A Drow's Dilemma Ep. 58: Old Friends

Episode 58: Old Friends

Althaia's eyes sparkled. "This place is gorgeous." She sighed, looking over the main hall that was grown by the druids from the woods themselves. "All it needs is a little more solidity, and a waterfall making a natural fountain inside, and it would be perfect. I will have to steal some of the design details and give them to R.I.S.A. We can use it for a future addition to the dimension."

Caleldir would likely have said something about the hall, but he was too busy greeting all of his old friends from the caravan, who had mostly gathered at one corner around their leader and his new orcish friend. Caleldir especially wanted to get a word in with Artur, and see if Gurzan had ever made it back to the group.

The people from the caravan greeted Caleldir appropriately for how well they had known him while he worked with the Troop. As for Artur, he turned away from his conversation with his girlfriend and the big orc when he realized that more people had entered the longhouse. "Caleldir, boy, you came back!" He exclaimed with obvious joy. "And I see Ashyr is still with you. And a couple of other beautiful ladies..." The last part was expressed with a nod, a wide grin, and a wink that jokingly suggested more was going on between the four of them. It was not uncommon for Artur to tease anyone in his party in such a way.

Urag shifted so that he was just a couple inches taller than he had been in his crouching position, and nodded respectfully at the party. Otherwise, he remained silent. The atmosphere between the orc and two humans previously in private discussion with each other was relaxed. That much could not be said for the people under their control. The tension between the two armies seemed more a matter of the common folk than the leaders.

"We're back!" Ashyr confirmed with a grin that answered Artur's suggestive expression. She began to approach Dria, Artur, and Urag. She noticed that Zarag continued to walk beside her. The orc leader's expression was as open and friendly as it could be under the circumstances. He otherwise ignored the suggestive language between everyone.

"I am like the proverbial bad penny that way." Caleldir replied to Artur. "Whether it be a month or a thousand years, I always come back!" Gesturing Althaia forward, Caleldir introduced her to Artur, Dria, and all the rest. "This is my 'cousin' Althaia, the World's only Nymphen Paladin (at least, we think that she is...) and therefore probably the world's only practitioner of both the druidic and paladin arts. As for the other woman, that is Selene Duskhaven, Ashyr's cousin, so I should probably let her do the introducing." Like Zarag, he was choosing to ignore the more suggestive language.

Althaia was not, though, which would come as a surprise to no one. The Nymph waggled her eyes and licked her lips appreciatively, though she straightened up for the introduction. "Good to meet you, Artur. And you as well, Dria. Although, I believe that I have seen your work before. I have spent most of my life living less than a day's journey from your town, so you may have been aware of our little spring. There are now four nymphs still there, and I am sure that they would love a visit from some of your better-looking residents."

"I am not sure this is the time for that sort of soliciting." Caleldir said uneasily. It was then that he caught sight of a familiar face. "Gurzan my old friend! It is good to see you again!" The old half-orc was, predictably, sitting in a corner by himself drinking something of an unknown nature, glaring at anyone who came too close. Caleldir was the exception, though, and the old fellow seemed genuinely happy to see his friend. Caleldir turned back to the group. "Forgive me, but I simply must get caught back up with Gurzan and his family. I take my leave. Call me if anyone needs anything!" With that, he strode over to the table. "I have some genuine Deusterran wine with me..." he could be heard saying to the old half-orc as he walked.

Selene and Ashyr let Caleldir walk over to his old friend unimpeded, though for a moment, Ashyr looked sorely tempted to join. A lot had changed since last they saw Gurzan. How would the old orc react to all those changes? Would Caleldir even let his friend know about his exploits? They were questions that the older drow was curious to see the answers to. Unfortunately, there were slightly more important things at hand. That, and it sort of sounded that Caleldir wanted to speak with him alone.

"Oh, yes, the spring." Dria responded to Althaia with a glimmer of amusement in her eye. "I believe visiting that place is an old tradition with the young folk in the town." A small group would declare that they were going to 'take a walk in the forest.' Sometimes they came back that night, disappointed. Sometimes they came back a couple days later, exhausted, but very pleased with themselves. It was something Dria never paid too much attention to beyond the brief amusement of seeing who the nymphs favored and who they did not. "You honor us with your presence, Paladin Althaia. We hope that you may grace us with your wisdom and insight during the upcoming talks."

Althaia herself had not been at that spring more than a few years, and remembered precious little from the young-folk who had come there. She was very young, after all, and had not really been invited to the fun as a youngster. Her own parents did not live in that spring: rather, she had ended up there about four years previous due to... events. But that was for another time. "I am rather young to be gracing anyone with my wisdom." The paladin smiled. "But of any assistance I can offer is yours. I am at your service."

Ashyr turned back to Artur, Dria, and Urag, who still crouched nearby in his corner. "Now that you've met Althaia, this is my younger cousin, Selene. I think you saw her in passing, but I was too busy for a formal introduction." Ashyr grinned at that. She had been too busy orchestrating a threesome between Carlotta and Caleldir. It was quite the noble cause. "She's most definitely on our side now." Ashyr shot a quick grin to the younger drow, and gave her shoulder an affectionate rub.

"We met briefly." Dria confirmed. She had been the one to tell Selene where Caleldir and Ashyr's room was.

The de-facto leader of the druids looked over to the taller, younger drow. Then she blinked, and her eyes flickered down to Selene's stomach and back up again. After that particular realization hit, Dria looked much better pleased with the pregnant drow's presence. Ashyr couldn't help but notice the human female's train of thought. The ranger waggled platinum eyebrows at Dria, then cast a quick glance over in the direction Caleldir had gone. This bit of information was met with understated confusion. Apparently, this clashed with the woman's perception of the man now implied to be the father. That moment was not the time to speak at length on that particular subject, so Dria would have to continue to wonder.

If Urag, Zarag, and Artur noticed the exchange, there was no sign of it on their features.

"Ashyr Duskhaven has promised to help our cause." Zarag informed the group.

"Yup." Ashyr confirmed. "I'm sure we'll figure out what I can do when everyone is here. In the meantime, where's Carlotta?"

The faces of both humans turned grim. "Sorry, girl." Artur said. "She was part of the excursion that managed to sneak into the city. We haven't heard from that party since they got into Port Afron. That was a little over a day ago - there was supposed to be another check-in by now, but it hasn't come."

"...wait what? Really? Zarag, why didn't you tell me about an excursion?" Ashyr near demanded. The news didn't seem to sit well with her.

"No time, and I did not know you knew one of the party. I apologize." The orc leader said, and he looked sincere. "We will tell all when everyone gets here."

"Great." Ashyr said, her expression now grim as well. Her hand rose to rub at the back of her neck. "I should let Caleldir know." The older drow decided. "Stay here, Selene." Then she made her way over to where Caleldir and Gurzan chatted.

Selene huffed in annoyance at being left behind. But she seemed to accept her fate. The mage shifted slightly towards Althaia, the one in the conversation who she trusted the most.

Of course, while Althaia had heard of Carlotta, and was probably as anxious to meet her as anyone else, the news of her disappearance did not affect her the same way as it did the others. She did not actually know the woman, after all. The nymph bowed her head in concern. Although, that was partly because the nymph did not want the others to see that her eyes had turned a strange, hungry yellow. Sometimes, her eyes being flawless indicators of her mood was inconvenient. Good thing that old Magolben had given her that rune. When she looked back up, after Ashyr had gone over to talk to Caleldir and Selene had edged closer to her, the nymph's eyes were a flat, expressionless silvered grey. "If an expedition is missing, well, I think that we should send another. A more elite one. Perhaps made up of those who have already made it through a ruin full of ancient evils ruled over by a stillborn artificial goddess of tyranny and recovered the relics of an empire destroyed before its conquests could begin." It would have been very obvious to Selene who she was referring to, but the others there had no way of knowing any of that.

The people in the conversation - save from Selene - all looked impressed to the point of bafflement. The nymph couldn't be referring to the four who had just been reintroduced to them. Althaia said herself that she was young, and Caleldir was always the one to make up stories instead of just living them himself (at least, that was what they had assumed up to that point.) A haughty grin began to spread across the mage's features. Oh yes. She liked how Althaia was making their previous expedition sound. They had had a lot of help, of course. The others didn't need to know that.

"The drow's smile tells me it was you, Paladin." Urag rumbled in his deep voice very suited to his huge body.

That only made Selene's smile broaden. There would be no doubt then who it was Althaia spoke of.

With Selene's smile and Urag's noting of her insinuations, Althaia grinned. "Well, not just me. Our group was me, Ashyr, Caleldir, Selene, and another of whom you probably have not heard. A Slasjowskew Slitherscar. There ended up being a few others involved, but not to the same extent. Point is, if you need to mount a rescue expedition, or a strike team to go straight at the heart of the city and take out its leadership in one righteous swing, we can do it. I am not really all that interested in the particulars of the disagreements between your two groups: I am merely interested in victory. Winning is the key to resolving such discord. We do not need to resort to dishonorable tactics, nor needless displays of brutality. I have seen- No, I will wait for the council." She stared piercingly into Zarag's eyes, and then Dria's, trying to discern some of their thoughts and motives.

"We would like to try to send someone after them." Zarag told her. "People from both sides were sent on the first mission. People we would not like to lose. We may call upon Ashyr's party." This was addressed to everyone present. The orc then went silent to watch for everyone's reactions.

Artur and Dria nodded. The female human spoke. "We will bring that up for discussion. Our two factions value everyone's input when we make decisions, Althaia." She said in explanation. "It works well for each of us, but it's also been a... difficulty these past few days." The human leader looked apologetically toward the orcs. It was their turn to nod, however. Everyone present was in agreement: negotiations between the two people were difficult.

Althaia then went into another dazzling smile. "The disagreements are between your followers more than they are between you, correct? Well, tell me the compromise that you want them to come to. I may be young and foolish, but I have been gifted by heaven with a supernatural charisma. I can persuade them of anything that you wish me too. Provided you persuade me first." During this last monologue, Althaia began leveraging her formidable charisma for all it was worth. Her tone shifted from confident to humble, from flattering to rousing, from friendly to cold. Her body shifted the same way, flowing through a similar set of emotions. It was clear from her words that she had never been trained as any sort of diplomat, but even more clear from her effortlessly artistic use of the other parts of language: both tonal and bodily, that she would make a world-class one with a minimum of practice.

"In the end, it is Lord Faust that my town wants. Alive, if possible." Dria said with a sigh.

A cloud passed over Althaia's face. "I am not certain that it is wise to take the old Tiefling alive. It would be far easier to send a strike team in to kill him, thus causing the town to fall immediately, rather than capturing him, which would likely require a protracted attack." She thought for a moment, then grinned. "Wait. I have an idea." She turned to Selene, an idea tugging at the corner of her eyes. "I think that it is time we use R.I.S.A. to our benefit. She offers us a lot of options." More than that, the nymph did not yet say, wanting to confer with Ashyr and Caleldir before giving away any of the group's secrets. She would have to ignore the curious looks they shared with each other.

"Whatever we do, we have to remember that the people of Port Afron can not help that they have a ruthless leader." The human woman looked completely sincere. But there was also that light of near-crazed anger in her eye, much like what had happened after the battle of the undead several weeks ago. Her town and her people had been killed and endangered. The person responsible had to pay, so that it would never happen again.

Zarag met the Paladin's eyes, and held her gaze for as long as she inflicted it upon him. He would hide nothing. "Ours is not such a simple matter. We want Faust, as he has not made it easy for people like us to live in the world. Many of us hold other grudges. Many feel that the city itself owes them, for we have been cast away and orphaned by mothers who feared and hated us when we should have had love instead."

"That has been one of the difficulties." Dria added sadly. "The orcs among the mercenaries want to go pillaging like their fathers before them. I fear that we cannot stop them from taking a piece of the wealth. So we either appease them, or they work separately against us. We cannot let the latter happen."

"No." Urag agreed. "Their wants are poison. It is like killing the bird that lays jeweled eggs." Most of the mercenaries' jobs came from there.

"So we would let them split Faust's loot, and any who ally themselves with Faust. He is Tiefling, and old. He must have much wealth. He also has strong generals who he must pay well. My people will have many riches to enjoy from that alone." Zarag explained.

"It isn't the best solution; we have a feeling that some of that wealth was taken unfairly from the people. But without the mercenaries, we don't have enough fighters to take the city. Even if we agree to use Ashyr's party as a strike team, we will need a unified people to fight the soldiers who can't be made to see reason. It is too much for a small group to handle. My hope that is, with a much larger force, we can intimidate those people instead of killing them." Dria continued. "The difficulty has not been one-sided. Some of my people want to drive the mercenaries away entirely. They do not like their ways, and do not like the necromancer, Ungrai. So they must be convinced that Zarag's people are needed."

Althaia sighed. "My instincts are to side with the druids on both points, but that is no compromise at all." She thought a moment. "Giving the treasury of Port Afron away as loot seems like an acceptable solution. The city is rich, and any merchants not ruined by Faust can likely make back any losses with time. But the city will have trouble surviving a ravaging of its inhabitants. Too much wanton destruction and death. But, if your people, Zarag, are angry about past hatreds, I think that I can utilize that to our advantage. Pin the blame on Faust, say that the people of Port Afron are also victims, and argue that we come as liberators, not conquerors, and by freeing the people they ensure that they have profitable business for decades to come. Which is your argument now, is it not? If you need someone to help you sell it to them, well, that I can help with."

She continued, looking over the rest of the group that was politely waiting for her to finish. It was clear that, despite the nymph's proclaimed youth, everyone (save for Selene) instinctually looked up to the Paladin as a leader. It wasn't even something they knew they were doing - it was the simply weight of her charisma that affected them so. "The issue of the necromancer is a bit harder to resolve. But, if the plan that I am thinking up works, I do not think that we will need her reinforcements. We can say that we are holding her in reserve, to bolster our other plan. What that plan is, I will need to confer with my group before discussing in greater detail. Suffice it to say that we may have a way to get a hundred soldiers or more into Faust's fortress without him knowing."

"My people may begrudgingly let the blame be Faust's. They will always resent the abandonment they suffered from their mothers, but it will be good enough." Zarag said with a nod and a thoughtful scratch at the side of his jaw. "It may also take a speech with the people of Port Afron when this is done. The old remember our fathers, and blame us for their sins."

"We must take the city first." Urag warned his little brother before he wasted too much brain power on thinking ahead rather than solving the problem they had here and now.

"If you really can take a hundred people directly into their fortress..." Dria stopped to think for a moment, to be sure what she said was true. "Yes, I believe that it would prevent an all-out battle between us and the city - as long as you can get in there undetected until the right time. Go. Talk it over with Ashyr and Caleldir. There isn't much time until we start the discussion."

Indeed, while the six of them talked (well, four, since Artur and Selene remained mostly silent), people began to file into the longhouse. It was mostly orcs and people who were obviously mercenaries entering now. In fact, they seemed to have a larger representation than the druids. It made sense; there were more of Zarag's people than there were of Dria's. Druids and mercenaries mingled together, save for two small knots of people on the opposite sides of the table. Selene recognized those knots for what they were; the people who opposed the other faction. The uncooperative seemed a minority - but if this was anything like the politics of the Underdark, the minority would by far be the loudest and most opinionated. Selene smirked to herself. Well, this was certainly going to be interesting.

--

Just before Ashyr approached, Caleldir was regaling Gurzan with slightly fictionalized versions of his adventures. "And then Deardriu stabbed Althaia right through, so I was forced to rip my own heart out to summon the one being powerful enough to defeat the dragon-princess: Goelon Duvainor! I watched with my gradually fading eyesight (I was able to heal myself enough to keep from dying, but only barely) as the King of Ghosts emerged on the battlefield, and the Lady of Flaming Scale's eyes went red with bloodlust. The only word she uttered as she hefted her broadsword was 'Excellent.' She leapt towards him-"