In The Cards

The power of sirens to charm and dominate the minds of others through spells is well known. But their songs hold the same power, though in a more benevolent and non-intentional manner. The song of a siren is joy and sadness at once, tempered with the wisdom of the sea, and once heard it is never entirely forgotten.

Excerpt from 'Ruminations Of A Master Bard'

The Song of the Morning temple was filled with the sound of sweet chanting. Zaerini drank it in eagerly. She paid little attention to the statue of Lathander with its magical ball of floating light, and less to the sparse but elegant architecture. The song was everything. The song, and the singers. Sirens walked the halls of the temple, beautiful female creatures, with flowing silver hair and green skin. It was their song that whispered in the air, Zaerini knew it, though they were not singing at this moment, their eyes mysterious. The song was distant, an echo. She shuddered to think of how powerful it would be when heard directly.

The priest, Keldath Ormlyr, had thanked the adventurers for their aid in the slaying of the madman Bassilus. He had been sad to hear the tale of young Footy's suffering and had gladly promised to take the boy in. "We will do all we can for him", he said. "The spells will be the easy part, but it will take time before he is fully healed in mind and body. Still, he is young, and the young can be surprisingly strong in these matters."

Zaerini hoped the priest was right. She had felt strongly for the orphan, and would have liked to do something more. But there really wasn't anything she could do. She was an orphan herself, a wanderer without a home to offer him. A donation of some money to the temple would help pay for his care however. Hopefully that would be enough.

Once done at the temple the party set out once more. Zaerini had decided on their next course of action. They would work their way down south along the coast, trying to find Brage the mad guard-captain. This would earn them even more respect in Nashkel, as well as provide them with some more fighting experience before going after the bandits. So now they found themselves on the literal Sword Coast, some distance west of High Hedge. The sky was gray, heavy clouds rolled by above, driven by the chill and howling wind. There weren't many trees here, mostly hills and bare rock, or at the most grass, dry and hardy. From a distance Rini could hear the sound of crashing waves, and the smell of the sea was strong in her nostrils. "Anybody want to go for a swim?" she asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Swim?!" Edwin said, sounding horrified. "In this weather?"

"Oh, this isn't so bad", Imoen said with a grin. "Rini actually went winter-bathing once, did she tell you that?"

"Er…OK Immy, that's enough", the bard tried.

"She didn't actually mean to, of course", the pink-haired thief went on, ignoring her friend's embarrassment. "See, she was telling me all about how elves could supposedly walk on snow without sinking, and that she could too, being half-elf. So naturally I asked her to prove it."

"Immy, I'm warning you…"

"Only there wasn't much snow around, so she decided to walk on day-thin ice instead, at one of the beaches outside Candlekeep, reasoning that it was much the same thing." Imoen's grin was even wider now. "I've never heard her squeal as loudly as she did when the ice cracked beneath her feet and she fell in the water. 'Help me', she screams, 'I'm drowning, help me'."

"I think we've heard quite enough, thank you", Zaerini said a little huffily.

"Then", Imoen went on, "after a minute or so she finally realized that the water only reached to her waist." The thief laughed. "So I guess the moral of the story is that half-elves may not be able to walk on snow, but they are able to walk on the bottom of the ocean." She smiled a little wistfully. "Boy, was Gorion ever mad at us when we came home. But then he made us hot chocolate and told us stories. Say Rini, do you want to tell us a story?"

"Yes", Rini said. "I'll tell you the story about the girl who had a crush on Drizzt Do'Urden if you like."

"Er…Rini, you don't have to…"

"This girl", the bard interrupted, "was so obsessed with Drizzt that she wanted to become a drow. So she rubbed coal all over her skin and poured flour in her hair to make it white. Then she walked all around Candlekeep with a gnarly old stick in her hand, telling everybody that it was a tentacle rod. And let's not forget the fact that she told old Karan, our tutor, that he was a mindflayer out to devour her brain."

Edwin's eyes nearly boggled. "What did he do?" he asked, his voice almost reverent.

"Oh, Karan is a very sweet man. He didn't do anything other than inform Gorion. And Gorion made this nameless girl copy out some letters he had, letters where Drizzt described his heroic feats. Horrible letters they were, boastful as anything. After she'd copied them ten times her crush had mysteriously evaporated."

"You know", Edwin said, "I think I would have enjoyed meeting your Gorion."

"Yeah", Zaerini said with a sad smile. "I would have liked you to meet him too…"

There is something strange up ahead, Softpaws said as she came strolling out from behind a rock.

What is it?

A strange female who smells like a fish. I want you to fetch me some fish when we get to the water, by the way.

I'm really not that good at fishing, Softy.

Then what good are you?

Oh, be nice. Let's take a look at this 'strange female' then.

The 'female' turned out to be a woman with blue-green skin and long green hair. It reached all the way to her waist, and there was seaweed entangled in it here and there. Her eyes were green as well, the green of seawater. She looked much like the sirens at the temple had done, in fact. She was sitting on a small rock, combing her hair. When she heard the adventurers approach she looked up, and her eyes widened in surprise. "Please to help me will you?" she said. Her voice was sweet and lilting. "I am Shoal. I am alone on this desolate dry-land and who knows what lurks in these woods."

"O-o-of course", Khalid said. "A-a-accompany us and we will make certain you are s-safe."

"Hmpf", Jaheira said. "She is a nereid if I am not mistaken. I am certain she can take care of herself."

"B-but Jaheira I…"

Shoal had risen from her rock, and now she gave Khalid an enchanting smile. "Then might I have a parting kiss? I doubt I'll see you again." Khalid gave her a nervous look. Jaheira said nothing, but her face had suddenly settled into a frozen mask.

"I-i-it is not my p-place to do so", he prudently said. "I h-hardly know you."

A strange glimmer came into the nereid's green eyes. They still reminded Zaerini of the sea, but now it was the sea at her coldest and harshest, the sea who drowns sailors and destroys ships. "I am truly sorry, but I must insist!" She flung her smooth green arms around Khalid's neck, and before he or anybody else could react she had already pressed her cold lips to his. Khalid shuddered violently, his face gray and pained. Then his eyes closed and he fell to the ground. He wasn't breathing.

"Khalid?" Jaheira whispered. "Khalid! No! NOOOO!" The druid rushed at the nereid without any consideration for her own safety, everything else forgotten in her grief and fury. Rini prepared to cast a spell, but there was no need. Jaheira already had the nereid on the ground, and her scimitar was pressing into the sea-woman's perfect skin, just above her left breast.

"And now", Jaheira growled, "you die, for my Khalid."

"No!" Shoal cried out. "This is no longer fun! I cannot die for this! They are my actions, but not my intent! I can but do as I am bid by the master! Please, I can make him rise again!"

"Lies!" Jaheira spat. "You are no cleric, to have such power over the dead. Cease your mockery and die with dignity, if you have any."

"I do not lie! He is not dead, not really. My kiss only brings the…how do you land-dwellers call it…the deep sleep of winter? He is only mostly dead, almost alive. Let me up and I can bring him back, but if you kill me he will be dead all the way."

"Jaheira", Zaerini said, "I think you should do as she asks. She could be telling the truth. We can't afford not to try."

"Suppose she lies?" the druid said. Her green eyes were filled with such a mixture of pain and fury as Rini had never seen there before. It frightened her immensely. Jaheira was…Jaheira. She was always so strong, so contained. It was in that moment that Rini realized just how much that steady presence meant to her in terms of stability, no matter how much the druid might irritate her at times. And she felt proud that Jaheira actually trusted her to make this decision. She wouldn't let her friend down.

"If she lies, she dies", Zaerini said and gave the nereid a hard look. She pressed her lightning wand against Shoal's head. "Khalid has always been a good friend to me. Now restore him, Shoal, unless you want to receive a 'kiss' of your own."

Shoal hesitantly got to her feet and bent over Khalid's prone body, whispering something in a language Zaerini couldn't understand. In a few moments the half-elven warrior sat up, looking confused. "W-what h-h-happened?" he asked.

With a small gasp of relief Jaheira rushed to her husband's side, embracing him tightly. "Oh Khalid", she cried out. "I thought you were…" Then she seemed to remember where she was and how many people were watching. "You great big fool!" she scolded. "How could you allow her to simply walk up and kiss you like that? Khalid, I swear that if you ever die on me you…you will never hear the end of it!"

Khalid simply smiled and patted his wife's hand. "I am s-s-sorry, dear", he said. "And such a threat should k-k-keep me alive indefinitely, so you n-needn't worry."

Once she saw that her friends were all right Zaerini turned to Shoal. The nereid was standing there with her arms crossed, looking pouty. "So", Rini said. "Who's this 'master' you mentioned, and what are you doing with him?"

Shoal sighed, and it sounded like the hiss of waves rolling in from the depths. "I would not be here at all, but my shawl is held by Ogre-Droth. It is my essence he commands, so to him I listen. It was a lark for a while, but no longer. I do not want to harm you further, but if he so wills, then I must. It is all I can do."

"She's a slave?" Imoen asked. "That's terrible! Why would anybody want to do a thing like that?"

"Oh, I can imagine a few reasons", Zaerini said, watching the beautiful nereid. "None of them pleasant. Shoal, perhaps I can help you get free."

Shoal looked surprised at the offer. "Oh. Yes, I would like that. Please, do. I will call for him." She raised her head and called out, a single clear note that soared on the wind like a seagull. A few minutes later a loud voice could be heard in the distance. It was grumbling. Clearly the speaker wasn't particularly happy about being called away from whatever he had been doing.

"Please tell me", Edwin said in a conversational voice, "that you thought of some sort of cunning master plan before you volunteered to risk all of our lives over this…this amphibian?"

"Er…" Rini said. "Well…not really. I thought I'd make it up as I go along."

"Wonderful. Please let me know if you get any other heroic impulses, like wanting to go off and save the world. (I'd like to know when to pretend to be ill. A simple heat spell should be able to fool these people into believing I have a temperature.)"

Rini didn't have the time to answer. A large shape came striding towards the adventurers, a large shape with horns on its head and a deep and booming voice. Well, it's not Sarevok, the bard thought. Not that an Ogre Mage is all that much better, mind you.

"What be this trouble Shoal?", the ogre roared. "Why you have not destroyed these small-pinks? You're not to make me angry, water-child!"

Shoal cowered before the ogre, clearly afraid to upset him. "It is not my fault, Ogre-Droth. They are stronger than I."

"Pah! They are meat for larder and gold for purse! Kill them we shall!"

I think that's your cue, kitten, Softpaws said.

Right. Now let me see… "No, great Droth", Zaerini cried out, mimicking Shoal's voice. "Spare your water-child! I am faithful to you!"

"Huh?" the Ogre Mage said. "Pink-thing speak in voice of water-child? How…" He didn't have the time to say anything else before a poisoned arrow hit him in the chest, making him roar with pain. Yes! Zaerini thought. The poison should keep him from getting off his spells.

Don't sheathe your claws just yet, kitten, Softpaws said. He still wants to fight.

And so he did. The Ogre Mage drew a large sword, almost as long as Zaerini was tall, and charged towards her, clearly bent on cleaving her in two.

Ooops. Rini was a good runner, at least over short distances, and most importantly she was agile enough to leap over rocks that the ogre had to go around. Even so he might well have overtaken her if not for Edwin's timely intervention. Zaerini suddenly felt herself virtually flying across the ground, much faster than she could have run on her own. Behind her she could hear the ogre scream with pain as it was struck with several of Imoen's arrows. Then the smell of burning hair as Edwin hit him with a fire spell. She turned to fire another poison arrow and saw Jaheira and Khalid charge the now weakened ogre. It wasn't long before he went down.

"By the waters of home, I am free once more!" Shoal cried out. "You must pardon me for leaving so quick, but I'll not spend another second on this hard-land. It was a fun game, but it is stale now. Thank you, goodbye!"

"Just a second", Zaerini said. "In return for my help, I would like to ask you something."

"Yes", Shoal said. "I suppose you deserve something for helping. Would you like some pearls? I have some pretty black pearls somewhere…"

"I'm sure they're very nice, but that's not what I was thinking of. I just want you to teach me your cousins' song…"

Once the bard had finished her explanation Shoal nodded. Then she took Zaerini aside and went about her lesson.

That evening the adventurers camped among some high rocks that gave protection from the biting wind. Edwin was having problems sleeping though. There seemed to be voices intruding on his dreams, clear and musical voices singing in the distance. Then he opened his eyes and realized that he still could hear them. He rose silently, looking about the camp. Jaheira and Khalid were sleeping, lying close to each other. Imoen was sitting near the small campfire, writing something in a book. Now and then she giggled to herself. Edwin padded up silently behind her and looked over her shoulder. "Who's 'Blackie'?" he asked curiously.

Imoen yelped and hurriedly shut the book. "Er…nobody", she hurriedly said. "Nobody you know. What's up? And why are you sneaking about like that? I'm the thief here, leave that to me."

"I wasn't sneaking", the Red Wizard said, preparing to make a barbed comment about giggly girls. Then he noticed something. "Where is Zaerini?" he asked.

Imoen shrugged. "She went down to the beach", she said. "Said she had something to do."

"She shouldn't go wandering off on her own in the middle of the night. That could be dangerous."

The pink-haired girl winked at him. "Awww, are ya worried about her? That's sweet, you know."

"I'm not worried! I just don't want her to get killed through some stupid mishap, that's all. (That dreadful druid would find some way to blame me for it, I just know it.)"

"Whatever. Rini hasn't gone far, it's just down that way. You could go after her, I suppose. She might appreciate the company."

Edwin decided to do just that. He couldn't very well carry out his mission if the bard got herself eaten by wolves or drowned by mermen, after all. For some reason Imoen giggled behind his back as he walked off, a very disturbing noise, particularly since he couldn't figure out just what she thought was so funny. The moonlight helped him see well enough, and the sound of the rolling waves led him towards the shoreline. And there was the singing again, closer now. He wondered that Imoen hadn't heard it. Then he came upon the small beach, and all thoughts but a kind of mute wonder fled his mind.

The waves were almost black in the darkness, but the black was crested with silver flecks of moonlight and white foam. They broke upon the white sand of the shore, retreated and attacked again, wearing the scattered rocks round and silky smooth. As beautiful as it was, it wasn't the scenery that had captured the Red Wizard's attention though. Two sirens stood in the water, waves frolicking around their slender green bodies. White hair danced in the wind, eyes the color of moonlight shone with joy as they sang. Wordless song streamed from their throats, notes as enchanting as moonlight, as treacherous as the sea.

Zaerini stood on the edge of the water, answering and meeting the sirens' song. Her arms were stretched out as if she was giving a blessing, and there was a wide smile on her face, one that made her look entirely happy and carefree, for once without the wariness that usually lurked behind her golden eyes. Her voice was the equal of the sirens', Edwin thought, but warmer, not so alien. She was adapting the sirens' song, Edwin realized, remaking it without removing its basic beauty. When she sang he could still see a sea, but a hot sea, a sea of fire. Waves became flickering flames, playful and exuberant. Yet it was still the same song. He stood transfixed, unable to move or to speak. After some time the song ended. The bard bowed to the sirens who bent their heads in return before leaping into the waves, heading away from the shore.

"You know", Zaerini said, as she turned around to ackknowledge the wizard's presence, "I never properly thanked you for saving my life earlier. That was a very handy spell you used." She blushed slightly. "I hope getting treated to the song of two sirens counts as proper repayment. Shoal taught me well enough that they will count me as a friend now."

"It…was my pleasure", Edwin said. "I…wouldn't have wanted to miss the opportunity of telling you how ridiculously foolhardy you were, after all. But it seems to me that you may have miscounted."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't see two sirens here tonight. I saw three."

The bard smiled again. "Thank you", she simply said. Then she got a naughty gleam in her eyes. "We'd better get back though. Otherwise Immy will likely tell the others that I'm busy giving you Shoal's Kiss of Death, rather than just singing. She loves to gossip."

"Oh. Yes. Certainly. Not that there's anything to gossip about, of course."

"Of course not. Not that that will stop her."

As they started walking back towards the camp Edwin noticed Zaerini's black cat watching him from atop a large rock, munching on a small fish. There was something disturbingly knowing about the look in its glowing green eyes, as well as about the amused look on its face. If he didn't know better he could have sworn that the cat was snickering.