In The Cards

Being a bit of a jack-of-all-trades I've learnt the importance of listening to experts. If the resident thief thinks there's something funny about the wall on the other side of the next doorway it's not a good idea to boldly march through. Similarly, I don't try to replace healer, wizard or warrior. I prefer to think of myself as a coordinator. Or an Omnipresent Authority Figure. Whichever makes you do what I tell you to when I do decide to put my foot down.

Excerpt from 'Ruminations Of A Master Bard'

"Wh-what was th-that?!" Khalid exclaimed. The creature that had flown over the adventurers was large, with a long barbed tail, and a head that seemed mostly made up of sharp teeth. It was carrying a cow in its claws, as easily as if the poor animal had been a kitten.

"That," Edwin said, craning his neck backwards, "was a wyvern, unless I'm very much mistaken. Smaller than a dragon, no fore legs, very poisonous. Could probably swallow you whole. Do I need to go on?"

"Coran wanted us to hunt those things?" Imoen said. "He must have been crazy. Rini, you aren't thinking of going after it, are you?"

The bard shook her head. "That was Coran's idea, not mine. We have more important things to do."

"Quite so," Jaheira said approvingly. "The Cloakwood mines await."

"Pity though," Edwin sighed. "There was supposed to be a reward for wyvern heads."

"Do you want to drag around a huge, smelly old wyvern head with you for several days?" Rini asked him. "You would get to be the one to carry it, you know."

"On second thought, maybe not," the Red Wizard agreed. "On a different subject, how did your Reading go yesterday? You never said."

Zaerini frowned. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "The tricky part is always interpreting what I see." She pulled the wizard slightly aside from the others. "I would like to go over it with you, if you don't mind. You might be able to help me make some sense of it all. Two heads are better than one sometimes."

"Certainly. It is only natural that you should ask. Though I'm not trained in divination, I shall be pleased to place my superior intellect at your disposal."

"That's nice. All right, here's the first." The bard described the first pair of cards, the Priest of Clubs and the Prisoner. "So what do you think?"

Edwin shrugged. "It's all very vague, isn't it?" he said. "Somebody is imprisoned, and we are likely to encounter a priest at some point. From your description it sounds like it would be beneficial to aid whoever it is, but since we don't know when it will happen we can only keep our eyes open." He gave the half-elf a serious look. "The other half is much more unsettling, the part about the Devil. Sarevok was bad enough, but obviously he is not the only one who means you harm. And you have no idea who this other one might be?"

"None whatsoever. I don't exactly like it either, but I don't think that there anything I can do other than try to be careful." She went on to describe the Water card.

"It sounds like some sort of catastrophe," Edwin pondered. "A flood perhaps? Or a shipwreck? Does that make any sense?"

"Not really. Candlekeep lies by the sea, there have been shipwrecks there, but nothing that I can see concerns me. Besides, it sounded more like I was the one meant to bring the water, if you see what I mean. I think you're right though. It did give me the impression of a flood. I'll have to remember that." The half-elf went on to describe the second part of the Reading, the one with the Wizard of Swords and the Rogue. To her surprise Edwin turned quite white in the face and looked like he had seen a ghost. He recovered quickly, but he couldn't keep her from noticing. When he spoke again he asked her to describe exactly what the two beings had said, word for word, and when she couldn't quite remember everything he grew very frustrated and agitated.

"But I must know!" he protested. "It is extremely important if I am to understand this. It…it all sounds terribly dangerous. (What's going on? Why wasn't I told? Suppose…no. Mustn't think like that. Must have faith.)"

"Well, I'm sorry, but I can't do better than that! So, what's your opinion?"

Edwin bit his lip and when he answered he did so very slowly. "I…I would advise you to be very careful and do your best to avoid those two, whoever they are. Not that I expect you to listen to me and try to avoid heading into danger. (No more than certain other people, I might add. Why does this all have to happen to me?)"

What's eating him? Rini thought. The wizard looked extremely worried, but he would say nothing more on the subject, so she went on to describe the third and last part of the Reading. "I think I know what it means," she said in a low voice. "Ever hear of Durlag's Tower?"

Edwin nodded, looking a little calmer. "Yes," he said. "And I agree, it sounds like a reasonable interpretation. You expect us to go there, then?"

"So it seems. I don't know when, but the Reading was pretty clear. If I don't go to Durlag's Tower I will die." She gave the wizard a wry grin. "Of course, going to Durlag's Tower is equally likely to kill me, isn't it?"

"It will not," Edwin said, his face set with grim resolution. "I will not let it. I will let no harm come to you. (Not to…either of you. No matter what I have to do to achieve it.)"

"What was that?" Rini said, since she hadn't caught the last part, uttered in an inaudible whisper as it was.

"Nothing. I…simply stated that under my…contract to serve you I am obliged to do what I can to protect your interests. That was all. Yes. That's all it was."

"Oh. Thank you. I have a feeling I'm going to need all the help I can get. After all, there's still Sarevok to deal with…" The bard suddenly shaded her golden eyes with her hand. "Look! See that? Doesn't it look like a palisade? Over there, on the other side of that river." She smiled widely. "Durlag's Tower will just have to wait a little while longer. It looks like we've come across the Cloakwood Mines."

The entrance to the mines as well as the camp surrounding it was surrounded not only by the river but also by a large palisade with very pointy wooden poles. Climbing over it didn't really seem to be an option.

"I'm sure I could do it!" Imoen said. "It's a very daring and roguish thing to do, isn't it? Swim the river, climb the palisade, then sneak silently past all the guards and let the rest of you guys in."

"Forget it," Jaheira said. "It is much too dangerous."

"And breaking down the front gate isn't? Come on, I can do it, really I can. I've become really good at this sort of thing. Tell her Rini!"

"I don't know," the bard said, eyeing the palisade suspiciously. "Won't they see you when you're climbing?"

Imoen grinned. "Not if I'm using a potion of invisibility, they won't. Trust me. I can do this."

"Well…all right. If you're really sure you can do it. And if it turns out to be too difficult a climb, come right back. I don't want you to get skewered."

"Sure!" Imoen said. "Won't be long…" She handed her leather armor and boots to Jaheira in order to be able to swim easier and skipped down towards the water, winking out of sight just before stepping into it.

Rini watched the water carefully, keeping track of the little waves that marked her friend's passage until she was certain Imoen was safely across. "Come on then," she said. "We'd better hurry around to the front gate, just in case something goes wrong."

There were two bandits on the narrow wooden bridge leading across the river, both of them easily handled. The adventurers looked at the massive wooden gate in front of them. It was thick, solid and very, very locked.

"J-just a question," Khalid said. "I-in case Imoen doesn't get the d-door open from inside…how a-are we supposed to get i-inside to help her?"

Zaerini couldn't help but admit that it was a reasonable question. None of them could pick a lock like Imoen could, and none of them were strong enough to bash this monster of a door open. "Well…I'm sure we'll think of something," she said.

"Yes," Edwin said sarcastically. "Maybe we can just call out 'Friends!' and the guards will open the door for us."

"Maybe we can just use your head to knock the door open. Wood on wood, that ought to work."

Creeeaaaak… The door slowly swung open and Imoen's pink head peaked around it. "Oh, hi there, guys!" she said. "Are you coming in or what?" As they stepped through the door Zaerini spotted a dead bandit lying facedown on the ground. "Yours?" she asked her friend.

Imoen looked a little sad for a moment. "Yeah," she said. "See, I'd filched the keys already, but the door was barred and he was guarding it and wouldn't go away. Wish I hadn't had to do that." Her face brightened again. "But on the other hand I got to use this really nifty new move I learnt from Adahn!" She made a quick stab at the air. "See? Works like magic! I don't think he even had time to feel pain."

"Child," Jaheira said, "you are starting to frighten me."

"Oh, come on," Rini said. "It's no worse than killing somebody in a swordfight, or frying them with a fireball, or…"

"Or ripping their bellies open and strangling them with their own guts," said a harsh voice. "Which, incidentally, is exactly what we're about to do with you lot." A group of four mercenaries, two warriors and two wizards, stepped out from behind one of the log cabins that lay just inside the palisade. It was one of the warriors who had spoken, a heavyset man with a hard face. "You've crossed our employers and this is as far as you're going to go my friend. Should've known that lazy bounty hunting rabble wouldn't get the job done. Never settle for second best, I always say!"

Oh, just great! Even more assassins! Will it never end? "You want to know what I always say?," Rini remarked in her most bored voice. "'Always kill the mouthy one', that's what I always say."

The man grinned at her, a gold tooth winking brightly in the sunshine. "HAW! A good saying! I will use your head for a puppet and make it say it over and over while we drink large amounts of mead! Life is pretty good, you know?"

We'll see who uses whose head for a puppet, jerk. Zaerini didn't wait for the mercenary to give the order to attack. A brilliantly glowing fireball sped from her outstretched fingers and landed in the middle of the enemy group, followed by one from Edwin. The two enemy mages died screaming, their bodies twisted and charred. Whatever spell scrolls they had been carrying burned as well, sending up puffs of colored smoke and glittering sparks. The two warriors kept coming though, and the leader was fast, much faster than an ordinary man. Before Rini had the time to cast another spell or even draw her sword he was already upon her, and only her quick reflexes saved her from a beheading. As it was she received a nasty cut across her shoulder and was forced to dive to the ground in order to avoid the follow up strike, bleeding profusely.

Then Khalid and Jaheira were there, standing over her while the preternaturally quick warrior rained blows down upon them that they only barely managed to block with their shields. Vaguely Rini glimpsed the other one fall out of the corner of her eye, one of Imoen's arrows firmly lodged in his throat. She could hear Edwin chant another spell, his voice rising and falling rhythmically. Hey, I know that one! That's…

The world slowed down around her. A bird in the sky seemed to be creeping along like a snail. The trees moved in the wind, slowly, like seaweed in an oceanic forest. And Khalid and Jaheira met the mercenary's attacks, driving him back with a speed that now easily matched and even topped his own. Finally he fell, still with a very surprised look on his face.

"That w-was a spell of H-Haste, wasn't i-it?" Zaerini heard Khalid say over Jaheira's annoyed mutterings as the druid examined her wound. "V-very clever."

"Naturally," Edwin impatiently said. He was hovering nervously over Jaheira's shoulder, trying to watch what she was doing. "I am the brain of this group after all. (Well, one of two at least.) Druid, I trust you're not going to botch this. I would be most upset if our leader came out of this in less than perfect condition."

"Go away, Edwin," Jaheira snapped. "You are bothering me. Just let me do my work in peace. Stop fussing."

"I'm not! I…I just don't want to see our resident Queen needlessly sacrificed because some pawn of a healer blundered. A perfectly natural, objective concern. Yes. Perfectly natural. And objective."

"Edwin, I am warning you…"

"No. I'm staying right here."

"That does it," Jaheira said. Her smile turned wicked. "I suggest you step aside right this moment. If I am to heal this wound properly and without scarring I will need to access it fully so I can see what I am doing. Which means that I shall be forced to ask our Fearless Leader to partially undress. I think you can guess which parts."

Edwin's eyes seemed about to pop out of his face and his cheeks turned bright red. "Uuuh…," he said. "I…that is…I m-mean…I…"

"Exactly. Very well put. Khalid, would you please get him out of here?" The half-elven warrior gently led Edwin away by the arm. The wizard still seemed to have problems speaking properly. And breathing, for that matter.

"Did you really have to get me to strip?" Rini asked once she felt the first healing spell wash over her like warm rain. "The air is rather cold you know."

Jaheira's wink was almost imperceptible. "Perhaps," she said. "Perhaps not. Either way it worked. It got me the necessary peace and quiet at least. She chuckled to herself. "Objective concern indeed."