Chapter 35: Showdown
The Sunken Flagon was packed beyond capacity. Patrons sat on tables, stood in the back, and still more customers wanted to push in through the front doors. Duncan had been forced to bar them. Tamil Farlong looked at the audience in amazement and shook her head.
"I wish crowds like this would turn out for my performances," she pouted.
It was movie night at the Flagon. The LCD projector the team had brought along with them combined with a white cloth had turned the inn into a movie theater. What had begun as a nice way to stave off culture shock had turned into the must-see event of Neverwinter. Word had spread so far that even a number of nobleman had come to see what all the fuss was about. It was total chaos, with Duncan calling on all of them to help serve drinks and plates of food.
Quite frankly, it was Grobnar's fault. The gnome had been performing one of his original stories in the common room when something made him start rambling on about how amazing SG-1's "story-telling device" was. Then everyone just had to see what it was all about, and when they showed Return of the Jedi, the crowd demanded more and soon word spread of the amazing story teller machine.
On the plus side, they were making a killing. Tamil, Daniel, Sam, and Sand were charging 20gp per casting of Comprehend Languages while Duncan was making nearly a month's earnings from the entrance fee alone. The four members of SG-1 had all taken a solemn oath not reveal what they were doing there to the MPAA, if they ever managed to get back home again. Of course, since Neverwinter had neither copyright law nor any treaty with Earth respecting international copyright, it wasn't as if they were actually doing anything really illegal.
Jack loved tonight's movie, Ocean's Eleven, which was one that neither Sam nor Teal'c had actually seen before. Daniel, however, didn't really care much for the movie, finding it far too implausible. The crowd, never having seen any movies until the institution of movie night at the Sunken Flagon, was impressed to no end by how seamlessly the scenes changed and how the music and sound adjusted to the story. To them it seemed real. When the ending credits finally finished rolling, Jack turned to get Tamil's opinion.
"Quite an interesting tale," the bard said with a nod of her head. "Staging the robbery in a way to knowingly get sent to prison in order to win back his love…a very romantic premise. People are saps for story plots like that." Tamil continued, revealing a bit of cynicism, "Still, it wasn't epic like the Star Wars saga or 'Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'. Which could totally happen, by the way. I have no idea why it is called a 'fantasy' story," the bard said, not catching Jack's amused smirk. "At least it was much, much better than that horrid Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail. I can't believe you actually made me watch that."
"Oh, come on, it's a classic. You just don't understand the cultural references."
"Even Teal'c disliked it," Tamil argued back.
"Teal'c is an alien. He doesn't know what he's talking about. Daniel loved it."
Tamil rolled her eyes. "Yeah, he tried to explain to me all about the King Arthur legend during the movie and then cracked up at the scene where the wizard said his name was Tim. You'd think him being a wizard named Daniel and one of his best friend's being a wizard named Sam, he wouldn't have found that so funny."
"You just don't understand comedy," Jack said with a shake of his head.
Tamil raised her eyebrows. "You are saying I'm not funny when I perform?"
Colonel O'Neill knew when to retreat. This was the right time. "Ah, that's different. You're certainly witty." Tamil's expression still seemed dangerous. "And amazing. And totally better than Monty Python…"
Tamil Farlong grinned in victory.
.
The next day, the group set off for a ruined fortress in Neverwinter lands known as Crossroads Keep. The new Luskan ambassador, just arrived from the neighboring city-state to the north, had informed them that the person responsible for both the kidnapping of Aldanon from Black Lake and the massacre of Ember had been tracked down to the old castle. They claimed that neither incident had been officially sanctioned by the Luskan leadership. As little as Tamil or anyone in the Neverwinter court trusted anything the Luskans said, the fact that they were pointing their fingers at a name that kept coming up in the group's travels gave them some credence. Their target was none other than Black Garius.
Of the group, only Bishop had remained back at the inn. The ranger had been of some help on a few minor missions, but he completely refused to have anything to do with anything concerned with Luskan. Casavir, Tamil, Shandra and Neeshka took the lead with Khelgar and Jack acting as rearguard. The rest of the group remained in the center, all eyes carefully scanning the ground ahead as they neared their destination. There was no telling when they might be surprised by an enemy patrol.
Or a sword wielding elf gesturing them over to parlay.
Tamil soon found herself meeting with the leader of the Many-Starred Cloaks contingent Lord Nasher had sent. They were Neverwinter's elite magical battle force. In addition to the standard Neverwinter mages, there were also three elven eldritch knights, swordsmen who combined magic and melee combat. One of the knights, Vale, was the leader of the group and already had his battle strategy formulated. A simple frontal assault.
Before Jack could finish his protest, though, the Luskan guard change occurred and the outer gates to the keep were opened. The Neverwinter mages charged ahead, alerting the keep to the attack. Fortunately, the Neverwinter forces surprised the enemy before they could close the outer gates again, but the Luskan's organized a quick counter-attack.
The sounds of zat fire filled the courtyard. The Luskan soldiers had no defense against it. When all of the soldiers were disabled, Vale looked over at SG-1 appreciatively. Their zats had made short work of the enemy.
"Impressive weapons! I have never seen their equal."
"Yeah, we get that a lot," Jack said nonchalantly.
Unfortunately, the keep's main doors had already been shut. "Sorry about the delay, but this won't take long," one of the knights assured them. "We'll have those doors down in short order."
The mages began casting fireballs at the doors using wands, conserving their more potent spells for the coming battle. Sam, Sand, and Daniel joined in using wands of their own. It was in vain, however. They were being effectively counter-spelled. There were wizards from Luskan's Hostower of the Arcane on the other side countering what was cast on the giant doors with a combination of defensive magics keyed towards preventing magical attack.
Seeing that the door would not come down, Vale cursed. He was looking the fool, especially after brushing aside Colonel O'Neill's concerns about a frontal assault being a poor strategy. The elf turned towards Tamil and started telling her about his backup plan, using a secret escape tunnel that the Luskans apparently knew nothing about. The Neverwinter elf wanted Tamil and her forces to go through the tunnel and attack from the inside.
"Why the hells didn't we use the escape tunnel in the first place?" Tamil criticized sharply.
The elf, not liking the tone of the reprimand, shot back a retort about not liking the idea of his entire force being trapped in a narrow tunnel. Tamil shook her head in disgust. It was typical elven arrogance. Just because they had lived a centuries longer they thought their ideas were always right. It was bad enough listening to Sand. If Tamil had been put in charge she would have sent a force on the inside and timed the attack on the outside to strike at the same time, a strategy she had picked up from Jack.
"Would you kindly ask your fireball throwing friends to stop shooting the blasted door for a minute?" Jack asked in an exasperated tone. Sand and SG-1 had already stopped.
"We need to keep them occupied protecting the door. As long as they are busy counter-spelling us they won't have an opportunity to attack."
"Just do it," Jack insisted.
Reluctantly, the wizards stopped their attack, putting their fireball wands away for later use. Jack approached the gate after Dr. Carter cast an enchantment that would protect him from energy attacks in case there was a sudden surprise strike from a hidden murder hole. There wasn't. Jack pulled out a pak of Symtex from his pack and quickly wired an explosive to the door. The Many-Starred Cloak mages and edritch knights watched perplexed.
"When I hit this button, be ready to attack." Jack paused before adding, "You might want to take cover."
Jack fired the triggering device on the plastic explosives and the main keep door was blasted inwards with a concussive force that took the Nevewinter mages by surprise. Fortunately, SG-1 and their companions were more than able to make up for the Many-Starred Cloak contingent's slow response. The even more shocked Luskan wizards and the soldiers behind them were completely taken by surprise. A blitz of zat'nik'tel fire combined with a hail of arrows and quarrels from the companions had them all all dead or unconscious before any of the Luskans could even respond.
Once again Vale was left in awe of the firepower that SG-1 displayed. "What was that? You blew through their defense like it wasn't even there."
"That," Jack said with a face that said 'this is how you run a military operation', "was something we call plastic explosives."
"Think blast globes," Daniel supplied for their allies, "only completely safe to transport, far more controlled, and much more powerful."
"And your lightning weapons? Why haven't we been informed about this? The Many-Starred Cloaks are supposed to be the city's defense against magical attacks..."
"Our weapons aren't actually magical," Dr. Carter explained. "It's advanced technology. But in all honesty, these are nothing a mage such as yourself would need to worry about. Many magical shielding spells protect against the effects of these weapons. It only worked on the Arcane Brotherhood wizards because they were taken by surprise and were too busy counterspelling the door to cast even the most basic wards on themselves."
"We have an agreement with the City Watch leadership and Lord Nasher," Daniel continued the explanation. "Anyone else who has seen these work is either imprisoned or dead. Otherwise, I think someone would have tried to take them before now."
As Vale was nodding his understanding, and reconsidering their respective roles, a dark draining feeling suddenly engulfed them all. It was as if the air were suddenly heavy and the objects in the room were being weighed down by their shadows. The Neverwinter mages registered their shock and concern, wondering what was going on. To anyone who had made even a cursory study of necromancy, this dreadful feeling was an ominous warning.
"It seems Garius is performing some kind of ritual," Carter commented.
Vale was visibly affected on hearing that Luskan's infamous "Master of the Fifth Tower" was present in the keep and expressed doubt that they could prevail. Tamil smirked at him and suggested that she and SG-1 would handle things if he were too afraid. At her remarks, though, the elf showed his backbone and declared that the Many-Starred Cloaks would fight along side them, no matter what. That earned him and his group a measure of respect and approval.
They found their way forward barred by a room full of shadow priests, but despite their talk of imminent doom, they were put down without issue. With the priests out of the way, the group was free to move further into the ruined structure. The priests had been guarding a stairwell leading down into a basement.
Despite being worse for wear, the keep was still standing. From the outside it looked far worse than on the inside. Where the outer walls were breached in several places and entire sections of the defenses were collapsed, the interior of the building was still structurally sound. It was more of a mess than a real disaster. Crates and furniture had been overturned to give defenders cover for a last ditch effort to hold of the attackers. In contrast to the ruined walls and ruined furniture littering the rooms and hallways, Crossroads Keep itself was an impressive building constructed of solid stonework.
The basement was much the same. There were spaces there that had clearly been used for smithing and alchemy, but were now no longer serviceable. It would take some work to get it into a state fit for use.
Of course, that was not what really held their attention. It was the vicious blade golem that was guarding the back room of the door. Upon seeing it, Grobnar nearly wet his armor.
"Oh, my! I'm staring at the mask of death. I'm no longer immortal!," the gnome exclaimed.
The Many-Starred Cloaks shouted a battle cry, promising to bring the creature down. But Grobnar just stood between them trying to explain the situation.
"You don't understand! It was prophesied that I would die at the hands, or rather blades, of a construct that looked just like that!" The gnome was explaining to the elves excitedly. "You see, Marcus, a boy from Ember, saw my death. Up until now I could travel without fear, knowing nothing would kill me as long as there was no bladed construct around..."
"Grobnar," Jack tried to interupt the gnome who was facing the mages.
"But now my life is on the line! My biggest regret must be to never had met a Wendersnaven. Although, since they are invisible and completely undetectable, it may be that I have met one, or possibly even an infinite number of them, but just had no way to know it..."
"Grobnar."
"But really, I guess there's no point in delaying things. If I'm destined for impalement on that construct's blades then I guess I will have to face it like a man. Or rather, like a gnome, since that is what I am..."
"GROBNAR!"
"What is it?" the gnome turned to the human with a completely wide-eyed expression.
"We've already destroyed the golem."
The gnome blinked. "Then, am I dead? Did I miss my own death? How disappointing."
Jack just walked away from him.
"You're not dead, Grobnar," Daniel assured him. "Trust me, I know what that's like. You're still alive."
"And just as annoying as ever," Jack added from up near the next door.
Grobnar frowned. "So does this mean that Marcus was wrong? That I'm not going to be killed gruesomely by a blade golem? My this does change things. But I was sort of begining to look forward to my fated death..."
"Actually, Grobnar," Dr. Carter interjected, "Marcus could still be right. Just because you weren't killed by a golem now doesn't mean it won't happen with a another golem at a different time. But you really shouldn't put so much stock in prophesies. The very fact that you know about this possible future automatically changes things and you might..."
"Oh! Quite right! I might still suffer death by impalement from a construct after all! Thanks for that, really. I was begining to get a little bit worried there!"
"There is another possibility you have not considered, Gnomehands," Teal'c interjected.
"Oh, what is that?"
"That you may be brought back to life after your death. Considering what we have all experienced, and the power of Tyr and other deities of this world, I would say that is not at all unlikely."
The gnome blinked. He hadn't even considered that possibility.
.
Behind the last door was a massive chamber. This room had been cleaned and prepared for use in marked contrast to the rest of the ruined structure. The stone was clean and smooth, without sign of dust or dirt. The floor was prepared with a massive ritual circle done in a pale blue glowing script. Five people stood in the circle, four at the cardinal compass points and one in the center. A beam of red energy connected the five while the floor was covered with a rising shadowy mist. The man in the center, obviously Garius, noticed the intrusion and snarled out orders.
"You four, ignore them. The rest of you, kill them!"
His latter orders were directed towards the dozen or so soldiers and mages in the room. As Tamil, SG-1, their companions, and the Many-Starred Cloak mages charged into the room, the group caught sight of a familiar face among the Luskan mages in the summoning circle. Her fiery hair and arrogant expression were unmistakable.
"Qara!" Tamil shouted at her in surprise.
The sorceress turned her head from the ritual she was part of to spare her former companions a haughty glance. "When this ritual is completed and we have obtained the power of the King of Shadows, you will regret casting me aside, Farlong!" she said with a snarl, referring to Tamil by her surname.
The bard didn't have time to retort, though, as the group was faced with a large force of Luskans. Fortunately, the Luskan soldiers in the room were taken out as soon as SG-1 rushed into the chamber with their zat'nik'tel, making things much easier. The wizards, were slightly more troublesome, each of them turning invisible and casting protections on themselves. Khelgar, Casavir, Jack, Tamil and Neeshka were left without anyone to strike or even a direction from which to expect attack.
That didn't last long, however, as Daniel was able to target the invisible mages. He was wearing the Amulet of Truth, a gift to Tamil from Lord Nasher after her victory over the Luskan champion Lorne, which the bardess had in turn given to the archaeologist. Daniel's first shot targetted a wizard who had only protected himself with simple mage armor, which offered no protection against the power of a zat. His second shot, however, struck a shield spell which prevented the energy from actually reaching the wizard.
"Target the ground around where you see my shots with area of effect spells!" Daniel instructed the mages and fired again. The Neverwinter mages, Sam, and Sand all watched the electrical discharge and sent their spells to that area.
A pair of Luskan mages saw what was happening and immediately cast potent attacks at the gathered group, but the magical protections on companions prevented most damage and as soon as the wizards became visible they were overwhelmed by the melee fighters. Those that attempted to remain invisible in order to complete their defensive spells were targetted by Daniel and taken out with spells that spread out over the entire area. Invisible or not, the blast was going to get them. The Luskans defending the ritual were down.
Garius screamed, blaming his underlings for not managing to concentrate. The beam of dark red energy passing between them was suddenly replaced by a thick black beam of energy that struck each of the wizards in the circle in turn. They all screamed, Garius asking what was happening to him in obvious agony. Qara's scream was the loudest. And then they all fell lifeless to the ground.
.
A week had passed since the raid on Crossroads Keep. Many things had changed.
"So, would I outrank you now, Colonel" Tamil Farlong asked Jack slyly.
"That depends," Jack replied from his dusty seat. "Each military organization is different. In the US Air Force, the rank of 'captain' is one rank below Major Carter's rank. So, if you were a captain in the USAF and on SG-1 you'd be the lowest ranking officer on the team."
Tamil's sly smile turned into a frown. She downed the contents of her mug and looked around the bare features of the tavern in which they sat. Sal, Ducan's former assisstant, gave her a wave from behind the counter. Once again, all of her and her companions' drinks and food would be on the house. Considering that she was now the commanding officer of the entire area, having just been promoted again, she wondered if she would even be able to perform in the place. She was going to miss being the number one entertainer in Neverwinter, as she had been called.
Seeing his young friend frown, Jack decided to throw her a bone. "In the United States Navy, however, a captain is a high rank. The captain is usually the highest ranking officer on a ship. An Air Force colonel and a Navy captain have the same pay grade, so they're about the same."
"Hmph. But we're not on a ship," she pretended to pout a bit.
"No, but you are essentially a base commander," Jack explained. "Based on that, it makes us pretty much even."
Tamil's turned on her smile and Jack felt rewarded for his efforts. Then a thoughtful expression found its way onto her face as a question popped into her mind.
"Say, Jack, if you are a colonel, and that's a high rank, what about the rest of your soldiers then? Shouldn't you have more of them?"
Major Carter walked over to their table having heard the conversation.
"May I, sir?" Carter asked Jack.
"Go ahead."
"The Stargate program is top secret. Few people on our world know about it. Because of what we do, including travelling to other worlds and opening official relations, we need to have high ranks to give us the authority to do our jobs. It also helps to get things done quickly and quietly when we're off the base back on Earth. But the teams we send through the gate are usually small, both to minimize risk and not to alarm people from other worlds."
"That Stargate sounds incredibly interesting. Isn't that dangerous for you, though? Just the four of you alone on an alien planet?"
Carter smiled. "Yes, sometimes it is."
Tamil nodded. "Well, clearly you four are up to the challenge. I just hope I can command an entire base now that I'm the captain here. Lord Nasher has put a lot of trust in me to get this place prepared in case of another war with the King of Shadows. This keep is a mess and the people we have to work with..." Tamil shook her head.
"Well you're right, the locals aren't very skilled or experienced," Jack mused. "On the other hand you do have a lot of talent to draw from. I mean, you've got Casavir and Khelgar. They can help train the men you have in combat. Neeshka would make an excellent intructor for scouts."
Captain Farlong, newly appointed commander of Crossroads Keep nodded her head. She would have to speak to them about spending time helping out. When she discovered she had been given command of an entire keep and charged with rebuilding it, Tamil was greatly relieved that every single one of her allies had offered to join her up at her new place. Even Bishop had left Duncan's place to come. While the bard had some reservations about the ranger and his motivations, Tamil was unreservedly grateful for SG-1 coming, as she was with most of her other companions. They had been through a lot together and had stuck with her when she could easily have just left.
"Captain," Dr. Carter began, "I—"
"It's Tamil to you, Sam. I'll answer to captain in front of my soldiers, but I don't want my friends calling me by some rank when we're sitting at a table in an inn," Tamil Farlong smiled at the woman whom she had come to trust above any other female in the Realms. Neeshka and Elanee were good companions, but there was something about those in SG-1 that made her believe in her Earth friends.
Sam smiled back. "Ok, Tamil, I have some ideas for the reconstruction. I've talked this over with Jack and he agrees that there's some technology that we can safely trade with Neverwinter. Crossroads Keep would be an ideal place to demonstrate what we can do for your people."
The bard smiled at the scientist from Earth and gave her a nod. "Great! I've already informed Lieutenant Kana to instruct all the men that they are to follow any of SG-1's orders as if they were from a lieutenant. Just try and keep my adjunct in the loop. And I'll talk with Master Veedle and let him know he is to do whatever you suggest."
Sam nodded. "I've already looked over his plans and he seems rather enthusiastic when I suggested some improvements." Carter wasn't an architect, but her understanding of basic engineering principles would be something that few in the Realms, if anyone, could compete with.
Tamil stood up with a sigh. "Now, I just need to go see that githzerai we found trapped in Garius's dungeon. If she's really an enemy of the githyanki and the King of Shadows like she said she may be able to help." The bard paused with a slight frown on her face. "And I better go check on Grobnar and that blade golem he's trying to turn into an ally. I wouldn't want him to accidently set it off and fulfill Marcus's prediction."
Jack and Sam stood up as well. Crossroads Keep would be their new home for a while. There was a lot to do while Daniel and Aldanon researched a way home. There were plans to make and people to see.