Disclaimer: The only thing I own is Essande E'lenei and Terrill Sollec, Bioware owns the rest.
Author's Note: Hey thanks for the review Guan! Here's chapter three, which in my opinion seems a bit rushed and generally sucks but whenever I play the game I rush through the Undermountain anyway so don't expect too much in the way of the Undermountain chapters.
Things To Do Before I Die
Chapter Three
To the Depths of Undermountain
Darkness fell over the room as one of the drow cast a darkness spell, an innate ability to drow that Essande wished they didn't have. Screams erupted in the air as drow and surfacer alike fell to one another's blades in the dark. The skald sheathed her weapons and ran to the side and out of the spell at the same time making a mental note to cross "Be attacked by drow" off of her list. As soon as she was bombarded with the brightness of the room unaffected by the darkness spell Essande stopped, blinking to adjusted her eyes to the sudden light change. A randomly place crossbow bolt hit her in the thigh and she winced but ignored it as she ran along the edge of the spell so she was as close as possible to the drows' original positions without being in the dark. Once again Essande unsheathed the long sword and dagger and plunged forwards. The long sword's tip found flesh and Essande guided both of her blades into the drow priestess's body. A shriek emitted from the dark elf and her body went limp, dropping to the floor as Essande withdrew her weapons.
Impulsiveness got the better of her as she noticed another drow disappearing down into the well room. Ignoring the sounds of combat still going on in the room Essande followed. 'Today's as good a day as ever to die anyway.' The thought of the unfinished list in her pack nagged at the half-elf from the back of her mind but Essande ignored it as she jumped over the last two steps of the metal stairs to the well room. It wasn't as if she'd expected to ever finish it. A spell formed on her lips as she sheathed her dagger, tossing a fireball into the group of drow gathered about the well. The sudden burst of light shocked some of the dark elves to a stand still, others dodging to the side. Those standing still were engulfed by the flames and screams of pain and panic came from the group. Before the strays could recover another fireball was being tossed towards a pair of wizards standing already dangerously close to the edge of the cliff within the room. Even before the fell from the edge Essande had yet another spell on her lips, but this one she didn't finish.
Pain from crossbow bolts broke Essande's concentration. It was, after all, hard to concentrate when you've been shot in the shoulder, stomach and hip. Essande growled, her golden eyes locking with those of her attacker. A smirk had formed on the drow's face, as he watched her approach, not bothering to look as he reloaded his crossbow. At the same time he took aim for the half-elf's heart though, a bolt struck him through the neck. Essande skidded to a halt as the drow fell dead, whirling around in surprise. Essande smiled at the kobold waving at her, a toothy grin on his face. Aside from the pair of vivid red wings sprouting from his back, Deekin looked pretty much the same as he did when Essande had first met him.
"Hey, thanks Deekin." Essande said gratefully before turning her attention to the bolts still embedded in her skin. Four quick motions and a healing spell later found the redhead and kobold shinnying down the rope. "Hey thanks for coming with Deekin." Essande said as she touched bottom. Reaching up she helped the kobold down. "Say can you fly with those?" The kobold shrugged as he was placed on the ground.
"They not be very big. Maybe Deekin fly for short distance, but he not be sure. Deekin not really be concerned about that." He replied and Essande nodded, turning to continue deeper into the cavern they were in. "When Old Master says—" Essande shushed Deekin as he tried to go on. Pointing silently to a group of drow coming from Undermountain as explanation Essande dragged Deekin off to the side, hoping the drow wouldn't notice them if they kept to the shadows, after all, the room was bright enough that the dark elf's wouldn't be using their infravision.
Indeed the drow didn't notice them and levitated up into the well room above. Deekin mumbled something about wishing he could do the same and Essande smiled. This was going to be just like old times, danger would pass, the moment would linger, and Deekin would make a remark about the situation that would break the moment. Motioning for Deekin to follow Essande ran down the slope and entered Undermountain. A room greeted the kobold and her with a hallway going out to the left; the room itself was small and square with a few torch brackets about and a magic circle in its center. Bones sat in a heap at the circle's middle, an early warning and a reminder that Undermountain was dangerous and what Essande was doing was stupid.
"Hey, why don't you grab a torch D?" Essande suggested reverting back to the nickname she had placed on the reptile during their adventure in the flying city of Undrentide. Then Essande pulled out her list, flipped through the pages and taking out her inkpot and a quill crossed out "Be attacked by drow" and "Explore Undermoutain". Technically she hadn't thoroughly explored the place yet but the half-elf figured she might as well cross thing off in advance.
"What that Boss? Oh! Is you writing grand epic like Deekin?" Essande smiled and shook her head, putting away her things and taking the torch from Deekin. Both of them had infravision so really the light wasn't necessary but the skald figured that they could at least take advantage of the fact drow weren't used to any type of light save faerie fire.
"Naw D. It's that list I showed you way back when. Remember? All those thing I had to do before keelin' over?" The kobold's eyes widened a little as he thought and then nodded vigorously when he found the memory.
"Deekin remembers! Still not done Boss?" The kobold asked curiously. The half-elf sighed.
"Nope, got a long ways to go on both the list and in here. Come on, no more talkin' for now, we'd better find the root of this problem else the whole of Waterdeep's gonna go to ruin." Essande said, carefully stepping around the magic circle. Apparently the two had been talking longer than she thought for before Deekin could follow Sharwyn and company came bursting into the room. The elder bard gave Essande a questioning look before she ran by, followed closely by Daelan who paid her no heed. Linu would have stopped and ask her questions had Tomi not shoved her forward and finally after winking slyly, like someone about to show of in an attempt to impress another person, the halfling too ran down the hall.
The sound of crossbows clicking as they unloaded there bolts was heard followed by Sharwyn's voice, saying something to soft to comprehend. A bellow was heard; obviously from Daelan and then after brief shouting from both Tomi and Linu there was nothing but the sound of fading footsteps. In the meantime both bards stood dumbfounded, Essande's mouth was slightly open in surprise and a look of intrigue had passed over Deekin's features. After a few moments Essande shook her head recovering when she felt Deekin tugging on her sleeve. For lack of anything else to say about the scenario Essande posed a question to the kobold that Deekin found himself unable to answer despite his bardic lore.
"What in the Nine Hells was that about?"