A/N: Sorry about how short that last chapter was. It was four pages in Word but it turned out a lot shorter than I expected once I got it on here. I'm still experimenting with length, so please bear with me until I figure it out. Disclaimer: I still don't own anything except Caelan. The plot and most of the dialogue belongs to Bioware and all those other lucky people.
Chapter Two
Caelan Tel'rana woke suddenly with the feeling that something was wrong. For a brief moment he was disoriented and couldn't remember where he was, but it only took him a moment to remember that he was in his room at the Yawning Portal in Waterdeep. He immediately felt foolish for having panicked. Yet, his ranger's senses were still telling him that something wasn't right. Of course; he'd forgotten the dream. That drow woman would be enough to have any sane man on edge, he told himself. He couldn't shake the feeling of being held helpless while the drow looked him over as though he were nothing more than an insect she wanted to squash. A sudden noise by the chest that he'd locked his belongings in snapped him back to reality. Caelan groped for his sword as he strained to see who was in his room, but bit back a curse when he realized that it was over with his other belongings. Next time, inn or not, I'm sleeping with my sword by my bed. He swung his feet over the edge of the bed and padded silently over to the figure fumbling with the lock on the chest. Squinting in the dark, he tried to make out the identity of the mysterious person. It was a drow, and from the look of it, trying to steal his equipment!
"What do you think you're doing?" he yelled as he made a lunge for the drow woman's wrist. The drow, however, was not so easily caught. She slipped past him and pulled out a sharp looking dagger. With a predatory grin, she slashed at Caelan's unprotected midriff. He bit back a yelp as he leapt backwards, the dagger tip just grazing his stomach. Unperturbed by her miss, the drowess hissed,
"Now you die!" Caelan racked his brain for a way out of this mess. He was unarmed; his opponent was not. He had to get to his sword, but the only way was through the drow assassin.
"This is not good," he grumbled to himself, keeping an eye on the advancing drow. Caelan decided to chance a surprise attack. He leapt at the drow, grabbing her wrist as she tried to impale him with the dagger. She snarled at him and kicked him viciously between the legs, causing him to drop her wrist and double over. Wincing in pain, he struggled to stand upright, only to receive a kick in the jaw that sent him flying to the floor. The drow studied him for a while, but when he didn't move, she walked cautiously over to him and kicked him in the side. Still nothing. She allowed herself a satisfied smile.
"All too easy," she whispered as she bent down to cut the defenseless ranger's throat. The last thing she expected was for the supposedly unconscious man to suddenly knock her dagger out of her hand and pull her down to the floor.
"Who sent you? Why are you trying to kill me?" Caelan whispered fiercely as he held her by the collar. He shook her roughly when she ignored him. "Answer me!" The drow gasped,
"Let me go and I'll tell you!" The man weighed the risks for a moment before releasing his grip. He doubted she had any chance of killing him without a weapon. Caelan sat up and repeated his question.
"Alright. Who sent you?" She glanced nervously around the room, as though afraid someone was listening.
"I…I was supposed to kill you. Sh-she wants you dead." Caelan frowned. He had his fair share of enemies, but he didn't think any of them were female.
"Who is she?" The drow looked even more terrified.
"I can't…I failed…I-I have to…" The drow suddenly flung herself across the room and snatched her dagger from the floor. Caelan guessed what she was about to do and shouted,
"Wait!" but it was too late. The drow had already stabbed herself, her face contorted in pain as blood dripped down the hilt of her dagger to the floor. The ranger rushed over to her, but the drow was dead. He was thinking, How am I going to explain this mess to the innkeeper? when the door burst open, causing his head to snap up in alarm, and a disheveled girl rushed in. Caelan relaxed when he vaguely recognized her as the innkeeper's daughter. She looked up at him, still bleary eyed from sleep, and said,
"Excuse me, I heard the noise and-" She stopped in shock as her gaze fell upon the dead drow and covered her mouth in horror. "Oh my goodness!"
"A drow tried to assassinate me in my sleep," Caelan said bluntly. The girl, badly shaken, said slowly,
"You aren't the first. Many important citizens have been murdered in their beds by the drow." She stopped and glanced uneasily back at the body on the floor. "The drow woman…is she…?" Caelan nodded.
"Yes, I killed the drow. She was trying to steal my equipment before I woke up. Any idea why? Surely it wouldn't have been worth much to her."
"She probably thought that you would be weaker without your weapons and such. That's been the pattern with the other attacks. But unlike you, the others haven't survived." Caelan suddenly remembered his dream, the drow woman telling him that she would strike without mercy.
"I-I think I was warned, actually," he said tentatively, reluctant to tell her about his dream for fear of being thought crazy. "Something woke me up." The girl seemed to accept this.
"Then you are a lucky man, milord." He shifted awkwardly, uncomfortable with the title. She continued, "But…how could they have known you were here? You only just arrived. I'll have to tell Father about this." She looked down at the floor. "We pride ourselves on the safety of our guests." Caelan tried to cheer her up by giving her a reassuring smile.
"Don't feel too badly. She probably used magic to get in undetected." The girl nodded slowly and looked back up at him, noticing the nick from the drow's dagger.
"Oh…you are injured! Why didn't you tell me sooner? I wouldn't have talked for so long!" Caelan had forgotten, but he remembered when he glanced down to see what she was talking about. He sighed in exasperation when he saw that it was only a shallow cut that had stopped bleeding a while ago. Honestly… he thought to himself. Why is it that some people are so over reactive?
"It's only a scratch," he assured her, heaving another sigh when she remained unconvinced. "Really, I've had much, much worse. Now, is there something else you needed?" The girl blinked for a moment before replying,
"Oh…yes, my father, Durnan, will probably want to speak with you. You should go downstairs after you get cleaned up." With a last stare in the corpse's direction, she left, shutting the door behind her. Caelan promptly flopped down onto the bed and closed his eyes. The evening had not been easy and he wanted nothing more than to just sleep. But, he had an obligation to see Durnan. He exhaled and rolled over.
"Duty first, sleep later," he told himself as he pulled himself off the bed and rummaged around in the chest for his gear. He slipped his tunic over his head and heaved a sigh of relief as he buckled his sword around his waist. He had been through a lot with it and he always felt better when it was within reach. As an afterthought, he slipped a knife into his boot. Caelan knew he probably wouldn't need it, but after tonight, he wasn't willing to take any chances. He located his boots and cloak before heading out the door and down the hall. He ran a hand through his hair and frowned when his palm scraped against stubble. He'd meant to shave when he got to the inn, but he'd been so tired, and he certainly didn't have time now. Besides, he mused, it probably adds to the woodsy ranger look. A voice called him over when he reached the common room.
"Come speak with us, my friend!" Caelan looked around and noticed an elf in a blue robe enthusiastically waving him over to where she stood with a group of other adventurers. He walked over and the elf greeted him happily. "Hello there. My name is Linu Laneral, priestess of Sehanine Moonbow. These are my companions, Sharwyn the bard, Dalen Redtiger the barbarian, and Tomi Undergallows the…erm…" Linu trailed off, looking uncomfortable. The ginger haired halfling Tomi piped up with a cheeky grin.
"What she's doing a good job of not saying is that I'm a thief, pickpocket, and rogue extraordinaire. And you must be Caelan Tel'rana, aye?" Caelan answered with a nod and a grin. He liked Tomi's mischievous manner.
"Hmm, Tel'rana…That means The Wanderer in my language, does it not?" asked Linu. Caelan nodded shortly.
"Yes, the elves gave me that name because I never stay in one place for long." He grinned wryly. "It suits me well." The half-orc barbarian suddenly cut in, scowling irritably.
"The innkeeper has refused to acknowledge the rest of us until the great Caelan makes an appearance. I for one did not come so far only to be ignored." Caelan stiffened, but ignored him. Linu admonished Dalen sharply.
"There is no need to be unkind, Dalen. This man deserves our respect, and the fact that he is here is a boon to our cause." Tomi snorted derisively and said,
"Huh. There ain't no cause that I know about that's gonna pay me one hundred thousand gold pieces." Sharwyn, who had been silent up until now, spoke confidently.
"I agree with Tomi. Gold speaks louder than any cause I've ever heard of."
"Why are you here in Waterdeep at its hour of need, ranger? That is, if you deem to stay in one place long enough to help. I know your type." Dalen shook his big head in disgust. "Rangers. Always disappearing at the first sign of trouble." Caelan started forward, but stopped when Linu placed a hand on his arm. He took a deep breath and tried to answer calmly.
"I intend to help Waterdeep to the best of my abilities and I suggest that you stop insulting me and those of my class. Durnan called for aid. I mean to stick around." The half-orc nodded and relaxed slightly.
"I am pleased to hear you say that, although I still have my own opinions about rangers," he said, a little less hostile than before. Linu saw an opportunity to change the subject and took advantage of it.
"Well, this has been nice, hasn't it?" the priestess asked brightly. "Perhaps we shall get a chance to travel together. I do believe that Durnan is waiting for us, however, so I suggest that we go and talk to him." Caelan nodded and walked through the door to the next room, the rest of the adventurers trailing behind.
Durnan, a stern looking man who had once been an adventurer, looked up in relief as Caelan walked over to him.
"Good to see you, Caelan. I trust that your accommodations were comfortable?" Caelan frowned slightly as he remembered the assassin.
"Apart from the drow in my room, yes," he said. Durnan scowled, anger clearly evident in his eyes.
"Tamsil, my daughter, told me what happened. I cannot apologize enough. These damnable drow come and go as they please, it seems. These are dark times for our city. Once, I would have been able to ensure the safety of all my guests. I am glad that you are here, though. I have heard of you before." The ranger was puzzled. Since when do I have a reputation? he thought. All I did was play guide to some adventurer in the desert. He shuddered as he remembered being turned to stone by a medusa. I got more than I bargained for, too. Caelan realized that Durnan was still speaking and snapped his attention back to him. "…citizens have been killed by drow. It's lucky you escaped." The retired adventurer took a deep breath and looked around solemnly before continuing. "Now, to business. As you all probably know, Waterdeep is under attack, its people living in fear. That's why I made the call that you've all responded to…we're going to do something about it." Dalen nodded in approval and asked assertively,
"What do you have planned?"
"Yes, Durnan. Tell us what needs to be done," added Linu.
"Raiding parties of drow and other creatures rarely seen on the surface are attacking the city. We've determined that these attacks are coming through Undermountain." Sharwyn had a skeptical look on her face as she asked,
"But Undermountain has existed for centuries. Why hasn't there been any trouble before?" Durnan sighed.
"That's what we need to find out." Caelan, who had been silently listening for a while, suddenly asked,
"What exactly is Undermountain? I think I've heard it mentioned before, but never in much detail."
"Let me explain, then," Durnan said, clearing his throat. "Let me see…Undermountain was built hundreds of years ago by Halaster, a mage of great power. It's an underground labyrinth, full of monsters and traps designed to test adventurers who wander in. Halaster ruled Undermountain like a brutal tyrant and it was his power that kept the various creatures in check." Durnan paused for a moment. "Now, he has decided to unleash his creatures on the city. I want to know what that mad mage is up to!"
"If the attackers are those ruddy drow, 'ow come you think Halaster is behind this?" Tomi asked doubtfully.
"It is indeed odd that the mage has allied himself with the dark elves," Durnan agreed. "He's never been too fond of them. But the drow are attacking through Undermountain, and that means he must be involved."
"You mentioned that Halaster built Undermountain hundreds of years ago," Caelan pointed out. "How could he still be alive after all that time?"
"Halaster is an arch mage. Time doesn't have the same meaning for him as it does to us." Durnan scowled. "I'm certain that he's alive…and involved in these attacks. Now, it's pretty clear that the answers we seek can't be found on the surface. As most of you know, this inn is built over one of the entrances to Undermountain, a magical well descending thousands of feet. Before we start anything, I suggest that we-" A scratching noise coming from the well room door caused Tamsil to interrupt.
"Wait! What's that noise, Father?" Caelan's ranger instincts were telling him that something was indeed wrong. He put a hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to fight if need be. Durnan's eyes went wide with as he realized what was about to happen.
"Get away from the door!" he bellowed, throwing himself to one side. Caelan obeyed, just in time. A blast of fire obliterated the door, instantly killing those who hadn't heeded Durnan's warning. A group of drow and duergar climbed through the smoking remains of the doorway, killing anyone within reach. "Foul drow! How dare you invade my inn!" Durnan roared. A drow sorceress smirked, exclaiming contemptuously,
"Your inn, your city, your race…" As she spoke, she cast a spell, freezing Caelan and Durnan in place. "…the rivven will fall before the Valsharess, fool!" Caelan stopped struggling against the spell holding him motionless as he heard the name. The Valsharess? he thought incredulously. I thought that was only a dream! A bolt from a drow archer grazed his forehead, quickly bringing him back to reality. He quickly realized that he was an easy target for the drow and struggled even harder. The spell wore off more suddenly than he'd expected and he stumbled forwards. A duergar warrior took advantage of his unbalance and slashed at him with his axe, but years of training took over and Caelan quickly dodged out of the way. He unsheathed his sword in one easy motion, turning and lopping off the head of the offending duergar before fighting his way to the drow sorceress, intending to get revenge for being frozen. She smirked again when she saw him coming and raised her hand, muttering a spell. Caelan quickly threw himself against her, interrupting her concentration and knocking her over. Before he could attack her on the ground, she was back on her feet.
"Foolish male," she said with disdain. "Now you die!" She pulled out a rapier and attempted to stab him. Caelan blocked it and retaliated in a series of chopping swings intended to cut her in half. The drow looked nervous; Caelan had the advantage in size and strength. Her strength eventually gave out from blocking Caelan's attacks and she faltered, so Caelan seized the opportunity and stabbed his sword into her chest. The sorceress gasped in shock and fell to the ground, dead. Caelan wiped his sword clean on her robe and muttered,
"Can't you drow think of a better battle cry than 'Now you die'?" He glanced around, noticing that the battle appeared to be won. A few adventurers were dead and the groans of the more severely wounded filled the air, but Linu and the rest seemed to be uninjured. Durnan finished off the last duergar with a swipe of his sword and yelled,
"Follow me! We must secure the well room!" before running down the stairs with Dalen, Tomi, Linu, and Sharwyn close behind. Caelan wiped at the blood from the graze on his forehead before jogging after them, careful not to trip on the smoking remains of the door.
About a dozen more drow waited for them in the well room, a rocky chamber bordered on one side by a deep chasm and an elevator-like platform. The drow soldiers immediately noticed them and began barking orders in their own language. "Here comes halfling death!" Tomi yelled before launching himself into the group of drow. Dalen followed behind, mowing down anything in his path with his massive double axe.
A crossbow bolt whistled past Caelan's head as he sprinted towards the fight.
"Damn those archers!" he roared as another bolt skimmed past his arm. Luckily they don't seem to have very good aim, he thought, before hurling himself into the squad of archers. The crossbows were difficult to use in close range, and the drow ended up hitting each other instead of the enraged human. Caelan soon dispatched the last of the archers and turned to assist the others. A drow ran at him with a yell, swinging his sword over his head. Caelan quickly ran him through and kicked the drow's dying body off his blade. He heard someone behind him and thrust his sword backwards, stabbing the unfortunate soldier without turning around. Durnan's voice suddenly yelled out triumphantly,
"That'll teach those drow to bother my inn!" Caelan looked up, a little out of breath, to see that all the drow were dead. He sheathed his sword and walked over to Durnan, who said more calmly, "We have won the day, I think." Sharwyn, who was bleeding from a cut on her arm, said happily,
"It was a close thing, but we managed to drive them back." Durnan nodded.
"That we did. Now, I need you four to guard the well until-" He was cut off by Linu screaming frantically,
"Look out behind you!" Durnan turned in bewilderment, only to receive a blast of purple fire in the chest from a many-eyeballed creature that had risen out of the chasm. He collapsed to the floor, unmoving. Caelan pulled out his sword, but the thing shot him with another beam of energy before he could move to attack it. His eyes rolled back in his head and he faintly heard Linu shouting, "Follow that abomination!" before everything went black.
Caelan woke up to Durnan shaking him, a concerned look on his face.
"Are you alright?" he asked, frowning. Caelan sat up slowly. His head felt a little dizzy, but a few shakes cleared it up.
"I think so. What on Toril was that thing?" Durnan's frown grew more irate.
"That was an Eye Tyrant, a Beholder. It uses its many eyes to shoot out more magic than a wizard could think up. It's a creature of the Underdark." His expression darkened. "And those fools went chasing after it like a bunch of impatient children!" Caelan assumed he meant Linu and her friends, since they were nowhere to be seen. "Don't they realize how dangerous Undermountain is! They're likely to get themselves killed!" Durnan spat in disgust. "I wanted an organized foray into Undermountain, no this mess." Caelan stood slowly, picking up his sword and wiping the dust from his clothes.
"Do you want me to go after them?" he asked. Durnan's expression turned thoughtful as he considered his offer. Finally, he said,
"I don't want you rushing off in a blind rage like the others, Caelan. You're the only one we can turn to now. You seem to be the last hope for Waterdeep." Durnan sighed. "I hate to place such a burden on you, but you're the only capable one left."
"I can handle myself down there."
"Alright, alright. You can go look for them," Durnan conceded. "Just be careful." Caelan turned to go, but Durnan stopped him and handed him a thin rod. "Here. Take this rod. If you find the bodies of those four idiots, you can use it to bring them back." Caelan took the rod and nodded his thanks.
"I'll be off as soon as I get the rest of my belongings from my room." Caelan jogged upstairs to his room. After pulling on his pack and slinging his longbow across his back, he took one last wistful look at the bed and sighed. "So much for getting some sleep." He walked back downstairs to the well room where Durnan was still standing. "I'll be off then," he said, climbing on to the platform. Durnan prepared to lower him down with the rope.
"Just give the rope a tug if you want back up," he said. "May the gods grant you luck." Caelan nodded at him and he began to lower the platform into the chasm. "You're going to need it," he muttered as the ranger disappeared from sight into the inky blackness.
Guan: Thanks for being the first to review! I've read a couple of your other reviews from other fanfics and you always have good advice :)
shadow0015: Sorry, I was feeling a little lazy with the description of the spell. I think I'm gonna pretty much stick with the plot, but I've added changed the dialogue around a tad and I messed with a few details. Thanks for reviewing!
Sofia: (should I call you sofia or Fomalhault?) Thank you! Your comment made my day, especially since I'm sick. Bummer. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the game. HOTU is my fav. Expansion :)
Please review! If you flame, don't just tell me how bad it is (I already know that lol), tell me how I can make it better. In case I didn't make it clear enough, Caelan was a guide and henchman to the main character of Shadows of Udrentide.