The View From Above and Below

[Vermillion Ashford]

BALDUR'S GATE
Twenty Years Ago


"Go. Both of you. Hold hands. Don't look back, no matter what."

The smell of brimstone always brought him back to his last moments in Avernus. Back to watching his mother plummet to her death from the crumbling, chained bastions of Elturel. Every match he struck - his own microdose of his own personal Hell. Watching the tears on Scarlett's face turn to an ashy trace of salt while the Hellrider scout whisked them through the collapsing portal...

Vermillion shook the match out, letting the nicotine kick the can on revisiting that memory again.

"Alright alright fair saers, double your day's wages on a quick game?"

From his pop-up in front of Bonecloak Apothecary, he should have an easy 20 minutes before the next Flaming Fist patrol came his way. Vermillion quickly shuffled a well-used deck of cards, squatting at a bench as he looked for a few potentials. Old Lady Bonecloak was out on excursion again this week, so this was a perfect place to hustle.

"Come one, come all, but come laden with real coin! Leave the coppers for the change purses, silver and up is the ante. Double your treasure and double your fun!"

The trick, always, was to let them take a few nibbles first. Make it easier to keep nibbling, and then keep them hungry when they started to dig a hole. And the clock was ticking for the next patrol.

The first mark was a Dragonborn who smelled like he'd come straight from the docks. He went a few coins in, but wouldn't you know that Tymora started to leave...and shook the tree to the tune of three gold! The Dragonborn glowered a dirty look as he trudged past, and Vermillion puffed his cigarette, trying not to look bowled over by the windfall.

He could pack it up on that one mark if he wanted to, or keep trying his luck here.

"Better luck next time, saer! Anyone else? One in five's a winner!"

[Ariandel Duskmantle]

"I don't like our odds, Castor. Without Snow we cannot easily sneak into the factory. I worry the two of us will not be enough for a full frontal assault. No doubt they will be on guard after the fire last night."

The two passed through the Lower City keeping to themselves as they walked. Things had gotten a little heated the night before, and a warehouse nearly burned to the ground on the Gray Harbor. If not for Snow's valiant attempt to quell the fire, the entire building might have been lost, along with the evidence that now pointed them further down the harbor to an abandoned factory that was surprisingly well locked up. Normally, that would not stop them. Snow was adept at shapechange and could infiltrate anything through one form or another, but he would be out for a day or two as his burns healed. In the meantime they had the source of the tainted pies to discover and destroy. Baldur's Gate hardly needed another zombie outbreak, and the town guard had been less than helpful. They were on their own against the nefarious forced of darkness. Just the three of them.

Or perhaps...

As they came out of an alley they found a small crowd watching a Dragonborn fellow lose his coin to a small demon child. Aria stopped in her steps, causing her companion to bump into her.

"Small, wings, good with his hands. Young, impressionable. I think he could fit right down the chimney and open the back door for us to sneak inside. What do you think, hmm?"