Welcome to Gaia! ::

***

By the end of the cycle, Alyune was unpacked. The few possessions she allowed herself to carry with her were carefully hidden in her room. A stash of valuable gnome-cut jewels were hidden in a cubby under her bed. Her small, enchanted spider familiar rested beside her wrist, balled up, looking much like a carved pebble. No one in her house knew about the little spider. She had gotten it after she left the city for her travels.

Luck had been the factor in finding it. Her small traveling party became lost when a gnome excavating group had detonated their path, and they were forced to find away around it.

After a week or so, they came upon the long-dead bodies of another drow group, probably merchants like themselves. All that was left was bone and clothing, both burnt and melted from what undoubtedly had been an acid spell.

They took it upon themselves to loot the remains, a decision that held very few results. Obviously they had been looted before.

One thing that Alyune herself found, had been a tiny decorative stone in a neck pouch. Not thinking much of it, she grabbed the stone up and dropped it in her own. She would hardly think of the stone unless she needed to dig through her poucvh, and then she always considered tossing it out.

One day, she made the decision to place a glass vial in her pouch, and it became crushed. She dumped out the contents to try to pick the glass out, when it cut her finger. A drop of blood hit the tiny stone, and to her great surprise, it animated into a tiny spider, the carved legs pulling themselves from it's body, and scrambling around.

It bit her finger, and a wave of vague feelings flooded through her mind. It was a little familiar, activated by a drop of the holder's blood. It would spy for her. It then popped back into a stone, and Alyune pocketed it. She called it Driy, and ever since then it has proven invaluable.

Beside Driy sat a needle in a little leather sleeve. Alyune had taken to carrying it around with her at all times. Driy had just returned from the throne room that Alaunlara had been staying in for the second time today. The first time he returned, all he had to relate when he bit her finger was a vague feeling that Alaunlara was shut up in her throne room.

Alyune was irritated by this, because she figured she was being watched, but had no way to be sure if she was or not. And if she was, she did not have a way to ward against it. She had sent the spider back to let her know when Alaunlara was away. Driy had just returned to let her know this. Alyune was not afraid of her sister discovering her little spy. She had learned that she could relay basic information to the spider as silently as he could report it. She just had to focus when the pricked her finger.
She was not worried about Driy being spotted either. He was very small, afterall.


Now that she knew for sure she could not be watched, Alyune had taken out a candle stub, and a book she had bought (by great personal cost) and began to slowly decode the unfamiliar surface hand.

It was a book of surface spells, and Alyune was determined to learn back some magic. Thus far, she had learned a few spells, such as flare, which was the first spell she learned. She had thought it said flier, and that it would make something fly, but instead it created a bright light that had knocked her unconscious from shock.

The other spells she had mastered were a low level spell to animate a rope into wiggling, and a sleeping spell, which had proven itself the only useful one, for she had used it on herself multiple times when she could not sleep on her own.

She had been trying today to decode a passage on casting a magical aura, to make sure that Alaunlara could not spy on her, but the spell she seemed to be looking at seemed only to protect against "rain", whatever that was.


***

Divroos stared loathingly at the bug-bear shaped rock. He hated this errand and would much rather be back home pretending to work on some project or another. But, he knew his sister trusted him, which was an incredible gift for a male. He just hoped that that would carry on into her matron-hood, and he would not be sacrificed first thing.
Not for the first time, Divroos wondered if Lloth had any rewards for loyal males, and again, not for the first time, he reminded himself that Lloth did not give a damn about males.

If anything, Alyune should give him a day off for this errand. He had sat out here in the open for several hours already, and was tired of it. Ultimately, he decided that the next living thing that came his way he was going to take back, be it a lizard, an orc, or....

This thought was cut off as finally, a figure stepped quietly from behind a stalagmite.

For several moments, Divroos was speechless. The only thing that moved was his brows, slowly furrowing into a look of deep contemplation.
"My 'Matron' has not yet ascended." he decided to start with. "My house is weak with the ascension of her sister, and she plans to remedy that..I can't see how you would be a burden. Come on then."
He turned as if to leave, but then quickly spun back. "Just how quietly do you think you can move?"

Divroos walked with his lizard steed for several miles, circumventing the main parts of the city and giving it a wide berth. He followed the trail his sister had told him to go, a small and long natural cavern that ended about 3 miles away from his house, used as a trading route for his house and the two nearest.
It was fortified somewhat, usually by a group of four individuals, of alternating sets from the three nearest houses.

If any trouble came, one would stay, and the other three would go to each house in turn to set up an alarm. This was a diplomatic pact, the assurance of which lay within the reliance on the other houses. Betrayal was only warded against by the promise of mutual betrayal in response, and the usefulness of a safe trading route. A chaotic arrangement at best, but an interesting one none-the less.

This cycle was guarded by House D'Alevall. They barely blinked when they saw the passing drider. They did not even dare to question it- if there was one thing the lower castes knew, it was never to raise questions that might result in unpleasant responses, for they usually take a long time to heal.

Divroos imagined the giant hairy legs behind him silently clicking the floor. He tried to imagine he could hear them, but he could not. He wondered if the drider was a good idea. He had been quick to lead this one to his house, and quick to put his fickle faith in it's words. Perhaps it had been his own slated excitement over seeing a real drider for the first time, how magnificent! No carving or painting or cloth rendering could ever compare to the might and raw power exuding from the fantastic form of the creature now padding softly only meters away. His skin tingled just thinking about all the strength that must be contained in that body. He was no priestess, but he could even swear that he felt a divine twinge radiating from this oft-cursed beast, as if the Goddess herself were willing the action on.

Could it be trusted? Let the female decide. Divroos was tired, and at worst he would be sent back again- but not for at least two cycles until the watch changed... (Best to at least make a small effort at secrecy here) And afterall, the Drider was a curiosity. One that he would like very much to study for a new carving.

Divroos waited a few seconds before responding. Again, he felt that he should not respond so readily to questions of a stranger, but something pressed him on.
"You needen't worry yourself over current the matron." he said, putting emphasis on the word "current" "She has always been soft handed when it comes to whippings. Even if she were as whip-happy as her sister, it will be understood that you will be under Alyune's protection." After a few moments of silence, he went on, growing confident in the padding creature behind him.
"You are wondering the intent behind such an odd....meeting. Our former matron, my mother was a strong willed character, until she became ill. Her eldest daughter prematurely set to take the throne, but met resistance. Both ended up dead, putting Alaunlara in the position of Matron. Alaunlara is pious, but lacks drive and a heavy hand when it comes to punishments. Plus, she is sterile.
"It is only natural, you see that the youngest sister take the throne. Both sisters know it and accept that. But killing Alaunlara now would leave the house vulnerable, with only two nobles left and one a male.
"Alyune wants to wait and strengthen the house before she takes lead. She wants more nobles, children. More soldiers, better trained ones, and loyal troops.
"The idea of bringing a rogue in is to keep him completely loyal. You have no family, you are of noble blood, and thus are perfect, if you can....er...well. You can discuss that with the Matron-to-be.
"She is trusting in the fact that you have no previous alliances and no family to fall back on. You will be hers, hidden under the guise of a new weapons master. Lloth knows we need one."

"This long?" Divroos scoffed. "Barely a month. You will find that house D'Alevall is one of actions, not piddling with plans while we let the cavern fall in on our heads.

"And as for our soldiers, you have no need to worry. We have 400 last time I checked, plus slaves. Not precisely a massive force, but not a pitiful one either. And our coffers you will find are full as any in this entire city, prehaps even as full as the first house. Everyone knows that. Commissions pay well."

Divroos smiled as he saw his house finally looming. It was time to surprise his sister.

**

Meanwhile, Alyune D'Alevall contemplated her mortality, and her newly singed eyebrows.

She had heard many stories of the stupidity of human wizards, but now thought that perhaps it was the fault of the spell-book writers. What she had thought to be a small and contained flame spell quickly escalated into a mini-fireball...luck however was on her side, for the spell had required more intention, and her accidental, but never-the-less correctly pronounced mumbling of the key words had not been sufficient to create a fully-fledged fireball.
After putting out the minor fire, and inspecting the precious surface tome for burns (apparently some wise spell-caster had warded it against flames, as there was no damage) she fell to her miniature shrine to Lloth and prayed. Did the goddess not intend for her to know any magics as she once knew?

Her clerical spells were still, as always formidable and her status as a high priestess had never come into question. That is one thing that her sister and she had on common...Lloth flowed thru them as if they had been suckled by her venomous teats. They were both careful of their actions and strong in their prayers and convictions to the Goddess, and both were repayed with formidable Lloth-given powers. But both were handicapped still. Alaunlara and her inability towards producing children, and Alyune....unable to pull spells and incantations from her body like her formal self. A sorceress, no more! Prehaps all these things were Lloth's will, Her great and deliciously chaotic design.

Alyune took heart in that.


****

Divroos and his ward entered a lesser known gate only accessible to nobles. The room inside the gate was empty greeting room. Divroos summoned a commoner to alert Alyune of their arrival.