Chapter 22 Chapter 18 The Kid, the Priest and a Big Task

"Your names and renown have arrived at your destination before you," Captain Varness said to Drizzt, as he led Drow and his friends to the command module.In front of them, Baldur's Gate, the largest port city between Waterdeep and Calimport, loomed on the horizon.The impressive port area is dotted with many buildings of all kinds along the coast, ranging from low warehouses to taller buildings with armed and lookout facilities, which also makes people feel fond of the area. An uneasy impression. "My men found a ship willing to go upstream for you with almost no effort." Vanes continued.

"Think about what kind of person is willing to carry a drow." Bruno said coldly. "It would be worse if they were willing to take a dwarf," Drizzt shot back without any hesitation. "The captain and crew are dwarves," said Vanes.This made Drizzt groan, and Bruenor chuckled softly. "Captain Bambo Thunderfist and his brother Donette, and their two cousins." "You know them well," Katie remarked. "Anyone who has met Bambor and his crew will find the four of them unforgettable," Vanes said. "As I said just now, my men found a ship willing to take you upstream without much effort, because these dwarves knew the story of Bruenor Warhammer and his recapture of Mithril Hall. Of course they also knew him All partners, including the dark elves."

"I bet you won't see the day when you're considered a hero by a bunch of dwarves," Bruenor said to Drizzt. "I bet I don't see the day when I want to," the ranger replied. At this moment, all the people came to the bow, and Vanes stepped aside, pointing to the shore with his finger. "Farewell, and may your journey bring you home well," he said. "If I'm still in or near port when you get back to Baldur's Gate, maybe we'll sail together again." "Perhaps," Regis replied politely, but he and the other three knew that if they found Cadderly and destroyed Crshshinbon, they would be asking Cadderly to magically send them to the road. Scan.If they walked fast, it would take another two weeks to reach their destination, but Cadderly only needed a few minutes to reach Luskan with the wind control.So said Drizzt and Katie who had traveled with that powerful priest.That way they could immediately throw themselves into the business of finding Wulfgar.

They entered Baldur's Gate without any trouble.Although Drizzt could feel many pairs of eyes staring at him, these were not malicious eyes, but only full of curiosity.Drow couldn't help but compare this feeling to the one he'd felt visiting another city, the one he'd gone to Calimport in pursuit of Artemis Entreri, who had taken Regis away.Drizzt was with Wulfgar back then, and he entered the city by donning a disguise mask so that others would think he was a surface elf. "Isn't it the same as the last time you came?" asked Katie, who knew the story of that visit all too well.

"I have always hoped to be able to walk freely among all the cities on the Sword Coast." Drizzt replied. "It seems our grades working with Captain Deudermont have given me that privilege. The prestige has released some of the pain I've had because of my race." "Do you think that's a good thing?" asked the sensitive woman, as she saw Drizzt wince slightly in his eyes as he said that. "I don't know," Drizzt admitted. "Now I can walk freely in many places without worrying about anything, and I like that." "But it pains you that you have to work hard to earn that right." Katie said perfectly what Drizzt hadn't said.

"You look at me, a human, and know that I don't have to earn such things. The same goes for Bruenor the dwarf and Regis the halfling. They don't have to earn anything to go anywhere." "I don't envy you for that," Drizzt replied. "But, did you see their eyes?" He looked around at the people walking on the streets of Baldur's Gate, almost everyone would look at him carefully, pointing curiously, and some people's eyes were full of Envy and admiration, others have mistrust in their eyes. "So even if you're walking free, you're still not walking free," Katie commented.She nodded, which let Drizzt know that she understood him completely.If one had to choose between the hatred born of prejudice and these curious and ignorant eyes, it seemed that the latter was far better than the former.But in truth they were both traps, prisons, confining Drizzt to the definition of a drow with a good reputation, but still unable to forget the fact that he was a drow.That is to limit Drizzt to his race forever.

"Bah, they're all idiots," Bruno cut in. "Think of the people who know you, know you," Regis said too. Drizzt smiled back and walked on.He had long ago given up all futile attempts to gain full acceptance among the surface dwellers, and his race's reputation for treachery and destruction would forever prevent that from happening.He has learned to focus his energies on those closest to him, on those who have learned what lies beneath his exterior.And now, with three of his most trusted and beloved friends, walking freely on the road, easily booking a boat, and having nothing but the ancient relics they had to carry The problem.It was something Katie, Bruenor, and Regis had longed for since Drizzt Do'Urden had known him.Could those other people's eyes, whether they were full of hatred or ignorant curiosity, bother him?

No.His smile is genuine.If Wulfgar was with them at this moment, then the whole world was the best thing for the drow, an endless treasure at the end of his long and difficult road. He rubbed his black hands nervously as a small figure began to appear in the center of the magic circle Lacky had drawn.He knew nothing of Gromph Baenre except his reputation, but Jarlaxle insisted that the archmage was trustworthy in this matter.Even so, the fact that Gromph was a drow and a member of the ruling family of Menzoberranzan was enough to worry Lecky. The name Gromph told him supposedly belonged to an unimportant, manageable resident, but Lecky didn't really know if that was the case until the creature fully appeared to him.

All it takes is a little dishonesty from Gromph, and Lecky might open a portal to a great demon, maybe Di Morgoggin himself, and if that happens, Lecky is in the Calimport sewers. The temporary magic circle drawn on the ground in the middle can't even play any protective role at all. The mage-priest breathed a sigh of relief, because the creature was indeed an imp, as Gromph had said.Even without the magic circle, a powerful mage and priest like Lecky could easily control such a kid. "Who is calling my name?" The kid asked in a guttural Abyssal language.He was obviously flustered, and Lecky and Jarlaxle both noticed that he was panicked—especially when he found out that the summoners were drow. "You shouldn't bother Toze. No, no, because he's working for a great man." Toze continued in fluent drow.

"Quiet!" ordered Leckie, and the little thing obeyed without saying a word.The mage-cleric looked to Jarlaxle. "Why are you protesting?" Jarlaxle asked Toze. "Haven't you little things always longed to come to this plane?" Dosawa tilted his head and squinted his eyes, looking pensive and worried. "Ah, that's right." The mercenary leader continued. "But recently you were summoned to this world not by a friend, but by an enemy, I heard so. The summoner was Cadderly of Kharadon." Toze bared his fangs and hissed when Jarlaxle mentioned the priest's name.This made both dark elves smile.

Looks like Gomph Baenre didn't cheat them. "We want Cadleli to suffer a little." Jarlaxle smiled evilly. "I wonder if Tuzawa is willing to help?" "What do you want me to do?" the kid asked eagerly. "We need to know everything about this human," Jarlaxle said. "Including his appearance, his behavior, his past, and his current location. As far as we know, Toze knows this man better than any other creature in the Abyss." "I hate this person even more." The kid corrected, he really seemed very eager.But immediately he looked at the two drow suspiciously. "I tell you what I know and you let me go," he said. Jarlaxle looked at Lecky, they had expected such a reaction from the kid.The mage-priest stood up, walked to the side of the small room, and pushed a screen away, revealing a small boiling kettle behind the screen. "I don't have a magic pet yet," Lecky said. "An imp will serve me well." There was a red flame in Dosawa's coal-black eyes. "So together we can make Cadley, and many humans suffer," he reasoned. "Does Toze agree?" Jarlaxle asked. "Does Tuze have any other options?" The kid asked sarcastically. "If you mean whether to serve Lecky, the answer is yes." Drow's answer surprised both the kid and Lacky. "If you mean whether to tell us what you know about Cadley, the answer is no. It's too important. If we have to torture you for a hundred years, we will." "Cadley would have died by then." Dozawa said coldly. "But it will still be fun to torture you," Jarlaxle replied quickly.Doze knew enough about the dark elves to know that this was not an empty threat. "Dozawa wants Cadley to suffer," the brat admitted with his black eyes blinking. "Then tell us," Jarlaxle said. "all." Later in the day, Toze and Leckie were working on some spells to make them master and familiar, and Jarlaxle sat alone in a room he had built under the Basadoni guild quarters. in the room.He had a lot of information from the kid, and most of all he didn't want his gang near Cadlei Bonnardos.This made Tozawa very discouraged.However, the leader of the Abbey of the Flying Spirit, who possesses power far beyond even Lecky and Kim Murray, might be unwise to fight against.To make matters worse, Cadley was recently re-establishing order among the priests, gathering around him young and strong acolytes and fanatical idealists. "They're the worst of the bunch," Jarlaxle said as Entreri walked in. "Idealist," he explained, seeing the killer's confused expression. "Of all things, I hate idealists the most." "They're blind idiots," Entreri agreed. "They are unpredictable zealots," Jarlaxle said. "As long as they think they're acting in accordance with the teachings of their God, they don't see any fear or danger." "Is there another guild whose leader is an idealist?" Entreri asked skeptically.He thought he had been called here to discuss an upcoming meeting with the other guilds in Calimport, to nip the war in the bud. "No, no, I'm talking about something else." Jarlaxle waved his hand away. "This is a matter that I need to worry about in Menzoberranzan, not Calimport. You don't have to worry about it, because you have more important things in front of you." And Jarlaxle immediately got rid of this matter from his mind and concentrated his energy on the matter in front of him.He was very surprised by Dozawa's report on Kadli, because he never thought that this human being would be such a big trouble.Although he was determined not to let his accomplices get close to Cadderly, he was not discouraged, because he knew that Drizzt and his friends were still far from the monastery called Goofy Spirit. Jarlaxle could not even allow them to see the place. "Yes! Nice to meet you! Oh, very happy! His Majesty King Bruno, and your friends, oh! What a joy!" This was about the tenth time Captain Bambo Thunderfist had said that to Bruenor since the Ratfish sailed out of Baldur's Gate.He was a loud dwarf with a flaming orange beard on a ruddy face and a big flat nose.The Mousefish was a square-bottomed shallow dwarf boat, about twenty feet long, with oars on either side, though usually only one; Bottom or turn.Bambor and his equally loud brother Donette seemed a little out of sorts at the sight of the eighth king of Mithril Hall.Bruno did seem surprised by this, he hadn't expected his name to become so popular, even among his own race. By now, though, the amazement had turned into sheer annoyance, for Bamboo, Donette, and their two rowing cousins, Yip and Quip Fishbreaker, were still around And he said flattery, oaths of allegiance, and all kinds of nonsense. Drizzt and Katie sat smiling behind the dwarves.The ranger kept looking at Katie—how he loved the way she stared away—to the confusion between the dwarves.Regis lay prone on the bow, stretched his head and arms out of the boat, and drew various patterns on the water with his fingers.And behind all of them is the gradually disappearing silhouette of Baldur's Gate. The drow thought of his passage through the city again, almost as easily as he had worn the magic mask.He earned this peace, as did several of them.When this quest is over and the Crystal Shard is safely delivered to Cadderly, when they find Wulfgar again and help him out of the darkness, perhaps they can travel the great world together again, without any special reason, but only to wonder what lies beyond the horizon, and there is nothing more unpleasant than the flattery of a dwarf. Drizzt smiled contentedly. He found hope again, Wulfgar's hope, and everyone's hope.On the day he stepped out of Menzoberranzan decades ago, he had never dreamed of such a happy life. At this moment, he suddenly remembered that his father, Zach Nafein, bought this opportunity for him with his own death.At this time, Zach must be looking at him in another livable and beautiful plane. Look at him and smile at him.