The inn was comfortable enough.
Heliogabalus certainly was not. At least not for Cassim, who was used to the warm and arid climates of Zakhara and Calimshan.
What in the Nine Hells was he doing here anyway?
Well, running for his life for one.But then again, that seemed most likely to be what he would be doing from now on, at least until he stopped running fast enough and was overtaken by those who were after him.
Ever since Fate led him to steal the necklace which resulted in his mother’s death, his murder of a wealthy merchant family’s eldest son who also happened to be a sha'ir's apprentice, and then fleeing for his life from Zakhara, he had had to constantly look over his shoulder for the bounty hunters seeking the sizable reward for his head being offered by the merchant family.
So far he had managed to stay a step ahead of them.
His path to this inn started with him stowing away on a trading ship that first morning after his escape. Using his newly acquired ring of invisibility getting on board and staying hidden was an easy task. For the entire journey from Fahhas to Calimport no one on the ship suspected they had an extra passenger. He didn’t raise suspicion, after all as a Halfling he didn’t need much food or drink, and his small size allowed him to sleep in spaces that the much larger humans who made up the crew would never even attempt to get into.
Once the ship arrived in Calimport however things became more difficult. Fate never made things too easy.
He was no more than ten minutes off the ship when he noticed he was being followed. But how could that be? He was invisible! Certainly he was just being paranoid. But just to be safe he ducked into an alley, which was a mistake. The two thieves, for thieves they were, now had him cornered. It was plainly obvious they could see him even though Cassim knew the ring was still working. There was no point in trying to rely on the ring so he let the illusion drop. The thieves offered him a deal he couldn’t refuse. His purse and his lovely dagger for his life.
Apparently they didn’t take kindly to stowaways coming ashore without paying the usual fees and dues the thieves’ guild usually took to “ensure” the safety of the ships cargo. After relieving him of what little money he had and his only weapon, the thieves left him alone in the alley with a warning to stay out of trouble lest they need to take anything else from him.
Figuring out how to navigate the powers in Calimport was not an easy task. Between the thieves’ guilds, assassin’s guilds, city watch and other power groups, Calimport was not a safe place to be an outsider, let alone a poor, homeless and friendless Halfling outsider. Luckily Fate had come to his aid again, only a few hours into his stay in Calimport
Cassim, now keeping his ring’s power unused, came across a wondrous sight, The Copper Ante. A Halfling run inn. The inn quickly became Cassim’s base of operations for his short stay in Calimport. He quickly gained the notice and friendship of Dwahvel Tiggerwillies, the proprietor. She agreed to let him have a room and board in exchange for running errands and other tasks. Cassim’s talents were of great use to Dwahvel, as not only did she run The Copper Ante, but was also the guildmistress of a Halfling thieves’ guild in the city. Cassim carried on this way for several months, until two unexpected things happened almost simultaneously.
First a letter arrived from Cassim from of all places Candlekeep, of which until the letter and Dwahvel’s explanation of what it was, Cassim know nothing about.The letter was from one Calipheros who was requesting Cassim’s attendance at a meeting to discuss of all things the ancestor who Cassim’s mother had told him was the downfall of his family’s once great standing back in Zakhara.
But this meeting was to take place in a city called Heliogabalus, some thousands of miles to the northwest. Cassim was about to rule out leaving the steady and relatively comfortable life he had just started when the second thing happened. That same evening just as he was settling in for the night, Dwahvel burst into his room and told him he had to leave, and fast. She had gotten word from one of her many informants that there was a price on his head from the family of the apprentice he had killed and that bounty hunters were in the city and knew where he was. Once again he was uprooted and being forced to flee for his life.
As he packed up his few belongings, Dwahvel did the unexpected. She gave him two things, in her words: “A thank you, and a debt.”The first was a Halfling sized blade which Cassim quickly detected was magical. She said that was the thank you for what he had done for not only her but for an important friend of hers. Apparently some of those errands he had been doing where of greater importance than he had realized. The second gift was a letter. It was, she said, a letter of introduction and instruction for a wizard not far away from the inn. In the letter Dwahvel introduced Cassim as a personal friend of hers and instructed the wizard to get him to wherever he wanted to go immediately as a favor to both her and her “important friend”. Whoever this friend was, he certainly commanded a good deal of authority, or at least fear.
Cassim belted on the sword and after assuring Dwahvel he would repay the debt he now owned if and when he could he left The Copper Ante for the wizard’s home.
When a servant answered the door, Cassim presented the letter to him. It was not long before the wizard himself was at the door ushering Cassim inside. He handed Cassim a small pouch of coins, an outfit of much warmer clothes, and within minutes was casting the spell which landed Cassim on the outskirts of Heliogabalus.
The meeting with this Calipheros wasn’t for another month however. Cassim then did the first thing that came to mind. He activated his ring, and once again took to being an unseen shadow. Bypassing locks and other barriers, he moved from house to house, inn to inn, only staying in one place for a night’s sleep and a stolen meal or two before moving on.
In the month he had to wait for the meeting, he managed to get a good feel for the city, its inhabitants and customs. He managed to add a bit to his coinage he had gotten from the wizard, and obtained some other useful items he may need if this meeting went badly and once again he needed to flee.
But, here he was now, in the inn which was the designated meeting place.
Around the table were assembled a strange group. Calipheros was there, an elderly man, of a race Cassim was not familiar with. There were a couple of intimidating looking half-orcs, a male and female. And, a female drow, a race which Cassim had heard of but never expected to be sharing a table with. And then Cassim, dressed in plain attire, with his backpack and bedroll hung on the back of his chair, and his sword, loose in its scabbard, hidden under his cloak.
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