the central bolt. Only when her back
was turned did Groag see Toede's face immediately cloud and small lightning bolts of anger
dance beneath his deeply creased brows. The only Toede present, realized Groag, was the
one that had always inhabited that body.
Dragonlance - Villains 5 - Lord Toede
Chapter 3
In which Our Protagonist and his faithful companion go berry picking and attempt to part
company with the kender way of life, in the process discovering the merits and perils of
bungee diving and white-water rafting. The kender's full name was Taywin Kroninsdau, at
least that's what Toede thought she said when she made introductions, making mention of
Kronin's name. Thankfully neither Kronin nor Talorin were immediately at hand to discern
his true identity, and Toede hoped no one caught the early part of his self-identifying
rant. Taywin seemed perfectly agreeable to calling him Mr. Underhill. Were the kender to
figure out who they really had tumbled upon, they might try to ransom him. And that old
scaleflint Gildentongue would probably rather leave him there to rot than part with one
sliver of steel.
As it was, Taywin Kroninsdau nodded brightly (she was the type of semi-sentient who did
everything brightly) when he introduced himself as Mr. Underhill and gave no sign that she
doubted his words. Their hut had a kender guard posted outside, a sleepy sort who seemed
lazy even by kender standards, who was to accompany them along with Taywin. Toede and
Groag had their chains lengthened so they could take shortened, hopping strides, with
about ten feet of chain connecting them. Taywin led the way, the large basket in hand. The
two chained hobgoblins were reduced to skipping
to keep up with her. The amused kender guard, armed with a particularly wicked-looking
spear, brought up the rear, alongside a shag-muzzled, honey-colored mastiff. Taywin
introduced the guard as Miles and made Toede shake hands politely. Introductions were not
made to the dog. The sought-after fruit hung from low, dense raspberry bushes that flanked
a small river, the probable outflow of the lake Toede had seen earlier (the presence of
which had forced him to stray into kender territory). The tumbling water was too small to
do the name “river” proper justice, and too large and energetic to be considered a mere
stream or creek. It was a whitened cascade of water about twenty feet across, thundering
over falls and cresting in hydraulics, the latter being great standing waves three feet
higher at the top than at the base. The spray from the water hung like a low fog, and the
omnipresent dampness encouraged the bushes to bear fruit throughout the warm months. Toede
was still seething inwardly with the indignation of his plight. It took a full ten minutes
for him to switch from planning imagined revenge on all kender to assessing the situation
for possible escape. The water looked too rough for a chain-bound swimmer, but could throw
off the scent of a party of dogs. The spray would dampen any clear sight or bow shot past
a hundred feet, and the thunder of the cascades meant that any survivors would have to
crawl for help rather than count on being heard crying out in pain. The girl seemed like
no real problem, and the guard was not particularly watchful. Toede realized he would have
to take him out quickly, before the dog reacted. After which, there was the matter of
Groag. Toede sighedthere always was a weak link in any plan. They had been spirited out of
the hut before making any real decisions as to escape, so he had to act and hope that
Groag would pick up on the momentum. More likely another large mountain would hit the sea
of Istar, Toede reflected bitterly as they skipped glumly alongside the water. The path
was only wide enough for a single creature, and in places was devilishly slick, even for
those not hampered by iron