House Millithor in the City of the Spider Queen II

[Endur]

OOC: Kilcif has not posted that he is following the others into the Inner Fane, so I'm assuming he is still in the Outer Fane. If he posts that he is following the drow into the inner fane, I will edit the below post.

Matron Ki'Willis and Carcelon enter the Inner Fane.

Two short curving privacy walls define this area as a distinct portion of the temple. Inside the curve of the far wall is a long platform covered with ashes that looks like it might be a sacrificial altar. A plush carpet covers the floor, and a number of cusions and pillows are strewn haphazardly around the area.

A lingering stench of death remains here. Bloodstains are scattered about the floor. The air feels thick and unusually cold. Not a single spider is in sight; not even the corpse of a spider.

You didn't notice her at first. The slight female drow huddled against the privacy wall, sitting on the floor, her arms wrapped around her legs, dressed in a black robe trimmed with purple and burgundy.

Tears streak down her face as she stares hard at Matron Ki'Willis and speaks:

"Do you have faith, Ki’Willis?

When I was just a girl, we used to play a game called ‘faith’.

A group of us would overpower a priestess that we did not care for. We would bind the priestess and toss her into a web created by a large spider. The handle of a whip of fangs would be forced into her mouth, effectively gagging her and preventing her from screaming, pleading, or casting spells.

Then we would ask the question to the struggling priestess. ‘Do you have faith?’

If she had faith in the Goddess, the spider would not bite her. If she had faith, the fangs of the snake heads on the whip would cut her bonds and release her.

Sadly, some of those we tossed into the web perished from Spider venom or had their eyes chewed out by the snake heads on the whip of fangs.

So, Ki’Willis, ‘Do you have faith?’"

Matron Ki'Willis realizes that Dorina lied to her; Alisannara Morcane was not skinned alive. The Matron of House Morcane is right in front of you.

Kilcif did not hear or see anything (he is blocked by the privacy wall and the battered gate).

 

[Serpenteye]

So, Ki’Willis, ‘Do you have faith?’"

Matron Ki'Willis realizes that Dorina lied to her; Alisannara Morcane was not skinned alive. The Matron of House Morcane is right in front of you.

Ki'Willis shudders impercievably, a cold caress of dread running down her spine. She remains silent for a moment after Alisannara has stopped speaking, gathering her thoughts and observing the woman carefully. How unlikely that she would survive against the full force of Dorina's power... Is this a sign from Lolth, or a trap from Kiaransalee?

"The question is, Alisa; Has your faith released you from this spiders web? The fact (if it is indeed a fact) that you're alive is remarkable, perhaps even miraculous, but are you certain that the bite is not yet to come? Are you the first of us to regain Her blessing? Is your faith strong enough?"

 

[Uriel]

Kripp waited outside the Lolthite Temple pondering his new alliance with the Drow, the state of things back home in the Lake and the itch at the back of his gills that said something is not quite right here. Mumbling to himself in Kuo-Toa a bit about complexities of the ebb and flow of the Waters, Kripp uses his Hat to Shift, taking on the form of a Drow Male, the fishy odor fading to be replaced with the scent of a Dark Elf.

 

[Endur]

Kripp stands guard outside Matron Ki'Willis's quarters while the Matron, Carcelon, and Kilcif sneak into the Shrine of Lolth.

Kripp looks across the hallway at the skinless drow female standing guard thirty feet away from him in front of the entrance to Dorina's quarters. The skinless drow female ignores Kripp, even when Kripp changes form from Kuo-toa to a male drow.

As Kripp ponders the wrongness here, he hears a noise that he doesn't think was caused by the skinless female drow. As his eyes focus, he realizes that there is a distortion in the air ten feet from the skinless drow. An invisible guard is also present near her. He thinks the invisible guard is not humanoid, but something else.

 

[Endur]

Matron Morcane responds to Matron Ki'Willis.

"When I was a girl, my faith was never questioned.

"Is my faith strong enough? If the Goddess wills."
She smiles sadly.

"Have I escaped the bite of the spider? Neither I nor my house has escaped."

Her tears turn to blood.

Kilcif did not hear anything Matron Morcane spoke. He did hear Matron Ki'Willis speaking, but he could not make out the words and does not know who she was talking to (Carcelon? someone else?).

 

[Uriel]

OoC:Sorry as to location posted

IC
Laughing at the unsubtle nature of the guards from a race that prided itself on stealth, Kripp hums an old tune learned in the Spawning Pools from his Brood-Mother. Shifting[/I[ from Drow to Orc to Swarf to Ogre, kripp finally settles on himself once more, all the while cheerily humming the tune.

 

[Endur]

On the Surface.

After the raiding party leaves Dagger Falls, they ride the tireless undead Dire Wolves for an hour. Then the wind dies down and the snow stops falling. The dire wolves stop and the wolves transform to dire bats and fly away.

Zedar speaks, ”They have abandoned us in their rush to make it back before the Sun comes up, but I know the trail back. It will be long and hard to slog through this snow and the sun may come up before we make it back.”

Of the eight human prisoners, four are unconcious, three were dominated by the vampires, and the Lord of Daggerdale is bound with rope.

 

[Xael]

Quertus shrugs at Zedar's comment. *Long and hard? Not my style.* Quertus gestures with his left hand boringly, speaking arcane words, and a disk of blackish-transparent force appears next to him. He then steps/hops on it and continues his joyrney in style.

OOC: Now the DM-oriented question: Can I ride my disk? There was/is a debate on the boards about this.

If the ansver is no, then Quertus will use the stupid disk as a slave transporting device.

 

[Serpenteye]

Matron Morcane responds to Matron Ki'Willis.

"When I was a girl, my faith was never questioned.

"Is my faith strong enough? If the Goddess wills."
She smiles sadly.

"Have I escaped the bite of the spider? Neither I nor my house has escaped."

Her tears turn to blood.

"No, Alisannara, you will not die this easily." She casts a Cure Serious Wounds on the bleeding woman. (only if it looks like Alisannara is about to fall unconscious.) "You are not finished paying for the crimes you have committed against me, but if you prove useful enough I may help you regain some of what you have lost."

"Tell me what happened here. How did they conquer 'Szith Morcane'? What do you know of their strengths and their weaknesses?"

"What have they done to this temple, and why have they left you alive?"

 

[Seonaid]

Narcelia frowns at Zedar's comment. "Where will we rest for the day?" she asks. When Quertus creates his disk [and if he is able to ride it], she looks at him imperiously. I should have brought the Carpet of Flying, she thinks to herself.