Disclaimer: Oh for the love of little spiders... This is now my alternate universe. I found my Forgotten Realms happy place. Wizards seems to be having a hard time making one.
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But Darkness seeks
Light's lore to keep
And cloaks itself a-golden.
With words of venom
It choked the phenom
And shadow wrapped the flame.
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Ricardt walked back to the rooms he and Teilla rented at the Sapphire House in Waterdeep. The stable master at the Halls of Justice had been mildly surprised to find someone returning mounts in good condition. The paladin supposed that more often than not, neither horse or rider ever returned from their missions for the temple. Sometimes Ricardt felt relieved that the church of Tyr did not want him on official business very often.
At least Tyr seems pleased with me most of the time and they did have a message from Ilsie and Wilhelm, he thought with a sigh as he walked through the open door of the inn's front office. The paladin waved to the freckled young man behind the check in counter as the youth talked quietly with two elves, both pale skinned in silver mail and green uniforms, one golden blond and one with jet black hair. The boy waved back but kept most of his attention on his conversation.
The paladin climbed the stairs to the adjoining rooms he and rented and hoped that they would not stay in Waterdeep long. Two days ago, Gilnor had come bearing another letter from Mirandaline and left with a rough copy of the poem Teilla had concocted about about the carving on Kraanfhoar's door. The paladin had not much to add to Teilla's letter except that he wished the archer the best of luck with her studies.
He unlocked and opened the door to his sparse room and found the adjoining door to Teilla's room ajar. The bard was not there. Ricardt suspected the questions about the ancient door she wanted to ask would result in lengthy answers, or non-answers, from the Pantheon Temple. He did not expect to the Teilla until early evening. Perhaps I should inquire at the Halls of Justice about a temporary post if we might be staying here for a while, he mused.
Ricardt dropped his cloak on the foot of his bed and started to unbuckle his sword belt when the doorknob from the hall into Teilla's room jiggled around with a metallic rattle. "I suppose she had an easier time at the temple than I thought," he chucked softly. "Leave it to Teilla to charm answers out of them."
The door opened into Teilla's room and the red haired half elf did not immediately walk in. Instead, the black haired elf from the check in desk peeked in the door. "Can I help you?" Ricardt asked warily and surreptitiously moved his sword hand nearer to his blade. If the elf intended robbery, he was going to hit a snag shortly.
"Um... Ewersod?" the elf said uncertainly and looked over his shoulder.
"What's wrong?" A musical tenor, presumably Ewersod, asked in Elven, "Is this not Teilla's room?"
"Lady Hawksman is out at the moment," Ricardt replied in Elven, his human voice a little rougher and deeper than the elf's. "Since the lady is not in, I must ask you to either wait outside or in my room if you wish to speak with her when she returns from her errands."
"Is it the dr..." Ewersod, the blond elf, stuck his head through the door and looked in. "Oh, the paladin."
"Who would like to remind you that you are both on the verge of breaking and entering," Ricardt told him, still using Elven, "And I again ask that you both either wait outside or in my room until Teilla returns."
Ewersod glowered for a moment until the dark haired elf said in embarrassed Common, "If you're Teilla's travelmate, then I'm all right with waiting in your room. Ewersod was just a little worried about his daughter."
"Of course," Ricardt said mildly, also switching to Common. "I would hate to have to report a concerned parent to the watch for unlawful entry. If you don't mind shutting Teilla's door and coming through the hallway..." The paladin opened the hallway door to his room in invitation. The two elves shut the door to Teilla's room and walked over to Ricardt's sparse room. Ricardt shut the connecting door between his and the bard's rooms and motioned the two elves to the neatly made bed, the only decent place to sit in the small room. "So, you came here worried about Teilla?" the paladin inquired, curious.
"A rumor started about three weeks ago," Ewersod explained, "That a drow elf had found a way into a library of ancient magic. Little Tee's name was sometimes tossed around in these stories."
"Three weeks ago would be about the same time we parted ways with Mage Teshurr and company," Ricardt sighed and continued, "So you got worried and wanted to know if Teilla was in danger. Sounds reasonable." The paladin turned to the dark haired elf next to Ewersod. "And you, sir, are here because..."
"Oh, I'm Jassin Laelithar," The moon elf said amiably. Jassin flicked a glance at Ewersod before continuing, "I heard conflicting stories and wanted to see which parts of them were true. That and a friend asked a favor of me that could be carried out while I was on leave."
"What have you heard, anyway?" Ricardt asked, half worried.
"Well, aside from my daughter running around the Heartlands with a drow elf... Rumor has it the the dark elf prevented Mage Teshurr from recovering some lore that might be useful to repairing Myth Drannor's mythal," The blond sun elf eyed the paladin challengingly.
"Well..." Ricardt started uneasily. Fortunately for him, Teilla came bursting through the door to his room, virtually aglow with excitement.
"Ricardt! I found out..." Her expression gave way to confusion as she took in the two elves in the room. "Papa! What are you doing here?"
"Checking on the company you keep, sweetheart," Ewersod got up and gave the half elf a relieved hug. "How's your mother?"
"Mum was all right when we saw her three months ago," Teilla replied. "What's so wrong that you came rushing to find me?"
"I heard you recently had a brush with a dark elf recently," Ewersod said seriously, "Are you all right?"
"Didn't anyone tell you?" The bard trailed off when she saw Ricardt shaking his head.
"I haven't had a chance to tell them yet," he said regretfully. "They got here only a little before you did."
"Right," Teilla sighed. Ricardt got the distinct feeling she knew the jig was up. "Papa, remember my last letter where I told you about my new traveling companion, Mirandaline?"
"Yes," Ewersod replied briskly. "I'm looking forward to meeting her."
Ricardt smacked his palm against his forehead as he realized that some panic could have been averted had Teilla bothered to detail Mir's race. Jassin looked askance at the paladin.
"Well," the bard continued doggedly, "Mir won't be available for a while. She's the drow who went through Kraanfhoar's door."
Ewersod frowned, "I thought you said she was a wood elf."
"Mirandaline Sparrowhawk is an elf of dark elven and wood elven parentage," Ricardt explained, resigned.
Jassin gave a low whistle, "That would be an unfortunate person to start running around Cormanthor now. They've been organizing dhaeraowathilas to combat the drow already there."
Why doesn't he seem overly surprised? Ricardt wondered, flicking a glance at the moon elf. Aloud he asked, "Did they do something to warrant such treatment?" When both Jassin and Ewersod turned frowns on him, the paladin shrugged, "I have to ask. If the drow are defending themselves or otherwise minding their own business..."
"They weren't," Ewersod caught the paladin's drift and explained, "The Jaerle and Auzkovyn were raiding the Dales periodically long before the Crusade chased the Dlardrageths in. They've taken to making assassination attempts on our officers."
"Thank you for the clarification," Ricardt said, relieved.
"Not a problem," Jassin waved it away, "Clearly you are unfamiliar with the factions in the lands in and around Cormanthor."
"Now, before I was so rudely interrupted," Teilla harrumphed. Ricardt, Jassin and Ewersod all turned their attention back to the bard and she continued, "Thank you. Now the inscription around the door says, 'Our dusk has fallen, we await the dawn.'"
"That's it?" Ricardt asked, disappointed.
That's all of the obvious writing," the bard smirked with all of the smugness of a cat carefully ignoring the cream. "I'm not the only one who has made a rubbed copy of that portal and taken it to the temple. They compared mine to one of theirs and found that one of the borders had changed."
"Let me guess," Ewersod stated blandly, "Writing?"
"Down along the bottom border," Teilla grinned.
Ricardt frowned thoughtfully and asked, "What did it say?"
"And here's where my day of fact finding took a turn for the worse," Teilla pouted, " The priest of Sehaine Moonbow I was talking to wouldn't tell me and he wandered off with my rubbings. I though he was going to look something up, so I waited around for a while but he didn't come back."
"I think I'm a bit lost," Jassin said sheepishly, raising a hand.
"Could you make a copy of the inscription from memory?" Ricardt asked.
Teilla shook her head, "Not without seeing it again. At least not if you want an accurate copy. You're thinking it was in Seldruin?"
"Copy it and send it to Mir," Ricardt nodded, then sighed, "Give her something to do besides turn wizard."
"Let me see if I have this straight," Ewersod broke in. The sun elf stood up and started pacing around the paladin's room, making wide sweeping gestures as he spoke, "The 'drow' Mage Teshurr was griping about is your friend Mir, who is a mixed elf scout, which you failed to even hint to me in the past six months. You have some means of contacting your friend behind the library door. A library with supposed lore concerning mythal repair that Mage Teshurr can't get to. Why hasn't this girl found the information he needs to fix the mythal surrounding Myth Drannor yet?"
Ricardt and Teilla glanced at each other in surprise. "Because this is the first we've heard of it," Ricardt answered mildly to the irate elf. "Araevin didn't talk to us at all about what he hoped to find beyond Kraanfhoar's door. Mir wouldn't have guessed it either because she took pains to avoid being in the same vicinity of the main party most of the time."
"We just knew he wanted in pretty badly, was sore about not getting in and acted like Mir was a problem before she'd actually done anything," Teilla added.
"Oh," Ewersod said and sat down again.
"Could I interrupt this debate for a minute?" Jassin asked. "Would it help you both if an officer from the Crusade went and talked to the priests at the Pantheon Temple in an official capacity?"
Teilla blinked, "You would do that?"
"Well, it's easy enough to draw up documents that look official enough..." the black haired elf trailed off as he noticed Ricardt solemnly shaking his head.
"We'll get to the answer without means of dubious legality," The paladin said gravely.
"It was only a suggestion," Jassin shrugged.
"What brought you here anyway?" Ricardt asked.
"Oh, well, I overheard some discussion of 'the drow that thwarted Mage Teshurr.' At about the same time one of the wood elf scouts that I've been working with closely got a letter saying that his cousin had gotten herself stuck behind some ancient portal and it might be a while before she could extricate herself back to Faerûn," Jassin grinned. "Then Ewersod told me that Teilla's name had been tossed around with regards to 'the drow.' I started to think the two were related and wanted to see if they actually were."
"Papa's a blade dancer. I know where he fits into the army, more or less," Teilla looked hard at Jassin. "What do you do?"
"Scouting, sabotage and code breaking," Jassin had the grace to look a little abashed when he said it. "I was a trap springer loosely attached to the Tomb Guard before the Shadovar attacked Evereska."
"That makes sense," Teilla heaved a sigh.
Ricardt carefully hid his grin and said, "If you really want to help us out, keeping an ear open to rumors in Cormanthor would useful."
"If Ewersod's willing, he can keep an eye out in Cormanthor. I'm likely to get moved back to Evereska. I can keep a look out there," The moon elf looked so enthusiastic as he said it that Ricardt wondered if he just let the proverbial fox into the chicken coop.
"Not to sound ungrateful or anything," Teilla studied Jassin, "But why would you do something for a half dark elf you've never met?"
"Because I owe Heinfor Sparrowhawk my life a couple times over and he asked me to check up on his oddball younger cousin," Jassin explained, "He would've come himself if he could get away from Lornith long enough."
"Lornith is his commanding officer?" Ricardt asked.
"Lornith is Heinfor's father," Jassin explained. "Lornith is also the leader of one of the dhaeraowathilas."
Teilla shut her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "All right," she said, "Mir should avoid getting caught in Cormanthor and Araevin was specifically after mythal lore regarding repairs. Was there any other mess not of our doing that you wanted to dump on us?"
"Sorry," Jassin said sheepishly.
"We'll mention that Heinfor is in Cormanthor and concerned for her," Ricardt said in a gentle voice. "On the way to the High Moor, Mir was wondering if any of her kin had Returned."
Jassin nodded and stood up. Ewersod laughed ruefully, "I come running halfway across Faerûn to save my little girl and she doesn't need saving."
"Life does have its little ironies," the bard sighed as the sun elf stood up. Teilla gave Ewersod a hug and said, "I do appreciate the gesture, Papa."
"Thanks," Ewersod said, "So, you are going to meander your way to Cormanthor eventually, right?"
"Eventually," Teilla answered. "We'll look for you when we get there."
Both elves nodded in reply and walked out the door to Ricardt's room. When the door was shut behind Ewersod and Jassin, Teilla turned to the paladin and asked, "How did they end up in your room when I got here?"
"Jassin jimmied the lock on your door and the connecting door was open," Ricardt answered as he tiredly sat down on his bed. "I informed them that if they continued in an apparent act of breaking and entering, I would be forced to summon the watch."
"And so they decided on option 'B,'" Teilla finished. "For a moment there I thought Papa actually knocked on your door first."
"He did seem worried," Ricardt noted mildly. "So, the temple took our copy of the inscriptions on Kraanfhoar's door, but we know that something they'd never seen before has appeared along the bottom border."
"I'm thinking no one has ever made a copy of it while someone was inside," Teilla added. "Anyway, it's something we can't follow up on very well."
"I hate the feeling of uselessness this puzzle is giving me," Ricardt grumbled as rubbed his face. He felt stubble under his palm and noted in the back of his mind that he needed to shave.
"Me too," Teilla sighed. "So... Hear anything interesting from the Halls of Justice?"
"Well, aside from the stablemaster being pleasantly shocked that someone was returning mounts, I did have a message waiting for me from Ilsie and Wilhelm," Ricardt said with more energy than he felt.
"Your younger brother and older sister?" Teilla asked, interested. "How are they doing?"
"Well, they're both at home near Olostin's Hold," Ricardt continued, "And they would like me to come by at the earliest opportunity before winter. Something about someone doing an excavation where they shouldn't be."
"Well, that's easy enough, since I can't think of anything really pressing that I need to do here," Teilla noted. "Shall we resupply and set off then?"
"Suits me just fine, Ricardt agreed. "I'll see if I can hire on with some merchants heading for Everlund as a guard and them we can back track back to Olostin's Hold."
"Sounds like a plan," Teilla sighed in relief and leaned on the outer door jamb.
Ricardt took in the bard's tired posture and suggested, "How about I save off on the resupply run until tomorrow and instead drag you to someplace with good food and music?"
"And no elves," Teilla added, "I'm feeling more human today than usual."
"You must have had a really bad day at the temple then," the paladin said sympathetically, "What happened that you left out?"
"I got grilled by a couple of door guards about why I wanted to talk with one of the lore masters there," Teilla grumped. "They wouldn't leave it alone when I said it was a personal matter."
"You might have avoided that by telling them you were there for research concerning an elven relic," Ricardt said mildly. "It is true after all."
"That probably wouldn't have worked either," Teilla said glumly, sitting down beside the paladin. "It was more of a 'you're not an elf' reaction than anything else."
"Seems strange to put door guards with that attitude in the middle of a human city, I but I can't say that I haven't had that kind of reception too," Ricardt put an arm around the bard's shoulders and gave her a little hug, "Now, how about we go find that good food and music?"
"Do we have to go in that order?" Teilla asked, "And can we go dancing too?"
If the prospect of having me step on her toes all night seems enjoyable, she really must have had a trying day, Ricardt thought. Aloud he said, "I hope you know a place because you know I certainly don't."
Teilla's broad happy smile lit up the room and Ricardt felt his heart lift a little at the half elf's renewed spirits. Clearly a night of revelry is exactly what she needs, Ricardt thought as Teilla seized his hand and practically dragged him out the door. He felt a good deal better for being able to do something helpful and resolved to do what he could to ensure a quiet trip to Olostin's Hold in the morning.
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Lore note: a dhaeraowathila is a band of elven devotees to Severash who join up to hunt and kill drow.
Author's note: Next chapter will also be focused on Teilla and Ricardt before I switch back to Kraanfhoar. As always I do appreciate reviews, even the ones that aren't positive, so please leave me a note.
