A new chapter for you, my dear readers. Our adventurers enter the Underdark and an original character of my creation joins them: sir Cyrus of the Order of the Golden Cup. And there’s mention of another original character I created: Sekhmet Odesseiron, Edwin’s cousin.
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CHAPTER 38
...We learnt to live and then
Our freedom came to an end
We have to break down this wall...(Tokio Hotel, “Ready, set, go!”)
After a fitful rest, the adventurers went to the common room for a good meal, only to find Havarian waiting for them with a nervous smile. "Ah, well met! I am glad to see you again". "Saemon", Meg nodded and gestured to a nearby table, "Sit with us, you will tell us the details about our passage while we have breakfast". He obeyed and took the only vacant seat, which was placed, incidentally, between Minsc and Yoshimo, "Eh, sure.
But maybe I should let you eat before saying my piece, ey? No reason to distract you from your meal". The Kozakuran fixed his almond-shaped eyes on him, "Is there any problem with the arrangement, captain?", he asked in a deceptively casual tone. "Well...", the pirate hesitated and shot a quick fearful glance at the Rashemi at his left, "Not exactly a problem, no, but...".
Margaret Dawn smiled coldly, "Don’t worry, we won’t kill you. For now. We will eat first". "Eh. Good. The, uh, the fact is that I don’t have a ship anymore", he confessed, "Someone has sunk it in an act of extreme evilness. See what I have to suffer?", he said, hoping to find some understanding and compassion, but the glare he received from the Painbearer froze him.
"All I see is that you have tricked us, Havarian. Again", she replied, savouring her fried bacon and omelette, "Uh, this is delicious! Anyway, if you have something to say in your defence, say it now, before I lose my patience". Despite knowing that it was most probably a bad idea, Saemon really couldn’t help himself, "I thought that, being a Painbearer of Ilmater, you would have a lot of patience".
The words had barely left his mouth, that a booted foot slammed into his shin, sending a shock of pain all the way up his leg. "I am also a Child of Bhaal and don’t you ever forget it, you son of a bitch", Meg hissed, "If you are finished speaking...". "Wait! I do have a way to leave the island, I swear!". "Out with it, then". "There is a ship, a beautiful vessel that can bring you back to Amn.
The only problem is that it...It belongs to Desharik. I can’t steal it on my own, you see, so...". Anomen frowned, "Let me get this straight: you want us to steal a ship on your behalf?", he growled, incensed, "How dare you even suggest something so dishonourable?". Havarian shrugged apologetically, "Hey now, can’t blame a fella for trying". "I assure you that I can", the Helmite shot back, starting to rise from his seat.
Jaheira intervened, "Calm down, Anomen. Maybe this scum has still something useful to say". He grudgingly sat back down and the pirate wiped the cold sweat from is forehead. "Thanks, ma’am. And yes, in fact I do have something to add: the theft will be a walk in the park, believe me. I know of a...". The knight’s gauntleted fist crashed into his face before he could even finish the sentence, breaking his nose with a sickening crunching noise and knocking him off the chair.
"Thank you, love", the Ilmatari shot Anomen a warm smile as she rose from her seat, blatantly ignoring the whimpering Saemon sprawled on the floor, "Since we have finished our breakfast, I suggest we go back to the Asylum: we will pass through the Portal". Aerie started, her face becoming white as chalk, "The Portal? B-but...It leads to the Underdark! Oh, please, Meg, don’t’ ask me to go down there, it’s the death for a winged Elf...", she whined.
Meg’s eyes were as hard as steel, "In case you forgot about it, if we don’t get Immy’s soul...Our souls back in time, it will be the two of us to die. Besides, I’m not asking you to come along: if you’re too scared to follow us and help us out in our quest, you can find a passage on a ship and go wherever you like. You’re free to leave the party and live your life as you see fit, there’s no need for you to put yourself at risk only to save our arses", she concluded, her lips twisting with contempt.
The Avariel lowered her gaze, blushing in shame and shivering at the unusally harsh tone of her leader, "I...I’m sorry, Meg, I didn’t mean...I could never abandon you and Imoen to your fate. Of course I’m coming with you and I will help you get yours and Imoen’s souls back", she promised in a small voice. "Good to hear. Let’s go now".
On the path to Spellhold, the Human priestess slowed her pace to get alongside Edwin, a bundle of cloth in her hands, "I have something for you", she said, offering it to him. "What is it? (I hope it’s something valuable and powerful...)", the Thayan muttered, unwrapping the cloth and blinked as he saw the content of the package, "A book?".
It was a thick tome, closed by a beautiful chiselled lock with a matching key, its silk cover was of the same shade of red of his robe and there wasn’t any title on it. "It’s a book with empty pages, you can use it as your new journal. The day before entering the asylum, I saw that you had finished the pages of the old one and when I found this one in the maze, with this cover, I immediately thought of you", she explained.
"Oh. Thank you, Meg. I appreciate your gift", he slowly passed a hand on the silk, savouring the feeling of the soft cloth under his fingertips, "(What a curious coincidence...)". "Coincidence? Why is that?". "My old journal was a gift as well: I had received it from Sekhmet the day before leaving Thay to travel to the Sword Coast". She smirked, "Sekhmet, uh? Who is she? An old flame?".
He made a face, "Don’t be ridiculous, of course not! (What a disgusting idea!) She’s my cousin: her father is my father’s brother, the Tharchion of Surthay, Homen Odesseiron himself". "Oh, I see. Are the two of you close?". "Yes, very close", he nodded, "Being only a year apart in age, we grew up together, so we’re like brother and sister (Kossuth, how I wish we were! At least my father wouldn’t be a simpleton then)", he added under his breath, rolling his eyes.
"Is she a Red Wizard too?". "No, she is a Firewalker of Kossuth. One of the most powerful, obviously (She is an Odesseiron, after all) And she is also the most intelligent, most cultured and most beautiful Firewalker our Lord Kossuth has ever had in His service, in case you wanted to know (No surprise there: she’s my cousin)".
Margaret Dawn chuckled, "I wasn’t going to ask about that, but I trust your judgement. I would like to meet her, she sounds like a nice person". "She is absolutely perfect (How could she not be, we share the same blood) And I think you would become good friends. Maybe, when this is over, you can come to Thay with me and I’ll introduce you to her". "I’d love that!".
"Now, are you satisfied with your interrogation, or do you want to continue with this third degree?", he asked, a bit annoyed by her snooping. "Uhm, no, I’m utterly satisfied, thank you. Not that it comes as a surprise, considering you’re involved, right?", she gave him a mischievous wink and went back to the head of the group, at Anomen’s side, leaving the speechless Red Wizard behind.
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The Underdark was a place full of action, that much was certain: the adventurers had entered it less than two days before and they had already been attacked by some Kuo-Toas, a small group of Myconids and even three Mind-Flayers, barely managing to get out of that last fight with their lives and minds intact.
"At least now we know what to expect, when dealing with these overgrown brain-eating squids", Imoen commented cheerfully, cleaning her robe from some Illithid blood. "Oh, joy", Meg muttered, trying to remove the disgusting stinking fluid from her Mace, "Bleah, it stinks like...Like...You know, I can’t remember having ever smelt something this bad. And I’ve been in the sewers of both Baldur’s Gate and Athkatla".
"Cheer up, sis, I’m sure we’ll find a place to rest and wash ourselves up". Edwin curled up his nose, "I highly doubt we could find a decent inn in this place (Unless we entered a Drow city, of course, but we wouldn’t survive long enough to make use of their bathing facilities)", he added under his breath. The Painbearer sighed, pushing the dirty rag in a pocket of her pack, "Let’s move, we’re too exposed here. We will rest as soon as we find an empty cavern, or something like that".
They walked for a while, until they found themselves in front of a huge spheric machine, made entirely of bronzed metal and with five strange levers protruding from it. "What on Toril is this?", Anomen wondered, carefully inching closer and his betrothed joined him, her face twisted in pain. "It’s a prison", she whispered, laying a hand on the gleaming surface, "I can feel the suffering of the people imprisoned here.
Their spirits are trapped inside...I must free them". Jaheira gently took her hand and removed it from the metal, "Wait, child: we don’t know what kind of people are trapped in this...Thing. They may be dangerous, they may have deserved this fate". The Ilmatari shook her head, "Even so, my role demands that I help them: I am a Painbearer of Ilmater and this is my duty", she grabbed one of the levers and pulled it before anyone could stop her.
The ground started to shake, like a sort of small earthquake and when it ended, a figure emerged from inside the machine: he was a small male, similar to a Gnome, but with a brownish grey complexion, bald and beardless and as soon as he saw the party, his grey eyes widened in fear and he fell on his knees, trembling like a leaf, "Please, people of the Light, don’t kill me! I don’t want to fight, please, have mercy...", he begged in a thickly accented Common.
Meg kneeled in front of him, "Fear not, we won’t hurt you. How did you end up in that prison?". The poor Gnome relaxed and his trembling subsided at her kind tone, "A patrol of Drow came here and one of their mages cast a spell of imprisonment on me". Aerie blinked, puzzled, "Why did they attack you?". "Because I was in their path and that made them angry", he suddenly smiled, "I thank you for your help. My name is Bedlen Daglefodd, I am a Svirfneblin". "Sorry, a what?", the Ilmatari asked.
"You people of the Light call us Deep Gnomes, I think". "Oh, okay", she smiled back and made introductions, "Now, Bedlen, do you need healing, or food?". "No, but I thank you for asking. I must go back to the village now. If you happen to come to the Granite House, search for me: my father, Therndle Daglefodd, is the owner of the inn, he will give you a discount on the rooms and food".
The Avariel shot a hopeful look at her leader, "Oooh, can we go, Meg, please? I’m so tired and my feet hurt so much!", she pleaded. She had made great progresses since she had joined the party, but a day and a half in the suffocating bowels of the Underdark had been enough to make her go back to her old insufferable whiny ways.
The Painbearer took a deep breath, barely managing to suppress the urge to shut her up with a couple of hard slaps, "Let me free the remaining prisoners and then we can go, okay?", she said, struggling to keep her tone neutral, "And Bedlen, please wait for us, we need you to guide us to your village", she added, then she pulled the second lever.
This time, the machine released a strange green-skinned creature, the likes of which they had never seen before and who turned out to be decidedly hostile, attacking them on sight with his longsword, but being one against eight he was dispatched easily. All eyes then turned towards Meg, who blushed. "I know", she anticipated them, "I know. But I must do this all the same".
The third prisoner was none other than a Ghoul, but the fourth one was a Human man, his eyes were unfocused and he swayed lightly on his feet, oblivious to everything. Aerie approached him with caution and examined him, "He seems to suffer from a mental illness: his body is here, but his mind is not", she informed the others, "I can try to heal him, but I don’t know if it will work". "Do it".
She cast a healing spell and the man’s eyes cleared slowly, until they were once again focused and bright. He blinked a few times, then he looked at the young Elf in puzzlement, "Where am I? Who are you?". The Avariel smiled gently, "My name is Aerie, sir and you are in the Underdark. How do you feel now?". "I...I feel better. I am Raevilin...Gods, it’s been so long since I last could think clearly! I had lost my mind in...In nothing...", he buried his face in his hands, letting out a shaky sigh, "It was horrible".
Aerie put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Now you are free and this is all that matters". "Yes. Yes, you’re right", he nodded, relaxing, "Thank you for restoring my mind, kind lady. I’m sorry to bother, but...Wouldn’t you happen to have some food?". Meg joined them and passed him some rations, "Here you are, Raevilin".
"Ah, thank you so much", Raevilin gladly bit into the bread and dried meat, taking long gulps from the canteen of water, "I can’t remember the last time I tasted food". "You’re welcome. And after we’re finished here, you will come with us to the village of the Svifen...Sfirev...To the village of the Deep Gnomes", she concluded, giving up on trying to pronounce the complicated name.
She pulled the last lever and a very handsome dark-haired Human man was released from the machine, but this former prisoner showed no signs of madness: quite the contrary, his deep brown eyes were clear as he regarded the adventurers warily. "I don’t know who you are, or why you freed me, but I’m not looking for trouble", he said, his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
"We do not have ill intentions towards you at all, I assure you. I am Sister Meg, a Painbearer of Ilmater, see?", Margaret Dawn showed him her Holy Symbol and his lips curved in a bright smile at seeing it. "You are a fellow Ilmatari? What a wonderful coincidence!", he exclaimed happily, clasping her hand in his and showing her his matching pendant, "Well met sister, I am sir Cyrus, of the Order of the Golden Cup".
"Then I’m doubly glad of having freed you, brother! How did you end up here?". His face fell, "I was a member of a party of knights of the Triad and our goal was to look for some merchants who vanished some months ago, not far from an entrance to this place. Unfortunately, we were ambushed by a Drow patrol and...I was imprisoned", Cyrus clenched his fists tightly, his eyes full of tears, "I could not save my friends".
Margaret Dawn impulsively hugged him, "I know how much it hurts, but you should not blame yourself: the Drow are strong and cunning, their magic is powerful and you are not used to this darkness, so there was nothing you could have done to avoid this outcome", she soothed him. The Ilmatari knight let himself be held for a long moment, taking comfort in her embrace, then he stepped back and gave her a small smile, "Thank you for your kindness, sister".
"You’re welcome. Since you are alone now, I suggest for you to come with us to the village of the Deep Gnomes: you need to rest and recover from your captivity". "But I...I can’t afford to...". "I can, so don’t worry about that", she gently took him by the shoulder and turned to the young Svirfneblin, "We are ready to go, Bedlen". The Gnome nodded, "Good, follow me! This way!", he guided them along a narrow path, eager to see his home again.
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Sekhmet: daughter of Ra, she was the Goddess of fire, war, fertility and healing in the ancient Egyptian religion. The desert winds were believed to be her fiery breath. Her name means “The Powerful One”. She was depicted either as a lioness, or as a woman with the head of a lioness wearing a blood-red linen vest. Her head was surmounted by the Solar disk, from which she could shot fire at her enemies. Despite her more prominent attributes being violence and ferociousness, as the goddess of healing she had the power to prevent and put an end to great plagues. Among her epithets are “Lady of Slaughter”, “She Who Mauls”, but also “Lady of Life”.
Order of the Golden Cup: it’s one of the four knightly Orders of the Church of Ilmater, along with the Companions of the Noble Heart, the Holy Warriors of Suffering and the Order of the Lambent Rose. It is an order that focuses primarily on healing and protecting the innocents, the weak and the sick. Its members are generally peaceful, they always try to help and they rarely seek out evil to slay. They are not pacifists, however, nor opposed to such actions and do not hesitate to fight when confronted by evil.
She was in the "Attempt at BG crossover" I posted ages ago. I'm still working on it, by the way, though it will have to wait until I'm finished with Meg's story
