Alert: May contain spoilers for the adventure “For Duty and Deity”
In the Abyss, kindness is unnatural,
Mercy is impossible,
And Power is all that matters.
-Warrick’s parting words
We cast fire protection on the more vulnerable of us, and stepped through the fire-portal – me gripping Tressarian tightly, since many demons are immune to my arrows (and he protects me from fire). The green fire still burned Clatriel, so Mikael paused to heal her.
But we had barely gotten our bearings – arrived at one end of a rough cave – when monsters charged us from a passage opposite. They have monstrously big heads on human-sized and -shaped bodies, but also resemble death with their skeletal faces and scrawny frames. Their tight leather armor is surprisingly tough, and they have vicious claws – or talons – instead of hands…plus a horn on their heads that they don’t hesitate to butt us with.
We fought them to a standstill in the entryway to the next cave, but we kept having to swap out the front line fighters, while the paladins helped the clerics types keeping everyone alive.
Well…about that. I don’t remember us killing the last of them. Ezekiel says that’s because I died. He says I turned invisible again after I stopped fighting, and they had to search around the ground to find me. He says I have a new scar on my neck, and I should stop scaring him like that. I suppose he wouldn’t say things like that without a reason.
Once we patched ourselves up, we searched the caverns…cautiously. Everyone was tired, and the healers were running out of spells. The walls all seemed like they were made of salt – maybe rock salt – but I’m not convinced. There’s something unsettling about them…even something as basic as a rock tunnel feels wrong in the Abyss.
Finally, we came face to face with a man-shaped creature, with skin black as coal…not like me out in the sun, but black like wood burned to char. He wore ornate armor, and faced us, scowling, in the doorway to a room. I think there was something “wrong” about his face, too, but I couldn’t describe what it was.
In the room beyond him, we could just see a set table, and a lady with golden hair.
We both knew what we wanted, so there were no wasted words. He (called himself Varin) threatened to kill the lady if we came closer…and reminded us that another company of bodyguards would come for their shift before long. So for a bit, we were at an impass.
Ezekiel tried to cast something from his mace, but it said that was a bad idea (not with words, but with attitude). Aliana challenged Verin to single combat, but he just laughed. And we didn’t have Lydia there to Death-spell him.
Finally, Ez tried to silence him. Whether it had the effect he intended or not, it prodded Varin into moving.
His form changed – he grew a snake tail, and another set of arms (like a mareleth) and threw out a mirror self to block our retreat.
He exploded a puke-green cloud into our midst that made the eyes and throat sting. Like Lydia’s stinking cloud, but worse. But I ain’t got time for that nonsense.
Keom must not have quite mastered the breathing techniques Raven talks about, as he and Guderwinda were coughing and gagging. I grabbed her elbow and helped her retreat…and by that time, Aliana had slashed at the mirror-Varin and showed it was just illusion. (She was near the back of the group because of the baby.)
Meanwhile, the others were fighting the actual Verin. He threw his snake tail around Ezekiel and tried to crush him…but that wasn’t smart, because it just meant Ez had an easier time bringing his mace down on him. And this time, it approved. Varin collapsed in a crackle of purple lightning.
The lady was indeed beautiful…and for once, it didn’t feel wrong, like it was just to reel you in so she could transform into something horrible. There was something great about it. Theobaldus, Usin, and even Agnar bowed to her.
We didn’t wait very long to patch ourselves up. The lady admitted her name was Wawkeen, and agreed to come with us at once. Ezekiel tried his cleric spell to travel back to the Flaneass…but that place must have been shielded against inter-planar travel. Funny how often that seems to happen.
So we hustled back to the entrance – and thank goodness there was a fire portal to take us back out of the cave system! Just as we were slinking down an alleyway, a squad of smashed aludemons staggered put of the tavern toward the portal we had just left.
Once again being a packrat has paid off. I still had an old robe of Markessa’s in my bag for the Lady to throw over her head. I don’t know how much it helped disguise her over-all (vrocks and aludemons started wheeling in the sky when we were just a few streets away) but we reached the back alley with the door to the staircase before they honed in on us.
Raven opened the door easily, and we hustled through – the Lady in the middle. Our hearts pounded with our feet as we climbed the dark staircase…the doors do not lock, of course. Sure enough, before we had gone more than fifty feet or so, the demons found the door and poured through after us.
But we were now in the home of the lillendi. They swarmed the air around us, seeming to shimmer into existence before our eyes (but I’m sure it was some spiritual power that I just couldn’t discern). With a whole company of them hovering over and beside the stair, the demons had to halt and use their words.
They said we stole the lady from their master. Ezekiel said no…but with lots more official titles and who’s whos. And the Lady simply said that she made a deal, and the Lord of Pleasure broke it.
I hear the lillendi are not much for formality and fruffy titles, but they are good…they know about honesty and freedom and sincerity and respect. So they shooed the vrocks and aludemons right back through the door, and slammed it behind them. I imagine the demons had a fight on the other side about who had to report all this to Grazdt.
The Lady seems to know where she’s going, so we’ve just been following her. The surroundings quickly became warmer, then brighter, and I think we are camping on a disk made of mother-of-pearl. I’m glad it’s magical; I wouldn’t want to meet the clam involved. The Lady smiles more and more…and I really think there’s something special about it.
Find the previous entry here.