This is an AU. I'm not a stickler for accuracy in the details of the Neverwinter universe such as gods etc. but I do try my best. This story does have explicit sexual content, 18+. If you are offended by sexual themes don't start reading! There is artwork for this story at my deviantart account under aeltari.
Torio propped the body up beside the watering trough, and dusted the hay off her dress. The dirty little village they had come across was infested with drunk Luskans, most of them mercenaries looking for work. It wasnt hard to pick one out and charm him into giving up any information he might have.
"Ugh, he was the vilest of them all. Didn't even take much to get him to come out here with me. One little dance and I barely touched him and he started singing like a canary."
She crossed her arms and looked at the disheveled man laying at an odd angle against the horse's water holder.
Sand came up behind her and put an arm around her shoulders. Turning her around, he placed a tender kiss on her lips.
"You know, Torio dear, you don't have to do this. We can find another way of getting the information. I must admit it truly does disturb me seeing you engaged this way with another man."
His blue eyes sparkled mischievously.
"Although dear girl, I do enjoy watching you dance, its quite...thought provoking."
Torio smiled, and did a little eeling dance around him. "I would dance for you anytime you wish, beloved."
Her mind returned to the task at hand and her face took on a grave expression. She wrinkled her nose up at the unconscious Luskan.
"As for this ... mess, I would do anything to help Kyrie. This is the easiest and fastest way to get anything useful. These Luskans are so weak minded, it's a wonder any of them even make it to the Brotherhood."
"Fools like this one don't make it anywhere. Chances are he will be found dead along a highway some day, charred by a wizard that he angered."
Sand looked wryly at the man, and Torio was sure that the comment was a story in and of itself.
Taking Torio's hand Sand led her through the barn, outside and into an alley.
Seeing a group of Luskan soldiers approaching he pushed her against the wall and crushed his lips to hers. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him back as the dishevelled looking group walked past them.
Sand kept his lips close to hers as he spoke.
"As I said, my dear, watching you dance gave me all sorts of ideas not related to information gathering and espionage activities. But I digress. Let's just keep this very quiet, make it look good in case more of those Luskan dogs take to walking out here. What did you learn from that fool?"
Torio kissed him, and keeping her hands entwined in his hair and one leg wrapped around him whispered. "Its worse then I thought, Sand. The Neverwinter prisoner is being kept in the raknah."
"By the gods!" whispered Sand. "This is what the other moron told me. They have a cleric on him to stop him from dying under torture."
"Exactly what I was told. There is a change of guard on the raknah every 9 hours. That much hasn't changed since I was there. Now, there is a list of all the potential guards for each shift. They all have to show up to the guard room one hour before they start. When they get there only a select few are chosen for duty on the raknah, the others are given assignments in other parts of the city."
Sand kissed her neck as another group walked by. "Getting in there isn't the difficult part Torio. We can devise all sorts of ingenious ways of getting ourselves in, but getting out with Casavir is going to be the problem."
"I can't help but feel we need to march in there with an army. Can't we get the Neverwinter Nine, or whatever the royal guard was called? There must be someone who can help us with this."
Sand shook his head. "Come on Torio, even you can see that marching in there armed to the teeth isn't the way to carry out a rescue operation. Sure we will succeed, but Luskan will leave no stone unturned until they wreak vengeance on whoever does it. It will also most likely turn into a political situation, which is precisely what we want to avoid. I'm more of the opinion that I want it to look like a murder. If Luskan thinks their prisoner was murdered, or even if it appears he killed himself, they won't have any reason to seek him. Our objective is to give Casavir his life back, not give him a reason to look over his shoulder for the rest of it."
Torio was quiet for a bit, stroking his hair. "You know, it's not going to be possible to keep Casavir's return low key, Sand. Once we do this he and Kyrie have to leave the Sword Coast."
"That means all of us leave the Sword Coast, Torio."
"I was hoping you would say that. Maybe we can go back to my village, or just pick a place on the map and go. I just want to start a life with you, a'melamin. You and my kids and grandfather and the army of little wizards we may have started."
Sand gave a happy chortle. "Well it wouldn't do to conceive a child while we are out on the road in this way. I need a place where I can take care of you, Torio"
"Well Sand, sometimes life doesn't always wait for the most opportune moments to foist itself on us. And no, I wont drink your potions…I just couldn't do that."
He stroked her cheek tenderly, a smile on his lips. "I would never ask you to do that my love. For all of our sakes we need a plan that will work perfectly. Somehow I think that no matter how much we want to do this on our own, this thing is going to balloon out and involve more people. We need to find the dwarf, Khelgar. He might be an uncouth, staff swinging drunkard, but he knows what he's talking about when it comes to this sort of operation."
"We need to get to Crossroad Keep, Sand. There have got to be a few people we can trust with this. Let's just hope that Casavir can hang on, and that Kyrie makes it to the Keep on her own. We can't know where she went, and spending time tracking her when we know where she's going to end up is a bad waste of the little time we have."
They kissed once more, more for emotion then for cover, and Sand drew his hood up over his head, pulling Torio's up over hers as well. Their horses were tethered in the forest, a short walk from the edge of town. Already the brawling had started in the streets, as was common after several hours of night had passed. The drunkards in the taverns and bawdy houses were being tossed out into the street, and they took their aggressions out on one another. There was no law on streets in towns overrun by Luskans, and the wise left town before night fell.
"Althraion…" Torio stopped him and turned him to her. "You do know that even if we get Casavir out, he won't be the same the person he once was. No one leaves a Luskan prison, much less the raknah, intact. We can heal their bodies but their minds…"
Torio looked incredibly sad as she thought of the stoic, noble and strong Sir Casavir being returned to Kyrie a shell of his former self.
"My dear, the strength of his mind is between him and his god. Tyr loves his paladins and we can pray that he has given our friend some form of protection. It's become apparent that he has extended great blessings to Kyrie. We can only give the best we can and hope that the gods fill in the rest."
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The contact Melosia had set up for him worried Brother Ilisharan slightly. Knowing what he did about the port city of Luskan and its people, he was not too keen on having one in his chambers. Melosia had told him that the fellow had been a close friend of her brother's, and that he regularly worked as an informant against Luskan. His family had a small shop on the edge of the worst part of town, giving him access to all sorts of information. Melosia's brother had died at sea, and the young man Yarron had remained close to her, keeping an eye on her and her family to ensure they didn't lack anything.
Melosia had also lost her father to the sea when she was but a child, and she and her mother ran a small bakery to provide for themselves. Melosia's mother was a strong woman, having once been a royal guard to a queen in a large city, she taught Melosia from a very early age how to wield a weapon and defend herself. She didn't trust any man to do a job that she herself could do. Brother Ilisharan was surprised when Melosia's mother Madriga had come to him and offered her help also with his plan.
Ilisharan waited impatiently in the hallway for his visitor to arrive. He had insisted the man come to him in the temple instead of somewhere in the village. He also insisted it be after dark when the villagers were at home and not likely to come seeking him for anything.
Brother Ilisharan sighed deeply, the lines on his face deepening with the burden on his heart. He felt old, aged beyond his time by the injustices of war, and worse...by his own brotherhood. He had not wanted to give too many details to the young man before him, but he felt he needed to give enough to inspire Yarron to assist him.
"I left the church because what they did was not Tyr's way. It was the way of fear, not the way of justice. "
The young man before him shook his head. "What you propose to do is nothing short of suicide Brother. People don't just walk into the raknah, much less walk out with one of the prisoners!"
"They took that paladin, a hero of the war, under false pretenses! My brotherhood stood by and let them, and I did not stand up to them then. Well I'm going to now. I don't mean to die doing this, I mean to get that paladin out of there. I believe that is what Tyr wants of me. If Tyr wills that I should give up my life for this cause, then I gladly do it. I need to be able to look my god in the eye and say I did right by him all of my days."
His gaze never wavered. "If I were to go to my god today, I would not be deserving to stand in his presence and say I lived my life right."
He stood up straighter his gaze still steadfast. "I need you to get me in."
"I can get you in. But getting you out… I have no idea about. I will find out what I can for you. At least you will go in prepared. I don't want this on my conscience when I go to my god, so I'm going to help you Brother."
Yarron turned back into the darkness of the hall and disappeared.
Brother Ilisharan gave up a quick prayer of thanks to his god, and slipped back to his room.