BBG: Chapter 50

High Hedge turned out to be a relatively forested area, lush and green as compared to the rocky, canyon-like terrain where we had previously adventured and helped Drizz't deal with the Gnolls. It ought to be different, mind, as it took us sixteen hours just to make our way over here. Of course, time passed somewhat more easily for us, thanks to my singing and playing my Bandore. After all, music had a way of making it so that even the mindless drudgery that came with the physical act of walking down a dirt track, such as the one that led from the Red Canyons to High Hedge, wasn't nearly as boring as it could have been.

As we came up on the entrance to High Hedge, I strummed my bandore and played chords of E, F-Sharp, G-Sharp, B, A, C-Sharp, and D. The intro to Led Zeppelin's Ramble On strummed out into the crisp air of late summer as we walked. We were just on the cusp of Early Autumn, making the song perfect for travel as we walked. I began to sing out in the process, filling the empty air with music once again, as the drum tower of High Hedge Estate loomed in the distance over the treetops.

"Leaves are fallin' all around. It's time I was on my way. Thanks to you, I'm much obliged.
For such a pleasant stay. But now it's time for me to go. The autumn moon lights my way.
For now, I smell the rain, and with it, pain. And it's headed my way." I sang out, letting the first verse of the tune echo.

Mind you, this was both a traveling song to make things easier on my Companions and I as well as a calculated risk. I knew that there would be a Group of Gnoll Bandits here as well, who had stolen Perdue's Short Sword, and that the Hot-Tempered Halfling would pay us for the privilege of returning it to him at the Red Sheaf Inn in Beregost, yet another sidequest. I really wanted us to clean up here before heading to Nashkel, after all. The more powerful we were before tangling with the Iron Throne for the first time, the better off we'd be, in my opinion. Even at the risk of annoying Jahieira further with more sidetracking. Mind you, if we could kill many birds with this one stone, that would be best.

It was as I reached the third verse of the song when it happened. I had just exchanged the Lyrics Referencing Mordor and Gollum for Lyrics referencing Thay and Szass Tam, who even now was considered the unofficial Ruler of Thay, even if there were technically still other Zulkirs on the Council opposing his rise, when an arrow came streaking in from the bushes off to the side of the path that I only very narrowly managed to sway out of the way of. Pausing my song and stopping our travel, we were rewarded with the sight of a party of Gnolls exiting the bushes to one side of the dirt track we were following. Scrutinizing the band of Gnolls soon made it abundantly clear that these were the Gnolls I was looking for.

These Gnolls were led by one who was wearing a suit of Ornate Ringmail Armor Plus Two and wielding a Keen Halberd of Shocking Burst Plus Two. Notably, belted at his waist, the lead Gnoll wore a shortsword that had silver filigree along the pommel and guard, and brass letters with Perdue's name stamped along the tooled leather sheath. That Gnoll was accompanied by another wearing Ringmail Armor Plus Two and wielding a Halberd Plus Two. One more Gnoll was wielding a Darkwood Composite Longbow of Speed Plus Two and had on a Suit of Studded Leather Armor Plus Two. That last Gnoll already had a second arrow nocked to its bowstring, allowing the clear leader the ability to feel superior to us as it grinned, showing a mouthful of fangs.

"Your coin and any magic items! Give them over!" Yipped the Lead Gnoll.

"I think not." I refused.

"Give, or I shoot again!" Barked the last Gnoll.

"You can't possibly be serious?" Questioned Imoen.

"Deadly Serious!" Retorted the Lead Gnoll.

"Y-you may have a m-momentary advantage. It w-won't last." Insisted Khalid.

"You're shaking! That means you're bluffing!" Scoffed the Lead Gnoll.

"We outnumber you. Can't you count?" Queried Mei.

"Numbers mean nothing!" Scoffed the Lead Gnoll.

"This is pointless. Why are we indulging them? Why are we not attacking them?" Asked Jaheira, rolling her eyes.

"For once, I agree with you. Let's kill these three and have done with it." I concurred, drawing Discordant Note.

"You choose death! So be it!" Snarled the Lead Gnoll.

As he said that, however, five other Gnolls emerged from the bushes to the left and right of the road. Most had Mundane Composite Longbows and Studded Leather Armor, but the two on the right had Masterwork Halberds and Masterwork Suits of Ringmail. With a barked command in the Language of Gnolls, the group of Gnollish Bandits attacked, and the fight began with a salvo of arrows fired from Composite Longbows. Three were targeted at me, including the second arrow from the Gnoll with the Magical Darkwood Composite Longbow. Fortunately, I had more or less expected some kind of continued ambush. The Darkwood Longbow-Wielding Gnoll's arrow slammed into my shield, even as I cut an arrow fired from the left out of the air and danced away from the last arrow.

Then, I charged forth, cutting out with Discordant Note at the Lead Gnoll, even as I ducked under a swipe of its Halberd. Discordant Note thundered directly into the Lead Gnoll's left leg, carving through the tendons in the side of its reversed knee. The Lead Gnoll let out a loud yip of pain, striking for me with the steel-shod butt of its Halberd, only for me to block it on my shield. My riposte managed to carve into its right wrist, the Lead Gnoll too slow and too startled by my rush to avoid it. A snarling yip bellowed out from the Lead Gnoll, and it smashed a headbutt into my nose with a crunch, drawing blood and squashing my nose flat, but otherwise not doing much in the way of damage.

As I clashed with the Leader of this Band of Gnolls, I heard Khalid engage the pair with Masterwork Weapons off to the right, parrying a strike from a Masterwork Halberdier Gnoll while blocking a strike from the Second Masterwork Halberdier Gnoll on his shield. His riposte was brutal, tearing through the ringmail armor of one of the Masterwork Halberdier Gnolls to bite deep into its torso. Meanwhile, Imoen seemed to glide forward to the left, cutting down one of the Mundane Archer Gnolls with twin strikes from her Shortsword and Dagger, the Dagger punching deep into the Mundane Archer's Brain as it found itself off-balance thanks to the first strike and the fact that Imoen had moved into melee while it was still using its bow.

Off to my direct right, Jaheira lashed out with Razoul's Wrath at the Magic Halberdier Gnoll, blocking the attacks it threw at her with the spike and axe blade of its halberd on her shield. Razoul's Wrath drew a line of blood across that Magic Halberdier Gnoll's right bicep, and her follow-on attack did the same to its left, causing it to stumble as the weakening magic of her blade took hold. Finally, Mei began an archery duel with the Magic Archer Gnoll, a trio of fletched shafts firing into the Gnoll's torso, punching through Magically Strengthened Studded Leather in the process.

I smirked as the Lead Gnoll growled, swiping low with its halberd in an attempt to take my legs out from under me. I hopped over the lashing polearm, landing in a crouch to duck the follow-on high swipe it attempted to use to decapitate me with its weapon's axe blade. My riposte was swift and deadly, rising up and coming down on the Lead Gnoll with a downward thrust of Discordant Note. This thrust punched into the Lead Gnoll's right thigh from above, biting deep into the meat of its right leg and practically pinning it to the ground. As a follow-on, I dredged up mystical power and let out a metal screech, the power of Spellsinging turning the two disparate elements of the attack into a Spell of Ear-Piercing Scream. The Gnoll's sensitive hearing was apparently tailor-made to be vulnerable to this sort of attack, as not only did its eardrums burst from the sonic attack, but it staggered as if dazed by the powerful scream.

This was my chance to really lay into the Lead Gnoll, and I withdrew Discordant Note from its thigh and lashed out with the blade, thrusting for the throat. My rapier struck true, the Lead Gnoll unable to truly defend itself while dazed from my Sonic Attack. It's half-hearted, weakened attempt at a parry missing by seconds. Discordant Note struck deep into the Lead Gnoll's throat, punching through shaggy fur and toughened hide to bite into one of the Lead Gnoll's Most Vital Areas. This proved to be the decisive blow, albeit not one that slew the Lead Gnoll entirely on its own. Instead, it dropped into a crouch, slapping one paw against its bleeding throat and managed a one-handed smash of the Butt of its Halberd into the side of my right knee. The smash was weak, but still stung enough that my next cut missed. However, that turned out to be its last gasp, as the blood gushing from its throat would not stop just with the pressure it was placing on the wound. The Lead Gnoll dropped its Halberd, slumped to the side, and stilled even as I backed away, dead.

This, it turned out, was just on time with the others, too. Not only had Khalid managed to dispatch both Masterwork Halberdier Gnolls, but he had moved to help Imoen deal with the remaining Mundane Archer Gnolls. He had taken an arrow to the meat of his left upper arm, but it was just a graze. Meanwhile, Imoen had seemingly taken some sort of blow to the mouth, as she had a split lip, though not one that seemed more than superficial. Together, they were sure to make short work of the remaining Mundane Archer Gnolls. Meanwhile, Jaheira was still clashing with the Magic Halberdier Gnoll, a cut to the meat of her left thigh showing a graze where she had been too slow to entirely avoid the Magic Halberdier Gnoll's Axe Blade. However, the Magic Halberdier Gnoll was much worse off. It's Magic Ringmail barely held together after taking several massive slashes from Jaheira, and its arms and torso bled from a quartet of wounds.

Mei, meanwhile, was completely untouched, even by the flesh wounds the rest of us had suffered. It turned out that she was the better archer between her and the Magic Archer Gnoll, who was now on its last legs, slumped against a tree, its Magic Studded Leather was punctured by a bevy of arrows, and it seemed barely able to draw back its bow string to let a final arrow loose that Mei danced aside from. In response, Mei cast a spell of Magic Missile at the Magic Archer Gnoll, chanting in the language of magic. The dart of mystic force she cast streaked out, finishing off the Magic Archer Gnoll with contemptuous ease, as if to say that it wasn't worth wasting the arrows to finish it off. That was far more of a ruthless insult than I'd come to expect of the normally cheerful Mei, as it was a snub, archer to archer. Unfortunately, though, there was no time to really analyze the seemingly out-of-character insult. We had a fight to finish.

Instead, I charged at the Magic Halberdier Gnoll from the side with Discordant Note, blade thrusting out for it even as Jaheira struck out with Razoul's Wrath. Unable to defend against both attacks after being so weakened, the Magic Halberdier chose to defend against the Opponent it had been fighting instead of defending against the Opponent whose capabilities it didn't know. Unfortunately, it couldn't do either well, weakened as it was. Its Halberd was torn out of its paws as Jaheira disarmed it with a flick of her wrist, even as Discordant Note punched into its left side, tearing through weakened ringmail and punching into its heart from the side. It jerked to attention on the edge of my blade before going very still. I withdrew Discordant Note from its body, and it slumped to the ground, dead.

That it seemed, was that. Jaheira and I had killed the Magic Halberdier Gnoll just in time to watch Imoen and Khalid cut down the last Mundane Archer Gnoll. Between the five of us, we had slain eight Gnolls and only taken a handful of flesh wounds for our troubles. Now, all that was left was the looting. Unfortunately, the Mystic Archer Gnoll and Mystic Halberdier Gnoll's armor had both been destroyed in the battle, magic or not. The same could be said for the Masterwork Ringmail of one of the Masterwork Halberdier Gnolls and all of the suits of Studded Leather Armor worn by the Mundane Archer Gnolls.

In the end, we wound up collecting one suit of Masterwork Ringmail, one Suit of Ornate Ringmail Armor Plus Two, two Masterwork Halberds, one Halberd Plus Two, one Keen Halberd of Shocking Burst Plus Two, and one Darkwood Composite Longbow of Speed Plus Two, along with two-hundred-fifteen Danter in miscellaneous coinage. Mei wound up taking the Darkwood Composite Longbow of Speed Plus Two, giving her old Composite Longbow Plus Two to Imoen. The rest of the equipment went into our packs for later sale, as did Perdue's Short Sword, though we wouldn't be selling that. It would turn out that we would not have to wait very long to sell the equipment.

Not only did the Drum Tower of High Hedge Estate have a shop for mystical items, scrolls, and the like, but it was more than willing to buy loot from us at above the fifty-percent rate that most shops took loot in at, giving us around sixty percent. At the same time, we purchased not only a bevy of scrolls to study, largely for various first and second circle spells, but also a potion case along with eighteen potions of Cure Serious Wounds to fill it with. Finally, we filled up on magical ammunition, buying Arrows Plus One, Acid Arrows, Bolts Plus One, Bolts of Biting, Bolts of Lightning, Slingstones Plus One, Slingstones of Electricity, Slingstones of Fire, and Slingstones of Ice, enough to fill our quivers and ammunition pouches.

The real reason we had come, however, was to return Melicamp to his Master. Thalantyr the Conjurer was a Brown-Haired Human, just approaching middle age, wearing green and red robes. He was, unfortunately, somewhat rude to us at first, dismissing us as vagabonds. That was until Melicamp managed to wriggle his way out of Jaheira's pack. Then he began to get more than rude.

"You brought a farm animal here? I take it back, you are not Vagabonds, you are worse than vagabonds! Barbarians!" Scowled Thalantyr.

"Master! It is I, Melicamp! These Adventurers saved me from being the dinner of a ravenous wolf! Please don't be angry with them!" Spoke up Melicamp, likely saving us from the wrath of an angry high-level conjurer.

"Apprentice Melicamp? What happened to you?" Questioned Thalantyr, anger suddenly dissipating.

"A Spellcasting Misfire, Master." Admitted Melicamp sheepishly.

"Ah, well. That does happen from time to time. Have you not tried to reverse the transformation?" Queried Thalantyr.

"I have, Master. The Magic will not dispel. All I could think of was to return to you for help. Will you please aid me?" Asked Melicamp.

"I do have a process that I can perform. I once discovered a pair of cursed Netherese gauntlets that turned an associate of mine into a chicken. Similarly to this spellcasting mishap, the transformation couldn't be reversed with standard spells. I was forced to research a spell to reverse the transformation that may help. However, it requires the skull of an undead being matching the same sort of being as the one transformed." Mused Thalantyr.

"Melicamp was human, yes?" I questioned.

"He was. Do you have the skull of a human undead lying around?" Queried Thalantyr.

"No. I don't. Do you?" I asked.

"I do not. I am a Conjurer Specialist, not a Necromantic one. However, there should be a few skeletons wandering about outside. There was a priest of Cyric who went about raising the dead in the area, though I swiftly forced him to leave." Informed Thalantyr.

"Bassilus, yes. We know." Chimed in Mei.

"You've met the Madman?" Questioned Thalantyr.

"We have." Confirmed Imoen.

"He hasn't been raising more undead, has he?" Queried Thalantyr.

"N-not any l-longer." Refuted Khalid.

"We put paid to his rampage, along with his life." I explained.

"Ah, I see. You may find some mindless stragglers from his last attempt outside the tower. When you have the skull I require, return it to me and I will see Melicamp restored." Intoned Thalantyr.

"Thank you, Master!" Thanked Melicamp.

"More sidetracking. Why am I not surprised?" Asked Jaheira with a scoff.

"Come on, the sooner we find these undead, the sooner we will be finished here." I insisted.

Jaheira let out a sigh and nodded, and soon we headed out of the tower, once more hitting the road in an attempt to finish this latest sidequest. Thankfully for Jaheira's Patience, we would not be waiting very long. We found a mixed quartet of skeletons shuffling around a dilapidated cottage. It seemed like the family that had lived here had been slain and turned into undead by Bassilus as part of his reign of terror. The Spiderwebs around the area were thick as well, hinting at the presence of monstrous spiders. Neither the Skeletons of the quartet of random civilians, nor the trio of Monstrous Spiders we ran into nearby would prove much of a challenge for us. Mei and Imoen took care of the Monstrous Spiders from range with spellwork easily enough, while Khalid, Jaheira, and I attacked the skeletons.

Judging from the clothing, these were the skeletons of a Woodsman, his wife, and their two teenage sons. The Woodsman and his sons wore leather jerkins, similar to padded armor, and had felling axes for weaponry. Meanwhile, the Wife wore a ragged homespun dress and carried a butcher's knife. None of them even came close to giving us trouble, and we fell upon them with fury, dismantling them easily. It was as Jaheira carved the skull off the last skeleton standing, that of the Woodsman Himself, with Razoul's Wrath that Mei and Imoen cast Magic Missiles into the faces of the last of the Monstrous Spiders, slaying them with darts of mystic force. Before we left, however, Jaheira insisted on burying the family. She and Khalid dug graves in the soil, while I checked the house.

Inside, everything was broken save for a single chest at the foot of the large bed that the Woodsman and his wife must have shared. This chest was locked and trapped, though both were easily picked and disarmed by someone of my ability. The lock was a simple but sturdy one. Meanwhile, the trap was a poison needle trap that seemed to have been made by the Woodsman himself, using a sewing needle and Monstrous Spider Venom. Had he been milking the nearby Monstrous Spiders for venom to replenish his trap? Ultimately, it didn't matter. I disarmed the trap by deliberately triggering it and letting the needle thunk uselessly into a piece of wood that I had recovered from a broken table. Then I took my lockpicks to the lock and had it open.

Inside, I found a bunch of mementos of the Woodsman's life. Not truly anything worthwhile, save for the one thing I found at the bottom of all the woodcuts and keepsakes. A single, aquamarine gem worth one-hundred-fifty Danter at full price. This must have been the Woodsman's equivalent of a rainy-day fund. I pocketed the gem for later sale. The family wouldn't be needing it now, after all. Then, I returned outside to help Jaheria and Khalid dig the graves for the family. Once they had been buried, we returned to the Drum Tower of High Hedge Estate with the skull, and Thalantyr could begin the Antichickenator Spell. Funny name, but I wasn't one to judge.

As the spell took hold, a blue light suffused the area, bathing both Thalantyr and Melicamp the chicken in a blueish green light. As we watched on, Melicamp's chicken form melted away, and revealed the swiftly transforming Apprentice Wizard's true form, that of a Redheaded, Goateed Human Male in his late teens or early twenties, wearing Green and Brown Apprentice Robes. The light subsided as Melicamp took his true, non-chicken form, and we could officially call this quest completed. After exchanging a few more words with Melicamp and Thalantyr, where the former Chicken thanked us profusely and the Master Conjurer returned to his usual antisocial self, practically begging us to leave so he could return to his research, we headed out to the south to finish our batch of sidequests.

Once we slew the Ogres around Fisherman's Lake, all that would be left was to turn in the remainder of these sidequests, and then we could return to Beregost. Mind you, we would have to stop along the way to Fisherman's Lake, as it was a full day's travel away from High Hedge, and we would need sleep. However, assuming nothing went wrong in the next few stops, we would be able to largely finish things up in time to return to Beregost the same day that our equipment would be ready. Once that was done, we could finally head south to Nashkel, and that would be all to the good.

I was getting pretty tired of Jaheira's constant attitude, after all. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here's the next chapter. In it, we finally see Robar and Company get to High Hedge and deal with both the Melicamp the Chicken and Perdue's Shortsword Quests. Now all that's left is to finish Bjornin's Ogres and turn everything in. Then they can grab their new gear before hitting the road once again and heading to Nashkel, much to Jaheira's joy. She's starting to grate on Robar's nerves a bit with her attitude, after all.

At any rate, the next chapter will be up tonight for those with the new Tip Jar Plus Subscription, but the rest of you guys will have to wait till next week to see it. It will have Bjornin's Ogres and the end of the sidequests, plus the return to Beregost to pick up the new gear. There will also be character sheet updates afterward, as the group will have leveled up after turning in the sidequests.

Stay tuned. . .