The Search for Lesle Mere


Disclaimer: This a fan-fiction based on the Neverwinter Nights game franchise; it is in no way, shape, or form, to be considered cannon.


Lesle's Secret

Another month had been lost to travel. Unlike the rhythmic sway of travel over sea, the Winding Water earned its name. Tebriah felt as though every turn would twist her stomach in a different knot. She spent well over half the trip at the mercy of the railing, too ill to punch Tomi in the face when he laughed at her.

Daelan didn't fare much better than she did, and he often joined her nearby. They would cast sympathetic glances before entering another fit at the approach of water rapids. How Vengaul managed to get them to their destination without nicking the sides of his boat was a mystery, but it was much desired that he could do the same with their stomachs.

The hills of Evereska stretched out before them, with its characteristic blue-leaf trees dotting its lush lawns.

They were many-pointed, with vivid azure hues undulating in the wind in the likeness of an overcast sky. After she was done kissing solid ground, Tebriah thought that this was a place where earth and sky was indeed as one; merely two sides of the same coin.

Sharwyn took point this time, her glorious red mane tied in an elaborate bun at the base of her neck.

"Unlike the rest of the oafs in our group, Linu and I actually made an effort to stay in touch," she explained to her. "She used to maintain the central temple to Sehanine, but a string of bad luck has left her on the outskirts of the city. And according to the description, she ought to live right… there."

Sharwyn pointed at a flat patch of earth, tickled by tiny streams of the Winding Water's tail. Small waterfalls cascaded into a pond surrounded by delicate frond shrubs and sturdy evergreens.

As they neared, Tebriah could make out the delicate nuances of the elven architecture, with billowy boughs overlaying one another to form a sturdy frame, and meticulously scalloped shingles on the roof.

There was a woman in one of the windows, wrestling with a flower box. Dirt smudged the better half of her face, and tight brown curls hung wildly down her back and shoulders.

At that moment a bee flew near her head, and she spoke kindly for it to go elsewhere.

It continued pestering her.

She attempted to swat it, leaned too far into the window pot, which then dislodged from its hinge. She shrieked as she fell from the ledge, grasping at a gutter, but this also tore from the side of the house.

They watched in awe as said gutter craned across the yard and over the waterfall. Daelan rushed forward just as the elven woman attempted to fling herself at the grass.

But then the bee from earlier made its triumphant reappearance.

She let go too soon, gloriously socking the half-orc in the face with her bum.

Sharwyn covered her mouth with a fist, valiantly fighting an onslaught of laughter. Tomi attempted to sneak away, but Boddyknock jerked him back by the collar of his shirt.

"We NEED her."

Tebriah's eyes widened –she'd never heard him so stern before. Tomi wilted, and the bard thought she heard him issue a strangled little cry.

"I'm kind of impressed," said Tebriah, earning the scornful glares of the men in the party.

"You get over it quick," the halfling scowled, marching forward like a man to his execution.

Sharwyn couldn't contain herself any longer, and as Linu was coming to terms with the familiar face her butt had knocked unconscious, she released a startled scream at the others approaching her.

A beaming smile, complete with joyous tears, graced her expression, which made her appear lovely and childish all at once. Tebriah stood aside and watched as Linu braced Tomi and Boddyknock in an ironclad hug, following with a gentle tap on her shoulder by Sharwyn. The cleric went pink in the face as the bard whispered about how blue the short men were getting before coming in for her own embrace from the elf.

Daelan looked like he was finally coming to. Linu moved as if to help him, but he immediately waved her away, causing everyone to burst into tears of laughter.

Again, Tebriah was stung by a pang of jealousy. She had taken for granted for bonds she'd made during her first adventure, and it surprised her to no end what she was willing to give to experience them one more time.

It was the family that she never had, and she feared she'd never have again.

If she went missing, would her surviving companions go to these lengths to find her again? Did anyone care that she was gone?

Loneliness enveloped her so completely that Tomi had to nudge her by the hand to get her attention.

"Oye, you alright, Tebriah?"

It touched her to see genuine concern on his face. She forced herself to smile.

"Yeah, Tomi."

"Ya sure?"

She nodded.

The rogue gave her a misgiving look. "Now that I think about it, you have that in common."

"What?"

"You and Les," he clarified. "Always trying to keep things together –forcing yourself to be strong when no one asked ya to be. I think that's why Ophala sent you on this quest in the first place."

She paused, surprised at this sudden revelation. "Lesle… and I are similar?"

"Not so much in the ways of looks, I guess," he admitted. "But I think you got it in your head that she was this… I dunno… leader. She was, don't get me wrong, but it took months for any of us to realize it." His expression turned gentler than she ever thought it could be. "She hung on the sidelines, talking to us whenever we were feeling a little lost, I guess. Got our hearts strung on her fingers before we knew it, and just quietly acted as our compass."

He looked at her suddenly, drawing out from his memories. "I get the feeling that your own friends have got pretty loud and proud personalities, eh? It'd explain why you're so clammed up. If you got less stuck in your own head and actually let yourself be vulnerable, I'm sure they'd rush in ta cover ya. You're a good lass, Tebriah," he grinned. "I just wish that Les gave us that chance."

Tebriah stood there, deeply moved. She knelt on the grass and kissed the halfling on the cheek in gratitude. He touched the side of his face in wonder, before breaking out into a victorious smile.

"C'mon. Get your buxom arse inside before Linu decides she wants to torch her lawn while she's at it."

They moved across the way, expecting a battlefield once they entered the cleric's home, but when Tomi and Tebriah opened their eyes they came to a starling realization: the inside of Linu's house was clean.

That fact threw everyone through a loop.

Daelan insisted that the elf sit on the couch in the living room, and stressed for her to remain as still as possible while he made some tea. Boddyknock supplied sweets from his bag of holding, and Tomi watched the scene like a hawk from the doorway.

Tebriah couldn't help but notice that Linu's ears had turned a fiery shade of red from her embarrassment. Clearly no one trusted her abilities as a host, and somehow she had turned into the honored guest in her own home.

When she spotted the new face she dropped her shoulders in relief, eager for a line of conversation that didn't stem from her catastrophic lack of grace.

"Why hello there dear. You must be the Tebriah I've heard so much about."

The bard pointed at herself, and saw Sharwyn raise a hand.

"The way Linu and I keep in touch is through an enchanted pair of journals –it allows us to communicate almost instantaneously."

"Wow, that's handy!"

Linu chuckled. "My late husband lives on through his ingenuity I suppose." She waited until the other members entered the room and made themselves comfortable. "And thanks to those journals, I already know why you're here."

"Lesle," said Boddyknock.

"Indeed." She looked at Tomi, and smiled in the most non-threatening way she could manage. "If you could, please take the envelope from the uppermost left hand drawer of my writing desk."

Tomi walked over to the indicated piece of furniture and jiggled the handle.

"Um… Linu, it's locked."

"I'm aware. I lost the key years ago."

"So you're asking me to…?"

She took a casual sip of her tea. "I know of no better halfling for the job."

Tomi appeared so moved that he looked as though he might cry. He wasted no time in whipping out his tools, unlocking the drawer in a fraction of a second. He returned with the envelope in his hands, and graciously offered it to Linu.

The elf took it from him and rested it on her lap.

"It's from Lesle, but before I read it to you, there's something you should know." She set her cup on the counter, suddenly serious. "...I saw her after she disappeared."

It was as if a tremor ran through everyone, and all noise was instantly deafened. The elf took a deep breath, prepared to continue the story.

"Lesle begged me not to say a word unless it was absolutely necessary. Since it's already gotten to the point where all of us are assembled, I believe it's a good time to share this story,"

"...she appeared approximately three months after her disappearance, soaked in rain, on my doorstep." Linu looked distressed now. "Naturally I was extremely worried. She was out cold from fever, so I immediately took her to the nearest couch –the one you're now sitting on," she motioned, "and started to get her out from her wet clothes."

A minute passed without another word.

Finally, Daelan rested his hand on her arm. "What happened, Linu?"

"Lesle… was pregnant."

Sharwyn couldn't contain a gasp. Tomi forgot to swallow half his tea, which now dribbled from his mouth onto his pants.

"I had to completely alter my way of care. I couldn't afford to expend dramatic healing like I did during our adventuring days, especially since it was still early in her pregnancy. When she finally came to, her first question was how her child was doing, and then she made two requests –the first being not to tell anyone about this unless it was an emergency, and the second, to stay in the poorest room I had available."

Linu closed her eyes, haunted by the memory.

"I had never seen her so devastated before, not even after what happened with Aribeth. She was so scared of being found that she cried almost every other hour." She gazed at the faces in the room. "Please believe me when I say that I wanted to call all of you to her side, but she refused, terrified that Lord Nasher would have one of you followed. Apparently even I was a risk, but she had run out of options –for what, I don't know."

She carefully opened the envelope then, and produced two sheets of paper.

"Barely a month after she arrived, I'd gone up to her room to call her down for breakfast, but she was gone. I found this on her bed with the pendant I'd given her during our adventuring –it was the only thing she left behind."

Linu cleared her throat and read the letter aloud:

citrus is the scent of secrets

that ripen throughout time

and like a Flame they bloom to life

imPrinting on your mind

Everyone stared at one another.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tomi asked.

"I don't know."

"And the second paper?" asked Daelan.

"It's blank."

They passed it around, each companion reading and rereading through the poem. Tebriah took it in her hands last.

"F and P… they're the only letters capitalized."

"But we've come across no one with those initials," Sharwyn explained. "It makes no sense."

"What if they're not initials?" Tebriah queried. "Like a flame they bloom to life… imprinting… printing…" Her eyes bulged. "Give me the blank paper!"

Linu handed it to her, balking as it was snatched from her grasp. Tebriah pressed the tip of her nose against the parchment, breathing in deeply. Though faint, there was a lemon scent to the paper. She instantly went for the candlestick on the mantle, hovering the paper over the flame.

"What in blazes are you doing?" Tomi demanded. Sharwyn pulled him back.

"Wait just a moment."

She returned a minute later, this time to brown residue on the sheet. She flipped it so others could see that there was a message.

"I remember as a child we'd write secret messages using sour fruit juice. As long as you're careful about heating it up, it's crude invisible ink."

Boddyknock applauded rancorously. "Simply brilliant!" And Tebriah could suddenly see a resemblance between him and Grobnar. Gnomes all seemed to have an appreciation for simple, efficient techniques. This sorcerer was no exception.

"So what does this letter say?" Daelan wondered.

"Hold on, it's divided into two separate entries. Entry One: Two amulets. One pendant. Two rings. One sash. Scrying stone."

"And Entry Two?"

"Entry Two: Quest Log, page 128."

Without a word of explanation, Boddyknock placed his ring and Grimgnaw's amulet on the table. Tomi followed with his ring. Sharwyn removed a belt from her pack and placed it down beside them. Daelan did the same with his necklace, and Linu unfastened a delicate clasp around her neck.

As soon as these items came together, the wood of the table began to smolder. They coughed at the smoke, wafting it away, and soon stared at a map.

Tebriah didn't recognize any of it.

But they did.

"It's Neverwinter!" Sharwyn gasped.

"From before the war with Luskan," Daelan affirmed.

It suddenly made sense why the structure was entirely different. Boddyknock scrambled through his belongings, pulling out an elongated quartz crystal. He handed it to Linu.

"Bless it, if you please."

She brought it to her lips and kissed its surface. Tebriah watched as the priestess drew it up by its silver cord and swung it in circles over the map scorched into her coffee table.

Finally, it landed with a loud thud.

Tomi slapped himself in the face. "I should've thought of it earlier."

"What is it?" Tebriah demanded, eager to get in on the information.

Boddyknock pointed at a general region. "This is Old Black Lake, and the scrying crystal landed on the Board Laid Bare –an inn that Lesle won through a series of underground gladiator fights."

"I've never heard of it."

"It was largely destroyed in the War," he sighed. "But… since Lesle gave us these hints then it's possible a fraction of it yet survived."

"It's underbelly," Daelan offered.

Tebriah pulled out her own map. While it was strictly breaking the law for any map of Neverwinter to be in existence, she'd created it back when she was new to the city, for fear of getting lost in its winding streets. Carefully, she overlaid one with the other, using landmarks to guide where it went.

"Let's see… this Board Laid Bare is now… it... this can't be."

Though it was slightly off, and it seemed that the Board Laid Bare veered off into the middle of a present-day street, it did coincide with one building Tebriah knew of.

The Sunken Flagon.