Disclaimer: The only things I own are Essande E'lenei and Terrill Sollec, Bioware owns the rest save Blue who is borrowed from Jassy's humorous Dungeon-Be-Gone module for Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn.
Author's Note: Okay, Milil and Blue are mentioned in here, Milil is the god of poetry, song and eloquence, and Blue is the demi-goddess of immortal bards. Also I'd like to give thanks to Guan and Penname wa Silver B for the reviews.
Things To Do Before I Die
Chapter One
Lockdown
Essande grumbled to herself as she paced. This was her third day in Waterdeep since the lockdown on the city. By her fortune they had arrived just before it, and now the group from the wagon were trapped in an inn by the name of The Yawning Portal until the siege on the city ended. This had put the skald in a foul mood, exasperated that the fates were picking on her and wanting nothing more than to be on the road again with the performance troupe she'd once traveled with. The last thing she needed was her pack stolen as well as her favorite pair of katanas. The half-elf tossed a glare at the charred body of the drow woman she'd fried to death. The only thing of use Essande could take off of the thief was the poisoned dagger the skald assumed was meant for her heart. Even then Essande hadn't pried the weapon from the drow's hand as the metal was still cooling down after being bombarded with three fire-based spells. A knock on her door interrupted the half-elf's thoughts and Essande shook her head, clearing it.
"Yeah? What is it?" Essande asked, irritation evident on her voice. The door opened and a lovely young woman with light brown hair stepped in. Despite Essande's sour words there was a smile on her face as she entered.
"Is everything—oh my word!" The smile vanished in an instant as Tamsil brought a hand up to cover her mouth in horror. She approached the body with caution as if expecting it to spring to life despite the fact the drow was very, very dead. Nudging it with her toe Tamsil sighed then looked Essande over. "Are you okay it didn't hurt you did it?" Essande gave her a look; being that the only thing the half-elf wore was a nightgown any injury would have been obvious. "This is serious…" The half-elf fought the urge to roll her eyes and say 'No duh'.
"Is the inn under attack then?" Tamsil shook her head, biting her bottom lip for a moment.
"There have been other attacks though, important people in Waterdeep have been assassinated in their sleep. You're very fortunate miss. What I don't get is how who ever it is behind the attacks knew you were here, I mean, you only just got here…I'll have to tell father about this. We take pride in the safety of our guests. If…if you want you can use some of the spare equipment in the armory across the hall, I'm sure you'll want to get your things back but I wouldn't recommend parading about in your nightgown…" Tamsil said leaving the room a slight snicker escaping her. Essande scowled and stared up at the ceiling, mentally cursing both Tymora and Beshaba for her predicament.
"Well, at least they didn't get my list and I get a drow dagger to boot." Essande said sighing, stooping over to at last pry the poisoned blade from the dead elf's grasp. Crossing the small room the skald placed the dagger atop her book and ventured to the armory. It was small room, and there weren't many items to pick from. Picking up a long sword from the weapon rack Essande wasn't surprised to find it slightly off balance and the best armor she could wear from the armor stand was a blue colored studded leather tunic. In fact the only things Essande found of particular use were the five rogue stones in a small bag on the counter cutting across the rooms middle and the three thousand gold among the potions.
Returning to her room, grumbling about how her hair clashed with the armor Essande collected the dagger and her book. Then she smiled, remembering that she had shoved her boots beneath her bed that night. Sure enough the smoky gray boots were sitting underneath Essande's bunk only putting the skald in a better mood. The boots were specially enchanted to increase the wearer's speed, which was very useful in battle. "And if anyone says anything about the clashing colors…I'll toast 'em." Essande said to herself, pulling on the shoes. Standing, she walked to the door, pondering how much she wanted to be seen like this then shook her head. Taking a deep breath Essande flung open her door and walked straight into a young man who happened to be passing by. "Bah, may Milil put a damnably hummable tune in your head, to play on and on till the end of time!" Essande cursed at the man as she stood up again.
"I…think you already put that one on me," The elf said standing, brushing himself off, "Back in the Neverwinter Academy when I accidentally opened the door on you…E'lenei right?" Essande cracked her knuckles, her teeth grinding as she fought the urge not to pummel the shadowdancer at that moment.
"You had to remind me about that. Very well then, another curse: May Blue induct you into her harem!" The elf tilted his head curious, obviously not familiar with the demi-goddess Blue. Essande blinked at him then sighed. "So…what is the grand Terrill Sollec doin' in Waterdeep." Terrill shrugged, running a hand through raven colored locks.
"Same thing as you I suppose, besides Lord Nasher was getting to be a pain. I better get going…by the way do you have a gig going on here or are you telling the world that the only colors you can correctly mix and match are grays and blacks? Catch you later E'lenei." With that the elf was gone, most likely already downstairs leaving Essande punching air. 'Now I remember how he survived traveling with me, damn moon elf.' The skald thought gritting her teeth.
"Lucky I didn't toss a fireball at him, whole inn woulda gone up in flames. Fine, next person to comment is gonna get a face full of fist." She said to the air. Marching down the hall she paused at the top of the stairs taking a deep breath before descending down and entering the makeshift shelter within the inn.