Chapter 4
"No. Absolutely not!"
After Lore had made sure Tavia was resting as well as possible in an ante chamber he had gone back to speak with the Seer. He had been loathed to leave his sister unattended, but she had suffered Altitude Sickness before and experience had taught him that all he could do was wait for it to pass. In the mean time Lore needed to get all the information he could from the Seer regarding the situation and how he could get out of it.
What Lore had learned greatly disturbed him.
According to the Seer the Valsharess was some crazy drow bitch- Lore's words not the Seer's- who in a bid for power had summoned one of the rulers of the Nine Hells. The part where Lore started having problems was when the Seer told Lore that the Valsharess wanted Tavia dead, and that his sister was the only one who could save the drow rebels and possibly the world.
"Please, Lore. I know this must be upsetting but we need to discuss this rationally." The Seer said, trying her best to be calm and reassuring.
Unfortunately Lore was in no mood to be calmed."Rational? You want me to be rational?" Lore half shrieked, unable to believe he was even in this situation at all. "You basically just told me you want my sister to march up and kill a woman that we've never heard of before! A woman, I might add, who has somehow managed to bind an arch-devil to her service. Given the circumstances I think I'm being perfectly rational!" Lore had to pause for breath. He had become progressively shriller as he yelled at the strange assortment of people in the room.
For the moment there was silence in the room but it was broken by the red haired tiefling standing near the Seer.
"Well," The tiefling said, clearing his throat. "I suppose that's that. Our newcomers will simply be on their way."
"Valen!" Nathyrra shot sternly at the tiefling.
"I simply mean," The tiefling said, stiffening a bit. "That if they don't want to help berating them will not make a difference."
"Might I remind everyone that the decision that needs to be made now is not Lore's to make, but Tavia's." The Seer said firmly.
"My sister—" Lore stopped mid sentence, grinding his teeth. Go on, he chided himself. Tell the people you just met that your sister is a masochist with a blood fetish who hears things. Tell them that there are times when even you doubt her sanity. That'll go over well. And while you're at it, why don't you tell them what kind of meat you have wrapped up and hidden in your pack? Why don't you tell them where those bones you snack on in the pouch at your hip came from? That's not going to get you killed. "My sister," He continued. "Doesn't always do what's in her best interest. Since coming here someone has tried to assassinate her, a geas has been placed on her, and she's succumbed to a severe bought of Altitude Sickness."
Lore sighed, pressing his hands to his eyes. "Even if we stayed Tavia is unlikely to fully recover while we're underground. She's an air genasi, a race of plane-touched that typically doesn't operate well at low altitudes." Lore explained. "Look, I know how heartless this may sound but I've never been good at faking compassion. I don't care what happens to the people of this plane, or the people you lead, Seer." Lore said frankly. "You could all die horrible, bloody deaths and I assure you I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. I just want to get my sister back to the planes and get that geas off of her."
Lore was aware of how unpopular those words had just made him. Nathyrra was glaring at him and the red haired tiefling looked like he wanted to tear his head off. Lore was willing to be that neither of them had ever had anyone close to them they had to worry about, though. Tavia was the only family Lore had. Together they had walked the planes since they were children, and Lore wasn't willing to risk his sister's life for the lives of people they didn't know. If something happened to her it would be his fault. Already he had brought her here to get rid of something plaguing her, and things had gotten so much worse than he had foreseen. How was he supposed to subject her to the dangers of a hopeless war?
The Seer sighed, a look of dismay paining her face. "If you are so intent on leaving with your sister, then I suppose there is nothing we can say to change your mind." Resigned, the Seer straightened. "When your sister is well enough to travel we will send someone to guide you back to the surface."
"Thank you, I would appreciate that." Lore said with a nod, a bit relieved.
The room was silent for a few minutes and then Tavia pushed open the door to the ante chamber. She stood in the door way, leaning on it for support as she still felt dizzy. Her limbs felt heavy and her vision swam before her eyes, but she had been listening to the entire conversation.
Oh, Lore. She thought to herself. I know you want to keep us safe, but you don't understand. You don't hear what I hear. I can tune the music out, but the knowledge that it's wrong is still with me.
Tavia pushed herself from the doorway and stumbled over to Lore. Half way to him she tripped over her feet and Lore rushed to catch her.
"Hey, careful." He said gently as he sank to his knees with her, holding on to her shoulders. "You're only going to hurt yourself if you push yourself, you know that." Lore said, removing one of his gloves to feel Tavia's forehead. She was mildly warm, something that would be good for most people. Tavia's regular body temperature when she was healthy, however, was just below that of a normal person's. The fact that she was a little warm meant she was still fevered, and Lore wanted to get her resting again as soon as possible.
Tavia gripped at Lore's armor, her eyes meeting his with a stricken and worried expression.
"It's okay. It's okay." Lore breathed, pushing his sister's hair back from her face. "I'm not mad you didn't tell me you could speak Common. We can talk about it later. As soon as you're better we'll get out of here and back to the planes. All right?"
Tavia shook her head violently, an action that caused her head to pound. She rested her head against Lore's armor while she focused on keeping her vision straight.
Lore stared down at his sister confused. "What's the matter, Tavia?" He asked with a frown. "What are you trying to tell me?"
Tavia looked up and met Lore's eyes. How can I make him understand? She wondered to herself. How do I tell him that even if the compulsion to fix the song wasn't there, I wouldn't be able to ignore people asking me for help? How do I tell him that I can't be as detached as he is? I'm not that strong. I'm not that cold. I can't help it, but I care.
Lore looked down at his sister sadly. She wanted to stay, and there was nothing he could do to change that. Once his little sister made up her mind there was nothing that could change her decision. If Lore tried to drag her from the Underdark she would fight back and stay there without him. If Tavia wanted to stay then she was going to stay, and Lore was better off where he could keep an eye on her. "This is going to be incredibly dangerous, you know that right?" He asked Tavia quietly.
Tavia nodded, a small, relieved smile curling up her lips.
"Okay, then." Lore breathed, helping his sister to her feet as he stood up. "Right! Change in plans." Lore said, looking to the Seer. "My sister and I are staying. We'll do what we can to help you, but I'm not sure how much help we'll be."
"My lady Seer," The man named Valen said, a look of displeasure etched on his face. "I don't think this is a wise course of action. Are we truly to put our trust in a man who clearly doesn't want to be here and a woman who was defeated by altitude?" His voice almost came out in a snarl, a mocking tone easily mixing with his words.
"Wow, I'm sorry, I didn't realize we had another master of the great art of sarcasm in the room." Lore drawled. "Why don't you stand right there for a moment? You stay right there so I can just bask in the warm glow of your arrogance."
This was when Tavia stopped listening. Lore was caught in a sarcasm loop again, and looked like he and the other man were now engaged in trading snarky comment that would likely reduce weaker people to tears.
Content to let Lore have his fun and get all his sarcastic comment out, Tavia took the time to observe the other people in the room. There was the woman Nathyrra, whom she had met earlier in Undermountain. Nathyrra looked more comfortable now, though still on her guard. She was laughing at one of the comments one of the men had gotten in, and smile did wonderful things for her face. Tavia was glad to see Nathyrra smiling. When she and her brother had met her before Nathyrra had clearly been worried about something, even if she tried to hide it, and Tavia hated seeing people so distressed.
Tavia's eyes next moved to the man in the room. Ignoring the vibrant red of his hair and the paleness of his skin, Tavia was willing to bet he was a tiefling. It would have been easy for anyone from the planes to recognize the man called Valen as a tiefling. Tiefling's came in all shapes and sizes, but Tavia had never seen a set of horns or a tail like his on a person who wasn't at least part infernal in origin. Valen's stance was one of strength and confidence, his armor and the large flail on his back marking him as some kind of warrior. Tavia was, she would admit, a little curious about this man. She hadn't seen another planar since she and her brother arrived in Toril, and had even gone so far as to wonder if they were the only plane-touched in the strange new world. Apparently Tavia had been wrong, and something in that fact pleased her.
It was now that Tavia turned her eyes to the Seer, who in turn turned her eyes to Tavia. The two women gazed at each other for a long moment, and Tavia suddenly felt oddly nervous. It was the way the other woman was looking at Tavia that made her uneasy, like she knew everything about Tavia without even trying. It was like the other woman was looking into her soul and seeing all the secrets that lay there.
Admittedly a little frightened, Tavia turned from the Seer and closed her eyes.
"Enough!" Valen roared, shattering Tavia's meditation as she now turned to look at the man. Apparently he was done verbally dueling with Lore. "Seer, please. I do not trust these people! You saw what the girl was doing earlier. You saw where she was looking."
"Yes, good Valen, I did see." The Seer said, her voice still calm and soothing. "However, my faith in young Tavia is only strengthened by seeing the display."
"What?" Valen said, unable to keep himself from snapping.
"Does anyone want to tell me why my sister doing something strange is causing such a fuss?" Lore asked, raising a brow.
"The direction Tavia was looking in is the approximate direction in which the Valsharess' fortress lies." Nathyrra explained.
"Voi vittu." Lore cursed to himself under his breath. How was he supposed to handle this one? "That's what you were referring to earlier, wasn't it?" Lore asked his sister, remembering the few words she had deigned to speak not too long ago.
"It's all right, Lore." The Seer said. "You needn't worry. The goddess has spoken to me of your sister's talents, and I assure you they will not be met with hostility."
"What do you mean, Mother Seer?" Nathyrra asked the Seer, looking to her quizzically.
"Tavia," Lore began slowly. "Sort of… hears things." Lore explained.
"What she hears," The Seer began. "If I understand correctly, is the sound of the life and the multiverse moving together in harmony. When she spoke earlier, I believe she noticed that something had changed in the music she was so used to hearing. Am I correct?" The Seer asked Tavia, meeting the genasi's gaze.
Tavia bit her lower lip, still a bit afraid of the Seer, and nodded her head slowly. Tavia was briefly aware of Nathyrra staring at her in amazement, and Valen regarding her in suspicion.
"If I had to make an educated guess, I would say that this disturbance is caused by the arch-devil the Valsharess has enslaved, and that Tavia was merely looking towards the source of the disturbance." The Seer explained.
After a moment the Seer moved slowly over to Tavia. Lore tensed, ready to intervene, as did Valen he noticed, but all that happened was that the Seer took Tavia's hands in her own.
"Tavia." The Seer said gently. Despite her nerves, Tavia found herself turning her head to look into the Seer's kind, earnest eyes. "You have a wonderful gift. You know this. With time and proper instruction you could do so much good with this gift." The Seer said. "I too have been blessed with the ability to know things, though I achieve this by communing with my goddess. If you wish it, with time I could teach you how to better use your natural talents."
Tavia didn't respond. She was ill, tired, and still a little scared of the Seer. She'd never met a woman who was so powerful and yet so serene at the same time. Tavia wasn't sure what to do when confronted with such a person as this.
The Seer let go of Tavia's hands, smiling at her reassuringly. "You don't have to decide right now." The Seer told Tavia. "We will give yourself and Lore time to rest, and then we can discuss what comes next. In the mean time, relax. I'm sure you must be feeling ill. Come, let's find you some place comfortable to lie down for a little while."