In The Cards

There are many reasons why demon summoning should only be attempted by properly skilled, prepared, sane, and above all cautious people. The regrettable tendency of said demons to dislike getting summoned enough to want to rip the summoner’s lungs out and use them for party decorations being a very important reason.

Excerpt from ‘Ruminations Of A Master Bard’

The stairs leading into the cellar seemed much longer than they should have been, Zaerini thought. They were dark, as might be expected, but they were too dark, too dark for even her half-elven eyes to see properly. She had to hold on to the wall in order not to slip, and it was cold and slippery beneath her fingers, and covered with cobwebs. And it felt somehow…wrong. As if it wasn’t mere stone and mortar she was touching, but the scales and flesh of some hideous beast. There were smells in the air as well. Damp, and mold. Smoke, and sizzling fat. And a sweet and familiar smell, leaving a faint taste of copper in her mouth. Blood. It drew her on that smell, attracting the part of her that was Bhaal. She had to concentrate in order not to lick her lips with anticipation, and that frightened her more than anything. Then there was the sound. A faint, low, throbbing sound, regular and steady. Like the beating of a heart. A…a very large heart.

She was beginning to seriously wonder what she had gotten herself into, and she could tell that her companions were feeling apprehensive as well. Both Jaheira and Yeslick were quietly murmuring prayers to their respective gods, taking care not to be so loud as to be heard by anybody waiting below. Khalid’s teeth were chattering mightily. Imoen was keeping so close by her best friend that they kept bumping into each other.

“Really,” Edwin whispered, “you people should not be allowed out without parental guidance if a perfectly ordinary little demon summoning so easily intimidates you. Not that I am surprised. Few enough people can compare to my overwhelming bravery, my cool head and excellent poise in the face of danger, my staggeringly powerful intellect, and the way my unparalleled mortal body is greedily coveted even by the denizens of the Abyss.” He gave Rini a hopeful look. “I hope you are taking notes here.”

The half-elf snorted quietly. “Eddie, if the denizens of the Abyss covet your ‘unparalleled mortal body’ it is probably because they want to snack on it. And I’d rather not see that happening, so can you please concentrate on the task at hand?”

“What about the short version of the list describing my physical and mental perfections? (Just the first 2000 points, I will even skip the Appendixes if she demands it. But I would only do that for her. And then perhaps a practical demonstration…)”

“Later, Eddie. Later.” The bard grinned faintly. “Besides, I’d rather like to discover those points for myself – the ones I haven’t already, that is.”

That, at least, made Edwin be quiet. On the other hand, he now was walking in a sort of daze, his eyes unfocused, and Khalid and Jaheira had to prop him up so he wouldn’t fall down the stairs.

Finally, the stairs ended, and the companions emerged into a large and round chamber. It was dimly lit by a number of fat and guttering candles, placed on the floor. There was something about the smell of those candles that greatly bothered Rini, though she couldn’t tell what it was.

I can, kitten, Softpaws said, her voice apprehensive as her lantern-like green eyes glanced up at her mistress. Those candles…they were made from humans.

What? You mean… Zaerini’s mental voice trailed off as she stared at one of the candles, almost hypnotized by the tallow that trickled down its side. That…that fat is…

Yes. This is a very bad place.

The candles weren’t even the worst of it. There was a large symbol drawn on the floor, vast circle containing a sinuous shape that was pierced by an arrow-like structure. It was nothing Rini recognized, but she did recognize the smell of the red substance that had been used to draw it. Blood. Once again she felt that terrible eagerness, that quickening of her own blood and of the essence of Bhaal within her. Back off, ‘Father’. Leave me alone.

Robed figures stood in a circle around the symbol, all of them wearing that same mark painted on their foreheads. Male and female alike, they were in a trance, oblivious to their surroundings as they chanted in low and rolling voices, chanted what sounded unpleasantly like a summoning spell. All except one of them, that was.

A woman was standing near the edge of the circle, her arms drenched in blood to the elbows from the gutted corpse that lay on the floor by her, no doubt having provided the source material for the nasty floor decoration. “You have come,” she said in a calm voice that contrasted terribly to the hideous scene. “I suppose it was inevitable. You weathered Durlag's Tower, so breaching our meager defenses would be a minor feat. It is of little concern. In a matter of seconds creatures such as you will be powerless before us.”

“The only one who will be powerless is you, unnatural one!” Jaheira said, drawing her scimitar. “Your atrocities will not go unpunished!”

“We are performing the sacred rites for summoning the great Aec’Letec-may-his-tentacles-be-ever-slimy,” the woman said in that same calm and slightly distant voice. “We will not allow ourselves to be thwarted. Too long has our Lord and Master waited, imprisoned in that dagger. It is time for him to be released, and through his rule we shall gain as well!”

“No, no, NO!” Edwin said in a loud and disapproving voice, striding out into the middle of the floor. “You are doing this all wrong!” He sounded almost as if he was about to give a lecture as he shook his head at the priestess and gave her a contemptuous look. “Demon’s aren’t supposed to be worshipped by you! And they definitely aren’t supposed to be lords or masters. You are supposed to summon them, make them do as they’re told, and then dismiss them. (That is certainly how Mother always does it, and she knows these things.)”

“I…” the stunned priestess tried.

Edwin was getting more and more irate by now. “I mean, really!” he said. “Here I look forward to finally seeing a westerner performing more than basic cantrips, too laughably simple for the most unskilled of Thayvian children, and what do I get? Some ridiculous hobby-conjurers playing with finger-paint. (What will be next? Dolls? Skipping-games? Or should we all join in a game of tag? ‘Kick the Kidney’, maybe? I seem to see one lying around in that corner…)”

“Edwin…” Zaerini said, yanking on the wizard’s sleeve.

“Oh!” Edwin said, turning around and looking faintly puzzled. “Yes, I…” He suddenly seemed to think of something. “Casting no shadow over your thaumaturgical accomplishments of course, my Hellkitten.”

“Eddie, that is not what I meant…”

“Then what?”

Zaerini pointed at the middle of the ritual circle, where a hideous creature was just emerging from a sickly yellow cloud oozing out of the now broken ‘Soultaker’ dagger. Just as its picture worn on the robes of the cultists, it bore a strong resemblance to an octopus. And to a dead horse, and a rabbit with half its face torn off. And those were just the more pleasant similarities. It had plenty of claws, and even more teeth. “That’s what!” the bard said in a pointed voice.

Edwin turned around to find himself nose to snout with the towering monstrosity. “Oh” he said, slowly backing away. “Yes…I see. Nice…thingy. Good boy. Nice demon…”

“MUAHAHAHAHAHA!” the priestess laughed. “You can pose all you wish, but you have failed! Here will come the new lord, despite your slogans! Here will come the new lord, despite your puny weapons! Here will come the new lord, Aec'Letec! Let he who was imprisoned walk the prime! The dagger is broken! I release him! Aec’Letec will break your bones and suck their marrow! He will drink your blood and suck out your souls! He will eat your spleens and make ornaments from your bones, which scream with pain whenever they are touched! He will…”

Chomp.

The hideous demon curiously reached out a massive arm, picked up the priestess, and idly bit her head off, proceeding to lick its snout as it threw the bleeding body away into a corner. The rest of the cultists remained, still frozen in their trance, seemingly oblivious to what was going on.

“Clangeddin’s might, be with us!” Yeslick roared, charging towards the demon with his war hammer, his eyes blazing with battle fury. Then he froze in place, instantly paralyzed by the terrible gaze of the demon, which turned towards him, raising its claws to tear him apart. The dwarf was only saved by the fortunate intervention of Khalid launching himself at him and pulling him out of harm’s way.

Jaheira chanted a spell, freeing the dwarven cleric from his magical inertia, and then joined in the battle, moving like a two-legged she-wolf as she dodged and slashed at the demon with her scimitar.

Imoen was trying to do her part as well, and managed to ram her sword into the creature’s back from behind, only to have it stick in the massive body. Aec’Letec turned around, and idly swatted her aside like a fly, making her hit the wall with a sickening thud.

“IMMY!” Rini screamed, practically flying across the room towards her friend. The pink-haired thief was still breathing, but she was clearly unconscious. Frantically the bard struggled to get a healing potion out of her pack, the cork huge and unwieldy as she tried to get it out. Finally she was able to trickle some of the blue fluid into her friend’s throat, and felt a vast rush of relief at seeing Imoen open her eyes, looking extremely confused.

In the background she could hear Edwin swearing loudly in Thayvian as he fired spell after spell at the demon, hardly making any damage at all. It seemed that the thing was at least partially impervious to magic.

Not good. Very much not good. Having managed to pull Imoen far enough into a corner that she should be out of the demon’s way, Rini rose to join the battle. Magic was obviously going to do little or no good. She was better with her sword than she had been, but no match for a trained warrior. All she could do was to try to aid as much as possible. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of blood and heat, the demon fell. Breathing heavily, the adventurers paused – only to hear the gruesome sound of flesh being torn apart. One of the chanting cultists was literally exploding from within, as the demon possessed him body and soul, reviving itself through him. And so the battle was begun again, though by now they were all weary and wounded. They would not be able to keep this up for much longer.

Must do something else, Zaerini thought. Can’t use magic. Am not good enough with blade. Maybe I can still trick him though. Yes. Let’s see what he thinks of seeing his own game turn against him. With that, she deliberately drew upon the power of Bhaal, shaping her form and appearance into that of the dead priestess.

“Aec’Letec, you fool!” she cried out, using the other’s voice. “You cannot slay me! I command you, I conjure and abjure you, and I will cast you out!”

The demon’s baleful eyes flashed with red fire as they turned on her, drool dripping from what probably was its lips and eating hissing holes in the stone floor.

Uh-Oh…

Then she was running for her life, feeling the hot breath of the demon on her neck, expecting the claws and teeth to close on her neck at any second. She was dimly aware of Khalid rapidly firing arrows at the demon, and of Yeslick and Jaheira letting magical sling bullets fly. For one mad instant she was reminded of that first fight that she and Imoen had had with an ogre, when they had used much the same tactic. Except this was much worse than any ogre of course.

Won’t Sarevok be disappointed if I never turn up in Baldur’s Gate, she thought as she jumped across the headless corpse of the priestess, barely avoiding slipping in the blood.

Dimly, she was aware of battle cries, of screams and shouts and something dropping to the floor that could be seen out of the corner of her eye. She couldn’t pay attention to it. She had to run, just run, and keep the demon away from her friends. And then she did trip and fall, and landed heavily on the ground, losing her breath. She was struggling to get up, but her legs didn’t seem to work, and there was a loud roar directly behind her and…

Darkness. Pain. Something very, very heavy, and very, very foul smelling was lying on top of her, almost choking her. Am I dead? Or have I been buried alive?

Kitten? Softpaws asked, sounding frantic. Are you alive?

I…guess so. What happened? Where am I? Where is everybody?

For a second the cat hesitated. They are all fine. Just a moment. They will soon have you out of there.

Out of where?

Then the heavy weight was lifted off of her, and she was gasping for air, her ribs aching with every breath she took. Jaheira was struggling to get her into a sitting position, with a very anxious Edwin hovering over her shoulder. Why was her hair feeling so slimy though? And what had become of…

Then the bard spotted the vast corpse lying close enough to touch, and realized just why she smelled so bad. “Aec’Letec…fell on me?” she croaked out.

“’fraid so,” Imoen said, sounding deeply sympathetic. She seemed to be mostly recovered, though she was still limping a little. “Does it hurt?”

“Only…when I breathe. I think I’ll try to give up that habit.”

“It was a very close call,” Jaheira said as she and Yeslick started casting their remaining healing spells. “We could not have taken him a third time.”

“But…all the other cultists? Why didn’t he resurrect himself again?”

“I killed those,” Edwin said in a very matter-of-fact voice. “They were as great a threat as the demon himself.” Something about the calm way he said it reminded her of something or someone, but she couldn’t quite think what at the moment. Then he was bending over her, a look of deep worry etched on his face. “Are you quite sure you will be well?”

“Sure…I’ll be fine.” Zaerini gave the Red Wizard a faint smile. “I take it you’re not that interested in demon summoning any longer?”

Edwin raised his eyebrows, looking vastly surprised that she could even consider such an idea. “Naturally I am!” he said. “That woman was an amateur, she was going about things entirely in the wrong way. Now I on the other hand, am a master of magic, a sultan of spellcasters and a king of conjuration. It would be quite inconceivable for me to botch a simple demon summoning in that ludicrous manner. If you like, I will be happy to demonstrate how it should properly be done, if we can only find the spell she used.” Then he noticed the stunned looks on his companions’ faces and looked a little puzzled. “Is there something the matter?”

“No, Eddie,” Zaerini said, reaching up to pat the wizard on the cheek. “Nothing at all.”