Blackstaff Tower

CHAPTER 12

10 Nightal, Year of the Ageless One (1479 DR)

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm bored," Osco said after having paced around the warm study a number of times. "If you'd spent last night fighting an archmage and corrupt Watchmen, then fleeing through the sewers before coming here, you'd be tired too, little man," Meloon mumbled as he lay before the fire.

Osco wandered past the large fighter and bent down to whisper in Vharem's ear. "Hey, V, want to explore this place with me? There's some interesting stuff here-and I'm not talking about the wine cellars, though those were a good find.".

"I don't steal from friends," Vharem said, opening only one eye. "They know where to find you."

"You used to be more fun, V," Osco said. "There were a few locks I wanted you to help me with."

Renaer sleepily rolled over on his couch and faced Osco. "If it's any of the doors in the tower, I've their only keys-and they're all magically locked besides. There's things up there you shouldn't disturb, Osco. Things I know to leave well enough alone."

Osco sulked as he walked to the table and burled his frustrations beneath a flurry of eating, consuming what remained of the large ham and the bread. In between bites, he mumbled, "Just because I wasn't up all night doesn't make lying around all day dull as dwarves."

Vajra, who had remained unconscious most of the day, rose slowly from the divan and said, "The hin speaks true. We must get to Blackstaff Tower. It has chosen a potential heir. I need to become Blackstaff before that path-and my mind-dissolves. I have need of Varad's books and counsel." With that, Vajra vanished.

The only sounds in the room were the crackles of fire and the snorting chuckles of a halfling with his mouth full. The others staggered up from dozing as Osco said, "Guess someone's disturbing things anyway, chief-and I doubt she's gone to the kitchens." With that, he dashed out of the room and cut left down the corridor.

Vharem asked, "Where'd she go?"

Renaer threw off his furs with a growl. "Varad's books are eithet here or in the tower!"

By the time the whole quartet roused themselves from beneath their furs, Osco's movement had lit up all the torches back down to the entry chamber. Renaer snapped "Stlaern!" as he pushed past a tapestry and through an open doorway mostly blocked by the wall-hanging. Vharem, Meloon, and Laraelra followed him into the stairwell that led up into a high tower. A blizzard howled outside the slim arrow-slit windows. Ice and snow pelted the tower.

They ignored the smaller landings and doors as they raced past two upper levels and found Osco at the third landing, waiting for them in front of a door.

"Well," Osco said. "Saer, 'I've got the only key to the tower rooms,' I can hear her rummaging around in there."

Renaer scowled at him and reached into his belt pouch to withdraw a silver key. Osco's eyes widened, as the key was a true work of art. Pure silver with some light runes around the bow end of it, the key's tines were table- and trap-cut emeralds of various sizes.

"Weird key," Osco muttered. "No wonder I couldn't pick the lock."

Renaer unlocked the door and opened it. The five of them entered a chamber that seemed larger than the tower in which it was housed. Renaer noted it was devoid of cobwebs and cold, unlike the lower rooms, and very orderly. Not a single book lay out on any of the three tables, nor were any stuffed haphazardly atop a shelf. The only things on the tables were rows of wooden rods, ivory wands, and other components laid out as if someone were planning to craft something.

In the center of the circular room lay a rune-inscribed circle painted in a variety of colors, twelve different runes in each of three successive circles. At the center of the circles, the floor was painted black. Stars glinted inside that void, and Vajra levitated cross-legged above it with a massive spellbook in her lap. She nodded at the group's entrance.

"How did you get up here, Vajra?" Renaer said. "Varad's tomes said none could enter this chamber without his key."

"I've been here before, youngling," she said, her voice and demeanor far older than she seemed. "The Shifter held few secrets the Blackstaff did not share. Now hush." Silence muffled the room. The only sounds heard now were Vajra's mutterings and the sound of her turning the vellum pages of the spellbook. After a short time, all but Laraelra withdrew from the room to sit on the steps outside the room.

"— really hate wizards, aye." Osco's voice returned as he stepped out of the room. "Was she this much fun to be around earlier too?"

"I liked her more when she needed to be carried," Vharem muttered.

"Could be worse," Meloon said. "If she's getting her head together, that means we might have a fighting chance against Ten-Rings and his fake Blackstaff. I say we keep helping her, and she'll be able to help us."

"I certainly hope so," Renaer said. "If she knows so much about Varadras, she probably knows how to use the portals. I just hope she doesn't use them alone and leave us stranded here another day."

"So where would we end up if we used them?" Osco asked.

Renaer sighed, thinking a moment. "The portal from my garden only leads here-to the receiving hall. There's three command words that take anyone standing on the mosaic back to Neverember Manor, Ordalth House, or a stone circle in the middle of the Pellamcopse north of the city. If the mosaic is used, it can't be used again for at least half a day until its magic restores itself."

"The Pellamcorpse?" Osco blurted. "Why would anyone visit that monster-infested place?"

"It wasn't always as it is now. In Varad's day and before, it was a pleasant little woods good for hunting game within a short walk from the Northgate. The Spellplague corrupted it. I've only read about that link, never used it. Varad's book talks about the arrival point being a place of worship older than the earliest settlements of Waterdeep. I think he tapped into older magic there to make this portal network of his stable."

"Um, are we supposed to know what and where Ordalth House is?" Meloon asked.

"It's a marble four-story grandhouse in Castle Ward, close to Diloontier's amp; Sons Apothecary."

"You forget," Vharem said, "not all of us study history, the names of buildings, or wander every street and alley in the city."

Renaer smiled and nodded. "Fair enough. We'll go to Ordalth House and Osco can get us into the Warrens from there. Then we'll get as close as we can to Blackstaff Tower without being detected and hope the gods are with us as we dash to the tower. I hope Vajra's presence will get us through its gates."

"Lots of hopes in that plan," Osco said. "Trust in us, not the gods, Ren. We can be counted on more often."

"Tymora'U help us," Meloon said.

"You rely on luck a lot, big guy?" Osco asked.

"I'm still striding," Meloon replied with a wink.

"Well," Vharem interrupted, "I hope that luck's with us, as milady wizard and our friendly sewer-sorceress are done with whatever they were doing in there."

The door thundered and all four heard both women cry out. Meloon shoved the door open and Renaer stepped to the side, his daggers at the ready. Inside the room, a column of green energy roared, Vajra hovering at its center. Lightning crackled off of her, and she spasmed with each pulse leaving her hands or feet. The magic circles above which she hovered absorbed some of the magic, but random bolts arced across the room.

Osco yelled, "Down!" and shoved at Vharem's knees, knocking him out of the path of a blast heading out the door. The halfling looked at Vajra, then yelled to Vharem, "I agree with you-I liked her better unconscious too!"

From behind the open door, Laraelra said, "Just before this started, she dropped that wizard's tome, her eyes went all black, and green lightning crackled all over her. Then she said, 'Chartham, ye stand as traitor,' and slammed me into the door. I can't stop her!"

"Chartham?" Renaer asked.

Vajra's head snapped toward him. Her gray eyes widened and she spoke, her voice deeper than usual, "Slay my heir, would you?" She raised a hand, and Renaer dived behind the table to his right as lightning exploded where he had stood.

"Blackstaff!" Renaer yelled. "You're dead, Krehlan! Let Vajra go!

The energy in the room dimmed, but Vajra remained focused on Renaer. "Dead? Let who go?" She stared at him, then down at her own outstretched hand, and finally down at her body. "But-oh, we're not in the tower. In an unreadied heir…"

With a snap of her fingers, the lightning storm ceased, and Vajra settled down on the ground. Her head kept twitching left and right, and Renaer saw her eyes shimmering in many colors.

Her eyes widened as she saw Meloon helping Laraelra up with one hand, his other holding his axe. As Renaer approached her, she nodded, murmuring something he didn't catch.

"What did you do, Ren?" Vharem asked.

"Chartham Dellenvol killed Krehlan Arunsun, the Blackstaff, over fifty years ago," Renaer explained. "When Vajra said his name, I guessed she might be possessed by Krehlan's spirit. He was the one who was Varad's friend too. All I could do was make him notice he wasn't in the past and hope that'd do something. Guess it did."

"And here I thought reading all those books would never help," Osco said.

Vajra balled her fists and closed her eyes a moment. When she looked up at Renaer, her deep brown eyes stayed focused and alert. "Thank you," she said. "Can we get to Blackstaff Tower soon? The power is… unstable. I need to claim it before it claims me… or another usurps it… and with it, the city. And my life."

"Very well," Renaer said. "Let's go."

Renaer led everyone out of the chamber and down the stairs. As they descended, Renaer said, "We can use the entry hall to teleport directly to another house I have closer to Blackstaff Tower-one the Watch may not know I own. From there…"

Osco nodded and said, "We'll improvise."

They entered the receiving chamber, and Renaer said, "Everyone stand on the carpet at the room's center-where we arrived-and hold onto each other. Do we have what we'll need?"

When the others nodded in agreement, Renaer stepped onto the carpet with them. He opened his mouth to speak the command, but Vajra's hand shot out to hit him in the chest. Her eyes were black storms afire with green energy, and she yelled, "Uarlaenpellam!"

Renaer shouted, "No! "as the six of them vanished — and reappeared in ankle-deep snow and a wailing wind. The sky was open overhead, though dark and frigid, and they saw they stood at the center of a stone circle, its ancient arches holding back the thick, dark forest that surrounded it.

"Quality place, Renaer," Vharem said. "Very top coin, this. Roof needs work, though."

"Nice, Ren." Osco snorted. "The one place we don't want to go "I didn't do it-she did!" Renaer grabbed Vajra by the shoulders, hoping for an answer.

She smiled, looking past Renaer at Meloon, and said, "Find something that's been safe here-an ally for today and in times yet to pass. Find your fate." She pointed at the stones to the east, and fired five amber missiles from her fingertips. One lanced through a stone arch, disappearing but leaving a wake of sparks, while the othets splashed onto the stones and lit the entire circle with a yellow glow that pulsed upward as a pillar of light. With that, her eyes rolled up into her head again and she fell into Renaer's arms.

"So much for help from the mighty wizard," Vharem said, "or for avoiding notice."

"You know," Osco said, "if all it took was so much fainting, my Aunt Delalar could be considered a wizard."

"What'd she mean?" Meloon asked. He took Vajra from Renaer's arms and hefted her almost effortlessly into his own. "Where's this ally she mentioned?"

"Out there. The quicker we find him, the sooner we can head back to the city." Renaer stomped angrily through the archway and into the forest in the direction of Vajra's missile. The trail was easily followed as the orange sparkles it left behind still hung in the night air.

It was not yet midnight, but the night was icy. The blizzard and its cloud cover at Varadras had not yet drifted south to this area. Selune and her Tears sent moonlight filtering through bare branches bedraggled by glowing mosses. Lichens and mosses glowed underfoot. The spongy deadfall and undergrowth crunched and crackled as the friends' steps cracked the frost and snow.

"Where are we?" asked Meloon. "I don't recognize the trees or the scent of this place."

"The stars look right for the Sword Coast," Vharem said, "but I can't see much beyond the trees."

"It's odd," Laraelra said. "All the magic around here seems tied up in knots instead of flowing. See?" She pointed ahead and the orange sparkles whirled around like angry gnats and then splashed into a large tree, which quivered in response.

"This place is as far from a normal forest as Undermountain is to a cellar," Osco said. "They say it's a haunted place filled with dead wizards, spell-warped animals, and worse. No one goes through the Pellamcorpse unscathed. The only good thing is that no undead walk here."

"Osco, would you be quiet?" Vharem said

"Would you all be quiet?" Renaer snapped. "Or do you want to attract more attention than Vajra's magic already has?"

"I'd say that's a moot point," Laraelra whispered, pointing down the vine-choked trail toward a clearing, where a shadowed figure blocked their path.

Tall and wide-shouldered, the cloaked figure hunched over on one knee in the center of the clearing. In the moonlight, they could see clouds of its breath curling from beneath its hood. The figure lifted its hooded head, and the moonlight caught a bright patch of white hair on the darkly bearded chin. Little else was visible beneath that hood.

"Khelben?" Renaer whispered. "But he's been dead for more than-"

"Is this the ally we were supposed to find?" Meloon asked. "Doesn't look too friendly."

A snarl cut him off, and the figure leaped straight up, clearing the height of the trees, and his arms threw the cloak wide. Huge black wings threw it off and a massive cat-headed man with raven black wings flew around the clearing. Various white sigils stood out on its torso and arms as if tattooed or bleached into its black body pelt. A long tail lashed behind the figure, its movements swift and angry.

"Oh stlaern," Osco whispered. "The Nameless Haunt!" He looked around for shadows in which to hide, and quickly slipped behind Meloon, who was handing Vajra over to Vharem with one arm while unbuckling his axe.

Laraelra whispered, "I never expected… he's beautiful."

Vharem said, "Yeah, like a knife's edge-and far more dangerous!"

While his voice should not have carried across the distance, everyone heard the creature equally well when it spoke. "Intruders," he snarled, "have you come to steal our power?"

The cat-man's hands gestured, and his claws and pinfeathers glowed green. The forest shifted around them, trees sliding backward with groaning, clattering branches. The six heroes found themselves standing in a clearing with the creature diving toward them. He smiled, and his fangs gleamed in the moonlight. The cat-man broke out of his dive and landed in a crouch nearby. "Good," he said. "We've been bored."

"Forgive our trespass," Renaer said. "We come as friends. We mean you no harm."

The Haunt laughed. "You couldn't harm us if you tried, boy. But since you've come as friends, I'll be polite and warn you." His claws wove a spell, and suddenly there were seven identical images of the Nameless Haunt standing in a semicircle, spreading around them. All of them smiled their fanged grins, and said in unison, "Run." With that, the figures leaped toward the group.

Laraelra stood her ground, launching two quicksilver bolts at the images. An illusoty Nameless Haunt dissipated under the assault, and the other roared as the silver colored missile slammed into his wide feline snout.

Meloon ran forward, leaped into the air, and swung his axe with a roar. The blades passed cleanly through two more images, popping them like soap bubbles. Meloon landed and rolled along the ground, coming back up in a crouch behind the creature, his axe at the ready.

Vharem carried Vajra back to the trees as quickly as he could, preceded only by Osco running full out. Renaer held up a long sword and backed away, trying to provide cover for them to get their vulnerable friend away from danger.

The claws of the four remaining Nameless Haunts all glowed silver-blue. They raised their arms and wings in unison, and then snapped all sixteen limbs straight out. Shadowy webs shot out of eight pairs of wings and claws to entangle Osco, Meloon, Vharem, and Laraelra.

Meloon whirled with his axe and stumbled out of the dark patch. He encountered no resistance. "Hey! It's nothing!"

Laraelra stepped to one side, her hands cupped together. She finished her spell and unleashed a dazzling display of colored lights over the cat-man and his shadow web. Her magic wiped those images away.

Osco jogged forward, a slight whistling at his side, and whipped his sling upward. The stone bullet easily pierced the head of his feline attacker, and the mirage dissolved.

Renaer stepped forward to help Vharem and Vajra, but yelled, "Hey!" as he found the shadow webs solid, unlike the others. The dark cocoon containing Vharem and Vajra quivered and large batlike wings unfurled from its surface and flapped the cocoon skyward. The sole remaining Haunt flapped its wings and hovered over the clearing, chilling everyone with the cold downdraft of his huge wings. While the dark cocoon flapped off to the east, the Nameless Haunt looped high skyward and then dived toward Laraelra.

Quicksilver bolts flashed from her fingers and streaked straight for his wings, stunning him and turning his glide into a tumble. Laraelra turned and ran, but the Haunt rolled out of his fall and pursued, loping along on his arms and legs like a cat. She reached the trees just ahead of the Haunt, who shoved her into a large tree.

Laraelra vanished.

"No!" Renaer and Meloon yelled, and they broke into a run, brandishing sword and axe.

The Nameless Haunt turned toward the roaring warriors. He gestured, a slight glow of magic on his claws, and a large pit groaned open in their path. Renaer, unable to check his speed, fell in. Meloon leaped, swinging his axe, and landed on the far edge of the pit. He sank his axe into the frozen turf, his weapon holding him up at the edge of the pit. "Climb up me, Ren!" he yelled, but Renaer lay stunned at the bottom of the pit. Meloon shifted around, using his free hand to grab at frozen grass and turf at the edge to pull himself out.

The area went dark around Meloon as the Nameless Haunt glided down to crouch over where Meloon scrambled out of the pit. The cat-man sniffed, growled low, and extended one claw at Meloon's axe. His touch turned the axe's wooden haft to dust, and Meloon yelled as he fell backward into the pit.

Sniffing ahd growling, the Nameless Haunt looked down into the pit. He called down to the men. "Nameless shall take wizards to talk. You and your friends stay here."

His head twitched to one side, as if he caught a scent, and he lashed his wings back, slamming Osco Salibuck on both chest and back, driving the wind out of him. The Nameless Haunt stepped over to the gasping halfling and picked him up by his cloak and collar, sniffing at him more intently. Osco struggled for breath, made even harder as his cloak pulled taut, pressing the clasp against his windpipe. The cat-man's yellow eyes widened, and he smiled.

Osco winced. "Stop! Don't eat-"

"HappylittlemanPikar! Nameless joyous!" The cat-man pulled the halfling into an embrace and licked his face, then pulled back with a growl. "You are not Pikar, though your scents are similar. Who are you?"

Osco, finally breathing normally, struggled against the creature's greater strength, and said, "Pikar? You've got me confused, saer. I'm Osco Salibuck."

"Osco did not have this." Osco shuddered as the cat-man's claw popped out in front of the halfling's left eye. "He also had a beard and stank of bad pipeweed."

"Sounds like me great-gradam. Hey-you knew him? And Pikar was me great-gradam! Say, how old are ye?"

The Nameless Haunt cocked his head, considering Osco's words, and the lightly furred face held a quizzical look. "You are a friend of the Blackstaff?"

"Aye!" Osco nodded, still squirming to break the creature's grip. "At least until you made off with her! Where'd you take her?"

"Home." He carried Osco over to the pit's edge, holding him over the edge as he looked down on the two men. "You are friends with the Blackstaff, too?"

Meloon nodded. He seemed awkward and insecure without his axe.

Renaer rubbed the back of his head and said, "Yes, and if you've-"

The Haunt gestured, and the pit filled up from below, raising the two humans back up to stand even with him. Renaer still held his sword, but he dropped it when the Haunt tossed Osco at him. The cat-man held up his hands and said, "Peace, then. We too are friends of the Blackstaff. We shall go to my home. We carry you, yes?"

"I can walk on my own," Meloon huffed.

The Nameless chuckled, shaking his head. "You cannot reach our home by walking. You need wings."

"Do you vow on the Blackstaff not to harm us? Or those you captured?" Renaer asked.

"Aye. All are safe. We go now."

The Nameless Haunt spread his arms, but Meloon shook his head. "I'm not going with that thing. Not flying."

The cat-man seemed puzzled as he looked to Renaer, Osco, and then back at the cross-armed Meloon.

"Meloon, come," Renaer said. "We know we can't fight him, and he's offered us hospitality. Let's go."

"You go. I'll follow on foot." Meloon picked up Renaer's sword and looked at the cat-man. "Which way do I need to go?"

One claw extended to the northeast. Meloon nodded, then turned and started walking that way. The Nameless Haunt launched a quick spell at his back, which froze Meloon in mid-stride. He swept his left arm back to hold Renaer back, and said, "He is scared to fly, we think. We go now. Easier. Come."

The cat-man wrapped his left arm around Renaer's shoulders, and Renaer threw his right arm around the Haunt's massive shoulders, above the joints where his wings sprouted from his back. The Haunt shrugged Renaer off the ground and walked to collect the frozen Meloon, wrapping his right arm around Meloon's waist and carrying the paralyzed warrior like he would a large log. He then flapped his wings and took to the air.

Renaer had only ever been this high in the air with a solid tower beneath his feet, and his stomach watred with him as he saw the ground drop away. He gulped and breathed deeply, and the cat-man snorted. "It's easier to not look down. Look up, groundling. Look up."

The Nameless Haunt flew high into the air, and Renaer looked up. The clouds had parted and he could see Sehlne brighter and closer than ever before. The Haunt swooped up and over, and Renaer let out a slight gasp of surprise that became a deep laugh as they rushed to the ground. "I never knew flying felt so free! So alive!"

"Hey!" Osco yelled. "What about me?"

The Nameless Haunt snatched Osco by the shoulders with his foot claws. after a moment of wailing and howling, Osco started laughing.

Renaer called down to him, "What's so funny, Osco?"

"You ever have such a view, Ren?"

"Never."

Renaer's worries about the others faded as he focused on the experience of flying. The Nameless Haunt's strange combination of feathers and fur and strong scent mattered little, though Renaer was glad the creature's hard muscles held them aloft rather than fought them. He looked down and around and smiled. Osco was right-to see the world from on high was breathtaking. The moonlit trees were silver and white, and they flew high enough that Renaer could make out the entire southern half of the Pellamcopse. They passed over a small clearing, and Renaer saw a six-legged bear with a white mane leap upon what looked like a deer with two heads. Nearby, a tall collection of conifers stood out above the bare deciduous treetops, though their needles were a blazing red and glowing slightly in the moonlight.

"Amazing," Renaer whispered.

The Nameless Haunt purred. "There's more to see when it's not winter."

As they swooped around the red pines, three tentacles lashed out of the treetops toward them. Renaer saw numerous fanged maws dotting the wide flat limb and he tried to free his sword. The Nameless Haunt growled out a spell, and brilliant light shone down from his eyes. The tentacles snapped out of sight beneath the tree cover. The Nameless said, "The buarala hunger, but they shun light. Much more dangerous beneath the trees."

The quartet flew in silence after that, and Renaer kept his eyes open despite the wind and cold. He loved the sensation of flight and-enjoyed the expanded view all around. He could see the Crown of the North far off to his right, and a few fires dotted the night to the south and the east of them and the forest.

"Travelers bringing goods to Waterdeep before winter?" he said.

"Fools should hurry," the Haunt replied. "We scent blizzard coming fast. Two suns or less."

"Speaking of fast, are we there yet?" Osco asked. "It's chilly down here!"

The cat-man looped lower and down to the right. " 'Tis a short flight yet. The forest pulled me far to answer the call."

Renaer asked, "So the Pellamcopse's magic drew you to us? Or was it Vajra's spell?"

"No spell. The Pellamcopse asks us to go to any magical intruder-and helps us do so. Vajra is the one marked by Black-staff?"

Renaer nodded.

Osco's questions came quickly through his chattering teeth. "Why do you look the way you do? Did a Blackstaff do this to you? Did Khelben curse you to haunt this place?"

The cat-man's growl-like chuckle vibrated against Renaer's side. "Khelben was a friend-and more. The Spellplague made us. We had to become as we are to save our love. We protected Blackstaff so she could guard Waterdeep."

Renaer noticed the cat-man's eyes tearing as he talked, but he cleared his throat with a rumbling growl and then focused on their flight, not saying a word.

For the test of the flight, the only sounds were the flapping of the creature's wings and Osco's incessant chatter.

"… big baby-scared of heights. He'll be sorry he missed this view! Hey! Ren, did you see those green owls down there? And those perytons? This forest has some of the nastiest critters alive down there."

They arrived at the Haunt's treetop lair with the stars still bright. The cat-man spread his wings wide, and they came to a soft landing on a balcony formed from three parallel tree limbs. The lair looked like what Renaer had read about elven tree settlementsplatforms and rooms shaped out of or into massive trees. The only difference was that Renaer couldn't see any stairs or ways to reach this height without flying. Renaer guessed they were higher than even a five-story building in North Ward.

The Nameless Haunt ushered them into a large chamber, and Renaer gasped at the warmth in what appeared an open-air room. The cat-man set Meloon properly on his feet and relinquished the spell on him.

Meloon said, "Well, which-Hey!" The blond warrior reached back for his weapon, only to find it missing, and he looked around in confusion and anger, scratching his head about how he arrived here.

"We are sorry to enspell you," the Nameless Haunt said to Meloon. "We only wanted to reunite friends more quickly." He motioned to the rear of the chamber, where Vharem, Laraelra, and Vajra sat or lay inside cells within the massive tree trunk, the bars thick thorn-laden branches. The cat-man gestured and the bars all spread wide, allowing them to exit their cells. While Vharem and Laraelra got out quickly, Vajra remained unconscious.

Osco cackled happily and asked, "What happened to you guys?

"That cocoon dumped me here in this cell along with Vajra," Vharem said. "The place is warm and there was food-but it's still prison!"

"For your own protection." The Nameless flexed his claws, cocked an eyebrow, and asked, "You wish to fight us, boy?"

Vharem fumed, but Renaer intervened. "No, we don't. We just didn't know what you wanted with us, why you attacked us, or why you abducted our friends."

"Wizards more apt to talk than warriors," the Nameless explained. "We only take warrior because he carried her." He pointed at Vajra. "She sick? Nameless know Samark healthy. Did someone kill Blackstaff?"

Renaer nodded.

The cat-man's face glowered, and Renaer suddenly understood the tales of how fearsome Khelben's glare could be, especially now when mixed into leonine features. The cat-man returned to stroking Vajra's hair and face, whispering to her. "She has not been to tower? She needs help to understand her power." He uttered a few quick syllables and his palms glowed as he stroked her head.

Vajra's eyes snapped open, black orbs with storms of green energy. The Haunt shushed her like he would a baby, and continued to stroke her head. Crackles of lightning surged from her eyes, then died down to normal hazel-colored eyes rimmed with tears. "Raegar…"

"Tsarra love mistress wife… we are glad to see your eyes again." He purred in return.

"It hurts to see you this way, Raegar, What you and Nameless did…"

"Had to be done. Now why do you haunt this lass? You belong in tower, as we belong here."

Vajra sat up and looked around. "We're in the'Pellamcopse?" When the cat-man nodded, she said, "Vajra wasn't readied. The power transfer happened outside the tower. Someone killed Samark. Why are we here though?"

The woman's eyes clouded to black again, then shifted to cobalt blue eyes. Vajra sat up straighter, her shoulders squared, and raised an eyebrow as she stared around the room. The cat-man bristled slightly, his wing feathers ruffling.

"I brought us here," she said. "Nameless, you've guarded something well for some time, but it needs to return to the city."

"As do you, Khelben. Spirits hurt Vajra."

"I realize the dangers more than you, familiar friend. Let us attend to our task and we'll visit again when we have more time." Vajra's stem voice whispered something only the Haunt could hear, and he nodded.

The cat-man and Vajra both cast the same spell with their left hands, their right hands remaining tightly gtasped together. Theit magic opened one wall of the room, revealing a small chamber.

"You four men need to see who she'll allow to wield her," Vajra said. "Her time for sleep is over."

"So what befalls here?" Laraelra asked, stepping up and blocking the opening. "Why not me?"

"You shall wield something far greater, girl, should you prove patient enough."

Vharem, Osco, Renaer, and Meloon entered the small chamber, finding it close and small for all of them. At the center of the room was a tree stump, and embedded in it was a beautiful silver axe with a rune-carved double-bladed head, its haft wrapped in blue dragonskin and a star sapphire winked at the pommel's end. The exposed edges of the blades all glowed with a shimmering blue radiance, lighting the chamber.

Renaer stepped forward, whispering, "Azuredge." When he grasped the axe's handle, he pulled hard once, twice, and gave up after the third tug didn't release it. Renaer was crestfallen as he stepped back and let Vharem try. "This axe is legendary. Its wielder is always a great defender of Waterdeep. Ahghairon the first Open Lord himself made this as a tribute to the Warlord Lauroun more than four and a half centuries ago."

"Well, it's useless if none of us can pull the thing free from this stump," Vharem said. "Why do wizards always muck up good weapons by sticking them in things that need a prophecy or destiny or something to get it free?" The slender man grabbed the axe's haft, but rather than pulling, he held it and his eyes wandered and his face lost its color. After a moment, he let go, as if the axe were painful.

"What happened?" Renaer asked.

His long-time friend looked at him, opened his mouth, and then closed it, shaking his head. "Not for me," he whispered. "Told me so."

Meloon, who had been awestruck when he entered, stepped up, but Osco leaped up onto the stump to straddle the axe's handle and pull on it as hard as he could. His efforts were useless, other than to make Vharem chuckle and Renaer and Meloon smile. The halfling opened his eyes after another strained attempt, and shrugged.

"Had to try, didn't I? I get the feeling this thing's meant fot the big guy."

"That thing probably weighs as much as you do, Osco." Renaer said. "If you'd drawn it, how could you have used it?"

"Fetch a fair price for the gems, the silver, the dragonskin," Osco ticked off items on his fingers to Renaer's gut-wrenching horror, and then giggled when he saw Renaer's face. He winked at Vharem and said, "I'm not sure. Has he always been this easy to tease?" Osco hopped off and clapped Meloon on the calf as he walked out of the room. "Go to it, big man."

Meloon reached over and grabbed the haft of the axe. Blue flames flared around the axe and the warrior. Renaer and the others flinched back, but Meloon stayed transfixed and seemed unharmed by the blue fire.

A bitter wind whistled around Meloon, who found he stood alone on a wooded plateau, seedling trees and shrubs slapping his knees in the wind. He whirled around to the familiar sight of Mount Waterdeep. But all else was strange. No city, no toads crossed the plain where he stood, and the mountain lay bare and untouched by any hand but nature's.

He stood near a crossroads, and he turned toward a rider's approach. Astride a stallion was a woman clad in chain mail, her face framed by the metal garb and a few sttay red locks. She stared down at Meloon, her cerulean eyes freezing him in place. She broke eye contact first and stared east, down the lone dirt path. She looked again at Meloon, then directed her eyes west, down toward the deepwater harbor. Meloon could see a log palisade on the mountain spur where Castle Waterdeep would be, and he could see the Spires of Morning, recognizable as the great temple to Amaunator, even though it was still being built.

Meloon asked, "Am I fallen into yesterday? Is this Waterdeep in the past?"

"Will you fight?" the blue-eyed warrior asked. Meloon nodded. "If the cause is just."

"Or the pay is right?" She cocked an eyebrow at the sellsword's common phrase.

Meloon shook his head. "Take only honest pay from honest folk, or you repay coin with guilt."

The woman smiled, then tossed a double-bladed axe to him. "If the Black Claws descend upon us, how do we protect the city?" She stared to the east, a cloud of dust rising beyond the trees.

Meloon looked east, then west toward the temple and further down the plateau at what he knew as Dock Watd and she knew as the city. He saw the limited trails, the heavier forest to the northwest, and the cliffs to the east.

"The walls protect the docks and the southern city?" Meloon asked. She nodded, and Meloon pointed with the axe at the trees along the trail. "I'd use my axe to fell the trees and block the trail. That forces any attackers into smaller units among the trees or around the whole plateau to attack along the roads to the south. Either way buys you more time for more defenses-or more ways to pick off. the enemies. If you have to, set fire to the undergrowth-the smoke will slow them further, and it shouldn't harm the trees much."

The woman smiled and brought her shield up-a serpentine dragon wrapping vertically around a sword resting point down on a green field.

Meloon's eyes went wide, and he said, "Did you copy that from my memory?"

The woman's face became unreadable, as she shook her head. "This is my family's crest. Why?"

Meloon pulled his shirt open to reveal the same emblem-the dragon over the sword-tattooed over his heart and beneath a hairy chest. "It's my family's mark of old. The Wardragons of Loudwater. I was told many Wardragons originally settled Waterdeep, but I'd found none in two years in the city."

The woman dismounted and grasped Meloon by the shoulders. "You found me. You are not only worthy, you are kin. Know me as Lauroun, once-warlord of this place. Now, together, we can both be her defenders." She grasped his hand around the axe and brought them both up, her eyes framed above the blade. The axe burst into blue flames that matched her eyes.

Meloon's eyes focused on what he held in his hand. The runes on the axe head flashed three times, and the entire axe flared with blue flames. Meloon whispered, repeating the voice he heard in his head, "May the weapon be as worthy as its wieldet, its wielder as worthy as the weapon…"

Meloon blinked and saw the last of the flames wink out as his normal eyesight returned. He came out of the room carrying Azuredge.

Vajra smiled a tight, thin smile, and said, "Good. Wield her well, warrior." She looked back at the cat-man. "When dawn breaks, the magic that created and tied you here should open. We need to redirect it, pulling us home." She reached up with a glowing hand and rested it on his cheek. The Nameless Haunt snarled in pain as she sent magic into his head. She muttered, "I'm sorry for it all," and collapsed into the cat-man's atms.

"We are too, Blackstaff." The Nameless stood and carried her out onto the balcony overlooking the forest. The light of dawn lit the eastern horizon. From their high vantage point in the tallest trees of the forest, everyone could see the distant slopes of Mount Waterdeep and the city huddled around it a few miles to the west.

The Nameless Haunt settled Vajra into Renaer's arms and began weaving a complex spell. He seemed to pull more and more light from the horizon and onto the balcony with them. After a few moments, he turned and said, "Stand here and face the mountain. I'll send you home."

"Thank you for everything," Renaer said. "If there's anything-"

"Not for us," the Haunt said. "Get her to her tower. She needs to touch the true Blackstaff soon. Then all may be better." He looked at them all, then shot a quick look at the eastern horizon and ruffled his wings. "Go now… to where we became. Help her and our city. Tell her we love her always. And be her friend, for a Blackstaffs life is lonely too."

The Nameless Haunt's wings spread full, scattering magic all around and over the group, his black feathers edged and glistening with red-gold energy.

Vajra stirred in Renaer's arms and said, "Farewell, love." Tears fell from her hazel eyes and streamed down her cheeks.

The sparkles swirled into a ring of light that settled around and over the six of them. Renaer watched as the air around them grew hazy. The haze shimmered, then a flare of light on its eastern face lit up the entire globe. The silver ring expanded from their feet, rising up around them and above their heads. Renaer closed his eyes and felt his stomach flip, and he had a brief sensation of flight again.

When he opened his eyes, he stood in a small fenced garden, winter bare and frost-rimed. Before him were not the trees of the Pellamcopse but the seaward slopes of Mount Waterdeep. Night still reigned in the skies overhead, but the first rays of dawn lanced beneath the heavy clouds that drifted above from the western sky. What bothered Renaer more was the fact that he stood alongside Osco, but the others had disappeared.