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Journal of the Souls of Legend (completed)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nthal" data-source="post: 8091365" data-attributes="member: 6971069"><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Deals from the Underdark - 09/19/2020</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em>There are stories of the Underdark even in Sigil. But they are looked at by bloods and planeswalker as something akin to “Just another bad trip.” No Blood would let themselves get trapped on a plane, much less anever-ending series of caves. They are compared to other destinations with a shrug. How could it be worse than the howling winds of Pandemonium? The depths of Stygia? Mechanus when you’ve missed the window for using the privy?</em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em></em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em>It wasn’t until I asked Arnara about them, that I understood what it meant for primes. To them, it was a version of the Abyss that lurked far too close, that could reach up and swallow you at any moment. A nightmare that adults tell each other so they can keep their kids safe. To them, the Abyss is just a story of where your kids go if they are really bad.</em></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>“Hey! Myr’s awake,” I heard Iesa’s voice nearby. I looked around and Iesa came from around the fork, with only a towel wrapped around him. Mo, was bounding behind him sporting a similar cloth, and both of them were dripping wet.</p><p></p><p>“You feeling better?” Iesa said grinning.</p><p></p><p>“I uh…what happened?” I was very confused on why he was so casual.</p><p></p><p>“Well, someone knocked you down from a roof. Luckily, I grabbed you and fed you a potion I had. But you were still out, and we carried you here!”</p><p></p><p>“Here?” I said looking at Iesa dubiously.</p><p></p><p>Iesa nodded, “I realized that that guy with the lute—”</p><p></p><p>“—Lyre.—”</p><p></p><p>“—Whatever. Basically, gave us bad directions, it was easy to get here. We headed right, and there it was, a bunch of buildings surrounding a well-travelled path underground. And the drow at the entrance pointed us here to relax and get you back on your feet.”</p><p></p><p>I slowly blinked not quite believing it. “And they just…let you in with an unconscious me in your arms? Just like that?”</p><p></p><p>“Well, the other pirates didn’t follow us once we passed the pair of drow at the entrance,” Iesa pointed out. “It was like they didn’t want to stir up trouble.”</p><p></p><p>I stared at Iesa with what was probably an incredulous expression, “And Daneath and Beepu are just…soaking it up in another spring?”</p><p></p><p>“Pretty much. I mean beyond the potion I was at a loss on what to do, and one of the drow mentioned that the springs here are renowned for healing properties. Cheap too for all four of us.”</p><p></p><p>“So…let me get this straight,” I said trying to keep my voice even. “You took the advice of some random drow at the entrance, a number of which we killed what yesterday? And they recommended that we all take a bath so I would feel better? And you decide it’s a good idea to strip me of my gear and float me alone, naked in a spring?”</p><p></p><p>“Well, I made sure you were braced so you wouldn’t slip in!”</p><p></p><p>“And did you come up with that idea before or after you stripped me?” I said starting to let my anger show.</p><p></p><p>“Hey, you said I had already seen—”</p><p></p><p>I looked around and found a loose rock, and half emerging from the pool threw it at the man. He easily ducked, and it flew down the corridor. “Pike it you barmy leatherhead! We slipped the knot, and now you put us in a tub, while those unhende drow turn stag on us! What kind of a tanar’ri martyr are you?”</p><p></p><p>Iesa blinked a moment opened his mouth and then shut it. He was quiet for a moment, and then looked at me and smiled.</p><p></p><p>“I’m really sorry…what does that even mean?”</p><p></p><p>I seethed and said with clenched teeth. “It means that the drow have tricked us, and now we are sitting here vulnerable.”</p><p></p><p>Iesa looked shocked and defensive, “They seemed to be helpful. I think you are overreacting.”</p><p></p><p>As he uttered those very words, a dozen drow dressed in leathers, and carrying crossbows and swords at their belts ran down the hall from the main entrance. By the time he said ‘over-reacting,’ six of them aimed their weapons at us, while the other six went town the other fork. From the distance I could hear Beepu’s shrill voice piping, “What is this all about!”</p><p></p><p>Iesa didn’t even turn around. He closed his eyes and bowed his head in defeat. Mo raised his hands and the his towel dropped to the floor.</p><p></p><p>“They’re right behind me, aren’t they?” he said realizing what I had meant.</p><p></p><p>“You two are coming with us. The boss wants to see all of you. Now.” Said one of the drow in a no-nonsense tone.</p><p></p><p>Iesa raised his hands and turned around with a wan smile, “Hey I think there has been—”</p><p></p><p>The crossbow men all turned to point their weapons at his protests.</p><p></p><p>“—A completely reasonable ask made.”</p><p></p><p>I sat there in the pool fuming.</p><p></p><p><em>Gos, where are you?</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>--About time! Umm…I’m hiding near your guys stuff in a room above the pools.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Stay there, keep an eye on my things.</em></p><p></p><p>“Fine, once I get dressed,” I said.</p><p></p><p>“You come as you are,” the drow said to me menacingly.</p><p></p><p>I stiffened a bit and pulled myself out of the pool. I shook my head, and scattered water droplets around, sprinkling the guards. I then crossed my arms.</p><p></p><p>“No. I am getting dressed.”</p><p></p><p>The drow’s captain, stepped forward with the crossbow still pointing at me. “I don’t think you are in a position to make demands.”</p><p></p><p>I moved my hands to my hips, I was naked, and running a serious red one, ready to kill Iesa for them. But I spoke far calmer than I felt as my heart pounded.</p><p></p><p>“I am <strong><em>not</em></strong> going to be marched to your boss naked. If you want to shoot; do it. However, I am pretty sure your boss wants us alive, otherwise…you would have shot us already. But in the spirit of compromise, you can get my clothes and I will follow you peacefully.”</p><p></p><p>Iesa turned his head to look at me and then the drow captain uncertain how this was going to play out. The tension in the air was palpable, with neither side wanting to back down. Finally, the captain, turned to the drow on his left.</p><p></p><p>“Get princess here her clothes,” the captain snarled, and his subordinate lowered his crossbow and retreated down the main corridor.</p><p></p><p>Iesa turned towards me, “I think—” he started.</p><p></p><p>“Bar that and eyes up,” I snapped, and Iesa immediately looked up at the roof of the passage. “You don’t get to look, because you aren’t pointing a crossbow at me.” Several of the drow sniggered at my orders, while the captain regarded me coolly.</p><p></p><p><em>--Hey, there’s a drow here grabbing your stuff.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>All of it?</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>--No just the clothes.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Keep watching, thanks.</em></p><p></p><p>The subordinate returned and tossed me my pants, boots and underblouse. As I put them on Iesa cleared his throat.</p><p></p><p>“No,” the captain said. “Only her.”</p><p></p><p>Iesa finally looked down from the ceiling and protested, “But why?</p><p></p><p>The captain looked at the rogue and said evenly, “Because the other pirates aren’t going to care if you are naked. Most of them at least.”</p><p></p><p>[HR][/HR]</p><p></p><p>We were then marched out of the springs, and for the first time I saw where we were. It was a huge cavern with a vaulted ceiling that must have been hundreds of feet above us. The floor of the cavern had various buildings, that would have been home outside. The streets were straight and wide and not a twisty maze like the shantytown or even the cliffside dwellings. The streets were lit by smokey oil lamps, as were many of the windows of the buildings. Far above there was the glint of crystals, which reflected the light from below, creating a glittering firmament. It gave the feeling that we were in a town, that was trapped or was hiding in a cloak of eternal night.</p><p></p><p>The streets below weren’t crowded, but there was activity everywhere; drunken men swaying together singing shanty songs off (and some on) key, some collapsed on the ground in their own vomit, while another group were noisily brawling at a bar. It was a version of the port above, under stone. </p><p></p><p>We passed, two large buildings looked like warehouses, without walls. Large and open, tables to dice at and to deal cards. The tables were only partially full, which made sense with only a single ship docked in the quay. But like above, there were no small races, and I saw only a single old woman in the cavern. Unlike above, there were also guards; pairs of drow men patrolled together, their red eyes watching the pirate’s activities with a detached interest.</p><p></p><p>And as I expected, my passing with a loaded crossbow pointed at my back created a wake of whispers as we were escorted to not a building, but a passage that pierced the rock, opening into a smaller chamber. While I had managed to bargain for clothes, Daneath, Iesa and Beepu were being escorted in loose towels and Mo tagged along, staying close to Iesa.</p><p></p><p>Once inside the smaller grotto, we ascended a circular set of stone steps set on the outer edge of the roughly oval chamber. The steps themselves were covered in rugs; the stone walls were draped with dark tapestries. Unlike the other cavern, there was no set light source as the there were no sconces or lanterns mounted on the walls at all. Instead our escorts stopped, and lit a candelabra set on a table and carried it, so the humans could see their way through the darkened space.</p><p></p><p>As we started to ascend the stairs, the drow grabbed the arms of Daneath and Iesa, helping them to guide them up the stairs. I noticed that they didn’t try to help Beepu at all. But they were surprised when I brushed off their attempts to guide me.</p><p></p><p>“I can see fine,” I said looking at the captain. “But is that,” gesturing at the candelabra, “The best you have?”</p><p></p><p>The captain looked at me with a dirty look. “It will be sufficient,” he said bluntly. I thought about casting a light and decided not to push my luck and get shot in the back.</p><p></p><p>We continued our ascent, and entered another stone passage, lined with several oak doors. Finally, we stopped in front of a single door, larger than the others. The captain opened it, and we were prodded inside.</p><p></p><p>The room was dimly lit, but I could easily see the outlines. In the dark it might be foreboding and impressive, but for me I saw it for what it was. Bookcases lined the walls; each a repaired wreck of furniture and no two the same style. Only a third of them contained actual books, while the rest seemed to be a haphazard collection of cheap art objects, roughly carved statuettes and carvings, small coffers and chests with cheap fittings. It clearly was for show to folks that otherwise couldn’t see well.</p><p></p><p>In the center of the room was a large wooden desk, with signs of water damage. Cracks and fissures split the wood grain, and some of the panels appeared to be buckled. Two dilapidated but serviceable chairs were set before the desk, while on top was a lit oil lamp, and some scattered parchments. Seated at the desk was another male drow. This one while still having the young elven appearance, face seemed more weathered and worn compared to his peers. His white hair was cropped closely, and his ears sported rings and piercings like many of the other pirates we had seen. His arms were bare, and they were lined in white colored scars that reminded me of whip marks. He sat there and watched us being herded into the room. He looked at the men bemused, but his expression turned a little darker as he looked at me.</p><p></p><p>He leaned back in the chair he sat in and evaluated us each one by one. The look on his face was one of contempt.</p><p></p><p>“These are the ones Nymor,” the captain said to the drow sitting at the desk.</p><p></p><p>“So…<em>you</em>? <strong><em>You</em></strong> are the troublemakers? I’m surprised. Or perhaps I shouldn’t be. The pirates topside aren’t that bright.” He said coldly.</p><p></p><p>We stood there looking at each other, and I picked up that the other three felt a bit underdressed for the discussion. Rolling my eyes, I looked at the drow. “You should come up more often. It’s easy pickings.” I said and watched him.</p><p></p><p>He closed his eyes, and seemed to groan inwardly, like he didn’t want to deal with me specifically. “So…<em>you</em> are the one leading your…crew is it? Your ship must be very far from port, as I can’t place what ship would claim you as members.”</p><p></p><p>“I think that is obvious,” I said coolly. “You clearly are a busy person; so, let’s get to the matter; what do you want?”</p><p></p><p>“I can see why you are in charge,” he said in a droll tone. I almost corrected him, but I decided against it. “But you simply put, you are here to pay off your debt to me.”</p><p></p><p>“Debt?” Daneath spoke up. “What are you talking about?”</p><p></p><p>The drow sat back and rocked his chair on two of its four legs. “First you slay some of my men, and then we…covered for you. The bounty on her head is substantial, so not claiming it is a loss, in addition to keeping the more colorful pirates out. Then there is the cost of reviving my men. It all adds up.”</p><p></p><p>“As I recall, your men, shot first and shot poorly. We forgave them for their mistake and let them live, on the condition that the matter was settled,” I said watching him carefully.</p><p></p><p>The drow frowned, “I don’t recall saying anything of the sort.”</p><p></p><p>“Not you…the drow in charge in the caves. Apparently, he’s making deals you can’t honor.” I said, feeling like I was sparing with the male.</p><p></p><p>“And you believed him?” he said with a tone of mocking amusement.</p><p></p><p>“We gave you the benefit of the doubt,” I retorted. “And you paid to have these men brought back? Are you sure that’s a wise…investment in failure?”</p><p></p><p>His eyes narrowed, and I could hear Iesa hiss between his teeth, while Beepu tried to admonish me saying “Myr…” He then spoke again. “Loyalty like theirs is worth the price.”</p><p></p><p>“I guess it would be at that, considering the alternative. So, you haul us here to drip on your floor just tell us this, or did you actually want something?” I asked assertively.</p><p></p><p>“Watch your tone female,” he snapped. “As it turns out we have something that you can do as recompense. Do it and <em>then</em> matters between us will be clean.”</p><p></p><p>I frowned for a moment. I wanted more from him, and I wanted to keep him off-balance. So, I sat down on a seat in front of the desk and leaned up and propped up my boots on top of it. “It sounds like we might be able to help you with…something. Tell us more.”</p><p></p><p>Nymor’s eyes narrowed at me and continued, “We had an agreement with some dwarves nearby. They have been…remiss on its terms.”</p><p></p><p>“And you aren’t sending us to…renegotiate I take it.” I said.</p><p></p><p>“Indeed. I expect you to make a creative example of these, Duergar. All of them.”</p><p></p><p>I hadn’t heard that term before, and the word wasn’t elvish, so I turned to Beepu with a questioning look.</p><p></p><p>“Gray dwarves? Here?” Beepu said in a thoughtful voice. “So, there <strong><em>is</em></strong> a passage to the Underdark beneath this island. And I bet they are blocking it.”</p><p></p><p>“Our disagreement is none of your concern. What is, is that you remove them all from their holes.” Nymor replied testily.</p><p></p><p>“All of them,” I said aloud. “You seem to be pretty particular on that point. How many is all?”</p><p></p><p>The drow grinned, “Around twenty to thirty dwarves. I admit to not having a precise count, but that is your problem.”</p><p></p><p>I narrowed my eyes at him. “Well, that is an…ambitious ask. Any particular reason you haven’t taken care of it yourselves?”</p><p></p><p>“I see no reason to waste my men on them, when I can send you instead.” He said dryly. The light on his face was dimming, as the oil in the lamp was running low, moving the room closer to darkness. But for me, that only meant I could see him even clearer, as if the sun itself lit his face.</p><p></p><p>My brow furrowed as I gazed down at him. As I saw it there were several possibilities. The first was he was already stretched thin and couldn’t afford a confrontation with these dwarves. That also would imply that he really was concerned about us, and he wanted to have us perish in the attempt. A second one was that he was actually afraid of us, either because we would disrupt something that was already precarious on the island, and sending us to deal with the problem was a convenient way to dispose of us.</p><p></p><p>Either one would work out for them. Thirty vs four wasn’t great odds. But I could see us being victorious and them the drow turning stag on us. They could then solve their problem and collect on my head and maybe even sell Beepu for a profit.</p><p></p><p>“Well…that is quite a problem there,” I said nodding. “And I can understand your…reluctance to handling it yourself. We may be the right people for this kind of work. But I wonder if you can perhaps answer a simple question for us?”</p><p></p><p>“This is not a negotiation,” Nymor said flatly.</p><p></p><p>“No. It is not,” I replied. “One of your men mentioned you might have seen a Genasi. Being he was camped in the back of your cave; I assume he was an inconvenience. What happened to him?”</p><p></p><p>Nymor was taken aback for a moment, and quickly his face returned back to the inscrutable mask it was before. “Is that why you are here then? To track <strong><em>him</em></strong> down?”</p><p></p><p>“Track yes,” I replied. “It’s not like he has a bounty on him or anything, but we do have an interest in his whereabouts,” I deflected.</p><p></p><p>Nymor chortled, “Such a coincidence. He’s with the duergar as we speak.”</p><p></p><p>“Interesting. And where does he fit in your request with them? Is he included?” I asked, trying to see if he was important to the drow or not. But as Nymor answered, it became clear it was serendipity and nothing more.</p><p></p><p>“Kill him if you want. He isn’t really a concern to me.” Nymor said shrugging.</p><p></p><p>“Any other…requests then?” I asked. “This seems straightforward otherwise.”</p><p></p><p>“Other than we don’t want to see your faces until the job is done. So, we will be watching. If you come back too soon, or we find not enough blood has been spilled; we will claim you all as recompense.”</p><p></p><p>I looked at the others. I wasn’t real keen on being the focal point for negotiations. I was told I was effective at it, but I felt ill-prepared for them. Beepu returned my glance, gripping the towel in front of him and shrugged. Iesa’s face was scrunched up somewhere between anger and annoyance, but he nodded to me. Daneath was quiet, but he too gave a single nod.</p><p></p><p>“Sounds like solving your problems, are now ours. Fine, we’ll do it,” I said.</p><p></p><p>“You will leave then and get started now. Tanas will—”</p><p></p><p>“—Tanas will take us back to our things, and we rest and prepare. Then and only then, Tanas will take us there.” I said bluntly.</p><p></p><p>Nymor’s eyes narrowed, “I suppose we could just take our recompense now.” He said with a hard edge on his voice.</p><p></p><p>“If you wanted that, you would have done it already,” I observed. “So, I think you really want this problem taken care of. You can wait a little bit.”</p><p></p><p>Nymor chewed on that for a moment and after a long pause, nodded. “You are right; I do want this problem taken care of. You can have your respite then…but you will be under watch.”</p><p></p><p>I held up my hands, “As you like. I am glad you are being…reasonable. I guess we will, prepare ourselves.”</p><p></p><p>“Two words of warning female,” Nymor said. I wouldn’t leave the caverns here; seems that the crew of the Crows has taken an interest in your…activities. And I don’t think I need to say anything about going back on the deal you just made.”</p><p></p><p>I gave a hard stare. As I watched, I could see a single bead of sweat descent from his temple as we sat and looked at each other. I gave him a slight smile and stood. The captain Tamas, gestured to the door, and we filtered out from the room, the light in his oil lamp started to sputter. With my back to him, I looked over my shoulder and flexed a moment and felt the familiar warmth up and down my back as the wings appeared. On the desk, the lamp flared alive with a brilliant yellow light, and I could see him start to reach up to shield his sensitive eyes from the light, as I stepped through the door.</p><p></p><p>“I think that goes both directions doesn’t it?” I said. “My god is an active one in this world, and I think he would be…disappointed to see one of his servants arrive before he has called for her. Or you for that matter.” And with a simple gesture and pull on a small white strand, I made the door slam behind us.</p><p></p><p>“Shall we Tamas? I am certain you have…more interesting things to do,” I said to the captain, as we started downstairs.</p><p></p><p>Tamas regarded me with a dirty look, “I certainly don’t wish to have another fight with you.” Daneath and Iesa gave the drow a strange look, while Beepu simply shrugged, being he missed the fight in the cave.</p><p></p><p>I looked at him in surprise. I tried, but I couldn’t remember his face, on the corpses on the drow we faced in the cave days ago.</p><p></p><p>“It may not mean much Tamas, but I didn’t want to kill you,” I said trying to keep my tone even.</p><p></p><p>“The smile on your face told me a different story,” Tamas retorted. “But I was foolish. I remembered you breaking our bones. I charged at you to make sure you didn’t do that again, and never saw the sword strike me.”</p><p></p><p>I nodded and held my tongue. We had left the small grotto, and were crossing the main cavern, and all I could do was stare at Tamas.</p><p></p><p>For months, I could say that I was the only person that I knew that was brought back from the Fugue. And here was a person that I helped send there, and then was brought back. I knew what I had experienced, but I found myself desperately wanting to talk with him. To ask what he saw, what he felt in the Fugue. Could he even remember it? Did coming back change him, as it did me? Did he fear death anymore, or did he dread returning?</p><p></p><p>We arrived back at the springs. Right in front of the passage to them, was a building on stilts, that had a set of stairs that led up into them. The other drow took positions below the building and they waited for us to ascend. I turned to look at Tamas, wanting to ask those questions. But it was clear from the face he wore, that he wanted nothing to do with us, and with me in particular. I sighed, as followed the rest of my friends upstairs, with four drow in tow.</p><p></p><p>We arrived at the large room that I presumed that one of the others paid for and closed the door. There on four beds were our things and looking around at the rafters I saw Gossamer crouched, wings folded tight to his body, and probably well-hidden for anyone’s’ eyes but my own. Daneath closed the door, and I caught a glimpse of the drow taking positions just outside.</p><p></p><p>I sat down on the bed with the rest of my things, and found the copper wire, and wrapped it around my finger again, while Beepu said aloud, “Well this is an interesting mess.” In what appeared to be total agreement, Mo lept onto a bed and flopped making a small groaning sound.</p><p></p><p>“Well, I guess you can’t blame them for being a little angry with us,” Daneath said cautiously, as he noticed me playing with the copper.</p><p></p><p>As quickly as I could, I sent each of them the same message; “They are going to be listening obviously. Don’t mention anything more on why we are here for the Genasi. I personally think they are going to try to kill us when we finish with the Duergar.”</p><p></p><p>“Well, I think we should get the rest, and do what they ask,” Iesa said aloud, even as he and the others nodded to my message, that I had sent to them. And each one in turn gave me a different response:</p><p></p><p>Beepu: “Typical for a drow, and a very reasonable expectation.”</p><p></p><p>Daneath: “I agree with your instincts here, but all we can do is play along for now,” and he shrugged.</p><p></p><p>Iesa: “Do you think so? I caught that they are afraid of us…although they seem to detest you,” and he looked at me with concern.</p><p></p><p>I lay down on my bed, as the others finally put on some semblance of clothes and left their wet towels on the floor. As I lay there, I worried silently on how this was going to work out. We were in a den of cony catchers, and it scared me how we kept stumbling. Iesa becoming infected by that plant, losing control of myself and, my friend’s poor judgement here getting us caught, how easy it was for Beepu to get knocked out and put into a cage. It felt that nothing had gone as expected, and that we were just reacting, and not doing what we were supposed to.</p><p></p><p>“Hey Myr,” Iesa said. “Sorry about the spring earlier…I just didn’t—”</p><p></p><p>I sighed and interrupted, “—Look, I shouldn’t even have to say anything about stripping off my armor and clothes. You just don’t do that.”</p><p></p><p>“Yeah…as I said I didn’t—”</p><p></p><p>“Forget it; its done. Let’s just rest and get this over with.”</p><p></p><p>I lay there fuming a bit. I didn’t know if I was overreacting or not. I wasn’t safe here; well none of us were really. But I was dumbfounded on what had happened. Perhaps the power Tymora or Bes, or the Fates were watching over us. It was a comforting idea. But then I realized who I should be thanking. And I grasped my holy symbol that was on my neck and prayed.</p><p></p><p><em>Kelemvor, I thank you for watching over us and letting us finish this work. I hope that I…we are doing this to your satisfaction. That our battle, against another who thinks lives are cheap, and denies himself your embrace is. Tomorrow we will be outnumbered as we search for the final piece to end this.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em> No one should be alone, in life or death,</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em> Death is a part of life, not an ending but a beginning</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em> Death is without deceit and has meaning,</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em> I will do anything to see this errand done.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em> I will sacrifice all that I am to finish it.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em> May you bless us on the next step of the journey,</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em> Because Death is never an end, but a waypost,</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em> A Destination and a Journey one and the same, </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em> May our deeds live forever in You,</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em> And let me be your instrument my Lord, as it is my desire in faith</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em> May the end of the Kershak grant us all peace.</em></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Session notes:</strong></p><p></p><p>This felt like a shotgun wedding, and I just didn’t appreciate the setup. It also may have been fatigue on the theme, of the island against Myr’s gender. Or that the rails were showing.</p><p></p><p>In hindsight, I was a tad snarky in my dialog with Nymor, and so I might have contributed by overreacting, to a lot of negativity.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nthal, post: 8091365, member: 6971069"] [CENTER][B]Deals from the Underdark - 09/19/2020[/B] [I]There are stories of the Underdark even in Sigil. But they are looked at by bloods and planeswalker as something akin to “Just another bad trip.” No Blood would let themselves get trapped on a plane, much less anever-ending series of caves. They are compared to other destinations with a shrug. How could it be worse than the howling winds of Pandemonium? The depths of Stygia? Mechanus when you’ve missed the window for using the privy? It wasn’t until I asked Arnara about them, that I understood what it meant for primes. To them, it was a version of the Abyss that lurked far too close, that could reach up and swallow you at any moment. A nightmare that adults tell each other so they can keep their kids safe. To them, the Abyss is just a story of where your kids go if they are really bad.[/I][/CENTER] “Hey! Myr’s awake,” I heard Iesa’s voice nearby. I looked around and Iesa came from around the fork, with only a towel wrapped around him. Mo, was bounding behind him sporting a similar cloth, and both of them were dripping wet. “You feeling better?” Iesa said grinning. “I uh…what happened?” I was very confused on why he was so casual. “Well, someone knocked you down from a roof. Luckily, I grabbed you and fed you a potion I had. But you were still out, and we carried you here!” “Here?” I said looking at Iesa dubiously. Iesa nodded, “I realized that that guy with the lute—” “—Lyre.—” “—Whatever. Basically, gave us bad directions, it was easy to get here. We headed right, and there it was, a bunch of buildings surrounding a well-travelled path underground. And the drow at the entrance pointed us here to relax and get you back on your feet.” I slowly blinked not quite believing it. “And they just…let you in with an unconscious me in your arms? Just like that?” “Well, the other pirates didn’t follow us once we passed the pair of drow at the entrance,” Iesa pointed out. “It was like they didn’t want to stir up trouble.” I stared at Iesa with what was probably an incredulous expression, “And Daneath and Beepu are just…soaking it up in another spring?” “Pretty much. I mean beyond the potion I was at a loss on what to do, and one of the drow mentioned that the springs here are renowned for healing properties. Cheap too for all four of us.” “So…let me get this straight,” I said trying to keep my voice even. “You took the advice of some random drow at the entrance, a number of which we killed what yesterday? And they recommended that we all take a bath so I would feel better? And you decide it’s a good idea to strip me of my gear and float me alone, naked in a spring?” “Well, I made sure you were braced so you wouldn’t slip in!” “And did you come up with that idea before or after you stripped me?” I said starting to let my anger show. “Hey, you said I had already seen—” I looked around and found a loose rock, and half emerging from the pool threw it at the man. He easily ducked, and it flew down the corridor. “Pike it you barmy leatherhead! We slipped the knot, and now you put us in a tub, while those unhende drow turn stag on us! What kind of a tanar’ri martyr are you?” Iesa blinked a moment opened his mouth and then shut it. He was quiet for a moment, and then looked at me and smiled. “I’m really sorry…what does that even mean?” I seethed and said with clenched teeth. “It means that the drow have tricked us, and now we are sitting here vulnerable.” Iesa looked shocked and defensive, “They seemed to be helpful. I think you are overreacting.” As he uttered those very words, a dozen drow dressed in leathers, and carrying crossbows and swords at their belts ran down the hall from the main entrance. By the time he said ‘over-reacting,’ six of them aimed their weapons at us, while the other six went town the other fork. From the distance I could hear Beepu’s shrill voice piping, “What is this all about!” Iesa didn’t even turn around. He closed his eyes and bowed his head in defeat. Mo raised his hands and the his towel dropped to the floor. “They’re right behind me, aren’t they?” he said realizing what I had meant. “You two are coming with us. The boss wants to see all of you. Now.” Said one of the drow in a no-nonsense tone. Iesa raised his hands and turned around with a wan smile, “Hey I think there has been—” The crossbow men all turned to point their weapons at his protests. “—A completely reasonable ask made.” I sat there in the pool fuming. [I]Gos, where are you? --About time! Umm…I’m hiding near your guys stuff in a room above the pools. Stay there, keep an eye on my things.[/I] “Fine, once I get dressed,” I said. “You come as you are,” the drow said to me menacingly. I stiffened a bit and pulled myself out of the pool. I shook my head, and scattered water droplets around, sprinkling the guards. I then crossed my arms. “No. I am getting dressed.” The drow’s captain, stepped forward with the crossbow still pointing at me. “I don’t think you are in a position to make demands.” I moved my hands to my hips, I was naked, and running a serious red one, ready to kill Iesa for them. But I spoke far calmer than I felt as my heart pounded. “I am [B][I]not[/I][/B] going to be marched to your boss naked. If you want to shoot; do it. However, I am pretty sure your boss wants us alive, otherwise…you would have shot us already. But in the spirit of compromise, you can get my clothes and I will follow you peacefully.” Iesa turned his head to look at me and then the drow captain uncertain how this was going to play out. The tension in the air was palpable, with neither side wanting to back down. Finally, the captain, turned to the drow on his left. “Get princess here her clothes,” the captain snarled, and his subordinate lowered his crossbow and retreated down the main corridor. Iesa turned towards me, “I think—” he started. “Bar that and eyes up,” I snapped, and Iesa immediately looked up at the roof of the passage. “You don’t get to look, because you aren’t pointing a crossbow at me.” Several of the drow sniggered at my orders, while the captain regarded me coolly. [I]--Hey, there’s a drow here grabbing your stuff. All of it? --No just the clothes. Keep watching, thanks.[/I] The subordinate returned and tossed me my pants, boots and underblouse. As I put them on Iesa cleared his throat. “No,” the captain said. “Only her.” Iesa finally looked down from the ceiling and protested, “But why? The captain looked at the rogue and said evenly, “Because the other pirates aren’t going to care if you are naked. Most of them at least.” [HR][/HR] We were then marched out of the springs, and for the first time I saw where we were. It was a huge cavern with a vaulted ceiling that must have been hundreds of feet above us. The floor of the cavern had various buildings, that would have been home outside. The streets were straight and wide and not a twisty maze like the shantytown or even the cliffside dwellings. The streets were lit by smokey oil lamps, as were many of the windows of the buildings. Far above there was the glint of crystals, which reflected the light from below, creating a glittering firmament. It gave the feeling that we were in a town, that was trapped or was hiding in a cloak of eternal night. The streets below weren’t crowded, but there was activity everywhere; drunken men swaying together singing shanty songs off (and some on) key, some collapsed on the ground in their own vomit, while another group were noisily brawling at a bar. It was a version of the port above, under stone. We passed, two large buildings looked like warehouses, without walls. Large and open, tables to dice at and to deal cards. The tables were only partially full, which made sense with only a single ship docked in the quay. But like above, there were no small races, and I saw only a single old woman in the cavern. Unlike above, there were also guards; pairs of drow men patrolled together, their red eyes watching the pirate’s activities with a detached interest. And as I expected, my passing with a loaded crossbow pointed at my back created a wake of whispers as we were escorted to not a building, but a passage that pierced the rock, opening into a smaller chamber. While I had managed to bargain for clothes, Daneath, Iesa and Beepu were being escorted in loose towels and Mo tagged along, staying close to Iesa. Once inside the smaller grotto, we ascended a circular set of stone steps set on the outer edge of the roughly oval chamber. The steps themselves were covered in rugs; the stone walls were draped with dark tapestries. Unlike the other cavern, there was no set light source as the there were no sconces or lanterns mounted on the walls at all. Instead our escorts stopped, and lit a candelabra set on a table and carried it, so the humans could see their way through the darkened space. As we started to ascend the stairs, the drow grabbed the arms of Daneath and Iesa, helping them to guide them up the stairs. I noticed that they didn’t try to help Beepu at all. But they were surprised when I brushed off their attempts to guide me. “I can see fine,” I said looking at the captain. “But is that,” gesturing at the candelabra, “The best you have?” The captain looked at me with a dirty look. “It will be sufficient,” he said bluntly. I thought about casting a light and decided not to push my luck and get shot in the back. We continued our ascent, and entered another stone passage, lined with several oak doors. Finally, we stopped in front of a single door, larger than the others. The captain opened it, and we were prodded inside. The room was dimly lit, but I could easily see the outlines. In the dark it might be foreboding and impressive, but for me I saw it for what it was. Bookcases lined the walls; each a repaired wreck of furniture and no two the same style. Only a third of them contained actual books, while the rest seemed to be a haphazard collection of cheap art objects, roughly carved statuettes and carvings, small coffers and chests with cheap fittings. It clearly was for show to folks that otherwise couldn’t see well. In the center of the room was a large wooden desk, with signs of water damage. Cracks and fissures split the wood grain, and some of the panels appeared to be buckled. Two dilapidated but serviceable chairs were set before the desk, while on top was a lit oil lamp, and some scattered parchments. Seated at the desk was another male drow. This one while still having the young elven appearance, face seemed more weathered and worn compared to his peers. His white hair was cropped closely, and his ears sported rings and piercings like many of the other pirates we had seen. His arms were bare, and they were lined in white colored scars that reminded me of whip marks. He sat there and watched us being herded into the room. He looked at the men bemused, but his expression turned a little darker as he looked at me. He leaned back in the chair he sat in and evaluated us each one by one. The look on his face was one of contempt. “These are the ones Nymor,” the captain said to the drow sitting at the desk. “So…[I]you[/I]? [B][I]You[/I][/B] are the troublemakers? I’m surprised. Or perhaps I shouldn’t be. The pirates topside aren’t that bright.” He said coldly. We stood there looking at each other, and I picked up that the other three felt a bit underdressed for the discussion. Rolling my eyes, I looked at the drow. “You should come up more often. It’s easy pickings.” I said and watched him. He closed his eyes, and seemed to groan inwardly, like he didn’t want to deal with me specifically. “So…[I]you[/I] are the one leading your…crew is it? Your ship must be very far from port, as I can’t place what ship would claim you as members.” “I think that is obvious,” I said coolly. “You clearly are a busy person; so, let’s get to the matter; what do you want?” “I can see why you are in charge,” he said in a droll tone. I almost corrected him, but I decided against it. “But you simply put, you are here to pay off your debt to me.” “Debt?” Daneath spoke up. “What are you talking about?” The drow sat back and rocked his chair on two of its four legs. “First you slay some of my men, and then we…covered for you. The bounty on her head is substantial, so not claiming it is a loss, in addition to keeping the more colorful pirates out. Then there is the cost of reviving my men. It all adds up.” “As I recall, your men, shot first and shot poorly. We forgave them for their mistake and let them live, on the condition that the matter was settled,” I said watching him carefully. The drow frowned, “I don’t recall saying anything of the sort.” “Not you…the drow in charge in the caves. Apparently, he’s making deals you can’t honor.” I said, feeling like I was sparing with the male. “And you believed him?” he said with a tone of mocking amusement. “We gave you the benefit of the doubt,” I retorted. “And you paid to have these men brought back? Are you sure that’s a wise…investment in failure?” His eyes narrowed, and I could hear Iesa hiss between his teeth, while Beepu tried to admonish me saying “Myr…” He then spoke again. “Loyalty like theirs is worth the price.” “I guess it would be at that, considering the alternative. So, you haul us here to drip on your floor just tell us this, or did you actually want something?” I asked assertively. “Watch your tone female,” he snapped. “As it turns out we have something that you can do as recompense. Do it and [I]then[/I] matters between us will be clean.” I frowned for a moment. I wanted more from him, and I wanted to keep him off-balance. So, I sat down on a seat in front of the desk and leaned up and propped up my boots on top of it. “It sounds like we might be able to help you with…something. Tell us more.” Nymor’s eyes narrowed at me and continued, “We had an agreement with some dwarves nearby. They have been…remiss on its terms.” “And you aren’t sending us to…renegotiate I take it.” I said. “Indeed. I expect you to make a creative example of these, Duergar. All of them.” I hadn’t heard that term before, and the word wasn’t elvish, so I turned to Beepu with a questioning look. “Gray dwarves? Here?” Beepu said in a thoughtful voice. “So, there [B][I]is[/I][/B] a passage to the Underdark beneath this island. And I bet they are blocking it.” “Our disagreement is none of your concern. What is, is that you remove them all from their holes.” Nymor replied testily. “All of them,” I said aloud. “You seem to be pretty particular on that point. How many is all?” The drow grinned, “Around twenty to thirty dwarves. I admit to not having a precise count, but that is your problem.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Well, that is an…ambitious ask. Any particular reason you haven’t taken care of it yourselves?” “I see no reason to waste my men on them, when I can send you instead.” He said dryly. The light on his face was dimming, as the oil in the lamp was running low, moving the room closer to darkness. But for me, that only meant I could see him even clearer, as if the sun itself lit his face. My brow furrowed as I gazed down at him. As I saw it there were several possibilities. The first was he was already stretched thin and couldn’t afford a confrontation with these dwarves. That also would imply that he really was concerned about us, and he wanted to have us perish in the attempt. A second one was that he was actually afraid of us, either because we would disrupt something that was already precarious on the island, and sending us to deal with the problem was a convenient way to dispose of us. Either one would work out for them. Thirty vs four wasn’t great odds. But I could see us being victorious and them the drow turning stag on us. They could then solve their problem and collect on my head and maybe even sell Beepu for a profit. “Well…that is quite a problem there,” I said nodding. “And I can understand your…reluctance to handling it yourself. We may be the right people for this kind of work. But I wonder if you can perhaps answer a simple question for us?” “This is not a negotiation,” Nymor said flatly. “No. It is not,” I replied. “One of your men mentioned you might have seen a Genasi. Being he was camped in the back of your cave; I assume he was an inconvenience. What happened to him?” Nymor was taken aback for a moment, and quickly his face returned back to the inscrutable mask it was before. “Is that why you are here then? To track [B][I]him[/I][/B] down?” “Track yes,” I replied. “It’s not like he has a bounty on him or anything, but we do have an interest in his whereabouts,” I deflected. Nymor chortled, “Such a coincidence. He’s with the duergar as we speak.” “Interesting. And where does he fit in your request with them? Is he included?” I asked, trying to see if he was important to the drow or not. But as Nymor answered, it became clear it was serendipity and nothing more. “Kill him if you want. He isn’t really a concern to me.” Nymor said shrugging. “Any other…requests then?” I asked. “This seems straightforward otherwise.” “Other than we don’t want to see your faces until the job is done. So, we will be watching. If you come back too soon, or we find not enough blood has been spilled; we will claim you all as recompense.” I looked at the others. I wasn’t real keen on being the focal point for negotiations. I was told I was effective at it, but I felt ill-prepared for them. Beepu returned my glance, gripping the towel in front of him and shrugged. Iesa’s face was scrunched up somewhere between anger and annoyance, but he nodded to me. Daneath was quiet, but he too gave a single nod. “Sounds like solving your problems, are now ours. Fine, we’ll do it,” I said. “You will leave then and get started now. Tanas will—” “—Tanas will take us back to our things, and we rest and prepare. Then and only then, Tanas will take us there.” I said bluntly. Nymor’s eyes narrowed, “I suppose we could just take our recompense now.” He said with a hard edge on his voice. “If you wanted that, you would have done it already,” I observed. “So, I think you really want this problem taken care of. You can wait a little bit.” Nymor chewed on that for a moment and after a long pause, nodded. “You are right; I do want this problem taken care of. You can have your respite then…but you will be under watch.” I held up my hands, “As you like. I am glad you are being…reasonable. I guess we will, prepare ourselves.” “Two words of warning female,” Nymor said. I wouldn’t leave the caverns here; seems that the crew of the Crows has taken an interest in your…activities. And I don’t think I need to say anything about going back on the deal you just made.” I gave a hard stare. As I watched, I could see a single bead of sweat descent from his temple as we sat and looked at each other. I gave him a slight smile and stood. The captain Tamas, gestured to the door, and we filtered out from the room, the light in his oil lamp started to sputter. With my back to him, I looked over my shoulder and flexed a moment and felt the familiar warmth up and down my back as the wings appeared. On the desk, the lamp flared alive with a brilliant yellow light, and I could see him start to reach up to shield his sensitive eyes from the light, as I stepped through the door. “I think that goes both directions doesn’t it?” I said. “My god is an active one in this world, and I think he would be…disappointed to see one of his servants arrive before he has called for her. Or you for that matter.” And with a simple gesture and pull on a small white strand, I made the door slam behind us. “Shall we Tamas? I am certain you have…more interesting things to do,” I said to the captain, as we started downstairs. Tamas regarded me with a dirty look, “I certainly don’t wish to have another fight with you.” Daneath and Iesa gave the drow a strange look, while Beepu simply shrugged, being he missed the fight in the cave. I looked at him in surprise. I tried, but I couldn’t remember his face, on the corpses on the drow we faced in the cave days ago. “It may not mean much Tamas, but I didn’t want to kill you,” I said trying to keep my tone even. “The smile on your face told me a different story,” Tamas retorted. “But I was foolish. I remembered you breaking our bones. I charged at you to make sure you didn’t do that again, and never saw the sword strike me.” I nodded and held my tongue. We had left the small grotto, and were crossing the main cavern, and all I could do was stare at Tamas. For months, I could say that I was the only person that I knew that was brought back from the Fugue. And here was a person that I helped send there, and then was brought back. I knew what I had experienced, but I found myself desperately wanting to talk with him. To ask what he saw, what he felt in the Fugue. Could he even remember it? Did coming back change him, as it did me? Did he fear death anymore, or did he dread returning? We arrived back at the springs. Right in front of the passage to them, was a building on stilts, that had a set of stairs that led up into them. The other drow took positions below the building and they waited for us to ascend. I turned to look at Tamas, wanting to ask those questions. But it was clear from the face he wore, that he wanted nothing to do with us, and with me in particular. I sighed, as followed the rest of my friends upstairs, with four drow in tow. We arrived at the large room that I presumed that one of the others paid for and closed the door. There on four beds were our things and looking around at the rafters I saw Gossamer crouched, wings folded tight to his body, and probably well-hidden for anyone’s’ eyes but my own. Daneath closed the door, and I caught a glimpse of the drow taking positions just outside. I sat down on the bed with the rest of my things, and found the copper wire, and wrapped it around my finger again, while Beepu said aloud, “Well this is an interesting mess.” In what appeared to be total agreement, Mo lept onto a bed and flopped making a small groaning sound. “Well, I guess you can’t blame them for being a little angry with us,” Daneath said cautiously, as he noticed me playing with the copper. As quickly as I could, I sent each of them the same message; “They are going to be listening obviously. Don’t mention anything more on why we are here for the Genasi. I personally think they are going to try to kill us when we finish with the Duergar.” “Well, I think we should get the rest, and do what they ask,” Iesa said aloud, even as he and the others nodded to my message, that I had sent to them. And each one in turn gave me a different response: Beepu: “Typical for a drow, and a very reasonable expectation.” Daneath: “I agree with your instincts here, but all we can do is play along for now,” and he shrugged. Iesa: “Do you think so? I caught that they are afraid of us…although they seem to detest you,” and he looked at me with concern. I lay down on my bed, as the others finally put on some semblance of clothes and left their wet towels on the floor. As I lay there, I worried silently on how this was going to work out. We were in a den of cony catchers, and it scared me how we kept stumbling. Iesa becoming infected by that plant, losing control of myself and, my friend’s poor judgement here getting us caught, how easy it was for Beepu to get knocked out and put into a cage. It felt that nothing had gone as expected, and that we were just reacting, and not doing what we were supposed to. “Hey Myr,” Iesa said. “Sorry about the spring earlier…I just didn’t—” I sighed and interrupted, “—Look, I shouldn’t even have to say anything about stripping off my armor and clothes. You just don’t do that.” “Yeah…as I said I didn’t—” “Forget it; its done. Let’s just rest and get this over with.” I lay there fuming a bit. I didn’t know if I was overreacting or not. I wasn’t safe here; well none of us were really. But I was dumbfounded on what had happened. Perhaps the power Tymora or Bes, or the Fates were watching over us. It was a comforting idea. But then I realized who I should be thanking. And I grasped my holy symbol that was on my neck and prayed. [I]Kelemvor, I thank you for watching over us and letting us finish this work. I hope that I…we are doing this to your satisfaction. That our battle, against another who thinks lives are cheap, and denies himself your embrace is. Tomorrow we will be outnumbered as we search for the final piece to end this. No one should be alone, in life or death, Death is a part of life, not an ending but a beginning Death is without deceit and has meaning, I will do anything to see this errand done. I will sacrifice all that I am to finish it. May you bless us on the next step of the journey, Because Death is never an end, but a waypost, A Destination and a Journey one and the same, May our deeds live forever in You, And let me be your instrument my Lord, as it is my desire in faith May the end of the Kershak grant us all peace.[/I] [B]Session notes:[/B] This felt like a shotgun wedding, and I just didn’t appreciate the setup. It also may have been fatigue on the theme, of the island against Myr’s gender. Or that the rails were showing. In hindsight, I was a tad snarky in my dialog with Nymor, and so I might have contributed by overreacting, to a lot of negativity. [/QUOTE]
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