"Ah, VITH!!" shouted Viconia, followed by a string of further Drow obscenities which resounded through-out the house.

"Whoa, strong language detected," Laska chuckled while she and Korgan sat at the couch, the elf and dwarf discussing the effect that various drinks had on the elven and dwarven psyche if copiously consumed.

"Aye," Korgan grinned. "Ye be kissin' yer ma with that mouth, Drowsy? HAR! Ye be remindin' me o'me great-aunt Helen. 'Er voice could curdle milk and be shatterin' rocks!"

"I jabbed my elbow against the corner of this stupid table, argh!" Viconia shouted while rubbing her arm and kicking the table to vent her anger.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Laska grinned. "Leave the furniture alone! We've got an exercise room for that."

"Ye be breakin' furniture before, Las," Korgan pointed out.

"Yeah, but Rose doesn't like it," Laska replied. "She thinks it's a bit of a waste... I only wanted to destroy that ancient armoire with a couple of kicks. It's not that we ever used it... What do I care if that armoire belonged to the founder of Amn? We can get a new armoire anytime of the day!"

"Ach," Korgan chuckled, "Rose be leadin' ye around by the... appendage ye nay be 'avin', but ye know what I be meanin'... HAR!"

"I thought we were talking about me!" Viconia snarled. "I'm the one in agony here..."

"Yeah," Laska nodded. "I thought you'd be dexterous enough to avoid a little table."

"I am!" Viconia retorted. "But... just... I... I have been having a bit of bad luck today. When I got out of bed this morning, I stepped right on top of the Flail of Ages!"

"Ouch," Korgan muttered.

"Yes," Viconia said. "Its a good thing I can heal myself or I would still have second and third degree burns on the sole of my foot. And when I went to brush my teeth, I squirted toothpaste in my eye!"

"Oh, that smarts!" Laska said.

"How do ye be knowin' that?" Korgan asked.

"Ah," Laska said, "Rose and I... well, I couldn't find the whipped cream and..."

"Oy, leave it!"

"And then, I was reading a book and it flies out of my hands and slides under the cupboard. And when I reach under it to get it, I get my hand stuck into a mouse-trap!" Viconia snarled. "I fell down the stairs... twice! Once I slipped over a loose-lying bit of laundry, the second time I tripped over my own feet! And that's just it! I've been having little accidents all day long! An exploding outhouse, a hairbrush getting stuck in my hair! A fly ramming itself right into my eye! Risa accidentally knocking me over! And just now, a roofing tile dropped on my head... and I was INSIDE the house!" Viconia shouted. "On the way from my room to the door, dozens of little accidents... OW!!!"

"What's wrong now?" Laska asked.

"I pulled a muscle in my leg!" Viconia grimaced and rubbed her calf.

"Oy, if I be a religious dwarf, I be sayin' something be wantin' ye to be stayin' 'ome today," Korgan answered, but, seeing the looks Viconia and Laska were giving him, he quickly added : "Oy, I be seein' IF I be a religious dwarf..."

"I am definitely going," Viconia snarled.

"Aye, a beau be waitin' fer ye, then?" Korgan roared. "Ach, I be 'opin' 'e nay be 'avin' a weak 'eart! HAR HAR!"

"Don't be dense," Viconia muttered. "No, I am going to a sermon giving by a high-ranking Sharran. And, ah, please do not mention that to Keldorn. We are getting along now, and I would like to keep it that way..."

"Then why go?" Laska asked.

"I've never been to a Sharran mass-gathering before and I am curious, obviously," Viconia muttered. "We Sharrans will listen to wise words of a Flame of Darkness, no less..."

"Big whoop," Laska muttered.

"There will be booze," Viconia grinned.

"Oh! Can I come?" Laska smiled.

"No... Any outsider attending will be killed," Viconia said. "Even the Sharrans will remain unknown to each other, since the all of us will be in disguise."

"Is that why ye be looking like a monkey?" Korgan grinned.

Viconia looked down at her robe, a long black and purple robe with a hood. "I fail to see what's so funny," she said. "I am being quite serious," she added while donning the hood and clicking a white porcelain mask into place.

"You look more like a mime to me," Laska chuckled. "Hey," the tattooed elf added while flailing her arms and flattening her hands, "do 'trapped in an invisible box' for us!"

"Good night!" Viconia snarled and stepped out in the night... A few moments of silenced followed, and was suddenly broken by the words 'AWW, CRAP!' were shouted, accompanied by the sounds of garbage-cans being knocked over.

"How about that..." Korgan muttered. "Well, at least..."

"Ah, I just remembered!" Laska shouted. "Rose and I were supposed to go dancing tonight! She's expecting me!"

"When?" Korgan asked.

"Ten minutes ago!" Laska grimaced. "They really should invent a sun-dial that works at night!"

Korgan snorted and sat back on the couch after tapping himself an ale.

Sighing, Viconia made her way through the sewers below, wondering why secret gatherings were always located inside sewers or dungeons. So far, Viconia's string of bad luck was not diminishing. She had accidentally stepped in refuse and banged her head into a pipe just minutes ago. And to make matters worse, she had been experiencing a creepy feeling writhing though the back of her head...

But she would not let it deter her. Ever since she found the hidden message, announcing the sermon in an encoded message on the public-notice board just outside the Bridge-district, she had been eager to go. Truly, ever since she first heard the words of the Nightsinger in her mind, she had been eager obtain more knowledge of Shar, and books could only take her so far. She hoped that she might become less of a book-cleric if she would attend this sermon.

Rounding about the corner, she found the entrance of the hall where the sermon would be held. Many masked and robed priestesses moved silently into the hall. Realizing she was late, she cursed under her breath and stood in line.

"Welcome sister of the night!" a painfully cheerful masked girl announced holding a stack of leaflets. "Would you like a program of tonight's sermon?"

"Please," Viconia asked. "You've not been a Sharran long, have you?"

"Does it show?" the girl asked, adjusting her mask. "Nah, I'm just a temp... The usual program-girl has a broken arm. I like being a Sharran a lot though. It's really girl-power. We're taking over, you know? Yep, gonna take over all of Athkatla... then, the Sword Coast, then the WORLD! Wowie!"

"Truly?" Viconia asked. "Tell me more."

"Yep, yep, yep!" the girl bubbled on. "The mistress has allies here... Powerful allies... With the Shadow Thieves gone, we'll be taking over. We'll get into the Cowled Wizards, infiltrate the council, and then Athkatla will be a Sharran town! Or at least, that's what the woman in the black robes and the white mask told me..."

"We are all wearing masks and black robes," Viconia muttered, wondering how the Sharran faith could operate with members such as these.

"Oh, well, it had to be one of those then... Oh, do you think I talk to much? People say I talk to much, but I don't think I talk to much? Nope, nope, nope, I don't talk too much, don't I?" the girl bubbled.

Shaking her head, Viconia brushed past her, the writhing feeling in the back of her head now turning into a demanding head-ache. Annoyed, Viconia sat down in one of the free pews at the back and waited. The room was filled with pews, and, to the front, there was a dias with a small desk. On the desk, a book was flanked with two glowing orbs. Behind the desk, hung a banner of the symbol of Shar, the only decoration in the room.

But, then, the sermon started. The chatting masked Sharrans shut their mouths as the Flame of Darkness, also masked, stepped into the room. She radiated power as she walked by, the cold emanating from her body putting out the candles as she passed by them. Viconia could sense her power, as well as her state of undeath. She mused that if Laska had been here, the sheer amount of negative energy would have put the elf in a coma.

With grace and finesse, the masked leader turned around and opened the book. Though Viconia could not feel exited due to the nagging stabs in the back of her skull.

"Greetings, my sisters," the vampire leader spoke in a deep voice. "I, your Flame of Darkness, conduit of the Nightsinger, welcome you, our warriors and servants of the Night to this gathering."

Viconia hissed. The pain in her head was becoming more and more unbearable...

"Soon, we shall strike... Soon, this city shall be ours... The government shall fall, and from the chaos, more followers shall flock to the Nightsinger and take up arms for our cause... Domination..."

Viconia concluded that this leader had quite a flair for the dramatic, and she knew almost for certain that what she said was not going to happen the way she told it. More likely, agents would infiltrate the government and control it behind the screens, establishing and fortifying a base of power instead of destroying it. That would make this leader quite a rabble-rouser at the moment.

"First I shall read verse..." suddenly, the vampire feel silent, glancing towards one of the orbs on the opposite side of the book. "There," the vampire snarled, "is a spy among us... One of us is NOT A SHARRAN!"

A collective gasp went through the gathered Sharrans, and this time, Viconia finally understood. She knew not how, and she knew not why... But she was certain, that the vampire was talking about her. And she knew she had to get out of here...

"NO!" a few priestesses in the row in front of her stood up, blocking the view of the back row. Blessing her luck for sitting in the back pew, close to the exit door, she used every stealthy technique she knew to escape in the darkness.

Hearing the outrage in the hall behind her, she frantically sought out a hiding place. 'When in doubt, hide in plain sight, where they never look' she thought to herself. Pressing herself against the wall, she waited for several Sharran priestesses to burst out of the room.

"Quickly!" Viconia shouted. "I saw her running that way!"

The Sharrans, too outraged to think straight, took Viconia's directions and sped away. Grinning behind the mask, Viconia followed them at a distance, moving from niche to niche and lurking around the corners, slowly making her way back to the manhole and safety. She did notice, however, that her headache was completely gone, and that she felt unnaturally clear of mind at the moment, her senses being able to pick up just about any sound of movement.

Dumping her mask and black robe, she drew a dagger which was hidden in the side of her boot. She approached the manhole, and was delighted to note that there were only two guards stationed. For a moment, she wondered if she should kill a fellow Sharran, before considering it was either her or them. Stalking from the darkness, Viconia crept up behind one of the guards, quickly grabbed her chin and slit her throat. The only sound the surprised Sharran made was a low and desperate gurgle, and while Viconia lay the spasming priestess on the ground, she noticed that the second guard never noticed the violent death of her companion.

Feeling the need to test a theory, she let clerical magic flow through her body. The flame burned brightly, more brightly than ever before as the fire consumed the second guard. Delighted that the Goddess was still allowing her to have power, she sped to the top of the ladder and fled into the night.

"Nrrrrrggggghhhhhhh," was the sound Laska produced as she tried to uncork a bottle of wine and wasn't having much luck.

"Oy, ye can open that, ye sissy elf!" Korgan grinned as he had put his feet up on the table. "Put yer back into it!"

"NNRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!" was the reply as she increased pressure on the cork and corkscrew. Getting red in the face, her strong muscles flexed and rippled under the strain. "DAMMIT! OPEN!"

"Perhaps, Laska," Keldorn spoke with amusement after putting Carsomyr in the umbrella-stand, "the gods are trying to tell you it is time to quit drinking?" he suggested.

"Oh, yeah?" Laska replied sharply. "Well, the gods can kiss my ass!" That said, she put the bottle between her thighs and started pulling on the corkscrew with all her might.

At that precise moment, Viconia stormed inside, threw shut the door and crept underneath the windows next to the door, peeking through the closed curtains.

"What are you up to?" Keldorn asked suspiciously.

"Making sure that no one followed me," Viconia said. "And it doesn't look like it. At least..."

"Viconia?" Keldorn asked. "What were you up to?"

"She went to an orgy at the temple of Sune!" Korgan tried to cover for her. "I be wantin' to go with 'er, but at the time I be still fillin' out the crossword puzzle that be in the 'Amnian Gutter'... Do any o' ye know the five-letter name of a short race starting with 'D'."

"That's 'Dwarf'," Keldorn replied. "And I am not buying into this. Where were you just now, Viconia?"

"Who are you? My Matron Mother?" Viconia snarled, then sighed. "Well, if you must know, I went... to a Sharran Sermon!"

"What?!" Keldorn roared. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Oh, there was no evil for you to fight there, unless you count the program-girl," Viconia snorted. "Apparently, they were under the MISTAKEN impression that I was not a Sharran... Preposterous..."

"Have any bad luck since then?" Laska asked, still struggling with the bottle.

"Strangely no..." Viconia muttered. "I've had wonderfully good fortune, actually. A few Sharran warrior-priestesses walked right past and never saw me, even though they should have..."

"Why..." Keldorn was practically seething. "How... If I knew there was a gathering of Sharrans in this town I would have contacted the Order and..."

"Would have gotten all your fellow foolish 'Rush in where Evil gladly treads'-paladins slaughtered!" Viconia retorted. "Trust me, they have big plans for this region... The annoying program-girl spilled the beans."

At that precise moment... the cork miraculously shot free. The sudden release of pressure threw the elf flat on her back, just being able to catch the bottle without spilling a drop. The cork shot through the room, shot from the door to the ceiling. From the ceiling to the piano, from the piano, it bounced off a statue. From the statue, it ricochet off a plant and headed into the fireplace, where it bounced around for a whole minute. After that, it shot off the floor, collided with the trophy of Firkraag's head and headed straight towards Viconia.

Viconia saw the cork approach, but was unable to move. The cork hit her right between the eyes with force, throwing the swearing Drow flat on her back.

"Ouch, did that hurt?" Laska asked while taking a few sips.

"What do you think?" Viconia snapped.

"There... is an imprint on your forehead. A bruise," Keldorn spoke as he examined her forehead. "It's... a circle and inside it a... shamrock?"

"Oh, that's probably just the imprint on the cork," Viconia scoffed while she stood up, not allowing Keldorn to help her getting up. While she stood, the dusted off her robes, daring anyone to question her.

"There's... no imprint on this cork," Laska said after she examined the cork.

"It would seem," Keldorn said, seemingly delighted, "that a deity has taken a vested interest in you."

"I will hear nothing more of this," Viconia snarled, brushed past Keldorn and disappeared into her room.

"I should speak with her," Keldorn said, but found himself restrained by Laska.

"Let her cool off first," Laska said. "You know how stubborn she can get..."

"Perhaps... that would be for the best," Keldorn said.

"OY!" Korgan shouted. "I be wantin' wine!"

"It's mine!" Laska replied and hugged the bottle possessively.

"Oy!" Korgan said and approached the elf. "Donnay make me jump fer it!"

"FOOL!" was snarled into Bodhi's face as the elder vampire unceremoniously raked her claws across her cheeks, knocking the younger vampire to the ground. "You assured me that the meeting was secret! You assured me that there could be no intruders!"

"The sewer-chamber was fool-proof!" Bodhi retorted. "How was I supposed to know your guards would be incompetent."

"Regardless," Hayaxi, the vampire mistress, snarled, "our entire operation is in jeopardy, as are our plans for this region. Years of infiltration, years of intrigue, years of quiet assassinations ruined by your stupidity! Someone not of the Faith was able to infiltrate us! Who knows, it could have been a Shadow Thief, even..."

"That should not alter the plan," Bodhi said.

"We will still do so," Hayaxi spoke. "We'll change our tactic to one of minor misdirection. I will withdraw all my Sharrans from the city. We shall camp out in the woods and wait for the right time to strike."

"WHAT?!" Bodhi replied. "But that would..."

"Place the majority of the plan on your shoulders instead," Hayaxi said. "I suggest you step up your operation, recruit more independent vampires and create more fledglings. Intensify your attacks on the Shadow Thieves. In the confusion, the chaos will lead us to success... And I suggest you do NOT muck up our plans. Failure will mean your utter destruction, Bodhi. Body and mind..."

A seething Bodhi faced off a calm Hayaxi. Her eyes trailed to the table, where a stake was lying.

"Oh," Hayaxi grinned as she realized what Bodhi was looking for, "try it, Bodhi... Please do try it..."

Forcing herself to calm down, Bodhi stared as Hayaxi nodded and turned her back to her, walking out of the door. Feeling the need to destroy something, she smashed the table into splinters. Now, her own restoration would be in jeopardy. It all rested on the shoulders of Irenicus now, and she could only hope that he would soon crack the secrets of the Bhaalspawn essence, for that would be the key to finally getting rid of this meddling Hayaxi...

She damned herself for making a deal with the devil, but she swore bitter and unending revenge on those who had forced her to make that deal...