Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Chapter Four: Escape Castle Never

"There you are!" Doric, who disguised herself as a fly, heard Forge say to Sofina. Sofina's once black robes had turned red and she had removed her cowl, revealing a bald head with strange markings.

She was a Thayan Red Wizard.

"With your hood off, I notice," Forge continued. "Probably best to keep it on. You know, you Red Wizards of Thay are not as popular as you should be outside Thay. And, of course, you're about to be considerably less popular. But far, far be it from me ever to tell you what to do.

"Caldwell and Piradost have arrived. I was gonna give them--"

The chair Sofina sat scooted back rather noisily as she stood up, her red robes turning black again as she walked out of the room.

"Awful, isn't it?" Forge asked. "I have something to do about these chairs."

Doric flew down near Forge's face, causing him to almost swat her. Keeping her distance, she followed Forge as he explained to his two guests the wagerings of the High Sun Games.

"We have new portcullises on every wing of the castle," Forge said. "If the alarm is raised, nobody gets in or out.

"And then there is... the vault itself."

Inside a small, circular room was a wooden door guarded by two knights. Three arcane circles glowed on the door with a strange red energy.

"My chief adviser, Sofina, can give you all the details," Forge said as Sofina stepped forward.

"It is protected by the Arcane Seal of Mordenkainen," the wizard simply said.

"Well, uh..." Forge said after an uncomfortable silence, "perhaps not all the details, but, uh, suffice to say it is a seriously powerful spell."

"Might I inquire, what prompted you to resume the games?" one of the men asked Forge. "Lord Neverember considered them quite brutal."

"Lord Neverember and I are very different men," Forge answered. "For example, I prefer to be up and about. He prefers to be in a vegetative state."

"You are terrible," the other man said as the three men continued to laugh.

"I can be naughty," the rogue admitted. "No, I-- The truth is that the games bring the city closer together like nothing else. And it is not the role of the government to deny the people what they crave. Or to deny you rich bastards the right to profit off them."

As the two guests laughed and Forge offered them refreshments, Doric landed on the chandelier to get a better look at the vault door.

"Silence!" Sofina ordered the three men. "A Wild Shape is among us." Releasing an unearthly scream, she glared up at Doric the fly and pointed at her.

Sofina tried to blast the druid with lightning, but Doric slipped through a crack in the wall, evading the wizard's attack. She turned into a rat as she landed in a pile of seeds, which began to pop by the electricity as she scampered into a suit of armor.

Changing back, Doric lowered the visor of her helmet to hide her face as she walked towards the exit. One knight, however, noticed her and drew his sword.

After having the helmet knocked off, Doric transformed back into a rat and scurried into a dungeon, where she dodged knights trying to pile on top of her and climbed up the wall. After jumping out the window, the druid turned into a falcon and took flight.

Arrows flew up towards Doric as she weaved through the onslaught. Unfortunately, she flew right into a flag and plummeted down a chimney, where she turned into a cat and landed on her feet.