Lore and Tavia belong to me, all else belongs to Bioware.

Chapter One

The rain fell in sheets down upon the city of Waterdeep, washing blood from recent battles off the streets and to the alleys that carved the city. It was late, and for the first time in days the city was quiet. It wasn't a peaceful quiet, more the kind of quiet that comes when a baby has finally cried itself to sleep after wailing for its parents for hours on end. Not that the inhabitants of Waterdeep cared what kind of quiet it was so long as they were allowed a brief respite from the troubles that had been plaguing the city for the last month. As a result the majority of the people held up in the inn known as The Yawning Portal had taken the opportunity to enjoy a well earned rest. Thus, far past midnight when the storm was at its worst, it was more than a little surprising when a loud knock sounded at the inn door one… two… three times.

Grayban, the one armed half-orc who guarded the door shifted slowly from the nap he had been taking. It wasn't until the knocking began again that he realized someone was at the door and moved to open it. What he saw beyond was surprising.

A tall, thin man clad in black leathers had been knocking at the door, shortly behind him stood a young woman in a white traveling dress. Both were soaked to the bone, but even the half-orc knew better than to let them in. The man had a mop of black hair plastered to his face, a face with eyes like solid, gleaming obsidian instead of the array of white and other colors that normally made-up a person's eyes. Long, tapered ears pointed once on part of the lobe, and then continued further up to point once more. When the man brought his hand down from knocking at the door a glimpse of razor sharp, pointed nails could be seen.

The woman behind the man looked nothing like him. She was fey-like in appearance, short and willowy. Her skin was far too pale for her to be human, but instead of it taking on the waxy look of being unhealthy, it resembled a fine cream, as if her skin were meant to be that color. Her eyes were a pale grey-blue, like aged beach glass, and her long white hair was worn loose. Despite the lack of wind and the near torrential rain, the woman's hair and clothes still moved about her as if there was a gentle breeze surrounding her. Her eyes were fixed on nothing, as if she were listening to something far away, and seemed contented to simply stand behind the man while things worked themselves out.

Grayban wasn't sure if he should wake Durnan, or simply turn the two away. They were armed: the woman with a short sword at each hip and the man with a variety of knives and blades strapped to his person.

"Are you going to invite us in?" The man asked easily. When the man spoke glimpses of his teeth could be seen. They weren't normal teeth, but more resembled those one would expect to see on a carnivorous animal.

"Not sure if me should." Grayban said, eying the two of them. "Boss be telling me not to let anyone suspicious in."

The man looked like he was actually biting his tongue to keep from saying something. "Then why don't you go get your boss?" He finally managed.

Grayban hesitated. True, he wasn't supposed to let anyone strange in, and these two looked strange even to him, but it didn't seem right to leave them out in the rain. Reluctantly he closed the door and went to wake up Durnan. The pair was still waiting beyond the door when Grayban returned with the grumbling man.

"And what do you two want?" Durnan asked more curtly than normal, a bit annoyed he had been woken up so late.

"Are you Durnan?" The man asked.

"Aye. And who are you?" Durnan asked, eyeing the strange pair.

"My name is Lore, and this is my younger sister Tavia." Lore said, indicating the woman behind him.

"Your sister?" Durnan glanced over Lore's shoulder at Tavia. The woman looked nothing like Lore, but stranger families had been formed over the years. "Is she all right? She doesn't seem to be breathing."

Lore glanced back at Tavia. His sister's eyes were closed and she was swaying a bit from side to side, her lips moving just a little as if she was reciting something. "She's fine, doesn't need to breathe. She also doesn't speak common, so don't bother trying to speak directly to her."

"I see." Durnan said, glancing at Tavia briefly as he backed away from the door to let the siblings in. They certainly weren't human, or any other race he was familiar with, but for the moment they didn't seem hostile and he could honestly use all the help he could get. "May I ask what brings you here at such a late hour?"

Lore entered the inn, his sister close behind with a small smile on her face. "A lot of walking and a call for adventurers." Lore said easily. "Or have we come to the wrong besieged city?"

Durnan snorted. "No, you're in the right place. We simply weren't expecting—"

"Expecting people this late, expecting the weather to be so bad, expecting people like us?" Lore asked, his blank eyes fixing on Durnan.

"All of the above, you could say." Durnan said. "Not that I mean to be rude. We just don't typically get people like you in the Yawning Portal." Truth be told, Durnan had never seen anyone as unusual as the brother before. He had read about people like the sister, and could probably guess at her heritage if pressed, but her brother was a different story.

"Well, we're here now." Lore said. "If, however, you can afford to be so picky as to turn away help when it's offered then my sister and I will gladly leave."

"Now hold on, lad." Durnan said firmly. The boy had a mouth on him that much was apparent. If Durnan wanted to get back to bed soon and avoid a verbal sparring match with the young man he'd have to sort things out quickly. "No one is turning you away. We'll gladly have you if you're offering help."

"We've heard that you have been housing refugees under your roof. Is there room for us to sleep here tonight?" Lore asked, running his fingers back through his wet hair.

"We have a few rooms left, yes." Durnan said. "I could arrange for rooms for your sister and yourself."

"We'll only need the one room. We won't take up any more space than necessary." Lore said.

Durnan nodded to the siblings, and moved off to arrange their room.

"Backwater… boring as all hell… why we even bothered coming to this plane… perkele…" Tavia could hear Lore swearing to himself as they dried off. They had their backs to each other as they peeled their wet clothing off and changing into the driest articles of clothing they had. As he always did when they were alone, Lore was speaking in an obscure planar tongue that had been used in their village when they had been growing up. Tavia understood him, but she still didn't speak. Tavia rarely spoke, and she liked it that way. So often there was nothing to say and she found she was better off listening.

Tavia pulled a dry dress on and ran a towel over her hair. She wasn't worried about having to brush it. Tavia's hair never tangled.

"Well, don't worry, Tav." Lore said, turning to her now that they were both dressed and running a brush through the unruly black mess that was his hair. "I promise we won't stay on this plane any longer than we need to. We'll see what happens here and then we'll high tail it to the nearest portal out."

Tavia watched Lore intently as she sat down on the small cot that was to be her bed. Their room was little more than a storage closet, but the siblings were used to finding shelter in whatever small space was offered. They were travelers, and accustomed to such compromises.

"Do you still have it?" Lore asked Tavia as he spread out his leathers so they would dry properly.

Tavia knew what Lore was referring to, and reached into her bag to pull out a small relic of indeterminable make or origin. Tavia had seen it at one point in their travels in the outer planes, and had made the mistake of picking it up. She and her brother had been wandering the planes for years; Lore was quite clear with her that she should have known better than to pick it up. Her brother had made her drop the relic several times, but it always seemed to find its way back into her pack again. Lore hadn't been happy about that, not happy at all. In truth the only reason Lore had brought them to Toril was because a friend of theirs had told them that coming to the city of Waterdeep was the only way to get rid of the thing.

Then they had found out just what the relic did, and found out who the Reaper was and what his realm was like.

Tavia knew that Lore didn't care if some city on a backwater plane they had never heard of burned to the ground and the people were all killed. He had brought them here so he could protect his sister and free her from something he viewed as a threat. Tavia loved her brother; the least she could do was go along with whatever he had planned.

"Every time I lay eyes on that thing, it sends a chill down my spine." Lore said with a shiver. "Well, if our information is correct we should be able to get rid of it by solving issues beneath the city." He said with a sigh, shaking his head. "The locals call their labyrinth 'Undermountain,' right?"

Tavia nodded.

"Paska." Lore swore under his breath. He was so fond of obscure curses, Tavia had noticed. "Well, if going underground and meddling in the problems of mortals will keep you safe, then that's what we'll do." Lore muttered, going to the door and making sure it was locked before moving back to his own cot. "Tomorrow I'll ask around and find out as much about the situation as I can. And remember," Lore said, pointing to his sister. "We're keeping a low profile, so be as boring and ordinary as you possibly can."

Tavia couldn't help but laugh at that. Lore worried so much sometimes, it was hard not to find it amusing.

"I'm serious." Lore said pointedly. "Vittu… this plane is so incredibly… plain! It's no wonder we shock them." Lore said, shaking his head in disgust. "Imagine a sky that's only one color. The people here are boring as dirt; I doubt they'd even recognize you as a genasi."

Tavia couldn't help but laugh again. She loved her brother deeply, but he was an intense snob at times. Sometimes Tavia wondered if they traveled because they wanted to, or if it was because Lore had a talent for rapidly becoming disliked in a community.

"Will you stop that?" Lore asked, rolling his eyes. "We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Get some sleep while you can."

Tavia simply nodded to her brother and crawled under the sheets of her cot and closed her eyes. The sounds of Lore shuffling around behind her faded from her mind as she stopped listening to him, and started listening for something else. The sounds came to her ears slowly, a gentle melody that permeated everything around her and found its way to her easily. Awake or asleep the song she heard now had found her ears ever since she was a little girl and it brought her great comfort and delight at all times. It was a beautiful song, the song of life and the multiverse moving through eternity at its own patient pace. This song, the Music of the Spheres, lulled her to sleep that night like it had every night of her life.

Tavia slept well and undisturbed that night. It would be the last time she slept so well for a long time to come.