BBG: Chapter 45

The next morning, we woke bright and early, still wounded, though less so than we had been at the close of our Ankheg Adventure. After waking, bathing, and dressing, we all gathered together in Jaheira and Khalid's room at the Drunken Silverling, and Jaheira and I made to heal what we could with the spells we had. Not only Cure Light Wounds, but also Spells of Goodberry, as Jaheria took a branch and began to chant in Druidic, making the branch sprout bunches of purple, grape-like berries with healing properties. The berries also had the advantage of filling our stomachs after eating just one, so none of us required stopping in the Tavern for breakfast before we hit the road.

Even so, as we left, we noticed the Common Room was emptier than it had been previously. Dirk and Libby were there, finishing up a seafood stew and a pair of mugs of ale that they were having for breakfast. I nodded to them both as we entered the Common Room of the Drunken Silverling, and they nodded back, Libby walking up to me and pressing a small, jangling satchel into my hands. Peeking inside showed the glint of mixed coins, from Amnian Danter and Waterdhavian Dragons, to Older Baldurian Double Eagles from back when the City Minted its own coin, and Moonshae Crowns.

"What's this for?" I questioned.

"As a thanks for taking care of the Ankhegs. We'll make far more than that back when we sell off the goods you sold us in Baldur's Gate." Informed Libby.

"We did not do it for rewards." Frowned Jaheira.

"C-Coin is Coin, L-love." Reminded Khalid.

"Khalid's right. We can always use the coin." Insisted Imoen.

"Besides, it isn't like the Thunderhammer Smithy will work for free, now, is it?" Queried Mei.

"They won't, even working with such novel materials." I admitted.

"Then it sounds like you could use the coin. Take it with our thanks." Nodded Libby.

"Aye. Are you headed to the City?" Asked Dirk, making his way over.

"We're headed South." Refuted Jaheira.

"T-to Beregost and N-Nashkel." Informed Khalid.

"Shame. It would have been nice to see a friendly face in the big city." Sighed Libby.

"We'll be coming back this way. Probably." Pointed out Imoen.

"We might be gone by then, depending on how fast we can sell our stock." Admitted Dirk.

"Then maybe we'll see you on the road." Offered Mei.

"Maybe." Acknowledged Dirk.

"Until then." I offered.

"Yes, until then." Agreed Libby.

Then we headed out, passing Dirk and Libby's Wagon, with their Shaggy-Coated Ox, Bess, happily munching on a feedbag full of oats, as we did so. It seemed that of the folks who had been stuck in Lower Chionthar because of the Ankhegs, Dirk and Libby were among the last to leave. All the locals, meanwhile, were helping Brun replow his fields. As a farmer, Brun didn't exactly have the luxury of pausing his work to grieve his dead son, after all. He'd be ruined if he did. Instead, he had to knuckle down and get back to work, grieving in the evenings once the work was done. Luckily, he had neighbors to help him through both the work and the grieving process, many of whom were out and about, helping to tamp down dirt clods, fill in burrows, and so on.

As we turned onto the dirt road that led to the Coast Way, we left Lower Chionthar behind us. I began to strum a tune on my Bandore as we walked. Strumming chords of A, B, C Major, E Major, and F Sharp Minor in a complex array as I began to strum a more medieval, slightly tweaked version of the Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin from back on Earth. As we walked down the road, I began to sing once again, hitting the high, wailing bit at the intro before going straight into the first verse.

"We come from the land of the ice and snow. From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow. The Battleaxe of the gods will drive our ships to new lands. To fight the horde, singing and crying: Warrior's Rest, I am coming! On we sweep with threshing oar. Our only goal will be the western shore!" I sang out, the lyrics tweaked somewhat to reference Tempus rather than the Aesir.

Once again, it may have been my imagination, but as I sang, there was a bit of pick-up in our steps as the song seemed to carry us further than we could walk with just our legs alone. As we continued to make our way South, hitting the Coast Way Proper, I went through a number of different songs, tweaking the ones that needed to be tweaked and just generally letting my Bandore and Singing lift our spirits as we made our way south toward Beregost. We passed by the Friendly Arm Inn a few hours later, and kept going, my singing helping to drive us forward with a certain pep and alacrity in our steps. I considered it a fairly decent contribution to the mission, on par with the fighting I'd been doing, even if Jaheira had just rolled her eyes when I mentioned that during a pause between songs.

Thankfully, we weren't stopped by any other Gnolls, Bandits, or what have you that first day of walking, though we passed by signs of attacks. Slain Oxen, turned over carts, and blood splatters on the road. Bandits and Gnolls were clearly out in force, even if we didn't see any on that first day. We paused at each wrecked cart and site of a skirmish to try and see if anything was worth salvaging, but the Bandits and Gnolls had been thorough. About the only things worth looting were a few Bandit Scalps and Gnoll Ears from slain Bandits and Gnolls that hadn't been recovered after their fellows had finished massacring caravans.

Still, we made decent enough time, stopping at a small Inn at the Crossroads where the Coast Way intersected the Lion's Way. The Inn of the Broken Axle, which seemed to cater to merchants traveling from Candlekeep and Beregost to Baldur's Gate and vice-versa. The Owner was an Older Human Man named Merrick, and he ran the Inn along with his three daughters. Fortunately, we didn't run into any issues as we spent the night there, unlike the night we spent at the Friendly Arm Inn with Tarnesh, though I did have to avoid sleeping with Merrick's three daughters, each of whom seemed a bit too eager to throw themselves at me for my liking. You don't shit where you sleep, after all.

The next day, we healed, got breakfast, and headed back out. We were now fully healed and would wind up making it to Beregost an hour or two after noon if our luck with encounters on the road held. Unfortunately, it seemed that the Universe wanted to balance out the good fortune we had the previous day with bad fortune today. Around two hours north of Beregost, with the Town sitting tauntingly on the Horizon to the south, we found ourselves accosted by two individuals who I knew from the Games.

The First was a Wizard in Green Robes, with long brown hair and his face adorned with makeup in a sort of War Paint. I knew him to be a Necromancer of the Zhentarim, Xzar, one of the Party Members who the Bhaalspawn could have gotten to join up the first time around, provided they were evil. He wore a Cold Iron Dagger of Wounding Plus One at his waist, a Pair of Bracers of Armor Plus Six at his wrists, an Amulet of Natural Armor Plus Two at his throat, and his robes were clearly magical, though I couldn't identify them at a glance.

At the same time, his companion was a goateed Halfling with short brown hair in a suit of Studded Leather Armor Plus Two, wearing an Amulet of Natural Armor Plus Two at his throat and a Cloak of Resistance Plus Two around his shoulders. A pair of Boots of Speed were worn on his feet, and he carried a Shortsword that was clearly magical, but that I couldn't identify at a glance. This was Montaron, an Assassin of the Zhentarim and Xzar's Perennial Companion.

"Hail!" Called out Xzar, stopping us on the road.

"What business do you have with us?" Questioned Jaheria.

"So impatient. You'd better learn to control that or you could find your hasty tongue cut from your mouth one of these days." Smirked Montaron.

"D-Don't threaten J-Jaheria!" Scowled Khalid.

"W-why s-shouldn't I?" Queried Montaron with a mocking, faux stutter.

"Hey! That's rude!" Exclaimed Imoen.

"How perceptive of you." Scoffed Xzar.

"Let's get back on topic. Who are you and what do you want from us?" Asked Mei.

"They're members of the Zhentarim. I seriously doubt they've stopped us for a pleasant chat. Best be ready for a fight." I warned.

"Oh? You want a fight, do you? I think I can accommodate. I was starting to get bored with all this walking, after all." Smirked Montaron.

"Montaron, must you be so insufferably quick to fight?" Questioned Xzar with a sigh.

"What? A good blade must be fed, after all. We weren't feeding mine just by walking." Retorted Montaron.

"Get to the point!" Barked Jaheira.

"Y-yes. Why h-have you stopped us?" Queried Khalid.

"We're looking into the Iron Crisis. We're supposed to find out whose doing it and gut them like a fish." Informed Montaron.

"Why?" Asked Mei.

"Yeah, the Zhentarim aren't exactly known for charity, you know." Affirmed Imoen.

"Because whoever is doing it is attempting to pin the blame on us for it. The Zhentarim cannot deal with the increased scrutiny at the moment." Admitted Xzar.

"I'd think you wouldn't be able to, given what just happened to Zhentil Keep a month or so back." I taunted.

"You're remarkably well-informed." Mused Xzar.

"What happened to Zhentil Keep?" Questioned Mei.

"It was attacked by the Cyricist Faction within the Zhentarim. The Baneites got massacred, and the Keep was sacked. They're running most of their operations in the Western Heartlands through the Pereghost and the Darkhold now." I answered.

"How exactly do you know that?" Queried Imoen.

"I'd l-like to know that t-too." Added Khalid.

"Does it matter?" I asked.

"I suppose it doesn't for the moment." Allowed Jaheira.

"Wrong! You lot know too much about our operations." Spat Montaron.

"Indeed. Loath as I am to let him off the leash, it seems you've triggered one of our standing orders. We're not to let the news of Zhentil Keep's Fall proliferate further than it already has if we can help it." Nodded Xzar.

"That means we get to gut you! I wonder how loud you'll scream? I guess we'll find out soon." Cackled Montaron.

"Get ready!" I cautioned.

Then, Xzar opened the battle by summoning a Large Skeletal Troll, which sprang up out of a hole in the ground as Montaron tossed a throwing knife at me. I parried it out of the air with Doscordant Note, but then the Troll Skeleton let out a ghastly roar and charged forward, Montaron letting out a whooping shout as he followed in the Undead Beast's wake. The Battle had begun in earnest, all because I just had to go and shoot my mouth off with knowing about what the Zhentarim had been up to in canon back when this was just a game. Hopefully, we would survive the encounter, though I was fairly confident of that.

As Khalid and Jaheria met the Troll Skeleton's Rush with charges of their own, and Mei began firing arrows at Xzar, I found myself facing off against Montaron. He lashed out with his Shortsword a lot more quickly than I expected, forcing me to defend against three attacks in rapid succession. One I managed to dodge, a second, I managed to parry with Discordant Note, while the Third slipped just past my shield to cut a gouge out of my left bicep, leaving a line of blood across my arm. Montaron brought his blade to his lips and licked the blood off it with a sneering grin.

"First blood to me, Northman!" He smirked.

"Only the last blood counts, Zhent!" I retorted.

And then, we met in battle once again, blades clashing in the noonday sun. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the next chapter. It turns out that Xzar and Montaron being potential party members in the Game doesn't translate to them being potential party members now that the Game is Real Life. After all, they're both of Evil Alignment, with Montaron being particularly psycho in temperament, even though he's only Neutral Evil as opposed to Xzar's Chaotic Evil. Both are members of the Zhentarim, too, an Organization that is an enemy of the Harpers, which Jaheira and Khalid belong to. This was never going to end in anything other than a fight.

At any rate, the next chapter will include the fight proper, along with the arrival in Beregost. Then we'll have a chapter involving talking to Taerom Fuiruim at the Thunderhammer Smithy about making armor from the Ankheg and Ankhrav Shells, along with putting Yeenoghu's Bane back together. I'll also have a few images out after then as well.

Stay tuned. . .