Neverwinter Falls
Note: This includes the original characters of Darius Eclipse, the hero from the Neverwinter Nights 2 series; and DeeJay of Shadows, the hero from Neverwinter Nights 1. Which characters legacy will reign supreme when they are brought to a face off? The protagonist, Darius Eclipse is the hero of Neverwinter that had returned to Crossroad Keep after his adventures in Mask of the Betrayer; while DeeJay, the original hero of Neverwinter, went into self-exile after the execution of Aribeth and now returns to finally seek his revenge for the love Lord Nasher took from him.
Introduction
Darius tossed in his sleep while beads of sweat coated and dripped down his face. Many a moons ago he had returned to Crossroad Keep and over those moons he had been haunted by the reoccurring nightmare over and over again; not one night passed that he was tormented.
With a violet stir, Darius snapped into a sitting position and he gave out a bewildered gasp. What a sad state he had put himself in; to the eyes of others, he must have looked like a frightened and lost little child that needed to cuddle into his mother until the nightmares were chased away. He gave a smile of self-pity at the thought…some hero he turned out to be.
Many challenges threatened to crumble Darius but he managed to brave them all. In this very Keep, Darius made his valiant stand against the King of Shadows and his overwhelming army. Darius commanded his troops and positioned them to endure the onslaught and hold their grounds while commanding when to attack and take ground back and when to withdraw to minimize casualties; the feats worthy of a true leader.
In this very room of Crossroad Keep, Darius experienced the sweet taste of his first true love and shared the most intimate embraces of love that one can be expressed between two entities; now that was all just a memory. The woman that held in his heart was ripped from him the moment she sacrificed herself for his well being; that moment kept a dark shadow looming over his heart and mind even as he traveled in the foreign lands of Rashemen.
"Still, your dreams flutter towards that which your heart has lost." A haunting, yet comforting tone sounded in the room from a familiar companion that gave Darius a minor startle as his eyes darted to the direction of the dark-skinned hagspawn.
"You still creeping around in my dreams, I see." Darius frowned in response.
"I believe with the dreams you have, you are haunting yourself more than my dream walking could." Gannayev replied while he sat on the dresser across the room, one leg was folded over the other as he leaned against the mirror. His dark eyes looked out towards the window, looking to the night skies. "In order for me to haunt you, I would need a reason to do so wouldn't you agree?" his eyes slowly shifted to look over to the Knight-Captain. "And I have no reason or intention to."
Gannayev, preferring the name of Gann throughout the journeys, is a charming and smooth speaking hag spawn that had the ability to walk into others dreams and even alter them if he wished to. Since their journey came to an end in Rashemen, he had stayed by Darius' side as a loyal friend that helped him return to Crossroad Keep to aid Darius in reclaiming his position as Knight-Captain. Gann seemed genuinely harmless in his urge to wander into the dreams of others and had yet to cause any uproar within the Keep; that actually surprised Darius when he thought about all the farm girls that inhabited the area…his favorite form of 'prey' or so he would jest about now and then. He was also a spirit shaman, a man with the ability to speak with, see and manipulate the spirits around him as well as bring them harm if he so desired to. Darius always thought of Gann as a bard that was stuck in a hagspawn's body.
"The dreams still carry you further down the stream of sorrow, helpless to change the nightmares that dig their cold chains into your heart." Gann kept his dark observing eyes on Darius, even though his words held a jesting and lyrical tone to his words, he did have worry locked in his expression.
"Gann, it is not that I do not appreciate your concern but I honestly think that if it is not you creeping around in my room…its Neeshka." Darius wiped the sweat from his brow and then turning in his bed sheets to pull himself out of bed. He wore loose wool clothing when he would go to sleep for the night.
"It is not that which stirs around you that you wake to, Darius…it is that which is inside that does." Gann confirmed, noting Darius' dodging response and Gann also decided to ignore the 'creeping around' term that was used, Gann believed that such a demeaning term was best saved for common pick-pockets.
Darius rubbed his forehead lightly while he walked to the window closest to his bed and dropped his gaze to the courtyards outside that were lit up by the bright moonlight.
"Gann…" Darius uttered in a firm, almost irritated manner but then let it transform into a weak chuckle. "Once again you are right and you know it. You know how I hated that combination in you because of the amount of times you have used it on me?" Darius felt a smile cross his face as he turned his head to look over to the relaxed hagspawn.
"Elanee again?" Gann asked in a more direct manner, his tone sounded motivated with a sense of duty and purpose.
Darius hesitated for a moment, the very question itself made the small smile fade away from his face as he turned back towards the window to gaze out, answering Gann with a slight nod. Ever since that fateful day that Elanee pushed him out of the way from being crushed by a rock, sacrificing her own life for his...haunted him with constant visions. The image of seeing his dearly beloved crushed under a rock and become nothing but blood spilling from under was too much for him to bear. In many ways, he wished that Ammon Jerro did not tell him the fate that became of Elanee during the cave in but Darius had to know and now he did; now it was all his dreams would let him visualize and relive.
"Either it is the way that she was taken from this world or it is the dreams of what she once was to you and from everything that I have gathered; it is enough to assure you that his is not the lasting memory she would have wished to leave you with for the rest of your life." Gann said in his attempt to comfort the distraught hero.
Closing his eyes, Darius felt his teeth dig into his lower lip in thought. "Gann…" Darius started in a firm tone, his stance changing from the window as he turned to face the hagspawn. "Just stop—stop entering my dreams and stop telling me these things because you believe you have the answers to my problems—because you don't." Darius cussed.
"I did not mean it th—" Gann responded but found himself being interrupted.
"I don't want to hear it; not tonight and I do not enjoy having my own memories and dreams used on me like that." Darius was trying to keep a leash on his emotions and prevent them from erupting on Gann too much; he knew that the hagspawn was only trying to help. "Just…let me deal with this…alone." Darius finished before turning on his heel and walking over to the hearth as he placed his palms against the warmed stone; his eyes looking down at the dying embers in the fireplace.
Gann hesitated a moment before giving a self-nod and slipping off the desk to land on his feet, his eyes looking over in Darius' direction as he gave him a bow. "I beg your pardon then, Knight-Captain." He said in a slightly chilled manner before turning to his side and walking out the door to leave Darius alone. Gann had only used his formal title when he was not feeling in the best of moods towards the troubled rogue.
The embers that continued to burn in a faint radiance seemed to a symbolic connecting to how Darius felt; once burning strong and bright were now just dying out into the chill of the cold night.
-Next Day-
Adoring the chainmail links once again, Darius traced his gloved fingers over the steel as he remembered how he wore this exact armor in his battles against the King of Shadows. The only difference between now and then was that now his chain links were being empowered by the spirit essences that he focused into them. The Sword of Gith was now placed proudly by his 'throne' in the audience chamber of his Keep; he now armed himself with his usual combination of a short sword in one hand and a rapier in the other, the combat style he was previously taught by his former mentor and leader, DeeJay of Shadows.
Darius started to stare off into the dimly lit morning skies as the sun still started its peak over the mountain range; a ray of sun hit his eyes as it brought flashbacks into his mind…back to when he first met his mentor.
-Flashback image-
The young and adventurous Darius had wandered too far from West Harbor one day and soon found himself knee deep in swamp and trouble as one of the local lizardling tribes hounded him. Plowing through the sledge of the murky waters, fighting the sinking of the mud deep down, Darius ran from the raging war cries from the lizardlings. His efforts were in vain however as he had his back to the wall of a steep cliff and the four lizardlings had him cornered. Their growls and hungered slurps terrified Darius as his knees trembled; his feet froze in place—like the mud had become solid weights. The advance of the hungry lizardlings caused his muscles to lock and his eyes to shut tight as he realized he was going to die here.
The sickening sounds of blood spattered gurgles filled the air while cold steel almost silently cut through the air. The warm spatter of blood splashing across the right side of his face; his eyes cracked open just in time to see all four lizardlings thump to the ground. Darius was shocked to see that the only thing he saw was one cloaked figure standing, he did not look like anyone who normally traveled through the swamp but he was not going to complain. The breath tightened in his lungs once more when the figure turned to look over his shoulder, the low drawn hood shifted with the motion as Darius felt eyes piercing right through him. The figure turned around as his arms folded over her chest, allowing Darius to see that the man wore midnight black leather armor by the ebony leather gauntlets he wore and the small bit of armor that was allowed to be shown from the opening in the black, grounding-touching cloak that draped down his body; the low drawn hood did well to conceal the figures face, not that the Mere helped his ability to see any, the Mere got darker the deeper you got in it.
"W-w-w—" Darius stuttered out, the words losing all strength and confidence.
"One such as yourself should not be carelessly wandering this deep into the swamps." A low and calm tone came from the shadowed hood; Darius could hear the voice was young and already had a tone that he probably used for battle.
"Well…you're out here." Darius childishly defended herself.
"I am not you." The hood responded casually and without care.
Darius could only blink as he listened to male speak to him so half-heartedly. The tone of his voice only confirmed his beliefs that he could not be any older then Darius was. The material of the hood shifted as the side as the presumed teen kneeled down beside the slain bodies of the lizardlings and the hooded figure traced his fingertips along the rough leather belts of the lizardlings; he removed small hide pouches from the dead cold-bloods as the small pouches gave a metallic clang together and that only gave away that they had gold coins contained in them.
Darius could do nothing but stare in a dumb-founded manner as he watched the hooded figure remove the gold coins and then he pulled out one of the Lizardling's swords from their dead fingers and examined the blades edge. Darius could not help but be amazed that this man who sounded no older than him, a young teen, was able to bring down four fully grown and primal trained lizardling warriors in a matter of seconds. Trying to compose himself again, Darius was snapped back to the world when a flash of light caught his eyes and the object was quickly coming at him; his hand reacted by itself as he caught the object in his hand.
"Not bad—good reflexes." The dark figure noted as he stood back to a stand.
Darius lowered his head as he observed the object in his hand and he recognized it instantly as a short sword; however, the short sword of a lizardling was vastly disproportioned to him and looked more like a long sword.
"What is this for—" he asked stupidly without thinking but found himself getting interrupted.
"Even one that has been struck blind can be seen as more threatening with a weapon at their side." The hooded one replied; his voice always seemed to hold a monotone yet calming trait about it.
"I am not blind." Darius responded as he gave a frown.
"Not physically, no. But where it matters in the form of survival instincts: you have had your eyes gouged out." He criticized before turning around, putting his back to the murky covered teen and started to walk away.
"Wait!" Darius blared out desperately. He was surprised that the young hood was just going to leave him there while wishing to know the name of the one who saved his life this day.
The cloak rippled when he stopped in mid-step and his hood shifted to show that he was now glancing over his shoulder to look at Darius. Even though he could not see any facial features of the one who saved him, the gesture of his hood turning gave him the comfort of knowing that he was at least listening.
"I do not even know your name." Darius pointed out.
"Names do not matter; you can call me whatever you want and I shall not care, we will not be meeting again I assure you." He replied in a monotone voice.
The words and tone that came from the hooded figure actually fascinated him on how calm and controlled the young teen is. "Then what name do you accept from yourself?" he replied.
The hooded teen let out a deep breath either from the irritation of the question or perhaps maybe even amusement. It was impossible to tell the difference since his facial expression was concealed behind the in the shadows under the hood.
"Of Shadows…" he responded in the same monotone voice, letting his voice trail off as he faced forward again and started walking without giving Darius the grace of a pause for response.
Darius' was bewildered to find that the moment he blinked, the hooded teen had managed to somehow blend into the swamp and he disappeared from sight; he vanished like a ghost.
"Of…Shadows…" Darius whispered lightly.
Darius did not know it yet but that young teen had just influenced and changed how he thought, forever.
The peaking sun from the mountains actually snapped Darius from his flashback as he let his eyes adjust to the rising sun that had almost lifted itself completely from the mountain edges, casting a crimson glow on the nearby clouds. Darius lifted his foot as he leaned against the battlement of the Keep wall. He gave a very slight jump when he felt something bat against his knee; looking down to the source he saw a smooth, leathery tail casually swaying back and forth. He knew who the tail belonged to but his eyes followed the length of the extension until he looked upon the owner of the tail.
"When you start staring off into the distance like that, you want to know what I think? I think that if I was in your shoes—well besides being very uncomfortable because of the different sizes of our feet and all that—I would get tired and dizzy with all your dazing off—or is it tired or dizzy? Oh who knows." A high pitched but cheerful female voice rang in the air and it was a voice that Darius had come to know very well: Neeshka.
"How long have you been there?" Darius wondered, keeping his eyes on the playful Tiefling.
"That is your first question? Your life was in the hands of a demon girl and the first thing you ask is how long I have been here?" she stated in her cheerful and teasing manner. She knew that Darius was in a distressful state and her first instinct was to try and infect him with her mood and playfulness.
Darius kept his eyes on her as he looked over her form as if sizing her up. "There is a difference between picking my pocket and stabbing a dagger into my back and we both know you would never do the latter." Darius stated in a monotone voice.
Neeshka repositioned her body and seating arrangement on the battlement node she had perched herself on top of. Her tail slowly started to crawl up the stone surface until it brushed lightly against her hip and threatened to wrap itself around her thigh; her reaction came quick as she batted the intruding tail with a playful energy and then placed her hands flat against the cold stone and pushed her off, landing on her feet.
"You're in one of THOSE moods again, aren't you?" Neeshka inquired and she had already taken the stance to turn on her heel and walk off if he told her to do so; however, she had an intention to stay around him as long as she could or at least as long as he would let her before his irritation became too dominate.
"Just been getting lost in my thoughts and came out for a breath of fresh air." Darius confessed to the demon-blooded female.
"About—" Neeshka started before she found herself gently cut off.
"No actually, not at this point in time. I was just thinking about my former mentor to be honest." His tone was soft, the same tone he would use as an understanding tone, while his eyes set themselves to the flowering sun.
"Oh right right! Derwin of Shades right?" Neeshka responded, she always got his name wrong on purpose like she found amusement or enjoyed the way that Darius would get on her and correct her mistake and she thought that maybe correcting her would cheer him up even a little bit; maybe even get Darius to open up more to her and start speaking more.
"DeeJay of Shadows." He predictably corrected the teasing tiefling. "And yes, I was just thinking back to when we first met and how everything unfolded." Darius responded while he watched Neeshka tilt her head to the side, giving away that her curiosity was starting to peak.
" Well? You know it is your turn now right?" She remarked with a small—almost innocent—smile.
"Excuse me?" Darius asked as he looked over to her while he furrowed his brows.
"Oh come on! Here I go and tell you all about my adventures with the vigilant Watchers of Helm AND let us not forget that I even told you about my problems with a certain someone—Who—I will not even give a name to," Neeshka always brought a lot of her character into her tones when she got worked up. "Not that that so-called thief ever deserved having a name top begin with." She could not stop herself from rambling off her original point.
"I cannot exactly say that dragging me into your chaos actually counts as you telling me about him." Darius gave the casual response.
"Details details—dragged—confessed—it's all campfire stories now." Neeshka waved her hand quickly to dismiss the topic and bury the valid point before more details were brought up. "The point being, you know everything about me…well you know me as well as I could know myself; I mean, there are still certain things about me that even I do not know about besides the fact that I am just me." Neeshka passively ranted.
Darius closed his eyes in a soft sigh while he listened to her rant, he felt a certain comfort around Neeshka; it could be because Neeshka was one of the ones that he travelled with the most and he felt that she deserved to know more about his past life. Darius thought he would start with his meeting with the teen.
-Darius' story-
"For a harborman, you certainly do get a far distance away from your homelands pretty often, don't you?" the hooded figure remarked while kneeling beside the prone Darius, covered in blood from his careless tumble down the cliff. "Hmm, could be worse but you'll survive. I guess the rumors of your kind's resilience proves to be true." His monotone voice sounded from the darkened hood.
"Where…am I?" Darius coughed out, feeling the dry dirt in his throat. There was a painful weight against his chest that was crippling his breathing.
"You're on the ground and the upturned earth around the cliff side heavily suggests that you were formerly on stable ground at the top, walking along the edge until the ground gave out and sent you down here…now at the bottom of the cliff naturally." The hooded one coldly stated, his hand was gesturing towards the cliff in a carefree manner towards the area at the top of the cliff.
"What?" Darius asked as he painfully sat up, his chest feeling like it was about to collapse within himself as he brought a hand to touch against his head; his fingertips touched against the dried blood that streaked down the side of his head, following the trail to the source, feeling still fresh blood around the vicious gash on the side of his forehead. Darius spoke but he did not want any answers. The throbbing pain that figuratively cracked his head open made listening to the young hood's words painful. He was thankful at least that the pain inside his head was great enough to override the pain that was probably pulsing from his damaged body.
"You fell from a cliff…that harbormen enough for you?" the semi-mocking response came.
-Neeshka interruption-
"Doesn't sound like much of a nice man; he doesn't even know you and still he insults you. Sounds like you can actually relate to a certain tiefling." Neeshka interrupted, giving an innocent smile. "Whose skill and beauty shall remain nameless."
"Doesn't sound like any tiefling I know." Darius teased casually.
"What?" Neeshka frowned, crossing her arms over her chest as she glanced to the side and muttered. "Maybe you are more like HIM then I thought."
"Want me to continue the story or not?" Darius responded in a firm tone.
"Well gee…sorry." Neeshka sarcastically whipped out, her tail swinging lightly from side to side.
-Back to the story-
Darius sat on a rock that was on the side of the pathway, the journey just to get back to the path itself was harsh on his body. His head was whirling painfully, every step sounded like clashing thunder deep in his head and every time his muscles moved, they threatened to lock up or even crumble under his weight. The hooded figure leaned against a tree as he seemed to wait for Darius to regain himself; Darius did not believe that meeting the young hooded teen was just a mere coincidence, he turned his head towards the hooded one.
"You're still wandering around these parts?" Darius asked.
"Apparently, unless you are having some sort of wild dream that includes dreaming of someone you know nothing about; in which case I would ask you to keep it to yourself and your own questioning sanity." The teen sharply replied, still managing to keep a monotone voice.
It took Darius just a couple of moments to sort through everything the teen had just said to him and make some sense of it; shaking his head once when he figured it out and frowned. "That isn't answering my question…well not fully." Darius responded in a confused and lost tone.
"In a sense it is, you asked if I was still around these parts; which in a physical sense, appears to be the case…I believe the silent question within your first question is the why. Which being the case, you need not concern yourself with it to begin with." The teen chuckled, the first bit of emotion he had given.
Darius blinked for a few moments as his brain tried to grasp what the teen had just said; his speech style was fascinating as it was confusing and very difficult to comprehend with the pace of which the teen spoke.
"Of Shadows." Darius stated, noting that the teen actually responded by looking in his direction.
"Well…we can be safe to say that the fall has not messed up you memory." The teen quickly remarked.
Darius groaned painfully as he pushed himself to a stand, trying to keep himself steady. "How did you…you know, come to know how to do what you do? I mean with the swords and the silence and stealth?" Darius asked.
"Hm, that is not something that I am at liberty to say. All I can say is that I had a mentor teach me everything that I know; from the very day I was discovered, my affinity to grasp the new skills and abilities shown to me was at the level of prodigy as I picked up everything and earned the proper spot and respect among my people." He casually replied while crafting his words carefully as to not reveal too much but yet still give him the answer to his question.
"How would I—" Darius started to inquire.
"You don't do anything, they find you." A sharp tone responded.
The quick response actually made Darius jump a bit as the muscles responded with pain at the sudden jerking motion. The hood that concealed the teen's head shook slightly from side to side as he gave a small sigh of annoyance.
"No offense but harbormen are not exactly a shinning ray of hope for candidates." The hooded teen replied. "I do not believe there is anyone that would even spend their time training a harbormen."
"Well, what about you?" Darius asked.
"I'm no teacher." He replied coldly.
"Than you can teach me what you know." Darius responded with an edge of eagerness to his voice.
A light laughter erupted from the shadows in the hood as the figure raised a hand to touch somewhere on his face while his head shook from side to side.
"I fail to see what that would do for me." He replied after his laughter had calmed down.
"I could pay you!" Darius quickly replied.
"Harborman pay? Hardly worth the effort." The cold tone sounded in the air with a touch of amusement blended in with it.
"Just give me chance, if I screw up too badly you can just leave and take the pay with you for your troubles." Darius added in with a tone of desperation locked in his voice. Darius wished he could as resourceful as this young man is was a desire and need for him.
"Hm, well I would have done such regardless anyways." He replied coldly.
"So than you are saying you will give it a try?" Darius quickly followed up as he stepped towards the hooded teen.
A light chuckle sounded from the shadowed hood again while the young teen folded his arms over his chest, most of his arms covered by the black cape. "I am probably going to regret this sometime in the near or distant future but the way I am looking at it right now, I was once a lost little boy myself." He casually remarked, the shadows of the hood made it impossible for Darius to know where he was looking. "And you just might learn enough to be able to spare yourself the utter humiliation of becoming victimized by the predict aments you put yourself in."
-Story end-
"How did training go then? I don't think I would be able to take orders from that brat for too long." Neeshka playfully jabbed as her tail continued to sway back and forth.
"All the skills I have honed over our journey I owe to my mentor." Darius replied while he leaned his shoulder into the battlement node.
"What about your foster father? You know, the one with the ears," Neeshka lifted her own hands and gently tugged her own ears to imply they were similar to her own. "Always speaking in half meanings—very annoying when speaking to him, at least when I do." Neeshka wrinkled her nose slightly.
"Daeghun taught me enough, I guess." Darius confessed.
"Hey now, wait wait wait. DeeJay of Shadows? I might be an outsider and everything—you you know the horns?—but I did hear of this great hero of Neverwinter that was called DeeJay of Shadows and he single-handedly saved the kingdom from the Wailing Death—awful disease that was and I am so glad that I was not around the city when that was infecting everyone but even if I was, I do not think any form of blockade could have held me in long enough to experience that terrible terrible disease—I mean can you image what that feels like? I can't." Neeshka had passively ranted and already she had gotten off her original topic but Darius was used to it by now and he just had to wait it out until she caught herself and corrected her path of her own accord. "I digress though, you are telling me that your mentor is the missing hero of Neverwinter, aren't you?" she asked with a cheerful assertiveness to her tone and a smile to match.
"Would explain a lot then, wouldn't it? I count as a hero of Neverwinter and now you know where I got my training from. I stood up to the King of Shadows and a self-devouring curse that once ravaged the foreign country." Darius replied while returning her little smile.
"But from what I heard, DeeJay of Shadows stood up to the entire Lusken Army, their powerful Host Towers and fought against one of Neverwinter's best paladins that became a traitor—some kind of elf or half-elf." Neeshka said; Darius felt the need to intervene.
"DeeJay fought against the one that he loved in that battle; he spared her after she got defeated and brought her back to her senses. She turned herself into the mercy of Neverwinter in hopes that there might be a chance to be reunited with my mentor." Darius informed.
"Wasn't she later executed by 'Lord' Nasher?" Neeshka asked, recalling the small bit from memory.
"And that is why his name is mostly forgotten and the scribes of Neverwinter have all but omitted him from the scrolls in Neverwinter's heroic tales; they covered it all up and just say how a hero rose in Neverwinter's time of need. Neverwinter needs a tale where a hero stays and can keep the image of glory and pride within the lands of Neverwinter and to answer the call of Lord Nasher. Ever since he executed Aribeth for treason, DeeJay of Shadows left and has never returned." Darius voiced out while giving a slight tilt of his head when he noticed that Neeshka had wrinkled her nose once more.
"Knowing all of this and you are still here, serving Nasher?" she could not help but ask.
Giving a light chuckle, Darius nodded his head once and glanced out to the now fully risen sun. "Well this is the only place where I belong now; DeeJay of Shadows is nothing but a name now. The Brotherhood has long since crumbled into chaos after the disappearance of its leader and then when I vanished into Rashemen; The Brotherhood only crumbled further without a second-in-command to take his place. Both of us were gone without so much as a whisper in the wind and the ranks soon diminished into conflicts and betrayals to try and earn the right to lead. When I returned, I found that the Brotherhood had separated into many small gangs and that many of our strongest had been crushed by their own ranks. These small gangs were easily swept up by The Watch." Darius commented while giving an uneasy laughter. "Guess I gave The Watch too much power and control over Neverwinter again; it allowed them to unearth the remnants of The Brotherhood and put an end to them for good while they were in their time of weakness." Darius completed with a light sigh.
"The Brotherhood? Here I thought that I didn't have a good knack for any good names; talk about unoriginal." Neeshka remarked as she shook her head in dismay.
"That was not our actually name, that was the name that The Watch called our organization; so that became our name that we let leave our lips when speaking to people not among our ranks. It was our widely known name and the name that would carry more weight." Darius informed the inquisitive tiefling.
"Well then, are you going to tell me the true name of your organization or you still bound to your silly little code of silence?" Neeshka could not help herself from being curious; she had to pry further into the topic.
"Til-Emberium Noctural." Darius stated in smooth grace, like he had said it hundreds of times.
Neeshka blinked once as she heard the name before giving a passive shrug; her tail gently bat her forearm, making the tiefling grabbed it lightly and pushed it back behind her.
"Alright alright, so you can have original back then." She passively commented.
"And it was DeeJay of Shadows, bytheway." Darius also felt the need to ask.
"What?" Neeshka furrowed her brow confused.
"You asked me the name of my organization but it was not mine; I was only the one that was entrusted with the mantle of command until our leader returned."
"So how did DeeJay of Shadows come to be the leader then?" Neeshka had to ask; she had heard mixed tales about the Brotherhood but she knew they would not be as reliable as hearing it from one of the sole-survivors themselves. She just felt the need to know as much about Darius as possible, she couldn't help it.
"Oh he rose to the top during a very chaotic period when the organization ran under the name of Poisoned Edge and was under the command of a man named Taverain Meros. Many events unfolded that put the leader's creditability in question. This included things like having many of our members arrested or exposed to the public. DeeJay of Shadows took it upon himself to further the damage by whispering into the ears of other members; shaking their faith and making them question our leader more so. He also manipulated many of the ranks with cleverly placed words as well as highlighting certain events. The change in leadership happened in less than a year." Darius started his story.
The curiosity of Neeshka was peaking as she started to listen to the story and found it very difficult to keep her lips closed as he told his tale; however, she also knew that this was a rare moment for her, being able to listen to Darius's past that he had before meeting her. She could not help but wonder where Darius fit in this entire story and what role he played in the Brotherhood. The answers would come faster if Neeshka just pursed her lips shut, which was difficult but she managed it for the time being.
"Everything started to happen just as DeeJay of Shadows predicted it would, he had started to whisper into the ears of the other members of the Brotherhood; planting seeds of deception deep into their minds and managing to do so in such a subtle manner. He always gave half implications so the people themselves would come to his desired conclusion on their own. Time passed and Taverain could feel it, his own men were starting to think less of him as well as question his authority. The Brotherhood leader tried to figure out the root of the sabotage but unfortunately for him, every time he did he came to a dead-end. With his plan in motion, DeeJay of Shadows even secretly betrayed some of his own people so they would get found out by the law; he would get them caught and brought into justice. This sudden rash of failures soon made the members of the Brotherhood question Taverain even more. DeeJay of Shadows however, made sure to keep as low profile as possible throughout his plan so when the leader started seriously investigating the root of everything, DeeJay of Shadows could just disappear on some missions that took him on the road and outside the walls of Neverwinter; he also made sure that his missions would be paired with people that Taverain trusted so DeeJay would have an unquestionable source to his innocence. While he would be on the road, DeeJay of Shadows would have someone else move his plans along in his absence as well as serve as his eyes and ears." Darius said while he traced his fingertips along the cold stone surface of the battlement node; creating the sound of leather scarping against stone.
"You…" Neeshka voice trailed softly. Darius glanced over to her but yet he said nothing, it was like he was expecting her to interrupt at that moment. "It was you…you were the one that was his eyes and ears; the one that did everything for him in his absence. That is why you became the second-in-command after the transition and why you were trusted with leadership in his absence." She finished and was given a reply by a nod from Darius.
"DeeJay of Shadows managed to keep himself one step ahead of Taverain, every time the leader looked in the direction of my mentor; he had nothing to incriminate him with. Taverain knew a false accusation would actually destroy his credibility even more so he could not let personal vendetta get in the way. All DeeJay of Shadows had to do now was start to plant the seeds inside the minds of Taverain's most trusted while also working on worsening the condition of Taverain's paranoia." Darius narrated causally still. "Fear would be the best method of attack and it showed; Taverain reacted rashly and acted in dire haste with little thought. Failures resulted in Taverain looking to shift blame to try and clear his own name and even he knew he could not just throw anyone onto the fire, so he threw some of his most trusted into the flames of blame; he also grew so desperate that he started putting heat on his own right hand man. Taverain had trusted in him to find the source of the chaos and every time that he failed to give a response, his right hand was met with heated response of blame. Soon, the leader of the Brotherhood went into hiding and took audience from only his most trusted, depending on them to be his voice to the Brotherhood. DeeJay of Shadows than told me that the time to act was now; so one after the other, Taverain's most trusted hands started to disappear, we started silencing them and disposing their bodies quickly. The more that feel, the more angered Taverain was becoming and with his anger came rash actions while blame continued to land on his right hand man. DeeJay of Shadows put his next step of the plan into motion, meeting with the right hand to Taverain. This was a risky move and he knew it; using the illusion spell provided by one of the supporting Brotherhood wizards, DeeJay of Shadows made sure to not only conceal himself, but also alter his voice so it made detection quite hard; he took the illusion of being composed of nothing but shadow while giving him a deep, echoed voice. I do not know what happened in their meeting because I was not there for it, but he had managed to successfully convince the right hand man to work for him. DeeJay of Shadows probably used the fact that Taverain was only going to crush him under the weight of blame for everything anyways. So the right hand man convinced Taverain and lured him out of hiding to address the Brotherhood himself instead of using others to be his voice and try to reestablish solid command. Everything was going exactly as planned and DeeJay of Shadows knew that it would be a now or never situation. The best thing about this was that the Brotherhood did not want Taverain in command anymore and better yet, through all the efforts, feats and dedication that DeeJay had done and shown to the Brotherhood as he kept them together, they were playing the roles of his pawns as they were more than willing to accept a new leader. My mentor knew that if he were to silence Taverain and do it in front of the eyes of the entire Brotherhood, then it would make his position of command unquestionable and would give him the final push he needed to take control of the Brotherhood. Not even Taverain's right hand man would be able to object or try to cease control of the Brotherhood; long ago before this all started being set into motion, DeeJay of Shadows had a glyph—invisible to the naked eye—enchanted onto the sheath of the right hand man." Darius stated, still narrating his story.
"That glyph was going to explode on some sort of command, wasn't it?" Neeshka took a very probable guess.
"DeeJay of Shadows knew that his right hand would play the most vital role in his pole, playing the role of the key to gain access to Taverain; however, he also predicted that after all the smoke was cleared the man would attempt to kill my mentor as soon as Taverain was disposed of and pick up the command for himself. Taverain made his appearance only to find himself in heated water as his own Brotherhood surrounded him and when Taverain desperately looked to his right hand man to bail him out, only to find that the man had left the leader to the wolves. While Taverain was looking for his right hand, his attention was stolen when a crossbow bolt shot into his chest and it was then that Taverain realized who the instigator was; it was my mentor that was holding the crossbow and stepped out from the crowd of faces. The battle was actually pretty short, it did not help that Taverain let valuable time pass as he spent it arguing and cussing my mentor while the leader slowly bleed out from the embedded bolt. Taverain finally found the courage to strike out at DeeJay of Shadows but the swing was weak and lazy; it allowed my mentor to easily dodge the blow and strike his rapier home into Taverain's heart as the rapier broke the chain links of the chainmail and in that single moment, DeeJay of Shadows had become the new leader of the Brotherhood." Darius finally completed his story, laying his hands flat on the stone node of which he leaned against.
"This mentor of yours sounded like a very sinister type of man—even by my standard that is very devious." Neeshka playfully noted.
"Just a man with a plan, the rest of this story is…as they would say, is history." Darius commented.
"So then what happened to him?" Neeshka wondered openly. "I confess that I spent my fair share of wasting air with that ranting little kobold in that store. I noticed he did mention the very same name; saying that he traveled with him to Waterdeep—very wild story there, I will tell you that—but not as wild as the story we went through, wouldn't you think? I think so." Neeshka trailed off.
"I listened to Deekin only recently to be honest; when I returned to be more precise. So much was happening with the silver shards and the spreading corruption from the Mere, so I did not find myself having the time to sit down with Deekin." Darius confessed.
"It sound like this mentor of yours really got around. The kobold also said how your mentor would keep to himself for the longest time; maybe hit the kobold every once in awhile cause he kept singing—but I do not blame him, I heard him sing and he makes my tail curl—annnyway, that little creature also has a very interesting story after Waterdeep too." Neeshka spoke lightly, recalling on foggy memories.
"Underdark, the homelands of the Drow and various other sub-terrain creatures that many on the surface dare not dream of…I know about that tale." Darius replied casually. "A bard that came from those regions wandered into our Keep recently and he told the tale of an assassin dressed in the blackest of leather armor and draped in the shadows themselves—obviously an over-exaggeration on his black wool cloak—that never made a sound as he moved, fought against the Drow Matron, defeating her before being tossed into the cruelest depths of Cania—"
"Cania," Neeshka cringed, her tail even twitching slightly with the mention of the name. "One of the nine hells that is ruled by Mephistopheles." The next thing Neeshka did was wrinkle her nose slightly.
"Been there before, have you?" Darius found himself passively joking.
"Are you kidding? I know you are kidding—you better be kidding—I would freeze my tail off in that place." Neeshka defended.
"Either way," Darius let out a subtle chuckling scoff. "The stories I heard from the bard as well as Deekin confirm that my mentor travelled through the eighth hell, rescued his love from the pit, resurfaced just in time to face off against Mephistopheles and his infernal army—" Darius was explaining while his memory of the story was still relatively fresh.
"Wait wait wait, you mean to tell me that he found that little elven paladin down there?" Neeshka asked with a bewildered expression on her face.
"I thought you said Deekin told you these stories before." Darius pointed out.
"Just cause that little creature is speaking does not mean that I am really paying attention to him—he sings when he is bored, why would I always be listening?" Neeshka protested while looking up slightly towards the sky.
Darius could only shake his head, fighting back an amused smile. "So than, are you listening to me now?"
"Well sure!" she commented excitedly but then caught her tone. "I mean…you are soooo much easier to understand—when you are not being cryptic mind you." Neeshka replied while waving her hand as if she was trying to find excuses. "I mean I really enjoy listening to you—no wait, that did not come out right." Neeshka coughed out.
"Hm, well I guess I can be more appealing than a kobold." Darius added in.
"For sure!" Neeshka smiled in reply. "Wait—I mean—you know—by comparison. I mean, not that I have ever noticed you like that before. You know, before you get any ideas." Neeshka desperately defended herself.
"Noticed me like what?" Darius arched an eyebrow, turning his head to look over to the tiefling rogue.
"You know…like a handsome, understanding, cunning and strangely kind rogue." Neeshka started, giving examples before realizing he said that to try and pry answers from her in a teasing manner.
"Forgot sexy," Darius commented casually.
"Yes that too!" Neeshka pointed to him before her eyes went wide, a frown coming onto her face. "Hey wait! Stop teasing me, mister." Neeshka hissed playfully while her eyes narrowed.
Laughter filled the air for a moment as Darius smirked. "As I was going to say, the stories say how he met Aribeth again in Cania and they travelled together once again. Aribeth's suffered a tragic death and that seemed to have given her some memory lapses; one of those lapses fell on my mentor. However, as time passed on their journey and they both managed to slay Mephistopheles together." Darius ended.
"I don't think Mephistopheles is actually dead; he is probably just very VERY angry somewhere, fiendishly waiting for his return." Neeshka said. "So than…where is he now? What more could he possibly need to do? I mean, he fought a plague, crumbled Luskens efforts, brought down the Host Towers, unraveled the mysteries of Waterdeep ruins as well as stopping some complicated evil plot there, killed a Drow Matron, defeated an Arch Duke of the nine hells—the eighth to be exact—slain some of the most powerful dragons of the realms, and saved his true love from an eternity in hell…what left is there for him to do now?" Neeshka could help but wonder.
The question itself actually made Darius think that over. He did not know what left there was for his former mentor, he had been in silence for so long that he thought maybe he settle down and went into hiding with his lover, Aribeth.
Darius's thoughts were disrupted when he felt a nudge against his arm; he snapped to before his thoughts could complete and looked over to Neeshka. He was slightly surprised to see that she had nudged him with her tail.
Neeshka was very protective of her tail and being that it had a mind of its own, she had to constantly keep it in check as it would idly get into mischief; however this time she actually used it to gain his attention.
"You're dazing out on me again, Knight-Captain." Neeshka smiled teasingly.
"I honestly would not know what DeeJay of Shadows is doing. He has been silent over the long while, maybe he settled down somewhere or something." Darius shrugged very slightly.
"Settled…down—with a ghost?" Neeshka wrinkled her nose confused.
"Who knows?" Darius confessed.
"Wouldn't he want someone that he can actually touch and feel?" Neeshka blinked, she grabbed her tail and pulled it back from nudging the rogue, tossing the tail behind her again. "Wouldn't you prefer someone close to you, someone you can touch and enjoy?" Neeshka tilted her head curiously.
"You mean someone like you?" Darius teased.
"Yes exactly!" Neeshka nodded, she always answered before really thinking things through. "Hey wait, that did not come out the way I wanted it to." Neeshka frowned as she tapped her chin lightly, furrowing her brows thoughtfully. Darius's chuckle actually gained her attention as she looked at him and then gave him an irritated growl. "Stop teasing me! That's it—put'em up Knight-Captain, let's see what you got!" Neeshka playfully challenged.
Over the recent moons, Darius and Neeshka had spent at least three mornings of the week engaging each other in a weapons sparing match; Darius actually found himself looking forward to the each morning in hopes he would spar with Neeshka. This activity was enough to take his mind off of the things that tormented his life whenever he closed his eyes and by things it was actually only one thing that constantly haunted him: Elanee.
"You won't get any mercy from me." Darius smirked as he pushed himself off the battlement node to face the feisty tiefling.
-The Borders between Lusken and Neverwinter-
A man armored in black clad plates walked along the dark-soiled, dirt trail. Even though the armor was made of steel plate, the walking figure did not seem to make much sound. The helmet effectively concealed the face of the man in the armor.
"Hey you!" a gruff voice blared from a short distance.
The black plates came a halt as the man stopped in his tracks, the head lifting to meet the voice; sure enough there was a band of highway bandits that had set up a make-shift blockade right on the forking in the road. It was painfully obvious that this small band was working a toll for passages between Lusken and Neverwinter.
"Ya be wanting to use our roads? It's a fine road ta be take'n an ya can use'r for a price." One of the other henchmen voiced, the one on the right of the original speaker; there seemed to be six in total.
The man in the black plates stood there, remaining in silence while the plated gauntlets touched along the hilts of the rapier on one side of his waist and the short sword on the next side; other than the movements to rest his palms on the sword hilts, the figure remained silent and still. He resembled a suit of armor that was put into a standing position as a decoration in a noble's manor or castle's hallways.
"I think he doesn't get it." The bandit on the left chipped in while lightly tapping his club in the palm of his hand, such a stereotypical thing for a threatening brute to be doing. Even if they had a plan of attack, it was still a wooden blunt object going up against the stability of plate.
"I…think we should leave this one alone…maybe?" a timid tone uttered nervously from the woman dressed in leather, studded armor; she nervously slide her long sword back into its sheath while her narrow almond eyes glanced over the man in black armor. Her elongated ears gave her away to be of elven blood.
"Oi! What you talking about?" the rough reply from the bandit in the center protested while waving his hand dismissively.
"This man has an elven blessing looking over him and doesn't he look like someone that is from the Lusken army? I don't want to be messing with anyone from the army." The elven woman replied in a shaken manner.
"Luskens are dogs, elven enchants are nothing; they do nothing wench." A low toned, calm voice that came from the man sitting on a crate that was added to the barricade, he casually twirled a dagger between his fingers. "Enchants don't win battles. Lusken or not, if he knows what's good for him—he'll pay up."
"Idiot human," The elven woman muttered. "Did I say he had elven enchants? I said he had an elven blessing!" she stated that sharply before looking to the side and muttering something in elvish while she folded her arms. Her almond eyes looked towards the man in the black armor as she felt fear strike deep into her heart once more, making her fidget.
"The toll is 100 gold per head, pay up or the toll will be your head." the one on the far right threatened. He traced his fingertip along the string of his crossbow.
"Ya gunna be a good one and pay up, yeah?" the gruff tone asked.
"No." a voice echoed darkly within the black helmet.
"So be it, punk. Boys! Give him what for!" the one in the center demanded.
A bolt raced across the air, zeroing in on the man in the black steel plate; the bolt crumbled in half as the rapier cut the object in half. "Shoot the bastard!" the leader screamed. The man with the crossbow nodded once, dropping a kneeling position as he fired from his automatic crossbow one after the other; he repositioned himself with every shot. Each bolt however was cut in half by the rapier and the newly drawn short sword of the black armored warrior; he swung with keen precision and unmatched speed. The archer swallowed hard as he slowly stood to his feet, the awe leaving him motionless.
"My turn," an echoed voice sounded from the dark helmet.
The black armored fighter somehow produced a scroll as he whispered an echoed incantation quickly, finishing as the scroll burned up into ash, red energy gathering around the black gauntlet before it shot out a red beam of light; the energy hit the brute that held the club and right before the eyes of his comrades he screamed in agony before he was reduced into nothing but dust.
"The gods be damned, a wizard in armor!" one of the bandits yelled as he lifts the great sword off his shoulder, pushing his right foot in front of him he ran towards the black armored wizard, his light plate armor not seeming to hinder him too much; he was counting on the men to back him up and charge with him. With one of the bandits turned to dust and the other struggling to reload his crossbow, the elven woman still battled with her fear as she stepped back, the other three bandits charged forward as well.
Watching as the bandits charged towards him, the man in the black clad armor glanced beyond them to see the bandit that was reloading his crossbow, eyes narrowing the black armored knight ran forward with amazing grace while he tossed his own rapier high into the air as the blade spun into the air high above. The first of the chargers swiped wide with his great sword but the blade hit against the black plated gauntlet, retaliating with a hard, quick and precise swipe of the short sword, the blade sliced through the face of the warrior as he crumbled to the ground. The moment the man fell to ground, the black plated warrior noticed that one of the bandits leap high into the air with both daggers out and ready as he swooped down on the black armored man like a hawk. With little to no effort, the black armored foe was airborne as his heavy plated form crashed hard into the chest of the one with the daggers, wasting little time as the knight buried his short sword into the chest cavity as the bandit coughed out blood. The knight slammed the bandits body onto the ground as he landed on the dead bandit in a kneel, the ribs crushing completely under the plated weight of the black knight. This caused the two remaining bandits to stop dead in their tracks in horror to see such agility, skill and even spells coming from a man in plate. The black knight stood up alarmingly fast as the knight dashed forward with a swipe, jumping between the two bandits and continuing to run forward, closing the distance between himself and the archer.
The black knight dashed across the dirt path, watching as the newly reloaded crossbow was being lifted up to shot at the black knight. The moment the crossbow became level, the black knight slashed at a 90 degree angle, snapping the crossbow into pieces while lifting his free arm outwards, catching the now descending rapier before pulling his arm back and then thrusting forward hard as the rapier prieced the archers neck, with a twist and side jerk, the rapier ripped out of the throat as the archers eyes went wide and his sickly gurgle filled the air before his body hit the ground. The two that were behind him, seemed to finally catch up to the aspect that they were long dead from the charging swipe as their bodies both fell to the ground in two halves.
Fresh blood dripping from both blades, the black knight's helmet twisted as his head turned to glance at the elven woman who had hesitated to fight the man. Her crippling fear was apparent as she staggered to step back away from the man, whimpers actually very noticeable in the air. The black knight turned his body so he could continue his walk along the dirt path.
The elven woman could only watch as the nightmare in armor walked towards her. She became paralyzed in fear while he walked towards her. She could only look up at like a lost, scared, little child as the knight stopped his walking, standing right before her. The smell of sulhur and brimstone was almost sickening potent around his air as the knight's helmet slowly turned to look down at her. One breath that came out from the helmet looked like black smoke instead of healthy air. She gave a small whimper as she trembled in a frightened manner.
"You're in my way." The dark, frightening, echoed tone erupted from the black helmet.
The tears that had welled up in her eyes from her fear finally fell down her cheeks, her eyes going wide the moment she realized that he might just spare her if she got out of his way. Stumbling to step off the dirt path, she even ended up tripped as she fell onto her rear, her wide frightened eyes watched as the demon in armor continued his walk, sliding both his swords back into their respective spots as he turned at the fork in the road.
His destination…Neverwinter.