Tymora's Luck - Kate Novak [6]
The native population of the Cage, as Sigil was called locally, was comprised mostly of humans, the humanlike githzerai; the half-ram, half-human bariaurs; the half-human, half-fiend tieflings; and a few elves and dwarves. The transient population outnumbered the natives by two to one. Creatures from every known world and plane were represented, and they all seemed to visit Chirper's. Evil fiends from the lower planes who stood several feet taller than an average human dined beside halflings no taller than human children. Creatures that looked like giant frogs argued across the dinner table with women with six arms and snake tails instead of legs. Beings whose bodies seemed to burn with fire broke bread with foxes and bears who walked upright and wore clothing.
The only way to enter or leave Sigil was through one of the city's innumerable magical portals. Many of the visitors were stranded there, having stepped through a oneway portal and been unable to locate a portal that led home or been unable to find the right key to a portal that led home. Other, more worldly, visitors had come through one of the two-way portals as tourists to the city. Some came to negotiate with their enemies in the neutral city. And since, for some mysterious reason, the portals would not admit beings of godly power, a few came to do their god's bidding here, while others came to escape the gods.
Joel had come to Sigil the first time searching for an artifact for his god. He returned to use the city's portals to disperse the pieces of that artifact throughout the multiverse, and to fulfill a bargain made with one of the city's natives. Both tasks completed, the bard was anxious to leave Sigil, but not without at least saying good-bye to Jasmine of Westgate, one of his companions on his last adventure. After fruitlessly scanning the crowd, Joel pulled aside the maitre d' to ask where he'd seated the winged woman who'd sent the note. The maitre d' directed Joel to a small table by the bar. Joel found Jas sipping an ale just where the maоtre d' said she'd be. She was not bothering to cover up her gargoyle-like wings of patina-tinged copper or the black feathers on her face. She wore a new outfit, consisting of leggings and a jerkin of black leather that clung to her slender, well-muscled frame. A short sword in a scabbard and an azure cloak hung on the back of her chair. Her dark black hair was cropped close to her skull, and it shone nearly blue in the amber light of the lantern hanging over the table.
"Where have you been?" Joel demanded, taking the chair opposite her. He set his pack and weapon beneath his chair. "Holly and I were worried about you."
"I hate just banging around," Jas explained. "So while you were away, I took some work as a private courier for a high-up. Blood wanted to have me at her beck and call. So I left Dits's to stay at her case."
Joel grinned at the amount of Sigilian slang the woman had managed to pick up after only two weeks in this foreign place. Of course, that was to be expected. Jas was an experienced traveler. She knew how to make herself fit in anywhere.
"So, did you and Holly unload all the pieces of the hand?" Jas asked.
Joel nodded. The artifact whose pieces he had dispersed throughout the multiverse had been known as the Hand of Bane. He'd done it to help a paladin, Holly Harrowslough. Holly's god wanted to be sure the hand could never be made whole and used to resurrect the evil god Bane.
"Holly's friend Bors showed us several portals to other planes where we could hide the pieces," the bard explained to Jas. "Holly spilled the pieces into the void out over the edge