NB: for the purposes of this fic, drow have infravision based on heat patterns, not the darkvision of 3rd edition rules.
I didn't get around to playing HotU until relatively recently (hence the strange timing of this fic); I wanted really to write one for NWN2, but everytime I thought of something it was for HotU, so I gave up the former in favour of this. It's my first fanfic, and probably not very good, but practice makes perfect and all that.
Chapter 1 - Shebali
Sinvyl was unsettled. Not frightened, or even nervous, but simply uncomfortable. Her rise to power had been swift, and had earned her many enemies, but she had dispatched them all. Stealth, diplomacy, battle; the opposition had used all of these in an effort to destroy her, but they all had been put down. She had known all along that none could stand against her; Mephistopheles had assured her of this, but now… Now Mephistopheles had told her that there was One who could stop her; One who could bring about the downfall of all she had schemed and struggled to achieve for centuries. Sinvyl knew better than to shrug off the threat.
So it was that Sinvyl Barit'tar sat in her black sapphire throne (courtesy of House Baenre), and shifted – uncomfortably. As a lesser Matron Mother she had grown accustomed to waiting, and it seemed to be a difficult habit to shake. Looking around at the male wizards preparing their spell she was suddenly outraged by their distinct lack of haste. She found the sharp features and slightly hooked nose of the head mage particularly irksome; she would have to do something about that sometime, but for now;
"Enough!" She shrieked. "Would you have me wait? I, the terror of all the Underdark? The dark Queen of Shadow?"
x x x
Somewhere in the dim recesses of the Valsharess' bedchamber, Mephistopheles rolled his eyes.
x x x
Unsettled was no longer accurate. Sinvyl had expected an image of the Seer, perhaps; possibly that demonspawn bodyguard of hers, even a powerful mage from the surface or that meddlesome witch Quile Veladorn. But now she felt a familiar presence and was downright nervous. She couldn't see anything, and that just made her all the more nervous. Out of habit she switched into the infrared spectrum, but naturally the wizard's augury summoned only an image.
"Have your spells become faulty, fool?" she asked of the wizard, though the painful thumping of her heart told her that the spell had indeed worked. Glancing back at the augury she saw a pair of eyes looking back at her; violet, alien eyes. Shielding her own eyes she boomed to no one in particular:
"Cast a spell of light!"
Five separate light spells immediately lit the throne room. Cursing and squinting through watering eyes she peered again at the image and saw a figure outlined against the glaring light, a figure so dark it seemed to absorb the light around it. The sight shook the Valsharess to her core; it was a figure she had never thought to see again. Trembling, whether from fear or rage it was impossible to tell, Sinvyl stormed from the throne room, dispelling the image with a furious gesture as she went.
x x x
In the temple of Lloth in Lith My'athar, the Seer awoke. She recognised all the hallmarks of a vision from her goddess, and sat up in bed to consider what she had Seen.
Someone who can defeat the Valsharess. She had hardly dared to hope it was possible. She thought back to the image she had seen; it seemed so clear at the time, but now she struggled to recall the details, like in a dream; that was new. Had it been male or female? The outline of the image had looked female, she thought. No name was mentioned, she was sure. The Seer had not been able to discern what race she was from (she had seemed drow, and yet different somehow), or even what colour her skin or hair were – all she recalled was a shadow and a pair of violet eyes.
The Seer shook her head, helplessly. She had very little to go on – the woman might have been drow, darthiir or rivvil for all she knew. Although… she thought there had been a distinctive feel to their messiah; a stillness, like death. The Seer shivered despite herself. What that meant she couldn't tell, but she smiled; widely and sincerely for the first time in weeks.
There is still hope.
x x x
In her room in the Yawning Portal Inn (the finest room, it had been noted with amusement), the violet eyes opened. In the gloom before daybreak, a figure slipped out of bed; a female-shaped void outlined against the coming dawn. That silhouette had had a peculiar dream – so real; and there was someone she knew… An overwhelming feeling of being observed alerted her that she was not alone.
xxx
Shi'narra cursed. She was the finest assassin the Red Sisters had to offer, and she knew that she had executed her plan to perfection thus far; she had been soundless, a mere shadow in the gloom. But her mark was darker than any shadow, and now two violet eyes told Shi'narra that she would have to fight; a situation the Valsharess had explicitly warned to avoid.
She shrugged. If the Valsharess held this female in such high regard, then defeating her in combat would only increase Shi'narra's standing with the Red Sisters. And her target was obviously a drow, and a rogue at that; Shi'narra had never met a drow she could not kill (besides the Valsharess, of course). Besides, with the teleportation spell completed, her opponent was unarmed.
Her snide grin faltered as her target pulled a dagger from beneath her pillow.
Un-armoured, then, she thought with a shrug. Grinning once more, she came in swiftly, dagger leading.
xxx
The silhouette was used to fighting with two swords, and felt very exposed with no clothing on. Making a quick mental note to stop sleeping in the buff, she parried the intruder's perfect attack.
Perfect in a rather prosaic sense, she thought to herself at once. This female was obviously as highly trained as any she had encountered, but lacked that sparkle of originality that separated the great from the good. She allowed her attacker to work her blades higher and higher, waiting for the accepted stab to her lower abdomen.
"Do you have a name, houseless one, or shall I simply call you Shebali?" Shi'narra often attempted to divert attention from her next strike by engaging her opponent in conversation.
"Shebali will be fine," answered the darkness.
When the anticipated low thrust came, the unconventional parry took Shi'narra by surprise; un unseen riposte buried itself in Shi'narra's throat, and that was the story of her.
As Shebali wiped off her dagger on the clothes of her assailant, she realised that the feeling of being watched was as intense as ever, but before she could act on that thought the door to the room burst open, and in skidded Tamsil, the innkeeper's daughter. Taking in the scene, with a surprised expression curiously similar to that of the dead drow, Tamsil's gaze came to rest on the hero who's anticipated arrival had gotten everyone so wound up with excitement. She was her idol; the Hero of Neverwinter, Medusa's Bane, Saviour of the North and completely buck naked.
"Damn drow teleported my gear away," Shebali explained, the feeling of being observed made even more unsettling by her current state of undress. "Even got my undergarments," she added wistfully.
xxx
The crystal clouded over, and the Valsharess' scowl deepened at the sight of Mephistopheles' lewd grin. Turning to her lieutenant, who was standing to attention awaiting her mistress' whim, she said "Send an elite squad to that wretched inn and kill everything that moves."
xxx
In the temple of Lith My'athar the Seer smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. She glanced up to see a similar smile upon the face of her commander, Imloth; and a silly grin plastered all over the face of Sergeant Ossyr. She turned to regard the fiery haired tiefling beside her, whose face was set in its customary scowl.
Suddenly aware that he was being observed, Valen hastily rearranged his features into what he hoped was a relieved smile.
The Seer was not fooled. She sighed, unsure of how best to massage the ego of her Weapons Master.
"Valen –" she began.
"Please excuse me, Seer," he interrupted. "I have to attend this morning's drills." His curt tone wiped the smile from the Seer's face, and Valen felt a twinge of guilt as he half-bowed and swept from the room, without waiting for a reply.
The Seer sighed again. Imloth, sensing her unease, laid a comforting hand upon her slender ebon arm.
"He must come to terms with the vision on his own; you cannot help him in this," he said softly. "Valen will come around."
The Seer smiled warmly at sweet, comforting, ever-present Imloth; thanking Eilistraee for perhaps the thousandth time that she had such a friend she could count on.
xxx
In the Yawning Portal, Shebali had taken up Tamsil's offer to lend her some clothes. She wandered down the Inn's stairs dressed in the only thing that would fit; a light summer dress and a pair of sandals. The vibrant green fabric contrasted magnificently with her shadowy skin. In the dim light of the inn, Tamsil could more clearly make out Shebali's features; she was undoubtedly beautiful, with bee-stung lips and striking cheekbones, but the pervasive darkness around her was rather sinister, she thought. Despite all the hype surrounding this 'hero', Tamsil felt supremely uncomfortable in her presence. Looking at Shebali was like looking into the void.
…The void looks into you; Tamsil wasn't sure where the thought had come from, but right now it seemed a profound truth. The bright floaty dress Shebali had chosen seemed like some macabre form of gallows humour enshrouding death itself. Ridiculous! Tamsil shook herself; she was letting her imagination run off with her. Still, she kept a respectful distance between them.
Shebali declined the offer of taking a sword from the armoury; they were weakly enchanted and poorly balanced, and too cumbersome for her liking. Neither did it have any suitable armour, so she went downstairs to meet the innkeeper, Durnan, with only two daggers (one courtesy of her would be assassin) and the magical gem she looted from the drow.
Time to meet my adoring fans, she thought.
Bit of a short and broken up first chapter, I know, but I was never very good at introductions. Oh, and sorry about the fight scene; I'm worse at those than I am at introductions.