The five disguised surfacers and one exiled drow, Ralis, Neera, Hexxat, Valygar, Rasaad and Viconia returned to the tavern that is not too far from the Female Fighters' Society tower and rested there for the next three hours. While resting in his room alone, Ralis lay in the bed, resting atop the bed sheets being plagued by his guilt for failing to find a way to save himself from having sex with Phaere. Though his sex drive is content, his heart and mind are apparently not. He never imagined that he would end up sleeping with another woman, becoming unfaithful to Viconia, the woman he wished he hadn't broken up with. He berated himself for a few minutes, but eventually reminded himself that it is not his fault that all this happened. Worst case scenario considered, if he refused to copulate with Phaere, she would probably kill him, or worse, find out that he is actually a human, as no male drow would ever turn down a female interested in them. So basically, his infidelity happened for a reasonable cause, not because he is no longer interested in Viconia, but to maintain his cover as a drow warrior from Ched Nasad. A drow warrior that hasn't been claimed by a woman yet... Ralis couldn't help wondering if he told Phaere that a female has already claimed him, would she be willing to fight Viconia over him? Most likely. No, she would definitely. As for Viconia, she stayed in her own room, fuming over Phaere forcing Ralis to "sleep" with her. She knew that Ralis did not willingly do this, but still, the thought of another female in bed with Ralis angered Viconia so greatly that she started pounding her fist on the surface of her bed multiple times in rage while saying every curse word in the Drow vocabulary. But she eventually calmed down and hoped that Shar's darkness will sooner or later take Phaere. Throughout her tantrum, she never noticed the irony that she is angry that another woman slept with Ralis even though she is not his lover anymore. But the truth is, she did not break up with him because she wanted to, it was because she believed it was a necessary thing to do.
After taking a short rest, Ralis, Viconia, Neera, Hexxat, Rasaad and Valygar departed the tavern and headed for the temple of Lolth. As soon as they stepped out of the tavern and into the streets where dozens of commoner drow people walked by them, Hexxat asked Ralis something he never considered.
"Did Phaere tell you where the temple of Lolth is?" She asked him in the drow language so that none of the drow people walking by will hear them speak in a surface language.
Ralis felt like slapping his face in shame. He did not make sure Phaere told him where the temple is located. But he had an idea on what to do. He stopped a passing by fellow male drow and asked him for directions.
"Greetings, fellow male, I am here from Ched Nasad on business. Where is the temple of Lolth?" Ralis asked him.
The male drow pointed over his right shoulder using his left hand.
"Northeast, not far from the Male Fighters' Society, on the second level," he replied.
Ralis wasn't sure if he should say "thank you" or nothing at all, so he just nodded in approval and lead his party down the direction the drow pointed. The drow that told them which direction to go briefly wached them out of curiosity, then moved on minding his own business. When the party got 40 minutes away from the tavern, they went up the nearest flight of stairs to get to the upper levels of the city, and sure enough, they saw the Male Fighters' Society tower ahead of them where they are facing. But there is also a bigger building in width than length a little ways further back behind the Male Fighters' Society Tower, built into the biggest hollowed out cave column in the cavern.
"That big building over there almost behind the tower must be the Temple of Lolth. Let's go before we are late," Ralis pointed out.
They crossed a series of suspension bridges, but they had to be careful because the dark elf citizens of Ust Natha crossed these bridges too, so they had to be steady and not in a rush to avoid the unfortunate event of accidentally pushing someone off the bridge. As they neared closer to the temple, Ralis and Hexxat marveled at the size of the temple. It must have taken more than a hundred slaves to build this temple when the city was in its infancy long ago. When they reached the path that leads straight towards the temple's entrance, they walked by a dozen drow priestesses wearing web chokers around their necks leaving the temple to do business someplace else, wherever that may be. When they stepped inside, Ralis and his party marveled at the ancient stone structures and architecture of the temple, seeing several Handmaidens of Lolth stationed here and there as temple guards, clad in drowcrafted body armor armed with maces and swords, some even had shields, and all of them trained their glaring bright red eyes on the six newcomers entering the temple as if they expect trouble from them. Ralis and Neera had to fight the urge not to fidget under the watchful gaze of the Handmaidens guarding or on patrol in the temple. Up ahead in the temple's central chamber, Ralis clearly saw Phaere speaking to another drow woman with a black headdress of some kind on her head and wearing clothes of superior quality with what appears to be webbing designs on her long skirt. The moment they got close enough to hear what Phaere is saying to the priestess, she turned her head and saw them approaching. Phaere smiled upon seeing Veldrin and his party arriving and greeted them. Or greeted only Veldrin, his party she mostly ignored.
"Ah! Here you are!" Phaere glanced back at her mother standing a few feet behind her, looking at Veldrin and his party with a curious frown. "Matron... this is the male I spoke to you of, Veldrin," Phaere pointed at Ralis with a pleased smile on her face.
As Matron Mother Ardulace Despana took a few steps closer to Phaere and Veldrin, she did not look pleased at all. More like mildly angry, but not at Ralis or his party, but at Phaere. Hexxat silently noted how much Ardulace resembles Phaere, but is apparently much older than she is, Ardulace's white hair is thinner than Phaere's hair, a sign that she is between 550 and 600 years old, nearing the final century of her lifespan before dying of old age.
"I can see him well enough, fool girl. You think I'm blind?" Ardulace chastised Phaere angrily, and Phaere shook her head in submissive denial at her mother's question, causing Ardulace to snort in dismissal.
Then she turned her red eyes on Ralis, examining him, looking at him from head to toe memorizing every detail about his physical appearance. He saw her white eyebrows frown up in confusion, and he silently hoped that she did not see a flaw in his drow disguise.
"Ehhh... I see nothing special about him. What fascinates you so?" Ardulace looked at her daughter for an answer.
"Matron, he is an excellent fighter. Szordrin from the fighting pit tavern informed me that he defeated Lasaonar and Chalinthra of the First House... and he is the one that rid House Despana of its... other... problem." For some reason Phaere lowered her voice and shifted her eyes while blinking when she mentioned House Despana's other problem, almost as if she doesn't want any of the priestesses and Handmaidens still in this temple to overhear.
Ralis saw Matron Ardulace's uninterested eyes snap open in surprise after Phaere explained his accomplishments.
"*This* is that one?" Ardulace pointed at Ralis in surprised disbelief.
Phaere nodded while smirking pridefully upon seeing the awestruck expression on her mother's face.
"Illithids, eye tyrants, gnomes... and the mighty Solaufein! Are you sure?" Ardulace took one more awestruck skeptical look at her daughter and saw her smiling lips spread open to show her white teeth.
Then Ardulace took another look at Ralis, coming closer to him and sizing him up, walking around him clockwise while checking out every detail of his body. While she was doing this, Viconia looked at Hexxat, hexxat looked at Viconia, exchanging confused expressions because they couldn't understand why Ardulace can't believe that Ralis, a.k.a. Veldrin is the favored male drow of her daughter.
"To me, he looks scrawny, and there is... something... odd..." Ardulace said.
Viconia knew what Ardulace found odd about Ralis. It is his height. Ralis is a little tall to be a drow. Generally drow can't get any taller than 5'5, and Ralis is 5'9. Though he looks like a drow in every way, his height hasn't changed. Fortunately all of the drow in Ust Natha haven't noticed the height discrepancy, otherwise that would be a problem of sorts. When Ardulace backed away from Ralis until she stood beside Phaere, she took a few steps to stand in front of her mother then said:
"I am positive, matron, that he could prove great use to you."
Phaere, Ralis and his party could clearly see that Ardulace is still not sold yet. She crossed her arms underneath her bust and brought her left forearm hand up to her chin and gently stroked it while thinking over her course of action carefully.
"Ehhh... perhaps. Let him prove it, then, if he is to become so favored in the eyes of Despana," Ardulace said to Phaere, then she turned her attention back to Ralis, pointing at him. "You, boy! You there... Veldrin, isn't it?" She paused for a moment, allowing Ralis time to nod in response to her question. "Pay attention," she began. "The eye tyrant you killed coming from their so-called city. It was not the right type."
"What? Truly?" Ralis asked in disbelief, and he saw Phaere shrink back a little, likely because she knew a scolding from her mother is coming.
"You killed the wrong eye tyrant, boy. I told the girl here which type I required, and that was not the one," Ardulace replied, her tone tense with frustration, then turned her glare to face Phaere behind her.
"But, Matron, I-" Phaere blurted out in defense but she never got a chance to finish explaining her mistake because Ardulace slapped her across her face so hard, the loud snap noise echoed in the temple, causing some priestesses nearby to look their direction in mild curiosity.
"Silence, girl! I'll not swallow your lies!" Ardulace scolded Phaere with so much spite in her voice as she placed both hands on the left side of her face, which is smarting with the same intensity as fire burning skin, and she shrunk back as if fearing another strike from her mother. "Speak again and I will send you to the pits of Lolth... would you like to deal with the drider again so soon, girl?"
Phaere's eyes widened in fear as she held the side of her face that is burning with pain. She remembered the last time she angered her mother, she was sent to the pits where driders are held. There is only one drider that exists in Ust Natha, and Phaere has seen him once. It was a nightmarish experience that gave her many sleepless nights, plagued by the memory of being stalked and chased by the drider. Once Ardulace saw that she secured Phaere's obedience, she turned her attention back to Ralis.
"Now, Veldrin... you have proven yourself as competent. This is good. House Despana needs competence, a rare commodity when one is surrounded by fools." Ardulace made sure to glance at Phaere behind her when she uttered the word "fools" to drop the truth bomb on Phaere that she is indeed a fool.
Neera smiled, though she felt bad for Phaere being insulted by her own mother. As for Phaere, though she is standing straight up on her feet now, being called a fool did indeed hurt her pride. Ralis could see that she is genuinely confused at how she made the mistake of killing the wrong beholder.
"House Despana is about to embark on the path to greatness, Veldrin," Ardulace explained with a prideful smile while spreading her arms wide. "You can tie yourself tightly to us. Mother Lolth approves of the successful." Now she lowered her arms. "But I require something rare to begin this path. You might acquire it for me. So I shall give you the task and see if you can earn Despana's favor."
"What do you require, Matron?" Ralis asked like any other loyal drow would.
"I need the blood of one of the neighbor races, Veldrin. The noble races only, and blood from one of their most powerful members. A dangerous task. Your first option is to acquire the blood of an elder orb, most powerful of the eye tyrants. Its blood or its eye." After saying this, Ardulace looked back at Phaere again, glaring at her with an intensity that almost startled Phaere. "I bade the fool girl to do this, but she failed," Ardulace explained to Ralis while keeping her glaring red eyes on Phaere.
"The Spelljammer tyrant was supposed to be an elder, Matron! I swear that is what the spies had reported! They must have exaggerated!" Phaere quickly said in defense even though part of her knew that excuses would only anger her mother more.
Before she knew it, Ardulace's left hand came up flying towards the right side of her face and then she felt the hand rock her head violently and she heard the loud noise that followed the slap. Now both sides of her face are under severe pain and she recoiled back in pain.
"SILENCE!" Ardulace bellowed as soon as her hand made contact with Phaere's face, and Neera and Rasaad flinched from witnessing the physical abuse. "You should have checked on it yourself, girl! Do you rely solely on this male to be your strength and your wits?!" Ardulace barked.
Phaere struggled to stand straight and firm and she replied with as much emotional strength that she could muster: "No, Matron, I do not."
Ardulace snorted in derision. "Enough!" She dismissively waved her hand at Phaere as she turned to face Ralis again. "Should you go after the elder orb, you will no doubt find one in their tunnels in the southeastern portion of the main caverns, about three days away from the city, maybe more. Your other options are to gather blood from the elder brain of the illithids or from a prince of the kuo-toa. Either would be as difficult as the elder orb. The elder brain is guarded in the illithid city, through the southeast caverns. An old ruin of the kuo-toa lies in the western caverns, ruled by a mad prince."
After hearing the objectives Ardulace Despana has given, Ralis could hardly believe that she expects them to go on either one of these difficult tasks. The question he needed an answer is which one of these is the least dangerous? Fighting kuo-toa sounds easy, much better than infiltrating a mind flayer city or confronting the most powerful species of beholder.
"Go then, Veldrin. Bring me the blood of one of these creatures. House Despana awaits your return... but do not tarry. This is my command," Ardulace instructed.
Ralis bowed respectfully and said: "Very well, I will do my best."
"Of course you will. Go now and begin your task," Ardulace replied, and after all has been said, Ralis turned his back on Ardulace and Phaere, walked past his companions and headed for the temple's exit with his party following close.
As they put more and more distance between themselves and the temple behind them, they felt the urge to voice their opinions on Ardulace's task more and more, but they did not want to speak about it within earshot of the Handmaidens patrolling the temple. As soon as they found the nearest stairway that took them down to the ground level of the city, they now felt safe to speak their opinions aloud.
"Is that woman insane? Her tasks are the very definition of suicidal missions," Valygar said disdainfully as he descended down the stairway spiraling down the big stalagmite towards the ground level with his companions.
"I assume that going after the kuo-toa prince will be easier than fighting an Elder Orb guarded in a city of mind flayers, let alone killing an elder brain." Rasaad said.
"Are you so sure about that?" Hexxat asked, flashing Rasaad a skeptical smile.
Rasaad swallowed some saliva in mild nervousness while looking into Hexxat's artificial red eyes.
"I never said I had faith in my opinion," Rasaad said.
The group didn't utter another word for the next three minutes as they descended down the stairs. Once they reached the ground floor, they immediately followed the streets in the direction towards Ust Natha's bazaar, where the city's exit gates are.
"What say you, Veldrin? Which task should we go on?" Neera asked.
As Ralis struggled to memorize the route to the bazaar, he also struggled to decide on whether they should go after the kuo-toa prince, or the beholder and elder brain in the illithid city. Going into a mind flayer city is obviously suicidal, there is no telling what may happen if they try to go there. The mind flayers may decide to eat their brains, or take them prisoner to be used as slaves. Either way is a terrible fate. As for the elder orb, getting to it might be easier, but fighting it will definitely not be easy, because since elder orbs are the most powerful beholders, it may know magic spells that can kill them in a blink of an eye like Finger of Death or Disintegrate. As for the kuo-toa prince, it may be a vicious fighter, and surrounded by dozens, if not close to a hundred powerful warriors. Ralis pondered over these options for five minutes as they made their way to the bazaar.
"Well, Veldrin? Have you made your decision yet?" Valygar asked Ralis.
The only response he got from Ralis was a groan. I can't believe he just called me by my fake name, Ralis remarked in his thoughts. By the time they got to the bazaar, going up the stairs to the bazaar's entrance, Ralis finally made his decision.
"Okay, people, I have made up my mind. We are going after the elder orb."
"Is that your final decision, abbil?" Viconia asked.
Ralis stopped walking up the stairs, pausing about seven steps away from the top, then he looked back down at his companions while several other drow ascended and descended down the stairs around them.
"My decision is final. Do you have any spells that may protect us from the elder orb's strongest spells?" Ralis asked Viconia.
She pulled her spell book out of her bag and checked it. The Level 1 spells she has written down are Armor, Blindness, Cure Light Wounds, Bless, Shillaleigh, Protection From Good, Protection from Evil, Shield and Sleep. The spells in the Level 2 page she has written down are Blur, Deafness, Ray of Enfeeblement, Vocalize and Web. In Level 3 she has Dispel Magic, Hold Person and Slow and Haste. In Level 5 she only has Breach. In Level 7 she has Sunray and Finger of Death. After closing the book and putting the book back in her inventory bag, she told Ralis:
"I believe Breach will help disarm any magical protections the elder orb may activate to protect itself."
"What about us?" Neera questioned Viconia, sounding nervous.
Viconia turned to look at Neera, and grimaced at seeing her act out of character as a drow woman, but replied to her question.
"Haste will quicken our movements. If we act fast and swiftly, we can take down the elder orb before it can cast a spell," she assured Neera.
Neera's concerned expression lightened up to a confident one, which did not make Viconia feel any better. Seeing Neera's mannerisms in her drow disguise made Viconia sick to her stomach.
"And please don't give me that sad look again. It is disturbing to see, the way you look now," Viconia added.
Ralis decided to find some comfort in the fact that Viconia knows some good spells, and maybe Neera. But he did not want to rely on Neera's spellcasting skills, because her wild surges may cause something bad or worse to happen. So he continued up the stairs and his companions followed. Once he got up to the top, heading for the bazaar's entrance, he heard Rasaad call him.
"Wait, Veldrin! What about potions? Do you have any potions that may aid us?" He asked.
While Ralis was looking over his right shoulder listening to Rasaad, his eyes widened after Rasaad reminded him about potions. Ralis doesn't use potions often, most of the time he forgets he ever had any, including healing potions. He checked his potion bag and looked inside, only to find it empty.
"It's empty! How...?" Ralis let his voice trail off when he recalled the possibility that maybe some of his potions got washed away in the ocean's currents before the sahuagin rescued them. Or maybe the sahuagin confiscated all of his potions. Just when Ralis was about to curse his luck, he remembered that this is a bazaar, he can possibly buy some potions here. Beckoning his companions ot follow him, they entered the bazaar and Ralis searched for a drow that is selling potions.
"Do you see anyone selling potions?" Ralis asked his party as he scanned his surroundings, trying to get a look at the merchants selling things to the crowds of drow around them.
Rasaad, Neera, Valygar, Hexxat and Viconia looked around, trying to get a good look at the merchants in the area, but there are so many commoner drow here milling about it is almost impossible to see the merchants and what they are selling. On a hunch, Rasaad looked up at the ceiling because he had a feeling that there must be some sign that points people out to which merchant is selling what in this bazaar. When he saw a hanging stone sign with the image of a sword and shield carbed into it over the 2:00 position, the merchant over in that direction must be selling weapons and armor. Next he noticed a sign in the 4:00 position with the image of a bottle carved into it.
"There!" Rasaad pointed over in that direction. "That must be where the potion merchant is!"
Ralis frowned at Rasaad in amusement.
"Very perceptive, Rasaad. I see why Haer'Dalis used to call you an owl," he said.
They headed for the southeastern corner of the bazaar, carefully moving through crowds of dark elves and Ralis held his money bag close to make sure no one tries to steal his money. Eventually they found the potion merchant, and Ralis found that the merchant is selling the potions that he needs: Potion of Magic Protection and Potion of Magic Shielding. He recalled that one of these potions saved his life from being snuffed out by the evil wizard who worked for the Iron Throne, Davaeorn, three years ago in the iron mines in Cloak Wood forest. These potions might save his life from another imminent death once again. The drow merchant is selling only one Potion of Magic Protection and a Potion of Magic Shielding each, but Ralis did not complain at all, he bought both potions for 300 gold pieces. Viconia and Neera spotted a duergar nearby selling some magic spell scrolls, and they managed to buy a scroll that explains how to cast the Level 6 spell "improved haste", which Viconia knew they will need. After buying the items they need, they departed the city, stepping out of the open gates and the gates closed behind them.
Ralis looked back at Viconia and noticed her studying the improved haste scroll for a brief moment, then handed it to Neera so she can memorize it.
"I guess we don't need licorice roots for this one, do we?" Neera questioned Viconia as they started walking away from the closed gates behind them.
Viconia shook her head. "According to the scroll, all it needs is verbal and somatic components to be cast, no material components whatsoever."
The group fell into silence as they walked further away from the gates of Ust Natha and journeyed into the semi dark tunnels of the Underdark. Ralis assumed that since Ust Natha is in the northeastern portion of this region of the Underdark, wherever it may be in relation to the surface, the elder orb's lair must be south or southeast like Matron Ardulace said. But the only passages they can see so far will take them either south or southwest, and they want to go southeast or south, so they took the southern passage.
"Do you realize that the spell Haste has the side effect of aging the caster one year?" Valygar asked with grave concern in his voice.
Everyone stopped walking, standing near a cluster of red fungi attached to a stalagmite, and looked at Valygar like he said something disturbing.
"Really?" Ralis asked.
"Are you sure it is the caster, not the person being hasted?" Rasaad pressed.
"All I've heard is that after the Time of Troubles, the spell developed the side effect of aging the user one full year," Valygar explained, then looked over at Viconia.
Neera followed Valygar's gaze then looked at Viconia with him.
"Wait. Viconia, you've cast the spell Haste many times to aid us in past battles. How long do drow live, anyway?" She asked the drow.
Viconia rolled her eyes. "You needn't worry about me dying from old age, insipid half-elf. As I recall, I am somewhere between 150 and 200 years old, and we drow can live for seven centuries."
Neera then turned her red eyes on Ralis, looking at him with concern.
"Ralis, how old are you?"
Ralis stroked his hairless chin in thought. "Uh... This is the Year of the Unstrung Harp, isn't it? If it is not 14 Ches yet, I should be 23 years old. But if being hasted ages me one full year instead of Viconia, and I have been hasted a few times, I think I am technically, uh... 27 or 28, until 14 Ches, that is."
Valygar shook his head in disappointment, placing his right hand on his obsidian forehead.
"This is further proof of why magic is dangerous and evil. It has side effects that will affect you in the worst ways possible." Valygar turned his eyes to all of his companions as he continued to lecture them. "How many times must the line be drawn? Am I the only one who sees the writing on the wall? It is never a good idea to play with fire, and instead of heeding the warnings and mine, you still play with fire. Why?" Valygar concluded his gaze on Neera, keeping his eyes focused on her to drive home the point that her wild magic is the most dangerous kind of magic to possess, and she whimsically trusts it.
Neera fidgeted under his gaze, and Ralis, who did not want to hear any further bickering, stepped up between Neera, and Valygar hoping that he is not too late in saving Neera from having an emotional breakdown being pressured by Valygar.
"Guys, we can argue about the safety and dangers of spellcasting later. Right now, we need to consume what little time we have on finding this Elder Orb and killing it." Ralis turned to face Valygar. "As four your warnings, Valygar, they are noted. But please understand that without magic, we would have no advantages against the likes of mind flayers and beholders. Sometimes risks must be taken. I don't care that I am closer to being 30 than I normally should be. At least I get to live another day thanks to the haste spell. Let's go, people. Time is wasting."
The party started moving, but Valygar stood frozen where he stood when Ralis was speaking to him. His mind struggled to process what Ralis had said. It was a difficult process, it made his brain hurt, so instead of dwelling on it, he focused on catching up with his party members.
The journey to the Elder Orb's lair took a long time. A long time. To Rasaad and Valygar, they assumed that they have probably been walking through the Middledark wilds for 36 hours. They took a 30 minute break in a part of the Underdark where there are a series of natural bridges suspended over a seemingly bottomless chasm, and there are elevated platforms here and there with various fungi and other Underdark vegetation. So far, along their 36 hour walk, the only monsters they battled were derro bandits, a couple ropers, one group of sinisters, magical bats that actually resembles flying manta rays, and several cloakers, which looked more like demonic manta rays then sinisters. But they eventually found a good spot to rest, on the highest elevated platform, in between two tall blue mushrooms. They rested, ate some of the sporebread they brought with them, and drank some water, and even relieved their bowels before moving on.
They journeyed directly south from Ust Natha for another 25 hours, fighting cloakers, three umber hulks, and one beholder. They also were forced to sneak past a troglodyte war party consisting of seven troglodytes, three monitor lizards, 21 troglodyte barbarians and one troglodyte cleric. Ralis, Neera, Viconia, Rasaad, Hexxat and Valygar had to keep hidden among the cluster of glowing mushrooms and fungus to avoid being seen by the war party, because they are seriously outnumbered, it is a fight they have no chances of winning against. Hiding from them was easy, but trying not to gag and vomit from smelling the overwhelming odor from their bodies was the hardest thing to do. Eventually troglodyte war party departed, heading northeast. Ralis and his party were so glad that the troglodyte war party departed to another section of the Underdark, because their combined rancid body odor was too much for their noses to handle. Luckily none of the troglodytes were angry or terrified, because the stench of a mad or terrified troglodyte is so terrible it can make you faint or worse.
Ralis and his party continued southeast for a few more miles until they found themselves standing in front of what looks like an 11 foot tall brass door. They hesitated for a moment, wondering whether they are in the right place or not.
"Do beholders usually have doors to their lairs?" Neera asked Hexxat.
The vampire shrugged. "I do not know," she admitted.
Without waiting for an invitation, Ralis stepped forward and opened the door. He beckoned his party to follow him inside, and they did without hesitating for another second. Once inside, they found themselves in a circular room. The floor is no longer the rough terrain of the cavern but perfectly even stone floor with complex lines and patterns adorning it, including the middle of the room, there is a shuriken shaped pattern inside the outlines of a circle in the room's center, and in the corners of the room are what seem to be man-made machines that look like stalagmites.
"What is this place...?" Rasaad whispered aloud as he and Valygar and Ralis slowly walked forward, with Hexxat, Viconia and Neera slowly moving behind them.
Valygar took note of the strange pillar shaped devices in all corners of the room which have dark lavender orbs of varying sizes attached to them, and come to the conclusion that beholders, although intelligent, would have no need for such strange devices.
"I don't think we are in a beholder lair..." He said.
Ralis looked around warily, and he felt that familiar feeling that he gets every time he senses danger might be coming around some nearby corner.
"I think we ended up somewhere we shouldn't be," he said.
But before anyone could make for the door, four dimensional doors began to open up, one near the only passage leading deeper into this mysterious lair to Ralis' right, another directly in front of him, another to his left, and another between Neera, Viconia and Hexxat and the brass door. The arcane energies opening the dimensional doors rotated counter-clockwise and coalesced and the lines of arcane energy crossed together in each of the four dimensional doors, and then, to the surprise of Ralis and his party, one mind flayers emerged from each dimensional door! And there they stood, four humanoid creatures dressed in black robes with an octopus-like, ridged head with four tentacles surrounding a lamprey-like mouth.
"Damn!" Valygar cursed.
"Ambush!" Ralis exclaimed.
As Ralis and his party attempted to draw their weapons, they heard a chittering noise emanating from the writhing tentacles attached to the heads of the mind flayers, and before they knew it, the mind flayers used their psionic powers to subdue Ralis and his party. Ralis dropped his swords, clutching both sides of his skull with his hands, yelling in pain because a sharp pain penetrated his brain, it felt like someone stabbing his brain with a short sword. The same thing happened to Valygar, Rasaad, Neera, Viconia and Hexxat. Through their pain, they received mental images telepathically sent from the mind flayers subduing them. The images the mind flayers projected into their minds showed them what will happen to them during their imprisonment. Ralis saw images of him and his party enduring all sorts of painful experiments conducted by the mind flayers, like being dissected alive. He also saw images of him and his party fighting various monsters in some kind of fighting pit. And there were also images of him and his party being forced to do manual labor. Slavery. All these images flashed through Ralis' mind until he lost consciousness along with his party.
Slowly Ralis regained consciousness. The first thing he sensed was feeling the left side of his face pressing against the cold, hard stone floor. Then he opened his eyes and stood up to see that Rasaad, Viconia, Neera, Hexxat and Valygar had awoken before he did.
"Uh, I want to say "good morning", but given our current situation, there is nothing good about this..." Neera said while watching Ralis groggily stand up on his feet.
His vision got a little blurry, so Ralis had to rug the sides of his index fingers into his eyes for a few seconds, then he noticed his vision become more clearer. He looked around and saw that he and his party have been locked away in a prison cell that is barely big enough for all six of them to be in. There are no beds, no bedrolls, and worst of all, no buckets. There is absolutely NOTHING in this prison cell. Panic and dread began to settle into him. He began to pace around the small room, cursing.
"Damn, damn, damn, damn, dammit! I should've known that door was not entrance to a beholder lair, but the lair of the mind flayers...!" Ralis muttered to himself while trying to restrain himself from pulling his white hair out of his scalp.
"Iblith! Ralis, calm down!" Viconia urged him after he walked past her for the 5th time.
"She's right. I know things look bad, but we're still alive!" Neera said cheerily though she is busy fighting her own doubts and fears.
Ralis stopped pacing directly in front of Neera and Rasaad and looked at them almost wild-eyed.
"Alive? Alive? For how long? This is a fate worse than death, Neera! We are alive for now until the mind flayers do... whatever it is they do to surfacers like us! We don't even have our weapons and tools anymore!"
Hexxat looked around, seeing two doors that likely lead out of the prison cell they are in. There is one door directly to her left, and the other one is up ahead, several feet away directly behind Ralis' back.
"There are two doors out of here," she pointed out the doors to Ralis.
Ralis looked at the doors Hexxat pointed at, then snorted in derision.
"The mind flayers are not dumb, Hexxat. They wouldn't leave any of these doors unlocked if they led out anywhere," he said to the vampire, then he turned his back on his party and tried to kick the door open since he could clearly see that it has no doorknob, at least from inside the prison cell. Ralis kicked the door three times while Rasaad checked the other door further back.
*Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!* By the third time he kicked the door, his right leg started to ache in pain from all the kicking he had done.
"Oww...! Oww!...!" Ralis groaned and limped away from the door a few steps and stopped in front of Viconia and Neera.
Viconia buried her face into her right hand in disappointment at her lover's failed attempt at kicking the door down. She knew it wouldn't work, so she couldn't understand why Ralis tried to kick it down.
"Well, that obviously didn't work," Neera said.
Ralis tilted his head at her while scowling. "Gee, you think?" He asked her sarcastically.
"The back door cannot be opened either," Rasaad announced.
Ralis groaned in disappointment. "This is it. Our journey ends like this. Slaves to the mind flayers..."
As soon as he said that, Rasaad, Valygar, Hexxat, Viconia and Neera heard the sound of keys jingling from behind the door Ralis tried to kick open, then they heard a lock clicking, and the door swung wide open, revealing the jailor who happens to not be a mind flayer, but an ogre. Bright light shone from behind him, casting his shadow into the prison cell.
"Ahh, you wakey wakey now, I sees?" The ogre grinned and rubbed his big hands together in excitement. "Good! Now it time to fight!"
Ralis turned around and faced the ogre, curling his hands into fists and raising his arms up in pugilistic fashion, ready for a fight even though he knew that a human wouldn't last against an ogre in a fistfight.
"Fine then! I'll have your head!" Ralis growled defiantly.
The ogre laughed at Ralis.
"Ha HA! No, silly little one, you don't fight me. I earned right to not fight. No, you fight in the arena. Listen, I tell you what you need to know."
The ogre took a couple more steps into the prison cell.
"First thing, I not the one that capture. You trespass on the home of the flayers, and you got caught. Now you pay for your stay. Understand?" The ogre didn't wait for the captives to reply. "Next thing, you better fight well in the arena, because if you don't fight well, you die. If you don't fight at all, you die. Maybe you live long enough to get servant position. Better than fighting. Oh, last rule, never attack the flayers. You in their home. They kill you with their thoughts."
Ralis looked back at his companions and he could see from the looks on their faces that they have no choice but to go along with what the mind flayers expect them to do until they can find an opportunity to escape. IF there is a way to escape, that is. Then Ralis looked back at the ogre, who stood there crossing his arms looking tall and strong like most of his kin.
"Well? Any questions?" The ogre asked.
Ralis got the feeling that this ogre's loyalty to the mind flayers is motivated by fear instead of respect or love. Maybe all he needs is to be given a sliver of hope to nudge him into helping them escape.
"You look like a reasonable fellow. I could offer you a lot if you were to release us," Ralis told him.
The ogre raised an eyebrow and tilted his head in a quizzical manner. "Could you offer my life? No, because as soon as I disobey, I drop dead because of collar." The ogre tilted his head further to the left and pointed at the collar wrapped around his neck to show Ralis and his party that he is not lying. "No, you know nothing about it. You just fight and hope you win."
The ogre approached Ralis and his party now, carrying chained handcuffs around his belt, then he put the chained handcuffs on the wrists of Ralis, Rasaad, Viconia, Neera, Valygar and Hexxat. When the ogre snapped the handcuffs on Ralis, he jumped a little because the metal surface of the handcuffs felt ice cold against his skin. Then he grabbed the front end of the chain and led them out of the prison cell as if they are dogs attached to a leash. As they walked behind the ogre, Ralis noticed a big rucksack attached to the ogre's back, and he assumed that maybe the ogre is holding their weapons.
"You will live if you fight well. I warn though: do not anger spectators. They extra strong in this place because of big brain. First battle begins now!" The ogre exclaimed as he led them down a hallway.
They were led through a series of rooms and hallways until they found themselves in a much bigger room, big enough to be an arena. On the balconies around the room, they saw maybe a dozen mind flayers looking down on them. The ogre freed Ralis and his party from the chained handcuffs, pulled his rucksack off from behind his back and gave them their weapons back, then walked out the door they arrived from, closing it behind them. The door on the far end of the wide, circular room opened up, and three umber hulks arrived. The creatures that look like a cross between a gorilla and beetle looked and acted agitated, they kept beating their fists to the ground like angered gorillas.
"Great. Umber hulks..." Ralis groaned.
"Whatever you do, don't make eye contact with them. Your mind will end up being confused if you do," Hexxat warned her companions.
Ralis almost forgot about that fact as he drew his two swords, the Blade of Searing and Albruin, keeping his eyes focused on the chest level of the center umber hulk. The three umber hulks came charging, and so did Ralis and his companions, except for Neera, who hung back and blasted the middle umber hulk with some magic missiles, causing it to falter during its run, allowing its partners to move forward ahead of it. Rasaad, Viconia, Hexxat and Valygar engaged the two umber hulks, and Ralis ran past them focused on engaging the umber hulk that got hit by Neera's magic missiles. What followed next is a series of coordinated teamwork against the three creatures as the mind flayers on the balconies all around the room watched, the tentacles attached to their octopus-like heads twitching gently in amusement.
Rasaad with his flaming fists activated nimbly dodged the left and right hooks of the umber hulk and and threw body shots at the creature whenever he found the time to while Viconia double-teamed the umber hulk with Rasaad, whacking away at the creature's body with her Skullcrusher +3 mace. The umber hulk was overwhelmed by the teamwork of the Sun Soul monk disguised as a drow and the drow cleric of Shar, it tried to alternate its attacks, trying to backhand Viconia or Rasaad every time it shifted its focus to attack one of them, but the wounds they were inflicting on it made it more and more sluggish. As for the umber hulk fighting Valygar and Hexxat, it was faring no better, Valygar and Hexxat worked together moving around the creature to keep it confused and off balance while striking at it with their swords, creating more and more wounds on its body, angering and frustrating the creature.
The umber hulk fighting Ralis had it a little easier, as it had only Ralis to contend with in melee combat. Being able to fight one opponent was easy for it, swinging its strong arms at the young human, and Ralis ducking and dodging each blow while trying to find an opening to strike, and when he did, he would strike the umber hulk in the chest with Albruin then switch back to the defensive to avoid the angered umber hulk's strong left and right hooks. Ralis repeated this process four times up until Neera got close enough to the Umber Hulk to use another one of her spells she memorized. With her hands outstretched and fingers spread apart, she used the verbal and somatic components necessary to cast the Burning Hands spell, and in a matter of seconds, her hands burst into fire. The blazing flames lapped across her fingers and reached out seven feet towards the umber hulk and the flames leeched on to the creature's body, causing it to shriek in pain. By the time the umber hulk caught fire, Rasaad and Viconia finally killed the umber hulk they were fighting, and Rasaad rushed over to Valygar and Hexxat to assist them while Viconia came to Ralis' side to assist him and Neera against the umber hulk set aflame.
Ralis and Viconia made sure not to get in the way of Neera's hands which are continuing to lap out from her fingers, trying to find an opportunity to end the shrieking umber hulk's misery, but it shifted its focus on Neera with the intent of bringing her down before it dies.
"Uh, guys, a little help!" Neera exclaimed, still not moving a muscle even though she wanted to run, but she feared that lowering her hands will disrupt the spell.
Viconia put a stop to the umber hulk's movements by sweeping her Skullcrusher +3 mace down at the umber hulk's right leg. The blunt end of the mace made contact with the leg, making a sickening crunch noise, and the umber hulk shrieked and collapsed to the floor, while Valygar dealt the killing blow to the other umber hulk, driving his sword up into the umber hulk's head. The umber hulk on fire died last, its body became too badly burned by Neera's flames to stay alive, and everyone could smell the umber hulk's cooked flesh mingling with the sour smell of umber hulk blood.
Seconds after all three umber hulks were dead, the ogre jailer returned with his chained handcuffs and rucksack. He confiscated their weapons and forced them to put on the chained handcuffs before leading them back to their prison cell.
"Well! You fight well! For now, you live!" The ogre jailer told Ralis as he snapped the metal cuffs on the young human's wrists. Valygar was the last person to be put into the chain handcuffs, then the ogre jailer led the surfacers disguised as drow back into their prison cell.
After backtracking through the dozens of hallways and rooms to the room where their prison cell is, the ogre jailer freed them from the chain handcuffs and urged them to go back into the prison cell. Ralis was the last to enter the cell, as he was the most reluctant walking back in. Before entering, he looked over his right shoulder back at the ogre.
"Go on! Go in! I come tell you when next battle begins," the ogre told Ralis.
Without uttering a word, Ralis entered the prison cell, and the ogre jailer closed the door and locked it, leaving Ralis and his party in the nearly cramped semi dark prison cell, with little light coming from the small window on the door.
Ralis groaned in depression, slumping against the wall.
"This is not good..." Rasaad said as he sat down on the cold, hard floor.
"We aren't going to last long like this," Valygar agreed.
Neera sat down too, but Hexxat remained standing, and headed for the prison cell's front door, trying to peek out the door's small window to see something outside while Viconia started walking around, checking the walls in an attempt to find some secret passage they might not have noticed before.
Ralis noticed her activity and grew curious, wondering why she is feeling the walls.
"Viconia, what are you doing?" He asked her.
Viconia glared at him.
"What does it look like I'm doing, abbil? I am trying to find a way out of here," she replied.
Ralis sighed then stood up straight while Viconia approached him from his left, still feeling the walls with her hands from as high as her height could allow, to as low as possible towards the floor.
"It's no use, Viconia. There is no way out of here." Ralis paused then glanced over at the back door behind him, the one door Hexxat isn't checking. "Unless the door behind me is miraculously unlocked, there is no hope of escaping," he added sullenly, then walked over to the door to both get out of Viconia's way, and to check the door.
Ralis placed his hands on the doorknob, twisted it, and... Tymora somehow smiled on them. The door is unlocked! Ralis' eyes widened in shock and disbelief when he realized that he is actually pulling the door open. It took a moment for his mind to register what is happening, but soon he eagerly opened the door, and before he could step inside, he saw that it led to another prison cell, and there are people in there too. Five yellow skinned humanoid people, all men judging by their masculine looks and body shapes, with short triangular noses, long pointed ears that are serrated like barbed daggers from the back, dressed in pure silver body armor with rubies embedded into their greaves, arm plates and breastplates. Githyanki.
Ralis froze in place as the eyes of the five githyanki looked at him. They were sitting on the cold floor, possibly meditating, up until Ralis accidentally disturbed them.
Then Hexxat and Viconia came up behind him.
"Ralis, what did you find...?" Hexxat asked curiously, but she froze when she saw the githyanki, and so did Viconia.
One of the githyanki stood up on his feet. he is the only githyanki with russet colored hair, everyone else has black colored hair, and he wore black war paint under his eyes. After standing up, he slowly approached Ralis with an amused smirk on his face.
"I see we are not alone in this place. It is the worst of fates, for we are entrapped by the feared and despicable ghaik," he said in fluent Common.
Ralis frowned in confusion as soon as the githyanki speaking to him said the word "ghaik", and he wondered is that what his people call the mind flayers. As soon as the lead githyanki got 4 feet close to Ralis, he briefly glanced Ralis up and down before locking eye contact with him again, his eyes burning with contempt for reasons Ralis did not yet understand.
"And to think we would suffer the same fate as you- you who should have died in our ambush upon the sea."
Ralis was confused at first, then he suddenly realized that these people are the same people who raided Saemon Havarian's ship! And somehow their leader recognized Ralis through his drow disguise! The githyanki leader, who is named Simyaz, gave a smug smile when he saw the dumbfounded expression on Ralis' face appear.
Simyaz smirked at Ralis and nodded. "Yes, I recognize you. You are the human that Saemon Havarian accused. We are all destined for the same fate, as playthings in this arena. A foul way to end a being's life, I think," he said.
Ralis shook his head to clear his mind from the shock, then he spoke his first words to Simyaz.
"What do you know about the... ghaik? Are they also known to you as illithids or mind flayers?" Ralis asked.
The smile on Simyaz' face withered away into a serious frown.
"We know much of the tentacled ones. They enslave and they kill, and we will not allow ourselves to remain here," Simyaz explained, his body language making it clear that he is angered that he doesn't have the option of choosing death over being enslaved by the mind flayers.
"Another thing. I remember seeing your kind before, especially on the sea, but what exactly are you?" Ralis asked.
"We are githyanki, and we did not come here without purpose. someone had taken a sword of ours... a silver sword. We were to reclaim it. But our ship was capsized, and now we are in custody of the most hated of enemies, the ghaik illithid mind flayers." Simyaz paused to look down at his right fist trembling in barely controlled rage. "This is an abomination I will not allow," he said through gritted teeth.
He looked up at Ralis and saw the confusion in his eyes. Simyaz realized that Ralis' people are not familiar with the history githyanki and mind flayers have.
"We harbor a special hatred for the illithids, and we will see them dead before we are done. Or we die ourselves," he explained.
Before Ralis could speak, Viconia standing behind Ralis' left shoulder spoke up now.
"The capture alone is enough to place the desire for their deaths in my soul. You need more than that?" She questioned Simyaz.
Simyaz shook his head, but not in response to Viconia's question, but because of something else.
"I can speak no more," he said, then gestured to his fellow githyanki meditating so that Ralis, Viconia and Hexxat can see them. "My charges must meditate for the coming battle. It will take great strength of mind to escape this place. Great strength."
Ralis nodded in understanding and slowly retreated back into his prison cell and closed the door while Simyaz sat back down with his brethren and continued his meditation with them.
When Ralis turned around after closing the door, he noticed Rasaad, Valygar and Neera looking at him.
"Well? Who were you speaking to in there?" Valygar asked.
Ralis shook his head. "You are not going to believe this. The same yellow-skinned people clad in silver body armor who were looking for the sword Saemon Havarian planted on me are here."
Neera stood up in surprise.
"What?! Those guys?!" She exclaimed.
"Shh!" Ralis put his index finger up to his lips. "They are meditating right now," he whispered.
"Do you consider them ally or enemy?" Hexxat questioned Ralis.
He shook his head and sighed. "That's a question I can't answer yet. For now, we just wait and see what happens," he said.
Then everyone lapsed into silence, sitting down on the floor, waiting for the jailer to return.
However, 20 minutes later, the ogre jailer did return, but he did not open the prison cell door keeping Ralis and his party inside. Instead, Ralis and his party heard the sound of the jailer's keys unlocking another prison cell door nearby. Then they heard the ogre exclaim:
"Get up! It time to fight!"
Ralis and Valygar stood up while everyone else remained seated on the floor.
"Who is he releasing for the next fight?" Hexxat asked.
Ralis walked over to the back door with Valygar following close behind, then he pressed his right ear against the door.
He heard the sounds of feet shuffling, then he heard a voice speaking in Gith. Ralis recognized the voice as Simyaz.
"It is time once again, my fellow followers of Gith. They come, and we are drawn to the fight. Weapons ready, my charges, for we are about to be taken once more into the sight of the most hated ghaik!"
Ralis did not understand a single word Simyaz said to his brethren, but he knew that he was saying something about the mind flayers at least when he heard the word "ghaik". Then he heard the footsteps of the ogre leading Simyaz and his fellow githyanki out of the room, and he heard the rattling sound of the chained handcuffs. Ralis pushed his head away from the door, brushing past Valygar and moved towards the front door prison cell, hoping to catch a glimpse of the ogre jailer leading the githyanki by chained handcuffs out of the prison room. When he looked out the prison door window, he saw exactly that. The ogre jailer and the githyanki disappeared out of view from the door's small window, unfortunately, and their footsteps faded away from earshot.
Ralis relaxed and moved away from the door.
"Well, they're gone. Guess we're in for a long wait," he told his companions with a subdued shrug.
What followed next was a long, agonizing, boring wait for Simyaz and his brethren to return from their battle.
As time slowly passed, Viconia started to believe that the githyanki have been killed during their battle. She also tried her best to hide her discomfort from feeling the churning pain from her stomach, a telltale sign that she and her soon-to-be-born child need some nourishment, and as soon as possible. Viconia also began to doubt that her yet to be born child might not live long enough to be brought into the world. But the thought didn't worry her at all. Besides, it is a bad idea for an exiled drow woman currently hunted by Lolth to give birth to a child. Neera was absentmindedly twirling her staff, Hexxat and Rasaad were checking the prison cell that the githyanki were once in for a passageway out, and Valygar and Ralis were sleeping on the cold, hard floor. Almost an hour later, Neera, and Rasaad already fell asleep with Valygar and Ralis, Hexxat already retreated into Dragomir's Respite inside the bag with a pocket plane, and Viconia fell into a meditative trance. They managed to get some rest 30 minutes towards the first hour since Simyaz and his githyanki group were sent to battle whatever they are fighting for the amusement and research purposes of the mind flayers. When the first hour since their departure arrived, the ogre jailer brought Simyaz and his githyanki back to their prison cells. Ralis, Valygar, Neera and Rasaad were too tired to notice the sound of the rattling chains of the chained handcuffs and the footsteps approaching, but Viconia was perceptive enough to notice it all, waking her full awareness back into reality, she slowly stood up on her feet as she heard the sound of a jail door clicking open, then she heard the footsteps of the githyanky stepping back into their cells, then she heard the ogre jailer close and lock the door, and walk away.
Moments later, Simyaz arrived, opening the back door wide open, startling Viconia so much that she gasped in alarm, waking Ralis, Neera, Valygar and Rasaad. Even Hexxat in the form of a vapor cloud emerged from the bag and materialized her form. Ralis stood up and rubbed his eyes as Simyaz regarded him with urgency in his eyes.
"You there!" Simyaz pointed at Ralis while he scratched the crumbs out from the corners of his eyes. "We have emerged victorious in our battle, and I believe we are scheduled to face each other when the next jailer comes."
Ralis sprang his eyelids wide open in surprise.
"We could each boast about who will live, but I believe a far better plan is before us. It is a slim chance, but it is the only one that is available," Simyaz explained.
Ralis' tense muscles eased up. Maybe this is the chance to escape that they have been waiting for.
"I am listening," Ralis nodded slowly.
"As your jailer has told you, the ghaik are strong here in their house. They have power here to slay as they wish, and escape is impossible." Simyaz paused for a moment, and Ralis and his party saw a smile creep across Simyaz's face, revealing his teeth which are slightly sharper than the teeth of most humanoids. "But we of the githyanki have power of our own, and I believe we may be able to disrupt the ghaik and allow another to make an escape."
Ralis smiled with Simyaz the more he heard the plan, including Hexxat, Viconia, Neera and Valygar.
"When we are called to battle, we of the githyanki will use our psionic power to push back the psionic power of the ghaik. You may then open the arena doors that we may all escape."
Ralis nodded at first, but then immediately shook his head when he remembered something.
"Wait. We should use this opportunity to destroy the elder brain. Instead of escaping, we should join forces and destroy the elder brain here," Ralis reasoned.
Simyaz heard chattering of agreements behind him from his githyanki brethren. They were all speaking to each other in Gith, so only he understood what they were saying. He was surprised at first to hear Ralis say that he wants to go after the Elder brain. He felt tempted at the idea, but he wanted to make sure Ralis and his party are willing to brave the horrors of the mind flayer city to reach where the Elder Brain is, and the only way to do that is to test his resolve.
"Attacking the elder brain instead of escaping? I respect your bravery, but do you know what you are requesting? Do you know how foolhardy it is to fight an elder brain?"
Ralis shook his head.
"Listen, and listen good. The elder brain is the final and most powerful stage of a ghaik's life cycle. Its intellect is on a level higher than you can possibly imagine. Fighting it will not be easy. We might die trying to kill the abomination. Are you still willing to go face it?"
Ralis nodded without hesitation. "No matter how smart or powerful this elder brain is, nothing is immortal."
Simyaz smiled again and started laughing, which confused Rasaad and Valygar. Even some of his githyanki brethren standing behind him were confused.
"I never expected to hear an answer like that from a non-githyanki creature! If we survive this, the day I, Simyaz, destroyed an elder brain with my charges and a group of non-githyanki will be the most popular tale of conquests told in my Crèche for years and decades to come!" He said pridefully.
Ralis could practically feel the githyanki's pride surge through the room. It felt invigorating and inspiring.
"Ready yourself, for the time of battle is at hand. The jailer will come for us all soon," Simyaz said before retreating back into his prison cell with his brethren and closing the door that links the two prison cells together.
For the first time since being captured here, Ralis felt a strong surge of hope run through his body. Though he knew from personal experience that hope can be an individual's greatest strength or greatest weakness, he couldn't help but feel hopeful that they may just get out of this grim predicament after all.
