The Back Room
"So where do we go now, miss enthusiasm?" Meeks asked Elyxya, shortly after the red-head's pep-talk. Now that the group was more-or-less over Izzy's kidnaping, their mission had to go on. They had been everywhere they could go, yet nothing--or no one--had told them that they'd passed the Test of Faith. Could they have missed something?
"That's what I was saying earlier!" San-Raal cried suddenly from beside Masoj; he threw his arms out exasperatedly, nearly knocking Masoj off his feet , "There's nowhere to go! We've cleaned the place out!" He shook his head and wondered how come the party always seemed to get into these kinds of situations. There always had to be some part of the puzzle missing, there just had to; enigma clung to the team like humidity. A sigh passed the group and then Nightshade said, "So why don't we just look around everywhere again? There's bound to be something -anything- we must have missed." And with a groan the entire group agreed to let the search begin.
***
Dran led Sindel across the floor just below his personal chambers, where the priestess had met up with Dran the night before. The lights remained dim, and the silence was still present; all except for the continuous sound of robes brushing the carpeted floor. It was nearing midday now, and after their earlier conversation, Dran and Sindel had spent the morning walking the luxurious spires of Temple Darkmoon.
"I do remark that you are not cheap on comfort!" Sindel piped in awe as she walked by a wall orned with intricate tapestries and banners. She ran her fingers over one of them and revelled in its softness. Indeed she had seen a great many luxuries during her short time with Dran and she came to acknowledge the temple's upper quarters in having a much richer atmosphere than those within her old temple. The whole area was so clean, and yet she had seen only one servant: Dran's right-hand man, a curious fellow who never showed his face, keeping it hidden behind the thick black hood of his robes. Sindel had asked Dran about the servant, and the high-priest had explained that the man was simply shy; Sindel wasn't pleased with the explanation, but she waved her questions away without thinking twice.
At her side, Dran chuckled dryly, "It's every man's right to feel at home." He declared and led Sindel around a corner. The words brought a thought to Sindel's mind, "Where is your home, Dran? Where do you come from? I don't believe you've ever told me." She asked and looked around the room ahead of her; no one walked the halls. She looked up at her host then and saw his eyes flick to the side, as if in thought; "You wouldn't know if I told you, so let's just say I come from far." Dran answered and looked down at Sindel, the affliction gone from his stare. The two stopped walking for a moment and Sindel frowned up at Dran, "Oh...alright. Then why did you come to the Waterdeep and build this temple? Were you exiled?" She prodded. Eager to keep walking, for he was not a fan of staying put, Dran pulled Sindel's arm into step, "Um, no actually; I wasn't exiled, I just--came. Sometimes you just need to move, you know?" He said and realized that Sindel was expecting a more elaborated answer to her questions, "I built Darkmoon because I wanted to." He chuckled to himself at the simplicity of the words, "I'm a cleric...that's what I do; I'm qualified to run a temple therefore I want to run a temple. Simple, hmm?" He tried.
Sindel tapped her fingers on Dran's arm out of habit, "Sure, I understand." She said non-commitally and feasted her eyes on a beautiful statue of a great dragon; a statue that stood in an alcove near a closed door made of a golden-hued material. "How did you get the money to fund this place? Did you have it when you came here?" She couldn't help but ask, figuring the richness of Darkmoon's upper chambers to be absolutely exquisite; even the lower chambers were nice! Dran exhaled loudly and gave Sindel an annoyed look, "Are you writing a book?" He snapped, startling Sindel, then cooled and added, "I had quite a bit of money when I came here, Sindel. I'd made quite a bit of profit back home.". He watched as his guest inspected the dragon carving, one of his favorite pieces.
Dran's uneasiness when speaking of his past struck Sindel as odd, intriguing even. She turned towards the stone dragon statue and bent to look at it in whole; it stood on its hind legs and its magnificent wings were spread wide, in its taloned hands it proudly held an amulet and a few coins. The carving was made of carnelian, a fiery-coloured semi-precious stone, that had been set with a multitude of other stones to give the impression of brilliance and shadow all at once. Although the piece in whole was of great beauty, the thing that caught Sindel's attention was the dragon's eyes; two finely- cut emeralds were set in position, and by these, the stone dragon's stare seemed to pierce through one's very soul. "Is there something wrong?" Came Dran's voice from behind, snapping Sindel from her fixated daze.
"Its eyes are like yours." Sindel blurted suddenly. She looked over her shoulder at Dran and then back to the dragon, "They are." She pressed; she couldn't quite explain it other than the fact that the high-priest's eyes were green too, but still...there was something else there... She swept around inches from Dran's face and he drew back in surprise, "Well...thank you." He stuttered, blinked, and took a step back. Sindel stood still for a moment, staring, then slowly, she smiled and nodded, "It's a nice statue." She said thoughtfully and reached for Dran's arm. "Thank you." The overlord repeated gingerly and took his high-priestess' arm to lead her away from the alcove.
***
San-Raal harmlessly pretended to repeatedly hit his head on the smooth stone wall of the mantis nest, "Why why why why why..." He lamented to himself. The group had run about for a half hour and had found nothing amiss or of interest; San-Raal claimed he knew it would happen, and the rest of the party didn't blame him for thinking pessimistically. From across the room, near the place where Meeks had taken the light gem from the wall some time earlier, Elyxya witnessed San-Raal's self-torture and frowned. "Boy, he really hates mysteries." She commented to Pryzma and pointed in the dark elf's direction. Pryzma looked over at the wizard and smiled shyly, "No one from Ched Nasad likes mysteries, Elyxya. It is the way of our people--at least in our city it is." She said wistfully, then she turned and watched as Elyxya stalked over to cheer up her grieving friend.
"Stop it, San-Raal." Elyxya warned as she approached him, even though the wizard wasn't really harming himself, "You weren't this pessimistic down in the catacombs! Why are you being such an extremist now?" She asked and pulled San-Raal away from the wall by his shoulders. The mage closed his eyes and turned around slowly, "Because there had to be a way out of the catacombs, or else...who would go there? But this, this is a completely different situation!" He cried, his voice cracking with strain, "Who knows what happens to postulants who fail the Test?! What if they get jammed in here like we are now? Hmm?" He bent close to Elyxya and held her gaze intently. Elyxya rolled her eyes in defiance, "Oh please! For god's sake San-Raal if we want to get out of here, we just go back down the stairs! You remember the stairs, don't you?!" She asked sarcastically, as though San-Raal had suddenly gone crazy.
Dying to tell her she didn't understand, San-Raal narrowed his eyes, slumped back, and sighed. Elyxya, optimistic as anyone could possibly be and tired of seeing San-Raal so apocalyptic, grasped the wizard's slender shoulders and pulled him within an inch of her scowling visage, "Now you listen to me," She whispered fiercely, "you are going to quit being so deathly and you are going to start being happy. Okay?" San-Raal's expression was of complete surprise and Elyxya was thrilled by it, "If you don't believe what I'm saying then listen: you have a key in your pack that you worked for and got, now that key goes somewhere and we're going to find out where! And if that's not good enough to keep you from having a mental breakdown, then this should help." She finished sharply and kissed San-Raal's lips as a closing statement. When Elyxya let him go, San-Raal was breathing heavily, "Yes m'am." He gushed obediently and secretly praised Elyxya for the second kiss he'd shared with her; he watched as she turned to join Meeks at the other end of the room and found himself thinking happy thoughts.
***
"So tell me Dran, how is it that you watch my raiding party?" Sindel asked as Dran stopped before a set of double doors that sported a bunch of detailed symbols from a language that she didn't recognize. The question had been playing in her mind for a while, but she had waved it off thinking a simple scrying glass would do the trick. Dran reached out and grasped the door knobs, "Ah! That, my dear, is what I meant to show you during this delightful stroll of ours." He declared grandly and drew his guest's attention. He pulled both doors open to reveal a large room that cut off into five closed doors. A little disappointed that something magnificent hadn't been revealed, Sindel crept up beside Dran and tapped his arm, "Dran? What did the symbols on the door mean?" She asked curiously; they had seemed important, not part of simple decoration. Dran looked over at Sindel with a shimmer in his eyes, "Oh...I'm honestly not sure. You see, I don't speak the language." He answered matter-of-factly and flashed Sindel a honey-sweet smile.
A confused expression found its way onto Sindel's face, "What language?" She asked, figuring she could perhaps rummage through her brain and recognize it. Dran's eyes scanned the large room ahead as if he expected something to jump out at him, "Illithid." He answered bluntly. At first, the word didn't ring a bell for Sindel, but then she brought her hand up to her mouth as she came to realize what lived beyond the five doors at the far end of the room ahead. Illithids, commonly known as mind flayers, were the most shunned of inhuman creatures. They stood about six feet tall and adorned themselves with dramatic robes of otherworldly elegance; their skin colour is of an unusual mauve and their heads resemble octopi with two white, pupil-less eyes. The most disturbing thing about illithids is that they feed on the minds of sentient beings by the means of tentacles that serve them as a mouth. Mind flayers commonly reside within the Underdark, and few things would ever dare to cross their path.
Unconsciously, Sindel clutched the sleeve of Dran's overcoat and took a cautious step back and out of the doorway. Dran reached back and sharply pulled Sindel back to his side, "You've nothing to fear." He said calmly, then he cleared his throat and called, "Rain!". At the summons, the far left door opened and a single illithid exited, followed by two others that stayed one step behind. Sindel's instincts told her to bolt, but she knew better than to make such a stupid move; mind flayers were a telepathic people, and incredibly intelligent, more so than any other creature to walk the material plane. Sindel braced her knees and stayed put, knowing that the mind flayers' first attack move was paralysis. Beside her, Dran waited for the small group of illithids without flinching.
When the three creatures had reached their destination, Dran smiled and turned to Sindel, "My dear, I would like you to meet my --agents." He said with a content tone, "Do not be frightened, they won't harm you; in fact, now that you are high-priestess of this temple," He paused to draw a devious smile from Sindel, "nothing will harm you." He looked over at the illithid that stood foremost of the three, "This is Rain; his true name, I cannot pronounce. He is the leader of the undercurrent activities of Darkmoon; such as telepathy, scrying, outside information, and such." He gave the mind flayer a curt nod of reconnaissance. Sindel gulped audibly, her hands still clutching Dran's sleeve, and waved her free hand reservedly, "Hello." She managed, nervous beyond anything she'd felt before. She would have been happy not knowing how Dran kept track of her old raiding party if she would have known that illithids were involved!
"Greetings, Sindel." A voice said in the high-priestess' mind. She literally jumped back, startled; had the mind flayer just spoken to her? In perfect English? She narrowed her eyes when the illithid, Rain, waved at her as she had earlier. She wondered if the gesture was to make her feel comfortable or if it was to mock her. Dran's hand patted Sindel's shoulder, "I know it's odd at first, but you get used to it. If Rain spoke out loud, he wouldn't be able to pronounce the syllables of our language. And anyway, isn't talking telepathically with Khelben and I the exact same thing?" He said, giving the awkward situation a more layed-back feel. Dran was right, Sindel knew, but she still didn't like the fact that this `Rain' was intruding in her mind with such ease! She didn't know if she could ever get used to it.
Seeing Sindel's obvious discomfort, Dran initiated the conversation so that things could move on, "Rain will show you how he can scrye. Just settle down and follow." He said quickly and fell into step behind the three illithids who turned and headed back towards the set of five doors. Sindel pulled Dran down and whispered to him, "Where did you get these creatures? I've never heard anything good about them! They're evil, and...and...how on earth did you get them to work for you?" She demanded raspily, then realized that her whispering was pointless if the mind flayers could read her thoughts.
Dran's brow furrowed, "I asked." He replied rather quaintly and raised his eyebrow at Sindel. Ahead, the three illithids continued on towards the far center door, noiseless were their steps, except for the swooshing sound of their flowing robes. Sindel recognized the sound; she had heard it when she had first come to Dran's chambers and had assumed it to be clerical robes belonging to clergy members. If she had only known that the sound was illithid and not human, she maybe would have thought twice before staying in the spires of Temple Darkmoon... "You asked? What do you mean you asked'?" Sindel prompted almost frantically, she never realized just how uncomfortable illithids made her feel.
Rain and his two associates slipped beyond the golden-hued doorway that lay ahead of them, Sindel and Dran followed gingerly. Dran bent close to Sindel in a misled attempt to keep his tone secretive, "I had contacts in the west Illithid caverns and I asked for assistance with Darkmoon. They agreed to it and sent a few of their kin to this temple." He explained quickly, "An old debt, you may call it." He added off-handedly. "How many were sent?" Sindel asked fearfully as she stepped through the doorway at Rain's assistants' heels. Dran hadn't the time to speak when Sindel's question was answered for her. The room ahead of them was as large as Dran's personal chambers and just as elegantly furnished and decorated; inside, busying about, were approximately two-dozen mind flayers. Sindel flinched uncontrollably.
Sindel found this odd, for even though the creatures were obviously very busy, not a sound could be heard. The perfect roommates, Dran thought to himself and wondered curiously if one of the illthids had overheard him. Six mind flayers stood talking' at the back of the room while two loitered by the door frantically gesturing to one-another with their four-fingered hands. Rain seemed to contact his two companions and they dispersed immediately to join a small group of illithids that huddled around something that Sindel couldn't see. When the two had left, Rain spoke' to Sindel and Dran, "I ask you both not to disturb anyone. We are presently quite busy with a new project." He said in the clerics' minds. With that, he began to walk towards the small group of gathered illithids; Dran and Sindel followed.
Sindel eyed the room's inhabitants with false stoicism, "What's this project he's talking about?" She asked Dran who strode confidently beside her; his eyes were locked on the huddled group of mind flayers ahead. "Rain is leading the others to, directly, mentally contact members of your ex-party and plant suggestions into their minds. I'm hoping we can get them to change their minds about raiding my temple." He said with a hint of desperation in his tone. Sindel thought the plan through and secretly hoped the illithids could do better at changing her party's mind than she had a while back. When she and Dran had reached the little group, the huddled illithids pulled away from their focal point to let Rain and the clerics pass. At last Sindel could see the thing that the creatures were fussing over; it was a crystal ball, about twice the size of one's head, and was propped up by a dragon's paw carved in onyx. Sindel smiled, pretty, she thought pleasantly then jerked upright as Rain's voice answered mentally, "I know.".
"Please don't make that a habit!" Sindel cried out to the creature, she just couldn't stand the illithid's telepathic intrusions. Beside her, Dran patted her arm and pointed to the crystal ball before them, "Quit your whining and look." He said with a hint of impatience creeping into his voice; Rain left to join the rest of the mind-flayers that crept about the room. Sindel did what she was told (amazing!), "What am I supposed to be seeing?" She asked after three seconds of gazing into the shiny crystal; suddenly, the orb darkened, became clear again, then a familiar set of faces appeared. "My team!" She cried, leaning close to the ball and childishly pressing her hands to it, "What are they doing?" She asked as her blue eyes watched intently the scene unfolding before them. The image projected was of Sindel's ex-raiding party; they were loitering about a large chamber and seemed rather depressed. With a smile of contempt, Sindel spoke once more, "Where are they?".
Dran inspected the image as closely as his new high-priestess did, "They're in the Test of Faith' I spoke to you about earlier. They're stuck at the moment." He concluded curtly. Sindel wondered why Dran was always so unspecific, "What do you mean they're stuck'?" She demanded of her accomplice. A loud breath escaped Dran's lips before he answered, "They've gone through the entire bottom floor of the Test and now they're obviously trying to keep going. Unfortunately for them, they won't go anywhere until I say so; you see, the Test is completely governed by Rain and the illithids -- under my word." He explained calmly and watched as the members of Sindel's team walked about aimlessly and yelled at one-another from time to time. "So you're saying that you control everything that goes on in the Test? As in, well...everything?" Sindel gasped. Dran looked over at her and smiled, "Yes." He said sharply, wondering if she was thinking of anything he should know about, then drew back as his question was answered. Sindel pushed herself back from the crystal ball and pointed to it, her eyes round with excitement, "Then why don't you send a whole bunch of monsters in there to finish em off?!" She yelled. Dran shook his head and looked over at the image, "No. It's not that easy, Sindel. I've already wasted a great deal of mantis creatures in an effort to outnumber the members of your party. I don't exactly want to use up everything I've got by throwing them all in the Test of Faith." He said with a deep frown.
Sindel found difficulty in understanding Dran's reserved logic, "But -- why don't you just leave em there or something? Why let them finish the Test? They'll only get closer to taking you down!!!" She fumed, grabbing the high-priest's sleeve and pulling on it roughly; she congratulated herself secretly for having ignored the hateful mind-flayers that continuously busied about the room. "Exactly." Dran piped and blinked at the madwoman on his arm; the priestess' expression went blank and Dran knew he had to explain his words once more for her sake, "Sindel, dearest," He began slowly, like one might when talking to Izzy, "the closer your death squad comes to me, the better chances I have of destroying them if worse comes to worse. My defenses here in the spires of Darkmoon are much, much stronger than the ones in the lower chambers; it's only logical. And besides, I have a couple tricks up my sleeve up here." He said lightly and grinned devilishly.
The explanation didn't really satisfy Sindel, but she went along with it anyway. Her attention quickly returned to the crystal ball, "So what are you showing me this for?" She asked, motioning down to the clear surface of the orb. Dran held up a finger like a school teacher might, "Ah!" He exclaimed, "That's the good part! I will make one last effort to get through to your team in hopes of convincing them to back off from their attack; the illithids have already chosen their host. I will also open the border to the next step of the Test, giving your ex-party a chance to complete it." He said quickly, eyeing the crystal ball furtively, "And I want you to witness it, that you may be accustomed to monitoring through divination." He finished. Sindel nodded dumbly, "Okay." She uttered.