{"id":181,"date":"2011-06-10T12:59:05","date_gmt":"2011-06-10T10:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/borkedcode.com\/wp\/?page_id=181"},"modified":"2011-06-10T13:01:01","modified_gmt":"2011-06-10T11:01:01","slug":"33-9-mesic-slunce-5","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/borkedcode.com\/wp\/?page_id=181","title":{"rendered":"33 – 9 Mesic Slunce – 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

The approaching gang of elves was led by two\u00a0driders<\/em>, a form of spider-elf centaur, who each were attended by a pair of hunting spiders, each of which were the height of a good mastiff and which wore a form of stiff, fibrous barding. A squad of some six deep elves jogged between the two large abominations, and behind the group a single drow toting a great three-headed flail rode upon a large spider.<\/p>\n

They were outfitted in an inconsistent fashion, some with chainmail, some with a form of leather (Dex later informed me that this armor was similar in nature to leather, but harvested from a breed of giant mushroom), the driders with a surprisingly colorful form of splinted mail. Many carried long daggers, some swords, and several had the ubiquitous small crossbow that is almost as much a marker of their race as the spider that serves as their deity.<\/p>\n

Not much has changed for the\u00a0dunkels<\/em> <\/em>in six hundred years, I suppose. Even in my original time, when we – Bael Turath – had had dealings with them, the reports I heard spelled out their appearance in much the same way.<\/p>\n

There was nothing for it, so we formed up with Rhogar at our head and charged into the approaching enemy.<\/p>\n

The two driders shook off leashes for their hunting spiders – silk strands that were very difficult to make out at distance, but on their approach became clearer – and the creatures began leaping forward in great bounds. Rhogar caught the first on J’Tiel’s spear, cleanly impaling it as it sailed through the air towards him. It made a rather satisfying crunch when it hit the crossbar, which itself almost passed through the beast’s body. He quickly turned the spear and its flailing victim and buried the exposed point in the hard clay ground, pinning the bleeding and twitching corpse in place.<\/p>\n

In doing so, he took his eyes from the next leaping arachnid.<\/p>\n

This one landed directly on his back, staggering him under its weight, and it immediately sank its fangs into his left collar. I can’t tell if it punctured the armor, but he gave out a howl that couldn’t be mistaken for anything other than pain.<\/p>\n

Bingo meanwhile had dropped the other two, clean shots from his bow passing through each one’s thorax to vanish somewhere in the elongated belly.<\/p>\n

Arn swiftly molded himself into his panther form, and raced through the squad of elves, dodging blows while raking the less-armored ones with his claws. I focused on the left-side drider, calling her out and immediately frosting over her armor with an arcane burst of chill.<\/p>\n

Sered and the second drider faced off against one another, dancing in and out of one another’s range. This was looking to be a losing battle, as the drider was remarkably quick and seemed to be setting up to distract Sered with its blade while preparing to tackle him with its forelegs. Dex was nowhere to be seen, and I hoped she hadn’t turned against us. It would not surprise me if she had, but I had to hope otherwise.<\/p>\n

Zenith was shouting something from back behind us, I couldn’t make it out. A quick glance showed me he was still in the chamber above us, he hadn’t fallen through with the rest of us when the floor gave way. I made a mental note to double-check the head count next time.<\/p>\n

I had to focus back on the task at hand, as the drider I was dealing with was angling up on Rhogar, who was still trying to dislodge the spider from his back. The spider-riding elf in the back had dismounted and was also approaching, swinging his flail slowly to keep the momentum up. I noticed that each of the heads of his flail was carved iron, in the shape of a curled-up spider. He himself seemed considerably younger than the others – I guessed some minor house scion, leading the patrol to build up reputation in the military. In that respect, somewhat like myself. He swung at Arn, who was struck by one of the heads and growled loudly while taking a swipe at the offending weapon.<\/p>\n

I darted forward towards Rhogar,\u00a0Sybarron<\/em> <\/em>beginning to sing with a fine whispering hiss – much like sleet on a thatch roof – and summoned my strongest blast of fury from Winter into my swing at the spider on his back. With the sweep, I took off every right leg it had, and a large chunk of its thorax with it. A greenish-grey ichor sprayed from the slice, mingling with\u00a0Sybarron’s<\/em> <\/em>pale luminescence in a way that made my stomach lurch.<\/p>\n

The drider had followed me in, and was taking a swing at me just as I recovered from my own blow. I ducked and felt the blade nick my left crown-horn as it passed over my head.<\/p>\n

Rhogar, on the other hand, didn’t duck. The drider’s sword caught him against his side, not peircing his armor, but knocking the breath out of him. A credit to him, even after taking that blow, his arm closed down on the sword, and he grabbed the wrist of the drider in his hand, trapping it and keeping it from withdrawing. He opened his mouth and belched out a burst of flame directly into the face of the huge creature, which quickly blossomed to envelop it completely. I heard it shriek as its hair singed away, eyes bursting in the heat. He let go of the arm, and the body jerked away, small flames clinging to it as it spasmed on the ground before him.<\/p>\n

He looked over at me and gave that reptilian smile I’d come to recognize.<\/p>\n

Which was when the spider I thought I’d killed finally bit him.<\/p>\n

The thing reared up into my view, and sank its teeth into the back of his neck. His eyes widened and his jaw went slack almost immediately as he collapsed to the ground. The four-legged thing pathetically tried to crawl away while I charged up and severed its eyes and mouth from the rest of its body.<\/p>\n

Rhogar lay there, a bit of foam coming from his mouth. I had no knowledge of poisons, and couldn’t help him. I chanted a healing charm over him, and turned to help the others.<\/p>\n

Arn had cleaned house with the regulars, only two of the six remained – and I noticed why. Dex was slipping around them, burying strokes in them as Arn kept them busy and focused on his own animalistic form.<\/p>\n

Sered had a large glob of white mess impeding his legs, and the drider had driven him up against the wall of the cavern. He was in trouble there, and I charged over to help as I could. While I was running, the male elf with his flail met my eye, and he shouted something that confused me for a moment.<\/p>\n

“Kill them all!”<\/p>\n

I kept running, coming to Sered’s aid. He was having trouble focusing on dealing with the drider while trying to free himself from the goop it had flung at him. I swept up and cursed the creature while screaming at the top of my lungs, which got its attention. It turned to face me, and we began a series of thrust-and-parry maneuvers. I could see Sered clearing his feet of the impeding stuff – web, I could see now, though it still had the appearance of snot.<\/p>\n

I got in a few good strikes while he freed himself up, and I maneuvered the thing to give him a good solid shot at its flank. When he saw it, he took it – and cleft the great abdomen cleanly off of the thing with a sweep of his greatsword.<\/p>\n

Turning back, the fight was pretty much done – Arn and Dex had finished off the infantry, both driders were down, and all of the hunting spiders were dead. The only thing left was the one young noble and his mount, back to back and surrounded by Zenith, Dex, and Arn. None had moved to engage him, and as Sered and I moved to complete the surround, he stood up straight and lowered his weapon. The young Eldurin was wearing clothes and armor definitely a step above his companions, and he strangely had mismatched eyes – one a deep purple and the other of green.<\/p>\n

“You have defeated my troop and I. I surrender.”<\/p>\n

That was new. A deep elf surrendering?<\/p>\n

“Why should we not just kill you?” I asked.<\/p>\n

“I can give you no answer. Had I been victorious, your heads would be in bags as I returned to our barracks. Now, you have the option to take mine. You are obviously more difficult a group than we had initially assumed.” He shrugged and hung the flail over his shoulder.<\/p>\n

“Who are you?” Arn leaned in.<\/p>\n

“I am Thrae, of the house of Alevale, and former head of the Sharp-Hair company.”<\/p>\n

“The what?” I asked with a little skepticism. Arn quickly moved to deal with Rhogar, now that he saw that we had this situation in hand. He was drawing out a poultice of some kind when I turned back to our captive.<\/p>\n

He waved to the bodies laying on the ground around him. “Your prizes are the bodies and the equipment here. They were members of my mercenary company. I was taking them on a training run before we performed a patrol of the tunnels.”<\/p>\n

“I see. Training got a little overly enthusiastic, I suppose.” I looked around at the bodies. “Still, that gives us no real answer to the dilemma you pose.”<\/p>\n

“Obviously, I would prefer you not kill me, if that is of any consequence. Perhaps, being adventurers – as your gear and appearance would convey – you intend to visit my city? I can be of some assistance in that regard, I think.” He waved slowly back towards the lights of the city in the distance. “What were you looking to accomplish here?”<\/p>\n

“What in the world would give me the thought that we could trust you?”<\/p>\n

“Nothing, and in general I consider that wise.”<\/p>\n

“Fair point. We are actually traveling elsewhere, but having come this close to the Jewel of the Dark, it would seem a shame to pass it by without at least seeing it for a little while.” I had to admit, I was very curious to see how the dunkels lived in their native land. In my home of Ichaer, Shadrim were the top of the food chain, even the devils served us. Here, things were subtly different – their demon queen ruled them. At home, we knew ultimately there was form and law behind our purpose, order enabled us to expect certain action-reaction pairings.<\/p>\n

Here, cruel whimsy and political maneuvering would replace the code of law that had ruled my homeland. It was an exciting prospect, I must admit.<\/p>\n

We debated for a time, Zenith making the point of our need for assistance, Dex shrugging, and Sered looking as if the idea left a bad taste in his mouth. It was Arn that finally decided us, he approached from where Rhogar had fallen.<\/p>\n

“Our friend fell to one of your spiders. The venom knocked him out. Do you have an antidote?” He looked from Thrae to Rhogar and back again.<\/p>\n

“Is it bad?” I asked. He nodded, but seemed uncertain.<\/p>\n

“Your friend will sleep soundly for several days, and you could smite the head from him without waking him. I do have an antidote, but it is back in the city in my stable.” He thumbed over his shoulder.<\/p>\n

“Hardly a change from his usual sleep,” I muttered. Rhogar’s snoring could slay a badger. “What would you recommend we see, as visitors to your city?”<\/p>\n

He thought for a moment. “Definitely you will want to attend the gladiatorial fights in the coliseum. The temple district is also quite lovely. I will think it through and speak with you more at length when we see one another.”<\/p>\n

I looked around at everyone. They all nodded agreement one way or another.<\/p>\n

“All right, Thrae. It serves us little to kill you. Hopefully that will remain so. You are free to go.”<\/p>\n

“My thanks. To enter the city, you will need to take the main gate, not the one on this side of the city. This one is the noble’s gate, and you will not be allowed to pass.” He was pointing down to where we could see a narrow bridge spanning a river beside the city. “I cannot enter with you, but I will say you should look for a guard at the entrance, he is a member of family Godeep. Look for the drow with red hair at the main gate.”<\/p>\n

Red hair? The surprises never end, I suppose.<\/p>\n

“I will meet you at an inn in a district controlled by my family, two days from now. Go to the Upturned Jar, and find a table in the very rear on the left. I will likely not look as I do now. Meanwhile, if you wish reasonable accommodations during your stay, you may find them there, or at the Hunter’s Rest in the foreign quarter. There are other places, but these are my recommendations. May I leave now?”<\/p>\n

No one objected. “Yes, and thank you. My apologies for the harsh training for your comrades.”<\/p>\n

Thrae shrugged. “They failed their test. That is all there is to it. I do not care that it was your blade that felled them. They followed me, and they chose this path as surely as you chose yours. As I said before, had we been victorious, it would be your bodies now laying upon this ground.”<\/p>\n

I nodded. “Then we will see you in two days in the Upturned Jar.”<\/p>\n

We watched as he led his mount a short distance away. He turned back to us. “A point of note, please.”<\/p>\n

We looked back at him.<\/p>\n

“We should not mention meeting one another to anyone. The less ears hear of our encounter, the less people there will be who can use that information against us.”<\/p>\n

We all considered for a moment. Arn spoke up first. “Point taken.”<\/p>\n

Thrae nodded, got onto his spider, and they trotted off.<\/p>\n

While Zenith and Sered took care of the bodies and gear of the fallen, Arn and I chopped off some heavier woody fungus stems and fashioned a makeshift rope stretcher to drag Rhogar on.<\/p>\n

As we made our way around the outskirts of the city, it became clear that the surrounds in the cavern were very well-tended, and we simply had been in the wrong place at the wrong time when Thrae’s company set on us. Approaching the main gate, it’s enormous and daunting statue of their spider goddess atop it, we saw our guard among the crowded archway. The elf was red of hair, and I think he might have been the first elf I’ve ever seen who would qualify as being fat. Not just a little chubby around the middle, either. This fellow was\u00a0fat<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The road itself was shockingly crowded, all manners of persons, mounts, and beasts of burden passing back and forth. The most common pack animal seemed to be a large lizard, with spiny ridges on its head trailing all the way to the end of its stubby tail. They made a strange belching noise on a regular basis, and piles of what I assumed were their foul droppings littered the gate road. From the look of the droppings and the pale, slate-grey hide of the beasts, I guessed they were many generations bred underground.<\/p>\n

The smell of the city, dusky and spicy and hot, was overshadowed to some degree by the stench of the road at the gate. Whatever those pack-lizards ate, it didn’t process very pleasantly. Their smell was reminiscent of the smell of a man’s spilt innards. Having been on a few battlefields, I wasn’t entirely pleased at this revelation, but I muscled through the smell of them.<\/p>\n

The guards present traveled in ones and threes. The interior of the gate had doors to left and right (and I’m quite certain all manner of observation and shooting holes in the ceiling), from which occasional gaurds issued. They each carried small books with pages of what looked like parchment, and they scribed in them with wax-and-charcoal sticks. The groups of three that passed the gates in and out were generally two swordsmen, and one crossbowman who had one or two of the large hunting spiders on silk leashes.<\/p>\n

Other creatures passed the gates besides deep elves. I saw some form of lizardfolk tribe, a shamanistic leader and eight or ten pack-bearers with four warriors arrayed around them, each bearing spears. A small troupe of three hooded individuals whose race I couldn’t make out passed through. The bore no arms that I could observe, and I made a mental note not to interfere with such people. To arrive at this city through who knows how many miles of tunnels without visible armament implied a lethality of nature I had no desire to explore.<\/p>\n

A group of humans also were there, merchants I presume, with wagons drawn by the large pack-lizards. The wagons were of strange manufacture, their wheels were made of some strange substance with protrusions all over them, and they were mounted to what appeared to be some kind of flexible frame beneath the wagons. I assumed this was to make navigating rough terrain easier, though I had no idea how they would handle chasms. Dwarves were among them, sitting in the wagons and walking beside them, carrying axes nakedly. Dwarves always astonish me with their endurance.\u00a0Sybarron<\/em> <\/em>weighs about five pounds, but even that weight, carried by hand, after five or six hours would wear out my arm. The axes those dwarves carried easily weighed eight or twelve pounds, and yet they had no scabbards or ties that I could see.<\/p>\n

We continued our approach, and waited for our red-headed guard to finish with his current entrants. We angled up to him, and when he noticed our approach he held up a hand. “What business have you here?”<\/p>\n

Zenith answered calmly, “We are travelers searching for rest and relaxation for a few days, and to see the beauties of Erelhei-Cinlu for ourselves.”<\/p>\n

He looked us over appraisingly. “You have no place here. Return to where you came and pray to your gods that we don’t catch you in the tunnels.” He made a motion to wave us away and started strolling towards the next group behind us.<\/p>\n

Not put off so easily, Zenith kept up with him. “Your lordship, maybe an exception might be made for travelers with a little means?”<\/p>\n

The guard glanced back at him. “No.”<\/p>\n

Dex shook her head under her hood and muttered something angrily. She stepped up, pushed Zenith aside, and pulled her hood back a little. I heard her hiss at the guard, “Why do you so stubbornly deny us? You are delaying my travel.”<\/p>\n

The guard paled – which, for a deep elf, turns them a shade of lavender – and turned to face us again, with a short bow. “Mistress, I had no idea, I will see to your entrance at once.” He started back towards the door in the right side of the gate, fumbling to write something in his little book. He dropped his charcoal, and made motion to pick it up, but apparently the thought of delaying the extra few seconds and risking the displeasure of a dunkel female was intimidating enough to stop him. He straightened up and kept moving.<\/p>\n

As we followed, I recovered his stick.<\/p>\n

He got to the door and turned back to us, taking a head count. He called something into the door, and immediately returned with green cloaks for each of us. Passing them out, he intoned, “These will be good until six days from now, at which time your visit will be over. You may return for a new colored cloak at that time if you wish to remain in the city.”<\/p>\n

I handed him back his stick as he passed me a cloak. He nodded with appreciation, and I could see he was sweating. Dex said “Hurry up, we have business. Six days will be more than enough.” I fastened Rhogar’s around his neck where he lay in his stretcher.<\/p>\n

He nodded furiously, handing her a cloak and then vanishing inside. Apparently not wanting to risk further angering a female. I made another mental note that I should remain on the good side of any elves I met here, particularly the females.<\/p>\n

We entered the city. As we did, I nodded to Dex. “Entry for no fee, well done.” Dex grinned thinly. That might be the first time I’ve seen her look other than completely serious.<\/p>\n

It was beautiful, in its way. I still prefer sunlight, Ichaer was always beautiful at sunset, but this place had its own mysterious beauty. Structures were made of a variety of materials, some even appeared to be made of cloth (Dex later explained that these were woven of spider webbing, they have breeds that are used specifically to create walls and interior partitions – since it does not rain here, cloth is an acceptable, even stylish, construction material). Some were stone, either carved directly from stalagmites or imported bricks and blocks. Few were ordinary. Magical lights were common on almost every street, in a variety of colors – red, green, violet, silver. White was notably absent.<\/p>\n

Roads were cleanly delineated, carved smooth out of the stone of the floor, each with small gutter-trenches on either side and occasional grates that I assumed led to a sewer beneath the city. Knowing the types of infestations we had back Ichaer, I found it entertaining to contemplate what sorts of creature would inhabit\u00a0this<\/em> city’s under-tunnels.<\/p>\n

Walking the streets was an even wider variety of creature than was to be found at the gateway. Some form of aquatic humanoid I’d never seen before – pale of scale and pink of eye, so I had to assume they were native to the underdark – as well as more lizardfolk, deep dwarves, hobgoblins, a few ogres, two trolls (bodyguards for some kind of noble who walked between them), and at one point I think I even caught sight of a fiend, its horned crest standing well over the crowd as it disappeared down a side street.<\/p>\n

I almost felt at home!<\/p>\n

Lest the sensation sink in and give me a false sense of confidence, I made a point to tap myself on the head every now and then. This would not be a good place to become casual.<\/p>\n

We hired a guide from a stall inside the door to take us to the Hunter’s Quarry, and the elf who walked with us pointed out several establishments along the way. We passed a great opera house along the way, from which strange and haunting instruments were playing a symphonic piece. That, I had to admit, was somewhat more lovely music than what we had in Ichaer. Shadrim are a very orderly people, but our tastes in music were limited. The closest I’d ever seen to originality was when Ille Gorhaim’s matron gave an exhibition piece using their slave orchestra – over sixty several professional torturers, each with one to three subjects, “played” their subjects as instruments, using specific techniques to elicit screams of a certain tone and timbre to the conductor’s command.<\/p>\n

In spite of the terrible nature of the instruments – I find such use of slaves both horrid and wasteful – I recall the halfwise section had several contralto voices that harmonized very well with a dragonborn’s bass. Gorhaim gained an enormous amount of position from that performance, and from that point on their name was first on anyone’s lips when it came to original music…or extraction of information. Art comes in strange forms.<\/p>\n

That said, the instruments I heard emanating from that opera house was some of the most beautiful music I had ever heard. For a race that was supremely cruel – even by the standards of Bael Turath, where I was raised – it was a side of them I found entirely unexpected.<\/p>\n

We arrived at the inn without incident, though we did once have to clear out of the street to make way for a litter carved to the form of a spider, held aloft by male deep elves. I motioned to the others that they were not to look directly at the lady being borne by the litter. I wasn’t sure, but I suspect uninvited eye contact with a noblewoman was a cause for offense.<\/p>\n

And here, cause for offense was probably enough to cost a foreigner his life, or at least his freedom.<\/p>\n

The Hunter’s Rest was a comfortable place – almost familiar. The place seemed a little strange at first, until I realized why – there were no deep elves here, aside from Dex, and she hadn’t yet taken her hood off. Inns everywhere serve basically the same purpose: sleeping, eating, and drinking. The barkeep, an emaciated dwarf by name of Guv, established us in rooms quickly, and we all ordered up drinks.<\/p>\n

“Food?” His voice was a bit whispery, but you could still hear dwarvish accent in it. I wondered whether that sound came from the tight slave-collar on his neck or his apparent malnourishment. “We have a good pie, grub pie, fill you right up. Also homemade shroomchips. Meat will cost you extra, but we can probably scare something up for you if you like.”<\/p>\n

Several of us looked at each other. I shrugged. “I’ll try the grub pie.” If I was able to stomach the blood and brains of one of my own companions, I was quite certain I could eat a grub pie.<\/p>\n

We sat and discussed our options while we were here. Re-provisioning would be necessary, as would finding a guide to get us back to Cozule. We’d discussed taking a portal back to Al’Veydra, but the passages between there and Cozule would no doubt be watched, if not trapped. I was also quite interested in seeing some of the sights of this city – it was fascinating to me, this darkened reflection of Ichaer.<\/p>\n

Guv listened to what we were seeking, and nodded. “I can help you with some ‘o that. Just tell me how many days and what you’ll be wanting to eat. Maybe also what you don’t.” We listed off what we needed.<\/p>\n

“And no meat from thinking beings, please,” Sered made it a point to mention that twice.<\/p>\n

“Yeah, good point there, I’ll make sure to clear it m’self, sir.”<\/p>\n

Looking at the sigil stamped on our tankards, I realized this was a house-owned establishment. Despana, if I remembered right. “Guv, do you ever buy wines or other drinks from the surface world?”<\/p>\n

He considered it for a moment. “I might have a bottle or two in the back, but they’ll cost you.”<\/p>\n

“That’s not what I mean – I own a brewery where I live, and if there’s desire for such things here, I am wondering if there might be a profit in it for your house.”<\/p>\n

His eyes brightened a bit at the thought of raising his stature with his masters. “You’d have to bring samples for me to shop around, but yeah, if your stuff’s good, we get enough travelers asking after surface goods that we might go fer it. Might even find a bit of demand among the upper class if it’s really good – they’re always hungry for something exotic.”<\/p>\n

“It might be a while, but I’ll arrange something. Do I just seek you out when I do?”<\/p>\n

“Make sure to send a message ahead – it’ll take me a few days to set up a tasting with buyers.”<\/p>\n

Our food arrived. Steaming hot pies, not dissimilar to what we would see in Al’Veydra.<\/p>\n

Except they moved.<\/p>\n

Sered’s had its crust broken, and I could see something squirming in the creamy brown sauce beneath it. He looked down distrustfully, then looked up at us. “I’ve eaten worse. In past lives.” He tucked in, and seemed to be pleasantly surprised.<\/p>\n

Arn stuck his fork in, and recoiled quickly as his pie let out a squeal – a grub perhaps two inches long jumped straight up out of the ruptured crust, sumersaulting in the air before landing back on the pie and crawling back through the crack and down into the sauce. He stared at it in horror, small flecks of gravy still spotting his face. After a moment he cautiously laid down his silverware and pushed the pie away.<\/p>\n

Mine simply roiled. Under the crust, something obviously was cruising in circles around inside the dish. It smelled positively fantastic, and my stomach growled furiously at the thought of food. I figured this to be a bit of a challenge, and stabbed where I beest thought to catch the cruising grub. I guessed right, and extracted a squirming white thing impaled on my fork.<\/p>\n

It tasted like a good dark mushroom. Absolutely wonderful, once you chewed the grub enough to kill it.<\/p>\n

The beer here was also good – nowhere near as fine as my own Wrong-Tail, but good.<\/p>\n

We got some tips on sights from Guv as well, Arn and Dex pulling directions to the coliseum, while I got a bit of information regarding an art gallery and a good gambling establishment.<\/p>\n

That evening we had, for the first time in what felt like forever (but of course was less than two weeks) a relaxing evening. The beds were comfortable, if not luxurious, the food was good, and the air was warm and dry. I even managed to scrounge up a hot-water bath. Going to bed that night, with a full stomach and clean skin was a most welcome change from the hard stone floor of a cave.<\/p>\n

When we awoke the next morning, we assembled for breakfast – something resembling omelettes with a broth soup beside it – and to discuss where we were all headed. No one else was interested in the gallery (probably because the artist on display was mentioned as creating paintings depicting expressions of pain using some rather unique materials). Dex and Arn were headed for the coliseum, while Sered and Zenith were still quietly discussing other options. Sered arranged with Guv for someone to look in on Rhogar and check on him every hour or so.<\/p>\n

I headed out.<\/p>\n

The gallery, I found, was interesting, but the art really didn’t grab me. The artist, named Chael Que’nos, certainly had an eye and a talent for capturing his subject matter. I appreciated its unique nature, the materials were rather fascinating – powdered dragon scales, hides taken from various races, even a little demon blood (which surprised me, I was under the impression that the body and blood of demons tended not to keep well here away from their home dimension) made its way in. His fascination with suffering just did very little for me – I’m familiar enough with pain that I don’t much enjoy seeing it inflicted on others, though I recognize its necessity at times. After a couple hours looking things over, I decided to stroll about. I purchased a small piece, perhaps five by five inches, which I thought might go well as part of a larger display of Eldurin weapons.<\/p>\n

Sticking my head into several shops was fascinating. Strangely, it was the food I found most interesting. A bakery that served a great many types of bread and pastries was of particular interest. They might hate one another, but the Eladrin and the deep elves still share a common interest in finely-crafted foods. I bought a small thin loaf and a wax cup of meat spread, and returned to my wandering.\u00a0Sybarron<\/em> <\/em>and I discussed at length the different structures and societal variations we observed, though it took me some convincing to get him to temporarily lay aside his prejudices.<\/p>\n

At a small metalworker’s shop, I bought a set of stamped daggers, small decorative things, not for fighting. Quite impressive workmanship that would go well at my dinner table. At another shop, a deep-green crystalline salt cellar joined them in my satchel.<\/p>\n

Passing a large weapons shop, I was able to observe a craftsman making quarrels for several varieties of crossbow. I realized then a small epiphany – the Eldurin use wood grown from fungus here for most of their work. There simply was no consistent or common source of woody material of great enough length or tensile strength from which to fashion bows and arrows! It was a discovery I thought I should have realized a great long time ago, but it was still eminently satisfying to uncover it now.<\/p>\n

If we were to stay the next day, I decided I might have to visit the coliseum as well. I mildly regretted not going with Arn and Zenith today, but was still enjoying myself.<\/p>\n

The towers of the noble houses were almost always visible from the streets, watching like sentry eyes over the city. They reminded me, again, of home – where Caer Ingrath looked down on Ichaer. Though that was always a sense of guardianship, these towers were much more intrusive to me. I found that despite their beauty and my reminiscences, I did not like the feeling they gave me.<\/p>\n

Towards the “evening” I made my way back to the Hunter’s Rest, and checked in on Rhogar. He was still unconscious, but seemed to not be deteriorating. Satisfied that he hadn’t expired, I unburdened myself of my souvenirs and returned to the common room.<\/p>\n

I wrote here for a while, until Dex and Arn came back, echoing their excitement at having seen the gladiatorial games. Apparently, once a month the coliseum arena is flooded and sea-borne battles are joined using small skiffs. This time, the waters were seeded with sharks and sahuagin, adding deadly hazard to those who fell or were pulled from their foundering vessels. I have no idea how the dunkel managed to retrieve such creatures and keep them for their arena, but it sounded altogether quite impressive. Apparently a rather boisterous crowd gambles on all variety of measures – including, in this case, which swimmer was going to be snatched and eaten by the sea life. I was sorry to have missed such a spectacle, but such is life.<\/p>\n

As the evening wore on, I decided it was time to hunt down that gambling den Guv had mentioned and try my hand at a little cards, perhaps some dice. He’d called it the “New Black Widow” – and wasn’t far from the Hunter’s Rest. I socked away most of my valuables and geared up the prettiest I could and pulled a few hundred gold into my pouch for the evening.<\/p>\n

I headed down the street – none of the others wanted to come along – and breathed in the exhilarating scents of cooking food, brewing concoctions, and the multitude of city sounds. I loved the wilds, but the city – any city – is my home.<\/p>\n

The New Black Widow was absolutely wondrous – red and gold lighting, velvet and leather seating, excellent distilled spirits. They even had good cigars there! Had I known I would never have had to pack that extra box along with me.<\/p>\n

After a few rounds of dice, I was ahead by a large margin after a strong set of lay bets, and was feeling the need to sit down. I picked out a bottle of nice wine, set aside my original stake, and headed over to the card tables with the winnings from dice. A few seats were open on one of their five tables, and I pulled up a chair. Three deep elves were arrayed around the table, another Shadrim, a hobgoblin, and a gith similar to Zenith.<\/p>\n

I had a very good run again against these players, but my luck soured in a hand against one of the dark eldurin, and unfortunately he took me for the majority of my stake at the table. Still having a few hundred left, I bought a round of drinks for the table, wished everyone good fortune, and headed back to the Hunter’s rest. I was asleep within moments of my head hitting the bed.<\/p>\n

I don’t remember dreaming that night, the night passed in moments from what I could tell, but before I knew it someone was urgently knocking on the door. I struggled out of bed, sliding into a cloth robe that came with the bath the night before, and answered. Guv was there, and looked up at me.<\/p>\n

“Mister Azrael, someone to see you, downstairs, right now.” He jerked his head to indicate direction.<\/p>\n

I nodded, and somewhat fuzzy still from waking so quickly, slowly came down the stairs behind him. I heard him preceding me, “He’s coming now, miss. No need to be in a fuss.”<\/p>\n

I got to the bottom of the stairs, where I found four warrior Eldurin surrounding a single female, who wore a golden pin in the shape of the Despana house emblem. The little mace gleamed in the candle light, and glinted off her bared teeth. The four took a defensive posture at seeing me, and rather than aggravate the circumstance I raised my hands, empty, and stopped.<\/p>\n

The lady spoke to me. “You are the one called Azrael?”<\/p>\n

I nodded. “I am, madam. To what do I owe the honor of your visit and attention? I hope I have given no offense to you or yours.” I took a knee. Better to overdo the submission rather than inadvertently give offense. I heard the others upstairs muttering concernedly. I thought I heard armor being strapped on, and waved halt behind me.<\/p>\n

“Oh, and it is an honor you receive, have no doubt of that, Shadrim.” She circled me, drawn blade resting gently on the back of my neck. “You were at the Widow last night, were you not?”<\/p>\n

“I was, my lady. I remain most grateful for the gracious hospitality I received there.” I kept my head down.<\/p>\n

Her blade came around under my chin and lifted. I looked up to her. “My matron, Ilmirinza, wishes to bestow upon you a gift, though her hearing your name yet again gave her no pleasure.”<\/p>\n

“Again, my lady? I have never met the lady Ilmirinza.” Confusion was doubled in my fuzzy waking state.<\/p>\n

The little mother waved to one of her consort, who handed a small wooden box to me. Its surface was smooth, stained grey and with a fine lacquer. Bronze hinges and clasp were perfectly shined. I opened it and saw embedded in black felt a small mace made of adamantium.<\/p>\n

“This is a token of the favor of house Despana, Shadrim. It entitles you to three nights’ stay at the Widow, and a credit of one hundred golden eyes to be used at the tables there. Be aware that it gives me no great pleasure to grant you this, but that it is my matron’s desire only that compels me to bring it to you.” The sword was withdrawn and sheathed. I heard Guv in the corner give a little grunt of surprise. Her eyes flickered in his direction for a moment, then returned to me.<\/p>\n

“Then I am doubly grateful to you, my lady, both for the gift and for the inconvenience that you suffered in bringing it to me. You honor me with your gesture. I remain confused about where your matron may have heard of me before.” I bowed again.<\/p>\n

“You are in the right to be so obliged by me, Shadrim.” She made a\u00a0tsk<\/em> sound, and her consort formed up and followed her to the door. Before she exited, she turned quickly. “You will have to take up your curiosity with my matron, I have no knowledge of it.” She glanced over to Guv, who was eyeing her levelly. She motioned to her guards. “Drown that one in water for his insolence.”<\/p>\n

She turned and left. The guards looked at each other, then turned to sieze Guv, who could only stand with a shocked expression on his face as they grabbed him by either arm. “Wait! You’ve got the wrong man! I’ve done nothing! I’ve done no*gurp!*<\/em><\/strong>” His protests were quickly extinguished as the other two guards upended a barrel of ale and broke the end of it, into which his head was then shoved.<\/p>\n

It pained me to see it, but I knew I could do nothing to counter the order of a lady noble of one of the ruling houses without casting myself and the others into a death sentence of our own.<\/p>\n

Guv’s protests quickly ended, as did the jerking of his feet upon the floor. As he died, I overheard the guards muttering to one another.<\/p>\n

“This isn’t water. Do you think she’ll care?”<\/p>\n

“Best not to risk it. Find water. There, that bucket, bring it.”<\/p>\n

One of the guards retrieved a bucket, apparently of water, from the kitchen. Guv’s head was extracted from the ale-barrel, and still dripping shoved into the bucket with a sodden splash. After holding him in it for several seconds, the guards looked at each other and shrugged. Dropping their wet burden, they quickly retreated from the Inn.<\/p>\n

Eldurin justice. Perhaps making a new home here would not be the wisest choice.<\/p>\n

When the others came down, I explained to them what had transpired. Somewhat nervous at having my name mentioned by a matron of one of the Eight houses, I was still interested in seeing a bit more of the city. I found that Sered and Dex had visited the slave pens during the previous day – I still cannot quite understand how Sered managed to rationalize that – and had purchased two servants. One was an elderly fellow, human, named Gal’van – who claimed to be from the city of Morvrey. His knowledge of the College of Morvrey and its township was deemed valuable. The other, an albino named “Bat”, apparently would serve as a guide in the tunnels between here and Cozule.<\/p>\n

However, we had a meeting to make with Thrae at his Upturned Jar.<\/p>\n

After our breakfast (not many ate very well that morning, whether upset at the rapid demise of Guv or because there were not enough servers to handle our requests, it mattered little), we walked to the other inn. It was easy enough to locate, with a ‘sign’ that was literally an inverted jug.<\/p>\n

We moved inside, and to the very rear of the building. An old man drinking what looked to be milk sat at the table on the left. “Do we just wait for him?” Arn asked quietly of Sered.<\/p>\n

“I told you that appearances would not necessarily be kept consistent.” The old man spoke up, in Thrae’s voice – discordantly young for such an elderly guise. “Sit, please.”<\/p>\n

We took up seats around his table and ordered drinks from the proprietor.<\/p>\n

“So. You live, and you have not yet betrayed us,” Sered began.<\/p>\n

Thrae nodded. “I have been observing you while you are here, and you are certainly what you claimed. You have no alliances with any house, and your dealings here are for the most part innocuous.”<\/p>\n

Arn shrugged, “Glad we could live up to expectations.”<\/p>\n

Sered put a hand on Arn’s arm to quiet him. “So, the question remains, what can we do for one another?”<\/p>\n

Thrae considered a moment, then put both hands on the table. “As outsiders to my city, I do not expect you to be able to divine meaning from our conversation without my being completely direct.” I almost took offense, but decided against it. “I am of house Aleval.” He fingered the little pin on his collar, in the shape of a wand drawn from golden wire.<\/p>\n

“Yet I am an embarrassment to my house. I am male, and I am youngest. I am impure.” He motioned to his mismatched eyes. “I had hoped to earn glory with my mercenary company, but I believe you have seen the outcome of that particular venture.”<\/p>\n

I interjected: “I think we apologized for that already.”<\/p>\n

He held up a hand. “No apologies are necessary. We’ve been over that. Had we won, you would be dead and rotting, and we would be drinking to our victory. They did not measure up, and met the fate that was fitting.”<\/p>\n

“I have no future here. One does not live in Erelhei-Cinlu, one survives here. In case it is not obvious, that is a rather difficult proposition for one in my position.” He leaned in. “Take me with you. I wish to join you. I have no place here, but with you I may still earn glory and fame, and perhaps a chance to make a name for myself.”<\/p>\n

I sat back, and looked at the walls of this inn, whistling softly.<\/p>\n

Sered almost laughed, I heard him stifle it at the last moment. “You realize you tried to kill us only two days ago, and only minutes ago made a completely unapologetic confession that had little contrition at all in it?”<\/p>\n

“I am Eldurin. It is in my nature. I believe we can be of great benefit to one another.”<\/p>\n

“That’s a lot to ask, man.” Arn was looking a little incredulous at this as well.<\/p>\n

I leaned in again. “Okay, look. This is an interesting proposition, but understand it is a little difficult for us to simply turn around and trust you on your word. After all, word here lasts only so long as the advantage to keeping it.”<\/p>\n

He nodded. “I don’t believe I asked you to trust me, just to take me along with you. However, you should know I have been tracking you all across the city since you arrived, and at a word from me you could have been slain outright as invaders. Yet, no harm came to you.”<\/p>\n

Sered shook his head. “Yes, that’s true. But trust and travel together – they are one and the same to us.”<\/p>\n

Thrae shrugged, and reached into the pocket of his vest, drawing out a small vial. “And, there is this.” He handed the vial to Sered. “Drip half this up each of your friend’s nostrils. He should wake within an hour of treatment. Be ready, he will be hungry, and he will lose control of his bowels for some time.”<\/p>\n

I winced at the thought of a large dragonborn rocketing effluent from his nethers. I would have to make it a point to be elsewhere while the curative was applied.<\/p>\n

I thought for a second. “We cannot answer this to you right now. Meet us again twenty-four hours from now, here at this place. We’ll have your answer then.”<\/p>\n

He nodded, “That is understandable. I accept. I’ll return tomorrow and we can resume this talk.” He pushed his glass into the center of the table and squeezed out between Arn and Zenith.<\/p>\n

What ensued was the closest thing to a heated argument I’ve seen among us so far. A number of good points were made on all sides, but in the end we all agreed – we simply could not blindly trust this deep elf to be our guide, and with the purchase of Bat, we did not need him to guide us. It was decided that we would give Thrae an opportunity to be tested – we would entrust him with Gal’van and task him with seeing the old man delivered to Al’Veydra via Spiderwatch. In doing so, he would demonstrate his ability and some level of trustworthiness, and Gal’van would be seen to our keep with what we hoped was a safer route than accompanying us with our planned stop in Cozule. In addition, I tasked him with marking the path in order to blaze a trail for the merchant route I intended to set up. I already could see that delivery of my brewed and distilled spirits would find a home here, and a returning caravan could bring a variety of exotic consumables as well as armor and weapons of Eldurin manufacture. Profit on both sides of the trip would make for a good start.<\/p>\n

We finished our discussion perhaps an hour after Thrae’s departure. Another day to kill in the lovely metropolis of Erelhei-Cinlu. I knew I wanted to visit the arena today, and probably pay a visit back to the New Black Widow – both to spend a little more time at the tables, and to see if perhaps I could mend the stain to my image with the house matron, still not knowing how that stain had come to be upon me. Given the sudden absence of the dwarf Guv, whom I’d hoped to be my contact to establish as the anchor point to my trade here, perhaps the matron mother would be willing to assign me a new contact.<\/p>\n

The long night of day was calling!<\/p>\n

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