Chapter 4 Chapter 2 The First Messenger

Dock Street - a street in the port area of ​​Waterdeep City famous for its messiness.Captain Deudermont strolling here is so out of place with the surrounding environment.Clothes were tailored and tailored to his tall, thin frame, and his hair and goatee were meticulously groomed.Beside him, from time to time, filthy sailors staggered out of the tavern, reeking of tobacco and alcohol, and would even fall to the ground and fall into a coma.The reason why the thieves wandering here would not rob them is because they already have nothing on them. Deudermont didn't think there was anything wrong with this appearance, and he didn't think he would be more noble than these seamen.In fact, the gentleman captain preferred the company of such people to the pious aristocrats.

The night wind blowing from the sea made Deudermont feel a little cold, and he wrapped his body with the cloak folded behind his back.Even during the day.Most people would not walk alone on Quay Street, but Deudermont felt safe.At his waist was his scimitar, and he knew how to use it to its full potential.Moreover, all the taverns and docks in Waterdeep City have been notified that the captain of the Sea Spirit is under the protection of the lords of Waterdeep City, and among them are several very powerful great magicians.Anyone who dared to trouble the captain and his crew was doomed.Waterdeep City is the sanctuary of the Sea Spirit, and as long as Deudermont is in Waterdeep City, he will be fearless.So, when an old man called him at the entrance of an alley.He was just curious and didn't feel any fear.The skinny old man was wrinkled and barely five feet tall.

Deudermont stopped and looked at him.There was no sound in Quay Street except the din of the taverns and the moan of the old hulls in the sea wind. "Are you Du-de-Mont?" the old Gohai man called softly, and every word he uttered, a gust of wind came out of his missing teeth.He forced a grin, but he looked evil, with only two crooked teeth visible on the black gums. Deudermont stared at him without saying a word, making no attempt to answer him. "If you are," the man gasped, "then I have a message for you, a warning from someone you fear." The captain looked indifferent, indifferent to this sentence.Who will he be afraid of?Is this old guy talking about Pinocchio?It seemed so, especially since Sea Sprite had just escorted his two pirate ships back to Waterdeep earlier this week.But no one in Waterdeep City would have contact with these pirates. Their territory was in the very far south, even south of Baldur's Gate, near Moonshadow Island.

But besides him, who else could this person be talking about? With a smile on the old seaman's face all the time, he beckoned Deudermont to walk into the alley with him.When the old man turned and walked, the captain did not follow. "Are you afraid of old Skamer?" The leaking voice came again. Deudermont knew it was probably just a disguise, that many of the most powerful assassins would assume this harmless appearance, and that when their targets let their guard down, the poison-soaked daggers would sink into the chests of the unlucky ones. The old seaman returned to the entrance of the alley and walked straight to Deudermont who was standing on the street.

This is no pretense, the captain told himself, it was all too real, too perfect.Moreover, he remembered that he had seen this person before, he often sat near the entrance of this alley, and his home might be here. so what?Wouldn't there be ambushes in this alley? "Come with me," the old man gasped and waved his hand.Leaning on his crutches, he walked into the alley, muttering, "I'm just a messenger, I don't care if you care about the news!" Deudermont carefully examined the surroundings, no one else was staying here, and the surroundings did not look like they could hide a group of ambushes.He walked towards the entrance of the alley.The old seaman was less than ten steps ahead of him, and the building on the right cast a shadow on him, almost covering his body, while his laughter and coughing kept coming, it sounded like he wasn't stopping pace.

Deudermont put his hand on the handle of the knife and followed carefully, carefully observing the surrounding situation every time he took a step.The alley looked empty. "Enough!" Deudermont suddenly stopped, "If you want to tell me something, just say it here." "Some things can't be said out loud." The old man replied. "Say!" The old man who smelled like seafood was coughing, or maybe that was his laughter.He took a few steps back and stopped three feet away from Deudermont. Although the captain was surrounded by people with bad body odor, the smell on the other party's body almost made him faint.There is no chance to take a bath on the ship, and the Sea Spirit often goes to sea for several weeks, or even several months.But the mixed smell of cheap wine and old sweat still twisted Deudermont's face, and he had to put one hand to his nose, trying to block the poisonous smell.

Seeing Deudermont's expression, the old seaman's laughter became more and more hysterical. "Speak!" the captain ordered him. Before Deudermont could speak, the old seaman reached out and grabbed his wrist.The captain was not afraid, he twisted his arm, but the old man's hand was stronger than he expected. "I want to tell you about that nigger," said the old seaman. Deudermont was stunned for a while before realizing that his vague accent just now had completely disappeared. "Who are you?" Deudermont asked, jerking his arm violently, but it had no effect.Only then did he realize the other's superhuman strength; not even the Mist Giants on the coral reefs around Demarin to the south had ever made him feel so weak.

"That nigger," the old man repeated.He dragged Deudermont into the depths of the alley effortlessly. The captain reached for his cutlass.Although the old man tightly held Deudermont's right hand, his left-hand saber technique was equally lethal, but it was a bit troublesome to draw the saber with this hand.Before he could draw the knife out, the old man slapped him hard on the face with his other hand.He fell backwards, hitting the wall behind him.At this time, the short scimitar was already in his hand, and he handed the handle of the knife to his free right hand, and slashed the rib of the rushing old seaman with the knife.

The sharp scimitar penetrated into the opponent's flesh, but the old man did not flinch in the slightest.Deudermont fended off his next thrust, but by the time the third struck, his defenses were overwhelmed.The scimitar that he barely swung was sent flying by the old man's palm.The other hand pecked at Deudermont's receding head like a venomous snake.If the old man hadn't grabbed his shoulders in time, he might have fallen to the ground. Deudermont tried to study his foe with blurred vision.Doubt crept over his determined face, and the faces of his enemies melted into a mass and began to mold into new shapes.

"The nigger?" the thing asked again, but Deudermont could barely hear him, petrified.It was his own face that gazed menacingly at him. ※※※※ "He should be here by now," Katie said, leaning on the bar. Drizzt could see that she was losing patience.It wasn't because Deudermont was late, the captain was often delayed by various official affairs in Waterdeep City.Katie was disturbed by a sailor sitting on her other side, a stocky, stocky man.A bushy beard and curly hair grew almost to the top, all as black as a raven's feathers.He kept bumping into Katie, and each time he apologized and peeked over the shoulder at the beautiful woman, winking and smiling at her.

Drizzt turned and leaned against the waist-high bar.Compared with usual, the inside of the "Mermaid Arm" is much empty.It is good weather to go to sea, and most fishermen and caravans have left the port.But this place is still full of noise, many sailors are here to drink and talk about friendship.Of course, noisy and fighting is also common. "Robilar," Drizzt said softly.Katie also turned around, following Drow's line of sight to the magician who was walking towards them through the crowd. "Good evening," said the magician listlessly.He didn't look at the two mates, or wait for the bartender.He just shook his finger, and a bottle of wine and a glass jumped in front of him.Just as the bartender was about to protest, a pile of copper coins fell into the bartender's hands.The bartender shook his head disapprovingly and left, never quite annoyed by Sea Sprite's magician and his haughty attitude. "Where is Deudermont?" Robilla asked. "Must be squandering my reward." Drizzt and Katie exchanged a furtive smile.Robilar was among the most difficult and unkind people they had ever met, and even Dagna, the dwarven general of Mithral Hall, was a little more easygoing. "It must be," Drizzt replied. Robilla looked up and stared at him angrily. "Of course, Deudermont steals our property all the time," Katie said. "All he thinks about is wine and women, and how to appropriate things that don't belong to him." Robila shouted angrily, got up and left the bar. "I'd love to know the man's story," Katie said. Drizzt nodded in agreement, his eyes never leaving the wizard's back.Actually Robilla was a very strange person.Drow could sense that something terrible must have happened in his past.Maybe he killed someone for some unexplainable reason, was abandoned by his loved ones, or maybe he experienced too much magic and saw things that mortals should not see. Katie's quick words aroused Drizzt's interest in this man.What kind of person was Robilla?Where did his constant boredom and anger come from? "Where is Deudermont?" The sudden questioning voice awakened Drizzt who was in a trance.Drow turned his head and saw Weilan Maison.He was just twenty years old, with wheat-colored hair, yellow-brown eyes, and two big dimples on his cheeks forever, because he never stopped smiling.He is the youngest sailor on the Sea Spirit, even younger than Katie, but he has excellent eyesight when manipulating the ballista.Velan's shot had become a legend among Waterdeep seamen.Had the young man lived long enough, he would no doubt have gained considerable fame in the Sword Coast.Wielan Mason once shot a crossbow through the window of the pirate ship's captain's cabin four hundred yards away, impaling the pirate captain who was wearing a scimitar.Heavy crossbow spears pushed the pirate through the hatch and pinned him to the deck.The pirate ship surrendered immediately, and the real battle had not yet begun. "We're waiting for him, too," Drizzt replied.The sight of this cheerful young man lightened his spirits.Drizzt couldn't help but contrast the boy with Robillar, perhaps the oldest man on board besides Drizzt. Vilan nodded, "He should be here." He tried his best to lower his voice, but Drow's sensitive ears heard every word he said. "You want to see him?" Drizzt asked him. "I have something to talk to him," Wei Lan admitted, "I hope he can advance part of the fee." The young man's cheeks suddenly turned red.He moved close to Drizzt's ear so Katie couldn't hear him say "girlfriend." Drizzt found his smile even cuter. "The captain is late, but he won't be long." "I saw him just a few hundred paces away," Weilan said, "outside the gate of Misty Harbor, and he was coming here. I thought I could meet him here." Drizzt began to be a little concerned, "How long ago was that?" Whelan shrugged. "I got there before they got into a fight." Drizzt and Katie glanced at each other, the two fights just now were over long ago.And there is nothing special between Mermaid's Arm and Misty Harbor. Deudermont shouldn't delay so long. Drizzt sighed, taking a deep breath from his glass.He saw Robilar sitting back beside him now, at a table not far from them.There were still seats vacant, except for the four Sea Sprite's crew.Drizzt wasn't very worried, maybe Deudermont forgot something, or just changed his mind and decided not to come to the Mermaid Arm tonight.But Dock Street in Waterdeep City was a dangerous place after all, and the drow ranger's sixth sense was always alerting him. ※※※※ Deudermont did not know how long it had been since he lost consciousness. All he knew was that he was lying on the cold ground.That weird thing has perfectly imitated his appearance, even clothes and weapons are all missing.He is now sitting on Deudermont's back.Deudermont felt that the physical pain was less severe, but more terrifyingly, the captain felt that the creature was plundering his mind and stripping him of his memory.He would undoubtedly use this information to harm Deudermont's friends. You'll feel good, Deudermont felt the words echoing in his head, better than old Scamme. Even though it was all so unreal, the captain felt his stomach constricting.He believed that this monster had entered the corner of his perception.Doppelgangers are a very rare creature, but the disasters they have caused have long made people talk about this race. Deudermont felt himself lifted from the ground.The monster's strength was so great that he felt as if he had no weight, but returned to his standing position in a levitation.He turned and faced the creature, looking into his own face, waiting to be devoured. "Not yet time to eat you," replied the monster to his unspoken fear, "I need your thoughts. Good Captain Deudermont, I need to know enough about you and your ship so that I can Drive it out of Waterdeep's harbor. We're going far to the southwest, to an island no one knows, but everyone talks about." The monster's smile made Deudermont uneasy and irritated.Just as he was focusing all his attention on that malicious smile, the monster suddenly slammed his forehead into his cheek, and he passed out suddenly.After a while, Deudermont felt his face pressed against the cold stone floor again.His hands were tied tightly behind his back, his ankles were also tied together, and a hard object stretched his upper and lower jaws to the limit.He tried to turn his head, and saw that the doppelganger still kept his appearance, standing on top of a heavy iron grid. Deudermont couldn't believe how the monster could have been so powerful that it could lift the roof of the sewer, which weighed five hundred pounds.The doppelganger lifted it effortlessly against the curb wall, then turned, picked up Deudermont, and threw him onto the pavement. The captain's nostrils were filled with a suffocating smell, even more unbearable than the rancid stench in the sewers.He lifted his face from the mud to find the source of the smell. Beside him lay the real Skamer.He was covered in blood, and most of his body had been torn away, which must have been eaten by the shapeshifter.The sound of the iron cover being reset came, and Deudermont subconsciously wanted to jump up.But he still lay there, terrified, but helpless.He knew that Skamer was his lesson from the past.