Neeshka thanked the cart driver, who waved from his high seat and slapped his reins across the horse's back. She flipped him a gold coin and started walking up the path to Neverwinter. A hooded cape concealed her features from prying eyes. The cart continued on its way to Port Llast in a cloud of dust and chicken feathers.
There were two hidden entrances in the stone wall surrounding Neverwinter. She had keys to them both. That bastard Leldon won't have a use for them anymore, the rogue thought gleefully; She'd stolen them from his strongroom after killing him at the collector's manse.
One entrance was in the south wall; On the riverbank that led to the Docks District. The other led to a tunnel under the Merchant Quarter; Its outlet was right next to the city watch's rear door. That one's hidden in plain sight, she thought with a chuckle, the watch walks by all the time and never notices its trap door.
She chose the tunnel route. The entrance was in the north wall, out of sight of the watch towers located at each corner. The tunnel led down into total darkness. Her footsteps were accompanied by the steady drip of moisture from the rough moldy stone walls. The tunnel floor soon leveled off and curved slightly to the right. Up ahead, a faint glow assured her that no one else occupied this passage.
Patches of phosphorescent moss lit the way through the dim passage. The rogue turned left at the first fork and cautiously made her way to the end of the tunnel. A narrow flight of steps cut into the rock led to the surface. Instead of mounting these steps, she felt around the bottom one for a metal ring she knew was there. A faint rumbling sound from inside the wall proved that she had found the ring. A section of wall slid up, revealing a passage leading off to the right.
Ducking into the narrow passage, she grasped a large rusted hand wheel and began to turn it. As a counterweight was pulled back up, the section of wall dropped back into place, sealing the passageway.
This passage was not well known to the Neverwinter underworld. Though it was built at the same time as the entrance tunnel, it looked newer, cleaner; The rogue knew from her earlier travels that the farther she went under Castle Never, the drier this passage became. She doubted that even Leldon had known of its existence.
The next leg in her journey was the most disturbing. She could not travel this section without getting ill. A feeling of dread, along with nausea, and a splitting headache were the least that she would experience. Her first trip here rewarded her with a nosebleed that would not quit, and she retched for an hour after leaving. What kind of ward does that? She wondered, thank Tymora the effects aren't permanent.
About half-way down the corridor, she encountered a circular iron grate set into the floor. It was three feet in diameter and covered a very deep shaft cut into the bedrock. A stone dropped through that grate would fall a long time before splashing into the water at the bottom. It wasn't a sewer, though; It didn't smell bad enough.
In the roof of this corridor, another shaft was cut. The rogue knew that it ended in another grate set into the corner of the Great Hall. Just one room removed from Nasher's throne room.
Tie, where are you? she asked, mounting the rungs hammered into the bore of the shaft. After climbing for awhile, the rogue encountered a narrow slot in the wall with a pale shaft of light shining through. A quick peek showed her expensive boots and dress hems. This was the floor of the Great Hall. The knighting ceremony was just getting underway.
She sensed their presence long before she heard them. The group was making progress up the passage she had used. Cocking her head to one side, Neeshka descended a few rungs, straining to hear the slightest rustle.
The sound of hobnailed boots on the rough stone floor grew steadily louder. Her trained ears told her there was more than two pair, and their tread was heavy; These guys are not lightweights, the rogue thought to herself, if they're fighters, they are good. All the metal they carry is silenced.
Mindless shambling footsteps were an indication that some of these intruders were zombies. The stench of decaying flesh that reached her was further proof. It grew stronger as they approached.
Like a spider in her web near the ceiling, Neeshka watched as three shadow priests dressed in black cowled robes passed silently below. They were followed closely by two heavily armored warriors. The rogue recoiled at the sight of these two. Death knights were a legend to her; She'd never seen one before today. Yet, here were two of them.
Before the shock of seeing two death knights wore away, two pale, cadaverous humans passed by. They were leading five lightly armored, poorly armed zombies. Hells' fire, the rogue swore under her breath. The zombies are no challenge, but two death knights and two ancient vampire blademasters? They're almost invincible. Her overloaded mind was reeling. What about the shadow priests? Tiernah is good, but she'll need help with this lot.
She thought about her situation for a moment; The shadow priests are human. Lightning arrows will deal with them. Disable them first. Remember, we don't have any spells. Then the rest will be just a stand-up fight. Right, she scolded herself, what do you do to a damned death knight? Ancient vampires? She had the answer; you disrupt them. A back stab with this blade- she fingered the beautiful, jeweled grip of a dagger she'd bought at the Temple of Lathander in Neverwinter- should disable any undead. We finish the fight by chopping dead meat; She grimaced at the thought.
The rogue dropped silently to the floor and followed at a safe distance. She hesitated to use an invisibility potion; The knights had infra-vision. They would see her anyway. She decided to save the potion.
At the next corner, she stopped to take a look. Setting her bag, bow, and quiver down, she looked around the corner at floor level. A single death knight was standing on the top step of stairs at the end of the passage. Its back was turned to her.
Not wanting to miss this opportunity, the rogue sprinted down the hallway, taking her jeweled dagger out on the run. Reaching the stairs, she stopped. The death knight's attention was focused on the room beyond the top step. She was half-way up the steps when her victim pulled the door shut and began to turn. The dagger went into the death knight's side, all the way to the hilt; Just behind the breast-plate at the bottom rib.
Neeshka was not ready for what happened next; It was as if the dagger had seized her. She could not release it. Acting on instinct, she drove it further into the knight, searching for its evil, diseased heart. She felt her strength draining away. Her mortality lay before her. Death was beckoning. Refusing to give up, she worked the dagger in deeper with both hands... The darkness swallowed her.
When she came to, something was tickling her ear. Then a sharp pain- a bite. Opening her eyes, she saw moonbow's hind quarters blocking her view. The animal squealed and shied away. The rogue rolled to her left just as a sword's blade struck the floor, creating a shower of sparks.
The second death knight stood over her. Its sword raised for a killing blow. Somehow, she'd held onto the dagger; It was in her off-hand, but that located the blade where it needed to be. Placing the point with her left hand, she drove it in with her right hand on the pommel. Knowing what to expect, she braced for the impact. That draining sensation repeated itself, and a resounding roar swept through her mind. The empty armor clattered to the floor around her.
She quickly scanned the room, searching for any of the others. The door at the top of the stairs was still closed. She was alone. Wearily she picked up her shoulder bag and opened it. Two pale gold eyes greeted her. "Thanks 'bow," the tiefling whispered. "I owe you one." The familiar ran up the rogue's arm and settled companionably around her neck.
Neeshka was standing on the top step holding the door handle. This was the room that the death knight was set to guard. Do you really want to open this door? She asked herself. After kneeling down, she slowly turned the lock, careful of any sound that it could make.
She peered into the darkened room at floor level. Her infra-vision showed that the room was empty.
The rogue pushed the door open fully and ducked down, keeping a low profile. Her ears picked up the sound of quiet chanting. An incantation, her senses screamed at her. Magic spells were about to fly. She unlimbered her bow and nocked an arrow. Feeling the lightning flow through the wooden missile to its iron point, she drew back half way and waited.
When a black-hooded figure stepped out into view, she drew the arrow all the way back and took a deep breath. Time slowed to a crawl. As the priest raised his arms, the rogue sighted on the gold amulet he wore and released the arrow.
The shadow priest staggered backward and fell to the floor with a strangled cry. His unfinished spell consumed him in a brilliant flash that dazzled the tiefling's sensitive eyes. She readied another arrow and waited for her vision to clear; She could rely on hearing until then.
Evidently, the other priests were gone. After a time, she slung her bow and kneeled at the door to dig through her bag. She was looking for a potion to ease her weariness. No one ever told her that disrupting undead was such a drain. There's more to being a cleric than meets the eye, she concluded.
A harsh, grating sound trumpeted down the hall. Followed by the sound of iron sliding on stone. Looking up, the rogue saw an iron grate descending. She stood up, pushing at the bottom of the moving trap. There was no way she could stop its descent. Make up your mind, her awareness warned, you have about three more seconds. Stay here and face the shadow priests, or find another way around.