Out of the Shadows, Part 12

"That's a good plan," you agree. "I like it. But... I also think we can do more. If we're going to be stepping into the viper's den, then we need every advantage we can get, and we can't waste any time. I could start investigating on my own, while you're talking with the information broker."

Verika shakes her head. "It's too dangerous," she says. "A tiefling will attract too much attention, especially one that isn't dressed like a slave."

"You're right," you say. "But... if it means getting the hostages free sooner..." You glance over at Khaytala, who nods supportively. You're not actually as worried as you're letting on, but playing up that you're taking a risk for the sake of the captives can't hurt.

Then, taking a deep breath, you shapeshift into female drow, taking inspiration for your face and clothes from one of the soldiers you faced in the camp.

Verika sucks in a breath, her eyes widening. This kind of outright supernatural ability is clearly not something she'd expected from a random, no-name courier, and you can see her questions about you multiplying. She also glances over at Khaytala, wordlessly confirming that her friend knew about this already, before looking back to you, licking her lips as she considers this new revelation.

At length, she exhales. "If you want to risk it... then I won't stop you," she says. She's belatedly realizing the true extent of the uncertainty your presence portends. But whatever her worries... they're still not enough to turn down your help. Not with the elves' lives on the line. Not yet.

The other three remain behind, starting to set up your impromptu little camp. You, on the other hand, set off with Verika, following her as she guides you toward the populated regions of the Underworld. You judge it better to give her some space for the moment, allowing the new revelation time to settle without actively pressing her.

You walk along in silence. You can almost feel the weight of the questions she wants to ask you, questions that you've already said you cannot answer, explanations you cannot give. But she holds back, concentrating on what is to come, and you do the same.

Soon the tunnel connects to a more intricate, criss-crossing system, and at that point your concentration is focused on memorizing the route. You want to be able to find your way back, even if you and Verika don't reconnect. Then, finally, the tunnels open out into an immense cavern, and you get your first glimpse of the drow capital.

The scale of it is jaw-dropping. You can't even see it all behind the thick, looming walls encompassing the perimeter with guard towers dotting their entire length, but rising up behind them you can see the countless dark, spindly spires and domes of immense structures, and you can only imagine how densely it's packed behind the walls. The drow have fashioned it into a densely concentrated urban edifice, building yet more structures into the very cavern walls that the city buts up against on the far side. The glow of innumerable spell-lamps of all different sizes rises up from the city, some with a tinge of green, others purple.

Verika stares off into the distance at it, and it's obvious that the sight is affecting her. Like she's viewing a bad dream that she'd never expected to have to return to. "You alright?" you ask, injecting a note of concern into your voice.

The drow woman nods, her gaze still fixed on the city. "Don't worry about me," she says. "This is just... old debts coming due. It's Syvel and her students you should be concerned about." Then she does turn away from the city, looking over at you. "You sure you can handle yourself in there?"

"This won't be the first time I've infiltrated hostile territory," you tell her. "I'll be fine."

Verika raises an eyebrow, but then turns and darts away, slipping through the shadows as she makes her approach. Though you notice that her impossible stealth is no longer as impossible for you to track as it was on your first meeting, now that your senses have been so drastically improved.

You make your own approach to the enormous city of night, eventually reaching a gate near a much larger tunnel. From the amount of traffic, you guess that it connects the capital with another large outlying city. You slip in among the crowd, blending effortlessly as you observe the mannerisms of other passing drow and mirror them.

Once you've made your entry into the city, you let the flow of the crowd pull you along, making occasional conversation as you subtly and gradually suss out directions to your target. Eselvar Manor. The home of Lady Mykra Eselvar, and the seat of power for her particular branch of the lesser nobility.

You head in the direction you gleaned from your conversations, and eventually you arrive at the sprawling estate in question. The main gate is watched over by a pair of guards, and even more patrol the inner grounds, all the way up to the huge manor house. Those grounds are also enclosed by a tall iron fence. And while it isn't obvious, you can feel the air around the bars seethe with magical energy. Probably best not to try climbing them.

Fortunately, you have other methods. You stroll past, noting all the details before finding a discreet place you can hide and observe the comings and goings. Eventually you note a drow exiting who the guards show a degree of deference. You wait until she's gone, then assume her form and approach the gate.

The guards allow you back through, without daring to make any comment on why you've "returned" so soon. You make your way across the grounds and into the mansion itself, enemies surrounding you on every side, only a single slip-up away from all of them trying to kill you. Yet you move through their ranks with ease, without displaying even a hint of outward anxiety, trusting in your guise and your acting abilities.

You do notice a certain amount of tension in some of them, however. Especially among the half-dozen soldiers guarding a stairway that leads down into the mansion's lower levels. All of them seem particularly on edge, their hands seldom far from their weapons, as though they expect to be attacked at any moment.

In addition to that oddity, you note a room on the second floor whose door is both reinforced and guarded by a pair of soldiers. It is also particularly ornate, and you suspect that it belongs to the mistress of the house. Some kind of study, perhaps? You can only imagine what secrets might lie within.

You also shapeshift into one of the servants for a while, maneuvering through their ranks starting up brief conversations that you to bluff your way through, indirectly coaxing out what details you can from them in order to learn what they've observed. You learn that Lady Mykra does not keep to a set or predictable schedule for the most part, save that she will usually retire in the evening to her quarters with her elite bodyguards, who do not leave her even in sleep.

And, hanging around, you do catch a glimpse of them passing through the hallway on the way there. Lady Mykra is short for a drow, wiry and alert, possessing little of Verika's voluptuous, deadly grace. The noble's cold, pitiless eyes are constantly shifting, as though always looking for the next angle, endlessly calculating the odds and the risks. She doesn't seem physically formidable, but seems to make up for that in intellect and determination.

There are several approaches you can see with the information you've gained. But for now, you content yourself with making a survey of the area, taking meticulous note of the places of interest, the patterns of the guard patrols and everything else about the security. If you end up needing to infiltrate—or assault—any part of the mansion, these details should make the undertaking significantly easier.

Finally, once your appraisal is complete, you shapeshift back into the drow whose form you used to enter the mansion and exit once again. From there you hurry back out of the city, heading for the place you parted company from Verika. She's waiting there by the time you return, a troubled look on her face, as well as a bundle of cloth under her arm.

She glances up as you approach, and you call out to her. "How did your meeting with the information broker go?"

Verika's lip twists in distaste. "About as well as I could have expected. I didn't have nearly enough coin to coax everything I wanted from the old skinflint. But I learned enough. Let's head back. Everyone ought to hear this."

The two of you hurry back to the camp in silence, Verika still stewing. It's clear that whatever she learned, it has not made her very happy. When you finally return, the others greet you, hungry to hear what you've learned.

Verika is first to speak. "I found out what they've done with the prisoners," she says. "Like we suspected, they weren't put with the rest of the slaves. Rather... they were taken to be used in a religious ritual."

Khaytala's expression turns grim, while Relis and Belan go pale. "A ritual?" Relis asks. "What's going to happen to them?"

"It's a sacred festival among the drow," says Verika, not meeting any of your eyes. "Celebrating how Melca slew her sister-goddess Feyal by treachery, and stole her power. The Imperial Palace always holds sacrifices to commemorate the event. This year... the Matriarch has chosen Syvel and her students."

Relis gasps, and Belan looks like he's going to be sick. Khaytala, however, only grows more focused, more urgent. "How long do we have?"

"The festival is in four days," Verika explains. "So we have three more days between now and then to prepare. But there's more. My contact told me that—as a 'gift'—the Matriarch has given some of the prisoners to other noble houses, to guard until the time of the ceremony."

Relis blinks. "Wait... if she went to all that trouble to capture them, why would she just give them away?"

"To paint targets on the nobles' backs too," you offer, as the tactics at play become clear. "She took the hostages to force Verika to come to her. But she only needs one hostage for that, while we need to rescue all three. So what does she do with the other two?"

Now Relis understands. "She gave them to her enemies. So we would have to go up against them as well, if we want to rescue them before the ceremony."

"Exactly," you say. "If those nobles kill us, or even weaken us? The Matriarch benefits. If we kill them? The Matriarch benefits. If they're humiliated? Losing face because they couldn't hold onto the sacrifices that the Matriarch publicly entrusted them with? The Matriarch still benefits."

Verika looks over at you, giving an approving nod. It seems that she was thinking the same thing. "We need to be careful how we move," she says. "Worst come to worst, we can always attack the ceremony itself, on the fourth day. We know that Syvel and her students will be together in one place then. So it might make sense to spend the days between now and then preparing for that final showdown, so we're holding as many cards as possible."

"But... that would leave them in the hands of those drow for all that time!" says Belan, clearly recalling the sadism of the priestess who held him captive. "And... and if we can save some of them beforehand, they could also help us out with the other things we need to do!"

"Not to mention disgracing the noble who loses them..." you muse, considering the possibilities. "And I may have a lead already. When I was investigating Eselvar Manor, I saw that they were guarding the stairway to the lower levels with an unusually large force. Do you suppose one of them could be held there?"

"It's... possible," admits Verika, frowning thoughtfully. "That's usually where those old manors have their cells for holding prisoners. It's just... I'd expect the high noble houses to be a much higher priority for the Matriarch to target than House Eselvar. Though I suppose something could have made them more of a threat..." Still, she doesn't sound convinced.

"So what's our next move?" asks Khaytala. "Do we try and stage a breakout?"

"I... don't know." You can tell that Verika is weighing her options, balancing different priorities as she tries to avoid disaster on different fronts. "A big strike like that is... risky, especially given how little we have to go on."

She closes her eyes, thinking hard for a few moments. Then opens them again and looks up. "While I was in the city, I also traded some of our food for these old slaves' clothes," she says, holding up the large bundle of cloth she brought back, then spreading out the tattered garments. "These should allow you to blend in a little better, so long as you don't call attention to yourself. Talavar should be able to get you through one of the city gates as his property, if he takes the form of a wealthy drow."

Then Verika turns to Relis. "Thanks to Talavar, we have detailed information on one of the nobles' headquarters. Could you scout House Cendiath in a similar way? Belan can use his illusion magic to help camouflage you, and Khaytala can go along as backup in case something goes wrong."

Relis considers the idea. "They're... the house with the ties to the Underworld army, aren't they?"

"Yes," Verika says. "And their main headquarters is in a fortress built into the western section of the city. The base is commanded by their head of their house, General Pheshera. Meanwhile, I'll look into House Thesolan. See what I can find out at their main temple."

"You'll be scouting too?" asks Belan.

"No time," says Verika. "I'll just go straight in, try to learn what I can in a single try. Maybe even rescue one of the hostages, if I'm lucky and they have one."

"Are you sure, Verika?" asks Khaytala, worried. "I know we're racing against the clock... but you shouldn't underestimate their defenses. Going in blind to such a heavily-protected target might be risky. Even for you."

"Well, if Talavar is willing to back me up, I think I should be able to pull it off." Verika turns and fixes you with a smile of challenge. "What do you say?"

It's not a bad plan, not least because working in tight proximity to Verika might allow you to work your charms a bit more. Of course, it's clear that part of her desire to work with you is that she wants to figure out what you're hiding from her, which could be dangerous depending on what problems you run into and what a desperate situation might require you to reveal.

Relis, however, clearly does not care for the proposed strategy. "I can handle a simple scouting mission without all that extra backup!" she insists earnestly. "We need to cover more ground if we want to make sure we're ready in three days! Talavar has already scouted out one location, so if you take advantage of what he learned, you won't need to put yourself in such danger. If you sneak into that study he found, you can learn what they're really up to!"

Now Relis looks over to Khaytala. "You can back up Verika in case something goes wrong. And Belan can help out Talavar, to scout the Cendiath fortress, while I stake out the Thesolan Temple."

That would cover more ground overall. Though just as Verika might have been a bit over-protective in her plan, you worry that Relis might be trying a bit too hard to prove that she can handle this alone. At the very least, the kind of illusion magic that Belan could use to assist with would work far better to camouflage someone who actually relied on stealth, rather than your disguises.

Verika flinches, and you can see agonized conflict in her eyes, torn on how to respond to Relis. It's obvious that she does want to support the younger elf in proving herself... but it's also obvious that Verika is terrified of getting Relis killed in doing so. Which leaves the heroine stricken, unable to respond.

The question now is, whose approach do you support? Or, perhaps, is there a different approach you could propose instead?

Known Locations:

Eselvar Manor

-Identified Target: Manor Dungeons

-Identified Target: Lady Mykra's Study

-Identified Target: Lady Mykra's Quarters

Cendiath Fortress

-Identified Targets: [Unscouted]

Thesolan Shrine

-Identified Targets: [Unscouted]

Imperial Palace (High Danger!)

-Identified Targets: [Unscouted]