EPISODE 9
The last two days had been, well...interesting for Ka. Her master had taken only partial control of her mind in order to allow her to learn and exchange thoughts more or less freely. Being a drow psionicist had struck the illithid as odd, and he had decided to experiment with the limitations of Ka's mind. The experiments themselves weren't the atrocious tortures that Ka had expected them to be; instead, they were like long sessions of mental acupuncture, where the illithid school master would poke and prod at the inner recesses of the drowess' mind until she reacted a certain way that he deemed correct.
However, on the third day of her stay in the Caverns of Thought, Ka was treated to a show.
Get up, the illithid's command snapped inside Ka's mind; there was nothing she could do about it, getting up and going to sleep was one of the powers that her master had over her. The drowess' eyes fluttered open and she sat up in her bed at once. Her quarters had been somewhat upgraded since her arrival; she had a bed now -- not just a pile of cushions -- and she even had a small chair. Sure it wasn't much, but it was more than what she had when she was first abducted. It occurred to her that the more time she spent with her master, the more comfortable her living quarters became...
Yawning, Ka slid out of bed and walked over to the closed door at the other end of the room; her master rarely entered her chambers without warning. She pulled on her boots and opened the door; as she stepped into the next room, her master appeared from around a bookshelf and walked towards her.
I have some interesting items to show you, Ka, the illithid said calmly, halting in front of his slave. Ka eyed the taller creature and blinked.
"Oh? What are they?" She asked aloud. Her master had made it clear that she wasn't to speak to him telepathically unless it was absolutely necessary...it was most likely a form of protection. Still though, it irritated Ka that she could not pronounce her master's true name for she couldn't call out to him when she needed to. The illithid wiggled its fingers and pointed to an exit at the far left of the main room.
Come and you'll see! The creature replied and urged Ka in the proper direction. Curious now, Ka strode past her master and into the small room at the back. Upon entering it, her eyes lit up; there were weapons and coins and potions and armor and Lloth only knows what else. She smiled and resisted the urge to snoop around.
This is my treasury, Ka, the illithid declared as he stepped into the room beside Ka, but this is not what I've come to show you. He moved past the drowess and walked over to a small chest at the other end of the treasury; the creature bent and retrieved a few items from the box, then turned and walked back to Ka.
In his hands, the illithid held a circlet of sorts and a green robe. Ka examined the items and raised an eyebrow up at her master. "What are they?" She asked eagerly, cocking her head to the side. Surely, if the illithid was bothering to show them to her, they were special in some way. The odd gurgling sound echoed in Ka's mind.
Patience! I'm getting there. The illithid cooed and lead Ka out of the treasury and back into the main room. It sat down in an overstuffed chair and bid Ka to sit down in front of it...on the ground of course. Like a small child, Ka obeyed and looked up at her master with an expecting glare.
"So...what's with the stuff?" She pressed impatiently. The illithid held up the circlet first; it was silver and had a red gem embedded on the front.
This is a circlet of Venilkesk; it allows us to detect undead enemies and do damage to their physical structure rather than their minds, he explained pleasantly, there's only a couple of these going around, so if anyone remarks that they are in need of one, please make a point to inform them that you have never seen one before...I like to keep my treasures to myself. Ka nodded.
"Sure." She piped and reached up to take the item from her master's hands. How clever of the illithids to have developed a form of defense against the undead; undead creatures had no mind and no body heat to pinpoint them with...they could cause a great deal of trouble to the mind flayers. But with the circlet, everything was just dandy.
Before Ka got the chance to ask any questions, the illithid held out the green robe; from far, it appeared to be a normal garment, but now that Ka saw it closer, she realized that it was nothing of the sort. Instead of being woven with thread or skin, the robe was a thick maze of interwoven fungi; the robe was bright green and seemed well...alive.
This is a tessadyle robe, Ka's master explained, it is made of a stringy fungus that grows near our caverns. It is quite a special piece of clothing, too! He wiggled his fingers and eyed the robe thoughtfully; it adjusts to its wearer's physique and gives him a delightful array of psionic abilities. Ka's eyed widened.
"What kind of abilities?" She asked greedily. The illithid nodded.
Cell readjustment, body equilibrium, body armor and a few others. He looked down at Ka, and it makes you feel so light and airy that you move faster than normal.
Setting the circlet she held aside, Ka reached out to touch the robe's living fabric; so, what her master was saying was that with this robe, she could heal herself, work as if under a haste spell, and create weaponry from scratch?! Ka shook her head; the robe must have cost her master a fortune...
It WAS quite expensive, actually, the illithid snapped, but I've always been good at betting. He wiggled his fingers gleefully and signaled for Ka to get up from the ground, I want you to put the robe on, Ka.
Surprised, Ka blinked and jumped to her feet; she took the robe from her master's hands and slipped it over her clothing. The illithid had been right about feeling light...the robe was absolutely weightless despite its thickness and odd texture. Ka moved her arms out and was delighted to feel as though she was somewhat weightless herself -- her muscles felt as though they weren't being used...kinda like motion within a dream.
Ka's master sat back in his chair, do you like it? He asked. Ka grinned and nodded as the tessadyle robe seemed to mold to her contours.
"It's fabulous!" She breathed.
Good then...it's yours. Came the illithid's quick reply. Ka's head snapped up and she frowned deeply.
"Why?" She asked at once, positive that this was leading somewhere bad. Her master tapped his pointed fingernails on the armrest of his chair.
Remember when I told you that I had promised to find a good use for you? He asked; when Ka nodded suspiciously, he continued, well, I've been asked to make you a morale-booster for combatants in the gladiatorial arena.
"What's that got to do with this robe?" Ka asked furthermore, wrapping her arms around herself. The illithid shrugged.
There are many things that may harm you while you work backstage with the gladiators...I don't care to lose a good slave AND an interesting test subject. The robe will protect you if you should fail to protect yourself... He pointed down at the circlet, ...and the circlet of Venilkesk will help as well.
Ka cast a sidelong glance down at the circlet; the illithid was being blunt about her being a test subject... She bent down and picked up the circlet, then placed it on her head; instantly, she felt the psionically-empowered gem pulsate. So she was going to give fighters pep-talks? What an odd way to spend the rest of her life...
Seeing his slave fully dressed and ready for her appointed task, Ka's master wiggled his fingers, well then...I'll bring you to the arena right away!
***
The gladiatorial arena was a huge coliseum where illithid masters took their slaves to fight in order to place bets and view good entertainment.
There were many illithids attending the battle arena that day, but Ka -- luckily -- did not have to be in front of an audience.
I will be on the second row if you should need me, Ka's master said in parting as he left Ka near the entrance to the arena's backroom, and besides, I'll be monitoring your progress so I'll be in touch. Ka looked tensely in the direction of the back entrance and looked back at her master.
"I'm not gonna get mauled by some huge creature in there, am I?" She asked worriedly. Her master shook his head and made a dismissive gesture with his four-fingered hand.
Of course not! Don't be such a weakling, it snapped in reply. Ka frowned and narrowed her eyes at her master.
"Yeah you can say that now..." She shook her head and stifled a cynical laugh. She watched her master wiggle his fingers again and the familiar gurgling laughter filled her head; at least she had been enslaved by a good-humored illithid... The curious hand gesture that her master always did struck her as odd because it resembled a gesture that she had seen a human slave do once while speaking with House Venorik'Z'ress' slave mistress. The wiggling of the fingers, for Humans, signified water falling from the sky...rainfall, Ka remembered was what the Human had called it.
As her master turned to leave, Ka reached out and grasped his arm, "Wait!" She called stiffly. The illithid turned around and pointedly plucked its arm from Ka's grasp.
What is it now? He asked impatiently. Ka smiled.
"Can I call you Rain?" She asked, feeling extraordinarily out of place, "I mean...I can't pronounce your real name and I would rather think of you as a person rather than an attribute." She raised her eyebrows in expectation. The illithid looked dumbfounded for a moment, and then its tentacles twitched.
Rain? It asked. Ka grinned and nodded vehemently.
"That's right." She piped. There was a dull moment of silence as the illithid considered the nature of the request; finally, he nodded.
As you wish, Ka. Now get to work! He replied and whirled away.
Thinking herself pretty smart, Ka did a little dance and disappeared behind the scenes.
***
Inside the backroom were all the creatures that the illithids had enslaved and set to gladiatorial duty. Ka could actually speak to only a few of them -- races she had seen before in Menzoberranzan -- but with the others, she communicated telepathically.
At first, Ka just walked around and stared at all the strange faces; but then, she remembered that her master, Rain, was monitoring her progress. There was no way she would fail him...
Finally, she convinced herself to talk to a few of the less-odd fighters that waited their turn to go out in the arena and prove their worth to their masters. She re-iterated some old war-preparation speeches that she had heard her long-dead House Weapons Master say to his troops before an all-out attack. She wasn't sure if it was working, but it made her feel better to be doing something...
At the end of her first speech, Ka's eyes fell upon a familiar face: Dil'andau. Forgetting about her purpose for being in the backroom, she darted over to where the dark elf sat. His usually bright eyes were rather dull now; he had been easily conditioned by his illithid master, and that was no maybe.
"Dil!" Ka cried and bent down to look into the warrior's face, "Are you okay?" She asked dumbly. The drow warrior looked into her eyes but the look was one devoid of all understanding.
"I'm going to fight and win." He grumbled flatly. Rolling her eyes, Ka reached into the male's mind; at length, she sifted through his mental block and reached the soft, recognizable brain underneath.
Dil, it's me -- Ka. She said. The warrior's eyes lit up and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"Ka?" He mused thoughtfully, then he blinked and brought his hands to his head; it was hurting him to be going through all this mental stress…
Dil'andau, I'm here to tell you that you're going to win out there today...I know you can! I saw you attack that squid back in the caves and you can do it again today in front of all the illithids. She reassured the male, reaching out a hand and stroking his thick snowy mane. Dil'andau looked up at Ka through a curtain of hair.
"I...I..t-thank y...you." He managed, fighting through the sudden jolt of crisscrossed mental transmissions. Ka smiled loosely and crouched down, then pulled the warrior's hands from his face and smiled at him.
Okay, enough now...I'll leave you alone and you'll be alright, she soothed and cut the connection between herself and Dil's original consciousness.
Between the time where his master's conditioning fully returned and Ka's connection cut off, Dil'andau's mind was able to 'see' one last thing: the drowess placed a kiss on his forehead.
***
As Ka had expected, Dil'andau fought in the arena and won. His opponent had been a dwarven axe man; the fight had been oddly mismatched and Dil'andau had been uncomfortable with the height difference. However, despite Ka's glee at seeing Dil'andau prevail over the midget, things had not gone so well after the fight.
As soon as Dil'andau struck the killing blow, the dwarf's master threw a fit. It just so happened that the dwarf had been a champion for a few weeks now and that the illithid who owned him hadn't expected to lose the fight that day. He had made some absurd bets and had lost everything to Dil's master.
Ka jumped when the door to the backroom slammed open; she pressed herself to the wall and watched, wide-eyed, as an enraged illithid stalked through the room, looking for someone. It suddenly occurred to her that the illithid was looking for Dil'andau; it didn't take her long after that to realize who the illithid was -- he was the dwarf's master and he was looking for revenge.
Something went off in Ka's mind and she ran past the illithid, nearly knocking it over in her haste. She positioned herself in front of the entranced Dil'andau and threw out her arms defensively. As if she was going to let the illithid harm Dil!
Take your rage out on the dark elf's master! Ka cried telepathically to the illithid, completely ignoring the fact that the creatures did not like to be mentally intruded upon. It was ironic, really. She watched as the dwarf's master balled up his fists. There was about a space of one second when Ka realized that she should have minded her own business...
The illithid lashed out at her with a mental blast that rendered unconscious on impact.
As Ka crumbled to the ground at Dil'andau's feet, two other illithids stormed into the back room.
Halt! Dil'andau's master cried to the dwarf's master, this is childish and unnecessary! It went on, and hurried over to its fellow illithid, roughly pulling it away from Dil. He and the dwarf's master began to argue over the outcome of the fight as another illithid brushed by them.
Rain, who had suddenly lost connection with Ka, idly hefted the limp drowess over his shoulder and walked out of the backroom, leaving the two other illithids to argue over their bet.
***
A few hours later, Ka woke up in her bed; groaning, she opened her eyes and looked up into the face of her master Rain.
The illithid was dangling a small pendant over her nose. Greetings! It called cheerily, as though she had been gone on a trip of some sort instead of being unconscious. I have a present for you! It piped.
Ka's first thought was Dil'andau. Was he alright? Had his master agreed to have him killed in exchange for harming the dwarf's master's feelings? Would she ever see him again?
"Another present?" The drowess asked drowsily, squinting in order to get a closer look at the pendant dangling over her face. As she examined it, she instantly recognized it as her own; her hand went to her throat, where her ruby pendant usually sat...but the pendant was gone. "That's mine!" She cried in frustration. Rain gurgled and pulled the pendant out of Ka's reach, causing her to have to sit up.
Yes, it is. I took it from you while you were passed out. I've implemented it with psionic circuitry -- it's a mind shield now, Ka, the illithid explained. Ka sat up and snatched the pendant back from Rain's hand; she scanned it quickly for any signs of damage, then fastened it around her neck and covered it protectively with her hand.
"My father gave me this pendant, Rain." She lectured her master then thought for a bit and raised an eyebrow at him, "Why are you giving me a mind shield?" She asked curiously. Rain's tentacles twitched.
I would think that with what happened today you'd understand why I'm giving you a mind shield, the illithid replied in a dull voice, it will protect you from anything and everything. Rain paused, and yes, I know that this could backfire on me. But don't be so foolish as to believe that by wearing that mind shield, you're no longer my slave, he added pointedly. Ka sighed and released the ruby; she shook her head,
"Of course not, Rain." She retorted and dropped back down onto her pillow.
Her thoughts shifted to her brother...
