Lord's Meeting & Mystra's Message

The moment Soulviss had stepped onto the descending stairway that led into the underground tomb, Piegeiron; the Open Lord of Waterdeep waited as he stood in the back room of the Lord's Sanctuary, deep in discussion.

A tall and handsome man, Lord Piegeiron stood tall. His dark purple robes decorated with jewels stitched down the sides of the robe. The Open Lord's grey eyes were completely focused on the matter at hand.

Outside, with his pointed ear up against the wall, Fox growled in frustration. A lot of half elves were known for their sharp sense of hearing, but Fox had trouble trying to hear what the Open Lord of Waterdeep was saying.

"Probably because he's not saying anything," Theodore said, shaking his head as he cleaned one of the ale mugs with a white wash cloth. "I doubt Lord Piegeiron talks to himself, and if he did, it probably be in his palace."

"Don't you want to know what he's here for?" Fox asked the tall bald man, who had just finished cleaning the mug.

"He's here to meet with someone," Iris answered, carrying come dishes in her arms. "It has to do with the City of the Dead."

When Iris left the lobby and entered the small kitchen, she found Shadimir chopping carrots with a small, but finely crafted kitchen knife. Seeing Iris enter the kitchen, he cast a glance in her direction and asked," How do you know its about the City of the Dead?"

"Lord Piegeiron told me when he entered the door. Iris smiled and rubbed the clean shaven cheek of the silver haired young man, then stopped and stared at the kitchen utensil in his hand.

"Is everything all right?" Shadimir asked her.

She began to laugh, (haven gotten used to it a little bit, Shadimir merely flinched at the sound), then looked at him. "For being a man with a lot of money, you sure know your way around the kitchen. Do you cook for yourself at home?"

"When I can," Shadimir answered, then he added with a chuckle," most of the time, Stephanie, or Deidra kick me out of the kitchen. The last time I had to cook was a few nights ago for Alustriel. She had some guests over, and being the 'loyal apprentice' that I am, I decided to help her."

Shadimir paused, then Iris raised an eyebrow, and asked," What happened?"
"Lets just say, the palace maids are still cleaning the roasted cockatrice off the walls." Shadimir expected Iris to let out laughter, but instead she stood there, and untied the bun out of her hair, letting her long curly brown locks down.

"It sounds like you have an interesting relationship with Alustriel. Spending all that time with her. I wonder what Stephanie thinks about that?"

He paused for a moment, remembering the night he had left for Waterdeep. Stephanie, the woman he had loved for the past year, had become very busy with her duties as a doomguide, a specialty priest for the god Kelemvor. That night, at the Moonbridge in Silverymoon, Shadimir had asked Stephanie to marry him, and though she would have been happy to become his wife, she gracefully declined. She said that being a doomguide caused her to be fully devoted to teaching the teachings of Kelemvor, and that with her being gone a lot, it wasn't fair that he would have to be shackled, to someone who didn't have enough time for him. There were other reasons. Stephanie being twelve years older than he was, (a fact he learned only days before) felt that he should he should explore the world before settling down, despite him already having a daughter.

Shadimir understood, but the pain of Stephanie's refusal still hurt him. More than anything a glabrezu's claws could have ever done to him..

"We understand each other duties, and that me being Lady Alustriel's apprentice takes a lot of time out of my day."

Iris bit her lip, and her brown eyes wandered. "Well, what I meant was...say something happened where you ended up spending the night with another woman."

"Oh," was all Shadimir said as he looked away, thinking how to answer her question. After a moment of uncomfortable silence between the two, Shadimir added with a laugh," I don't think Lady Alustriel would share her bed with someone like me."

Iris smiled and slowly moved up to him. The hunter could feel her soft skin brushing up against him. "I really wasn't thinking of Alustriel when I asked you that," she whispered softly into his ear, her warm breath breezing in his hear, and her hand gently sliding over his. She was within seconds of turning him around and kissing him deeply.

"Meleghost, I didn't know you would be arriving this evening," Theodore called out from the lobby.

Not realizing it, Shadimir and Iris quickly walked hand in hand out of the kitchen and into the lobby. When they both entered, they noticed a new figure standing near the doorway to the back room. Meleghost Starseer; head of the House of Wonder, Waterdeep's church to Mystra, and Magister to the goddess of magic.

The Magister stood tall, wearing jet black robes, and his clean shaved head and well trimmed goatee made him all the intimidating. Meleghost looked around the room, his dark eyes instantly going to Shadimir. He cast a cold stare that caused Iris to release Shadimir's hand. Meleghost then turned to the doorway, seeing Piergeiron standing in the lobby. "Meleghost, I'm glad you could make it," the Open Lord of Waterdeep said in a cool calm voice. "Have you any information on what goes on in the City of the Dead?"

He stared at Lord Piegeiron for a moment. "There seems to be something lurking in the graveyard," Meleghost answered in a cold voice, his fingers gently brushing on a smooth wooden chair. "From what I've gathered, it is a vampire named Soulviss, and he has gone into one of the underground tombs. The Lady of Mysteries has told me that this vampire plans to unleash a slumbering army buried deep into the tomb."

"We should have checked all of the tombs," Lord Piegeiron sighed," I should have listened to all of the rumors."

"I will go and deal with this vampire," Meleghost declared," and I shall need no assistance."

"If this vampire is in the middle of attempting to raise an army of undead, don't you think you might need some help?"

Everyone turned to look at Shadimir, and even the undead hunter was surprised from the words that came from his mouth. Meleghost, who was more insulted than shocked, slowly walked over to Shadimir, and his eyes bore deeply into the hunter's soul. "My memory may be a bit hazy at times, but last I remembered, I was the head of Mystra's church in Waterdeep, not some little apprentice from Silverymoon."

Shadimir's blue eyes stared back into the Magister's. He could feel the powerful aura of magic coming from Meleghost. The hunter was ready to make a crude suggestion to Meleghost, when Iris softly spoke. "He has a vast knowledge of undead, and has been fighting them for most of his life, he could probably help you." She stopped when Meleghost's dark eyes went from Shadimir's to hers.

"Yes, I know of this man's deeds of fighting undead, particularly fighting a dracolich. Yes, Shadimir I am aware of your little encounter of Elisondar. You did defeat the dracolich, a newly created and a weak one at that. However, as I recall, you had help from a Chosen of Mystra, Elisondar's sister, and some whelp of a sidekick.

Meleghost was about to finish by telling Shadimir he wouldn't have survived if he had fought the dracolich alone, but when he referred to the undead hunter's friend as a whelp, Shadimir stepped forward to the Magister and delivered a hard punch to his jaw.

"Don't ever call my friend a whelp," Shadimir growled, thinking about how had placed his deep gnome friend's life in peril so many times.

Meleghost stepped back, and growled softly at Shadimir. He didn't see Piegeiron Theodore and Fox, all with their hands on their weapons they hid on their belts, but the Magister knew when not to start a fight.

"I am going to the City of the Dead," the Magister once again declared, this time with a little more anger in his voice. He then turned to Shadimir, with hatred and anger in his eyes, and added," and I will be going alone."

In a flash of bright light, Meleghost Starseer teleported away from the Lord's Sanctuary.

No less than seven seconds later, in the same flash of bright light, Meleghost appeared in the exact spot where he believed the vampire Soulviss stood when he found the hidden stairs. His slightly swollen jaw throbbed lightly. The Magister pushed away all thoughts of destroying Shadimir and focused on descending down the open stairway before him.

The Magister quickly stepped to the bottom of the stairs. The walls of this hidden entrance were stone just like the stairs. His ears picked up the sound of bones creaking behind him.

Turning right, Meleghost was ready to fire some spells at the approaching skeletons, but he turned a second too late as he saw three large shovels flying towards him. All three of the shovel's cold metallic end impacted hard against the Magister's skull.

Sounds of metal clanging filled the tomb. In the next room, surrounded by skeletons and zombies that had literally popping out of the ground, Soulviss watched as the numbers of zombies and skeletons increased greatly. The undead weren't very strong, but the vampire had a feeling the army outnumbered the forces of Waterdeep.

Soulviss' yellow lifeless eyes watched as three skeletons brought forward the Magister, who was out cold

See Soulviss, I told you any problems you had would be taken care of the voice from within the black orb purred.

The confidence level of Soulviss went up greatly. Of anyone in Waterdeep, he considered Meleghost Starseer the only real threat to his goddess plans. Though he saw Meleghost was out of commission for the moment, the vampire it was only a matter of time before the Magister would awake from his temporary slumber.

"Welcome to your final resting place Meleghost, I hope I get to see your face when the legion of Kiaransalee rips you limb from limb."

As Soulviss motioned the three skeletons to take Meleghost's body back behind the stairs, somewhere in the Demonweb Puts, the goddess Kiaransalee was laughing.

An hour had passed, since Meleghost had teleported out of the Lord's Sanctuary. No one said anything of what transpired between Meleghost and Shadimir.

The undead hunter decided to gather his weapons, his armor, and his cloak from upstairs.

Shadimir went into the first room on his left, opposite of the stairs. He found his belongings folded on a soft bed. "Wow, Iris must have done this," he said, unfolding the green cloak.

"Yes, she took very good care of it," whispered a melodious voice in the air. A familiar voice that Shadimir had encountered many times through his time in the Silver Marshes. The last time he had encountered this voice, it nearly sent him falling out of his window.

"What can I do for you Lady Mystra?" Shadimir asked the open air with a bow.

"Quickly, go to the City of the Dead. A battle is taking place as we speak. Soulviss has done the unthinkable, and now he has unleashed Myrkul's hidden army is now roaming the city of the dead." Mystra's voice was deep with concern. "The forces of Waterdeep are already beginning to suffer casualties."

"Didn't Meleghost stop the vampire?" Shadimir asked. He began to feel guilty that he hadn't gone with Meleghost, despite the Magister's protests.

"Meleghost had arrived just a little too late when he walked down the open stairway. Even Magisters make mistakes," Mystra responded softly. There was a brief pause, then she added," You must go down the open stairway, destroy the fragment that lies in walls in the middle of a rune if you want to destroy all the undead at once...you're his only hope Shadimir."

The undead hunter had already strapped on his armors, and placed his weapons on his belt. He looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Am I really his only hope?" he asked the goddess.

There came a light giggle in the air before Shadimir. "Not really, but I want you to prove to Meleghost that you're more than just some undead slayer."

The hunter let out a laugh, much similar to that of Iris, then rushed down the stairs. When he reached the bottom, he was surprised to find Iris, Fox, and Theodore all dressed down in armor.

"You look like you're ready for a fight," Shadimir commented, looking at all three of them.

"Funny, we were just going to say the same thing," Theodore remarked. The bald man was dressed in steel breastplate armor, and held a great axe with his right hand.

Iris smiled and stepped in front of him. "We were just coming to get you. Lord Piegeiron had given the order for all available Grey Hand Enforcers to head over to the City of the Dead."

"I was just headed there myself, mind if I come along?" Shadimir asked, staring into Iris' brown eyes.

"Not at all," Fox answered in a merry voice. He was dressed in blue breastplate armor and wore a grey tabard over it. At his side, was a slender looking rapier at his belt. The half elf quietly exited through the door, and Theodore followed, leaving Iris and Shadimir alone.

They stared at one another for a minute. The hunter knew he had to run in and save Meleghost and destroy the fragment to stop the undead. However, something inside of him told Shadimir to keep Iris safe from harm. He looked into her eyes, believing she was thinking the same thing, only that it was her duty to keep him safe.

Together, they left the Lord's Sanctuary, arm in arm, but then Iris turned back and quickly locked the door to the inn. Perhaps for the last time.