The wind-up
monkey gave one last shuddering pull of its concertina before seizing up, its clockwork
guts tinkering out of the rent in its stuffed torso caused by Erwen’s javelin. Erwen blinked
and felt the numbness in his limbs receding. The human rocked
back on his heels, his joints popping as he curled up in a fetal ball, hands
pressed to his temples. “Who did
you say you were?” Erwen said, shaking his head to remove the mental cobwebs.
“I told you, I’m Danan Starling,” the man mumbled. “But if you’re
Danan Starling, then who was that other guy out there on the balcony?” Danan sat
up, a look of concern replacing his confusion. “Wait, what? Did I miss the challenge?”
He awkwardly got to his feet, swaying unsteadily. “Just hold
on a moment,” Erwen said, producing a small homespun cloth square and a length
of sinew. He padded over to the damaged construct and gingerly wrapped it up in
the cloth, tying it with the cord and slinging it onto the butt end of his
javelin, which he carried over his shoulder. He didn’t want that cursed object
any closer to his person than absolutely necessary. Erwen
cracked open the pantry door and was relieved to see that the kitchen was still
empty. “Okay, it’s
time for us to go,” he said to Danan. “But you should go first.” Danan shrugged.
“Okay, if that’s what you want.” He opened the pantry door and grumbled to
himself, “this is what I get for sticking my neck out.” Behind him,
Erwen wildshaped into the form of an orange tabby cat. Whiskers twitching, he
followed Danan from a discreet feline distance. If there was going to be trouble,
he didn’t want any fingers, or bladed weapons, pointing at him. Radegast
and Alec had fully raided the festhall’s buffet table. Most of the other
patrons had fled, either to their private chambers or from the Moonstone Mask
entirely. A few hangers-on remained in the main room, conversing with one
another in low tones, knotted together in clusters of two or three here and there. Radegast
popped an oversized grape into her mouth and out of the corner of her eye caught
the kitchen doors swinging open. Out walked
Danan Starling, looking pretty hale and healthy for a man who had been riddled
with arrows, stabbed, slashed and thrown a hundred feet to a watery grave only
a few minutes ago. Radegast
choked on her grape. “Alec,” she wheezed. “Get him!” There was a popping sound and
the half-chewed grape rocketed from her esophagus to splash in a discarded wine
goblet. Alec was gnawing
on a turkey leg. Leaving the meat in his mouth, he leapt to his feet, eyes
flashing in anger and surprise. Radegast
jumped out of her seat and rushed the assassin. Danan’s
expression went from puzzled amusement at the sight of a red-headed woman
making a beeline towards him to outright concern as Radegast tried to tackle
him. “Whoa!” he
shouted, ducking. Radegast sailed over his shoulder, but kicked out a leg to
strike the doorjamb, reversing her trajectory, and suddenly she had the man in
a headlock. “How are
you alive?” she yelled. “We killed you!” “What are
you talking about?” Danan gasped as Radegast squeezed his neck. “Who are you
and what do you-” The breath
exploded from both Danan and Radegast’s lungs as Alec collided with the two of them
at a dead run, grabbing them both in a flying tackle that sent the trio
careening back into the kitchen. The kitchen’s
batwing doors swung back and forth on their hinges, doing nothing to muffle the
sound of crashing crockery beyond. “What do
you want?” Danan finished after he had caught his breath. Alec was kneeling atop
his chest while Radegast pointed a soup ladle accusingly at him as an
orange-furred cat rubbed his head against her ankles. “We just
saw you make an attempt on the Lord Protector’s life, Danan Starling,” Radegast
growled. “Yeah,”
Alec growled around the dripping turkey leg in his mouth. “It wasn’t
me!” Danan wriggled ineffectually under Alec’s weight. “What are you talking
about?” “I think
you’d better start talking, Danan,” Radegast said. “Because if the Lord
Protector sees you back here, he’s going to have you killed all over again.” “What? No!
I haven’t done anything!” Danan said. “There…there was this halfling!” The orange
tabby froze. “Then I was
at this party,” Danan continued. “That’s all I remember!” “Well,
remember this now,” Radegast said, knocking the ladle lightly on Danan’s
forehead for emphasis. “As of right now, I'm your only friend in Neverwinter.
And together we’re going to find out who set you up to take the fall for this
assassination attempt.” “Okay,”
Danan said. “Now, relax
yourself because I’m going to read your mind and see what you’re not telling
us,” Radegast said. “Maybe there’s something in your subconscious that can save
you from a conspirator’s date with the gallows.” “Yeah, the gallows!”
Alec said, his voice muffled. Danan
nodded, his eyes bright with fear. Radegast
cast detect thoughts on Starling. Danan
Starling radiated confusion and fear. He was mentally berating himself for ever
setting out towards Neverwinter, and weighing heavily on his mind was the safety
and security of his family. Interesting , thought Radegast. She probed deeper. The man’s
thoughts were a panicked jumble of disjointed images. A plain
young woman, cradling a small boy on her hip while a girl clung to the hem of
her skirt, waving forlornly. A caravan
making its way through a desolate environment – a narrow, rutted track that
only barely broke the surface of a grey-green mere that stretched for miles in
all directions, and in the distance to the east and west, Radegast could make out
the leaning forms of broken towers silhouetted against an impassive sky. A sudden
intake of breath as arrows struck the sides of the wagon. Men shouting, and the
snarls of some sort of creature. Radegast
winced as the images flashed faster, unbidden. A small humanoid
female sat atop a barrel, clad in traveler’s leathers with a fur cap of the
finest sable, balancing the point of a shortsword on her fingertip. She smiles. A man like you could go far in Neverwinter… A dwarf,
his red beard shot through with grey, raises a stein in toast. Laddie, a man like you could go far in
Neverwinter… A male
Halfling, dressed in formal eveningwear, pouring liquor into a snifter,
offering it with a wink. A man like you could go far in Neverwinter… The shapely
buttocks of a short-statured female, her hips swinging hypnotically as she
walked away and bid him follow. A man like you could go far in Neverwinter… Suddenly
the flashing images was replaced by the leering visage of a wind-up monkey,
cackling mechanically, its eyes burning holes in Radegast’s psyche as it danced
across her mindscape. Radegast
gasped and let the spell sputter out. “I was…just
trying…to provide for my family…” Starling was mumbling as he shook his head
back and forth. Alec eased
up ever so slightly. “The only
way to save them is to focus, now,” Radegast said. “Focus on the people, and
the monkey.” “I…I don’t
remember, it’s all a blur,” Danan said tearfully. Radegast
took his face in her hands and stared at him intently. “Listen. If you can’t
work with me here, your wife is going to die, your daughter is going to die,
your young son is going to die, and then you’ll die.” Danan’s
eyes became hooded. “Are you threatening my family?” he asked, a new steel in
his voice. Radegast
shook her head. “I’m trying to save your family, Danan. Because right now, a
person used your name and your face as a mask when he tried to kill Lord
Neverember. The Lord Protector’s anger is as boundless as his ego, his memory
long and vindictive. Help me redirect his righteous fury away from your family.
Help save your family by finding the people that did this to you. Can you do
that?” Danan
exhaled slowly and nodded. “I’ll do what I must to protect my family,” he said.
“Just let me up! This one weighs a ton!” He nodded at Alec, who patted his
midsection. “All
muscle,” he said confidently. Radegast
nodded to Alec, and then cast sending
to her mother. I’m in the kitchen. Situation got more
complicated. I need your expertise to help prove that Danan Starling was
impersonated and is innocent. I have him alive here. Please.” Her mother’s
reply was not long in coming. Oh child. I’m
on my way. Don’t do anything rash. Don’t do anything at all. Radegast
knew her mother’s tone all too well. She turned to Danan as Alec helped him to
his feet. “Now, in a few moments you’re going to speak with a very scary lady.” Danan’s
eyes widened. “Another very scary lady?” Radegast
took it as a compliment and continued. “My mother. But fortunately the Lord
Protector likes her more than he likes me right now. She’ll know what to do.” Purr-wen licked
the back of his front paws and smoothed over the fur on his neck, quite contented. Beneath the
barnacle-encrusted docks of Neverwinter’s port, Bob and Varien fished the
corpse from the water. Varien pulled it to a half-submerged bit of stone jetty
and went through its pockets. Varien
recognized the young man as one of the Harpers who had been in the basement of
the House of a Thousand Faces when Siegfried had made his power grab. Varien came
up with a pendant, carved from some creature’s oversized tooth and etched with
inscrutable runes. He pocketed it for further review later. He turned
to view the two Halflings who stood on another broken stretch of stone pier. “Who
are you and what’s your business?” he called. The two Halflings
exchanged a glance. One of them squared his shoulders and shouted back. “Who
are you and what’s your business, then?” Bob stood
with his hands on his hips, fixing a steely glare on the two Halflings. “My name is
Varien and I’m here to collect this body,” he said, wiping the scrag’s blood
from his sword on the corpse’s sodden clothing. “If you didn’t notice we had to
deal with that sea creature first.” “Oi!” the
second Halfling shouted. “That’s our corpse to be collecting!” “Yeah,” the
first one said, raising his crossbow. Varien
glided across the fetid waters towards the pair. “Don’t be making any plans,
now!” “You’re
trespassing on our turf down here, matey,” the second Halfling growled. “Now
you want that body, you’ve got to cough up some coin, and cough it up smartly.” Varien
couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Wait a minute, are you two some kind of dock
pirates?” “That’s
right!” the first Halfling said, puffing out his chest. “Arrrrr,”
the second one said. “Looks like
we have this body fair and square then, pirates,” Varien said. “Hey, you’re
taking coin out of my family’s mouth!” one of the Halflings shouted. “We’re
paid well for every piece of flotsam and jetsam we pull out of the harbor.” “Are you
now?” Varien said, looking around at the state of the derelict docks. “By the
looks of this place, you’re doing a terrible job of cleaning up.” The first Halfling
tugged on the brim of his wide hat and grinned. “Yeah, but we’re doing a great
job of distracting you, ain’t we!” The second Halfling
blew a spritely staccato on a piccolo. From a pile
of rubble near the jetty, a group of Halflings emerged, hollering and hooting
as they rushed at Bob and the body of the failed assassin. Bob growled
at the approaching attackers. “How about a warning shot?” he cried, casting fireball . The flaming
sphere blossomed amid the onrushing Halflings, illuminating the underside of
the docks and throwing the area into fiery relief. The war cries of the pirates
turned into cries of pain and shock. Bob used
his metamagic to conjure a fire bolt ,
which he held out menacingly at the scorched attackers. “Not one
more step!” he shouted. “Unless you feel like getting roasted!”