Meanwhile, Firiona and Lina had expressed a desire to shop for exotic and unusual art objects. Arnold suggested a visit to the Ghetto of Artisans. "Isn’t that area off-limited to outsiders?" asked Firiona. "Yes, but so what?" Arnold replied. "I have contacts. No problem."
And indeed it was no problem. At the gateway to the Ghetto of Artisans, Arnold spoke briefly to the gatekeeper, slipped him a few coins, and proceeded on his way, with the two women behind him. "House Godeep runs this part of the Vault. I’m on good terms with the gatekeeper–permission granted!" Arnold boasted. The women began shopping, but soon Arnold let them know that he would be visiting a poison dealer. Firiona and Lina went with him, and soon they entered a particularly unsavory establishment called Blood Fire.
Inside, a male drow eyed the trio suspiciously. "Yes?" he asked, not at all in a friendly manner.
"I’m looking for something I’m told you might have on hand," Arnold began. "Dessicator poison. Effective against drow."
Firiona and Lina looked at each other in astonishment. The proprietor, hearing Arnold’s request, instantly became hostile. "You presume to try to kill one of us, outlander?!" the drow exclaimed. Motioning to another, previously unnoticed drow who had suddenly appeared behind the three, the proprietor shrieked, "Seize him!"
But a mere drow craftsman, poisoner’s assistant or not, was no match for Arnold. The impudent halfling easily killed the assistant, leaving the unfortunate drow scarcely enough time to register surprise at his fate. Firiona quickly cast snake’s swiftness on Arnold, and the halfling then turned his attention to the owner, killing him as quickly as he had dispatched his assistant.
Having killed the owner, Arnold proceeded to the back room of the establishment, where he found poison-making equipment, benches, chairs, inventory, and . . . and open door! Outside, a large crowd of drow were milling about in the alley behind the establishment. At least ten of them were looking directly at the door, and saw Arnold emerging. Others were being barged out of the way as a second assistant to the now-deceased poisoner attempted to escape!
Arnold ran out of Blood Fire, shouting "Fire!" He followed in the wake of the fleeing assistant. Quickly, he put on his ring of invisibility and vanished from sight.
Firiona and Lina, having been abandoned by Arnold, moved the two bodies into the back room. Firiona then cast an acid-admixed fireball to simulate an alchemical explosion! The two women then shapechanged to drow form, took the Godeep medallions from the bodies, put their visitor cloaks into Firiona’s bag of holding, and fled out the front door.
Outside, another crowd had assembled. Firiona quickly ordered several male drow by-standers to put out the fire! "An outlander fled through the back door! Find him!" she demanded, another male drow quickly running toward the back of the establishment to begin the pursuit. At that, Firiona and Lina both left the vicinity and proceeded back toward the Far Night Inn, on the way finding a secluded spot to shapechange back to their previous forms.
While Firiona and Lina were making their exodus from the Ghetto of Artisans, Arnold, still invisible, maintained his pursuit of the fleeing second assistant. He pulled out a scroll of improved invisibility and cast it on himself, ensuring any attacks he made would not cause him to suddenly appear and be seen by angry drow. The assistant, still in flight, reached the Noble Gate, where the guards ordered him to stop. Just as he was about to explain himself, Arnold reached him, backstabbed him, and, using his cloak of the mountebank, seized the corpse and fled! Once out of view of the guards, he found a manhole cover, ducked into the sewer beneath, chopped up the body with his brilliant energy sword, then moved on down the sewer to an adjacent cover. He cleaned himself as much as he could and emerged, luckily in an area with no pedestrian traffic. Quietly as possible, he proceeded to head back to the Ghetto of Foreigners.
Back at the Black Widow Inn, the doorward told Arnold, "You think we’re letting you in here like that?" So Arnold went around to the back of the inn, went invisible again, and climbed the wall up to Firiona’s and Lina’s room. He continued trying to clean himself up, but befouled the atmosphere in the process. This did not please the two women, who were approaching their room and detected the change in environment. Arnold called out to them as they entered. Their mood did not improve.
Miae and Green Arrow, meanwhile, having taken their leave of Senja, proceeded to the Street of Lies so that Miae could visit the temple of Olidammara and make the acquaintance of the clergy stationed there. At the street’s entrance was a large shrine to Lolth, along with several clerics of the spider goddess. Miae deposited a few gold pieces at the shrine, earning the approval of the clerics, who then directed her to the temple she sought. The Street of Lies was the only site in Erelhei-Cinlu where worship of foreign gods was allowed. Temples to various evil gods such as Vecna, Nerull and Erythnul were here, as well as a large edifice dedicated to Boccob, and toward the far end of the street, the local temple of the Laughing God. Here, worshippers of Olidammara and their friends could receive healing as needed, and exchange information concerning their various illegal and hedonistic pursuits. Entering the temple, Miae introduced herself and Green Arrow, and explained that she was seeking to indulge in various pleasures that were not readily available on the surface . . . .
Later on that day, after Arnold made up for his use of the women’s quarters by restoring it to its previous condition of cleanliness, the three adventurers set out for the Ghetto of Scholars. Firiona and Lina desired to visit some magic shops and scholarly establishments. "You should try the Ebon Libram," advised Arnold. "You could probably get a membership there. You can learn some useful things there." Firiona thought this was a good idea. "Of course, the place you really want to get into is the Spire of the Encyclic, which isn’t far from the Libram. That’s where most everything can be learned, for a price. Most of it, shall we say, unsavory at best," Arnold noted.
So the women went to the Ebon Libram, where, after various negotiations and explanations, they both obtained senior memberships (at a thousand gold pieces each!), which entitled them to full access to the resources of the Libram. They also obtained recommendations on magic shops that catered to Libram members.
Their presence at the Ebon Libram, however, did not go unobserved. Nor, after a few weeks, did their newly-granted access to the Spire of the Encyclic.
Meanwhile, Miae and Green Arrow had finished visiting the Temple of Olidammara and were on their way back to the Far Night when they heard a voice calling to them from an alley. Miae decided to investigate. The voice belonged to a male drow, of very seedy appearance.
The drow whispered, "Outlanders, how would you like to experience the wonders of . . . devilweed?" Green Arrow began to say "No!", but Miae interrupted him. "Mmmm, devilweed! I’ll take a blunt or two," she answered the drow. They completed the transaction, at which point the drow, glancing around nervously, slunk away, leaving the two adventurers to themselves in the alley.
They left the alley and proceeded on their way to the inn. After a few minutes, Miae looked around warily. That’s when she spotted the drow patrol following them.
At the next street intersection, another patrol appeared.
Uh-ohh, thought Miae. "Halt immediately," said the leader of the nearer patrol, who accosted the two. "You have just purchased stolen goods, outlander. Hand over your weapons and follow us, now!" he said, menacingly.
Green Arrow declined to accompany them, and Miae thought it best to follow his lead. Of course, the drow patrols took exception to this defiance. However, after a brief but bloody scuffle, all but one of the drow lay dead. The last patrolman, however, fled the scene.
This seemed like a good time to turn invisible, and so Green Arrow and Miae did so. Green Arrow then flew off, carrying Miae, and made it back to the Far Night without further encounters. Soon thereafter, Arnold met them again.
Not content to lay low, next day Arnold suggested a visit to the Ghetto of Chattels, where a local slave market was having a particularly choice auction. "Shouldn’t we wait a bit?" asked Miae. "If I recall, at least one of those drow on patrol ran off yesterday. He may have reported us." But Arnold insisted. "They’ll just think it was another fight. Plenty of patrols in the city. A few here and there won’t be missed."
Miae found this response odd, but decided to go along with Arnold. After all, he had been here for quite a while and presumable knew what he was talking about.
At the slave market, the three adventurers spotted an auction going on in a covered portico. Several humans, young women and men, were going on the block. They seemed to be newly captured. They also seemed to constitute a private showing for a party of kuo-toans! A distinguished-looking whip priestess with several monitors and bugbear bodyguards, at that. After nodding at one of the female slaves, the whip noticed that Miae, Green Arrow and Arnold had entered the portico. She nodded to a drow next to her and pointed. At Miae! Immediately three monitors and two bugbears rushed toward Miae, attempting to seize her for their mistress.
A fierce battle ensued. Arnold quickly dispatched one of the monitors with a back-stab. Green Arrow loosed a hail of arrows at the other monitors and the bugbears, bringing down one of each and wounding the others, as well as the whip herself. The remaining monitor’s unarmed strike at Arnold missed badly. The remaining bugbear, however, pointed his clawed finger at Arnold and cast a ray of enfeeblement at the halfling. Arnold felt his strength rapidly leave his body!
Quickly, Arnold turned invisible, then ran to Miae and asked her to restore his strength. The remaining monitor and bugbear proved to be no match for Green Arrow’s next volley and quickly fell.
The kuo-toan whip eyed the adventurers warily and began to gesture her surrender. But before she could do so, a party of drow slavers entered the portico and quickly hustled the whip out of the area, leaving the adventurers, the dead and the unsold slaves alike. "Well, we’ve done it again," remarked Miae. "So much for not attracting notice. We’re going to regret this," she sighed. Green Arrow suggested clearing out before another patrol came along, which advice the others readily agreed with. Back to the Far Night they all headed with all speed.
This time, however, the party decided to stay in their quarters and not get into any more unfriendly encounters. In the common room, Arnold learned from some newly-arrived adventurers of an area of "utter dark", which sounded intriguing. Firiona and Lina, meanwhile, continued their studies at the Ebon Libram.
It was two days later, at what would have been evening on the surface, when the proprietor of the Far Night entered the common room, spotted Arnold, and closed in on him. "You are wanted outside," he said to Arnold quietly, then added emphatically, "by important personalities whom I don’t want to irritate. You’d better go now."
Green Arrow got up to leave at this suggestion, but Arnold and Miae both turned invisible before doing likewise. Outside, a curtained litter was standing upon four bearers. More threateningly, ten heavily armed drow guards and one priestess of Lolth accompanied the litter. The priestess ordered Arnold to reveal himself, his invisibility failing to conceal him from her gaze.
Arnold promptly dropped his trousers. This did not amuse the drow, who promptly drew their weapons. The priestess repeated her command, and Arnold reluctantly became visible. When he was revealed, the priestess pulled a cord on the litter, and the curtains drew back, pulled from within. A very important-looking female drow emerged.
"You," she hissed at Arnold, "are the one. You will come with us. Now!" Arnold quickly recognized the drow as an "important personality," to say the least: Mistress Siadef, the head of House Godeep. The very house who controlled the Ghetto of Artisans.
"I, I, I was put up to it," Arnold began, trying to bluff his way out of the situation before it took a fatal turn. "Aleval. It was just a job," he stammered. But the bluff failed.
Siadef’s guards attempted to seize Arnold without further ado. Arnold, however, chose to resist, and the fight was on. The priestess of Lolth, however, was even faster than Arnold. The halfling felt energy draining out of his body, accompanied by severe pain. He quickly flew up to the rooftop of the Far Night, trying to escape. Green Arrow, trying to defend Arnold, tried his own bluff, threatening the encroaching drow with an arrow of death. The guards, however, were not deterred, and arrow after arrow flew from their bows, striking all three of the adventurers.
Seeing Arnold flee without them, Miae whispered to Green Arrow, "We can’t fight the whole city." Green Arrow agreed: better to go with the drow and try to find some way out of their predicament.
And so, they yielded to the insistent drow of House Godeep. They were bound and led off, toward a large and imposing structure. Miae recognized it at once: they were heading for the palace of Amalriv, the "tax baron" of the Ghetto of Foreigners, one of the most powerful permanent residents of the city, its most influential non-noble, and effectively the "mayor" of the city.
Apparently Amalriv had assumed even more responsibilities of late, for the two adventurers were taken into the palace and sent down several levels to a miserable dungeon, where they were rudely thrown in. After first being relieved of all of their weapons, money and magic items.
Several hours later, guards came for the two, and they were dragged back up out of the dungeon and into an upper level, to a large room that appeared to be some kind of courtroom. Sitting in judgment was none other than Amalriv himself! Miae and Green Arrow stood, restrained by the guards, while a bailiff read out the charges against them: taking up arms against a matron mother, attacking drow patrols, refusing lawful orders, failing to show submission to the drow, and disrespecting Lolth. "How do you plea?" demanded Amalriv. Green Arrow promptly replied, "Not guilty, your honor!" Miae likewise protested her innocence. Amalriv promptly announced, "Let it be recorded that pleas of guilty to all charges have been entered! The court hereby sentences the two outlanders to death by sacrifice to the Queen of Spiders, sentence to be carried out within twelve hours! Guards, take them away!" And with that, Miae and Green Arrow were again dragged down to their cell in the dungeon.
"Thanks, Arnold," muttered Green Arrow.
A few hours later the cell door opened again. "Come with us!" they demanded. Miae and Green Arrow complied, having no other alternative. The guards took the two adventurers up to the third level of the palace, to a bare room, then left, locking the door behind them. Shortly thereafter, the door was unlocked again. But this time, it wasn’t the guards who entered, but four male drow, all well-armed and even better-dressed. "Follow us," they ordered, and led the two out of the palace and into a waiting carriage. They were then blindfolded, and the carriage proceeded to an unknown location. Soon they arrived, and the adventurers were led out of the carriage and into what proved, upon un-blindfolding, to be a plush room in a large and luxurious drow mansion. Once inside, their escorts were dismissed, and another guard ordered Miae and Green Arrow to their knees. "Bow, outlanders!" the guard barked. As they did so, the two noticed a doorway in the room, hung with beads which stirred as another figure entered the room.
"I would wager that you expected anything but this," said a silky but poisonous voice. The two looked up to see who had spoken. Miae immediately replied, "Mistress, you would win that bet, without doubt."
Eclavdra, Matron Mother of House Eilservs, spoke again, as poisonously as before. "Your companion has evaded us somehow, but he served his purpose."
Green Arrow found his voice at last. "How may we serve you, Mistress?"
Eclavdra continued as if Green Arrow had not said a word. "He was becoming a bit too inquisitive, a little too nosy," she said, "and a little too friendly with the Rakes. So he provided me with an opportunity to give Godeep something new to worry about," she purred venomously. Then, turning to Miae, she continued. "As for you, your abilities have been observed. For mere outlanders, you have some skill. So, I have arranged for you to be released from Amalriv’s domain. Provided, that is," she added, "that you perform some small services in exchange for your release."
Immediately, Green Arrow exclaimed, "I agree!" In response to which Eclavdra observed, "I do not require your agreement. Do not mistake this meeting for a conversation."
Miae recognized the significance of Eclavdra’s words. "Of course, Mistress. My companion, being a mere male, is somewhat slow. What is your wish?" The Mistress of House Eilservs then informed the adventurers of certain rare and costly items, not readily available in Erelhei-Cinlu, that she wished the two to obtain for her. Miae replied that such items were known to her, and could easily be obtained given sufficient time. "Be sure you do not take too much time," Eclavdra answered. She then clapped her hands, and a second guard entered the room, carrying a chest. She nodded at the guard, who dropped the chest in front of Miae, bowed and left again.
Inside the chest, Miae and Green Arrow found the possessions that had been taken from them in Amalriv’s palace. Most of them, that is. Certain choice items were mysteriously still missing. "Go now," ordered Eclavdra. "My guards will escort you to the Black Gate." And so they did. Once there, one of the guards sneered, "Hurry back!"
While Miae and Green Arrow were beginning their service to Eclavdra, Firional and Lina continued their studies at the Ebon Libram. They made good progress, learning numerous spells not well-known on the surface. After several weeks, however, they decided to move on to the source of all dark knowledge in Erelhei-Cinlu: the Spire of the Encyclic. There, they hoped to hire a tutor to guide them in their studies.
As for Arnold, he made good his escape. But, although he knew he had seriously compromised his mission, as well as endangered his friends, he remained at heart a loyal member of the Enterprise. He sent word to the Enterprise contact, and soon thereafter was ordered to return to headquarters and report.
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