This is my first attempt at writing a story. Even though I proofread it over and over again there are bound to be some typos somewhere. I am a typo queen. Anyway, I would really appreciate some reviews. Thanks.
Shil'niss stood before the scornful eye of the council. Each Drow Matron wore a simple pendant around their necks to show their power and authority as councilwomen. Twelve dark-colored chairs circled around Shil'niss, each containing a shrewd drow female. The ceiling had been fashioned to look like a spider's web. At the edge of the circular room were small tables, each had a lit candle on them; it was the only source of light in the dim room.
Their whispers rose and fell as they discussed what punishment they were to inflict upon Shil'niss for her 'heinous' crime. They gave her the occasional sneering glance before turning back to their discussion.
The Drow Council of Menzoberranzan was a joke, a bone thrown to the less powerful and ambitious drow to give them a sense of power and justice. The only reason it existed was because one of the more powerful drow houses thought that in order to bring some sort of order to the city a council was required and, the drow house, unsurprisingly put itself at the top most position in the council. They were quickly deposed of in a matter of a month.
Shil'niss had been told that they were discussing her innocence. Shil'niss wasn't an idiot; she knew full well that they were arguing on how to best punish her.
They were jealous and they were hypocrites. A dangerous combination, which she knew would not bode well for her.
Finally, one of the drow councilwomen stood and, said at length, "Matron De'affin, I hope you realize why you are on trial?" She failed to hide her mocking smile, which ever so slowly crept onto her face. Shil'niss seethed with rage at this subtle jab at her intelligence. This had already been explained to her many times before.
She glared at each of them hatefully. Her fingernails dug into the palms of her hands. After a moment, she managed to reply, "Why, of course not, Hla'ani," she addressed the Drow Matron Mother without her title or her house in an attempt to ridicule her, "Why won't you explain it to me yet 'again'?"
Hla'ani frowned but she allowed the insult to slide, knowing in her mind that she would get the last laugh in the end. "You see, Matron Shil'niss, the council has recently decreed that it must know of all the lesser Drow Houses…plans," she pointed a slender, accusing finger at Shil'niss, "and you have broken this by going to the surface, with your daughter, no less, without first discussing this with the council," Shil'niss bared her teeth in a mix of frustration and fury. What a hypocrite, she wanted to scream but she kept silent as the Matron continued, "We also have reason to believe that you went to the isle of Lantan and bought many tools and weapons that could…threaten the balance of the council. This has been done several times over the last few years," She paused, "And it comes to an end 'now'."
THE BALANCE OF THE COUNCIL, her mind screamed, what balance? They could keep all of their dirty little secrets to themselves and yet, she could not. Shil'niss was powerful because of her trips and alliances on the surface, and these Elg'caressen d'lil Blada coveted that. True to her name, meaning gambler, she had risked everything to get to the surface and had gained so much more.
They were all too cowardly to go to the surface themselves, preferring to siphon off of her accomplishments, leaving none of it for herself. She did the only thing that she could (short of a dagger in their backs). She didn't tell them. This had worked for twenty years…until now, of course.
"What do you intend to do then?" She asked. Her punishment was coming sooner or later; there was no fighting it, so she figured she might as well get it over with.
Hla'ani stood; Shil'niss closed her eyes and braced herself. For the first time in her life she truly knew what fear was. Please kill me, she thought. Death was mercy compared to whatever torture these drow had in mind.
"We proclaim you guilty," with Hla'ani's simple sentence went Shil'niss' last hope, now she only had to wait for her sentence, "We sentence you to the t'larryo shar."
Shil'niss had prepared herself for everything, except this. She fell back a step as a cold chill threatened to conquer her heart. T'larryo Shar was aptly named for it meant Broken Mind in common. The ritual within itself was enough to elicit fear but the results were even more terrifying: it stripped the victim of their sanity.
"Worry not, we shall not strip you of your Matron status," one of the drow councilwomen said. They might as well have, though, since in the end her house was doomed to fall to ruin.
Shil'niss only had two daughters, Li'lazza and Yazae. Of the two Yazae was most likely to be the one to stab her in the back when she would be weak and take the mantle of Matron of House De'affin. Li'lazza, while more powerful than her sister, was soft of heart, a consequence of her being allowed to roam the surface.
Li'lazza had a unique talent though; she could wear armor, wield a greatsword and, at the same time, cast spells. She had learned this, she claimed, from when they first traveled to the surface and had been honing her talent since. Her mother would have done away with her weak daughter a long time ago if it hadn't been for her special ability, which had served her mother on many an occasion.
Li'lazza was dangerous to keep around because of her power and, so she was sent away to become part of what the drow knew as L' akh, or The Band. The band was a group of drow women who patrolled the outskirts of Menzoberrazan, keeping away various monsters from the city. They were all from Drow noble houses and, all of them were too useful to kill outright but because of their power too dangerous too keep around.
Yazae was frail of body but what she lacked in body she made up for with her brutality. Even among the drow her temper was legendary. She had no use for subtle insults, which other drow seemed to hone to a fine art. If she disliked you, you would know.
Yazae had taken over her mother's position as Matron many times before, refusing adamantly to step foot on the surface, but Shil'niss knew that after the T'larryo Shar, it may just be permanent.
Each of the council women stood up, one-by-one, those of lesser rank being last, until they all stood before her. Then Hla'ani motioned for several of the grim faced male warriors to help carry Shil'niss away.
They roughly grabbed Shil'niss' arms and, dragged her with them, following carefully behind the group of Drow Matrons, as they made slow progress to the Ritual Chamber. Shil'niss struggled a bit but she was rewarded with a stinging slap to her face. Never had she been subjected to such blatant disrespect. And it won't be the last, she mused silently.