Chapter 12 Chapter 9 The End of the Blowpipe
Robilar scratched her chin when she saw the two men, Wulfgar and Morik, walking down an alley to the front door of the Cutlass.Deudermont was still waiting inside, which made the mage in front of the crystal ball unable to sit still, and focused all his attention on the outside of the tavern.Robilar had already spotted a ragged man coming out of a tavern and giving something to a boy in the street.The mage knows the purpose of these children.And it was this person who actually looked unusual, just came out of the scimitar again, and sneaked into the shadows.
Then Wulfgar appeared with a small dark man.Robilar was not at all surprised when he saw the child he had just seen sneaking up from an alley some distance away. No doubt he was waiting for an opportunity to return to the place where he had made a deal.
Robilar deepens her doubts by seeing the truth as she puts it together.He turned to the door and said a simple incantation, then pushed the air to shake the door open. "Mr. Mason!" he cried—amplified, of course, with another spell.
"Send two crewmen to warn the town watch," Robillard demanded, "and head full speed to the Cutlass Tavern on Half Moon Street."
The whining mage repeated the first spell just now and shut the door again with a bang, then returned to the crystal ball picture intently, focusing all his attention on the front door of the Cutlass Tavern.He moved his gaze into the door and found Deudermont leaning quietly on the bar.
A few minutes passed without incident; Robilar looked back outside the house again—just in time to see Wulfgar and his small companion slipping into the shadows, as if waiting for something.
And just as the mage's swirling magic eyes passed through the door of the tavern for the third time, he found Deudermont walking towards the exit.
"Hurry up, Mason," Robilar urged, but he knew that although the town guards were well trained, it was still unlikely that they would get there in time.He must take action.The mage quickly proceeded with his plan: a dimensional door opened at the other end of the deck, while a second door opened in an alley near the cutlass.A last look at the crystal ball showed Deudermont walking out, while Wulfgar and the other man moved towards him.Robila forced his thoughts away from the crystal ball and stepped through the first dimensional gate.
Crip Sharkey and Tiannini huddled in the shadows of the roof.The second Deudermont walked out of the tavern, the tattooed Banqulan put the blowpipe to his mouth.
"Wait a minute," Crip ordered, grabbing the blowpipe and lowering the weapon, "let him talk to Wulfgar and Morik first, and when he gets near the rock I put there, it will All the magical protection on the captain is dispelled. Also wait for others to see them together, at the moment of Deudermont's death."
The tattooed pirate licked his lips expectantly. "They got the condemnation, we got the prey," he said.
"Wulfgar," Captain Deudermont greeted Wulfgar and his companions as they emerged steadily from the shadows in the corner, "my people say you have been on the Sea Sprite."
"Not what I wanted to do," Wulfgar muttered, and Morik stole an elbow in no time.
"You said you wanted to get the Warhammer back." The thief reminded him quietly.
But what Morik really thought was this: this was a chance to learn about Deudermont, about the man's protection around him, and more importantly, his weaknesses.The savage and the thieves met the little waif as they walked along the docks, and he gave them the little sack with the strange things in it, and explained that Captain Deudermont wished to meet them at the door of the Cutlass Tavern in Half Moon Street.Once again, Morik explained to Wulfgar that this was an opportunity for them to retrieve the hammer, but backed away when he recognized the danger signal in that scowling face.If Wulfgar didn't want to take part in the assassination, then Morik would find a way to do it himself.He had no grudge against Deudermont, and of course, he didn't want to be a killer, but the reward was so much that he couldn't ignore it.Morik planned the future, he could live a luxurious life, live in the best house, eat the best food, drink the best wine, and have the best women, these are also for Wulfgar is good enough.
Now Wulfgar was walking straight towards Deudermont, nodding his head, though he had no intention of responding to the man's outstretched hand. "What do you know?" he asked.
"You came to the pier to see Vilan Maison, that's all." Deudermont replied, "I think you want to come and talk to me."
"The only thing I want from you is news about Aegis' Fang," said the barbarian sourly.
"Your warhammer?" Deudermont asked, staring at Wulfgar in surprise, as if he had just discovered that the barbarian didn't have a warhammer on his back.
"The boy said you have news about it," Morik explained.
"Boy?" asked the bewildered captain.
"The boy who gave me this," Morik explained, holding up the bag.
Deudermont wanted to take it, but stopped immediately because he saw Robilla rushing out of a side alley.
"Hold on!" the mage yelled.
Deudermont suddenly felt a tingling pain in his neck.He instinctively wanted to touch it with his hands, but before the captain's fingers touched the cat's claw, a huge darkness suddenly hit him, and his knees buckled as if they were buckled. go down.Now Wulfgar jumped forward and reached out to grab him.
Robilar yelled and stretched out a staff to Wulfgar and began to cast a spell. A shot of viscous liquid matter hit the barbarian's broad chest and exploded, blasting him into the cutlass tavern , stuck there.Morik turned and fled.
"Captain! Captain!" Robilar yelled, and he flew another drop of slime at Morik, but the nimble rogue was too fast and managed to turn into another alley and escape the attack.But he had to stop abruptly, as two town guards appeared at the other end of the alley, brandishing flaming torches and shimmering swords.However, the thief still kept enough tact before turning around and running away, and secretly threw the bag handed to him by the child into a small room on the side of the alley.
At this time, the entire Banyue Street seemed to erupt, and town guards and sailors from the Sea Spirit ran out from every possible corner.
Wulfgar, leaning against the wall of the scimitar, struggled violently, panting.His thoughts went back to the dark abyss, back to Errtu, the magic that the demon cast on him was so similar to this one today, that magic imprisoned him, helpless to face the demon minions their mockery.This illusion lent him rage, and that rage lent him strength.The frantic savage took control of his balance and tore away the attachments that had glued him to the building.
When Robilar realized that Deudermont's breath was coming to an end, he let out a howl of horror and frustration, and shot another drop at Wulfgar, smearing him against the wall again.
"They killed him," the mage called to the guards, "take that little mouse!"
"Let's go," Tiannini said when he saw Deudermont's legs bend.
"Shoot him another one," Kripp begged.
The tattooed man shook his head: "One is enough. Let's go."
Just as they were about to move, guards suddenly appeared on Half Moon Street, and all the nearby streets.Crip and his friends hid in the shadow of a skylight in the roof of the house, where they hid the blowpipe and poison, and moved to another street window, where they sat with their backs against the wall.Crip took out a bottle of wine, and the two began to drink, pretending to be immersed in the drink of forgetting their troubles and enjoying themselves.
After a few minutes, three guards approached them near the edge of the roof.After a cursory inspection, a shout from below indicated that one of the assassins had been captured, while the other had escaped across the street.The guard looked at the two "drunkards" in disgust, turned and left.
Morik spun and galloped through the alley, but the sound of pursuit was getting closer.He found a hidden shadow under a building, thinking he could wait there for his pursuers to leave, and just when he was proud of it, a magical light suddenly appeared.
"Mage!" the thief muttered, "I hate mages!"
He got up and started running to a building and began to climb, but something grabbed his legs and pulled them off, and then there was a lot of kicking and kicking until he stopped squirming.
"I didn't do anything!" the rogue pleaded as the men roughly dragged his legs, blood splattering from his mouth with every word he uttered.
"Shut your mouth!" ordered a guard, slamming the butt of his sword on Morik's stomach, causing the rogue's pain to multiply.They half-walked and dragged him back to Robila, who was busy working beside Deudermont.
"Go to a doctor!" the mage instructed, and then a guard and two sailors left.
"What poison?" the mage asked Morik.
The thief shrugged his shoulders and showed a look of ignorance.
"Where's the bag?" said Robilla. "The bag you were holding."
"I didn't—" Morik had just started to say this, and then he was hit hard by the sword handle of the guard next to him, and the rest of the sentence was lost.
"Go back the way he fled," Robilla ordered to the other guards. "He has a little bag. I want you to find it."
"Then what should he do?" A guard asked Wulfgar, pointing to Wulfgar who had been wrapped in a pile of that unknown substance. "He must not be able to breathe like that."
"Then dig with a sword and let him show his face," Robilla hissed to keep the crowd quiet. "He won't die so easily."
"Captain!" Weilan Mason, who saw Deudermont, cried out.
He rushed over and knelt beside the captain lying on the ground.Robilar put a hand reassuringly on his shoulder, and cast a stormy gaze on Morik.
"I'm innocent!" declared the little thief, but at that moment a cry came from the alley.After a while a guard ran over with a small bag in his hand.
Robila pulled the bag open and picked out the rock first, and he had an immediate sense of what it might be.After all, the mage had lived in the Time of Trouble, and he had all the knowledge of dead zones of magic, and knew that stones taken from those places could cancel any magic that came near it.If his guess was correct, it would explain why Morik and Wulfgar could so easily pass through the protection he had cast on the captain.
Immediately afterwards, Robila took out a cat's claw from the bag.He showed the strange object to Morik and everyone else, and then produced another almost identical cat's claw, which had been pulled from the wound on Captain Deudermont's neck.
"Tell me the truth." Robilla raised her eyebrows, and her voice sounded very indifferent.
"I hate mages," Morik muttered deep in his throat.
Then a voice from Wulfgar drew them together.The big man coughed and spit out a few flakes of that viscous substance.Then almost immediately he began to howl and yank angrily, with such force that the entire scimitar began to shake.
Robilla noticed that Alan Juddpage and some others were already standing outside the door, staring at them suspiciously.The tavernkeep walked up to Wulfgar and shook his head.
"What did you do?" he asked.
"Same as before, nothing good," commented Josie Pardus.
Robilla walked up to them. "You know this man?" he asked Ellen, his eyes fixed on Wulfgar.
"He worked for me when he came to Luskan last spring," Alan explained, "until—" The tavernkeeper looked at the big man again hesitantly, and shook his head.
"Until what?" Robillard reminded him.
"Until he set the whole world on fire," Josy chimed in gleefully.
"You will be summoned to confront him before magistrates," explained Robilla. "You will both."
Allen nodded obediently, and Josie nodded eagerly.Perhaps too eagerly, Robillard observed, but privately he allowed himself some gratitude for the poor little fellow.
Soon, a large group of priests rushed over. Their numbers and speed of action fully proved that the pirate hunter, Captain Deudermont, had a great reputation.
On a nearby rooftop, Crip Sharkey smiled and handed Tianini an empty wine bottle.
Luskan's prison is a series of caverns by the harbor, windy and muddy, all with hard, jagged rock walls.The fires of passing ships keep it permanently hot and steamy.The moisture created by the confluence of hot and cold air permeated the air, as if sleeping and eating on the sea surface of the Sword Coast.There are a few single cells here, mostly reserved for political prisoners who threaten the continued ascension of ruling families and businessmen and thus become scapegoats.But once most prisoners are thrown into these single cells, they don't last long, because they soon become the victims of the horrible and cruel "prisoner carnival".
A pair of shackles hung high on the wall of these single cells that changed residents frequently, so that the prisoners could only stand on the tip of their toes while being hung in agony.The jailers responsible for torture here are made up of stupid and ignorant fellows, many of them are tall and ugly rogues and orcs, they walk around this complex in an organized way, holding red-hot iron.
"You know, this is a huge mistake!" Morik grumbled to a presumably new jailer, who was walking in the direction of the rogue and Wulfgar.
The gigantic brute just let out a slow chuckle—it sounded like two stones rubbing against each other—and occasionally poked the orange-tipped branding iron into Morik's stomach.
The nimble thief jumped up sideways, pulling his locked arm painfully, but there was still a sharp pain from the side of his body.The half-orc jailer continued to walk slowly, giggling, and came up to Wulfgar.
"What about you?" The stinking mouth of the cruel fellow was spitting at Wulfgar. "You too, huh? Are you locked up here for not doing anything?"
Wulfgar just stared straight ahead, expressionless.He didn't even flinch when the mighty orc punched him in the stomach or thrust the dreadful branding iron into his armpit, letting a thin puff of smoke rise from his skin.
"Strong guy," said the jailer, letting out another wretched laugh, "that'll be more fun." He thrust the iron into Wulfgar's face, and began to slowly slap one of the big man's eyes close.
"Oh, so you'll be yelling," he said.
"But we haven't been judged yet!" Morik protested.
"You think so?" replied the jailer, pausing to smile at Morik, showing off his sharp teeth. "Even if it is true, you are still guilty, because it is fun."
Those words sent Wulfgar through a deep shock.This is justice.He looked at the jailer as if thanking the hideous creature for the first time, and in him the savage saw a simple wisdom, a point of view born of observation.Most special, because that's wisdom from a fool's mouth, he thought.
The iron was approaching, but Wulfgar just stared at the jailer calmly, utterly unafraid, the savage's eyes filled with great confidence, this man - all these big-limbed, simple-minded people ——Once the torment he suffered was nothing compared to the damage caused to him by the devil Ertu's claws.
The jailer apparently understood the message the barbarian was sending him, or rather, understood a little, for he began to hesitate, and even retracted his soldering iron a little so that he could see Wulfgar's expression more clearly.
"Do you think you can hold it?" asked the murderous tormentor to Wulfgar. "Do you think you can keep that look on your face when I burn your eyes with a branding iron?" And saying, He approaches again.
Just as Morik was about to protest for his friend, Wulfgar uttered a loud roar that made the rogue hold back what he was about to say.It was a wild, pure roar from the deepest part of the soul.A roar from the depths of his tormented realm.
The barbarian's chest began to swell rapidly, gathering strength, and one of his shoulders rushed forward. The savage explosive force and speed caused the connection between the shackles and the wall to be broken, and the jailer rolled with him. Crawled back in fright.
"Oh, I'm going to kill you!" yelled the orc, leaning forward, brandishing the iron like a stick.
Wulfgar was already ready.He spun around, almost to the point of facing the wall, and then his free arm swung wildly, and the stones and metal objects attached to the end of his hand flew towards the glowing iron. , wrapped it tightly, and pulled it out of the jailer's hand.The orc backed away again, and by this time Wulfgar had turned back against the wall, shifting his weight onto one leg to keep himself on his feet, with his other hand still shackled. inside.
"Break down the walls!" Morik exclaimed.
The jailer turned and ran out.
Wulfgar let out another howl, and he tugged with all his might, every muscle in his muscular body deforming.The shackles were stronger than the previous ones, the rock walls reinforcing it, but Wulfgar was pulling with such force that eventually the heavy chains began to crack.
"Keep pulling!" Morik yelled.
Wulfgar increased his strength, which allowed him to finally escape from the wall and do somersaults on the ground.It did not hurt him, but a sudden sensation hit him, a pain ten thousand times more intense than any torture the cruel jailer could inflict on him.Wulfgar's hallucinations made him feel that he was no longer imprisoned in Luskan's dungeon, but back in the abyss, and although there were no shackles to imprison him, he knew that there would be no escape, no It is impossible to defeat those powerful pursuers.Errtu played this trap on him so often, made him think he was free, and always ended up hunting him down, dragging him back to that stinking, filthy place, always beating him up. How many times has he been tortured like this before he was healed after being bruised and skinned, only to be beaten harder later?
"Wulfgar?" Morik pleaded repeatedly, tugging on both of his manacles, but nothing happened, "Wulfgar!"
The Savage didn't listen to what he was saying, didn't even look at him, lost in the vortex of his own thoughts.Wulfgar sat cross-legged on the floor, shaking like a child, until the jailer returned with a dozen companions.
A short time later, Wulfgar, bruised and bruised, was hung back on the wall, this time the shackles were even larger, thicker, and stronger, and he was hung high, his feet a few feet off the ground, his The arms were pulled flat to the sides and locked.Also, just in case, a sharpened wooden spike was placed on the barbarian's back so that if he pulled hard on the chain, Wulfgar himself would be impaled by the spike before the shackles fell off the wall. Put on.Now he was locked in a separate room, away from Morik.He would be alone with those memories of the abyss, with no place to hide, no bottle to take him away.
"It's supposed to work," muttered an old woman. "These herbs are supposed to cure this poison."
There were three priests walking up and down the room, one muttering a prayer, another bustling about beside Captain Deudermont, listening to his breathing and heartbeat, checking his pulse, and a third just holding on to him all the time. That neat hair.
"But it didn't work," Robilla argued with her.He turned to the priests for help.
"I don't understand," said Kai Mumoto, the priest who was the leader of the three, "that this poison is resistant to our spells, and even has a powerful antidote."
"If it's the kind of poison I know, the antidote should work," said the old woman.
"If it's the kind of poison you know about," Robilla added in time.
"You got it yourself from that little guy named Morik," Kay Mumoto explained.
"There's no need to think like this..." Robila began to defend, but his thoughts suddenly stopped in mid-air.For the looks on the faces of his four companions told him well that the priests were right. "Then what shall we do?" asked the mage.
"I made no promises," the old woman declared, waving her hands excitedly. "As long as it's poison, my herbs will work."
She went to one side of the room, where they had set up a table as her workbench, and the priestess began fiddling with the various pots and pans.Robila looked at Kay Mumoto, the pastor had a frustrated expression on his face.They had worked tirelessly around Deudermont all day, during which the priests healed the captain, cast spells, and performed all the means they thought could subdue the poison flowing in Deudermont's body.It turned out that the spells could only ease the pain, delay the onset of the poison, and make the captain's breathing easier and less hot.Deudermont never opened his eyes after being attacked.And before long, the captain's breathing became harsh again, and his gums and eyes began to bleed again.Robilla wasn't a doctor, but he had seen too many deaths to know that if they didn't do something more effective, his beloved Captain Deudermont would leave them forever.
"It's evil poison!" Kai Mumoto said.
"It's just a herb, there's nothing to doubt about it," said Robillard. "Neither evil nor terrible. It's just a herb."
Kai Mumoto shook his head. "It is enchanted, no doubt, my good wizard," he concluded, "our spells can defeat any poison in nature. But not this one, which has been carefully prepared by a skilled poisoner. And poisoned with dark magic there is nothing we can do about it."
"Then what can we do?" the mage asked.
"The few of us will continue to cast spells on the captain to make him feel better as much as possible, and hope that the effect of the poison will also be slowed down," Kai Mumoto explained, "We will also hope that old Gretchen can find a mixture out of it. The right herbal way."
"It would be easier if I had a sample of that poison on hand," grumbled old Gretchen—the old woman.
"And we'll keep praying," Kai Mumoto said finally.
This last sentence made Robilla, who insisted on atheism, frown.He is a person who believes in strict logic and detailed rules, and never indulges himself in prayer.
"I'll find out more about this poison from that thief named Morik," said Robilla, cursing.
"He has been tortured," Kai Muben said affirmatively to the mage, "I suspect he is ignorant of some things. There is no doubt that he just bought this poison from someone else on the street."
"Torture?" Robilar asked incredulously, "?? No, that's not torture. It's nothing but a sadistic game. The art of torture gets better when magic is added." So elegant and delicate." He started to walk towards the door, but Kay Mumoto grabbed the mage's arm.
"Morik doesn't know," he said again, looking gravely into the mage's eyes hollowed with rage, "stay with us. Stay with your captain. He may not survive tonight Well, if he wakes up before he dies, it will make him feel better to see a friend by his side."
Instead of arguing with the rash assertion, Robilar sighed and walked back to his chair, where he plopped down.
A short while later, a town guard knocked on the door and entered the room, bringing a routine greeting from magistrates.
"Tell Jerome Ball and Jackhelder that Wulfgar and Morik might be about to become abominable murderers," Kayben explained grimly.
Robillard heard the minister's words, and they made his heart sink even lower.He did not care what Wulfgar and Morik would be found guilty of.In any case, whether they are heinous murderers or deliberate murders, the punishment for these two men will be carried out, although the execution process may be very long, because it can make the "Prisoner's Carnival" onlookers feel more joy.
But there would be no satisfaction in watching them beheaded by Robillard, if his beloved captain never woke up again.The mage put his head in his hands, and once again considered whether he should go to where Morik was being held and punish the man with spell after spell until he gave up and honestly revealed the ingredients of the poison he had used.
But Robilla knew that Kay was right, because he knew city thieves like Morik.Of course Morik didn't know how to brew poison, he'd just gotten it from some good guy.
The mage raised his head from his hands, and his emaciated face was shining with an inspired look.Robilar remembered the two men who had come to the Cutlass before Wulfgar and Morik showed up, and they were the ones who had sent the kid who followed after Wulfgar and Morik. Ke, the dirty sailor, and his exotic tattooed sidekick.The mage remembered the Leaping Lady, the ship speeding away from Luskan harbor.Had Wulfgar and Morik traded the barbarian's incredible hammer for the poison that killed Deudermont?
Robila jumped up from the chair, he didn't think about where he started this thought, but thought about what he thinks is very important now.Someone, whoever it was, signaled Deudermont's arrival, and the street bum they paid ran off to Wulfgar and Morik, besides, or the Leaping Lady Someone on the planet knows the secret of that poison.
Robilar cast another glance at his poor, weakened captain, who was evidently dying.The mage stormed out of the room, determined to find an answer.
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