BBG: Chapter 51

As we traveled south to Fisherman's Lake, we once again had to pass the time spent in a state of mindless trudging with music. Thankfully, I was all too willing to oblige and offered a number of songs to mitigate the drudgery of walking as we traveled. Mind you, we did have to stop for rest, though we managed to go most of the way to Fisherman's Lake before making camp in the rugged area between the Red Canyons and Fisherman's Lake. The area was still rugged, though not quite as much as the Red Canyons were. Instead, it was a sort of sparsely wooded upland, sloping downward toward Fisherman's Lake away from the rocky terrain of the Red Canyons, though there were still large patches of ground devoid of grass or shrubbery and packed with boulders.

Thankfully, it was suitable enough territory for hunting and gathering. It was a division of labor that at least some of us were familiar with, and Jaheira hunted us up some rabbits while I gathered a few herbs, edible mushrooms, and wild onions for dinner, and Mei, Imoen, and Khalid made camp. After about an hour and a half of work, we had rabbit roasting on an open fire, spiced with herbs and garnished with roasted wild onions and edible mushrooms. Mind, I wasn't the greatest cook, but thankfully, none of it was bad, per se, and as the fire roared and we ate our hunted and gathered dinner, I took my bandore out and began to strum a tune.

By this point, the sun had gone down, and we were around three days into the six-day journey that I had figured it would take for us to finish out all these sidequests. That was all to the good, as it would be six days from leaving Beregost before our equipment would be ready. It was all coming together, and at that realization, I couldn't help but grin. Despite Jaheira's attitude, we were managing it all on time and would be well-prepared for our first real confrontation with the Iron Throne's machinations at the Nashkel Mines.

As I strummed my Bandore, hitting notes of E, A, D, G, B, and E again, I strummed out a jaunty tune, the Wellerman Sea Shanty. It was a pretty upbeat song, and reflected my glee at the way this adventure had been coming together. Mei certainly seemed enraptured by it, even if Jaheira was still in a bit of a foul mood regarding the sidequests and sat there stonefaced. Mei, however, was swaying from side to side and thumping her right foot with the beat as I began to sing.

"There once was a ship that put to sea. And the name of the ship was the Billy o' Tea. The winds blew up, and her bow dipped down. Blow, me bully boys, blow. Huh! She had not been two weeks from shore. When down on her, a right whale bore. The captain called all hands and swore. He'd take that whale in tow!" I sang out the first verse into the night.

As I began the chorus, Mei's good cheer began to infect the others, and soon Imoen was likewise grinning and swaying from side to side. Khalid followed as I began the second verse, and by the end, even Jaheira seemed less angry than she had been previously about this batch of sidequests. I guess when everyone was having fun around her, not even Jaheira's attitude could last long, even if she didn't want to admit it. By the time I was done with the tune, Mei, Imoen, Khalid, and yes, even Jaheira applauded, even if Jaheira looked like she was doing so begrudgingly.

"That was some tune!" Beamed Mei, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah, though what's a Wellerman?" Questioned Imoen, confused.

"Weller's Trade Coster was an Old Moonshaes Merchant Concern a few years back. They did business with various whalers hunting the seas for Whale Oil." I lied, fitting the tune in with Faerun, using a bit of a white lie.

"It was a Trade Coster? So what happened?" Queried Jaheira.

"What do you think?" I asked, curious as to what they would come up with.

"R-raiders most likely." Shrugged Khalid, only stammering a slight bit now that he was having fun.

"Indeed. Tea, Sugar, and Rum are high-value trade goods. Some of my fellow Northlanders wouldn't mind making enemies of the big Whaling Costers if it meant snatching up those kinds of cargos to sell." I nodded, running with it.

"That's a shame." Sighed Imoen.

"That's life. Sugar isn't able to be cultivated everywhere, and Rum is made from it. As for tea. . .The best tea comes from Kara-Tur. You have no idea how expensive that can get." I opined.

"True. I've heard Gorion mention how expensive Tea could be during conversations with Reevor back in Candlekeep." Mused Mei.

"It's worth its weight in Danter, all right. It could be worse, though." I insisted.

"Yes, it could be Tobacco." Affirmed Jaheira.

"Th-that's only found in Maztica." Agreed Khalid.

"For now, how about another tune?" I questioned.

"Would you please?" Questioned Mei.

"Yeah, you know, you're really good with music." Agreed Imoen.

"Girls, please." Huffed Jaheira.

"You don't think I'm a good bard, Jaheira?" I queried, cocking an eyebrow.

"I d-don't think it's th-that." Khalid pointed out.

"No? Then what is it?" I asked.

Unfortunately, before Jaheira could answer, rising to the bait I'd set for her, there was the sound of a twig snapping from outside the radius of our campfire. That put us all on alert, and I put my Bandore away and drew my shield and Discordant Note, the others doing likewise. As we did so, standing up and circling up around the fire, a number of disgruntled voices could be heard speaking in an odd language I couldn't understand. It was guttural, harsh, more growls than anything else, and clearly not a Human Language.

"Show yourselves!" I demanded. As I did so, a voice growled out from the darkness, letting me know that I was right to do so.

"The jig is up, Boys! Let's show them who they're dealing with!" Growled out the Voice.

As soon as that happened, a group of seventeen Hobgoblins emerged from the darkness. It was a proper warband of them. All were equipped with masterwork longswords, masterwork scalemail, and helmets, save two. The First had a Ring of Protection Plus Two and an Amulet of Natural Armor Plus Two, along with a suit of Scalemail Plus Two, a Longsword Plus Two, and a Buckler Plus Two. The other had a Ring of Protection Plus Three and an Amulet of Natural Armor Plus Three, along with a Suit of Mithril Scalemail of Light Fortification Plus Three, a Razor-Sharp Cold Iron Longsword of Icy Burst Plus Two, a Large Steel Shield of Blinding Plus Three, a Horned Helm of Darkvision, a pair of Gauntlets of Ogre Strength Plus Two, a pair of Boots of Speed, and a Sash I couldn't identify at a glance.

What's more, every Hobgoblin among them bore an armband showing a particular sigil across their upper arm. The sigil of a fist surrounded by a white nimbus, which I knew was the Sigil of the Goblinoid Mercenary Band known as the Chill. They were a Mercenary Group that operated out of the Lurkwood in the North, part of a place that some people still called the Savage Frontier, even despite the growing prevalence of large settlements such as Silverymoon, Sundabar, and Yartar. This was for good reason, and not just because of the Chill. Right now, however, I knew that the Chill was under contract by the Iron Throne to act as bandits, worsening the Iron Crisis. Of course, I was the only one not beholden to Sarevok that knew that at the moment, but still.

"What do you want?" I questioned.

"The Shou Girl there has a price on her head worth a Pretty Danter. We've come for her." Intoned the clear leader in the Mithril Scalemail.

"Why do people keep trying to kill me? What did I ever do to anyone?" Queried Mei.

"You have no clue how valuable you are, do you, Girl?" Asked the Hobgoblin Leader.

"However valuable Mei is or isn't, that's none of your concern." Scoffed Jaheira.

"Wrong. We're always looking for opportunities to profit. It's in our nature." Scoffed the Hobgoblin Leader.

"S-So is rape and p-pillage. Y-you're Goblinoids, after a-all." Khalid pointed out, stammer returning in full force.

"Like I said, opportunities for profit." Huffed the Hobgoblin Leader.

"That's not even close to the same thing!" Protested Imoen.

"Isn't it? Like the stuttering Calishite over there said, we're Hobgoblins." Sneered the Hobgoblin Leader.

"I know who you are." I informed.

"Do you now?" Questioned the Hobgoblin Leader.

"I do. Those armbands you're wearing. You're part of the Chill Mercenary Group, aren't you? What's a bunch of mercenaries doing here acting like bandits?" I queried, asking for the benefit of my Companions.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Asked the Hobgoblin Leader, tauntingly.

"Yes, actually. That's why I asked." I intoned.

"Pah, none of your concern, Human! Now, step aside and let us at the Shou Girl!" Scowled the Hobgoblin Leader.

"No. If you want to get to Mei, you'll have to go through us to do it." I refused.

"We were hoping you'd say that! Attack!" Barked the Hobgoblin Leader, laughing.

At that point, the battle commenced. Surprisingly, Mei was the first to strike. Maybe it shouldn't have been so surprising, given it was her that these Hobgoblins were after, but it was still a touch incongruous with how Mei had been acting previously. Of course, I found myself being charged by the Hobgoblin Leader and two of its cronies, and therefore had very little time to do much of anything in the realm of wondering about the effects that being hunted was clearly having on Mei's normally bright and cheerful disposition.

Regardless, Mei's first loosed arrow struck the Hobgoblin Second-in-Command with the plain, Plus Two set of gear, right in the throat. It was a hell of a lucky shot to start things out with, and the Acid Arrow that sizzled its way into the Hobgoblin Second-in-Command's Throat, burning and sizzling into the hapless Goblinoid. By itself, that wasn't enough to kill the Second-in-Command, but it was more than enough to set the tone, even if her second and third shots rebounded off its buckler and barely grazed it, respectively. Snarling, the Hobgoblin Second-In-Command charged forth, only to be forced to dodge a fourth arrow, fired using Mei's new Longbow's Enchantment. It did so via the simple expedient of dropping to the ground, where Imoen sank both of her blades into its prone form, finishing it off.

For my part, I clashed with the Hobgoblin Leader, parrying its initial strike before taking its second attack on my shield. It struck out with a third attack, powered by its Boots, and this time scored a cut along my left arm's bicep, cutting a gash along the upper arm of my shield-arm and freezing my limb with icy power. I dropped my shield slightly at the numbness, allowing one of the Hobgoblin Leader's Minions to score a lucky cut that I failed to block, slashing into my thigh with its Masterwork Longsword. My riposte, however, punched into its face, Discordant Note screaming into it, punching through the open face of its helmet and skewering through its eye and into its brain. It jerked once on the end of my blade before going still.

Unfortunately, before I could press my attack, the Hobgoblin Leader's Second Minion darted in, taking advantage of my wounded shield arm to try and cut my leg out from under me. I was forced to pre-empt its attack with a spoiling strike of Discordant Note, carving into its own swordarm. It dropped its blade from suddenly nerveless fingers and withdrew. The Hobgoblin Leader filled the gap, lashing out and forcing me to parry its blade. As it pressed its attack, the Hobgoblin Leader sneered at me, smashing its helmeted forehead into my nose. The open halfhelm that was my Enchanted Morion did little to prevent my nose from being squashed flat, cracking as it broke once again. I stumbled backward, but managed to get my shield in the way of the flashing longsword in time to block the Hobgoblin Leader's next cut. As the Hobgoblin Leader's blade was intercepted by my shield, I spoke the command word, and my Shield flashed out a bright light right into the Hobgoblin Leader's eyes, blinding it.

This was worse for the Hobgoblin Leader than it would have been for me. Hobgoblins were sensitive to bright lights, as were most Goblinoids. It had, of course, likely been trained to withstand daylight, but it was nighttime, and it clearly wasn't clamping down quite so hard on its reflexes because of that. Whatever the case, the Hobgoblin Leader staggered backward, waving its blade around blindly in an attempt to ward me off with wild strikes. I helped it along by summoning mystic power from my core and letting out a metal scream, using Spellsinging to suffuse the growling bellow with mystical power and turning it into a Spell of Ear-Piercing Scream. The spell struck the Hobgoblin Leader, bursting its eardrums and dazing it. This allowed me to dart in with Discrodant Note and sink my rapier deep into the Hobgoblin Leader's Armpit, bypassing the coat of Mithril Scales it wore entirely.

Discordant Note plunged into its chest, hitting vital spots, though not killing it outright. As I withdrew the blade, however, a wild cut in the direction my attack came from caught me in the leg as I withdrew, even as another of the Hobgoblin Leader's Minions attacked me from the side. The Hobgoblin Leader's blade bit into the side of my leg, freezing and cutting me with enough power to send me down to one knee and ruining my second strike. A last-second block with my shield allowed me to avoid the attack by its minion, and I was able to riposte, plunging Discordant Note through the Masterwork Scalemail and into the Minion's gut, disemboweling it. It squealed like a stuck pig, and my second strike dispatched it. However, the Hobgoblin Leader must have decided that turnabout was fair play, because it growled out a command word and its own shield flashed bright light into my eyes.

I was hit with a blinding light just as the Hobgoblin Leader came in again. Thankfully, it still seemed dazed and blinded enough to come in at me from the same angle as its charge, and an instinctual parry saved me from having my head taken off by the cut. However, the Hobgoblin Leader's second strike carved into my forearm, cutting my sword arm down to the bone. I gagged from pain, even as I felt a boot smash into my chest and send me toppling onto my back, Discordant Note flying from my grasp. I thankfully had the presence of mind to pull my shield in front of me, blocking the next two attacks, both downward stabs. However, I couldn't really do much to riposte with my swordarm useless.

Instead, I reached for my Bandore as the Hobgoblin Leader managed to cut the straps of my shield off my arm with a deft move, reaching for mystic power and strumming a single, discordant chord. It wasn't pretty, as I had to use my non-dominant arm, but it wasn't supposed to be, as I poured mystical energy into the jagged note, turning it into a spell of Chord of Shards, even as I janked my head to the side to avoid the Hobgoblin Leader's next strike, a downrard thrust that sunk into the log I had been using as a seat back before this attack began, sticking in place. A series of jagged, translucent shards of force erupted from my bandore and slashed, pierced, and bludgeoned right into the Hobgoblin Leader's face at point-blank range. The spell didn't kill it, though. Even bleeding and badly wounded, the Hobgoblin Leader was still going, its boot smashing into my face, busting open my cheek, and bruising my orbital bone.

I let out a cry of pain, once more suffusing it with mystical power and turning it into a spell of Ear-Piercing Scream. However, this didn't do much to stem the tide of kicks, the Hobgoblin Leader smashing its steel-shod boot into my mouth, splitting my lip, and knocking a tooth loose. A second kick caused stars to explode behind my eyes, and a third bruised my ribs through my armor. Clearly, the Hobgoblin Leader wanted to humiliate me before killing me. My vision swam, and I was barely holding onto consciousness. As the Hobgoblin Leader growled out, and retrieved its sword from the log it was stuck in, pulling it free with a thunk and a tug, however, I noticed something just off to the side. Jahiera, Khalid, and Imoen were in the middle of routing the last of its minions. Meanwhile, Mei had spotted my predicament and was nocking an Arrow to her bowstring, drawing back and aiming at the Hobgoblin Leader.

"Any last words?" Demanded the Hobgoblin Leader, raising its blade.

"Yeah. Look behind you." I coughed out.

The Hobgoblin Leader did so, just as Mei let loose, her Arrow striking the Hobgoblin Leader beneath the mithril-clad fauld of its scale coat, sinking into its thigh just above the knee and sending the Hobgoblin Leader down to one leg. It blocked her next two arrows with its shield, unfortunately, but while it was hunkered down, it wasn't killing me. I had one last move to play here, dredging up Mystic Power and suffusing it into my words as I cast a spell of Biting Words at the Hobgoblin Leader.

"You were too hung up on humiliating me with kicks. Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?" I taunted.

My spell turned my taunt into fangs of sonic power, slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning into the back of the Hobgoblin Leader's neck. The Hobgoblin Leader staggered forward just as Mei nocked another arrow to her bow, forced itself to stand, brought its shield around to defend against Mei's last arrow, and then toppled to the ground, dead from blood loss. Mei put her bow down, rushing over to my side and screaming out for Imoen.

"Imoen! I need a potion over here!" Cried Mei.

I felt my strength beginning to leave me as my vision began to gray out at the edges. My swordarm still pumping blood out onto the ground. I'd done the best I could here, but I'd still had to fend off the Hobgoblin Leader and almost a quarter of its warband by myself. I chuckled weakly, my vision starting to go from gray to white and then black. If I died here, I wasn't sure what would happen, but I'd given it my best shot. Fortunately, it seemed I wasn't dying here tonight.

Imoen arrived just as my vision began to go, and Mei force-fed me one of the Potions of Cure Serious Wounds we had bought previously, just in the nick of time. She didn't stop force-feeding me healing potions until every wound I had suffered closed. Honestly, I was grateful for it, though I was still tired in my bones by the end of it. By the time the sounds of battle had faded, I was healed, but at the end of my rope with exhaustion. Mei and Imoen had to carry me to my bedroll. I wouldn't find out until the next day that we had used half the potions after the ambush just to be patched up enough to continue traveling on time. Nor would I find out exactly who had taken what off the Hobgoblins until the next day, either.

Mei and Imoen had taken the Lion's Share of equipment, with Mei taking the Hobgoblin Leader's Mithril Scalemail, Gauntlets of Ogre Strength, Horned Helm of Darkvision, Ring of Protection Plus Three, and Amulet of Natural Armor Plus Three. Meanwhile, Imoen had taken the Hobgoblin Leader's Sash and Boots of Speed, along with the Hobgoblin Second in Command's Ring of Protection Plus Two and Amulet of Natural Armor Plus Two, while Khalid had taken the Hobgoblin Leader's Sword. They had saved the Hobgoblin Leader's Shield for me, since it had wrecked mine in the battle. Unfortunately, a lot of the Masterwork equipment that the Minions had carried had been damaged in the attack. We only wound up grabbing eight Masterwork Longswords out of the lot. They were still worth two-thousand-four-hundred Danter at full price. We did manage to get seventeen scalps for the bounty, though.

As for the Sash, Imoen had identified it after I had passed out. The Hobgoblin Leader's Sash turned out to be a Sash of Catlike Reflexes. That, it turned out, was something that had been dreamed up by Lady Alustriel of Silverymoon. The Elven High Lady of Silverymoon was a powerful Archmage in the North who had devised these sashes for her various Apprentices, as the North was a Dangerous place and Apprentice Wizards tended to be quite fragile. This particular Sash had belonged to one of Lady Alustriel's Half-Elven Apprentices, an Apprentice Wizard named Roenald, whose Father had been one of Lady Alustriel's former apprentices and whose mother had been a Weaver from the town of Nesme. Roenald had been slain by this Hobgoblin Chill Lieutenant, who had apparently been named Draguth the Vicious, while investigating Goblinoid Activity in the Lurkwood. Draguth had taken the sash for himself afterward. The Sash not only granted the wearer the Dodge Feat, but also granted them a Plus Two Bonus to Dexterity.

Regardless of my almost dying, we were on the road once again after eight hours of rest. Thankfully, we managed to zero in on the Half-Ogres fairly easily. The group was drunk, having ambushed a caravan filled with dwarven firewhiskey bound for Baldur's Gate. They'd drunk the entire cartload and were sound asleep, allowing us to kill them easily while they slept off their hangovers. There were also only four of them, making things even easier. By the time we were done, we had not only managed to fulfill Bjornin's sidequest, but also collect the Quartet of Plus One Bastard Swords the Ogres had on them, along with salvaging four Plus One Sets of Studded Leather Armor. Our quests were complete. Now it was time to turn them all in and sell off all the excess loot.

Doing so took us the remaining three days and earned us enough Danter that split five ways, each of us had fifteen-thousand-six-hundred-twenty Danter to our names. Not only that, but our reputation had also gone through the roof from our efforts. By the time we wandered back into the Thunderhammer Smithy at the end of the Sixth Day since we had left Beregost, we were not just flush with cash, but we were also more powerful, with better reputation, and better equipped than we had been previously, enough so that even Jaheira would have to agree that this was worth it.

And we were going to be even more well-equipped by the time we left Beregost to continue to Nashkel. Taerom Fuiruim had crafted a number of masterpieces for us, not least of which was the Armor and Weapon he had made for me. Of course, there was Yeenoghu's Doom, a blade reforged, tailor-made for the destruction of Gnolls and Demons. A razor-sharp, Ornate, Basket-Hilted, Axiomatic, Alchemical Silver, Holy Longsword of Shock, Demon, and Gnoll Bane Plus Three. But it wasn't alone. I also received the Ankhrav Armor.

"I call it the Ornate Armor of the Insectoid Queen. It was a pleasure to work with, honestly." Offered Taerom Fuiruim.

"What does it do?" I questioned.

"It's as Protective and as light as Mithril Breastplate Armor, though that isn't all. It is magically reinforced to the third degree, alchemically treated to retain some of the natural toughness of the carapace without requiring you to forgo your amulet, and also grants not only the senses of the beast that was slain to gather this carapace, allowing you to sense nearby opponents from the tremors in the ground, as well as more easily spot things normally, but also a measure of its regality, giving you a boost to your Charisma." Informed Taerom Fuiruim.

"Ugh, no fair! I want a cool suit of armor too!" Complained Imoen.

"You already got one. You begged us to buy you that Shadow Armor, remember?" Scoffed Mei.

"What of the other suit?" Queried Jaheira.

"That is somewhat less impressive. The materials, while still infused with the otherworldly essence that allowed such a masterful suit to be crafted from the queen, were somewhat more common nonetheless. I call it the Ornate Armor of the Insectoid Guard." Nodded Taerom Fuiruim.

"Wh-which mean what e-exactly?" Asked Khalid.

"It's also quite light and protective, with the same third-degree enchantment the Queen's Armor has, but it's in the extras where things differ. While the wearer will still gain the tremor sense of the Queen's Armor, the regular perception boost was lost. In the meantime, the Guard's Suit boosts its wearer's Constitution, rather than its wearer's charisma." Offered Taerom Fuiruim. The Alchemical Treatment also didn't manage to bring out the same degree of natural armor in the carapace, making it slightly less protective than the Queen's Armor, though only slightly." Explained Taerom Fuiruim.

"Right, so who wants the Guard's Suit?" I questioned.

"Why do you get the Queen's Suit and the Sword?" Queried Imoen.

"Because I almost died the other day." I insisted.

"He's got you there." Smirked Mei.

"I have the Wyvern Hide Armor and am quite all right with it." Chimed in Jaheria, cutting through the potential argument.

"I w-wouldn't m-mind the Guard's suit." Offered Khalid.

"I guess I can let it go. You owe me some shiny loot, soon, though." Huffed Imoen.

"Noted." I grinned.

And with that, our series of sidequests was at an end. We had gained in power, reputation, and gear, and it was now time to finally continue on the way to Nashkel. Jaheira was more than happy about that. So happy, in fact, that she refrained from complaining the entire time we made our way South. That was a good thing, too, because it was grating enough having to head through the rugged terrain of the passes through the Cloudpeaks to get there, with Imoen, Mei, and I going through the collection of scrolls we had bought and learning the spells along the way. The trip was far enough to do that, as Nashkel and its attendant mines were technically the only part of the Western Heartlands that lay on the far side of the Cloudpeaks. Everything else on that side of the mountains belonged to Amn.

It had been largely a diplomatic move, keeping the peace between Amn and the territories under the hegemony of Baldur's Gate. Honestly, it was no wonder this was where the Iron Throne chose to strike. Between their ultimate goal of starting a war with Amn and the fact that the Nashkel Mines were the primary source of good Iron in the Western Heartlands, Nashkel was perfect for their purposes. Of course, entering Nashkel, you wouldn't know to look at the place that there was anything amiss. After all, the Carnival was in town.

It would be that exact carnival that I would make my first stop, looking to recruit a certain Priestess of Tempus to our party. Of course, if everything went according to plan, Branwen would not be the only Companion we picked up here before heading to the Iron Mines. Minsc would also be here for recruiting. There was a reason I had kept so much equipment in our bags even when we had been low on coin following the need to purchase a restoration spell, after all.

And I would see to it that the effort to keep all that gear back would not go to waste shortly. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the next chapter. Robar and Company finish out the various sidequests, turn everything in, and finally get to see what Taerom Fuiruim cooked up with the Ankhrav and Ankheg Carapaces, as well as Yeenoghu's Doom. Now, the group has arrived in Nashkel and is ready to recruit Branwen and Minsc (And Boo!) before heading to the Nashkel Mines to sort things out. Of course, they also had a run-in with the Chill Mercenaries, giving those without metaknowledge their first hints that the Bandits are not as they seem, too.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the Nashkel Carnival and freeing Branwen from her Petrification, as well as recruiting Minsc (And Boo!). Then, we'll see them head for the mines to finally begin unraveling the Iron Throne's plans. I'll also have character sheet updates out before then, as everyone is now level eight.

Stay tuned. . .