Phyrra was still wide-eyed - it had been decades since she'd seen Lolth in person, but the image of the Spider Queen never faded in her mind. Still, it had been decades...Phyrra missed this level of communion with Her. She prayed often, her continuing devotion unyielding, but that wasn't the same as seeing Lolth in person. She'd completely missed the fact that the deity had spoken, still awestruck by Her mere presence.

After several seconds, Lolth raised a curious eyebrow, a twisted smile forming on her lips. "Welcome home, Phyrra."

The drow snapped out of it, stifling the wonderment in her eyes for the time being. "Thank you, my Queen. I come to you with a request - one I know that only you are powerful enough to answer."

Lolth's smile never faded, the deity lowering herself slightly. Only her arms and head could fit through the gate, far too small to allow full passage of the deity. Her head lowered, resting it on her wrists. "I knew you would...I've been watching your actions very closely, and I'm most pleased with what I've seen. You are a paragon of justice, dearest Phyrra...I will listen to your request. I know of Empyria and of your friends, and the tangled web of fear between the two...you need not spend precious breath on such details."

Phyrra cleared her throat - she'd spent the last week thinking of how she'd word this, never quite coming to something that felt right...that felt like more than simply begging for aid. "Empyria has the power of the entire surface world...we suspect they'll be mobilizing an army in less than three months. We - I - need a force to fight against them. There isn't a drow in the Underdark that wouldn't heed your words, my Queen...you have the power to unite them, and stand against the surface world."

The deity nodded. "Of course I do, Phyrra...but why would I?"

That caught Phyrra off guard...off all the ways she'd played this conversation out in her head, that wasn't one of them. "I...am I not worthy?"

She shook her head. "It is not that, Phyrra...you are the most prized amongst my followers. However, what you are requesting are tens of thousands of drow, all because of an action that one took. You have said it yourself, Empyria's army will be formidable. I cannot simply risk the life of all that follow me, and all that will follow me, simply for you. Your request is simply too great, the scales tipped too far to one side."

Phyrra hung her head low, backing up from Lolth. "Is there...nothing else?"

Lolth, once again, shook her head. "I will offer you a different proposition. The drow, I am unwilling to sacrifice. However, the drider." She grimaced, the mere thought of all those that she'd deemed unworthy coming back to her. "I have no use for them. They are merely pests, but they are formidable warriors. I will offer them a chance at salvation, the opportunity to redeem themselves in my eyes. Whosoever fights against Empyria and emerges victorious shall be granted life as a drow once more."

As Phyrra heard Lolth's counteroffer, she balked - it sounded preposterous, a thought she never would have associated with her deity. She refused to fight alongside even one drider, let alone an army. Likewise, she could only assume that no drider would heed the call of Lolth...she knew they hated Her. However, all of that doubt vanished when she heard the last sentence Lolth spoke...a chance at redemption. She thought back to her sister, turned into a drider due to her lack of commitment. She had a chance to return once again...she had a chance to see her sister. The thought filled her with hope, hope that this idea would actually work. The drider hated Lolth...but she could only hope that they did not hate their family.

"So...my sister. She could…?"

Lolth nodded. "Yes. She would be a drow once more, should she survive the inevitable battle."

Phyrra let out a sigh...it felt better hearing Lolth say it. She was a trickster goddess, but she did not lie to her followers...not without good reason. "What must I do, my Queen."

Lolth's smile returned. "Ah, Phyrra...always straight to the point. I ask little of you, truly...these are the drider, after all. There is a gemstone possessed by the mind flayers of Oryndoll known as the Font of Knowledge. All I ask is that you retrieve it...simple as that. I have need for the knowledge it contains."

"Simple as that…" Phyrra knew it wasn't...it never was, and Lolth had long since accepted Phyrra had caught into this game. She knew of Oryndoll, located deep in the Lowerdark. It was several day's away from Guallidurth last time she'd been there...which had been nearly a century, perhaps more. She knew little of the city besides the fact that it was a mind flayer hive...but that wasn't going to stop her.

"I shall deliver it here once I have it...of course. Thank you, my Queen." She knew so little about the city...trying to guess Lolth's true motivation would be impossible until they were closer. Until then, all she could do was mentally prepare for their arrival, and for dealing with the mind flayers once they got there.

"I am confident you will not fail me, Phyrra...I have always seen greatness within you. I shall see you again shortly once you have the gem, unless there is anything else…?"

Phyrra shook her head. "No, my Queen...I thank you for what you have promised me today."

Lolth gave one final nod, head and arms retreating into the portal that she'd come from. Phyrra had learned long ago where Lolth was located, deep within the infinite layers of the Abyss. She'd never left the Material plane, but she had a feeling that would change soon, given the Syndicate's goals. She turned the keys once Lolth had completely exited the portal, the black void snapping out of reality as soon as the keys were out of alignment.

She had her mission...go to Oryndoll and find the Font of Knowlege. Whatever else was part of the unmentioned mission, she wouldn't know until she'd found it. Phyrra descended the steps once more, meeting Leilia about halfway down. She held out the keys, offering them to the elder. "Thank you for the privacy...I will be back in a week, perhaps longer."

Leilia held her arms out straight, denying the keys. "As I said, it was always fated that you would be the next to guard the keys. Take them with you...it is your duty."

"No...the keys belong in the city, and Lolth's plans for me are not here. I am going somewhere dangerous. Should the worst happen, the keys must remain in the city. Perhaps, once my days of adventuring have run out, I will ease you of your burden."

Leilia conceded, accepting the keys from Phyrra. "May your journey prove fruitful, Phyrra. Lolth is watching over you." The elder continued up the steps, returning to her position at the base of the altar. Phyrra continued down, finding the rest of the Syndicate waiting, eyes trained on the drow as she descended.

"We're headed to Oryndoll, in the Lowerdark. We're looking for a gemstone there...that's all I know."

"And what was promised in exchange for the gemstone?" Shavvir folded her arms. Her frustration with abandoning the Shadowfell had long since faded, but the Shadar-kai needed confidence in the plan.

Phyrra looked around, a multitude of drow around them, seeing the Syndicate for the outliers that they were. Even mention of the drider was frowned upon within drow culture...let alone cooperation. When she spoke, it was with hushed words. "Enough...just not what I expected. Not here, though...wait until we are outside the walls.

The Shadar-kai was understandably sceptical. "Very well...outside. I presume you know your way to this 'Oryndoll'? Just what should we be expecting here? This is your mission, but you aren't going alone."

Phyrra nodded. "It's...last I knew, it was overrun by mind flayers. I can only presume they're still there...it's hard to get rid of them. The details are as alien to me as they are you. I have heard mention of Oryndoll only a handful of times, and seen it with my own eyes far less. Still, the way is known...but it is several day's journey."

"Several days?" Lance looked around at everyone else. "I was told we had three months. It's been over a week already, and now we're looking to make that closer to two. We still have to leave here, right? That's...that's a month. This...is this okay?"

"Shush, boy." Phyrra's simple words silenced him, Lance's panic turning into a mixture of frustration and anger. "Lolth will uphold her end of the agreement. Would you rather turn back now, and have spent two weeks with nothing to gain? This was originally a vote, and you the deciding member, lest you not forget. I am aware of the time...all will be well."

He turned to his brother for some sort of encouragement, but Wake's expression was stern. "Time in the outer planes is convoluted...while it may take us a month here, it could take us minutes or hours to do something else, though it would feel like a month from our perspective. I will admit." The archer narrowed his eyes at Phyrra intently. "It is concerning that we are expending so much time upfront, but she is right. It is better to remain and gamble on the payoff than to leave now empty handed. You know me, Lance. I do not say those words lightly."

He did...his brother was not one to gamble on anything. If he was confident in the plan...Lance had no reason not to be. "Alright...then I guess we're off to Oryndoll."

"Good. Unless there are any other concerns, I think we rest here for the night. There are all the necessary accommodations nearby." As the group remained silent, Phyrra walked them over to the nearby inn, silent apart from the six that had just walked in. Like the Upperdark, the Middledark saw very few travelers with Empyria's creation, to say nothing for the blockade they'd erected around Iltkazar. As such, they were quickly tended to, Phyrra's mere presence among the group costing them no coin for a warm meal and beds to sleep in.

The next morning, they set out, taking an exit on the opposite side of Guallidurth from where they entered. Once again, they were back within the endless maze of crags, tunnels, and canyons that made up the Underdark. As they traveled, however, the terrain grew even more treacherous, the fungi Maul'd used to illuminate his path nearly nonexistent at these depths. With Phyrra's assurance that travelers would never go down this far, Shavvir kept a light hovering around them, giving the warforged a path forward. However, it was useful for all of them, the tunnels that they traversed shattered and torn on jagged angles, evidence of the earth shifting around them as Phyrra had previously warned of. Tunnels would be shorn on one side to reveal perilous drops that extended deep into darkness, jagged corners and tight spaces slowed the Syndicate's rate of travel down immensely due to the challenges that they faced. Still, they made it several days with no interruption, the watches they held merely on the off chance that someone walked past them...someone they didn't want.

They settled down for the fourth night, just one day away from Oryndoll by Phyrra's approximations, Wake and Zaelynir taking watch while the other four settled in, Zaelynir halfheartedly keeping a lookout as usual. Lance sat there, mind drifting into a haze as he waited for the hours to pass by.

"What is it...that you desire." The voice was omnipresent in his head...this wasn't like the telepathic link they'd shared earlier at Alvesari. Though the words were clear in his head, he couldn't tell just what language it was in - he simply understood it. He remembered back to what Phyrra had warned them about earlier - don't engage. He didn't know just what to expect, other than that his best course of action was to avoid it.

He turned back to Zaelynir, still half-asleep. "Wake up. Now!" His voice was in low grunts, jostling the incubus awake. He remained silent, the ranger simply pointing to his head and gesturing to remain silent...to everything.

"I can...save you." This time, it was clear Zaelynir heard the voice as well, the haunting words startling the demon. His eyes widened in fear, quickly reaching for his staff.

Immediately, he was ready for whatever was assaulting them. Zaelynir looked back to the others, mouthing the words "Wake them up."

Wake nodded, first running to his brother, shaking Lance awake. He repeated the same series of gestures, pointing to his head and then holding a finger to his mouth. He moved next to Phyrra, Shavvir, and finally Maul, giving them the same message. If anyone knew what they were dealing with, it would be Phyrra.

"Your troubles can...vanish. Give them to me."

Phyrra seemed unphased by the haunting voice in her head...whatever was troubling them, it was clear that she knew exactly how to deal with it. "Aboleth. Do not respond...and do not let it near you. I'm not carrying your mindless husk back to Oryndoll while the effects wear off. Stay on the move. We must be near its nest." She quickly packed away her belongings, something that the others did as well.

What they didn't know is that Phyrra was in no danger...the ring on her finger protected her from the invasive thoughts of the mind flayers, but had the beneficial side effect of repelling aboleths as well. She heard nothing within her head...but knew enough from the way glances and gestures Wake had made to infer the situation. It would make it difficult for Phyrra herself to track, but that was a price she was more than willing to let the others pay in her stead. Once camp had been cleaned, they kept on the move.

The aboleth's taunting words continued in the other's mind, only Maul and Phyrra unaware of just what was being said, the former of the two lost as to what the concern was. Still they pressed on through the presumed night, a concept that had lost all meaning several days ago in the perpetual darkness.

"You worries can be no more." The aboleth persisted, digging deeper into the minds of the group, searching, probing for one of them to break...to give in.

"Why...why don't we respond do it?" Lance was more than willing to follow orders, but he at least wanted to know why.

"It feeds on the answers you give it, tempting you with more and more promises, promises too great that you can't pass up. Once it has you thoroughly in its clutches, it lures you to itself...and then melts your mind. You're little more than its thrall within minutes. The only way is to ignore it. Aboleths are not hunters, they rely on their prey coming to it, and they are fiercely territorial. It will not follow us." Phyrra paused, Lance's eyes filled with horror. "Any other questions, boy?"

He shook his head. "I...I think I follow." He followed behind Phyrra, trying to push away the ever-gnawing voice in his head, a voice desperate to consume him...he could hold out.

"I can...fix you."

Lance's eyes darted, his mind momentarily flitting back to the purple worm. The strange necrotic bolts were still flying out of him, a phenomenon that he still had yet to understand, let alone control. "And the aboleth...it can't actually do what it's saying, right? It's all just a diversion?"

"Yes. I...look at me." Phyrra stopped, hands gripping Lance's shoulders tightly. She could see the fear and concern in his eyes...she'd seen that before the last time they'd encountered an Aboleth. Someone always snapped...someone always failed. "Speak to me. Out loud. Do not think in your mind. Do not give it any more information than you may already have. Trust me...I will take care of you."

The rest of the group was giving him wary glances...they were having no troubles holding back against the aboleth. Zaelynir, a telepath himself, was easily able to shut down the voice coming to him, rendering it little more than a whisper. Lance and Shavvir both simply persisted, easily having the willpower not to give in to its taunting. It was clear, however, that Lance was having far more trouble.

"I...ever since I came back, I've been seeing these...these bolts of energy fly out of me and attack people...kill people. I saw it in the barrier, and then again against the purple worm. It's...I don't know what's happening to me." He turned to his brother, eyes wide with fear. "What bargain did you have to make to bring me back?"

"I split my soul...that was the deal. I suppose such an action could cause unintentional consequences, though. Does it...hurt?" This was the first Wake had heard about this...it was certainly cause for concern. Devils always upheld their contracts, the reason he was far more fond of them compared to the insanity of the demons. However, contracts always had loopholes, often on the end of the writer. He thought he'd read over the details thoroughly...something like this should have been avoided.

Lance shook his head. "No...not me, at least. I just...I can't control it. I don't know how."

Shavvir responded. "Hone it. What you have is a gift, boy. You speak as if it is a curse wrought upon you."

"It...feels like it." Lance idly flipped Blink in his hands, continuing the walk while the aboleth assaulted his mind...something he'd noticed less and less as he continued speaking. "Without being able to control it, there's no way to verify that it won't hit one of you at some point."

"I repeat - hone it. Do not be a slave to this power you've unearthed - tame it. Make it your own. Do you not feel safe learning to tame it in the heat of combat?"

Lance shook his head, thinking back to the horrific scars he'd left on its first victim, back in the barricade. "No...I don't."

Maul interjected. "Remedy proposed. Training offered during third watch."

Lance looked towards the warforged. "You're saying...we'll fight. You'll help me control this?"

"Affirmative."

Phyrra interjected. "I have no qualms with that. I'll take your place during the second watch. If it's something that you don't think you can stifle, someone needs to help you control it. Thank you, Maul."

"Understood." To Maul, the situation was twofold - there was a threat, one that Lance stated he could not control. Unnecessary chaos was not wanted on the battlefield. If Lance needed help controlling that chaos, he would do so. Secondly...it was Lance, a creature that had continued to perplex him. This would give him time to gain more information.

Lance was at ease - even if it was a problem for now, it very well might not be in the future. The aboleth's hungering words become quieter and quieter, perhaps because of the distance...or perhaps because of the rogue's peace of mind. Once the group was confident that they'd moved out of the realm of its lair, they set up camp once more. Shavvir and Phyrra took the first watch, Wake and Zaelynir already having done their share.

The two had never gotten along, differing religious viewpoints struggling to mesh well. Both believed themselves superior over the other - Shavvir saw that the Raven Queen had blessed her personally, directly augmenting Shavvir's on powers with her own. Phyrra simply believed, having to call upon her deity's power indirectly. It was impersonal - it was clear that Lolth did not have the same trust in her that the Raven Queen had for Shavvir.

To Phyrra, the situation was flipped. She saw the Raven Queen as overbearing, untrusting of her subject's innate powers and forced to bolster them with her own strength. That was not a flaw that Lolth saw within her, the only direct gift she'd been granted being a necklace. Instead, Lolth simply gave access to a host of powers, powers Phyrra could utilize whenever she wished. Lolth trusted her...and it was clear that the Raven Queen did not have that same trust in Shavvir.

The two women stood far apart from each other, no words passing between them as time passed. There was no need...no dangers passed by them, and small talk was not something the two women shared. Often, their conversations devolved into religious or ideological arguments, neither willing to concede the ground that they stood on.

Soon, Maul relieved them of their watch, Phyrra waking Lance as she set to sleep. Lance got up with dagger in hand...it was time. The warforged simply looked at him with intent, maul and shield ready in his hands.

"Primary goal: control activation."

Lance nodded...that was his goal as well, at least for now. They only had one night until they were walking into a mind flayer's den, and a fight was almost certainly a guarantee. If he couldn't even control when these bolts leaped from him, there might as well be another adversary in play - himself.

Maul readied himself for the rogue's attacks, expanding his shield out until it was an impenetrable wall - he was ready. Lance ran at him with full force, dagger slamming into the shield haplessly, no other effects being triggered. The half-elf tried again, backing up once more and launching himself at the shield as his dagger flew through the air. He repeated both actions several times with varying form - aggressive, methodical, paced, rushed...all of them simply existed as they were, no external effects occurring.

Lance tried one last time, starting to get disheartened by the lack of progress. As he lunged at the warforged, however, Maul struck back, thrusting his shield forward and knocking Lance off balance, raising his maul high overhead and preparing to slam it down onto him. The rogue dodged out of the way, swerving just enough to feel the brush of metal on his leg...and then the bolt flew. The blackish missile arced through the air, careening into the rock walls around them.

Maul nodded...it was as he suspected. The bolt was a response mechanism, perhaps one of defense, a method of fighting back against unforeseen circumstances. Against the purple worm, such an event was highly likely. In the barricade, equally so. Lance was still young to this life...there was much he was still adjusting to. "Activation mechanism originates from unforeseen events."

Lance let out a huff...at least it had happened, though a sample size of one was hardly conclusive. "Let's...let's keep trying. If it truly is from the unknown, don't fight back every time. I can't predict it."

"Understood."

The two continued, Lance repeatedly striking Maul's shield, all of the blows being absorbed by the warforged easily. As Maul had predicted, the trigger seemed to be the unknown - any time Lance had to do something beyond what he anticipated, a bolt would fly out. He still hadn't the slightest hope of controlling it at the moment...but at least he knew what caused it. It didn't instill him with much hope - when his future consisted of traversing the Lower Planes, the unknown would dominate the known for the next several months. Everything would be unpredictable...he'd be a liability.

"Attempt directional control." Maul steeled himself once more. They would be at Oryndoll by the end of the next day - he wasn't willing to stop here, and leave Lance as a complete liability. If he was able to at least control the general direction, regardless of specific coordinates, he would deem the practice, and the lack of an attentive watch, satisfactory.

Lance nodded...he agreed that this was necessary. He charged at Maul once more, this time trying to think about the specifics beyond the why - the how, the where...those were his concerns now. He came in to strike Maul, narrowly avoiding the ensuing blow as he tried to disengage, he focused on where the missile came from. It felt like it poured directly from his chest, but didn't necessarily continue in that direction. It spiraled off from his chest, sharply twisting upwards until it slammed into the ceiling.

"Repeat."

Lance struck again and again, each time focusing on a different aspect of what was happening to him. Still, the bolt seemed to have a mind of its own, flying off in a seemingly random direction every time. It didn't feel like he was making progress once again, he just continued learning more and more ways not to control the missile. It didn't follow his eyes, or his mind, or hands, arms, legs, feet...it was as if it wasn't connected to him, or anything about him.

"Repeat."

Lance stopped for a few seconds...this wasn't going anywhere. He looked back at Wake...this gift of a new life that he'd been given came with a very, very steep curse. It was still a net gain...life always was. However, he needed to control this, and frustration continued to seep in the longer he continued sparring with Maul. "Not anymore...we'll pick this up tomorrow."

Maul simply shook his head. "Unacceptable battlefield liability. Repeat."

"Maul. Not now. I may be a liability right now, but I'm going to be more of one if I don't take a rest. I need focus...I don't have that right now."

The warforged yielded, collapsing his shield down into its more compact form as he took a seat beside the rogue. "Understood." The mortals suffered from such problems...he was willing to accept his lack of judgement on this decision. He wasn't comfortable with where Lance had left off, having gained no valuable information over the course of their training. He had no way of controlling it, and had no way of knowing how to control it...the flaw wasn't even that he struggled, it was that he was simply unknowledgeable. So long as he remained aware of his surroundings and wasn't caught off guard in Oryndoll, there was a chance that he wasn't going to be a hazard...but that chance wasn't within the warforged's acceptable margins.

The two waited for the other four to rise in silence, watching and waiting for any potential threats to arise - none did. Once they were ready, Phyrra led them off through the tunnels once more. Lanced briefed the group on the training that had occurred - both what he'd learned, and what he still had yet to learn. None had any suggestions as of yet - they'd have to see it with their own eyes in order to make their own deductions, something they didn't want to do so close to their presumed destination.

As Phyrra continued travelling, she continued tossing over a question in her mind, the same question that had been eating at her the entire final leg of their journey to the Underdark - Lolth's goal. It wasn't the Font of Knowledge, and she knew that. What she truly wanted the Font for, Phyrra didn't know, but she knew plenty about Lolth to know that it must truly contain forbidden secrets to be worth Her value, secrets she doubted the mind flayers possessed. Their reach extended throughout the Lowerdark and up into the Middledark, taking any they saw fit as their own personal thralls, including quite a few drow. None dared approach them, however. Mind flayers, while not physically powerful, had the ability to wholly cripple you with their minds, turning you into a mindless shadow of your former self. Sneaking in to free their thralls would never work, and mobilizing an army to fight back just wasn't feasible. In truth, the drow was worried that the six of them might not be enough to overcome their combined strength.

While Phyrra was deep in thought, however, others felt a tugging at the back of their mind. It wasn't like the aboleth's - no, this was far more nuanced, far more experienced. There was no booming voice within their heads demanding information, simply subtle tweaking of the mind, so imperceptible and practiced in its nature so as to be practically invisible in its workings. It wanted one thing...information.

Wake reacted on this, not even knowing that it wasn't his own thoughts driving him at the moment. "What is our plan once we're at Oryndoll's limits? We need a plan to get in...and out."

Phyrra nodded. "It's been over a century since I've been here, so I don't know much for certain anymore. The upper layer of the city is home to their thralls - there's little that we'll be able to gather there. Below that is where the mind flayers themselves reside. If anything, what we're looking for is somewhere within there. However, our best chance is to split into small groups and stay undetected. Communicate with the Sending Stones if you find anything that looks promising."

Wake shook his head. "I'm not splitting up in unfamiliar territory. This isn't Alvesari - only one of us knows this place, and even then not well. We stay as a group." The manipulation of his mind continued on unbeknownst to the ranger. "How do we plan to enter the city? What's its outer border look like?"

Phyrra was still perturbed by his blatant disrespect for her understanding of the mind flayers to even bother paying attention to what else he had to say. "Mind flayers can sense intelligent life forms. Staying in a group of six increases our chance of being spotted, to say nothing of the fact that we're moving as a unit. As you said yourself, only one of us knows this place. Perhaps it's logical to heed her advice." Logical...that single entity was what stood in the way of her total respect for Wake. He was too focused on smoothing out all the fine details, making sure there were no flaws in the plan...Phyrra preferred a far more chaotic approach. Know the idea behind the plan, but improvise the details. Things were simply better that way.

As they walked to the end of the tunnel they were in, it opened out into a truly massive cavern - they were close. In the distance, she could see the faint lights of Oryndoll. Though the mind flayers had no need for light, some of the thralls they captured from the surface did, and thus they were willing to permit the light, at least within Oryndoll. They would be there within the hour at the rate they were going...until then, all they could do was mentally prepare.

"Phyrra...how do we get in?" Wake still wasn't in control of his own mind, the digging presence in his head growing more urgent, and yet still unnoticeable - it had understood the ranger quickly, and learned how to make its own desires match the host's.

"There's a wall. You want in...scale it. It'll take you above the thralls' quarters, but you should be able to find a way in."

"And you? How will you get in?" That was the question the presence wanted to know. It couldn't sense Phyrra's presence, and yet the fact that this mortal was communicating with it made it evident that it existed. It wanted to know everything about 'Phyrra'...for it could not do so on its own.

"Wake...I don't know. I'll figure it out once I've seen the situation up close."

The conversation died down only momentarily before Lance asked a question. Shavvir and Zaelynir joined in as well, only Maul staying silent throughout the entire endeavor. Phyrra was swarmed with questions, concerns, and worries, far more than any of them had had before. She knew something was amiss, but didn't know what. Last time she'd been around the mind flayers, this had never happened...perhaps it was simply an effect of being near so many of them. Instilling paranoia wasn't out of the question...but this felt like even more than that.

Soon, they were staring up at the massive wall that surrounded the city...and all was utterly silent. Phyrra looked up at the walls, and back to the main entrance...something wasn't right. "I'll take the walls. I don't trust anything here. Maul...I'll help you up there." Finally...Wake had his precious plan.

Wake nodded. "I don't have a way up that high...I can step into the Ethereal plane, unless someone can take me with them."

"Let's go." Shavvir walked towards him as Zaelynir took to the skies, beating his wings as he soared into the air. As Shavvir opened a Dimension Door, she and Wake were sent hurtling up towards the top of the walls. Lance started scaling as well, throwing Blink at the wall and leaping to it, using the dagger to hold himself steady long enough to throw it again, scaling the walls. It wasn't fast...but it did work.

Phyrra looked at Maul. "Something's not right, and I don't know what. Be on your guard...and be prepared to act impulsively if something goes wrong. The mind flayers are telepaths, but I haven't seen anything like this from their kind before. If they can read our minds, following logic and order will only get you killed faster." Without another word, a second Dimension Door appeared, Phyrra and Maul travelling through it.

When they got up to the top of the wall, the others had scattered...and for good reason. The trap had been laid perfectly, dozens of mind flayers ready and waiting for them. Phyrra bolted, casting a spell that left a duplicate of her behind, running in a separate direction as her to serve as a distraction. The true one grabbed Maul's hand, the others already being chased and cornered...whatever had happened, she knew he wouldn't be able to survive being alone here, not with mind flayers.

"We have to go. We might be the only two that can avoid them...we'll worry about them later." She ran through the thrall's portion of the city, seeing depraved and hollow figures bound in harsh chains, the mind flayers even more demeaning of their slaves than the drow. Phyrra blew past all of them, no time to even look at the faces as she saw the mind flayers closing in on her and Maul. Further and further they ran, circling down and around a grand staircase. She looked behind her, the mindflayers actively closing in on where they were...they needed a solution, and fast.

As soon as she rounded the final corner of the grand staircase, she saw the portion of the city where the mindflayers resided...but only for a moment. Phyrra instantly opened another Dimension Door, sending Maul through it as well as herself. She wasn't concerned with where it deposited them, so long as it was relatively safe and far away from her location.

The two landed on a rooftop far in the distance, Phyrra immediately looking back towards the staircase...the mind flayers that had been chasing them stopped...she let out a sigh. Whatever power was allowing the mind flayers to track the others, it couldn't track them.

Phyrra looked around...they were safe, at least for the time being. Her heart still racing, she scanned the underbelly of Oryndoll, never having been this deep into the city before. Her eyes scanned the tops of the buildings, hoping to see something that might point to where the Font was...nothing.

However, she did see something else, something reminiscent of Guallidurth. In the far back of the city was a massive ring, easily with a fifty foot radius. It extended high into the air, the top of which was carved into the ceiling above them. It was hard to make out the details from such a distance, but she could see runic markings along the ring...it was a portal. To where, however, she didn't know. Mind flayers often tended to themselves...why they had need for such a portal, if they did at all, was beyond her.

Maul, however, saw it in a different light. While this particular ring wasn't something he'd seen, he'd seen something similar to it...traveled through it, even. "Portal enables variable travel. Destination calibratable."

Phyrra looked at him, failing to parse the warforged's bizarre fashion of speech once again. "Hush...just because they can't track us doesn't mean they can't hear us. What are you saying about that ring. It can…?" She didn't know any more than that...not without more explanation, or a translator. Lance had always been good at figuring out the warforged's words, for whatever reason.

"Starting location constrained by current location."

Phyrra nodded, looking at the ring. "Yes...we have to go through it from here. That makes sense."

"Ending location unconstrained."

Phyrra shook her head. "I don't follow."

Whirrs of frustration rumbled within Maul's body...what he was saying made perfect sense. "Acheron traversal possible. Nine Hells traversal possible. Carceri traversal possible. Abyss traversal possible. Ring enables variable destination."

It finally clicked in Phyrra's head, the third time through getting to her. "You're saying...if we have someone that knows how to operate it, this can take us anywhere in the planes?"

"Affirmative."

Phyrra's spirits lifted...Lolth knew this. She hadn't sent them down here for the Font of Knowledge, she'd sent them down here to find that...to use it. However, they needed someone to operate it...and mindflayers were particularly resilient to torture. Coercing one to operate it for them, if they even knew how, was extremely unlikely. However, Wake...Wake might just know. He and Zaelynir were the only two that truly traversed the planes amongst the Syndicate, but Wake always seemed the more scientific about it. There was a chance that, if he didn't intrinsically know how it operated, he might be able to intuit it given enough time.

Another thought crept into Phyrra's head...another use for the portal. "You said it can go anywhere in the planes. How accurate is it? A mile? Ten? One tenth?" Then, another question. "How do you know what this does?"

Maul looked back at it one more, his body filling with sorrow. "Similar ring enabled Warforged's Acheron traversal. Accuracy...unknown."

"Do you have reason to believe it is accurate enough to target a specific layer of the Abyss?"

Maul pondered the question. He'd seen it be calibrated for Acheron - the coordinates still emblazoned in his mind all these years later. He didn't know where those coordinates mapped to versus where they actually landed, however. Still...Acheron had five layers, and they'd ended on the correct one. While the Abyss had far more layers, it was reasonable to believe that a portal of that magnitude was accurate enough. "Likely."

"And as for the strength of creature it can permit?" Phyrra's mind drifted back to Guallidurth once more, Lolth's hands and head able to get through the portal. Part of it was a size factor - Lolth in her true form was far too massive to fit through the portal. However, she knew that the Spider Queen could change her form at will, becoming the size and proportions of a drow if she wanted to. Even then, portals had limits, powerful creatures needing more powerful portals that could accommodate their strength. The one in Guallidurth could only fit the fraction of Lolth that always appeared...more than that, and the portal's bandwidth was at its limits. With a portal of this size, however, she could only assume it was capable of transporting nearly everything in the planes...even Lolth.

"Portal permitted simultaneous traversal of entire warforged army. Only known comparison metric."

Phyrra nodded...that was fair. Comparing the strength of a deity to the strength of an army wasn't fair...it was on two different scales. Still, if it was capable of carrying an entire army...odds are it could facilitate most, or possibly all, of Lolth. Perhaps that was what she'd been sent here for...to let the Spider Queen herself walk the Material plane.

Phyrra was getting ahead of herself...while that might be the plan, she needed Wake. Phyrra knew where in the Abyss Lolth resided, but didn't know how to explain that in the realm of planar knowledge...that was what they needed Wake for.

Back in the thrall's realm above, Wake and the others had been ruthlessly chased down by the mind flayers. Nothing seemed to matter - invisibility, teleportation, magic...none of it seemed to phase the mind flayers. It was as if they knew where they were going to go before they got there, causing the four members of the Syndicate to easily get captured. They'd been put in chains and rounded up as all Shavvir and Zaelynir were also gagged, preventing any sort of spellcasting. Before they were locked up, they were stripped of all but their most basic gear, leaving them with little more than the clothes on their backs.

The mind flayers led them towards a group of cells and roughly threw them inside. Each of them heard a voice in their heads. "You usefulness will be determined shortly. Escape is not possible. Your location is known. You cannot hide. You cannot run." With that, the mind flayer slammed the door and locked it, turning about.

Wake looked around the cell, far more than just the four of them inside. A majority of them were drow, but he noticed several more of the Underdark races inside, as well as even stranger creatures he didn't realize. From his position on the wall, there was little that he could do to escape, the handcuffs they'd put him in making something as simple as standing up challenging. Ideally, Lance could get them free...but not without his lockpicks.

Zaelynir, while gagged, was not out. The incubus looked around towards the drow. They all seemed of various ages...this wasn't a traveling party that had been captured. These people had been here for decades, or even centuries. The older they were, the more of a thrall they'd turned into, many of them little more than puppets at this point. However, the vast majority of them were women - likely sent on missions from Lolth, if he had to guess. He reached out to one of the youngest ones, probing with his telepathic link. "Did you come to Oryndoll seeking the Font of Knowledge?"

The drow looked startled, but saw Zaelynir's eyes from across the room. Despite the incubi's reputation, it was clear that he wanted no more than information from her. "We're here for it as well."

The drow remained verbally silent, but the incubus felt a response in his mind. "Yes. I - I did."

Zaelynir nodded, trying to keep the drow's attention. He knew that mind flayers could do this, and likely had assaulted her mentally with similar messages as well. In a different time, he might have had fun with this woman...but right now, self preservation was far more important than the gratification he would get from breaking her even further. "Do you know where it is."

The drow nodded, tears forming at the corners of her eyes...this was painful for her. Zaelynir suppressed a smile of amusement at seeing her suffering, waiting for a response. "A library. Near the - "

The voice cut out, the woman wincing with pain as she kept the telepathic link up. Zaelynir tried to respond calmly, his voice tender. "I won't hurt you. We're going to get out of here...but we need to know where to go."

"The back. Tallest building. Please...no more." Her eyes were tightly shut, her body curled up into a ball from hearing and sending the telepathic messages for so long, her brain likely addled and weakened from the mind flayer's manipulation. However, he had his answer...at least, the best he was going to get.

Zaelynir looked over at Wake, seeing the ranger calmly lying against the ground. He didn't want to reveal his telepathy to all of the group just yet...but the mind flayers hadn't seen Wake cast a spell yet, likely why they didn't gag him. If anyone was capable of getting them out, it was him. If one person had to know his secret...it would have to be Wake.

"Remain calm."

Wake did exactly that, his eyes quickly opening being the only sign that he'd heard anything in his mind, he looked around, no further indication.

"You're not to tell anyone I can do this, Wake. Understood?"

An imperceptible nod, the two now intently staring at each other. Zaelynir continued.

"I pulled from someone where the stone Phyrra's chasing for her darling Lolth. We need a way out of here, and I do like what I'm seeing over there. Think you could lend little old me a hand?" Zaelynir said the last line with a slight smile - Wake had always held a harsh outer shell, one that Zaelynir repeatedly tried to crack, often to little success. Still...it was fun to try.

Once again, Wake gave an imperceptible nod, blinking out of existence for no more than a half second. He'd gone to the Ethereal plane, the handcuffs he'd been bound to leaving him as he went. Zaelynir watched as he caught them before they hit the ground - if all the mind flayers knew was their location, it was as if he'd never moved. He still had to be quiet, or else they'd recognize something was amiss.

Wake looked at the ground around them - the vegetation was sparse, but nonexistent. He pressed his hand lightly against the ground, feeling nature's power trembling beneath him...it was faint, but all that he had to work with.

The tiny, malnourished plants all around him sprang to life, rapidly growing to tens of times their usual size. He manipulated them with expert ease, writhing up through the chains in the cuffs and swelling to proportions great enough to overpower even the metal, snapping the other's cuffs. The door was a separate issue...but he was confident that that would be resolved in due time.

The others looked around them as the plants expertly freed them from the confines they'd just recently been placed in, Zaelynir immediately leaping to action. Three rays of searing fire blasted the lock, melting away their final shackle away from freedom. The incubus walked out, blasting the other holding doors around him as they melted away with ease. Dozens upon dozens of underdark thralls remained motionless, too addled to even hope to take advantage of the situation. Some, like the drow he'd just talked to, however, got up and started moving towards the door.

Zaelynir smiled, the chaos erupting around him as mind flayers swarmed their position. He looked at the other three members of the Syndicate, pointing onwards. "I've bought us a distraction. Follow me."

Word Count: 7926

Total Word Count: 37233