And one of the most important chapters of Tnt. Warning : Canon bashing ahead. Tnt 178 : Laska's Inferno : The queen-bitch
---
Her eyes fluttered open. The ground was warm, but, thankfully, not comprised of searingly hot molten rock.
"Dammit," Laska scrambled to her feet. "Why does he keep doing that?!"
"Because it's his nature," Laska clearly heard the voice of Irenicus dead ahead of her. The elf was on the defensive, but waited for her vision to return. The last time, she had felt the magma, no lava, dissolving her eyeballs... not to mention the rest of her face.
"You!" Laska shouted at Irenicus, who was calmly sitting on a rock in yet another heated cavern. But while Laska was warm and sweaty, the black-haired male elf was quite comfortable. "This is all your fault, little glop of orc-spit!"
"Calm down, Laska," Joneleth smiled.
Laska snarled and lunged for the other elf. She slammed into him, knocking both of them to the floor. Joneleth was taken completely by surprise when Laska pushed him down and proceeded to launch punch after punch into his face and stomach.
"You bastard!" she shouted while she was punching. "I'm here because of you, you ass-bastard!"
Joneleth tried to mumble a spell, but no magic would flow through his fingers.
"Not such a big man without your magic to hide behind, huh?" Laska snarled and landed another punch, this time to his nose. "Inherited good ole Laska's magic-free zone along with my spirit, huh?"
Joneleth shouted out a magical phrase and this time, the spell had its effect. Laska was violently knocked back and landed on her back a few meters away from Joneleth, effectively knocking the wind out of her.
"Are you finished?" Joneleth said and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
Laska jumped to her feet. For a moment, it looked as if she was going to attack him again, but she simply shook her head. "Sagrir'kaivo!" she spat.
All humor faded from Joneleth's face. "That was very rude," he said. "Also, your human accent is terrible."
Laska offered a lopsided grin. "Lle n'vanima ar'lle atata lanneina," she replied.
Joneleth sighed. "Now, that's mature. Will you listen to me now? Please?"
"Just say something I won't like," Laska grinned. "Please?"
"Besides, you were the one that brought both of us here, not I. And, if it will ease your pain, I went through the same path as you."
"Really?" Laska crossed her arms. "Did you choose knowledge or sex?"
Joneleth blinked. "I wasn't given that choice."
"Loser," Laska snorted. "Well, seeing we're both here and can't die, that gives me the pleasure of getting to maim you over and over again for all eternity. How's that for entertainment, ey?!"
"There's a lot of anger in you, isn't there?"
Laska stepped up to Joneleth and grabbed him by the lapels, dragging him towards her so she could look him in the eye. "I'm going to gut you once for every time you cut a knife in me. I'm going to break your skull for every time you hung me in that case over that pool of water. I'm going to snap your spine for every time you made me and my sister scream!"
She threw Joneleth into the rock. "How's that for anger, huh?" she said and proceeded to kick him in the stomach... hard. "And how's this for anger!?"
Joneleth cradled his painful stomach as he slowly got up. "You've proven your point, but let's not fight in this peaceful grove."
"Peaceful grove?!" Laska snorted. "Have you looked around recently?! We're standing in between two lava-flows!"
"Lava?" Joneleth blinked. "Where? This is a forest."
"Are you daft?" Laska snarled. "This is a desolate, lifeless place!"
Joneleth nodded with understanding. "Ah, I understand. He didn't tell you that you have power on this place, did he? Just close your eyes..."
"Uh-huh," Laska nodded. "So you can stick a knife in my throat, right?"
"Just do it," Joneleth said. "It'll calm you. Just close your eyes and think of a beautiful forest, filled with life and joy."
And, oddly enough, Laska found herself standing in the same grove she had been before she had died. The were pretty birds and peaceful fauns, and instead of a lava-lake, there was a clear mountain stream running along a field of flowers.
"How?" Laska started to ask.
"Your spirit gives both of us power here," Joneleth said.
"I killed you... and you somehow killed me," Laska said as she down sat in the warm grass. To her, it was quite an improvement from the sharp obsidian rocks.
"You never died," Joneleth said. "I did. I just came here to share the Truth with you. The Seldarine gave me that reprieve."
Laska turned her back towards him. "I don't want to hear it."
"I deserve your anger," Joneleth said. "But do not deprive yourself from knowing what happened in the past. Do you know what I was before I became Irenicus, the Broken One?"
Laska turned around, malice still apparent in her eyes. "I don't particularly care to know. Some mage or other?"
"I was a gardener," said Joneleth. "I was a Sylvan in charge of maintaining the gardens of the royal palace of Suldenesselar. Had a bit of an infatuation with Queen Ellesime, the ambitious gold elven ruler of the city. She ruled with a cruel touch, even though many, myself included, never saw that part of her and still do not."
"Ellesime?" Laska asked. "I read about her back in Candlekeep when I was studying elven lore with Anadielle."
"Ellesime always wanted to leave her mark on the elven race," Joneleth sighed. "The golden elven race to be precise. The trouble all started when it was time to renew the mythal around Suldenesselar."
A pool like the one Naraphim had used before rose from the forest floor.
***
Ellesime sat in her lavish throneroom, relaxing in the sun rather than doing the work she was supposed to be doing : going over the new designs for the inner city. Lavish, gorgeous buildings : the pinnacle of gold elven design and craft, splendorous in all things.
Ellesime smiled to herself as she thought about the second reason of this urban renewal in the top of the trees : it would covertly press the many Sylvan inhabitants to feel uncomfortable so they would move out to the outer branches and not mingle so much with the nobler gold elves. Let the Sylvans piddle around the branches and the nuts and the berries, and leave the gold elves to their greatness.
Already, the social climate in Suldenesselar had changed enough to encourage all but a few of those decadent puurae'waara to leave the city. 'Puurae'waara', she snickered. 'An apt name.' She was referring the greyish residue that remained after the purifying process of gold, a word often used by gold elves as an insult to their moon elven brothers and sisters.
Ellesime had been playing it carefully the past few decades, though. Not all... in fact, the great majority of her gold elven kin, would not understand the great work she was involved in. Oh, it was easy enough to get rid of the moon-elves : the age-old distrust between the gold elves and those puurae'waara was enough. But the Sylvans, well, that would be harder. Many misguided gold elven soldiers saw the Sylvan warriors as brothers. She had been playing it carefully to alienate the Sylvans and making it seem to her gold elven soldier that it was in fact the Sylvans who were breaking the ties between them. Demoting that Sylvan Solvalidaas and promoting her ally Elhan to his position had been easy enough and had set everything in motion.
But all her work was in jeopardy now, now that the mythal unexpectedly needing to be renewed.
"Aww, our poor queen, sitting in her throne contemplating her doom," a voice sing-songed from the entrance. Ellesime recognized her as Bodhi, one of the more vainglorious Sylvan fighters. Bodhi lived the life of a self-serving adventurer, seeking wealth, power and personal pleasures. Her life was devoid of idealism, of vision. So typical of a lower race. A cockroach underneath the table, feeding off scraps.
"What are you doing here, Sylvan?" spat Ellesime.
"This palace is open to all elves," Bodhi said. "And last time I checked, I was an elf."
Ellesime snorted.
"Ah, and here comes your gold elven superiority. We're not as blind as you think, Ellesime," Bodhi said as she strolled into the throneroom, strutting as if she owned the palace. "We know you want us Sylvans gone. And from our own city, no less... Poor, poor Ellesime. Soon, you will take the center stage of the spell-circle to renew the mythal. And, as the mythal takes shape, your poor body will be torn apart by the magical forces. Your body will explode in a whirlwind of blood, flesh and bone, but you'll renew the mythal for another 10000 years. Isn't that noble?"
"Make no mistake," Ellesime said. "I would gladly give up my life for my people and my city. But my vision has not come to fruition yet! I cannot leave this world with my task unfinished!"
"If only there would be a way for you to avoid the fate both Sylvans and goldies expect you to choose. If only," Bodhi sing-songed.
Ellesime blinked. "If you know something..."
"Don't get that upper-class hyphenated nose of yours in a twist," Bodhi said. "I have some... conditions."
"Not before you tell me," Ellesime said resolutely.
Bodhi thought about it for a moment, one hand twirling a strand of her long brown hair as she did so. "Hmmm... Alright. Imagine secretly tapping into another source of magical power? It'll be a miracle that you will survive the spell. The people will see it as a blessing from Rillifane. You will not only survive, but your position will also be much stronger than ever before."
"And what... source of magical power would you suggest, hm?"
"The Tree of Life," Bodhi grinned.
Ellesime was genuinely shocked. "Are you mad?! What if the Tree is damaged? What if..."
"And what if pigs could fly?" Bodhi snorted. "They'd shit in the sky and walking outside would always be a risk. Sure, it's a risk, princess, but it's also your only chance. Think about it : Sylvans have always cared for the Tree by tradition ever since we settled on Toril. You'll never have total control of Suldenesselar until you break that tradition. If you don't use the Tree, you will never survive the spell and you will never be able to create your gold elven utopia."
"How do you know this can be done?" Ellesime asked.
Bodhi chuckled. "My brother's research journals. He's logged more hours with the Tree of Life than any Sylvan."
"Joneleth?" Ellesime snorted. "He's nothing more than a hedge-mage! And a lowly gardener."
"In this case, a gardener is just what you need," Bodhi grinned.
"What do you get out of all of this?" Ellesime asked as she lounged on the chair.
Bodhi strolled over to the throne and bent forward to look Ellesime in the eye. "A free choice of 10 magical items from your personal treasury. And, I want you to instill some of the power of the Tree in me. I'll be stronger than ever."
---
Joneleth was ramming his hoe into the dark earth near one of the rosebeds in the palace yard to get rid of some of the more rampant weeds that had been coming up recently, and suddenly found himself staring at a pair of leather boots.
"Hello brother-dear," Bodhi winked.
"Bodhi," Joneleth greeted. "Don't you have some dragons to rape and some young princes to kill? Oh, got the order wrong there... Uh, on second thought, I could see both things happening."
"Funny," Bodhi spat. "Do you tell those jokes to your pillow in the empty bed you sleep in every night?"
"Funny," Joneleth said. "Do you tell jokes to all the people you've slept with, regardless of gender, species, age, intellect or, well, size. I've heard the rumors of you and that centaur."
"I'm so over him!" Bodhi snorted. "Turns out I loved him, but I wasn't in love with him."
"That translates as trouble in the bedroom for you," Joneleth said. "Or the stables in this case."
"He was crap at it anyway," Bodhi muttered.
Joneleth snarled. "Do you have any reason to be here? Can't just clear out some dungeon and celebrate it by spending all your earned gold at the nearest brothel?"
"Laugh it up, but expect some attention from Ellesime soon," she said, chuckling as she noticed the blush on his face.
***
"What a bitch," Laska spat as she stood over the pool.
"Who?" Joneleth asked. "Bodhi or Ellesime?"
"Both," Laska said. "But Ellesime's the one whose ass I really want to bury my foot in."
"There's more," Joneleth said and waved his hands over the fond.
***
"This is a disaster!" Ellesime said, not having had the time to wipe the smudges from her face. She watched from the window of her palace : not all the fires had been put out yet and several of the splendiferous buildings had been utterly destroyed. Not only that, but there still many elves missing while her soldiers were busy gathering the bodies of the fallen.
"How am I ever going to fix this?!" Ellesime snarled at Bodhi, who was calmly filing her nails while she was sprawled in Ellesime's throne.
"What do I care?" Bodhi said. "Besides, it worked splendidly. I got my power, you survived and the mythal is renewed."
"So many dead," Ellesime said. "How can I explain this away? Your little plan has ruined me, Bodhi!"
Bodhi smiled. "Can we say... scapegoat? I know a certain gardener whose research on the Tree could be used for exactly what happened just now."
Ellesime nodded. "Well, that's exactly my plan."
Bodhi raised her eyebrow. "Oh?"
A few moments later, Elhan and several armed guards loyal to Ellesime's cause strolled in. Elhan stopped in front of his queen and bowed deeply. "My Queen, we have arrested the gardener."
"Excellent," Ellesime said. "Now seize Bodhi."
Bodhi sputtered but was soon subdued. "Ellesime! I am warning you!" Bodhi snarled. "How'd you like me revealing the truth, hm?"
"Go ahead," Ellesime smiled wickedly. "Who do you think they're going to believe? The Daughter of Rillifane who managed to save the city despite your meddling, or one of the conspirators, who will be discovered to have a living shard of the Tree's power tied to her spirit?"
Bodhi spat in Ellesime's face. "You will live to regret this, Ellesime! I will destroy you completely!"
"Oh, my dear Bodhi," Ellesime let a finger slide over the bound Bodhi's cheek. "If you only knew what I have planned for you and your brother. Trust me, you will never bother me again. Elhan, take her away."
Bodhi struggled and swore as the soldiers dragged her away.
"I suppose I should thank you," Ellesime called after her. "All the dead were Sylvans. My position is stronger than ever now."
***
Joneleth turned to a stricken Laska. "The following trial was a sham. The Sylvans protested all of it, but they no longer had any power to speak of. It did, however, as I learned later, created a tension between the Sylvans and Gold elves hindered Ellesime's effort greatly. But still... Ellesime pretended to have the blessing of the Seldarine, and so the self-proclaimed daughter of Rillifane not only exiled us, but stripped us of all things elven. She expected us to wither away and die quickly, so we'd be out of her way. She couldn't have been more wrong."
Laska nodded. "So you were an innocent bystander? I suppose Bodhi did deserve..." Laska fell silent and bowed her head. "No, nobody deserves that."
"Elves do not execute other elves," Joneleth said. "So the thought never even occurred to her. If only it had." Joneleth then snorted. "Daughter of Rillifane indeed. Naraphim showed me the truth. She's a festival induced brat, not the daughter of a god. Her father was actually a Sylvan. There's irony for you."
"I'm not bloody surprised. But what happened in Suldenesselar?" Laska asked. "Why is it trapped in time?"
Joneleth once again waved his arms over the fond.
***
"Damn," Irenicus slammed his hands on the desk in his pocket-plane. "DAMN!"
"Problem?" Bodhi sing-songed as she strolled towards him. "Hmm, your hair is starting to grow back... and your ear."
"I'm becoming more elven," Irenicus said. "But... I seem to have inherited some other traits from Laska's spirit."
"Yes," Bodhi chuckled as she regarded two empty whiskey-bottles. "I can smell your breath from here."
"It's not that," Irenicus said. "The... problems I've been having with my casting has been getting steadily worse. Worryingly so. I just tried to cast a magic missle ten times in a row and I just can't get the magic to flow."
"Poor big brother," Bodhi snickered. "Soon you'll be a mortal elf with no magic skills at all. Awwwww...."
"At least I've be alive," Irenicus spat back.
Bodhi mock-pouted. "Dead girls have more fun. We can go on all night, baby!"
"I don't wanna hear it," Irenicus said.
"Oh, I don't know," Bodhi said. "There are some scrumptious Drow mercenaries among our army, brother."
Irenicus sat back. "Yes... our army."
"Don't tell me you've having second thoughts!" Bodhi spat.
"How could I not?" Irenicus said. "Why destroy the city that was our home for centuries? Ellesime is the criminal here, not the others... What did our Sylvan brothers and sister do to deserve slaughter?"
Bodhi grabbed Irenicus' chair by the arm-supporters and threw it, Irenicus included, into the wall. "What did they do? What DID THEY DO?! That's just it! Our Sylvan brothers and sisters did nothing! They stood by and watched as Ellesime stripped us of our being! The gold elves followed Ellesime without question and the queen-bitch, well... I've got plans for her."
"So they all have to die," Irenicus said. "For their crimes against you?"
Bodhi smiled, but it was a mere mockery of a smile, drawn on a face that had been devoid of compassion and love in such a way that she was lost forever. "Yes, they do," she smiled simply. "Make a choice, dear brother. Stand with me, or against me. And know your fate if you stand against me."
***
"You went along with it," Laska asked.
"Oh, my healing still wasn't complete, and even though my restored elven nature gave me much doubts, it was too soon to pit it against the many years of emptiness."
"Couldn't you stand against Bodhi?" Laska said. "I would have kicked her ass."
"You don't fully appreciate how powerful she has become after Imoen's soul was infused with her being. She's a daywalker now, not even the sun can harm her anymore. And she grows in power every day."
He waved his hands over the pool once more.
***
All around him, destruction was wrought and terror was sown. The gold-elven quarter of the city, much larger than it had been when they were exiled, was on fire. The screams of the innocent sounded as vampires, elementals, golems and hired magical creatures tore through the defenders of the city.
It had been a surprise-attack. Most of the city's defenders were away fighting the Drow at the ruined temple, leaving Bodhi's hands free to lead a devastating attack. So far, the Sylvan quarter was mostly left alone, but Irenicus knew that Bodhi wanted to destroy them too, as they had done nothing to stop Ellesime's plot against her.
A huge black dragon made a divebomb towards the temple of Rillifane and stopped short, landing its claws into the building, tearing it apart on impact. The screams of pain and terror tore through his elven spirit. He knew feelings again, and right now he didn't like what he was feeling at all. Most of all, he was frightened by the pure look of glee on Bodhi's face as his former friends were being slaughtered.
A nearby scream from an elven female holding a small child drew his attention. Just as he spotted her, she was cruelly beheaded by the scimitar of one of the Rakshasa. She never stood a chance.
The child ran away, but came to close to the dragon and was spotted. The dragon roared and bore his maw down towards the child. For Irenicus, it was the last straw. He bore his hands together, intending to launch a fireball at the black dragon, but sadly his spell fizzled. His magic had been failing more and more as his body restored. Unfortunately for the child, he had inherited Laska's handicap with magical skills. The child's screams ended with a sickening crunch.
"What was that?" Bodhi said. "You're not going soft on me, are you?"
"This must stop, Bodhi," Irenicus shook his head. "This is insane! Madness!"
"You fool!" Bodhi snarled. "Don't you want revenge on these dregs?! Don't you want to tear Ellesime apart?"
Irenicus shook his head. He regarded the destruction, the deaths, the city in flames. "No," he said. "Not anymore."
"Do you intend to stop me?" Bodhi said. Irenicus knew it was a challenge by the way she had raised her eyebrows. She expected him to attack her then or there. And he had known Bodhi long enough to know that if he did not answer the challenge, she would destroy him on the spot.
Irenicus called out the magical spell of Sunrise as he turned around. He had cast spells like these hundreds of times before, but this time, the magic did not flow through his body. The spell simply did nothing. There was not even a fizzle, not a shred of evidence that the magic had even begun to flow.
Bodhi stood there and laughed. "You really are weak. And not useful to me anymore."
Irenicus never saw the slash of her claws coming. They tore into his flesh and knocked him off the plateau, sending him flying to a walkway 20 feet below. He felt his body crashing into the stone. His vision started the blur, but he saw Bodhi staring at him from the plateau.
"Impotent," snorted Bodhi. Then, she turned to one of her commanders. "To the palace! I want her to see her Utopia in flames before I'll tear Ellesime limb from limb!"
Irenicus knew he had to do something to stop this. And he knew just what. He dragged his painful body to the ruins of the temple, where a powerful artifact, the Rhynn Lanthorn, was held. Most of the forces were now occupied with the attack on the palace, so he didn't meet any opposition. He took the Rhynn Lanthorn and made for the city gates, where he cast the only spell he knew that could stop this madness. It took him five tries before the magic wouldn't fizzle in his hands. Using the Lanthorn to tap into the mythal, he cast a time-sop spell on a massive scale. The entire city was encompassed in a gigantic bubble, and inside, he could just see the dragon towering over the city, slowing down in mid flight until his body seemed as if it floated in mid-air.
The battle wasn't over, just stopped temporarily. Irenicus now knew what he had to do.
***
"...wait for you to solve the mess," Joneleth smiled. "With the army of Suldenesselar and the soldiers from Evermeet to back you up, that is."
Laska digested all this in silence. "I never knew," she finally said.
"I didn't even know the whole story," Joneleth said. "Not until Naraphim revealed it to me. All I ever knew was that I was somehow the victim of a great injustice. I suspect Bodhi kept me in the dark because she wanted to use me."
Laska nodded. "Sounds to me like she's been using you all your life."
Joneleth chuckled. "Not only me. She's been using people all her life. She could sweet talk our parents into getting her anything when she was a child, and when she did something bad, she always found a way to blame her big brother for the mess. She used Ellesime to get more power, and later, she used Hayaxi to turn her into a vampire, and used her connections and her plan to build up a powerbase of her own, only to turn against her master later. And, in between, she manipulated me while I researched methods to save us from oblivion. I was mostly busy with my research. It was Bodhi that took care of all the arrangements. It was Bodhi that let the war against the Shadow Thieves. It was Bodhi that procured the use of Spellhold. It was Bodhi that made contact with Matron Mother Ardulace to supply us with a diversion as she prepared her army for attack."
The tattooed elf stood up. "What happens now? I'm still in Gehenna and so are you. So, all this really doesn't matter to us at all."
"I'm not staying," Joneleth said. "I'm off to be punished."
"They're sending you to Hell?" Laska asked.
Behind Joneleth, a shimmering portal opened. "Not quite," he said. "I will become a planewalker. I will live out the rest of my natural life exploring the planes, but I may never return to the material plane. Such is the judgment of the Seldarine. I may have a victim, but I committed enough atrocities to require such punishment. And now that I told you all you must know, the Seldarine bids me to leave."
"Wait," Laska said just as Joneleth turned around. "One more thing."
"Yes?" Joneleth asked.
"Why us? Why Imoen and me?"
"It was nothing personal," Joneleth said. "I've experimented on Bhaalspawn before, but I needed an elven spawn for myself. A human soul would never have restored me, and you were the only one of two elven Bhaalspawn still alive at the time, and the other was far out of my reach. Hanging you over the water was one of the few ways we had to restrain you. You could often go berserk during our experiments and, well, I remember that one time, you broke free, destroyed a lab and killed three of the duergar I had hired with your bare hands before I was able to sedate you."
She nodded briefly. "And Imoen?"
"She was... inactive," Joneleth said apologetically. "It was easier to extract her soul for Bodhi's use. Since she's not an elf anymore, she didn't need an elven spirit. A human soul was enough. The experiments were necessary to safely extract the spirit and the soul. There had been some... failures before."
Laska nodded. Joneleth turned around yet again, headed for the portal.
"Wait," Laska said.
"Still not tired of me?"
"Look, I... I can never forgive you for what you've done to Imoen," she bowed her head. "But I can forgive you for what you did to me. Look, I had to live without a spirit for however short a time it was... and I honestly can't say I wouldn't have done the same in your position."
Joneleth nodded solemnly. "I... thank you for that."
"I still hate your guts, though," Laska offered a lopsided grin.
Joneleth smiled. "Fair enough. Make me a promise."
Laska raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing all too demanding," Joneleth said. "Don't let Ellesime get away with this. Don't kill her. Expose her. For her, that'll be endlessly worse."
Laska nodded with a knowing grin.
And that said, Joneleth turned around and disappeared through the portal, disappearing forever.
Part 6 soonish. There'll be lotsa blood and gore.
Happy reading.UPDATE : Oops, forgot to mention the translations of the elven terms. The first insult Laska throws at Irenicus literally means 'corpse-fucker'. Since elves hate undead with a passion, it's the kind of insults duels are fought over.
The second insult basically means 'You're ugly and your mummy dresses you silly.'
