Blade and Ballard: The Good Bard and Questionable Paladin

Prologue

It’s a cold night as the moon illuminates the quiet streets of Baldurs Gates upper city. The aristocracy tend not to loiter in the streets after sun down unlike the denizens of the lower city. Tonight brings a change to that norm however, with a band of miscreants stealthily making their way through the shadowed back alleys. Among them is Adalyn, a young wood elf, darting across the dimly lit entry points, taking care to avoid the gaze of the steel watch sentries.

The guild have been working on this score for the last couple years as a way to gain a foot hold in the city. Aran Linvail, head of the Shadow Thieves sent his top agent, Farkas Ulidra, out from their home in Athkatla to recruit new members in Buldars Gate and establish a small presence from which they could launch a takeaway over of the cities underground. This is how Adalyn came to join the guild, in hopes of rising up from the muck of the lower city. Near on twelves months later and the guild is finally making it’s move on the Linnacker estate. The Linnacker family owns most, if not all, the mines around and supplying Baldurs Gate with it’s gems, and a reliable source says that the estate will be clear with the family visiting relatives. The perfect night to strike Adalyn thought as she athletically vaulted the high outer walls of the estates grounds.

As soon as Adalyn lands in the shrubs on the other side of the wall, she finds a feeling of unease rising in her and she scans the area. “Something is off here.” She thinks to herself while proceeding to sneak to her predetermined rendezvous. She couldn’t shake the feeling though, this place is lit up like a lighthouse over a cliff even though the note said it would be empty. She pondered on the thought as she closed on the window that would act as her entry point. “Did we misread the note? It was wet from rain and smudged.” She thought and decided to reconstruct the message. *Smudged tonight. Family smudged nt to be here as visiting relatives. They smudged trust them and packed everything away. Wait until later smudged.* Adalyn picked the lock on her entry point window as she continued running the note through her head. She contemplated how much time the informant would have to get word out to the guild, too little to write in thieves cant thus used common, rushed hand as well and still cryptic enough to be ignored by anyone not in the know. For a moment she considered that it was to warn the guild off coming and replaced the only smudges Farkas had said to ignore. “Not tonight. Family want to be here as visiting relatives. They don’t trust them and packed everything away. Wait until later date.” The sudden realisation hit that the Lannicker estate wasn’t going to be empty as planned, in fact it would be busier than usual as the family weren’t going anywhere to visit their relatives, their relatives were coming here. “Ah shit” Adalyn exclaimed as she rounded a corner and was met with panicked screams coming from a large set of double doors beside her.

Adalyn hurriedly burst through the sturdy wooden doors to find seventeen well dressed people corralled to the centre of the spacious ballroom, each chaperoned by one of her guild mates. At the far end of the room another well dressed man spoke with the heist leader Farkas, in a hushed yet heated tone about the misinterpretation of the note Adalyn discovered as she approached. “Whatever the case, we’re here now and not leaving empty handed. They’ll just have to be dealt with.” Asserted Farkas as he walked away from the informant Adalyn had surmised. The comment made a shudder run down her spine. “What do you mean? They’re innocents, on top of which, we have more than enough man power to finish the job without bloodshed.” She protested, looking up at the taller high elf while he stared back blank and cold. Farkas let his eyes glance over to one of the other faceless members of the guild with an almost unnoticeable nod. Adalyn watches as her guild mate approached with a small Teifling girl in toe and Farkas joined them just a few steps in front. He took a long thin dagger out from it’s sheath on his belt, letting out a deep nasal sigh of disappointment, he flipped the dagger now holding it by it’s blade. “You know,” He started as he took one of the girls hands and place it on the daggers handle, locking it in place under his own, not dropping his gaze from the girls eyes. “there is nothing in this realm I find more contemptible,” He reached around the girls shoulders to lock her other hand into the dagger and block any route if retreat. “than a bleeding heart!” As the conclusion of his sentence filled the space between them, Farkas rushed the girl forward. Adalyn realised too late that the daggers blade had in fact, been pointed at her. Taking full advantage of Adalyns surprised state, Farkas forced the young Teifling to plunge the dagger deep into Adalyns gut, then in a single motion drag it right across her body and out the side. Adalyn collapsed to the floor with a spluttering of blood exploding from her lips at the shock.

In a heap on the ground, a crimson river began cascading through her fingers as she clutched at the wound. Adalyn brought her spinning vision up to survey the room in time to see Farkas give another nod to those presents and their instantaneous response. The open room filled with soundless screams, the only noise Adalyn could hear was the thumping of her own heart beat, fading slowly. Her eyes met the young girls, stood still, wide eyed, continuing to clutch the dagger in her hands. The last thing Adalyn saw was Farkas reaching around the girls shoulders once more, taking hold of the dagger once more, locking eyes with Adalyn once more and as the darkness of unconsciousness invaded her vision, Farkas wracked the dagger across the girls throat.