helped me deal with this. But it is only myself I have to blame.

“Is there anything else I can do to repay you?” the priest asked once he had sent his still weak child off to bed. “Anything at all?”

Edwin thought for a moment. “You could always pray a little,” he suggested. “Not for me…for somebody else. She…she can probably use all the good luck she can get right now.”

“As you ask,” the priest said, a compassionate look on his face. “But in return for my son’s life, I’m sure I can manage to pray for you both.”

Anxious to get on with things, Edwin set out to make contact with Lothander. He found the gangly young assassin nervously huddling in a corner at the Blade and Stars inn where they had agreed to meet. “Did you get it?” he asked. “Did you get the spell to reverse my Geas? Oh please, say that you did!”

“I got it, you sniveling sorry excuse for an assassin,” Edwin said with a contemptuous look. “And you had better deliver what you promised in return for it, unless you want me to turn you into an earthworm and use you for fish bait.” He proceeded to recite the spell from the scroll, pleased to see a faint golden light spread and envelop the other man. “Well?” he asked.

“It…it worked! I am free! Free! Oh thank you, thank you so much!” There were tears of happiness running down the young man’s freckled face. “Here,” he said, handing Edwin a small bottle. “Here is my part of the antidote. Marek has the rest, you will find him at the Blushing Mermaid.”

“Good.” Edwin smiled a very unpleasant smile as he bent forwards to look the younger man in the eyes. “You will await me here, until I return. Then, you will make certain I get inside the Iron Throne, and out again.”

“But I…”

“Or I could always take up fishing, I suppose. Hobbies are said to be relaxing, and I’m feeling rather tense at the moment. (Using him for necromantic spell components might also be beneficial.)”

“Yes, yes,” Lothander hurriedly said. “I agree.”

Does that mean we won’t get to kill him? Softpaws asked, sounding a little disappointed.

“Yes,” Edwin said, not caring if it sounded like he was talking to an invisible entity. If Lothander thought him a dangerous lunatic, so much the better. “I suppose we must leave him alive, for now. But I have a feeling this Marek will be an acceptable compensation…” Please hold on, he thought as he envisioned the face of Zaerini watching him anxiously. Just a little while longer. I am coming for you. I am coming. He only hoped that he wouldn’t be too late.