Makings of a Monster

- "Youngsters, I assure you. Had there been any spare Bhaal temples with easy access, nice environment, fresh air and uplifting atmosphere in the neighborhood, I would have based the clandestine part of our organization there instead," said Winski irritably. Sarevok and Tamoko gazed forlornly at the disarranged, forgotten gravestones, ruins of ancient buildings, looming darkness and dry twigs passing for trees.
- "Besides," he went on, "there is the portal. Took pains to come up with that one. If not for the portal, we'd have to pass through the dreadful maze every time we wanted to come here. No need to thank me or anything."

The Undercity of Baldur's Gate was a place not many knew existed. It was the ruins of an old city the actual Baldur's Gate was founded on. All the buildings had long been reduced to rubble, only the undead haunting the damned place. The only building surviving the centuries of decay was a temple of Bhaal. Sarevok's studies had suggested it existed someplace in the Baldur's Gate area, but it was Winski who found out the exact location. The Undercity could only be accessed by a maze built long ago by a master thief also adept in magic. The maze, in its turn, was located deep under the local Thieves' Guild, and avoided by the thieves who knew about its existence.

The maze was full of traps and powerful, mindless monsters roaming about. With the co-operation of a powerful and high-ranking thief and the sword arms of Tamoko and Sarevok Winski had located the entrance to the Undercity and used all his magical knowledge and experience to build an open portal into which he could teleport to in order to avoid having to tackle the maze again. He sealed it with his personal rune. No reason another mage should be able to make use of it on the off chance such a person should somehow find it.

- "My apologies, Winski," said Sarevok. "The portal is great. I was just overwhelmed for a while, that's all."
Tamoko shuddered. As Bhaal was dead, the phantom could not manipulate her directly, but she could still feel the vibrations of death seeped into the salty soil and faintly radiating from the building. Farther away there was a shore, but the water, too, was unmoving and dark, and she half-expected that there would be skeletal fish swimming around, white bones littering the bottom of the dead sea. And all too clearly she could see the dead god shredding Sarevok's soul, torturing him with the visions and dreams. How ironic that Sarevok thought seeking the Bhaal-power would make him able to control his destiny, when he already was so out of control of himself! And he went on the defensive mode all the easier if Tamoko even tried to probe him with her seeds of doubt. He would then punish Tamoko by acting cold and aloof for a while, but in his sleep he would snuggle next to her and weep, never waking up.

When Tamoko witnessed Bhaal accessing Sarevok, there was the familiar cold gleam of a patient, calculating beast or the murderous, unfocused rage capable of amazing feats of mindless destruction. But what she saw too were the golden eyes of a young boy, younger even than Sarevok had been when she first met him. A child he had once been. The boy afraid of the inborn violence of his blood, the passionate child, hurting. Only a glimpse of those eyes desperately reaching out from the manifestations of the beast, but Tamoko could see that he was suffering terribly. Bhaal was shredding him apart, and he probably represented Sarevok's link to his mortal blood. It must cause him pain, Tamoko thought. And I can only imagine what he sees, but I bet that bastard of a god does his best to assure him that his humanity is despicable and the cause of his suffering. She'd have to find a way to make Sarevok listen and remove the god's influence.

What if his mad plan to start the war succeeded? Tamoko considered this. There would be thousands of lives lost. A waste, but such a waste was always going on somewhere. She knew the people not, and their deaths meant little to her, just as her death would mean little to any of them. What mattered was that this was not the way of wars. They were sometimes started on purpose, but the purposes were political or financial. To seek to destroy life just for the sheer purpose of destroying reeked of wrongness, of acting against all that held the multiverse together. And forcing things out of their natural state was guaranteed to bounce back on whoever was guilty of such a deed. Tamoko was terrified to find that she didn't have faith in the goals of her lover, but there it was. What she believed, in reality, was that any way the plan would turn out it would destroy Sarevok, one way or the other. Either by the malevolent, treacherous deity himself, or mortal agents. The question was how to convince Sarevok of this. He clung to his insanity and dreams and reacted with hostility to any voiced doubts, as if they were dire threats.

At the temple Winski went on with his other newest findings.
- "I have found that Bhaal can grant his essence into weapons and armor suited to Deathbringers."
Sarevok nodded. He employed Deathbringer tactics in battle, courtesy to one of Winski's earlier dives into the depths of a temple of Oghma's and his own libraries. The most brutal and effective ways of fighting, also centered on inspiring fear in the opponent and massive blows intended to finish the foe with one strike. Tamoko approved of this more methodological approach to fighting, as Sarevok's blind battle rage had always seemed a bit reckless to her, who had had years of rigorous training and still concentrated and sparred regularly. As she told to the other two, the Deathbringer techniques reminded her a bit of the techniques of the Scorpion clan of Kozakura. It was considered the least elegant of the schools, but she didn't say that. Not that Sarevok would have minded terribly. He didn't consider elegance an independent goal in fighting. It was a nice side-effect of agility and skill.

- "I have found a blacksmith who has forged Deathbringer weapons before, and for a preposterous sum of money he has agreed to make a suit of armor and a sword for you. They will be dark artifacts of immense power, but they can also serve as a part of the impression you want to form. This is very important considering the plans we have. Both Reiltar's plans, and our own. So, what do you think they should look like?" asked Winski.
- "Regarding the sword, I think size and reach are of foremost importance," answered Sarevok immediately. Tamoko suppressed a giggle.
- "And the armor should be big too, let me sketch for you..." he leaned to scratch a parchment, enthusiastic.
- "Well, it can't exactly be small if it will be fitted for you, m'dear..." muttered Winski, his eyes meeting Tamoko's. The two felt their shoulders shaking and found it best to look away from each other. Something told them that Sarevok wouldn't be as amused as they were by his fashion preferences.

They stared at the sketch for a few seconds, speechless.
- "S... sarevok? Don't you think that those spikes are a bit much?" asked Tamoko in a cautious voice.
- "I thought that the idea was to be intimidating," answered Sarevok indignantly.
- "There is such a thing as overdoing it," answered Winski. "Also, it's not like I'm an expert in physical fighting, but isn't that thing a bit more cumbersome than necessary..."
- "That's right. You are not. I'm your superior, and that is the suit of armor I want," said Sarevok, staring Winski from his full height.
- "Very well. It will be as you say," sighed Winski, carefully avoiding Tamoko's concealed grin.