In the end, I and Neera had to face the music. Mostly me, actually. I hadn't forgotten that the party was waiting for an explanation for why I could foresee Ekandor teleporting in. Breakfast was done, we gathered in the privacy our room at the inn. Imoen, Branwen, Khalid and Jaheira were waiting with arms-crossed in front of me, while Neera was standing to the side in the corner of the room trying not to gain attention.
Imoen gave Neera a side glance. She must have a dozen questions about the talk we had earlier. But Imoen settled back to me, for my interrogation. "So. Do you wanna explain, or do you wanna explain? Hrmmmmm?"
I gulped. "You ah, need to be more specific."
"How'd cha know them Thayan wizards were coming!" Imoen spurted out. "And I dun wanna hear nothing about no stupid stage plays!"
Not my little talk with Neera first, huh? Fine, time to bring out my preparation. I turned to Neera. "I think it's time we tell them the truth."
Neera's eyes widened. She balked. "Are you serious? How could you tell them that?"
The whole group looked at her, surprised. They knew I had a private talk with her earlier, so it would make sense if I had a chance to tell her first. But for sure they weren't expecting me to confide the reason to just her of all people.
"We don't have much of a choice at this point, do we?" I said to Neera. "It's already gotten to this point."
Neera crossed her arms. "Fine, it's your funeral. Try and tell them, see how that goes."
I cleared my throat. "The truth is," I said, addressing the rest. "We knew about Ekandor going to teleport in because Neera led them there on purpose."
The group took a moment to process what I just said. Then, as one, they yelled, "WHAT?"
Including Neera, naturally.
I looked to Neera and put my hands together as if praying, tried to look as apologetic as possible. "I know I promised I wouldn't tell, but I have no choice," I said to her, then turned back to the rest. "Think about it. Ekandor was tracking Neera, doubtlessly using magical means. But Neera has magical means too. She counter divined his divination, and then we could lay a trap for him."
"Promise-smormise! Baloney! Phooey!" Neera yelled, "We both know that's not what happened!"
I gave her a raised eyebrow. "Why deny it at this point?" I asked, then said, "Well, if that's not what happened, go ahead and give your version of the events that transpired."
All eyes focused on Neera now.
Realisation was dawning on Neera's face. There's no way she could explain the truth. None of it would make the slightest sense, and no one would believe her.
While everyone was focused on Neera, I gave her my best 'Come on, work with me here' look.
Neera, on her part, fumed back at me, pouted like a child, and turned away. "Hmph!"
"Wait, I don't get it. Why would she even want to keep it a secret?" Imoen asked. "It makes no sense."
I gave Neera a glance, then looked back at Imoen. "Let's not pressure Neera too much about it. Neera's been hunted by Thayan mages for some time now. That's a real threat to have hanging over a woman's head. So when she had the chance to end the threat, even if it meant involving another powerful but innocent wild mage…"
I left the sentence hanging. Neera's brow frowned harder and she gave me an annoyed side-glance before returning to sulking.
Meanwhile, the dissatisfied, sulking faces of the rest of group told me that wasn't the end of it.
"What about all the times you anticipated things until now? All the stuff you found by coincidence" Imoen asked, her voice demanding.
"Just that. Anticipation and coincidence. Some halfling luck too, I guess," I said. "You've all seen how hard I work to investigate every lead, right?"
There was a reason I took so much trouble to investigate every lead I could find to justify my amazing foresight. All for this one moment!
Imoen pounded her fist on the table. "I don't believe it! Nobody's that lucky!"
I understood her frustration. She thought she had finally cornered me, but I'm slithering away somehow.
"Well, there are two possibilities before you now. Either I'm telling the truth," I said and eyed Neera, "Or I'm lying but the truth is so convoluted that neither Neera or I can explain it. Otherwise Neera would have just told you all, wouldn't she?"
Khalid, Jaheira and Branwen sat back, considering while Imoen smouldered. Imoen glared at me, then Neera. But from the way Neera was acting, obviously she wasn't going to say anything.
I could practically see the questions in Imoen's head; Neera was previously in on the fact that Sonny's got some unexplained foresight with me! So why is she keeping silent now?
Meanwhile, the rest of the group were not totally convinced that I had some unexplained foresight powers in the first place. With Neera acting as my unwilling witness, Imoen had lost all support on her theory from the rest.
In the end, we had to move on. First, a visit to the Jovial Juggler to turn in some bandit scalps with Officer Jai for a bit of gold, and tell Bjornin that we had defeated his half-ogres for a sweet +1 to Reputation and medium shield +1.
Officer Jai paid us a respectable 50 gold per scalp. "Keep at it! I know you can get me more!" she said.
Bjornin on the other hand was looking back at me with a sorry look on his face. "Did you say south-southeast of town? Because, I distinctly asked you to test your mettle against the half-orges south-southwest of town."
…eh? EH?!?Just how many bands of half-ogres are there running around?!? "Maybe it's the same group but they just moved?" I offered meekly.
"Describe them to me," Bjornin said.
We did, and Bjornin shook his head. "No, I'm quite sure you got another gang of half-ogres bandits. You did well to rid the realms of their ilk, but the ones who personally injured me are in the south-southwest. I would implore you to remove their threat as well, if possible."
My discount! I'm so close to maxing out my discount!
I checked my Record to be sure. Sure enough, my reputation is currently 19, just one more and to max it out.
I've got all this money to spend on shiny stuff so I want my maxed-out discount! URGH, this is so aggravating!
Should I just buy what I want now instead of later? …NO! My heart cannot take it! I must maximise my discount before I start spending large swathes of money!
I got to work planning our next series of objectives with the team.
"Let's go look for Brage. Bassilus. Brage. Bjornin's half-ogres. Whatever! Let's get some money and do some good in the realm, in that order. South of high hedge, then south to where Bjornin's half-ogres are, then west to the coast."
"And that's where we'll find Bassilus and Officer Brage?" Imoen asked, without asking the other question of 'How do you know that?'.
Whoops.
"We know Bjornin's half-ogres are, at least. May as well cover some ground along the way, see if we can find traces of the rest. Off we go! Discounts ahoy!"
We had just reached the appointed area south of High Hedge when we came across a most curious sight.
A chicken was running away from a wolf. That in in itself wasn't so strange, if not for the chicken screaming, "Help me! For the love of Mystra -cluck-, help me!"
Everyone looked to Jaheira. Her eyebrows furrowed "What? Just because I'm a druid, I'm supposed to know what to do with talking chickens?"
I could feel my heart sinking. I knew what this was, and I didn't have time for it now.
"It's running in our direction," Imoen said, bemused but not quite sure what to do.
"I can see you!" the chicken exclaimed. "Stop pretending you can't hear me and -cluck- HELP!"
Did I really have a choice? "Let's save the talking chicken," I said with a sigh, "If nothing else, we will be eating hearty tonight."
"I HEARD THAT! -cluck-"
With the wolf dispatched and fowl saved, said chicken collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. "Th-thank ye. -cluck- You have saved -cluck- me."
Everyone looked to Jaheira again. "I already said I don't have answers for you all!" she insisted.
My shoulders slumped. "Let's just get this over with," I said, then to the chicken, "You are obviously not a normal chicken. Were you awakened with magic, or did magic turn you into a chicken?"
"The latter. I am Melicamp of Beregost, a -cluck- mage adept in the mystical arts. A… misread… incantation seems to be the -cluck- source of my troubling form. 'Tis been over a month since I -cluck- uttered a polymorph spell, and I simply cannot return to my normal -cluck- form!"
"One month!" Branwen gasped. "How did you survive a whole month in that form?"
"A lot of running. And a diet of… -cluck- More importantly, I need to change back!"
I pointed to Neera, who vigorously shook her head. "No, no way. Even without risk of wild surges, it's way too difficult for me right now to change him back safely."
I pointed to Jaheira, who shook her head. Then Branwen, who also shook her head. "That's all our available magic options. Melicamp, did you have a mentor in the magical arts?"
Melicamp had stood back up, and now he froze. Avian facial expressions are a bit hard to read. "Blast it all! Well, there is nothing else I -cluck- can do except my most hated option. There is a tower directly west of -cluck- Beregost, about which can be found the mage Thalantyr. I am his apprentice, and I am certain he will -cluck- aid me."
"Right. To High Hedge we go," I said. "After we have completed our current quests."
Behind me, the party cleared their throats. I looked behind to find everyone glaring at me with arms crossed.
I pulled them aside. "We JUST got here. It took us 20 hours to get here, it'll take another 16 to get back to High Hedge!" I protested.
The group peered at me, silently judging.
"Fiiiiine, back to High Hedge we go," I said, grumbling. My money! My quests! My money! Especially the money!
I begrudgingly picked up Melicamp ("Hey, be -cluck- gentle now!"), and handed him (her? he's a hen right now) to Imoen.
Imoen pointed at herself. "Why me?"
"You really don't want a talking chicken in your pack?" I asked with raised eyebrow. "Okay, let me ask someone else-"
Imoen took Melicamp from my hands and made space for him in her pack.
"Heya, I've always wanted to know," Imoen said cheerfully as we walked. "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"
"Please stop. -cluck-," Melicamp bemoaned. "You've been at it for hours."
It was indeed a 16 hour walk to High Hedge. Plenty of time to torment poor Melicamp. I was beginning to feel sorry for him, even though I had engineered this situation for the annoying chicken myself.
If the rest of the party was feeling sorry for Melicamp, they sure weren't showing it. They may not have been the ones doing the teasing, but Neera, Branwen, Khalid and Jaheira were all smiles.
"Ya gotta give this to me, Melicamp. I ain't never gonna meet another talking chicken again," Imoen mock pleaded. "Oooh, I've got one! Why did the chicken cross the road?"
"To get to -cluck- the other side," Melicamp replied as dryly as a chicken could, which sent Imoen into another giggle fit.
"How does this magic even work?" Neera pondered aloud. "I'm pretty sure even polymorphed chickens can't talk. Certainly not through arcane magic, exempting wild surges. Jaheira, can druids talk in animal form?"
"Not usually, no. But certainly, anything is possible with magic."
As it turned out, Thalantyr was none too pleased to meet Melicamp in his current form.
"So. Wanting to achieve my power without putting in the long hours of study and practice, you stole my valuable magical components. Then, without the proper knowledge and instruction to manage my mystical possessions, you turned yourself into a chicken," Thalantyr said calmly while regarding the chicken before him. His face then turned red, and he shouted at Melicamp, "What gall! Why do you have to think I will help you after what you did?"
"Please -cluck- Master Thalantyr! You have to help me! You're my only -cluck- hope!"
"I am not your master and you are not my student! Students have the intention of learning and listening, of which you had no intention of doing!"
Thalantyr had plenty of grievances in regards to his former apprentice to get out of his system. Eventually he worked through it all, and set about working on the problem of changing Melicamp back.
"Only to get my items back," Thalantyr added hastily. "Can't very well get my property back while it's polymorphed into you-"
He stopped short. His eyes widened. "Wait a moment. I did not possess any items that allow the casting of that enchantment. Wait. Oh, dear. Melicamp, listen very carefully. What did you take?"
"Nothing too valuable, I swear! Just some 'clluck' components, a few scrolls, a beat-up pair of bracers, a blank spellbook, some parchment…"
Thalantyr quivered, dropped to the floor. He looked at the chicken, despair stricken across his face. "A pair of… The bracers in my locked and trapped safe?!," he said, his voice shaking. "You little FOOL! I certainly hope you can develop a taste for chicken feed, because you are going to be stuck the way you are for a very long time!"
In spite of currently being in the form of a chicken, the panic in Melicamp's body language was plainly visible. "I know I stole from you, but you can't leave me like this! Please Master Thalantyr, please… -cluck-"
It wasn't that Thalantyr didn't want to help. The pair of bracers in question posed a problem even for a powerful mage as Thalantyr.
Thalantyr slowly, shakily, got back to his feet. He explained to us that the bracers came from the spoils of Netheril ruins. It was enchanted through ancient means, and resisted even the strongest divination and dispel attempts.
Netheril? I never knew the relevance of the place until I played Baldur's Gate 3, believe it or not. The Netherese were a big deal in their time, powerful mages whose cities literally floated in the sky. That was until their leader, Karsus, tried to cast a spell to become a god. That resulted in magic disappearing from the world, and the Netheril fell from the sky to their doom.
Bottom-line was, Netheril artifacts were a big deal. No wonder Thalantyr was stumped.
Thalantyr, Neera, Branwen and Jaheira discussed the problem together amongst themselves, and in the end they had come to some sort of solution.
"We will need the head of an undead creature. I will try to bend a few magical rules to reincarnate this foolish boy," Thalantyr said.
Melicamp's neck shot up in alarm. "Reincarnate? But does that spell not require -cluck- the recipient to be dead?"
"That is what the skull is for," Neera explained. "We're improvising. Theoretically, because of the age of the enchantment, this should work without killing the caster or Melicamp. Probably."
Melicamp started to whimper, somehow. I didn't know chickens could do that?
"Right, of you go to some dungeon or something," Thalantyr shooed us away. "Come back with the skull or any head of undead."
I put down my backpack and pulled a skull out of it. "That's fine, I've got one right here."
In response to all the questioning eyes, I replied. "We fought plenty of them before, remember? I kept one."
"Dare I ask why?" Thalantyr said as a comment moreso than he was asking. "No, I shall not. Some mysteries are best left unresolved."
I smiled at the last sentiment. "Truer words have never been spoken," I said, eyeing my team mates who were giving me dirty looks, especially Imoen. Neera was rolling her eyes.
Thalantyr rolled up the sleeves of his robes. "Well, shall we see if our young man regains his life, or if he'll eventually be someone's festhall dinner?"
As the mages and priests prepared the ritual, I sat to the side and mulled.
I absolutely hated this quest. Not for the difficulty or narrative. But this stuuuuupid quest has a 50% chance of success. Total coin flip, no way to increase the chance that the ritual doesn't kill Melicamp outright. That's why I didn't want to trek all the way back just to do it.
Well, it was out of my hands now. Poor Melicamp was about to meet his fate, whatever it was.
At last, the appointed time came. Thalantyr had help with the preparation, but in the end only he was going to be doing the incanting. The reason being, only he was going to risk killing himself during this process. Melicamp stood in the ritual circle together with the skull of an undead skeleton.
Thalantyr finished the incantation and poured magic into the ritual circle. The arcane circle flared with magic, a surge of light surrounding Melicamp and skull both. Chicken and skull disappeared, and a naked man took their place in the middle of the circle.
Even as Imoen and Neera looked away blushing, I was crossing my fingers. Live, damn it! Don't fall over dead now!
Melicamp wobbled, his eyes blanking out. Just as I thought it was all over, Melicamp caught himself from falling over. He opened his eyes again, his vision clearing.
He lives! Everyone cheered together, our efforts bore fruit!
"Thank you, Master!" Melicamp said to Thalantyr with tears in his eyes. Then he ran forward to give Thalantyr a mostly naked hug.
Thalantyr dodged. "NO NAKED HUGS!" he screeched.
I laughed as I pulled out a towel from my pack, and draped it over the poor guy. Melicamp, not Thalantyr. A bit small for him, so he had to wear it around his waist.
Now not completely naked, Melicamp gave his former, once again master, a big teary hug. Thalantyr, the very same so-called dispassionate master who had risked his own life for Melicamp, tried his best to look displeased even as he looked for the bracers, which unfortunately were clearly not there anymore.
That's someone else's problem now. If we hear of another talking chicken in the realms, we can always send them the ritual notes.
Quest complete! 2k experience and Reputation +1 from successfully rescuing Melicamp. That's it.
I told you the quest sucked!