The four adventurer/barflies sit at the bar, drinking and chatting with the pub owner, Alan Alyth. Cycek inquires if there’s anything to do, like darts for instance. Alan replies that indeed, they have a dartboard. For a couple copper pieces, they can have the darts for an hour and can play to their hearts’ delight. The dartboard is fashioned to resemble a one-eyed, grinning face, crowned by a semi-circle of smaller dartboards, decorated to appear as floating eyes. A fellow named Skrandar Fane approaches them, claiming to be an exceptional dart-thrower. He also claims to be a poet and a tattoo artist. He suggests that they play him for 10 gold pieces vs. a custom tattoo job. He claims that his tattoos are infused with a magical property that make him exceptionally lucky. They decline to play with him, and instead the four play a round among themselves. Mishok handily wins. They are then approached by a couple of bar patrons named Lala and Oloric. Lala boldly challenges them to a match, and they play against Mishok and Cycek. Oloric, a willowy playwright with terrible aim, is so drunk he can’t even hit the board. Layla fares better, but she still loses to Mishok and Cycek who tie and share the pot.
They buy another round and ask Lala if she happens to know a “Tarina.” Before she can answer, an ethereal harp melody wafts through the barroom. The beautiful voice of an elven maiden accompanies the music, singing three verses that only Cycek and Alan can understand. Cycek translates for his colleagues. Mishok notes some curious themes… the lyrics included references to Elturel and the Hellriders. The supernatural beauty of the song always brings the bar to a few minutes of hushed silence, but Alan, who has heard the song innumerable times, stands puzzled. Wonderingly, he states that the song was different this time. The melody was the same one he has heard so many time before, but this time the lyrics were different. It had always been a melodramatic lament… the story of lost love. He is astonished that this time it sung of Alturel and the Hellriders. Alan admits that he is no history buff, but as he understands it, the Hellriders were legendary knights who rode their steeds into hell itself, in battle against the devils. Many of them never came back, but those who did founded the order of paladins that still bears their name.
Lala leads the four upstairs and introduces them to Tarina. They find her in the dining room playing Baldur’s Bones with a small group of locals. She wins the round, collects her winnings and sends her mournful opponents away, more than a few coins lighter. She makes an introduction to the four budding gamblers and teaches them the game. She ties with Davros in the first round, and satisfied with that outcome, decides to get down to business. She asks the group why they sought her out. Mishok replies that they were wondering what she knows about the Dead Three. She assumes, correctly, that the Flaming Fist suggested they talk to her. She proclaims that the discovery and dissemination of information is how she makes her living. She is willing to share her views on the subject, but in exchange she asks if they’ll have her back if trouble comes their way. She explains that she has received word that some former “colleagues” have been asking around about her, and they may turn up asking for trouble. They agree to defend her if necessary.
Tarina tells them that she has traveled the world. She has been to Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter, and even the Kingdom of Tethyr. She was involved in “trade goods.” Some would call her line of work piracy, but she has left that life behind. The “friends” she half-expects to show up at the bar are actually her fellow brigands, led by her former Captain – “Deadeye” Cadavrus. She says he wears an eye-patch and stinks like a rotting fish. She left their crew a few months ago and traveled inland to Shadowfurst. In her time here, she has taken a room at the Elfsong Tavern, where she observes the comings and goings of the locals and visitors alike. She has made some inquiries and observations regarding the recent spate of murders. The unreasoning violence and randomness of the killings bears the signature of Dead Three cultists. The locals, even the Flaming Fist and the town guards, have no familiarity with the Dead Three Cult. But the cultists are a common source of trouble overseas. Her time in Baldur’s Gate has made her all too well acquainted with the cultists. They are adherents of The Dead Three – a collective of three, death-themed deities: Bane – the Lord of Darkness; Bhaal – the Lord of Murder; and Myrkul – the Lord of Bones. The cultists are obsessed with death, and believe that dealing death to random people will raise their esteem in the eyes of their deities. She had explained this to Captain Zodge, but he would not listen. Instead, he places blame squarely upon the heads of the Hellriders. Nevertheless, she has continued to pursue leads, not just to gain salable information, but out of a desire to thwart the cultists’ activities. She has noticed suspicious parties spending a great deal of time going to and from a public bathhouse just a few blocks from here. She has heard that there is a secret door leading to a subterranean compound beneath the bathhouse. She theorizes that this is where the killers are hiding.
Shortly they hear guffaws and raised voices. Apparently, some rowdies have entered the bar downstairs. Tarina states, “Sounds like they’re here. I’d recognize Deadeye’s laugh anywhere. Well, we can hang around and wait for him up here, or we can go see what he wants.” The decision is unanimous, to go downstairs and see what this guy has to say. They come down the stairs and enter the barroom, where they see a motley assortment of ruffians behaving in a rude, obnoxious manner. On particularly large ruffian, turns his attention to Tarian as he spots her coming down the stars. He confidently strides right up to her. He is not wearing an eye patch, but one of his eyes is a clouded over with a gray haze, and a rank whiff of fish accompanies him.
The captain says, “Well there she is – our old friend Tarina. We come all the way from Stilport to pay ye a little visit. Thought you might be at the Low Lantern… and ye had been there. But they told us ye moved on to Shadowfurst. We checked a shitty little dump of a pub across town. We didn’t find ya in that pisshole either. But here ye is…”
Tarina replies, “Awfully far inland for a pirate ain’t you? You lost your sea legs, or just your guts? You came all the way from Stilport for little old me? Well, here I am… now, run along. Why don’t just jump in the river and float on back to your ship.”
“I thought you’d give me a warmer welcome. You know, the Flaming Fist weren’t so happy to see us either, but they can be bought. Oh… and it turns out you can too. When you squealed on us, you know what they did? Impounded our ship – that’s what! So here we are, to take what we’re owed… enough for a new ship!
Tarina, scoffs. She asserts that Deadeye’s loss of the ship was the consequence of his own greed and unscrupulous nature. She has no intention of paying him a a single copper.
The captain draws his sword and declares, “Then I’ll take it our of your skin!”