Cajole in action

No time had passed as we emerged from our trance. Before we could even begin to ponder what had happened a deep, male voice suddenly rose from the shadows of the building to our left. “It’s a fell night, to be sure. The unwary traveller should be cautious.” he said as the black robed figure stepped into view, his face partially hidden by a Dhakaani death mask, and his steel boots scraping over the cobblestones.

He crossed the street to the corpse “This poor fool took undue risks,” he said, flicking his glittering gaze from the inert body at his feet to meet your own eyes. “It remains to be seen whether you’ll greet the dawn as fools yourselves or think better of such a pitiful end and head back the way you came. Take a step forward and I assure you – with no hint of humor – that your souls will find a rapid passage to Dolurrh should you interfere here tonight.”

Indeed, there was no humor in his voice, and the practiced way he held the bloodied steel mace in his right hand seemed to attest to the man’s confidence in his own ability. However I had not wandered all over Khorvaire without picking up a few skills of my own and it seemed as if my companions had their own ideas about being threatened.

In the blink of an eye three of us had drawn bows and released arrows at the villain. Cajole was charging wide from the left and reached him an instant after my arrow caught his shoulder. One swing of her hand and a half sword was followed up by a wicked kick to the groin. He was down and unconscious before we'd even notched our second arrows.

I think of all of us I was the most surprised. I had travelled with Cajole for nearly a whole season since finding her in the Mournland. We'd never got into a situation where we'd had to fight before and Cajole had always been quiet. She is deferential to the point of shyness and comes across as unsure of her own abilities. I had always assumed that she had been constructed for combat but had never been in action. Yet, here she was, moving with the confidence and power of a trained warrior. Truly I shall not underestimate her again. She has proven herself to be a valuable ally.