"Hm," Edwin said to himself. "While it's a pity that this dark beauty is the necessary component for this ritual, I am fascinated by spellwork the Talassans have laid here."
Jaheira aimed a peck at his ear.
"Stop that!" he snarled.
Jaheira retreated back into Edwin's hood. She suspected that he'd be little help and that she'd have to come up with a plan herself. While she didn't know exactly what spell the Weathermistress was attempting, she knew it had to be stopped until they could figure out what the Talassans were doing.
She peeked out again and surveyed the scene. She could break the intricate mass of gears, but that required opposable thumbs, and she was still shifted into the form of a wren. She could fly into the Weathermistress's face, but she'd only survive for a minute at most. She could disrupt the crowd, but the Weathermistress could still cast the spell.
Meanwhile, the drow was struggling against the bonds holding her down. She strained, then fell, collapsing against the metal with a thud. The onlookers laughed.
The drow's face contorted in anger. "Oloth plynn d'jal!" she shouted, straining her voice and calling down a curse in her own language.
Weathermistress Ada folded her arms, the silver charms on her headdress clinking in a faint echo of the sound of raindrops. "No need to make this more difficult than you must," she said. "All that is left to do is wait."
Suddenly the magelights went out, plunging the room into shadow. The boisterous crowd stilled their voices in reverence. The only sounds in the building were the turning gear and the pounding rain, which were muffled by the thick windowless walls. Then followed a distant peal of thunder.
Weathermistress Ada raised her voice and hands: "Talos, hear us! We call upon you for holy destruction. May this sacrifice become the instrument of discord, this offering a source of great and flowing carnage! Chaos prevail!"
All the voices shouted in unison: "Chaos prevail!"
In a moment, the room was filled with a flash of violet-white light. A great roar resounded with a force that nearly tore the building in half.
But a shout of alarm alerted everyone that all was not well. The crowd covered their ears at the sudden, violent sound, but the lightning bolt could not pierce the darkness that lay over them.
The Weathermistress called for lights, but what ended up happening instead was a lot of jostling, shouting, and the start of a fight or two. Quickly losing patience, she dispelled the darkness with a word of command.
The gears frantically turned, spinning dizzily and casting sparks upon the ground. All that remained of the sacrifice was red-hot metal and the frayed, burning ends of the rope.
The drow had taken advantage of the darkness and fled through the door. Jaheira flew a short way ahead, staying aloft even amid the thick raindrops, and then fluttered to the ground.
She returned to her natural form, standing directly in front of the drow. "Before you go anywhere, Viconia," Jaheira said, "all I ask is for you to give an explanation."
Though the storm still raged, the light here was better, and it left no doubt whom Jaheira was speaking to. Like many elves, Viconia was shorter and slighter than a human, but she carried herself like a queen. Even out here, where the rain was pounding on the pavement and rapidly soaking them to the bone, she still wore her simple black dress and cloak as though they were the most expensive garb.
"The rivvin will come to collect me if you delay me here," Viconia said. Her voice was low and haughty. "I distrust these barbaric people too much to hang about."
A second bolt of lightning struck the temple, then a third, then a fourth, all in quick succession. Cries of alarm began issuing from inside the temple.
"It appears that Talos feels cheated," Jaheira said. "He shall be occupying them for some time, I think."
"Very well," Viconia said. "It was you who cut my bonds in the darkness, yes? Then I suppose I owe you my life, and I shall offer anything you wish to hear, abban. But, listen: I did nothing to provoke them. I was simply traveling through the city when one of those guards from the temple took me. No doubt they thought they could capture a drow and go unpunished."
"Do you know why they took you or their purpose?" Jaheira asked.
"He spoke of using the ritual to 'stir the city.'" She glanced behind her and frowned. "That guard at the door, he laid his hands upon me, and I ought to kill him for such a trespass. Look, he dares to approach us."
The guard brandished his jagged halberd as he came closer. "The sheer sacrilege!" he said. "You will only bring the wrath of the Stormlord upon the whole city!"
"If you dare to touch me, you will have to best me in combat first, jaluk," Viconia said, holding up her holy symbol, a small, night-black first.
"Cupio, virtus, licet!" Jaheira intoned, her own holy symbol growing bright.
Within moments, the man had frozen in place.
Viconia cast an annoyed look in Jaheira's direction. "Must you hold my hand through a simple bloodletting?"
"You say this man knows something. I would like to know exactly what, and I am certain my employers would," Jaheira said.
"Praeses, alia, fero!" Edwin chanted the spell, releasing a pinch of something into the air. Silvery light swirled from his hand directly towards the guard. Within minutes, the unfortunate Talassan had turned to stone.
Edwin repeated the incantation: "Praeses, alia, fero!"
The newly created stone statue shrunk until it was only a few inches tall.
Edwin scooped up the statue, dropped it into a pouch, then folded his arms. "There is no problem that overwhelming magical might cannot solve. If you learn anything of the surface, my dusky beauty, let it be that alone."
Viconia said, "Perhaps so, but with any luck, I shall be able to forget your voice's nasal whine."
They made their way back to Mae'Var's hideout, where he questioned Viconia for some time, then let her go. He kept the small stone statue, however. No doubt he had something else in mind for the man who had been entombed this way.