Lost in Realm
6
It was a merchant who posted the job. Coming from Neverwinter with his caravan, he was planning to do some serious trading business here. It wasn't his first run, as Nhilva learned after talking to him. But it was the first time he took his son with him. Showing how the trade worked, so to speak. What he did not expect was after one night's off drinking with his newfound friends, the lad went missing. Then two days ago, a ransom note was delivered.
"1000 gold coins?!" The Drow blinked upon reading the ransom note herself. It was a mission even meeting the merchant, for the vetting process was long and rather difficult. She couldn't blame him, however. This was Luskan, after all. "They might as well ask you to rob a bank!"
"Indeed!" The middle-aged dwarf looked as if he was about to burst into tears. "Even with my entire earnings of this run, I cannot come up with that kind of money. Those sodding rogues! Treating us merchants with no respect here! If it happened in Neverwinter…."
"Where was your son last seen?" asked Nhilva before the merchant ranted on.
"Huh?"
"You said he was off drinking with his new mates. Then there must be people who were with him, no? Have you spoken to the City Guard?" She pointed out the logical side.
"Oh, aye. These useless bastards," the bearded man grumbled.
She assumed it didn't go well, then.
Apparently the young fella was last seen near the Rat Alley.
Even Nhilva had heard of the Rat Alley.
If the whole city of Luskan was the hub of the criminal underworld, the area where the Rat Alley was located was where the lowest and most brutal ones resided. No sane mind would dare to wander there unarmed. Only members of the Arcane Brotherhood could venture there with a certain degree of confidence. In the life she came from, her grandfather had a mini campaign focused on the location once. The challenge setting was rather high.
So what was the boy doing there?
The City Guard had asked the same question. No one had any idea. All they knew was it was the last place anyone had seen him.
Nhilva studied the only physical clue she had again and commented."The note said you need to make a deposit to the bank."
"Aye." The merchant sighed with a nod of his head: "I have three days. Then they will release him at the Cutlass after payment is confirmed. No mention if he will be alive or dead."
He thought the fella will be in prime health? How entertaining.
She decided she will go pay the Rat Alley a visit. Maybe not going straight in. Maybe there was some kind of evidence around the entrance. Maybe the City Guard missed something. Who'd know? She might be lucky.
She informed the merchant that and thought that would concluded their conversation. But to her surprise, the dwarf asked her to wait a little; he was going to get "someone to help her."
"No offense. You look like you are unable to do this one your own," said the merchant. "And I really need my boy back whole, breathing, without me losing any money."
Eyes twitching, she stayed and tried her best not to look offended, all the while waiting for him to go away. After a couple of minutes, he returned with another individual.
It was another Drow.
Nhilva knew she should not be surprised. This was Luskan, after all. What she did not expect was that she actually knew this Drow. More like the original host body she currently occupied knew this Drow. About two years before her exile and eventual death, he was her eldest sister Ilphaufein's lover. The male was a very good weapon master. During an attack of another house, he strangely went missing. Her mother nearly turned the entire city of Menzoberranzan upside down to look for him. Several precious slave sacrifices were made to seek for divine guidance. A good weapon master was hard to get. A small house did not have that many resources to train another one.
Yes, even with the reluctant blessing of Lolth.
"Jhalnin," Nhilva muttered the male's name through gritted teeth, feeling the dread surge deep from her memory.
"Why, Nhilva Arabúnd," the Drow chuckled, his red eyes gleaming with a certain excitement, like predator that has found its prey. "It's been a while."