Part 3

	Linus was sitting on the balcony watching the money being escorted in when a familiar shadow appeared.  Linus looked up and squinted to see his friend Axiopistos soaring in on the air.

	The Aasimar Paladin landed lightly beside Linus on the patio.  “Linus!  Wow, what are the odds?” the towering fellow said.

	Linus slowly stood and extended a hand.  “Wow, yeah…” he said distractedly.  His friend’s godly wings had apparently been replaced with some kind of wireframe construct in the few long months since he had seen him last, a wireframe that glowed with strange red-gold light.  “Er, good to see you,” he added belatedly.

	Axio was apparently used to people being distracted by his appearance.  He willed the wings away, and there was nothing left of them but the slots in his armor.  “Yeah, that’s new,” he admitted.  “What are you doing here?  I was dropping by to enter a petition; I wasn’t expecting to see you.”

	“I’m only here for a few days before I head back out to Conyberry,” Linus said.  He sat back down.  “The money’s going to hiring mercenaries to protect the colony from Gnolls.”

	“Huh.”  Axio raised an eyebrow as a cartful of money rolled under them.  “And the cash?”

	“Secured from Dagult Neverember’s private retirement fund,” Linus said disgustedly.  “I can’t believe I used to respect that man.”

	Axio turned wide gemstone eyes on his friend.  “He was an embezzler?”

	“Yep.”

	“What the Hells?”  Axio watched cart after cart of money roll by.  “How much is there?”

	“Just under half a million Dragons,” Linus sighed.  “Fifteen times what I made adventuring, just from skimming off the taxes.”

	“Unbelievable!”  Axio and Linus stared at the money for a while longer before, by unspoken agreement, walking back into the castle together.

	“So.  Will you be in town long enough to have dinner tonight?” Axio asked.

	“I would, sure,” Linus said.

	“Good.  Would you care to drop by my home, or… wait.  No,” Axio suddenly remembered.  “The rectory is under construction.  Perhaps Seaside Public House, in the North Ward?  I’ll be meeting some friends there.”

	“Sure, I’d like that,” Linus said.


	The three Paladins sat in casual gear on the terrace of the Seaside Pub, watching the distant blue waters of the Sea of Sword and catching up.  Cavria had joined them when Axio had arrived, and despite his lingering misgivings about her Hell-born origins, Linus had slowly lowered his guard over the duration of a three-course feast.

	Cavria sat cross-legged on the bench and sipped contentedly on her Port Llast stout as Linus regaled the others with his adventure in Conyberry, warts and all.  Aside from a cheeky joke or two about the fauns and satyrs with which he had worked for some weeks, she had been almost silent after the meal ended.  It was only when Axio started telling the story of their trip to Svartalfheim that she became more animated.

	“I can’t believe a goddess of Eilistraee’s stature would spend so much time just talking with us,” Cavria said excitedly.  “I thought I’d be terrified, but it was wondrous!”

	Linus slowly shook his head.  “Wow, you guys had a lot more fun than I did for the past few seasons.”

	“Well, it wasn’t all fun,” Cavria said.  She tapped her new horns.  “These are a pain in the ass.”

	Linus nodded awkwardly.  “Fair enough.”

	Axio rolled his mug idly across his hands.  “I understand you’ll be moving the focus of your investigations towards the village of Conyberry again?”

	“Yes.”  Linus blew out a weary breath.  “Back to it.  I’ll be bringing whatever forces the Lords’ Alliance can muster with me.  Probably a few adventuring groups, too, and some Farview Company personnel.”

	“I wonder if the city will hire us,” Axio mused.

	Cavria shrugged.  “I’m game.  The drow won’t be up for it, though, I suspect.  They have work to do in the Underdark.”

	“Yeah.”  Linus yawned.  “Rescuing slaves or something?  From the Lolthites?”

	“Correct.”  Cavria poured herself another from the pitcher.  “I just got back from a mission down there myself.  It’s madness down there.  A bunch of the Houses are fighting over control of several levels of Undermountain.”

	Linus snorted.  “Good luck.  Halaster wouldn’t allow it.”


	The three Paladins sipped their drinks and chatted until the sun had crept below the horizon over the water.  Linus rose first.  “Well… I suppose I should find lodgings,” he yawned.

	The others rose too, setting their empty mugs on the table.  “If you’ll be in town for more than a few days, you should check to see if the House of Wonder or the Holyhands House has any knowledge of this Abyssal problem,” Axio suggested.  “It’s a bit outside our bailiwick.  Demons don’t usually take child hostages.”

	“Thank goodness,” Cavria muttered.  She popped her shoulders and arched her back.  “Mmmph.  I’m beat.”

	“Is Kyria in town?” Linus asked, trying not to sound too eager.

	“Yeah, somewhere,” Axio said.  Cavria hid a smile at the hidden note of hope in Linus’s voice.  Poor lad had it for Kyria, not that she could blame him.  Or maybe he just wanted to resume where they had left off.  She ignored the little nugget of envy in her stomach and looked away.  “She’s busy with work, though.”

	“I figured,” Linus said.  Oh well.


	After a night of rest in the Mansion House inn and tavern, Linus emerged, freshly shaved and wearing his dress uniform.  The House of Duty, the general religious institutions of Torm, didn’t insist on a single mode of dress for Paladins who weren’t in the field.

	Linus had delivered his reports to the city and to the Alliance the previous night, so the day was his while the Alliance scrambled to find assets.  He took to the streets and wandered, taking in the sights and enjoying not being attacked for a while.  His head felt cold.  He wasn’t used to his new haircut yet.

	Linus walked through the streets of Waterdeep with his spirits uplifted.  He smelled the scent of fresh bread from the city's bakeries, and heard the sounds of the hundreds of thousands of city residents going about their daily work.  It wasn't home, but it was familiar, and it was nice.

	He walked to the House of Duty in the Sea Ward, and strolled right in.  He wasn't in armor, but he was carrying his enchanted blade and wearing his Lords' Alliance pins, and none impeded him.

	Inside, he walked through the main, echoing congregation hall and back to the rectory and storage areas, where his fellow servants of Torm gathered.  Unlike most large temples of the city, the House of Duty was always designed for housing warriors as much as it was meeting the spiritual needs of the congregants.  Linus was a familiar face here, and more than one knight or pilgrim rose and saluted as he went by.

	One elf soldier grinned and slapped Linus on the back as he went by.  "Well, look at that, the prodigal zombie returns," he laughed.  "Linus, how the hell have you been?"

	Linus stopped to shake the other man's hand.  "Asra, good to see you," he said.  Asra had been serving the temple as long as he had, but had managed to do it without being killed.  The two had grown closer while Linus had been stationed in the city after the destruction of the Cult of the Dragon's army.

	"I understand you've been busy up north, Linus," Asra said.  He sat back down and returned to his work, apparently doing some kind of embossing on his weapons.  "Something about gnolls and satyrs?"

	"Yeah," Linus said.  He blew out a breath and ran his hand over his newly shortened hair.  "It was a real mess.  There's something opening planar rifts to the Feywild and the Abyss.  Lady Silverhand is funding a project to close them, but I need to figure out who's responsible."

	"Huh.  I suppose you have a lot on your plate," Asra said.

	“That’s one way of putting it.”

	Asra returned to his work.  He wasn’t just good at shooting arrows; he was a master fletcher too.  The elf adventurer started slowly peeling a feather apart to fletch the last arrow in his first bundle.  “I suppose you want me to tag along with your project?  Neverember’s project, right?”

	“I certainly would, my friend,” Linus confirmed.  “We need more professionals.  The mercenaries Open Lord Silverhand is raising will be… helpful, but we can’t assume they’ll be enough.”

	“I see.”  Asra looked up from the tiny blades he was using to split feathers.  “How bad is this?”

	“Bad enough that I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t made its way down south yet,” Linus admitted.  He set his helm on the table across from his friend and rolled his shoulders.  “I’m asking, Asra.  I need help.”

	“You have it then,” Asra said.  He picked up a fletching and sighted down the feather.  He always dipped the tips of the feathers in blue dye to help him pick them out of the bunch in the targets he shot.  “For the Triad, eh?”

	Linus sagged.  “Thank you, my friend.”  The ambient noise in the room rose as several people packed up and headed for the doors.  “Am I missing something?” he asked.

	“No.  Several of the Order of the Gauntlet agents in the group have their own assignments,” Asra explained.  “There are other forces at work in the world, etc.,” he chuckled.  “Besides, the Conyberry problem isn’t the only one that the House of Duty must address.”

	“Naturally.”  Linus shook his head.  “We have some kind of hubris, we adventurers, huh?”

	“It has occurred to me, yes,” Asra said drily.  “So, did you have any other people in mind for your project?”

	“Well, Veindigger, and any of the usual crew from the training days,” Linus said.  “We didn’t all strike out on our own like I did.”

	“Diva.”

	“Hey, come on,” Linus protested.  “I was right.  I was needed.”

	“I know, I was kidding,” Asra said.  He put his hands up jokingly.  “Where do you want to go once you pull a team together?”

	“Straight there,” Linus said.  “To Conyberry itself, as soon as possible.  Open Lord Silverhand will be sending all of the assets she can recruit there, plus whomever the people up in Neverwinter can send.”

	“How many are we looking at?”

	“A few hundred, for sure, maybe a thousand.  The issue is that we don’t know how many other gnoll warbands there are in the area, and whether Yeenoghu will be sending more demons in personally,” Linus said grimly.  “We may be looking at a full Abyssal rend.”