Chapter 12

Sab'vrae slowly read through the strange book, fascinated at its words and lessons; it was nothing like anything he'd ever read before. According to the book, The Dark Maiden was a drow goddess known as Eilistraee. It claimed she was the daughter of none other than Lloth and the leader of the elven pantheon, Corellon. The elderboy recognized Corellon as one of the "false surfacer gods" from school, but never heard mention of Eilistraee before. Despite her apparent relation to Lloth, the younger goddess couldn't differ more from her insane and evil mother.

"Aid the weak, strong, grateful, and churlish alike; be always kind" one line preached, and another, "Defend and aid all folk, promoting harmony between races." Lloth's priestesses always stressed on the superiority of drow over other races, and weakness was thought to be scorned at and punished with death. " Strangers are your friends. Repay rudeness with kindness." Both of these statements started and bemused him, contradicting the very core lessons he matured on. The only edict that made remotely any sense to the drow was, "Repay violence with swift violence, that the fewest may be hurt, and danger fast removed from the land." The repaying violence with swift violence came naturally to Sab'vrae in most situations; however, never for protecting others and removing danger, except from himself.

Ironically, the well read and educated noble, was not only bemused by the overall content, but also baffled by much of the vocabulary. "Kind," "harmony," "grateful," "friend," "peace," "forgiveness." Most of the words didn't exist in the drow language, or, at least, not in the connotation they seemed to hold in the book.

His better innate judgement screamed at him to destroy the book, and to wash its ramblings from his mind, but his curious side overran it. Sab'vrae continued through the pages, determined to make some sense of it.

Just like the Lloth clergy, only women could attain priesthood for Eilistraee, but merely out of tradition, not gender bias. Men could serve their goddess in another way: Dark Knights fought for and spread the word of the drow goddess, and most in the position were male. Followers were expected or asked to aid those in need, and to celebrate life, emotion, with song and dance.

Eilistraee's acolytes revered music, dance, and beauty as did their deity. But this beauty spoke of seemed subjective, found in even the subtlest, simplest objects, and not out of vanity for one's looks. Though the Dark Maiden encouraged nonviolence, she did not expect her people to allow others walk all over them. Fighting was accepted in self-defense and in the protecting of others. In fact, much to Sab'vrae's delight, Eilistraee's favored weapons were swords, particularly two long swords.

Priestesses could accept offerings of money with the understanding that the gold would be spent on food, musical instruments, and other tools. Oftentimes, these items were given to others, not themselves. Offerings to the goddess rarely included slaying others -- and in such cases, only if the creature slain was evil and killed in battle, not for the sole purpose of an offering. Converting others and leading them in prayer was in and of itself considered an offering, as was simple food sacrifices.

Knowing quite well what Erel'kiira and Rhyl'dorl intended to do -- convert him to their faith -- Sab'vrae stopped about halfway through. Oddly, he felt no anger or discomfort at this acknowledgement. He'd already admitted he wasn't the most faithful to Lloth, but that didn't mean he'd change religions. Still, this Eilistraee intrigued something within him, and the noble decided once he finished the book, he'd confront Erel'kiira. He wanted to fully understand these strange lessons before he decided anything.

His eyes drifted to the yellowed pages once more, and Aleanani's elderboy continued reading long into the night, wearing his candle down to nothing.

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Some ten days passed with little excitement. Already through the book six times over, Sab'vrae unintentionally memorized nearly every passage. At the end of his daily patrol, the elderboy guided his lizard over to Erel'kiira and Rhyl'dorl. Looking about, he found none in range of hearing. He leaned low in his saddle, motioning for the duo to come closer.

"I've read the strange volume of yours over and over." He whispered lowly, "And yet I still don't understand much of it. You must meet me in the barracks again, tonight."

"Is that an order?" Erel'kiira teased, smirking.

"Don't patronize me." Sab'vrae grumbled.

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For the second time, Sab'vrae slipped through the hallways of his house, avoiding detection with relative ease. He slunk inside the guard quarters, shutting the door softly behind him.

"Early tonight, I see." Erel'kiira mused from a seat, her chin resting in her dark hands. "Getting impatient?"

Sab'vrae pulled out a chair next to the female dark elf, dropping the book on the table. "What exactly do half these words mean? I can only make sense of small pieces, not the whole picture."

"Before either of us answers that," Rhyl'dorl spoke, surprising the elderboy as he sat next to him, "You must vow never to speak of us or this meeting to anyone in this city, unless otherwise informed by us."

"I promised once before to keep silent, and I have remained silent. This won't change if you sate my suffering curiosity." Sab'vrae retorted.

"That's good enough, I suppose." Erel'kiira decided. "What do you want to know?"

"Firstly, you're not really mercenaries at all, are you?" The noble asked. His companions chuckled.

"Well, yes and no. We do, in fact, hire ourselves out as warriors, but it's merely to cover up our real positions." Erel'kiira explained.

"A cleric, possibly also a Bladedancer, and Dark Knight of Eilistraee." Sab'vrae finished for her. The two incognito drow blinked in surprise.

"Intuitive, you are." Rhyl'dorl admitted, "And you're right on all three accounts."

"Well, the Bladedancer part makes sense once I noticed her long swords. The book does say the favored weapon of Eilistraee and her clergy is the long sword." Sab'vrae explained, to which Erel'kiira nodded.

"This is true."

"And now that I think about it, your names make some sense now. 'Moon apostle, 'Moon Knight.' The 'moon' is an important element in this religion. Those aren't even your real names, are they?"

"They're our real names now, and that's what matters." Erel'kiira said.

"Fine. Now, what in the hells are these words? I have no inkling of their meaning." He pointed to many of the foreign elven words, such as "kindness."

Rhyl'dorl laughed softly, "Of course you don't know of them. They don't exist in Ched Nasad's society. But that doesn't mean they don't exist outside of it."

"We'll do our best to explain these concepts, Sab'vrae," Erel'kiira said kindly, "But don't be frustrated if it takes a long time for your to grasp them, okay? You have no earlier understanding of them, so they'll take a while to sink in."

"…Very well, go on." Sab'vrae urged.

"Well, we'll start with 'kindness.'" Erel'kiira began slowly, "'Before you ask, benevolence' and 'amity' have the same essential meaning. Basically, it implies treating others with respect -- not out of fear or envy. You treat them with respect and honestly mean it, and you, in turn, get treated with respect. You help others without having to have a reason or alternative reason behind it. You don't intentionally hurt others in any way for any reason." She saw the confusion in the elderboy's eyes, "Don't worry. It's difficult to explain to someone with no grasp of charity, and that's society's fault, not your own. You'll come to know it in time if you try."

"I suppose. Enough of that for now. Have you been to the surface?" Sab'vrae asked, his curiosity mounting.

"Many times, but currently, we make our mission to convert others in the Underdark, to free them from the evil and wretched lives most of them lead." Rhyl'dorl answered. "Even if the people we meet don't end up worshiping Eilistraee, if they learn to care about other beings, and turn away from the typical self-destructive drow ways, we've done our duty. The Dark Maiden helps all those who truly ask, or are in great need, follower or not. Perhaps we met you because the Goddess felt you needed our help. Or perhaps not. What you do after our meetings is your affair."

"As for the surface," Erel'kiira brought them back on topic, though she nodded in approval to Rhyl'dorl, "We've been many times. It's beautiful, especially during the sunrise and sunset."

"The sun… isn't that the bright burning orb in the surface 'skies'?" Sab'vrae asked, "Wouldn't that hurt your eyes?"

"Well, if you're using infrared vision, of course," Erel'kiira replied, "it's too bright to use heat vision except on moonless nights. The sun will hurt your eyes even in the light spectrum; you're used to a lightless world. It will take some time before your eyes truly adjust to the surface, but it will happen. And it's well worth it.

"I know you've been in a surface raid once, so you may have a vague idea of what it's like up there, at least during the night." The woman warrior continued. "All your live, you've lived in these dank caves, breathing stale air. Do you remember the refreshing quality of the air above? The chilly breeze blowing through your hair?"

Sab'vrae closed his eyes briefly, recalling the elements with a small smile. "It was different… and not necessarily in a bad way." He admitted. "And all those elves we killed that night…" he suddenly frowned, "I enjoy fighting, but… I don't know. I don't enjoy tormenting others. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I've been raised on the principle that our surface cousins are evil, undeserving of life. Now that I think about it… we attacked them without reason, didn't we?" Erel'kiira frowned.

"It is an unfortunate common occurrence. Drow often raid surface cities. We, as a race, hate those above, especially other elves. I believe it's because, subconsciously, we envy their easier way of life, and the fact our race was banished underground for our sins so many eons ago. Surface elves on a whole despise us drow for our evil ways and the pain we cause them. Most surfacers fear and hate us for the havoc we wreak upon their families and homes. However, there are allies of drow such as Rhyl'dorl and myself outside of our race. Not all of Eilistraee's followers and allies are drow, you know."

Sab'vrae leaned back in his seat, absorbing it all. He sighed, "Can we continue this tomorrow night? I need to take this all in little by little if I'm to understand it."

"That's understandable. Tomorrow night then, same time and place. Good night, elderboy." The female cleric waved her hand as he stood, tucking the book away in his shirt.

"Yes… good night." The noble male activated his invisibility spell and crept out of the room.

"We're making slow progress." Erel'kiira shrugged, standing up.

"Slow progress is better than none." Rhyl'dorl pointed out bluntly. Erel'kiira raised an eyebrow at him, then laughed.

"Finally, showing some optimism! I like that." She grinned.

"Feh. Don't get used to it."

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That night, for the first time in a long time, if not for the first time ever, Sab'vrae dreamt. He walked through a hazy, fantasy world. Tree, lush grass, and a dark blue sky decorated the scene instead of crowded, damp cave walls. Walking through the knee-high grass, Sab'vrae scanned his surroundings in mixed awe and apprehension. His eyes fell upon a tall, beautiful nude drow woman.

He jumped in surprise, but the woman merely smiled kindly at him. Her long, silky silver hair fell down to her ankles. The drow woman sat upon a large stone, glancing up happily at the full moon in the skies. She produced a flute, playing a beautiful, haunting melody.

The drow male watched her musical performance, mesmerized. Enchanting, the tune chilled him to the bone, yet filled his being with unknown elation. What was this overflowing joy? He'd never felt this way in his entire life.

Finishing her song, the woman lowered her instrument, smiling at the noble once more. She stood, her long hair flowing enchantingly in the breeze. Speaking, her gentle voice touched his very soul.

"A rightful place awaits you in The Realms Above, in The Land of the Great Light. Come in peace, and live beneath the sun again, where trees and flowers grow." With that, she turned, walking off and fading into the haze. Sab'vrae gaped, trying to grasp her words. The world disappeared, and Sab'vrae found himself in his bed, senses muddled.

Did he just receive a visit from the Dark Maiden herself? He pulled his covers tighter, shivering.