Bhaalspawn Union – 6
Disclaimer: I don't own Baldur's Gate, or the Forgotten Realms, or anything else. They all belong to Bioware, TSR, WotC, etc. I am just playing in the world created by them. As usual, all criticism is welcome.
Insurrection
"The situation for the City is none too easy, Your Majesty," commented Elhan, as he seated himself on the seat proferred by the queen. "The guardian, Adalon, is gone. While the drow are in no position to attack for the moment, nor will they be for some more years to come, they can recuperate faster than we can." A meeting was being held in the queen's sitting room and five people were part of the meeting. The queen herself, Lady Ysinnel, General Sovalidass, Elhan and the High Priestess, Demin comprised the constituents of the meeting convened.
"Have there been any more attacks at the temple?" queried Demin, from her slouched position at the far end of the table. She still walked with stiff limbs – her recovery from the attack by Irenicus had been slow, and she had come within an inch of death when she had battled the Exile's rakshasa minions.
"A few small patrols are probing our defences now and then, but I think it is more to ensure that the Guardian is gone than to really test our defences." replied Elhan. "If the words of the Bhaalspawn are true, they are hardly in any case to fight us."
"And how do you know the Bhaalspawn spoke the truth?" queried Yssinel, in a carefully neutral tone.
"We subjected him to the truth ritual when he as questioned, milady. Our best sages saw no lies in his words," returned Elhan.
Yssinel looked for a moment as if she wanted to question the competence of the sages of Suldanessellar who were interrogating a Bhaalspawn, but she held her tongue.
Ellesime answered Yssinel's unspoken question quietly, "Inglor had no reason to lie about the drow – he fought them, and from the svirfneblin whom my agents have questioned since, we have learnt that there has been indeed a large vacuum of power in Ust Natha, coinciding with his stay in the City." She looked around at her audience for a long moment, before deciding to spring another piece of appalling news on them. She continued wearily, "But that aside, Suldanessellar is in serious peril of failing even without the drow threat."
"How so?" the question had come from the surprised elven general.
"The mythal," replied the Queen, in the same sad tone. "It has been seriously damaged. Yssinel and I spent the day assessing ways to repair the destruction caused. There is a good chance that we will not be able to completely restore it." While Ellesime herself was quite capable of elven high magic, she was not an expert in the field. Consequently, she had sent to Evermeet for help and her prayers for help had been answered surprisingly quickly in the form of Lady Yssinel Amaranthine, a powerful elven high mage, who had been sent to help her with the mythal. Lady Yssinel, who specialised in the knowledge of mythals, had gladly agreed to assist and had arrived in Suldanessellar only the day before.
"How serious is the damage, Your Majesty?"
The queen looked at the specialist, who answered for her. "Extensive," responded Lady Yssinel. "It has been attacked by life draining magics twice within a few decades. Mythallar magic is very slow in healing, Captain Elhan. We have been doing what we can, but there is only so much we can do, considering the extent of the damage. Hopefully, we should be able to replenish it sufficiently."
Ellesime reclined in her chair and murmured, "We need to find a new guardian – a powerful entity who can fight the drow on their terms – or we are done for."
Yssinel spoke neutrally, "Very few dragons, even metallic will agree to sit and guard the egress from a drow city for all time."
Ellesime nodded with that assessment – after all, she had worked so long and hard to win Adalon's confidence, and agreement to guard the tunnels. Finding another dragon was all but impossible. However, she had a germ of an idea. One, if it succeeded, might well compensate for the loss of Adalon. However, she spoke aloud, "I think that concludes our meeting. I shall wish you all a very good evening. Elhan, if you would remain for a minute."
As they all rose, Sovalidass queried, "Your Majesty, may I venture a question?"
As Ellesime looked at him questioningly, he spoke, "Has the Hellspawn left the City with his remaining lackey?"
Ellesime's deep green eyes flashed fire, but she spoke quietly enough, "I will thank you, General, to refrain from referring to Inglor as a Hellspawn. He has earned the gratitude of the City. I will remind you that had it not been for him, all of us would be dead ere now. And as for his whereabouts, they are his own concern."
Sovalidass bowed as if suitably chastised, and quietly turned and opened the door. To the surprise of everyone else, he barked, "Soldiers, make ready!"
Immediately, a dozen soldiers burst in through the door, their weapons bared and ready, and the general himself drew a longsword from beneath his cloak. "Treachery", breathed Demin and Elhan together, and Elhan drew his own blade, only to find himself frozen and unable to move a muscle, trapped in a spell that had been cast wordlessly at him from behind. From the corner of his eyebrows, he saw that Demin had been caught similarly in the archmage's spell, and only the queen had escaped the first assault that had surprised all of them.
The queen had felt the magic that had trapped Elhan bounce off her own shield that she had erected the instant the treachery had become apparent. Ellesime turned round in shock to face this unexpected adversary, but Yssinel was already chanting her next spell. The powerful elven high mage sent a powerful dispelling magic at the daughter of Rillifane, shattering her shield and Ellesime leapt back, barely avoiding the treacherous general's blade, her awkward actions spoiling her own counterspell against Yssinel. A stunning spell from Yssinel caught the queen as she stumbled backwards, freezing her too, ending the short battle.
The treasonous high mage drew a pair of lockets from her robes and with a smile, affixed them at the queen's and Demin's throat. The second it had been put on her, the queen knew what it was. A dead magic locket, which would create a sphere of dead magic around it. With no access to her magic, she and Demin were both helpless – it was only suicide to try to face off alone against the general and all his soldiers. She tried to take the necklace off, but failed and seeing her failure, Yssinel laughed coldly, "It is useless, your Majesty. You cannot take it off." The queen closed her eyes for a moment in frustration, and then turning to the general, drew herself to her full height and demanded, "What does this mean, General Sovalidass?"
Her once-general did not answer until all the three captives had been disarmed and bound securely by his soldiers. Then the general gave her a wolfish smile and replied softly, "I am afraid that Her Majesty's decisions to investigate and sentence elves over a Hellspawn and his lackeys cannot be ... seen as encouraging. Your Majesty has brought naught but misery on this City, first through her actions regarding the Exile, and now regarding this Hellspawn. Any further of your mistakes, and I fear there will be no City for you to rule, or for us to live in." Then drawing himself up, he spoke formally, "Ellesime, daughter of Rillifane, I charge you and your associates, Elhan, and Demin with bringing untold misery on this city and seeking to endanger it with your mad policies. Therefore, tonight, we shall relieve you of your duties."
Demin sniffed sardonically, "In the meantime, I suppose you will handle the affairs of this city in our stead?"
The traitorous elf bowed mockingly, "My soldiers and many others on the Council have done me the honour of requesting me to run the city. I hope to do better than my predecessors and will definitely avoid following the precedent set by my 'illustrious queen'. Now if you will please follow me."
Elhan demanded, "Where are you taking us?"
The general smiled, "There is a convenient island on the Suldanesse with an old, unused prison barely a day's march from here. This prison has had the honour of hosting some great dignitaries of Tethyr during the civil war, but never has it been graced by an elven queen, I fear. Many in the prison will be delighted to share your august company."
Ellesime turned to Yssinel, "Does Evermeet approve of your actions here?"
The high mage smiled coldly, "What they don't know won't hurt them."
The Queen continued thoughtfully, "Your appeared almost too quickly after I sent the plea for help. I imagine you were already in the area. Why were you here? Were you monitoring the situation? Have you been planning this action for long? Or were you interested in.." The queen caught herself before saying Joneleth. She paused, before continuing, "Were you interested in Irenicus?"
"My reasons and actions are my own." The icily disdainful voice from the high mage made it clear that there was no use questioning her.
The general's soldiers nudged the queen to move with their spears and Ellesime looked in contempt at Sovalidaas, and prophesied, "Your oaths of faith to me you may break, but I must hold my bond. And yet if there are any that have not fallen under the shadow of this madness, your life in this city will not be easy and I shall find a few elves who will support me. Tell me, did you arrange the deaths of Inglor's companions?"
The general smiled, although it was tinged with more than a hint of tightness. "Your Majesty would do well to focus on things that are of import to her. Neither that hellspawn, nor his toadies are of any consequence to you. They will get their due soon enough."
Under the menace of the weapons of the general's soldiers, there was nothing to be done but to follow the instructions of their friends-turned-foes. Ellesime, Elhan and Demin were hooded to conceal their identities and marched out in silence to the river by a quiet byway, where there were usually few people. The soldiers of Sovalidass were in the streets and had ordered everyone to stay away from their paths under some pretext.
Soon the party consisting of the treacherous general, his soldiers and their captives reached a small lighter, and Ellesime and her two associates were forced into the hold. As soon as the hatch of the hold was shut, the general gave orders to his soldiers. "Carry out the second phase of the operation. Remember, my brave soldiers, the future of the elves is in our hands. We cannot afford to make a mistake here or to be led astray by emotions. Carry out your work and be sure that history will remember our actions as those that saved the elves of Tethyr from destruction."
The general was conscious that his troops looked none too happy, and added, "Listen, my friends. We are working against a self-absorbed queen who twice failed to protect us. To gain her passion's petty ends, she exposed us to the Shattered One's attacks. Now she endangers us all by failing to recognise the dangers posed by the Hellspawn. Removing a parasite is a great service we shall be doing the elves. Fear nothing and carry out your orders. You shall all be rewarded well."
The elven guards finally bowed and the boat was set adrift. They unfurled the sails and after a couple of hours they had traversed a few miles downstream. The general's soldiers abandoned the lighter and moved into a lifeboat. Immediately, they began to work on the port side of the original craft with hammers and axes. With the crash of the axes and hammers against the planking of the boat came horrified comprehension to the three captives. They were not being taken away to be imprisoned, but would be drowned in the Suldanesse - the boat would be sunk and it would look an accident. The general had planned this very carefully - they had to hand him that. With Elhan, Demin and Ellesime dead, the most senior and powerful remaining officer was the general himself - and he would probably be asked to accept the position of the Kingship of Suldanessellar by the Council. Yssinel would be around to put her own stamp of approval – and by implication, that of Evermeet, even if they knew nothing of her actions.
However, there was no time to be lost and Ellesime snapped out her orders, "Demin, help me untie Elhan. He is the best hope for success. Elhan, sit still."
She and Demin immediately went to work on the ropes that bound Elhan's hands with their teeth. It was hard work, but fortunately, the lighter was also made of hard, seasoned wood and did not crack immediately under the axes of the general's soldiers. After several minutes of hard work, Elhan's bonds gave way and he untied the other two. By now, there were a dozen gaping holes in the side of the lighter and water was gushing in. Elhan tried to utilise one of the holes made by the soldiers to escape, but outside, on the lifeboat were the general's troops wielding swords and bows now. With curses, they slashed and fired at Elhan's hands as he tried to widen the holes to escape and a lucky shot transfixed him through the throat. He gave a choking gasp and collapsed on the muddy floor of the boat's hold.
In the meantime, Ellesime and Demin were fighting to open the locked hatch. It was a useless task and both of them merely succeeding in breaking their nails, achieving little besides. The boat shifted violently as it began to sink and the lifeboat carrying the general's troops moved away finally from the ship, intent on escaping the vortex which would be generated by the sinking craft.
Meanwhile, in the hold of the doomed ship, Ellesime was flung against one of the crossbeams and held on to it. For a moment, water passed over her head, but then it came to settle around the height of her shoulder. The elven queen was quick to realise what had happened - the lighter had gone down by the prow on a shallow, and the stern remained protruding. Between the level of the water and the roof of the hold, there was a foot - perhaps a foot and half of clear space. Yet of the two priestesses, she was the only one to profit by this extraordinary chance. She screamed herself hoarse for Demin to do likewise, but the only answer was the ghostly echo of her own voice in the sepulchral hold of the ship. Later on, it would be discovered that the older priestess had hit her head on one of the bulkheads during the convulsions generated by the sinking boat and had drowned, being knocked unconscious by the blow.
For four hours, Ellesime floated amid the bodies of Demin and Elhan. The water of the Suldanesse, coming from the glaciers on the Starspire mountains was bitterly cold and freezing in this early winter. A woman of less vigorous mettle, physical or moral, would never have survived this ordeal of the long immersion among the corpses in the icy waters of the eddying river, but she hung on grimly and hoping against hope that someone would notice the partly sunken ship and help her.
Just after daybreak, her faint hopes received a boost. As the first streaks of daylight suffused the water, a sound of voices and the soft noise of oars dipping in the water reached her ears - a fishing boat was passing by. Ellesime screamed for help. The rowing ceased on the fishing boat and the elven queen screamed again. This time she was answered and soon she heard the oars on the fishing craft working at double speed - finally, it was alongside her own craft. Blows of a grapnel tore at the planking as the lighter was firmly grasped in the tentacles of the other craft. Simultaneously the priestess was conscious of the noise of feet on the decks above. A few minutes later, there was a hole large enough to admit a body, and a rope was tossed down to her. Thoroughly numbed, she grasped it convulsively and the men on the other craft heaved her up. But racial prejudices in Tethyr are strong and seeing that she was an elf, they put her ashore and would do no more for her.
Thoroughly drained in mind and body, Ellesime nearly collapsed on the rough forest floor, teeth chattering from the cold, and at her wits' end what to do. The grief at losing her two best friends, ravaged her spirit and left her with a feeling of emptiness that made her wish for a moment that she was also lying with Elhan and Demin in their last silent resting place. However, her active spirit shook off the lethargy that springs from despair and she struggled beneath the protection of a rock, carefully pondering her own options. There was a major choice she had to make – whether she should return to Suldanessellar or not.
Returning to Suldanessellar carried with it a major peril – her appearance there would definitely spark off a civil war. It was very clear to her that her opponents had some serious support, and worse yet, she did not know who all the plotters were. Suldanessellar was already on the brink of failing and any more deaths would inevitably push it over. The more she thought of it, the more it was clear to her that she was unjustified in an action that could well doom the city she loved. Furthermore, she did not know how to remove the necklace that prevented her from using her magic. To have her citizens see her in such a pitiable state was worse than death to her. It was far better to be hated than to be pitied. Finally, the deaths of both Elhan and Demin hung heavy over her mind and the last thing she wanted was to go to a place where she would be reminded of them, day in and day out. She needed time to recuperate from her travails. She needed the freedom to act to assess her own situation among the elves. Neither would be possible if she returned to her City. For the time being, Suldanessellar would be safe. That would have to do. She would have to relinquish any thoughts of regaining her throne immediately.
If she didn't go back to Suldanessellar, the question was where she could go. Remaining in the Tethyran wilderness was a perilous enterprise, particularly without her magic. Ellesime did not relish having to fight off any wild beasts, or worse, Tethyran elf haters with a bow or a blade, neither of which she possessed at the moment, anyway. She considered – the general would doubtless raise the alarm over her disappearance the next day. They would search for her – or her assailants would pretend to search for her. In a few days at most, they would `find' the sunken lighter and discover there only the bodies of Elhan and Demin. They would figure out that she had escaped and begin looking for her discreetly. Yssinel would use her divinations, and in her magic inhibited state, Ellesime had no way of evading her scrying. Consequently, the queen had, at best, only a few days to make her way to a safe place.
There was no elven settlement of any consequence nearby – not enough to hide her from the scrying eyes of Yssinel once the search began. There was only one place close by where she might – just might – find help. Zazesspur was two days march away for her, if she kept up a quick pace, and she hoped to find Inglor, who had told her he would be there for a few days, and who was probably the only one in the area who could help her. But would he offer her shelter? Or would he hand her back to her enemies? No – the latter was unlikely, considering that her enemies were more inveterate foes of the Bhaalspawn himself. But would he aid her – that was the next question she needed to answer. What could she offer him to secure his assistance? What did Inglor want, anyway? A slow smile lit her lips. The latter question she could answer. The gold elven Bhaalspawn longed for acceptance, a circle in which he would not be feared or hated. She had seen it in his eyes, faint and masked, even perhaps subconscious, though it had been. After all, elves were communal creatures and most of their powers came from their connection to the weave and to one another. It was, therefore, not too surprising that Inglor too desired – nay, needed – that. The Bhaalspawn had gone out out of his way to aid the citizens of Suldanessellar because he wanted them to accept him for who he was, not reject him for what he was. When the elves had rejected him, in part for his heritage and in part for his lack of practical knowledge of elven culture and society, he had been hurt bitterly. He had hidden both his desire for acceptance and his bitterness at the rejection very well, but Ellesime had seen it in him. She could repay both his assistance to her city and herself by teaching him what he dearly wanted. She would teach him to be an elf.
---(Author's Notes)---
In Forgotten Realms canon, elven high magic is limited to mages of level 17 and more – they also have to be more than 450 years in age, but that is a side issue, for I think Ellesime is easily older than that. Elven high magic is what is used in the generation of mythals. Baldur's Gate canon states that Ellesime is a 16th level magic user (although the game .cre files show that she is a cleric, not a mage). I am making a change and assuming that she is a cleric/mage who has access to elven high magic. The number of levels is a gameplay device and is hardly of any consequence in real life. It strikes me as likely that the daughter of one of the Seldarine would have access to elven high magic, which is, to quote Forgotten Realms canon, `the very essence of elvenness'. This change from Shadows of Amn canon is necessary for my story, and in any case, it hardly contravenes any real plot points in the Shadows of Amn.
The idea for my present chapter comes from an event during the French revolution, where the Citizen representative Jean Baptiste Carrier had prisoners in the city of Nantes drowned in the Loire to sate his bloodlust. His actions caused even the hardened Revolutionary Council to flinch in horror.
Finally, Ellesime is not going to be Inglor's romance interest in the story. There will be no romance with her for two reasons. First – Inglor does not really have a romantic side – he rarely speaks of the softer passions without a gibe or a sneer. Second – Ellesime is just recovering from the damage her own love for Joneleth caused. She would be unlikely to fall in love with a Bhaalspawn who is as manipulative as any on Toril.
Thanks to Abstract Error for her help with the story.