Bryn Shander, probably the coldest city in the entirety of the Forgotten Realms, and definitely Icewind Dale. Lilith thought so, even under all of the layers of fur she was wearing. She had heard the issue about the Frostmaiden, something her patron Titania had ordered her to research. In the case of the Fey, she wanted to make sure her people were safe, but this meant Lilith had to travel across the world- on foot, since no one would offer a carriage to a Tiefling, and through the harsh climate in order to even get to the site. It took ages, but she was finally here. Borderline frostbitten and exhausted, she used her staff to lean on as she forced herself towards the tavern. She could only hope that she would be welcome…
It did not take too long to find the tavern, though the snow she had to tread through made the process a lot slower. Before opening the door, she looked back out at the city, barely able to see anything with the pitch black sky other than the inches of snow on the ground. Taking in a slight breath, she pushed open the door.
The warmth that hit her was almost uncomfortable. Everyone was bundled up in furs, though some were wearing a bit less layers since the fire was warming their bodies. People were seated at tables, and some were playing cards, and others were drinking. Lilith did not yet remove her hood, and decided she could go for a drink. Making her way to the bar, she sat onto a wobbly stool at the end, before flagging down the bartender. "One ale, please."
Hearing a female voice ask for a drink, the human behind the counter gave a small "of course" before grabbing a tankard and filling it with some ale. It was when he got a good look at her face that made him drop the drink, and back up a bit.
Ale spilled onto the already dirty and dry rotted counter. Lilith herself had to jump back in order to not get any ale on her. However, that one act of moving quickly, made her hood fall off of her head, just for enough time for people to recognize her for who she was.
"Devil! How dare you show your face here! I bet you're working with the Frostmaiden, aren't you?!" The bartender's voice was enough to attract attention, but as soon as he mentioned the Frostmaiden, that was when it seemingly turned everyone's head. The guests of the tavern didn't take too kindly to her, especially with the false accusation of being involved with the Frostmaiden.
"What?! No, I'm here to investigate this issue! My patron-" Lilith was cut off by being jerked to the side, letting out a small cry of pain. One of the patrons, a tall, well built human, had grabbed her by her curved horns, and while they were sturdy enough, under the wrong hands they could be crushed, which is what it seemed like the human was doing. It took everything in her not to make a sound, and she grabbed his wrist quite harshly.
"You will let go of my horn, or else it will be the last thing you ever touch." She hissed, holding her staff in a defensive position. But before either of them could react, a knife went flying, burying itself in the hand holding her horn deeply enough to make him let go. Both Lilith and the angry human turned to see who would dare interfere in the bullying of a Tiefling.
It was a relatively young wood elf, taller than a good bit of the patrons in the tavern. His shoulder length chestnut hair was tied out of his face into a short ponytail, and he had a scar over his left eye, covered by an eyepatch. The first thing Lilith noticed was his stone cold expression, his jade eye cutting daggers into the man who dared to threaten an innocent person in front of him. The human turned towards the wood elf, in complete awe. "What are you-"
The elf simply put his forefinger against the man's lips to silence him. "Shh, shh, don't say anything, alright?" He asked, his voice almost soothing, yet terrifying, which sent chills up Lilith's spine. He leaned in close, and whispered something in the man's ear, which made him stiffen up and his eyes go wide. As soon as he pulled away, he watched as the human who was once so tough to bully a Tiefling, became reduced to a scared pup running with his tail between his legs. The human put as much distance as he could between himself and the elf, which only made him laugh.
"Haha, works every single time!" He spoke before turning to Lilith. "Now, are you okay, gorgeous? I saw how he had you. Your horn looks fine, but does it hurt at all?"
"I...what?" Lilith felt heat rush to her cheeks, as a dark purple blush appeared on her already deep amethyst complexion. She had never been spoken to like this, and it…made her feel something different. But what?
The elf gave a bit of a chuckle, putting a hand on her shoulder. Lilith naturally gave a step back, which made him frown, but only for a moment. "Hey, I know. Why don't I buy you a drink? Cute girl needs one after being manhandled like that. Come on, I won't bite." He teased, giving her a wink and extending a hand. "Promise."
Lilith was still hesitant, her ears pointing downward with the nervousness of someone new approaching her and speaking to her. He seemed kind, which was a good thing. It reminded her of how her mother was: kind, and protective. After looking at the stranger for a few seconds, she made her decision, placing her hand in his. "Thank you."
His smile seemed to grow a bit. "Anything for a sweetheart like you. Why don't we get to know each other? I'm Therellios." He led her to an occupied table, with an empty seat across from him. "I'd be inclined to call you 'Cutie Pie' all night long, but I should at least pretend to be respectful, so I'll ask your name."
"Oh, my name is Lilith. Thank you again for helping me, Therellios, but honestly, I would've taken care of him myself. If you didn't come, I was going to probably use some magic on him. Not kill him, but…definitely get him off of me." Lilith explained, setting her staff on the floor next to her.
"A girl that can handle herself, I see." Therellios commented, giving her a bit of a smile. "So, Lilith. What brings you out here in the middle of fuck all nowhere?"
"Well, I was sent out here by my patron. She asked me to investigate the issue of the Frostmaiden in Icewind Dale. So…that's why I'm here. I'm not here to curse or hurt anyone, unless in self defense." Lilith explained, looking a bit tired of the constant abuse she got. "Because I'm a Tiefling, everyone always thinks I'm going to do something terrible to them."
Therellios took in this information, glancing over everyone else in the tavern. He heaved a bit of a sigh, before speaking. "I'm in a similar boat myself. People fuck with me because I ain't a human, but they stay the hell away from me because I'm threatening. No offense, but you aren't that threatening." He teased, only to stop when he saw Lilith's deadpan expression. "Ain't much of a talker, hun?"
"Well, no…I don't see a reason to speak unless I need to. I don't have many people I can talk to anyways." She admitted, glancing to the side. Therellios drummed his fingers on the dingy table, before getting an idea.
"Here, why don't I buy you that drink? It'll probably help you open up a little." He offered, and while Lilith opened her mouth to protest, he had already flagged down a barmaid. "Yes, two ales, if you will."
The barmaid nodded and went off to fetch their drinks. Lilith gave him a bit of a worried look. "You don't have to do this." She played with the ends of her hair, and Therellios simply waved her off.
"Don't worry, it's on the house! I saw what happened with your drink earlier, you never got it, and then that rude asshole threatened you. I owe you a couple of drinks for that shit." He did not seem to mind paying for her drinks, if anything, seemed happy to. "Besides, I wanted to talk to you. Regarding what you said earlier...I'm also here to look for the Frostmaiden. Me and a few other adventurers actually took out one of her associates...don't remember what his name was." He leaned back in his chair, trying to jog his memory.
"Oh, where are they? Are they here?" Lilith asked, tilting her head to the side a little.
"Asleep. I wasn't really all that tired, so I stayed awake, and may I just say, I'm glad I did." Therellios gave her a bit of a wink. Before either of them could say anything, the barmaid came back with their drinks.
He handed an ale to Lilith, who took it wordlessly. Before it could touch her lips, he stopped her. "Here." He raised his own ale to her. "Cheers, hun."
"Oh. Cheers." Lilith gently touched her ale against his, before they both started to drink. She felt a few shivers down her back as the strong drink touched her tongue, anything was welcome to her. She ended up drinking it quite fast.
Therellios was pacing himself a bit better, even flagging down the barmaid for some more drinks.
"Excuse me, are you sure that's a good idea? You have enough money to cover all of that?" Lilith's voice cut in, and he only laughed a bit.
"Protesting again! No need to worry, I have more than enough coin." He laughed a bit, and more ales came to them.
While it wasn't a drinking contest per se, two more ales turned into four, which turned into six. Therellios was absolutely feeling it, and while Lilith actually had a tolerance, even she felt that familiar heaviness in her head.
She looked over to Therellios, a stern expression gracing her features. "No more. You had enough. You're drunk as hell."
"Then the fun part!" He only grinned at her, not seeming to take her seriously. "So, Lil. What's a cute little thing like you doing so far from home?"
"I…thought I told you..." Lilith looked around, before focusing her gaze into Therellios. "I have business with my patron."
"Where's home for you?"
"I…don't really have one."
"What?! How could you not have one?"
"I don't have one." She was getting slightly annoyed at the constant questions, and him trying to get in her business. Maybe it was just the alcohol, but she didn't usually have much of a reaction to drinking.
"You're terrible at this game." His grin widened a bit and he laughed a little.
"I didn't realize this was a game. You just keep asking me question after question." Lilith's deadpan expression made him realize, in his drunken state, she was being serious.
Still, Therellios decided to play dumb for now. "Yes, it's a way to get to know each other. Silly girl. You must not really drink with other people." He took another sip of his ale. "Nonetheless, I'm here to break you from that habit. Drinking with others is far better than alone."
Lilith listened to him ramble, and really didn't retain any information that he shared. "I see. If you want to ask more questions, I suppose I can oblige."
"You suppose? Ah, Lil, don't say that, it sounds like you don't want to do this!" Therellios had that dumb grin on his face, one that made Lilith curl her lip in just the slightest movement.
"Apologies. Here, here, ask me more questions." She sighed a bit, trying her hardest to be polite. But her patience was slowly wearing thin. Before she realized it, Therellios had given her another drink, and she didn't even notice she was casually sipping on it.
"So! You don't really have much of a home, but I suppose I shouldn't be too shocked considering I'm also an adventurer like yourself. Ever traveled with anyone else?"
"No, not really."
"Ever made friends?"
"No."
"With anyone?"
"I told you, no." Lilith snapped, slamming her drink down. "I don't have friends. No one comes up to me and starts speaking to me, nor do I dare speak to anyone. Why should I?"
"That's a possible way of how you get to know people. Have you really not spoken to anyone before? I know you're a Tiefling, but isn't there someone you had a decent conversation with?" Now it was his turn to get a bit irritated.
"Maybe you forgot Tieflings are even below orcs in the social hierarchy. I'm not interested in people anyway, I would rather read my spellbook, but I'm too drunk to even do that!"
"Well. Forgive me for wanting to buy a fucking drink!" He rolled his eyes, and stood up. "You know what? This shit was a waste of time. You wanna know why? Because you have the personality of a fucking worm. All you do is just sit there stone faced, acting like it's a crime to ask a question!"
Lilith went silent for a moment, before she stood up. She walked directly in front of Therellios, her amber eyes full of rage. In the heat of the moment, she gave him a harsh slap across the cheek. "You're lucky all you get is a slap. You saved me so I can't deny there's good in you. That's why I didn't use my magic. But fuck, you are an asshole."
Therellios was stunned by the slap, nearly stumbling back a few steps. His cheek stung, and he looked up at the slightly taller woman before him, a grin forming on his features. "Well, I was wrong. You do have personality after all. Lilith, you are quite fascinating." He put a hand on her shoulder, which made her flinch and step back. "Though..you're right. I was being an asshole. I'm drunk, and I don't have a filter. I'm sorry, Lil."
Lilith took in this information, looking at him for a moment before sighing a bit. "No, no. I'm sorry. You're right. While I should be wary of people, I should also understand not everyone means to harm me. I'll try to give your question game another chance."
"Then come sit down next to me, hun." He ended up pulling her into his lap, looking her up and down with his exposed eye. She stiffened up slightly when he pulled her in, but did not try to get out of his hold. "So, why don't we continue where we left off? Where is home for you?"
"Well…everywhere is kind of home for me. I used to live in a city when I was a child, but that changed as soon as I turned twelve. Now I just wander."
"An adventurer, perhaps? Lots of people do that."
"Well, kind of? I'm always alone. I do what my patron tells me."
"What kind of stuff does your patron tell you to do?"
"Well, there's the Frostmaiden stuff, but I also…destroyed a book recently."
"A…book?"
"Not just any book, but an ancient text. It...held the source of power for the priests in the city. Um…do you know Arrowfall?"
"Why, yes, who doesn't? That city fell to ruin- was one of the most prosperous cities in the province."
"It fell because it had no religion to uphold the law."
Therellios took in this information, and his eyes widened in realization. "You…destroyed Arrowfall…?" He asked in pure shock.
"Indirectly. My patron wanted the book destroyed. I had no idea all of that would occur." Lilith admitted, knowing it made her sound like a monster. "I would never hurt anyone like that intentionally."
He leaned back against the wall, absolutely stunned to learn of this information. "Holy shit. We…we need someone of your caliber on the mission. Come with us. Help us destroy the Frostmaiden. I'm sorry if I offended you in any way, I didn't mean anything by it. I just…shit. How do you not know you destroy a city?"
"It's a bit more simple if you think about it from my perspective. My patron asked me to get rid of this book because it has anti-Fey messages in it. So I did. It's not like I really have a choice in the matter." Lilith explained, and upon hearing the word "Fey", Therellios perked up.
"Ohhhh…that makes a lot more sense." He spoke, laughing a tiny bit at that. "Fey are weird. Now that I know your patron is a Fey, that makes me wonder. Are you sure she asked you to take out the Frostmaiden?"
"Yes. She feels threatened by the Frostmaiden, and honestly, who doesn't?" Lilith had a bit of a solemn expression on her face, and Therellios gently brushed a hand against her cheek.
"Which is why we would like you to join the rest of us." He looked directly into her amber eyes, which almost made her look away. But, she stared back.
"You know what..I accept. I need to learn how to talk to other people anyways." Lilith gave him a small smile, which only made him smirk in return.
"Then, welcome aboard, Lilith."