Standing in the pool of drow blood he had just made out of the fountain in the middle of the Temple of Lolth, Sereph slid the 31st house's fourth best fighter off the end of his long sword. Three others stood in a semicircle around their weapons master. None were impressively dressed or armed, all wielding a rectangular shield covering their bodies from neck to midthigh. The weapons master was wearing a set of splint mail armor and holding a two handed greatsword. Sereph, still wearing his cloak cowl and scarf, simply reset himself with his right leg set behind and left in front, aligning his heels into a right angle. His right arm, wielding the longsword, swung up behind him and stopped over his head, the blade sloped down over his body pointed at the small group that had gathered to oppose the assassin.
"What house so boldy goes against a Master of melee-magthere and Weapons master of the 31st house?" the greatsword wielding drow asked defiantly. When he received no answer, no movement from the intruder, he ordered his guard foreward. The group advanced cautiously, slouched enough to guard almost their entire bodies. The Weapons Master heaved up his greatsword.
While they advanced, Sereph couldn't help but wonder why everyone he had to deal with today was so arrogant, and in this case stupid. A frontal attack on an unknown assassin that had ambushed you could not be described as anything else. His position did not change as his foes advanced, nor did it change when an explosion disintegrated the shield bearers feet and legs, but he did move when his target was knocked off balance by the subsequent shockwave.
Darting forward, Sereph thrust his sword ahead of him and scored a hit on the drows shoulder, which was turned aside by one of the plates in his armor. His amazing speed allowed him three more hits before the Weapons Master could bring his greatsword to bear, barely blocking a fourth strike.
Both opponents hopped back, and the Weapons Master struck quickly with a horizontal strke that cut clean through Sereph's sword as he dodged backwards. The assassin went into a sidelong roll as the greatsword swung around behind the much larger fighter, coming down in the powerful overhead swing. The rock was smashed where the greatsword hit, but the target was off to his right now. He turned his body as he pulled up the sword and watched the figure kneeling, unmoving, before him. The tattered black cloak covered him entirely, but the cowl had fallen off, and his long, white hair fell about his shoulders, framing his face, which was still covered with a scarf. The eyes though, the eyes were filled with a calm ferocity, the eyes of a deep panther stalking a rothe. This assassin was toying with him, but it was the assassin who was on his knees now!
With sudden, fear driven intensity, the weapons master rushed the kneeling assassin, holding his blade over his right shoulder for a final, powerful blow. In the final moment before the blade struck, the kneeling drows cloak billowed out. The assassin pierced his opponents sword with a fighting knife, pushing it forward and crashing it to the ground. With a fierce jerking motion the assassin cut up through the sword, and then sent it back down to crash through the weakened sword, breaking it in half. He then rose quickly, both hands holding two fighting knives in his hands. With two steps forward he cut open the Weapons Master's neck. He cut off the hilt and cross guard of the greatsword and put it in his cloak.
Turning to the gurgling dying drow, he said, "Sereph is your better, and still the strongest Weapons Master in the cavern of Shar'Ill Orbb'Aress." Even dying, the Weapons Master found enough energy to widen his eyes at the name of his killer.
0000
Jiv'Undis Mal'Rak, the Matron Mother of the second house in the city, sat upon her floating disc of magical energy and was escorted by fifty of her finest warriors, as well as her three daughters, high priestesses all. As she went down the street, chatting to her eldest daughter about the upcoming meeting and its possible outcomes, the croud of slaves and drow parted to make passage for the powerful entourage. They made their way to the northernmost part of the city, away from the southern cliff that was Shar'Ill Orbb'Aress' first line of defense.
As they made the turn into the final avenue that led to the De'Faeror complex, fifteen guards stopped their passage. Ten were fighters, eight armed with sword and shield, two with large pole arms. Three were mages, and the last two were priestesses. The front shieldsman addressed the head guard, undaunted by the size of the force or the emblem on the entourage.
"State your business, and your family name and position," he said, his shield held forward and his sword at the ready behind his head.
The entourage stopped and the lead guard answered in a tone only achieved through rehersal. "We are of house Mal'Rak, the second in the city. Our Matron Mother seeks an emergency audience with Matron Mother Tallil De'Faeror of the first house, and that business is enough for males of either of our standing."
The De'Faeror priestesses looked at each other, then nodded and waved for their group to part. One priestess walked to the center of the group of Mal'Rak drow. She bowed to the floating Matron, holding out a seal of the first household.
"This will allow you passage into the complex, and will shatter shortly afterwards. It will only allow five in, so choose well. Your other soldiers shall be offered refreshments and a mage awaits at the entrance of the main complex to show you around," the priestess informed the Matron.
Jiv'Undis nodded, taking the emblem as they continued down the avenue. They passed by contingents of De'Faeror soldiers of increasing size, all of whom kept the way clear for them. If someone made it past the first gropu of guards unbloodied and without a noise, they were allowed entry into the De'Faeror complex.
When they approached the entrance to the main complex, home of the nobles and upper classes of the common army, the troupe stopped. The dividing line was marked by two statues of basilisks, giant lizards that roamed the wild Underdark with vision that turned any living creatures to stone. Rumors say that the pair was part of a group that attacked Sereph's patrol. He was running point for the squad, and tricked these two into petrifying each other, thinning the numbers to allow his group victory.
These rumors were discounted by the singular fact that basilisks rarely travel in packs. Also the only causalties in the attack were two of Sereph's key rivals at the time, leading many to suspect he had led them into a cunning trap. In any case, Sereph brought back the stone creatures and backed up the stories. Now they served as the guardians of the sanctum, turned into golems and still retaining their petrifying vision.
The preset group of five stepped forward, the captain of the guard, the Matron and the three priestesses. Jiv'Undis held the emblem and hovered forward without hesitating. Not showing her fear of the threat of treatury everpresent in drow society was key to maintaining her matronship. They passed through the statues and the emblem glowed and then shattered, but the basilisks didn't move.
"Greetings Matron Jiv'Undis. I am Trium, head mage of the house of Demien Faeraxxolen. I will escort you to the Matron Tallil's chamber," Anoroth greeted the troupe, bowing deeply. He did well to hid his annoyance at this duty, one that was taking precious time away from his preparation.
"Good. I am sure you will be taking us on the route that best shows off your home, but my business is urgent and I would prefer you keep the sightseeing to a minimum, Trium," Jiv'Undis replied, waving him forward. She did not have time to wait for those damnable pleasantries.
0000
The doors of the temple exploded inward, the Matron Mother and her two daughters leading the way. For a split second she thought she saw a cloaked figure standing near the spider shaped fountain, but it was gone before she registered it's presence. Instead all the angry priestesses saw were legless shield bearers, only one living, another dead swordsman, and their Weapons Master on the ground, throat cut open.
"Quickly, Clean the temple! We must begin to pray and fast! All defenses must be reinforced! If any of the houses learn of this, we will be destroyed for certain." The Matron Mother said, waving her daughters into their religious positions. Even as males attended to the cleaning, the three began to pray, offering the souls of those slain to Lolth directly in hopes she will return the gift with her help in the protection of their house.
From behind, Sereph watched it all with a twisted pleasure. He offered his own prayer to Lolth, saying this chaos and the chaos to follow is a gift for his demon goddess. He held his cloak tight as he turned and silently walked out of the door. He may be invisible, but if someone felt his cloak he would have to fight his way out.
The house, being one of the lower in the city, had little to no magical protection, relying only on the watchfulness of its sentries. To Sereph, moving undetected was far more natural than moving in the open, which always made him uncomfortable. He enjoyed that thought as he grabbed some scrolls and a ring out of a drawer in the hallway. He had made it to a balcony he could use to escape by scaling the rough surface of the stone, and without mishap. As he took his first hand and foot holds he smiled, realizing he was about to be attacked.
Running on a high balcony to reinforce the defense of his house, the head mage was already enchanted enough to fight off a small group by himself, and this included the ability to see through concealment and invisibility spells. It was that unfortunate enchantment that showed him a cloaked figure scaling down the side wall. He let loose a barrage of magical missles and prepared a more devastating and useful spell.
Sereph's smile widened as the missles connected with his body, pummeling his innards, and pushing him back into the wall. Clinging to it, he let fly three daggers in quick succession and climbed quickly, using the power of two rings he wore. Their magic coated his fingertips in spider's webbing, allowing him to stick to the wall. He heard the daggers cling to the stone of the balcony, likely repelled by an enchantment on the mage. He doubled his efforts, and nearly reached the balcony before the spellcaster was able to finish his next spell. Hearing the crescendo in the incantation that normally signified a release in power, Sereph shut his eyes tightly and used his innate abilities to cover himself in darkness.
The mage held his hands together at the pointer and thumb, palms outwards and fingers stretched, and shot his single sustained jet of flame into the globe of darkness where Sereph had last been. After a moment he began to direct the flame around the globe, to make sure he at least scorches the assassin, while watching the surrounding area to make sure he didn't leave it. So intently did he keep his vigil, two daggers flying directly out of the darkened area completely escaped his attention, until the first hit his spell and the second pireced his throat. The jet of flame stopped immediately, and he realized the first had been enchanted.
"That's correct. It dispelled the shield spell and the second killed you. I am not one to waste supplies, after all," a suddenly present Sereph said, bending to pick up the dagger of dispelling. "Nor am I one to leave any magical trinkets," he added, pulling a pendant made of bone off of the fallen mages neck. "Tell me the keyword for this, and I shall kill you now."
The mage hesitated only long enough to cough up some blood and fall to his knees, then said, "Call to illing atteuruce. He obeys the keeper of the locket."
Sereph nodded and twisted the dagger in the mages neck, ending his suffering.
"A golem eh? This should cause quite a racket," Sereph said to himself as he stepped over the balcony railing, deciding to levitate down. The two encounters had been enough fun already.
0000
Trium led Matron Mal'Ruk through the halls in the fastest possible route to Tallil's chamber. His brisk pace was gladly met by the visiting Matron, who seemed to have genuinely urgent dealings with Tallil, and wasn't simply throwing her weight around. As they turned a corner Sereph nearly ran into one of the priestesses as he exited a side passage.
"My apologies, mistress Mal'Ruk," he said, bowing more flirtatiously than out of respect.
"Ah, elderboy of the De'Faerors," Matron Jiv'Undis said, then eyeing his cloak adding, "Just returned from some business?"
Matron, welcome to the De'Faeror home," he said, bowing again. "And I was merely out for a pleasant stroll, nothing overly exciting."
Not bothering to respond, Matron Jiv'Undis moved forward and Trium led them. Sereph bowed a third time as they passed, noticing a swing in the hips of the closest priestess. He continued on his way to his room noticeably happier, ready to go through his spoils and fall into reverie. Maybe he would even catch a priestess before they left.
Within moments after bumping into Sereph, the group was at the doors to Tallil's private meeting chamber. Jiv'Undis held out her arms indicating her daughters wait outside and stepped off the magical disc.
Tallil sat on her throne, an annoyed and sour look on her face. She was tired of dealing with these damned people. Between her family and the council, she was ready to just go out into the wild so she wouldn't have to hear another trivial event that occurs within her city, and now the Matron Mother of the second house wants an urgent audience.
The door opened and the second Matron walked in. Tallil straightened, her face stern. "What do you need that is so urgent you are bothering me this late in the cycle, Jiv'Undis Mal'Ruk?"
"My son is targeted for an assassination, and I have been instructed by Lolth to ask for your assistance in defending the cities Archmage and head of Sorcere."