Wide-eyed Wanderer
a NWN fanfic
by Meagen

Book 1: Neverwinter

Chapter 2

 Meagen Image entered the Moonstone Mask, followed closely by a tall,
imposing fighter holding a double-headed axe. She headed straight for
the matron of the brothel, but quickly forgot about it when she
noticed a familiar figure talking in hushed voices with Torgo.

 "Amadeus?!", she shrieked, startling her companion as well as a
human woman with a bow standing nearby, several patrons, and of
course her intended target. "What are you doing here?", she went on,
jogging up to him and ignoring the glare Olafa was giving her.

 "Good day to you too, M'lady Image!", the sorceror replied
cheerfully, then lowered his voice as she got close. "I was shopping,
actually", he indicated a bundle of arrows designed to inflict extra
damage on their target. "What are *you* doing here?"

 The question was obvious, and the way he had said it was innocent
enough, but Meagen felt a little blush creep onto the bridge of her
nose anyway. "Uh... buisness", she said quickly, throwing a quick
glance over her shoulder at the irate matron.

 "Indeed." Amadeus raised his eyebrow quizically, causing Meagen's
blush to deepen. 

 "You know this girl, Amus dear?", the woman with the bow inquired,
leaning casually over Amadeus' shoulder to take a good look at the
half-elf.

 "Yes, we've met... briefly", he said with a smile. "A while ago. I
see you've got a new partner", he nodded to the towering half-orc.

 "So have you..." Meagen noted, narrowing her eyes at Sharwynn, who
was still casually hanging off her employer. "What have you been
doing? I found the-" She broke off, looked around, then grabbed
Amadeus by the arm, discreetly pushing the bard away from him.
"You've *got* to hear this. Hey m'am, could I have a private room for
a while?" She called to the now-bemused matron, who broke into a wide
grin.

 "But of course!" She handed Meagen an ornate key, and added in an
undertone, "Don't worry about making a mess, dearie, we'll clean
everything right up. That'll be 100 gold."

 "Eh?" Meagen stopped short, and then went completely red as she
realised what her request must seem like to this woman. Amadeus
didn't help, as he took they key himself and paid Olafa with a smile.
"Uh- you should listen to this too, Daelann", she told her companion,
desperately trying to save face. "We'll be making plans for the next
stage of the quest, and..."

 He lifted one big hand, and spoke in his deep, but gentle voice. "I
have sworn loyalty to you, my lady. I will follow wherever you lead.
Besides", he added, glancing at Amadeus, "we of the Uthgard may not
have much use for social banter, but we know the value of tact."

 "What about you, dear Sharwynn? Do you wish to join us?", Amadeus
asked the bard.

 She smiled, her tone almost self-mockingly aristocratic. "No, I
shall be quite all right. The wine here is horrible, but like the
barbarian pointed out - 'Two is company, three is a crowd', I believe
the expression goes."

 "I prefer to think of it as a kink", Amadeus replied pleasantly,
"but have it your way. Don't expect us back soon." 

 He bowed and turned away, half-leading and half-dragging along a
stunned and furiously blushing Meagen. 

 Sharwynn honestly tried to keep a straight face until they were up
the stairs, but failed miserably.

*********************************************************************

 Amadeus let go of Meagen as the door clicked shut behind them, and
she immediately jumped away from him to the other side of the large
bed. (Of course, the room had no chairs.)

 "Don't even *think* about it!", she hissed, her hand hovering near
the hilt of her rapier. "You... you... pervert!"

 He raised his hands in a placating gesture. "You're the one who
wanted to see me in private, m'lady."

 The way she flushed and stammered like that, he reflected, was
really too damn cute. "I- I- I meant I wanted to *talk* about the
*mission*!"

 "Oh. All right then." He walked forward and sat on the edge of the
bed, one leg tucked under him. With a glance at the bedside table, he
added, "It seems the price of the room includes wine. How nice. Would
you fancy some?" She glared at him suspiciously, hand still hovering
at her belt, the blush slowly receding. "As you wish, m'lady." He
poured some of the liquid into one of the available glasses, and took
a long drink. "So", he finally said, looking back at her with a
pleasant smile. "What is it you wanted to tell me?"

 Still eyeing him warily, Meagen sat down on her end of the bed and
plunged into a long narrative of her and Tommy's romp around the
Blacklake district, home of the rich and powerful of Neverwinter.

*********************************************************************

 "...and he gave up the key, so I let him go", Meagen finished. "I
don't like being paid for killing people, anyway. I got a lock of the
dryad's hair, and the people got the goods he was storing, so it all
turned out all right in the end."

 There was a pause as she finished her recit. She looked up,
wondering if her story really was that boring, but he didn't look
like he'd fallen asleep. He was staring at her intently, his eyes
taking in every detail of her appearance, as if he was painting a
portrait of her.

 She felt herself flushing again under the attention. "Were you
listening at all, sir Mandrake?", she asked, raising her voice just a
bit to cover her discomfort.

 " 'Sir...'? I'm not a knight," he responded curtly. "Amadeus would
be much more comfortable for me. Amus would be even better." He
smiled, lopsidedly. "I have to say, I'm impressed to see that you've
come away from your confrontation with Meldanen none the worse. Have
you ever faced a mage before?" The question took her slightly by
surprise, and she wondered what he was getting at.

 "Well, yes", she replied hesitantly. "There were one or two
magic-users among the Blood Pirates."

 He smiled, almost with amusement. "Well... there's a difference
between a person who knows a spell or two, and a mage. Well done,
Lady," he stopped to take her hand and kiss it with much ceremony,
"I'm most impressed."

 That froze her short, and she reached for her rapier again. But he
let go of her hand and moved back to a respectful distance, and
smoothly changed the topic. "I also liked the way you shut down that
menagerie", he reffered back to an earlier point in her story. "I'm
rather fond of animals myself, and..."

  Amadeus was suddenly interrupted by a horrible grincing noise,
coming from the door. "If this is your companion's idea of a joke..."
Meagen began as she stormed to the door, still flustered, and threw
it open to confront whoever was deeming to pester them. Instead,
despite herself, she doubled back with a gasp; she would have fallen
over if not for Amadeus having moved to stand just behind her.

 Two brilliant green orbs stared back at her, with little
friendliness. They seemed to hang there, in the air. The creature
stepped slowly forward, entering the room, its eyes never wavering
from hers.

 A panther, a rather large, jet-black panther.

 It shouldn't have startled her. It shouldn't have surprised her at
all. She was used to the wild and all the creatures who filled it,
she *should* be a friend to this creature, a child of nature like
herself.

 ...Except that this was NO child of nature. She could read it in its
eyes. This great cat had the familiar chaotic feeling about it, but
it was something beyond, something much stronger, something... almost
*unnatural*...

 She wasn't sure how long she stood there, staring into the beast's
eyes as though in a trance, before Amadeus put a hand on her
shoulder.

 "Be still, Lady. I promise my friend here is nothing to fear."

 'His...?'

 She let him guide her to the bed and sat down.

 "Yes, you truly *don't* deal much with mages, do you?" Amadeus
commented. "This isn't an ordinary cat, my Lady; she's my familiar."
He said it with a prideful smile. Then he turned back and knelt
before the hulking cat and stroked its deep, black fur. "Seta,
sweetheart, what are you doing here?"

 The cat regarded Meagen coldly a few lingering moments longer, and
then, to her surprise, responded.

 "I have news, Master," it said in a voice that could have been that
of a perfectly normal teenaged girl. "Just as you directed, I've been
patroling the city. In the Beggar's Nest I hear whispers of a strange
crypt, and the scent of the undead is on it. Something is very
wrong... The spirits don't travel there any longer."

 Meagen blinked.

 "Like any good mage," Amadeus began, turning back towards Meagen, "I
employ a wide range of supernatural forces. This," he said, putting
an arm around Seta as though she were an oversized stuffed cat toy,
"is one of them.  A most beloved one." He scratched the great beast's
neck just behind its ears, illiciting a long, deep purring that
Meagen was sure caused the half-empty wine bottle and glasses to
vibrate ever-so-slightly.

 He smiled at his familiar. "Seta, this is Lady Meagen Image. She'll
be coming with me into the Beggar's Nest."

 A clearly hostile growl was the reply. Meagen was thankful she
managed to supress the instinct to jump.

 Amadeus nodded. "Oh, you're a jealous girl, huh?" he teased the
beast.

 'Jealous...?' Meagen's brow furrowed. Just what was he implying..?!

 "Amadeus, if your friend is right, then we should head to the Nest
now," she declared, rising and stepping forward, meeting Seta's
warning gaze with more confidence now. "The hunt for the last of the
Waterdavian creatures will have to wait."

 Amadeus nodded, and then turned back to the panther (which had
somehow managed to slip through his arms to sit in his lap like some
gigantic house cat). "Seta, I have a new job for you. I need you to
go back to the Hall of Justice, and observe Desther. You're not to be
seen, but I want to know of anything... strange... that he does. Do
you understand?"

 The cat purred, and rubbed her face to his. "Yes, master. You can
count on me."

 And without another word, she was gone, like she'd never been.
Meagen wasn't sure if the creature simply left the room into the
shadows of the hallway, or it just *disappeared*...

 Amadeus stood and gathered his satchel.  He noted Meagen just then,
staring at him.

 "What...?"

*********************************************************************

 Amadeus crused slightly as the group of undead closed in on him. The
problem with spells was that they always took *time*...

 A small *twang* reached his ear, discreet yet audible in the dead of
the night (to coin a very bad pun). The zombie closest to him reeled
as an arrow pierced its rotted skull with a particularly sickening
sound. Two more arrows, and the undead creature fell apart into
rotting pieces.

 This left the mage enough of an opening to cast a fire spell, which
combined with a few hits from his staff and a few more arrows was
enough to dispatch the group.

 "You should pay more attention, Amadeus", Meagen scolded as she put
away her bow and quickly looked him over for injuries. "To let such
slow monsters catch you unawares..."

 "I was... distracted", he admitted. He took care not to mention that
it was because he kept looking over his shoulder to check if she was
all right.

 "I believe the next street is clear of these filthy creatures",
Sharwynn reported, walking around the corner with bow in hand. From
behind Meagen, Daelann joined them, some greenish stains on the
blades of his axes the only remains of another group of zombies.

 "Okay, looks like this area is safe for now", Meagen declared,
exchanging glances with everyone in turn. "The captain at the gate
told us to head for the Golden Serpent... I think that's the building
over there." She pointed to a small house some distance from them.
"The door's on the other side. Let's go... and keep an eye out for
more undead."

 They set out, hurriedly but calmly, falling into a pattern - the
sturdy barbarian in front, the ranger behind him, and the magic users
at the back. 

 So they were completely unprepared when a group of masked men
appeared from nowhere. One of them grabbed Sharwynn, pushed her
against the wall and drew a dagger from his belt. His stab went wide,
though, when Amadeus charged into him, knocking him back. The woman
slid slowly down the wall, leaving a dark red trail.

 Amadeus had no time to worry about it, as he found himself facing
two of the assasins. The one he'd knocked back wasn't fazed by the
attack - unsurprising, considering Amadeus' rather moderate strenght.
A quick glance told him that Meagen and her companion were busy with
another two of the masked men - the Uthgardian slashing at them in a
rage while the half-elf shot arrows whenever she could.

 He considered his options as he dodged an attack. He could evade the
two until his companions could help him, hoping he was lucky enough
to survive that long. Or he could attempt to cast one of his spells,
at point blank range, leaving himself wide open to blows until he
could complete the incarnation. 

 He grinned. The easy way was never very tempting.

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