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"As we knew," said Regis, and it was Bidderdoo who rolled his eyes, though having never botched a teleportation like his bu
"Our acceptance ofstrangeness" Harkle started
"Eeness, you mean," said Drizzt
"What?" the wizard asked, and looked curiously at Bidderdoo before catching on and giving a burst of laughter "Indeed, yes!" he said "We who so play in the extree others Which invited trouble to Longsaddle"
"You are aware of the disposition of Malarites in general, yes?" Bidderdoo clarified
"Malarites?" Drizzt asked
"The worshipers of Malar?" asked the ods?" Drizzt asked
"Worse," said Harkle "A battle of followers"
Drizzt and Regis looked at hiod," Harkle explained "Sa on which side you ask - and oh, but they&039;ll kill you if you disagree with their narrow interpretations of their beast god&039;s will! And how these Malarites always disagree, with each other and with everyone else One group built a chapel on the eastern bank of Pavlel The other on the western bank"
"Pavlel? The lake?"
"We nais said
"Well, we don&039;t really know," Harkle replied "Since he and thewho knew he shouldn&039;t be surprised
"The blue-robed and red-robed onlookers at thepunishment," said Drizzt
"Priests of Malar all," Bidderdoo replied "One side witnessing justice, the other accepting consequences It&039;s important that we make a display of such punishment to deter future acts"
"He burned down a house," Harkle explained "With a family inside"
"And so he was punished," Bidderdoo added
"By being polyis
"At least they can&039;t hurt anyone in that state," said Bidderdoo
"Except for that one," Harkle corrected "The one with the big teeth, who could jureed "That rabbit was se of a vorpal weapon, that one, giving nasty bites!" He turned to Drizzt "Can I borrow your cat?"
"No," the drow replied
Regis groith frustration "You turned him into a rabbit!" he shouted, as if there could be no suitable reply
Bidderdoo shook his head solemnly "He remains happy and with bountiful leaves, brush, and flowers on the island"
"Happy? Is he man or rabbit? Where is his mind?"
"Somewhere in between, at this point, I would expect," Bidderdoo adis protested
"Tihts with his new body"
"To live as a rabbit," said Regis
Bidderdoo and Harkle exchanged concerned, and guilty, glances
"You killed hiis shouted
"He is very much alive!" Harkle protested
"How can you say that?"
Drizzt put a hand on the halfling&039;s shoulder, and when he looked up to aze, Drizzt shook his head slowly, backing him down
"Would that we could sisaddle would know her days of old," Bidderdoo mumbled and left the room
"The task that has befallen us is not a pleasant one," Harkle said "But you don&039;t understand"
Drizztno further elaboration, for indeed, the drow did understand the untenable situation that had descended upon his friends, the Harpells A foul taste filled his throat and he wanted to scream in protest of it all, but he didn&039;t Truly there was nothing to say, and nothing left for hisaddle
He infor down the road to Luskan and from there to Icewind Dale"
"Ah, Luskan!" said Harkle "I was to apprentice there once, long ago, but for some reason, they wouldn&039;t let hed profoundly and shook his head, but brightened iet you there in an instant," he said, snapping his fingers in such dra his hand with such zest, that he knocked over a lamp
Or would have, except that Drizzt, his speed enhanced by ht the lahted it
"We prefer to walk," the drow said "It&039;s not so far and the weather is clear and kind It&039;s not the destination that matters most, after all, but the journey"
"True, I suppose," Harkle ain brightening "But then, we could not have draggedSea Sprite across the is asked Drizzt, recalling the tale of how Drizzt and Catti-brie wound up in a landlocked lake with Captain Deuder pirate hunter Harkle Harpell had created a new enchant the ship and all aboard her to a landlocked lake in the Snowflake Mountains
"I have a new one!" Harkle squealed Regis blanched and fell back, and Drizzt waved his hands to shut down the wizard before he could fully launch into spellcasting
"We alk," the drow said again He looked down at Regis and added, "At once," which brought a curious expression frosaddle soon after, hustling down the road to the west, and despite Drizzt&039;s deterht, as if expecting the drow to turn
"What is it?" Drizzt finally asked hi?"
"That was our plan"
"I thought you meant to come out of town then circle back in to better view the situation"
Drizzt gave a helpless little chuckle "To what end?"
"We could go to the island"
"And rescue rabbits?" came the drow&039;s sarcastic reply "Do not underestith of their enchant of Fate, not many wizards in the world could have so warped Mystra&039;s Weave to teleport an entire ship and crew We go and collect the rabbits, but then what? Seek audience of Elis staically cornered
"And to what end?" Drizzt asked "Should we, new to the scene, interject ourselves in the Longsaddle&039;s justice?" Regis started to argue, but Drizzt cut hiht Bruenor do to one who burned a family inside a house?" the drow asked "Do you think his justice would be less harsh than the polyht come at the end of ahis head in obvious frustration Clearly the sight of a man violently transfor profoundly "You cannotthat&039;s not what the HarpellsLongsaddle shouldn&039;t" Regis sta for a focus for his frustration
"It&039;s not what I expected, and no, I&039;m not pleased by it"
"But you will accept it?"
"It&039;s not saddle call out to you," Regis said
The drow stopped walking andon the side of the trail, where he sat down, gazing back the way they&039;d come
"These situations are rew up a the pashas of Caliish ways"
"Of course, but that doesn&039;tfrom the Harpells"
Drizzt shook his head "That&039;s not hborhoods, hoere the pashas viewed?"
"As heroes," Regis said
"Why?"
Regis leaned back against a stone, a perplexed look on his face
"In the lawless streets of Calis like Pasha Pook seen as heroes?"
"Because without theht on
"The Harpells have no answer to the fanaticis priests, and so they respond with a heavy hand"
"You agree with that?"
"It&039;s not ree," said Drizzt "The Harpells are the lid on a boiling cauldron I don&039;t know if their choice of justice is the correct one, but I suspect frosaddle would know strife beyond anything you or I can i for supreht is between two interpretations of the saod, the misery can reach new proportions I saw this intiine the fury of opposing matron mothers, each convinced that she, and not her enemy, spoke the will of Lolth!
"You would have saddle and use my influence, even my blades, to somehow alter the situation But ould that, even if I could accoly doubt, loose upon the cosaddle?"
"Better to let Bidderdoo continue his brutality?" Regis asked
"Better to let the people with a stake in the outcome determine their own fate," Drizzt answered "We&039;ve not the standing or the forces to better the situation in Longsaddle"
"We don&039;t even knohat that situation really is"
Drizzt took a deep, steadying breath, and said, "I know enough to recognize that if the problesaddle are not as profound as I - as we - fear, then the Harpells will find their way out of it And if it is as dangerous then there&039;s nothing we can do to help However we intervene, one or even both sides will see us as o on our way I think we are both unnerved by the unusual nature of the Harpells&039; justice, but I have to say that there is a temperate manner to it"
"Drizzt!"
"It is not a permanent punishment, for Bidderdoo can undo that which he has enacted," the drow explained "He is neutering the warring offenders by rendering the the other side into carrots"
"That&039;s not funny"
"I know," Drizzt admitted with an upraised hand and a smirk "But who are we to intervene, and haven&039;t the Harpells earned our trust?"
"You trust in what you saw?"
"I trust that if the situation alters and calls for a recanting of the justice delivered, the Harpells will undo the transformations and return the no-doubt shaken and hopefully repentant men to their respective places Easier that than the dwarves of Mithral Hall sewing a head back on a crio "Can we stop back here on our return to Mithral Hall?"
"Do you want to?"
"I don&039;t know," Regis answered honestly, and he too looked back toward the distant town, profound disappointment on his norisis like Obould lately," the halfling went on "Always the best of a bad choice"
"I will be certain to relay your feelings to Bruenor"
Regis stared blankly for just a rin widened and widened until it was followed by a belly-laugh, both heartfelt and sadly resigned
"Coo and see if we can save the rest of the world"
And so the two friends lightened their steps and headed down the western trail, oblivious to the prophecy embedded in Drizzt Do&039;Urden&039;s joke