The Histrionic Halfling (Nicotino)

[Sir_Carnifex]

Background can be such a pain -- particularly when you're born into a family of thieves. I was always expected to follow in their footsteps -- to be a petty thief, or possibly a murderer -- when I became old enough. Perhaps I would have, too, had I not come across something that so interested me that doing anything else was just a bother.

I refer to my innate magical abilities. I had no idea that I had any until the day I broke a bottle of my father's best wine. Somehow, some form of magical energy rushed forth from my hand when I reached for the bottle and it shattered in a thousand pieces. My family was initially angered at my power, for a halfling sorcerer is nearly unheard of in these realms, but they soon wanted me to harness my power to aid them in their raids.

What was I to do? In my predicament there was no turning against the Thieves. To do so would mean painful torture, followed by either death or imprisonment. I regret to say that I did use my abilities to aid them somewhat, telling myself that I had no choice in the matter and that I would make amends someday. I can console myself with the thought that I never did devote any time to learning the thieving trade, and that I did not keep any of the goods we took for myself. I even "accidentally" broke some items in the local Thieves' treasury to prevent any profit from them. I am not a true thief, and I never will be despite any preconceived ideas many have of my race.

Why do I write of this? I'm not quite sure, since I have no intention of letting anyone else read my notes. Perhaps it's the need to tell the story, even if it is only to an imaginary audience. To put these words down on parchment somehow relieves my mind slightly.

But back to my situation...

There came a time when the task I was set to do was so brutal that I could not go through with the orders I had been given. So far I had been a somewhat unwilling accomplice in burglaries, blackmail, and other such unpleasant activities, but I had never been involved in entering a home for no other reason than to slay an innocent -- not until this very day. We were to leave no witnesses, so that meant the entire household had to go -- and that included several very young children. During the raid, I backed out, and resorted to killing one of our member from behind. That was the first time I had ever taken a life and I felt horrible for it, yet somehow, happy that there was one less criminal in the streets. I was forced to flee to save my life after that, so I have no idea if my actions were enough to prevent the demise of that family or not. I have my doubts that they survived.

I managed to escape to the docks and board a ship headed for Baldur's Gate. I am on it as I write this. Sadly, I'm in the cargo hold as an illegal passenger for I had no time to pick up personal belongings and gold to pay for my passage. Once again, doing something wrong has been forced upon me. I hope that this will be the last time.

Better times, surely, are ahead of me, and possibly some exciting adventures that I can control for a change. I just wish that the Thieves do not trace my location, if they care about me at all. I know that they have a long reach, but how long, I do not know.

[Sir_Carnifex]

I'm not sure if she spotted me out, or if it's just my race, but, just as we were disembarking, a fellow passenger told me I need to learn to hide better. It is true that I was hiding the entire voyage, but I flatly denied trying to conceal myself. A lie, I know, but I don't want to be viewed as a criminal even on my first day in a new land, especially when I'm trying to put that behind me. I am not a real thief!

A person I met outside town seemed really friendly towards me, much more so than a lot of humans. I'm not sure why, but I ranted about the stigma a halfling has of being a thief. I think it was because of what happened when I first arrived here and that stowaway incident. I'm glad that he was agreeably disposed towards me on that subject.

[Sir_Carnifex]

As new to this city as I am, I have already been asked for aid by two different people!

The first is a shopkeeper who runs his business just inside the gates. He needs supplies from a town south of here and does not have the time to get them himself. He warned me to use caution as the roads are quite dangerous in these times. Danger! I'm not a total stanger to that, but at least this time I can be on the right side while risking my life! I jumped on his offer because it is a much-needed job and also because it allows me to clear the roads for merchants. Now I'm no longer preying on them, but assisting them! An added bonus is that the town is close to the border of Amn. Maybe I can pay a visit to my own lands.

The second job came from an old farmer. His task seems easy enough. Slay some wolves and bring the skins back to him for pay. I'm all too happy to do this for him. I would even do it without the gold incentive -- I would just imagine that each one of those wolves is a Shadow Thief!

[Sir_Carnifex]

I earned a good deal of money from that farmer for all the pelts I brought to him. The time came to move on to my next quest, that of traveling to Beregost for the supplies. A perilous journey like that required some company, though. I soon found a dwarf who was pleased to have someone join him. He's very friendly and I quite like him, but he is a bit on the quiet side and never has much to say. To put it simply, "dwarf" is written all over him.

I had a good time routing the bands of creatures that camp south of the farmlands. I never thought that there would be a time when I actually enjoyed slaying, but there's a certain pleasure in killing the monstrous beasts. Harfur, the dwarf, seemed to be immensely enjoying himself, too, judging by the way he swung that hammer.

We got through the dog-faced creatures easily enough, but further south of the road we met up with some different monsters. I don't know how hard of a time we would have had with them had it not been for a new addition to our group. Did I say addition? More like she was the entire group and we were just the cargo. Never have I seen such a force of destruction as I did that day! She plowed through ogres and goblins as if they were nothing and we barely had time to watch, let alone swing our weapons or cast a spell.

But there is also something strange about that woman. She appears to have scales and be unharmed by fire. I'm not sure what kind of creature she is. I think she was trying to draw our attention to the fact that she was different, but I do not know if she wanted sympathy from us, awe, respect, or all of the three. Or maybe she was hoping that we'd notice and still treat her as normal. I thought about it and decided that if I were her, I would want to be treated as a normal person, so therefore that is the way I acted towards her. I did not want to draw undo attention to what she was (whatever she is, I can't say for sure).

Forget about not drawing attention. It happened anyway when we paid a visit to the Burning Wizard in Beregost. To celebrate our successful journey, she bought us a round, nay, four rounds of drinks apiece! Much as I appreciate a good belt, I do not like to walk around in a daze, so I only had one. Harfur, I am sure, could probably down ten bottles easily without blinking an eye. She... well, I think she was drunk. She wanted to trade stories. Well and good. I have no problem telling a good story -- I'll tell ten of them if anyone wants me to -- but things did not turn out so rosy. She somehow set fire to the inn with her breath while relaying her life history to me (and it was just getting interesting!) and Harfur and I were forced to put it out before the blaze became uncontrollable. If looks could kill, I think we'd all be dead by the innkeeper's hand.

Had I not experienced this first-hand, I would not believe what had happened. Well, regardless, I have no intention of telling this story to anyone else because she seemed a genuinely nice person despite all her oddities.

I do know one thing. I want to have a battle axe like hers!

[Sir_Carnifex]

Another adventure....

The dwarf and I came across a cave nestled in under the cliffs near the road to Kindlekeep. Harfur said there was a troll in there, but curiosity got the better of us and we decided to explore the interior anyway. We found bones... lots of old (and new!) bones scattered across the floor. That should have been enough of a warning for us that there were more than one troll lurking in the dark recesses, but we continued on. We met one troll, then another, and another. Each was easy by itself, but they began to charge us from all sides and so we were surrounded! I don't remember too much after that. I was clubbed from behind and collapsed to the floor. When I awoke, there was little danger left. Harfur must have beaten them to the ground, but without my fire or acid, he could not kill them. The best option was to make haste to depart before they could return.

We soon forgot about the trolls when a worse predicament arose. We had decided to return to the city, perhaps to gather new supplies, but our plans were interrupted by a strange phenomenon. Some sort of flaming creatures accosted us on the Trade Way, firing magic at us. Harfur took most of the blows, while I managed to eliminate a few of them. More appeared to replace those that we killed, so we beat a hasty retreat northwards.

Back in the farmlands something was already amiss for a large gathering had formed right in the middle of the path. There was some discussion being held of which I got the idea was related to what we had already encountered. No sooner had I begun to ask what it was all about when the entire group of us were set upon by more of the flaming men! Killed a few, but flames engulfed a couple of us. Someone shouted that we needed to reach Kindlekeep and everybody began to run south. There was little to do but follow them.

So, to Kindlekeep we went. Our arrival there was greeted by the flaming forms of two of our companions and some sort of fiery man. I know not what foul magic he used, but he transformed everyone last one of us into men covered in flames. It did not hurt, but there was this strange feeling... Everybody felt the urge to dance! I don't think there was one of use who did not succumb to this. The flaming apparition enjoyed teasing us for awhile before he disappeared... eventually everyone returned to a normal state. At the end, I could not help but laughing at the ridiculousness of it all, especially seeing everyone -- dwarf, elf, human -- being the butt of a joke. It was also out of relief that the ordeal was over.

From all the talk and various bits of information some provided, we were able to gather that this was somehow the result of a powerful dragon! Apparently wyverns have been driven towards Beregost by this dragon. Some knight by the name of Trawl is currently hunting the dragon. If I could find him perhaps I could learn something more of the matter...maybe even find the dragon itself! Searching for answers in Beregost may prove fruitful, too. Someone among the townsfolk must have seen or heard something of value.

[Sir_Carnifex]

Reminder to self: Avoid the temples of righteous people!

While enjoying a stroll through the city, I came across a fancy building with the name of Tyr. Voices came from within, so, being inquisitive, I ventured inside. Evidently there was some kind of teaching session going on for any who happened to drop in. A couple of other people were inside along with a couple of the order. Their talk was overly boring so I decided to take a look about the building and behold! I found a treasure trove of delicious food items stacked on a table in the back. I thought they were refreshments for visitors, so naturally I decided to help myself. Well, I was wrong.

One of the Tyrans, who came just in time to spoil things, told me that nobody was allowed back there. Later I found out that the food is not meant to be eaten! They place the food in front of a statue... I'm not sure if they expect the statue to devour it or not, but I didn't see it taking any action to do so. I never did get an answer if they actually believed that.

This knight -- or whatever he was -- was in the argumentive mood and decided to start a debate about justice and law, stating the extreme incompetence of the city guard as a reason why the law is right. I could see he was driving away most of the listeners with his monologue. They started to drop out one by one as he droned on and on. He even had the nerve to tell me that if I wasn't willing to give my gold to his temple, then I should never expect anyone to offer me anything! I might as well have entered the Temple of Mask!

He was a sneaky individual, though. He couldn't get me on his own ground, so he tried to get me to accompany him to the local tavern for a meal. Hardly. I know those tricks... get all friendly, then bring up the discussion again and yada-yada-yada.

The only positive is that the experience gave me a little more insight into the workings of the local authorities. They have noble goals, but inept methods. A pity...

[Sir_Carnifex]

Some funny merchant told us about his woes with bandits of some sort. He hired me and a couple others to track down whoever was harassing his caravans and taking the supplies along the Coast Way.

The three of us made our way south towards Beregost to investigate the matter. I noticed a single person began following us as we passed the the gnolls and were near the Lion's Way junction. He was causing no harm, but I was still cautious about him as I find strangers who follow at a distance to be suspicious.

Just north of Beregost, a large band of goblins along a half-dozen or so worgs blocked the road. At this time, the stranger joined us and the four of us made short work of our foes.

That was just the first group. Further on, we encountered another band... this one led by some large creature. Once again we dispatched with them, but let the leader live to question him about the merchant's goods. I would have preferred to have slain him without the waste of time, but humans! They always want to talk!

The newcomer and Rykomaki [Ryokami] (he was the "leader" of the party) began talking nonsense about eating goblins and halflings, while insulting the large creature. Their complete lack of tact had the obvious effect of enraging the beast, who attacked us. I told them that we should have killed him without bothering to ask questions (as it would be useless), but they didn't want to. I was right, of course.

Well, our brilliant leader decided that bringing back the head of our vanquished foe would be good enough for the merchant rather than proceeding to recover the stolen goods. Phandom [Phantom] (who joined us sometime during the fray, I think) and I agreed that we should investigate the matter further without the interference of any of the others. We will do so in the future, but we had to return with the rest to collect our reward.

The gnome caravan leader was happy with the result (although we had been asked to do more) and rewarded us with gold or a magical item. I selected a nice ring for myself.

Despite the good ending to a botched job, I'm uneasy about this whole thing. Rykomaki's behavior disturbs me. For one who was doing the "good" deed of helping the merchant, his actions showed him to be of an cruel intent. I particularly don't like being offered as food for anyone, even if it was a poor joke. As long as he is around, he will be a danger to anyone he associates with. I must be wary of traveling with him from now on.

[Sir_Carnifex]

Humans. They never change!

Near the Temple of Bahal I came across a couple of them. This time it was Talbadir and Romina Willows. It's so odd how they all seem to be hard of hearing! I call them by name and they inform me that I mistook their names and the proceed to give me the exact name I called them! I will never understand humans... they talk too much, cannot keep on one subject, and are consistently hard of hearing.

Hunting was much more fun so that's what I decided to do rather than waste more time discussing the obvious with them.

[Sir_Carnifex]

Amazing! I left the Corkwood forest and arrived near the Temple of Bahal and what did I find? Well, I found the Temple of Bahal, but that's not what I mean. Other than the usual, I found two men. Or more like it, a man and a dwarf, fighting off skeletons.

Being the helpful person I am, I flung a few spells into the fray and charred the bones black for them. They, naturally, were quite thankful and invited me to help them kill the rest inside the temple. That sounded like fun, so I accepted.

Inside there were many, many, many, many more skeletons and some sort of magic-flinging bag of bones, too. I'm sure he got the dwarf and was after me so I decided to jump out the door, especially since the human wasn't helping.

Well, I was feeling a tad on the guilty side leaving those two, so I re-entered to find the one raising the other. There was a mass of dark clouds or something in the building and I could hardly see a thing, but they said there was some chest and a ring inside there. The ring the human took and skeletons began to shoot off it and he got rather sickly-looking.

Well, we fled out of there thinking it was no good to battle endless nondead. The dwarf left, I'm not sure where. Maybe he looked for help, maybe he was a coward [player logged]. That left me and the grumpy man together. He was against any idea I had to help him so I left him to his own plan, which was to seek a walk in the deep woods of the Short Teeth! Now I can't imagine what that would do put get him in more trouble.

Fortunately, just as he was leaving, along came a Fist member. Alden McBird was his name. He and I escorted this diseased man back to the city where some powerful mage cured the ring and then the man left. I don't know what the ring was, but I tried to destroy it. The Fist man told me to stop trying for some reason. Maybe he was afraid the ring would fight back or something.

I quit trying to understand humans. They get stranger every day.