The Chronicles of Valen Ch. 48
*Disclaimer*: Valen, Nathyrra, The Seer, and several of the other characters are the property of Bioware. If you’ve played the game, you’ll recognize them. The rest is the invention of my twisted little imagination, including Morrighu Badb and the goddess she serves.
*Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails*
Morrighu frowns at the box holding the coin and picks up it distastefully.
She hands it to Valen, “Here, hide that somewhere until I can think of what to do with it. Wheels within wheels…”
She fixes him with a gaze, “You’ve been more involved with infernals than I have. How do you do it?”
He shrugs at her, “Tanar’ri are creatures of chaos. There usually isn’t enough order amongst us to plan on that scale. Since this seems to be directed against the Baatezu at a time they have a power vacuum, I think that leaves them out.
They’ll be too busy scrambling to see who’s going to get Mephistopheles’ old spot. No, this smacks of something else. Wheels within wheels sounds like a ‘loth.”
Morrighu frowns at him, “What are you saying? Oh, never mind. We’ll talk about this later. I hear Mhaere coming with breakfast.”
He nods, shoves the thing into a dresser drawer, and slams it shut just as Mhaere knocks on the door. He moves quickly to open the room and Mhaere steps in, wrinkling her nose.
She looks around the room, “What is that smell? It’s terrible.”
Chuckling to himself, Valen grins at Mhaere, “It seems that her…activity yesterday gave her gas.”
Morrighu blushes and glares at him furiously but says nothing. Mhaere bites the inside of her lip as she sets the trays down and ducks back out of the room.
He quickly strips his armor off and lounges on the bed, grinning at her. She levels a finger at him and starts to say something, but stops.
Finally after a few minutes she sighs and relents, “You might at least have said it was you.”
He strokes her cheek, “Even great heroes get gas, my love.”
She rolls her eyes at him while continuing to pack away her breakfast. Tamsil returns to see if they’re done.
While she’s picking up the trays, she looks at Morrighu, “One of the men Mamma sent for is here.”
Morrighu gestures for her to send him up and Tamsil scampers off. A few minutes later, a rap sounds on the door and he opens it to find a rather larger than average human standing there.
The man is dressed simply with a medallion of Tyr around his neck and his calloused hands indicate a lot of sword practice. Valen gestures him in and after a moment’s hesitation, he enters.
He looks at Morrighu curiously, “I am Ricven Trannith, and a paladin of Tyr. Mhaere says that you need a captain of your guard, though I’m a bit puzzled as to why.”
Ricven points to Valen, “He seems more than capable.”
Morrighu sighs, “That he is, but I only have one of him. I’m soon to have two houses, a staff, a temple to build, and a wedding to plan. Unless you know of a mage powerful enough to clone him, and I don’t really know that I’d want more than one of him running about, I’m a bit stuck. That means having someone who can deal with the more mundane duties so that his time is free for the things that only he can do, like attend his wedding.”
Smiling, Ricven nods, “I could see where that might be helpful. Now, as to my qualifications…”
Valen, still leaning against the door, listens for a while. Finally, he breaks in and starts asking questions. Liking the answers he’s gotten, Valen steps forward and claps him on the shoulder.
Valen grins at Ricven, “Let me make this easy for you. You’re hired. Your first task is to get out to that estate and see what shape it’s in and how many men you’ll need. Keep in mind that you’ll be responsible for providing security for the tenants as well as the main house.”
Ricven nods, “She said two houses, though. That’s only one.”
Valen sighs, “We’re still in the process of acquiring a house in town. She’s founding a temple here and wants to stay in town to keep an eye on the construction. We don’t have it yet, so I can’t say what it will be like.”
Morrighu sighs, “I hope that you don’t have any issues with drow, since one of our party is drow and I’m sure that others will be joining us, eventually.”
Ricven frowns, “Drow? Like the ones that attacked Waterdeep?”
Morrighu shakes her head, “No, like the ones that helped defend Waterdeep.”
He shrugs, “If I was to have a problem with any of you, it would likely be him, but….I don’t. I’ll…I’ll keep an open mind and judge them by their actions.”
Morrighu nods, “Good enough. I concur…you’re hired. Now, if you see anything, and I mean anything at all, at the estate that doesn’t seem right to you in any way, I want an immediate report.”
Ricven frowns at her, “Is there something wrong?”
She shrugs, “I’m not sure. I suspect that there may be, but I have no idea what.”
Ricven nods, “With your permission, I’d like to visit the estate and make an assessment of it. I’ll report to you the moment I get back. Where is it, exactly?”
Morrighu looks at him sheepishly, “I don’t know, actually. I’ve not seen it yet. I’m sure that Durnan can give you directions, though.”
After a short negotiation on fees, Ricven bows and takes his leave, going to find Durnan for directions.
Morrighu sighs, “I wonder who’ll be next.”
He shakes his head, “I don’t like this business with that coin. I wish you hadn’t taken it. I don’t like ‘loths any better than I like Baatezu or Tanar’ri for that matter.”
Morrighu looks up at him and her face is stark with fear, “I don’t like it either. I’ve been promised a time of rest and I mean to have it. I’m tired of being pushed around like a pawn in a chess game.”
Just then, Tamsil knocks, “There’s a woman here to see you…from the temple of Oghma.”
Valen sighs, “Send her up. We’ll talk more once she leaves.”
Morrighu fumes, “Why did he have to come first thing? Couldn’t he have waited?”
Valen shrugs, “Why?”
Morrighu frowns, “If he had waited, I might at least have managed to have the good morning you wished me. Now, I’ll be upset all day.”
He chuckles at her, “Whatever it is, we’ll get through this too.”
She sighs heavily, “I know that, but I don’t want to have to get through anything. I swear that when I get to the bottom of what’s going on, whoever is responsible is going to have to answer to me.”
Before Valen can comment, there’s another rap on the door. He sighs, opens the door, and doesn’t see anyone.
He starts to close the door when a sharp, “Hey!” catches his attention. He looks down to find a very small gnome glaring at him angrily.
He chuckles in spite of himself and apologizes while letting her into the room. With an evil look at Valen, she stomps in past him, much to Morrighu’s amusement.
Morrighu grins at the gnome, who’s barely tall enough to come up to Valen’s knee.
He grins at her, “I really am sorry that I didn’t see you.”
Wisely, he stops before he says anything to get himself into more trouble.
Morrighu chuckles, “He’s awfully tall. It doesn’t usually occur to him to look down that far.”
The gnome turns to him and realizes that she’s looking at his knee. She looks up further and realizes that she’s still only looking at his waist.
She sighs, “Tall folk never think to look down. I was told you wanted to find someone who knows about moving water. What have you got in mind?”
Morrighu gestures to Valen, “Can you get Deekin to bring his drawings? I need to show her what we want.”
Valen nods and steps out to fetch Deekin. He knocks on the kobold’s door. Deekin flings open the door and gives him a toothy grin.
To his surprise, Deekin has everything bundled up, waiting. Deekin snatches his things and darts off for their room before Valen can even speak.
He sighs and follows the kobold back in. Deekin has already ensconced himself next to Morrighu on the bed and is happily spreading out his renderings of their work.
The gnome frowns, “Who is that?”
Morrighu looks up, “Oh…that’s Deekin. He’s my bard.”
The gnome splutters for a moment, “But…but…but…”
Valen finishes the sentence for her, “He’s a kobold.”
Deekin looks up from shuffling through his drawings and grins at the gnome, “Deekin is faithful kobold companion. Who you be?”
The gnome considers this, taken aback for a moment before she answers, “I am Nerislove Beestinger and a Loremaster from the Temple of Oghma.”
Deekin nods back, “Deekin be bard from nowhere in particular ‘cept maybe Old Boss’ cave.”
Nerislove shoots Valen a dark look, “I can see that. What I mean is…what’s he doing? It’s certainly….unconventional.”
Valen laughs heartily at this, “All of us are unconventional by nearly every standard you could choose to apply.”
Nerislove straightens herself, “Well, the knowledge you are seeking isn’t very conventional either, I suppose. Let me see what you have.”
Deekin pulls out the drawing and holds it out Nerislove. She approaches cautiously and takes it from him, examining it carefully.
She looks up at Morrighu, “This is quite complicated. Who drew this?”
Morrighu arches a brow at her and points silently at Deekin.
She looks up at Morrighu, “I’ll need to make a scale model to be sure, but I think you’ve almost got it right. If you take the outflow and increase the grade just a hair, your rate of outflow will always exceed the rate of inflow which means it will never backflow. If you increase the grade too much it will create a vacuum and I don’t see any air inlets.”
Nerislove stands there tracing it out with her finger and muttering to herself for a long moment.
She looks up at Morrighu, “Wait…you’re talking about bringing in water from the Sword Mountains. Who’s going to tunnel that far?”
Morrighu shrugs, “I know some dwarves that need jobs.”
Nerislove considers for a moment, “This is going to take a long time to build. It would be better to have several teams working on each part of it. I need exact measurements to make the calculations, though.”
Morrighu nods, “Fair enough. I’ll let you know when you can begin taking the measurements. We still need to acquire the property and locate a suitable feeder spring. Now, though I have some other questions for you.”
Nerislove nods, “Ask away. That’s what you’re paying me for. I will say this, though. You’ll want to take a coastal route with this though, so you can avoid the Kryptgarden Forest. Otherwise, you’ll spend all your time guarding your workers from dragons and orcs.”
Morrighu nods, “I had considered that, and it will make the route shorter as well. I wanted to ask you if you know anything about different kinds of stone.”
Nerislove nods so Morrighu pulls out some more of Deekin’s drawings.
She unrolls them on a table, “Here’s what I have in mind. I want to use cornerstones quarried from Undermountain. The rock there is basalt and I wanted to know if it’s suitable.”
Nerislove snorts, “If you can quarry it. It’s so hard that most people can’t bring up more than fragments.”
Morrighu nods, “I think I can arrange to cut the stones and that Sobrey can teleport them to the building site when the time comes. For the columns, I want something whitish, but strong enough to support a large structure. The columns here aren’t just decorative, they’re also weight bearing. I was thinking marble, but I don’t know if it would take the weight.”
Nerislove thinks for a moment, “I’m not sure; you’d need to consult a stone mason about this, but… You might be able to use your basalt or some other strong stone as the inner weight bearing core and the marble as an outer decorative face. Marble, as stone goes, is pretty soft.”
She points at the drawing, “You need something really strong to use as the capstone in all these arches too.”
Morrighu nods, “I had considered that. There is a type of granite here that’s mostly blue in color, which is sacred to my goddess. I had thought to use that for the all the capstones and lintels. It’s nearly as hard as the basalt.”
Nerislove nods, “I think you should consult with a stone mason. I don’t really think you need my help with that. Send for me when it’s time to start taking measurements.”
With that the gnome takes her leave and Valen sighs in relief.
He looks at Morrighu, “I know that you have friends among the small-folk here — Kris, Argali, and even Deekin, but that’s the smallest woman I think I’ve ever seen. She’s only knee-high to me. I nearly stepped on her.”
Morrighu grins at him, “Well that takes care of Tyr and Oghma. Who’s left?”
He runs a quick mental tally, “Tempus, Chauntea, the artisans’ guild, the metalworkers’ guild, the owner of the villa, and your two chatelaines.”
Morrighu rolls her eyes, “I thought combat was exhausting. It’s not even lunch time and I’m ready for a nap.”
He nods, “You are looking a bit tired, and that visit this morning was a bit of a shock. If you’ll loan me Deekin and his drawings, I’ll meet with most of the rest of them.”
Morrighu sighs, “I want to meet with the builders.”
He nods, “I know. Now get some rest.”
Deekin gathers up his things and follows Valen, “Boss not tired. Boss is upset. Why?”
Valen sighs, “How can you tell?”
Deekin grins, “Boss yawns a lot when she is tired. When she clench jaw and her eyes get squinty, Boss is upset. Boss’ eyes be very squinty.”
Valen sighs, realizing that the kobold is right.
~*~
With everyone out of the room, Morrighu goes over to the drawer where Valen so rudely shoved Asmodeus’ token. Almost as if she fears to disturb it, she opens the drawer slowly and peers in.
The coin in its box sits in the drawer, seeming to mock her by its very presence. She sighs heavily and shuts the drawer. Not knowing what else to do, she kneels on one of the carpets that Valen had installed and begins to pray.
The gentle yellow nimbus forms around her. Graciella , at seeing Valen and Deekin in the taproom, goes upstairs to check on her patient.
She finds Morrighu engaged in prayer, and has a seat to wait, not wanting to interrupt. Much to her surprise, Feya arrives with a gentle pop of displaced air.
Morrighu stands to greet him and the nimbus around her fades quickly. Feya grins at Morrighu and hugs her warmly.
He shakes his head, “Sister, the things you get yourself into. Show me this thing and I’ll see what I can tell you about it.”
She points to the top drawer of her dresser and he opens it carefully. He frowns at the box as he examines it carefully and finds nothing unusual or even magical about it. He opens the lid and looks at the coin itself, still finding nothing wrong though there is magic tied to the coin.
He sighs and turns to her, “It’s a simple teleportation spell, but the power behind it is massive. It’s made to blast through wards and counter-spells like tissue paper. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It’s also specifically outbound.”
Morrighu sighs, relaxing slightly, “So they can’t use it come here?”
He shakes his head, “No…furthermore it’s keyed to you specifically. No one else can use it. You have to activate it before it can be used at all. It’s all quite intriguing. I’ll do some more research and get back to you.”
With another small pop, he is gone as quickly as he appeared and Graciella squeaks in surprise.
Morrighu turns to her grins, “My brother, Feya. I got an unusual wedding gift this morning and asked him to look at it. I wanted to be sure it wasn’t hostile.”
Graciella nods, relaxing somewhat.
Morrighu sighs to herself since the “gift” seems to be exactly what they were told it was.
~*~
Valen flops down at a table in far corner, lost in thought. Deekin shoves his things on to the table and climbs into a chair.
Deekin looks at the tiefling, “Yous be upset too. Deekin not been around you as much, but Deekin tells you be upset. What happened?”
Valen sighs, “If I tell you, you cannot tell anyone else.”
Deekin nods so Valen recounts their encounter with the priest.
Deekin shakes his head, “Bigger, meaner, stinkier devil than one Boss just beat sent her present. No wonder you and Boss both upset. Devils is never good.”
Valen nods, “There is one thing that bothered me. The priest said, “My lord can reach where your goddess cannot.” I would ask a favor of you. See what you can find out about places a goddess cannot retrieve someone from.”
Deekin sighs, “Deekin can do that. Deekin always be doing research on something or other for Boss.” Valen smiles at the kobold, “I used to wonder why she traveled with you and spoke so highly of you. You’ve been a huge help, with a lot of things. Why do you stay with her?”
Deekin grins at him, “Boss set Deekin free. Deekin loves Boss and Boss loves Deekin.”
Valen nods, “I feel much the same way about her myself.”
Just then a druid, wearing the prominent symbol of Chauntea, and looks around the taproom. Valen raises a hand and motions him over.
The old man leans heavily on a walking stick as he makes his way across the tap room. A few patrons turn at the sound of his sandals slapping on the floor, but the old man pays them no heed as he makes his way through the crowded room.
The he sits down across from Valen and frowns at him, making a few gestures. Valen feels the spell wash across him as the man peers at him intently.
Valen sighs, “Normally, I’d take someone casting magic without my prior approval as a hostile act.”
The old man blushes but holds his ground, “I am sorry, but I really had to be sure. We don’t get many of your kind here and the few that I’ve ever seen were quite dangerous.”
Valen grins wickedly, “I won’t disagree with the last part, but I don’t normally go around abusing frail old men unprovoked.”
The expression on the old man’s face flashes to anger but cools again just as quickly.
He looks sheepishly at Valen, “I suppose that I deserve that. Shall we start over? I have to say that you have piqued my curiosity. I am Eilrath Shulne and a druid of the goddess Chauntea. Who might you be?”
Valen leans back in his chair, appraising the older man for a moment, “I am Valen Shadowbreath.”
The old man grins at him, “I’m pleased to meet you, Valen Shadowbreath. You have the look of a warrior about you.”
Valen nods, “Yes, but that’s not why we called you here.”
The druid nods, “Your wife-to-be sent for me, I believe.”
Valen chuckles, “No, actually Mhaere sent for you on our behalf. Morrighu is building a temple to her goddess here and she wants it to have gardens.”
The druid frowns, “What kind of gardens?”
Valen gestures at Deekin, who unrolls some sketches.
The druid looks over the gardens, “Why get a druid to help you?”
Valen shrugs, “She had a friend in Neverwinter — Nyatar, I think she said. It seems that they had a big discussion about balance. He made quite an impression on her. Her goddess believes in balance too.”
The old druid frowns, “A war goddess who believes in balance? I find that hard to believe.”
Valen shrugs, “When she is feeling better, have her recite her oaths to you. They mention balance, temperance, and moderation in more than one place.”
Eilrath frowns, “Battle gods usually don’t care for anything but blood-letting.”
Valen shakes his head, “Her goddess does not seem like that to me. She has named herself a goddess of battle in a just cause. According to Morrighu, she sees herself as a final remedy. Too much law is tyranny and too much chaos is anarchy. Either way the scales must be brought back.”
The druid frowns at him, “I thought your intended was a paladin…”
Valen chuckles, “That she is. Make no mistake about it either. She feels, as does her goddess, that law should not be used to oppress people. Many times the only way people have of remaining free is by battle.”
Eilrath sucks his lip for a moment, “Given some of the things I’ve seen, I would say she has the right of it. Still, these sketches don’t seem to have much detail.”
He sighs and says “That is kind of you, but you will hear me out. The name for what I am is tiefling. The horns and tail are hallmarks of our kind. All of us have some sort of an infernal heritage. Some are of devilish origins while others, like me, are demonic. It is a heritage that I struggle with constantly. My temper is…fearsome and it gives me a lust for…unwholesome things as well. It is my demonic heritage, oddly enough, that has been the one thing that has made my leadership possible. Those who follow the Seer accepted me readily enough for her sake, but the rest took more convincing.”
He smirks “I have ways, however, of convincing even drow that my orders bear listening to. The drow respected the part of me that was infernal, I think. I have a temper that some call frightening, and they did not have to see much of it for word to get around. That gave them respect enough that they didn’t resist when I assumed command during our first… engagement with the Valsharess.”
He rubs his chin thoughtfully. “That was three months ago. It feels like forever.”
The paladin interrupts him “May I ask you a question?”
He gestures for her to continue, so she does “If they have made things so difficult for you, why do you care what happens to them?”
He gives her an unreadable look “I care what happens to the Seer and the Seer cares what happens to them and to all of us should the Valsharess’ plans come to fruition. This brings us to you. You are an unknown quantity who obviously has your own agenda and your motives.”
He grimaces, “I do not know how to proceed without this sounding like an accusation, so I will say what I feel the need to and rely on you not to be offended by my bluntness.”
Taking a deep breath, he plunges in, “I would not see the Seer betrayed. She is important to me…to all of us who follow her. For all I know, you might see the death of any drow as a good thing. You are, after all, a paladin and sworn to wipe out evil. The Seer assumes that you are here to help us. I make no such assumption. I have been able to keep them safe so far, and I intend to do my best to continue to do so.”
Morrighu starts to interrupt but he holds up a hand asking for her patience.
He nods in thanks as he continues, “I’m also certain that when the time comes, she intends to place you in charge of our forces, which means you have effectively replaced me. I have not seen your skill at command, and I do not wish to see any them harmed by following you. The Seer thinks you will lead us to victory, but so far she has not made any predictions about what such a victory might cost us. Some costs are too high. I would not see any throw their lives away needlessly. The Seer follows the visions of her goddess and this has been enough, so far. However, I am a planar and I ascribe no infallibility to deities, even yours. My fear is…my fear is that you will be the death of all of us.”
As his speech winds down, he notices that her head is tilted, listening to something he cannot hear.
She looks at him with an expressionless face and her voice when she speaks her voice is almost unearthly “I have been given permission by my goddess to do this,” and with that he notices that she is holding her blades.
She unsheathes them and he backs away, alarmed. She crosses the blades over her head and with a sudden motion, brings them down still crossed and plants them partway into to the basalt of Lith My’athar. She kneels before the makeshift altar and sits for a moment with her head bent and her hands in her lap.
When she raises her head, he sees that her eyes are yellow and Valen feels a chill at the sight.
She reaches out with her left hand and grasps one hilt and continues in the same eerie voice, “On the spirit of my father” and with her right she grasps the other “and on the spirit of my grandfather, and by both of my names — the one I was born with and the one I wear now, and by my oaths as paladin and as One of the Four, I will not betray either you or your Seer. I tell you as I have told the Seer herself. The Valsharess is among the walking dead. I intend to teach her this fact.”
With that the yellow light in her eyes dims and disappears and when he looks down, he sees that the blades are gone. All that is left are two small cuts in the bedrock of the cavern. She holds a hand out to him for him to help her up, which he does.
She looks at him carefully “I don’t know if you fully understand so I shall explain it. The oath I have given you binds not only me, but my goddess as well as the other Three of the Four.
Even if I fail and fall in the attempt to stop her, there will be a Choosing and my replacement will come to help you and the other Three will come seeking vengeance. It is customary in such circumstances. Your Valsharess will fall and I will not betray you, so be at peace on that account. Besides, my goddess has commanded me to aid the Seer and annihilate the Valsharess and her Red Sisters. As for my skill at command, you will just have to judge that for yourself. I don’t plan on being the death of you, since that would also be the death of me.”
She crosses her arms and looks up at him “Now would you care to hear what I think of you?”
Valen thinks for a moment, “I would assume that you’re going to tell me even if say that I do not, so go ahead.”
He lowers his head, waiting for her ire.
She sighs, “You are a most remarkable man. Your dedication and conscientiousness are highly commendable. You are both intelligent and observant and so far, your judgment seems sound to me. As for your heritage, I have my own ideas on that. I’ve seen a fallen angel, a sentient flying city, an insane god, and a dragon with a sense of humor. I just want you to answer a few questions for me.”
He head snaps up and is caught by her smoky gaze again, “What is it that you want to know?”
She arches a brow “Am I in any danger from you?”
He stammers, “No, I wouldn’t..I mean…”
She laughs and stops him, “Then I stand by my original assessment of you. Now for my next question, will you..would you be willing to help me? Nathyrra is drow and so she has difficultly explaining the drow. I need your perspective and I need someone to watch my back. Furthermore, I am in unfamiliar territory and your advice would be most welcome.”
The tiefling looks her over, sizing her up before he speaks,” The Seer believes you are our prophetical savior; our only hope of defeating the Valsharess. I, however, do not believe in prophecies. Still, you are obviously capable in your own right. And we need all the help we can get if we are to win this war. So I’m willing to take a chance despite the fact that I know almost nothing about you. Hopefully you’ll prove that the Seer’s faith in you is justified.”
She swallows and sighs with relief “That went better than I expected. I wasn’t sure you’d join me and I think I’m going to need your help. Now for my last serious question, I’d still like a practice partner tomorrow and you never answered me about it before. I think that if you test my combat skills, you may begin to change your mind. You know, had you not already been both kind and playful with me, I’d think you didn’t like me.”
“Untrue,” he says softly. “I do not even know you, so I can hardly dislike you. But unlike the Seer, I’m not about to put all my faith in you until you’ve proved yourself against the Valsharess. And yes, I will meet you on the practice grounds.”
He notices her shivering in the cold wind coming off the river and he steps toward her and opens his cloak, “Here, you’re freezing,” and with that he draws her to him.
He turns her around so that she’s leaning back against his chest and begins chafing her arms. “I should have known that there wasn’t enough of that dress to keep you warm in this wind.”
She laughs “It’s not the most practical garment I’ve ever encountered, but the look on your face when I walked into the temple was well worth it, I think. You, however, have been remiss in something.”
He halts and starts to remove his cloak, but she stops him. “It’s not that, you didn’t say a word about my hair.”
She feels the rumble in his chest as he tries not to laugh. Finally, he gives in and laughs out loud.
She turns her head to look up at him, “That’s better. Things were getting entirely too serious. It seems you were right about not discussing business over dinner.”
She points “Do you see those crates on the dock? Will you sit with me for a while and tell me about the river?”
He walks with her over the crates and waits while she perches on top of one. Then he removes his cloak and carefully wraps her in it. He sits next to her and begins pointing out several small creatures scurrying around the edges of the water.
She moves closer and her head resumes it place on his shoulder. Soon he has an arm draped companionably across her shoulders while he points out several small details.
He turns to her “I understand you didn’t reach the Underdark by the… normal route. In that case you might not be aware of exactly what it is. There is the world above,” he points up, “that you know. The surface. And there is the world below,” he gestures about him.
“The real mistake to make here would be to assume that the Underdark is little more than a cavern of some kind. It is not. It is an entire world, complete with seas and rivers and many layers. And the first rule for every creature of the Underdark is survival. There are precious few who would not enslave you or make you their dinner… or sell you to one who would. But this is not what you asked me about. You asked me to tell you about the river. I just wish to warn you: when we are at the docks, be careful. The Dark River is the key to Lith My’athar’s defensibility, as no army can cross it. It’s a river of poison and the creatures within it deadly. However, I have a question for you.”
She turns to face him smiling, “As long as it’s not something terribly serious. Seriousness must wait until tomorrow.”
He looks at the paladin with curious interest. “I don’t think it’s serious. If it is, you can tell me and I’ll ask you tomorrow. I wanted to ask you about your tattoos. I spent a lot of time looking at your hand while your goddess and the Seer were busy. The color is unusual and I didn’t know if the designs mean anything and so much of you is covered in them.”
“Now that’s a story,” she says, “but it’s not serious at all. The color is called woad. It’s a plant dye and my people use it for everything from ink to house paint to clothing. Prepared properly, it’s amazingly effective at preventing infection and getting even the most severe wounds and burns to heal quickly, even without any magic.
Prepared another way, we use it for tattoos. Tattoos mark status amongst us. The more intricate and extensive the tattoo is, the higher the status of the person wearing them. Ones like mine take years to complete and mine were done by a master artist. I really shouldn’t refer to it in the plural though. It’s really only one tattoo. The design doesn’t even have a proper beginning or end. It’s all one big loop. It’s a special art form that we favor as well. It’s usually executed on smaller things, like a brooch or,” and she plucks one of her combs from her hair, “something like this,” as she points out the smaller simpler design.
He notices that the design loops delicately but it always loops back into itself leaving it with no true beginning or end.
His thumb traces part of the design on her hand “You said that it takes years. How old were you when they started?”
She thinks “I was just past my thirteenth year. One of my aunts picked the artist and make no mistake, he was an artist. She chose well. Look…” She extends her arm from beneath his cloak and begins to point out various parts of the design he hadn’t noticed.
She also begins to explain to him what some of the symbols mean.
He looks at her quizzically, “Do all the symbols have such a militaristic meaning?”
She grins, “Not all of them, but most of them do. That’s part of what I meant about the man that did the work being an artist. It was one of the requirements of my family that specific symbols be worked into the design. The symbols were largely chosen by my grandparents. Some few are purely decorative, but most have a meaning. A few have been…altered by my goddess.”
A guard comes by and gives them a dark look, but sees the tiefling and keeps walking.
She sighs, “I suppose it’s getting late and we should go back to the temple now.”
He nods “It has been exceedingly pleasant and so I have been reluctant to say anything to you about the time, but yes, we should be getting back.”
He stands and helps her down off the crate. He offers her his arm and she accepts. They wander slowly back to the temple.
Just outside the door, she stops him, “Unlike my tattoo, all other things have an ending so I’m going to be serious for just a moment. Proving myself to you will have to wait for at least three days, because Rizolvir says it will take at least that long to craft some new under-padding for my armor. Until then, I plan to eat, sleep, practice, and pester you with questions. You are more than welcome to join me for the eating and the practicing and your presence is definitely required in order to be pestered with questions.”
He smiles at her and says “I will see what I can manage on all counts.”
And with that he holds the door for her. He follows her inside to find her standing in a mostly dark temple with a single sleepy looking guard. She slips out of his cloak and hands it to him. He’s about to turn and walk away when she hooks a single finger into his neckband and pulls his head down to her eye level.
Locking his gaze, she says “I wanted to thank you for a really lovely evening,” and she kisses him lightly on the lips.
Before he can say anything, she’s released him and has ducked though the door into the women’s quarters leaving him standing there stunned.
A few seconds later Valen hears Imloth chuckling behind him “Good, you are not as inept as I had feared. I half-expected to see her back here within the hour in tears.”
Valen blushes hotly and stalks off to his quarters, tail lashing, much to Imloth’s amusement. In his quarters, Valen tosses his cloak at the hook and the movement brings him a whiff of the same woodsy, spicy scent he’s come to associate with her. He walks over to the cloak, presses it to his face, and inhales deeply.
He sighs and hangs it back up. He climbs into bed and lays staring at the ceiling.
Morrighu darts down the hall to Nathyrra’s room and taps on the door.
Nathyrra opens the door and pulls Morrighu inside. “Tell me everything. He’s always so forbidding with us.”
“He tried that with me and he certainly seems to have his share of angst, but I think it’s because he feels threatened by me and because he’s unsure of my motives. Tomorrow will tell the tale. We meet on the practice grounds to spar. I bought some practice armor and blades when I was at Rizolvir’s and they’ll be delivered first thing in the morning. For now, though, I need to get out of this dress, so I can give it back to you. Did you see the look on his face when he saw it? You were right, Nathyrra, he did blush,” she yawns and hugs her friend.
With that, she’s off to her own room where she sits in front of the mirror, taking all the pins and combs out of her hair. Drow style seems to be overly elaborate to her. She takes her hair down and brushes it out carefully. She’s glad that she spoke to Rizolvir about having the seamstress that’s working on her under-padding create some clothing for her as well.
~*~
The bard sighs, “You are right. The story grows more interesting. There has often been speculation over the fate of the Last Renunciate. From time to time, there has been a woman spotted who claimed to be such, but none has ever been able to explain why she disappeared so utterly. Oddly, I believe you.”
The tiefling chuckles, “You should, every word of it is true. I’ve repeated what she told me as best I can recall it. It’s not word for word, but it’s as close as I can get. I knew then that she was precious. I know it even better now. There’s more to the story, though; lots more. I haven’t even gotten to the good part yet.”
~*~
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