Chapter Two – Past is Past
A brief A/N: Please excuse minor discrepancies; I would play through the game again to refresh my memory, but there is the slight problem of it being...lost somewhere at the moment... -smacks self- I know, I know. Stupid, to lose such a treasure. Good thing I played through it at least four times and each chapter individually at least twice before my room underwent a renovation. XD A few names are beyond me and my hapless attempts at research as well, so...there is my miserably poor excuse of the incorrect details you may find.
Also, any snippets of the Drow language would be courtesy of Drow Dictionary and House Maerdyn; a Google search should be sufficient to find these two marvelous translator sites. Happy reading. - Silvorfithrade
"You know I speak truth when I say I trust you, Valen."
He let the Seer's words wash over him, a reassuring presence in his troubled mind. "We have had this conversation before," he began, but the regal priestess cut him off with a hand raised.
"You have been uneasy since Tazieyn's arrival. The Goddess has given me bits and pieces of the story, but she has not shown me all of it. You do know that Eilistraee cares for you, Valen. As she does all her followers."
"I am fine," he answered stoically. No you are not, whispered his demon half. You want blood. I can give it to you. You want to kill that girl, don't you? Why don't you do it? She will steal your glory. All of it. What will you do when the Seer casts you out…
"Leave me be!" he roared, drawing shocked looks from the temple's acolytes. Eyes burning, he observed the reactions before him with a sinking feeling. The Seer's face grew slightly alarmed as she waved her hand to dismiss everyone else in the room.
"Please, leave this place for the moment; I will send for you when your return is necessary," she said calmly, the panicked expression quickly and fluidly melting away to reveal a face of serene peace once more. Then, she turned to the man before her.
"It is happening again, is it not?"
Valen turned away, unable to bear the shame. He had given in again. His weak half had given in. For a moment he wondered if he would ever be free from the curse of his demonic blood. No...fate would be too kind for it to be so. In his experience, fate was never kind.
"Look at me, Valen."
"Get rid of me, Seer," he whispered, clenching his fists as the slender woman before him eyed him keenly. "I'm endangering your people; can't you see that? Damn you all, just kill me now! End it before I...before I..." He shook his head angrily and bit his lip, slamming a fist down on a nearby table. The wood shuddered and splintered at his blow.
"Do you truly believe yourself unforgivable?"
"Look at who I am, Seer," he whispered, his breath ragged. "At what I am. You don't know what I've done, at what I've been compelled to do. How can I allow others to forgive me when I cannot even begin to forgive myself?"
"The surfacer needs you, Valen. She needs your strength, and your presence. It is how the Goddess has meant it to be; there can be no other way."
"She doesn't trust me," he shot back. "I do not blame her."
"Trust?" The Seer smiled at him, laughter tugging at her eyes. "Valen Shadowbreath, trust is not something that is set in stone; distrust is the same way. It is also something that goes in two directions. Believe me, she has already forgiven you, and it is likely she has already forgotten about yesterday's scuffle."
"You...how did you..." his blue eyes flared scarlet for a brief moment before returning to their normal sheen.
"Eilistraee is watching over you, ussta dalharuk." The Seer smiled faintly and brushed his face with her hand, their skin tones contrasting like two statues of ivory and ebony. "Sreen'aur z'hind, and stay strong. Keep your faith, Valen, and don't ever forget you are also part human. Now go, find Tazieyn. The Goddess be with you..."
"Safe journeys, my son," he repeated to himself as he turned to the door. "Wait, Seer—" He looked around and found himself in the middle of one of Lith M'yathar's many dirt roads.
"Move along, fiend," hissed a man's voice in his ear, but the speaker vanished before he could spot him. He could feel his anger beginning to rise as a hand was laid on his shoulder.
"Dalharuk d'elg'caress!" he hissed as he whirled around, almost running headlong into Tazieyn Jir'eniel's slight frame.
"Son of a she-dog, I see. You know, I could almost make out what you were saying." She lowered her arm and put her hands on her hips. "Are you sure you've been here as long as they say? I've heard humans speak better Drow." She winked at him as a grin bloomed onto her face.
"Well you're certainly in a much better mood today."
She shrugged. "Sleep tends to do that for you. Besides, I figure since I'm stuck down here, might as well enjoy the scenery. Speaking of which – where to?"
Valen looked up at her. "I would have thought you would have some idea after that lengthy briefing with the Seer and General Bre'garth yesterday."
"I do. I just wanted a second opinion."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "First, I must ask you something. A serious question."
"Ask away." The smile vanished from her face as her emerald green eyes grew attentive.
"Why are you doing this?"
The question seemed to confuse her. "Doing what?"
"This. Aiding us. My lady, you have no reason to do what you are doing. Your journey from here to whenever it ends is likely to be a long, drawn-out suicide mission; you have no obligations to Eilistraee, the Seer, or Lith M'yathar. Who are you?"
Tazieyn laughed again. Was she always this perky? "That's where you're wrong on more than one account. See, I did some thinking after my long nap yesterday, somewhat thanks to you, by the way, and I figured it might not be my fight, but it's the right thing to do. Gotta repay the old lady somehow, y'know?"
"Old lady...you mean the Seer?" he asked.
"Eilistraee. Look, you guys need help, and I'm in the position to offer it. So why not? Seems simple enough to me." She shrugged again.
"Boss, you not gonna tell goat man about big wizard spell?" Deekin piped up from nowhere, waving a quill and a piece of parchment. "Deekin gotta know for book!"
"Spell? You're leaving something out, aren't you." He spoke a statement, not a question.
Tazieyn paused, appearing to waver between talking and promptly setting the kobold on fire. Finally, she sighed heavily, choosing the former and contemplating on the latter. "Okay, fine. Whole story, here goes. But no judgments, and you have to promise to believe me." She looked him straight in the eyes as she spoke; he had to give her credit for courage. Not many people could do that.
"My original mission was to investigate a drow invasion into Waterdeep. Someone, or something, was sending drow, duergar, and other creatures of the Underdark into the city through the basement of an old friend's inn. Under that inn, and most of the city, was a tunnel maze system built by some crazy old bat named Halaster, who thought it was funny to geas me into stopping the drow once and for all. Truth is, at first, I didn't want to be here and I was all prepared to fight the geas and go back to my home in Hilltop, forget it all happened, y'know? But after talking to the Seer and all, I started thinking, maybe Eilistraee wanted me down here. And if Eilistraee thinks it's the place for me to be, then I'm not in any position to argue. I needed to get off my butt and end my holiday sooner or later anyway."
"So you would willingly risk your life for strangers."
"For Eilistraee," she corrected. "And yes, some strangers. But hey; why are we standing around here talking in the middle of the street, anyway? Don't we have an island to go check out?"
He could tell from her tone that, as far as she was concerned, the conversation was over. As half-elf, tiefling, and kobold walked toward a ragged pier jutting over black, sickly-looking water, he couldn't help but wonder what a half-elf, half Moon elf at that, had to do with Eilistraee, a predominantly drow goddess. He was almost thankful when Deekin's warbling broke through his thoughts, a sufficient, albeit temporary, distraction.