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 Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 8:18 pm
Her eyes adjusted to the darker candle-lit room. Akorbaste looked around at the variety of bottles and jars, a hundred different shapes and sizes sitting about. The shelves were organized but the tabletops were chaos. Most priestesses, most drow honestly, could always get their hand on some concoction that would knock someone out. It was a staple drow trademark. Or they could literally knock someone out. Many priestesses, Akorbaste included, preferred the sacrificial offering to arrive before Lolth still unharmed. That meant no fighting before hand if possible. Did it matter to Lolth? Doubtful. Akorbaste simply found it less rewarding to have half the work already done.
"Oh uh," the merchant hastily smiled and added, "don't touch anything of course."
"Yes something like before but actually, I've recommended your services to my companion here. I've promised her that there are more delicate ways to do things than with an axe." Akorbaste smirked.
Not that Ilythara had ever suggested using her axe, but the merchant didn't care either way. He smiled in Ilythara's direction. "Glad for your business, if you or your House ever needs any special work remember I don't just help out priestesses." Now that she was more than a potential guard, the merchant naturally seemed to warm up to the axe-carrying female.
"Another something to impair mobility then, but a little more complex I take it.." He looked back to Akorbaste, who simply nodded tersely.
"Hm.." The merchant pulled open one drawer, eyes running over the lables on the bottles inside quickly. "Well.." Another drawer. This time he grabbed something. "This is a new combination. Normally I would recommend using several different things to get the combined effect, but anyway... The recipient, as you say," the merchant grinned knowingly, "will indeed see their motor functions rapidly deteriorate but it could take up to five minutes before they are completely immobile. They will loose their voice temporarily, but the closer you can inject this to the throat the better if that's your desire. Voice returns in about fifteen minutes but unlike the other one, this has no loss of consciousness at any point. But the real selling point," the male grinned almost inappropriately with a burst of pride, "a test showed that it might even heighten the senses."
"Good." Akorbaste raised her eyebrows, pleasantly surprised. Her golden eyes considered the small vial carefully, her imagination wandering as she was almost itching to see its contents put to use. The priestess's impulse was to deal with the merchant herself but on second thought she turned towards Ilythara. "Does this one sound acceptable for you?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 4:27 pm
Ilythara slightly frowned at the quip Akorbaste made of her axe to the merchant. She felt slightly irked by it, but kept the annoyance from playing on her features so not to give away her feelings. She didn't really care for the smile the merchant sent her way, it seemed as though he were inwardly laughing at her. Ilyth bite her lip, and replied a slightly strained tone.
"I'll make note of that."
She kept her features neutral, watching as the merchant took his time in locating a small vial. The liquid, a slight green color sloshed around inside the bottle when he had to pull it up closer to the candles in order to see what the label said. Then he relayed the information about it to the two of them.
Ilythara was rather happy with how the potion would perform, and work on the recipient. It was exactly what she had hoped for. The most particularly pleasing thing about it was the heightened senses of the victim. She couldn't help but allow a slight smile play at the corners of her mouth, as she began to imagine how wondrous the sacrifice would be.
"Yes, that is quite acceptable. What is the price for the potion?" She asked, directing her question to the merchant.
He quoted a figure, which made her eyes widen and her pulse drop in shock.
"Are you serious? It's that much? Well.." Here she paused, looking down at her small pouch of gold that was attached to her belt. "How much of it would be needed for a single dose? And how much would that cost? I only have a limited means of funds..."
The merchant stared at her, his demeanor dropping, a scowl coming onto his face. "The vial contains three doses, I don't sell single doses. Perhaps you should come back when you have the proper amount to obtain the potion." He turned his back to them, and out the vial back into the drawer he had taken it out of. "Now, if there's nothing else I can help you with, perhaps you should be leaving."
Ilythara felt desperation come over her. There had to be some way she could get the potion, as well as whatever money she would need for the other items that the priestess would need to help her with the sacrifice. Perhaps there was something she could use to barter with the merchant or sell off to get the rest of the funds she would need.
"You wouldn't have need of a guard to escort your deliveries would you? I would be willing to barter my services in return for the final bill of sale of whatever we buy here."
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 3:25 pm
While none too surprised to hear Ilythara trying to get a lower price, Akorbaste's jaw nearly dropped at the merchant's insolent tone. A priestess could slight the warrior, but not an infinitely lowly male. No, the female was not a priestess like the drow he normally dealt with but she was still a female. He did not want to lose money, that she understood, especially since priestesses were not above taking what they want. She herself always paid in full, and knew most priestesses did as well, because the merchant's goods were simply in high demand. Akorbaste's temper raised at his tone nonetheless. The male had grown too confident in his sense of worth.
There never was a female who liked being told no. Technically Ilythara, not Akorbaste, had been denied the vial. But all was the same to Akorbaste when she was the one guiding this venture. The priestess interjected quickly, appalled to hear the warrior offer such menial services.
"No. You will not barter with this male. He would surely not see Lolth go unworshipped. He surely, I know, did not intend to turn his back on a priestess." Akorbaste kept her voice cold and fairly level, though irritation caught up with her and sped up her words. She slammed her dark fist on the tabletop. The delicate bottles rattled at the sudden shake. "I am glad you did not leave behind your axe, Ilythara, because that vial or his head will be in my hand."
Sufficiently cowed even by the threat he knew the priestess did not really want to have to see through, the merchant hastened to comply. "Priestess I did not mean to offend, I am trying to run a.. here please" He grabbed the vial from its drawer and sat it before her, "No cost of course, just please, if there is anything else, I.." It sounded like he was trying to stammer out some form of apology, though receiving the vial was enough for Akorbaste.
"I'd like another if you have it, just in case."
The merchant's lips pursed, unhappy but not at all surprised at the request. He forced a gentle subservient little smile as he located another vial for her.
Akorbaste passed the two small vials to Ilythara and returned through the door to the main room of the shop. Unpleasant hyperbole out of the way, the priestess eyed the rest of the goods. They would need to gather more incense first before they could be on their way.
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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 8:12 am
Ilythara hated to bargain, she usually only did it when there was nothing else for her to offer for the item she needed. She had at one time resorted in using her station in society to get what she wanted, but after years of living day to day without a family to back her up, she had resorted to bargaining or bartering her services. When the priestess reacted, Ilyth felt shame p***k her, as well as anger at herself for having resorted to bartering with the male.
When the priestess slammed her fist on the table, Ilyth's right hand went for her axe causing the male to gulp nervously. The reaction from the male, caused a evil smile to work its way onto Ilyth's face. Oh, she would definitely have to let this female's charms rub off on her. It had been good fortune for Ilyth when she had found the priestess. Akorbaste was helping her in more ways than one, and Ilyth wasn't about to forget it.
And then, when Akorbaste requested another vial, Ilyth couldn't help but let an amused chuckle escape from her lips. Ah...the utter boldness and total disregard for the merchant's station was quite satisfying to Ilyth. She suspected that by the time she and the priestess were done in the store, they would be leaving with all that they needed without having to pay a penny. Now this was the way to live!
"Merchant!" Ilyth barked, causing the small male to jump in fright at the loudness of her voice. "Come attend us, we have a few more items to find before we leave. Or we could leave you with one less appendage on your body."
The threat was enough to cause the male to pale significantly and then go to work gathering the items that they requested. Once they had collected the rest of their items, the two females headed for the door. Ilyth chose to meaningfully leave the small amount of coins in her pouch, knowing it would be better to leave some payment than to totally rip the merchant off. She really wasn't sure what Akorbaste thought about her decision, but was sure the priestess would let her know soon enough.
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 9:01 pm
They rounded the shop quickly, Akorbaste selecting incense and a few other goods and passing most of them off to Ilythara. Just before they left, Akorbaste thought her eyes might be failing her. But no, the other drow was quite plainly leaving her money on the counter despite everything else that had transpired. Following behind her, Akorbaste swept the coins up into her own cloak pocket before the merchant could make his way over.
Outside of the shop, breathing deep in the air that felt almost fresh after the close quarters of the incense-filled room, Akorbaste started to lead the way towards her own House. She didn't say anything immediately. Partly because she was fairly sure that nothing even needed to be said. It was obvious enough that Ilythara had some different sense of conduct. Frustrating. But Akorbaste also felt something she couldn't admit. On some level, like a smoldering fleck of guilt, the priestess thought she could understand why Ilythara would have left the payment. Females like herself demanded a lot, but made it ever harder for their will to be served because they could deny so much. Their society weaved such a peculiar web. She stopped short.
"I hope it is only the burden of living outside of Lolth's favor that has left you unsure of your standing." Akorbaste tossed one of the coins over, "Once we get to the Oussekt'ar House, do you think you can manage ordering a servant around?"
She had a plan forming. But somehow they would need the temple clear for their use and Qilna to be convinced to meet Akorbaste. Just in case her cousin was feeling particularly jumpy, Akorbaste didn't want her to see the strange warrior female at her side until it was quite too late.
"I was thinking a servant can lead you through their pathways near the temple. I'll have to go locate our friend." Where would Qilna be? Hopefully that wouldn't be too difficult to find out, else it would mean Qilna was off the House complex and their plans would have to wait a while longer.
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:03 pm
Ilythara was pretty confident that the priestess hadn't seen her leave the coins behind as they walked out of the shop without a word between them. So it came to a bit of a surprise when the priestess came to an abrupt stop and looked rather frustrated with her as she spoke.
Ilythara wanted to say "standing? What standing?" but kept silent as the priestess kept on talking. The point was rather moot anyways. It wasn't as if the priestess would even know what it was like to live from house to house with having nothing to her name. Let alone not knowing if it would be possible to get revenge on those who had failed in annihilating her house and somehow restore herself to any sort of standing.
She did understand the logic, and the assumptions that the priestess had made. Sure...so she was a female and despite the low standing she had with society, she was still top dog to any male she was around. Ilyth supposed that she could have been more assertive and not so generous with the merchant, but she was pretty much used to keeping any drow whether male or female in good standing with her. One never knew when they might have to depend on a good turn from that individual in the future. As it was, she had judged wrong with a few of them and they had betrayed her instead of returning the favor, but there had been the precious few that had shown mercy to her. It was these individuals that she had to thank for still being alive now.
"That shouldn't be a problem. Most servants are deathly afraid of me on sight." She replied rather dryly, eying the priestess.
Ilyth could see that Akorbaste had the wheels in her head spinning with an idea. She couldn't help but wonder what plan was formulating inside of the priestess' mind. She could imagine however, how wonderfully devious it would be.
"That sounds like it would work. What would you have me do while you locate this 'friend'?" Ilyth asked, as giddyness and glee started coming over her at the prospect of the sacrifice.
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Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:55 pm
((sorry for being super late!))
Perhaps it was unnecessary to make a comment about Ilythara's behavior, but Akorbaste couldn't resist when this female was about to take part in something so important. A priestess's mind could get fixated, but she had moved past the issue already. There was no time for them to get distracted now. Qilna could be careless, but it would be dangerous to underestimate her.
Akorbaste nodded, "Good. I will point you to a servant entrance, then you should be waiting at the temple by the time I find her. I will get her to meet me, but while I am gone you could try to make sure the temple stays empty. I'll take one vial, you keep the other." The priestess left the rest of the instructions unspoken, judging that the warrior would know to be prepared and ready a weapon with the poison. If both of them were ready, they should be well capable of handling Qilna before she could catch on. Or so the priestess assumed.
Looking at the female warrior, Akorbaste could not imagine her having difficulty keeping the area clear. Regardless, it wasn't uncommon for priestesses to restrict entrance to a chosen few when they had a ritual or other business to attend to. Hopefully Qilna would be easy to direct to the temple. There were plenty of reasons why she would obey the Matron's priestess daughter. Akorbaste had little worry about that part of the plan.
They continued walking. The streets were becoming clearer as they worked down into the residential area. Akorbaste rounded a corner and ahead of them now, a long stone wall stretched. Spider sculptures perched above a large gate further to the left and web carving and runes broke up the plain gray of the wall.
"That," the priestess pointed straight ahead, "is the outer wall of House Oussek'tar. Continue to your right and the second entrance will be a servant entrance."
Instead of heading off immediately on her own, Akorbaste waited with the other drow to make sure the plan sounded feasible to her as well.
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 8:29 pm
Ilythara let the priestess's words sink in for a moment before a slow smile spread on her face.
"That should work nicely. No one would really notice a guard who has orders from one of the priestess' of the House. Plus each of us having a vial will be a good thing to do, in case the this 'subject' manages to elude one of us. Sort of a backup plan. Nice thinking." She replied with admiration in her voice.
Ilythara liked working with individuals who had backup plans, and thought ahead. While most drow did do this, She had met plenty who were stupid enough to not think they'd underestimate their enemy. Though in their defense most of them had thought they were safe from her rage and axe.
Ilythara followed the priestess down the streets, glancing around occasionally at her surroundings. By the look of it, they were coming to the high society sector of the city. It didn't really surprise Ilythara too much, she had figured the other was part of a rather high House by the way she had practically waved Ilyth away at the beginning. Still it was nice to know that such a high standing priestess would think she would benefit from working with her. Perhaps these sacrifice rites were more satisfying than she had believed.
Ilyth stopped when she saw the stone wall stretching before them and almost lost her breath, staring at it as her emotions began to rise. The sculptures, carvings and runes all pretty much gave away that this was the House that Akorbaste had spoken of. It was also the place that Housed the individual responsible for having caused the downfall of her House. Ilythara kept her thoughts and emotions in check, it was not the time to delve on the past. It was the time to restore her favor with the Spider Queen.
Ilythara breathed heavily, her hands slightly shaking and turned to Akorbaste saying through gritted teeth.
"May the Spider Queen show us favor this day." Then, following the other's directions she disappeared from the priestess' sight.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 2:21 pm
Nice thinking? Akorbaste found the comment a curious one. Of course the thoughts of a priestess would be admirable to a warrior. She didn't feel a need to reply and the two reached their parting point swiftly. The priestess noticed some peculiar change come over the warrior before leaving. Her words were almost unintelligible. Ilythara was speaking as harshly as she was breathing. It had not been a vigorous walk, so nerves then? Hopefully this was her way of stomaching it. Akorbaste nodded tensely, turning off on her heel in the opposite direction.
Inside her House, Akorbaste took a deep breath. A feeling of clarity and strength boiled up in her. A drow in her position could be nothing without confidence and purpose. After several yards, the hallway off the side entrance which she had used parted in three paths. Akorbaste took the far left route, heading downwards into the House. A slight bend in her descent and suddenly two guards stood to greet her. They always hid along this hallway for a reason- it led straight into the quarters of the Matron's family. Other checkpoints, magical and otherwise, were passed before the priestess ultimately reached her room.
Inside, Akorbaste moved without hesitation as if she had indeed stopped by her quarters to douse a dagger with poison a hundred times before. The weapon selected was a light throwing dagger. It was exquisite, glistening with the slow drying poison under the soft enchanted lights.
Akorbaste tucked away the dagger in her cloak and headed immediately out again to find Qilna, this time taking the hallway towards the main foyer. Now where would she meet Qilna?
Before Akorbaste could make up her mind, she caught sight of a recognizable young priestess. The one whom she had spied sparring with Qilna. Hounril?Hopefully. She closed the distance enough to call out and wave, "Hounril?"
The young priestess turned. "Lady Akorbaste!" She bent her head briefly.
Akorbaste smiled cooly. "Yes, I need to find my cousin. I think you know Qilna?"
"I do. We are supposed to keep sparring daily now. But Qilna just came back from some errand earlier and was worn out, she said she would be in the baths."
Akorbaste could not resist the bait. "And how is the sparring going?"
Hounril's eyes betrayed the laughter she did not let go out loud, "It is going well, your cousin is a very.. adequate challenge."
Akorbaste grinned and moved along, "Thank you for your first answer, though I have a feeling your second answer was not as truthful."
The baths. Fitting. Having grown up with Qilna, Akorbaste knew the wretch most enjoyed pampering or eating. But how was she going to get her out of the baths? Ilythara could not wait as long as that ritual might take Qilna. Akorbaste hurried towards the more private House bathing chambers, unsure what her next move would be.
The Goddess Lolth. Akorbaste's dark heart fairly spun with joy at the sight of her prey turning out of the hallway up ahead and walking off in the opposite direction. The drow's mess of curly pale hair was tied back loosely in an unusual way, but that glimpse of her round face and odd blue eyes was unmistakable. It was Qilna. She must have just left the baths. There was no question in Akorbaste's mind that this delicate timing was a favorable sign. Knowing where Qilna's quarters were, Akorbaste ducked quickly out of sight down another hallway. She would intercept her cousin at her room.
A calm feeling rose from the pit of her stomach although she was rushing. No time to be out of breath. No time to be distracted. This meeting demanded a fine piece of acting.
She waited around a small sculptural alcove, peeking out enough for a view down the hall. There came Qilna.
Moving swiftly and without a single word, Akorbaste jumped across the hall and shoved her hand on the door to block her cousin.
Qilna was alarmed, "Akorbaste! What are you doing?" She was barely even dressed, so softly covered in red robes and carrying several wraps to soothe aching muscles.
When Akorbaste answered, her voice was uncharacteristically desperate and quick.
"You've been asking before about a person whom I told you at the time was none of your business.." Akorbaste hoped that Qilna would recognize the hint about Malune. The way Qilna's eyes lit up told her that she did recall, and eagerly too. "Well something new has come up and I think I could use some help. If you aren't willing you need to tell me now. I found another.. individual in the House who shares our concern. There is no going back once we three meet. You will be in this to the end."
Akorbaste waited, not feeling a blink nor a breath until Qilna spoke.
"Of course, I am not as weak as you think Akorbaste. I will see this through for the sake of the House. I just knew I was right about.. her. You should have believed me."
"Shhh." Akorbaste grabbed her arm, the bare skin still warm and velvety from the pampering at the baths, "I am glad to hear it, but we need to go. We can't wait too long."
Qilna's face was almost sickening to watch. The female was a few looks away from being giddy over the rush of secrecy and deviousness. Akorbaste ignored her, keeping up the ruse of looking about to see who was watching them.
This time Qilna lowered her voice to a whisper, "But I need to dress.."
"Your robes will do you, don't worry. We only need to go to the underground passage to the temple. No one else, Lolth preserve us, will see nor hear what we do there." She paused with a pained look of worry, "Qilna.."
"Don't. I know what I am doing, Akorbaste. I am not afraid. I am the one who figured this out afterall."
Let the glory all be hers. Akorbaste played tirelessly to Qilna's ego. The weaker female's need for attention was ripe for exploiting. Now the task at hand would be to keep one careful step ahead of Qilna's questions.
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 5:11 pm
Ilythara followed the priestess' directions, striding purposely into the servant's entrance in the side gate of the wall, keeping to the right. She wasn't too surprised that her entrance caused a slight commotion among the servants who stopped their work momentarily to stare up at her with horror in their features. She ignored them, continuing on until she found the second entrance of the building and walked in.
Inside she found several guards lazily standing around chatting with each other in an attempt to pass the time. She stilled her features into a scowl and approached them. When they ignored her and kept chatting, Ilythara felt a very pissed off feeling wash over her. If they were the guards of the temple they were bad ones. She cleared her throat, causing the two guards to jump in surprise; brandishing their staffs at her.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The heftier one demanded, his adam's apple bobbing around as he spoke.
"I am here to relieve the both of you from your duties. The Priestess Akorbaste has requested that all males be vacant from the premises as she will be working on a ritual for the great goddess Lloth. For the ritual she is performing all males must be restricted from the area; please inform any other guards of this as well." Ilythara replied, shifting her weight to her left foot, and leaning on her axe in a relaxed pose.
"Ah, of course. Shall we send some of female guards to aid you?" The other guard asked, casting a calculating glance at her.
"If the Priestess Akorbaste requires more guards she will ask for them. It would be better to allow her to decide such matters herself instead of assuming anything for her." Ilythara replied, cursing inside for not thinking that they would ask such a thing.
Her response must have sounded logical enough to them, for neither of the guards argued with that. They vacated the area without any other words, actually seeming relieved that they were not required anymore. Ilythara couldn't help but shake her head at them. Any good guard would have asked more questions and not give up their posts so easily. She would have to point this out to Akorbaste later on. Something would need to be done about the laxness of the guards.
Once the guards were gone, she opened the door to peer inside. The multitude of candles flickered slightly and then readjusted as the shift in air settled down. She stepped slightly inside of the temple to get a better view. Thankfully there was no one inside and no signs of anyone preparing for any rituals. All the better for their planned sacrifice. Ilythara grinned, and closed the door slowly and took up an imposing stance in front of the door. Though her face appeared set and calm her insides were raging with both anxiety and anger.
Though she felt like letting out her anger in a loud shriek, she held it inside not wanting to jinx their chance at a good outcome. In time, once it was all over, she would be able to let her anger come to fruitation and strike back at the individual responsible for her entire family and House from being expunged. Time. At it would take was time and patience. She would soon have plenty of both so there was no reason to feel like rushing anything. Soon, very soon she would get her revenge and the drow responsible would wish they had never been involved in destroying the House of Chan'drasen.
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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 6:57 pm
They reached the end of the long tunnel to the Temple without incident. Qilna had stayed silent the whole time, which was something Akorbaste did not quite know what to make of. She didn't provoke her cousin either. Reaching the door, she turned to her cousin once more. Qilna simply nodded.
Turning the knob slowly, Akorbaste was hoping for the Goddess's favor that Ilythara would be ready. Ready and alone. Inside the door, the pair took a small set of steps up into the enclosed courtyard behind the temple.
The temple was always dim and somewhat smoky inside. Her eyes were well adjusted and she couldn't see nor hear anyone else in the building. Akorbaste motioned for Qilna to step inside while she turned to place a protective locking spell on the door. Akorbaste pressed her house insignia to the middle of the door, mouthing a few words under her breath quickly. The insignia glowed a pale yellow. The quick lock would be good enough, and would probably make Qilna feel secure.
Unfortunately, Qilna was starting to look anxious. Akorbaste pointed forward to the main temple and whispered, "Go ahead, I'll check these sides rooms to make sure we are alone."
Her cousin nodded, but the way her eyes looked made Akorbaste fear she was getting too nervous. Suspicious? Her brows were furrowed and her eyes said her mind was spinning. Better to act now.
Qilna turned away from her, starting towards the main room cautiously.
Akorbaste took the opportunity to grab the dagger from inside her cloak and lung at Qilna, aiming to plunge the blade into her cousin's lower back and tackle her.
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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 7:22 pm
Ilythara had been standing guard of the entrance of the temple at her end for about ten minutes when she heard noise come from the inside. She tensed slightly, fervently looked around her to make sure no one else was around and then quietly opened the door behind her and slide inside silently.
She closed the door behind her, and turned around to see what had caused the commotion.
She immediately found something to bar the door behind herself, and then flung herself across the room to aid Akorbaste. The other female was attempting to crawl away and had opened her mouth to scream when Ilyth's large hand clamped down over the offending mouth. The smaller woman bit into Ilyth's hand, Ilyth ignored it as best as she could and wrangled the female around so Ilyth was sitting on top of her to prevent her from moving.
"Sorry..I didn't mean to keep you waiting, priestess." She said in a low tone, biting back the pain that was pulsing through her throbbing hand
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Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 5:26 pm
Qilna hit the floor underneath of Akorbaste, the dagger deep in her back. She groaned in shock and Akorbaste pushed herself up, twisting the dagger crudely before pulling it out. Qilna had started crawling forward haphazardly, the poison surely addling her mind and slowly working its way through her system. Before anything more could happen, Ilythara rushed in.
Akorbaste stepped out of her way as the warrior swiftly restrained the smaller drow. Akorbaste answered her apology gracefully, "On the contrary, I think you were quite on time Ilythara!"
The priestess remembered the merchant's warning that the poison could take a few minutes to fully immobilize the victim. But with Ilythara sitting on top of her, that wouldn't be a problem. Akorbaste judged that if Qilna hadn't yet been able to manage any magic, she wouldn't at this point. The surprise and pain must have provided enough delay for the poison to slow her functions down considerably.
"Can you hold her there, just for another minute or two? I want to place locks on the other doors." As she was speaking, Akorbaste was already darting off to the main door.
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 5:07 pm
Ilythara nodded when Akorbaste brushed aside her apology, and glanced down at the slightly moving body beneath her. The small female was glaring daggers up at her as her movements started slowing from the affects of the poison rushing through her body. Ilyth grinned a toothy smile down at the female, her eyes twinkling with malice.
"I don't believe that this one could get away from me even if she wished to." Ilythara responded at the already moving back of Akorbaste.
The warrior suddenly felt a tingle run through her, a rather odd one. It wasn't of elation or excitement..it almost felt as though someone had tried to unleash a spell on her. She frowned and glanced down at the female beneath her. The small drow was making odd motions with her left hand, and Ilyth felt a slight breath on her hand. The warrior's pulse rate rose, and she slammed her hand into the other's face. The small female crumpled, her eyes going wide with pain and gasping from the shock of the blow.
"Nice try, but it's not going to work!" Ilythara glowered contemptuously. "I happen to be impervious to magical attacks."
This bit of information caused the small female to stare at her in shock. Ilyth grinned back at her, flashing her white teeth once more. She leaned in slightly and whispered into the female's closest ear.
"There's no way you will escape here alive, and you know it. You will die and I will finally be rid of this madness once and for all!"
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Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 12:42 pm
Akorbaste spent extra time on the main doors, glancing back once or twice at Ilythara and Qilna. She smirked at the site of Ilythara's heavy blow on Qilna's face. This was going to rewarding. Very much so.
Doors protected, the priestess came back to stand over her cousin. "I think she's stopped moving, hasn't she?"
It had been several minutes. Lolth help the merchant if he had been wrong. She looked more carefully. The extreme stillness that washed over Qilna's face was alarming. Akorbaste's stomach flipped. As long as the other priestess remained alive.. It would be disappointing if the dosage had been incorrect.
Akorbaste spoke coldly. Her mind was treading on a different plane now. "Praise Lolth. We have many things to prepare. When you are ready, bring her to the inner chamber."
The priestess retreated to the temple's inner chamber to fill their incense and offering burners. The eight large braziers were beautifully crafted and shaped like spiders. They framed a large area that surrounded the black altar with its one special brazier on the wall. This last burner was representative of Lolth herself. The flames of Lolth would enact their judgement upon the ceremony, flaring to burn the sacrifice if she had been pleased.
Save for the magic fires induced in the braziers, the inner chamber was exceptionally dark. Soon, the smokiness of incense and oil would fill the drow's senses. A multitude of incense could be overwhelming when filling a shop. Here, with it properly in use, the incense served to heighten the mood and lift the mind. It truly helped take hold of the participants and focus them purely on their Goddess and the sacrifice at hand.
Braziers lit, Akorbaste selected several blades and other items and brought them forward, kneeling to place them on the low stone ledge beneath the altar. The fire above on the altar's brazier flashed with a sign of Lolth's favoring presence as the priestess initiated the ritual.
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