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Dreaded Plans

Started by Anonymous, February 12, 2005, 11:31:51 AM

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Anonymous

Venorik looked to Mith, knowing that the simple explanation would not satisfy the drow, but had been hoping nonetheless. He didn't truly have the time though. "stay, i will explain it later." he tells Mith. More pressing matters were still calling to him, and he couldn't ignore the horror on Balkin's face. Then he noticed something different. Tears rimmed the eyes of the dark weaver and he was shaking. Venorik wasn't sure what ws going to happen, but his thoughts were thrown as he was embraced by his lost brother. He wasn't sure how to react at first. Oddly, he felt a small amount of happiness in the fact that a brother remained, but he was disgusted by this outward show of affection. He pushed Balkin from his hold, glaring at him. Venoik's discipline just wouldn't allow it. " you with the dread army now." he tells his brother. " go find  residence, we will speak later." He had things to sort out personally before he confronted his brother with the truth of all that had happened. Balkin walked out of the building with slumped shoulders, so many things racing through his head he couldn't keep track of half of them.

  At about that time a human stepped in. He could tell he was a mage but knew there was something more about him, and from his movements he thought he knew what it was, but kept his suspicions to himself. " sign up on the parchment over there." he tells the human, pointing to the table near he center of them room. " then go find a residence, we'll be here a while." The commander straightened himself out and walked out of the building,  starting down the street. He needed time to think, and a place that would allow it. With that in mind, Venorik walked off towards the forest.

Anonymous

Sirrenen glanced around the room and, seeing a parchment on the room's table, walked over to sign his name.  

S. Nolda

He was ( and hoped he could remain even with the beast growing within him ), a civilized, educated man, as his fancy signature and cultered accent showed.  Sirrenen set down the quill and realized that there was no turning back now.  He had been around magic long ehough to know a binding spell when he saw one.  If he deserted, he would be hunted for the rest of his life.  The mage almost laughed at the thought.  A mere piece of paper had just sealed his doom.

The door swung closed as the leader walked out to the street.  Only then did Sirrenen truly look at the peculiar scene within the building.  He paused and stroked his goatee thoughtfully but decided that, he really didn't care.  This shocked him more than anything.  More than the invisible flying ship.  More than drow.  Even more than crying, embracing drow.  Sirrenen didn't care.  He had once took pleasure in wondering about every one of life's mysteries.  What a pathetic creature he had become.  "And what else am I becoming," he asked himself, running his hand across the scabbed bite on his left shoulder.

The housing Sirrenen had found was good, the largest home in the village.  And he had it all to himself for his alchemy and scying, at least, after had killed the previous occupant with a score of highly venomous conjured spiders.  He could thank the drow in the headquarters for the inspiration for using that spell.  Sirrenen personally had a dislike of spiders and immediately burned them before they could escape to bite him another day.  Sirrenen then began working on an interplaner door to bring his equipment to his new abode.

Anonymous

Balkin walked through the village, his emotions already having been played out, leaving him in his usual thinking mood. He acceped the fact that he was now in the dread army, was excited that he could now spread chaos with his brother, and hopefully Venorik's friend, who he had noticed was very close to him. He had things to do now though. He had things he had plan on doing before he had gotten the solid information about Venorik being on the surface. First, he looked forward to making his staff, and the orb he had obtained on his trip to the dark mage village seemed to be the perfect top to it, after seeing it's display of power against the demon that was obviously with his brother. Then, he had another projectin mind. He had planned on making one for himself for quite some time, but figured he could make two more as gifts for his new counterparts. His eyes searched the streets for a room, but then decided to use one of his simple spellsto raise a magical, one roomed building to stayin directly outside the village.

   After  half an hour of chanting, the residence appeared. Without hesitation,he walked in and started more chanting, raising his magical forge. He had  lot of work ahead of him, and it gave no room for delays. The final ingredient,a blue colored organ,was tossed into the center of the room, bringing sparks from the ballof energy that had formed there. It shifted and molted,finally solidifying into his magical forge. He tossed his weapons and everything else he carried with him to the cornerrof the room, leaving nothing on him but his red robes and a bag of objects, the ingredients he would needto forge this most powerful weapon that he so clearly saw in his mind. He produced a small, foot long rod of mithril from the bag and threw it in the green flames of his forge, then started his hands and fingers in the fluid motions of spellcasting,following by a rising chant to Lolth,the goddess of chaos, the spider queen.

"Gi zhennu ilhar, gi ilhar d' streea. Dos ph' l' jabbuk d' elg'cahl,dos ph' l' renor yah, dos ph' l' orbb vel'dos da'uren kri'sha l' tresk'ri, dos ph' l' jabbuk vel'uss miren l' slyannen. Usstan,dosst dalhar, usstan tlun dosst jesshc,usstan tlun l' rothe d' dosst orn, usstan tlun l' nau'shindcal d' dosst ha'uren, usstan tlun dosst ssivah, usstan, vel'uss ssinssrigg dos phor jal byrren, joros dos ulu ptau'a ussta lar biu ssinssrine. Usstan gultah dos l' vesdrac usstan inbal plynnet, lu' nindyn usstan zhal plynn, dalharuken lu' dalharilen d' nindyn vel'uss chi' udossa, vel'uss venoch udossa, vel'uss thrityh udossta elamshin. Plynn dal mina vel'bol zhah nint lu' belbau ulu uns'aa vel'bol zhah udosst.

 Balkin pulls an ingredient, a shining blue gem,from the bag, and throws it in the fires of the forge. Sweat beads down his face, but he continues his chanting. It had only just begun.

" FAERIE BENE TELLEMARA! FAERIE BENE TELLEMARA!"

  His arms wave around frantically, fingers swaying wildly, constantly throwing magical energies into the forge. Sparks and pops spray from the fires, which had now turned violently silver. The initial formation was almost done, and his dark staff's form was almost complete.  With what felt like the last of his energy,he pulled the final forming ingredients from the bag. The largest, hollowed out surface elf skull,was to be the vessel to the solidifying magic. He slowly placed the other objects inside, sweat pouring from the abuse of his magical talents and from the constant shower of magical sparks and flames emenating from the forge. One by one, the skull became filled. The heart of a dwarf, the eye of a human, the finger of a gnome, and , by far the hardest to come by, the nipple of a priestess of Eilestree, the goodly god of drow traiterous to their heritage. With a smirk wrought of knowledge of the power he will soon control, Balkin tosses the filled skull in the flames.

" FO F'EL, AZ-RA-EL!"

     A bright, blinding light bursts from the forge, moving straight through the magical walls and into the open air, visible to any who would look. A sound unable to be heard by mortal ears shrieked toward the heavens and hells.  Abadon had been born.

Anonymous

His study was dark as Sirrenen stepped through the interplaner door.  He was at his house, a stone two-room building some two-hundred miles east of the Dark Mage Village.  With a quick incantation and a flick of his wrist, the room brightened with a blue-green glow.  The study was a square room filled with tomes and pieces of magical equipment.  Bookshelves lined the walls and the large table to his left was littered with parchments of new spells and other various devices.  In the center of the room, was a summoning circle of poured steel, covered in runes.  It was nothing compared to the one in his former home, or those in prominent wizarding guilds, but it would hold lesser demons safely.  To Sirrenen's left were his scrying crystals and crystal ball, set on a small table and stand.  Directly in front of the mage was his fairly basic alchemy lab, of which he was particularly proud.  Afterall, Sirrenen was quite proficient at alchemy for one self-learned in the art.

As Sirrenen surveyed all of this, his guantlets had sorted through there memory of spells to find one for complex levitation, one the man had created himself some ten years before for situations just as this, where he would have to move entire rooms of furniture.  He began waving his hands in increasingly large star shapes and muttered  the words streaming from his gauntlets into his head.  Then, very slowly, everything began to rise.  Sweat began to glisten on the mage's forhead.  He had not had much practice with this spell and was not as good at it as he would have wanted.  And keeping the planar door open and wide enough was becoming a burden.  

Finally Sirrenen was through and setting down the furniture, summoning circle and all, onto the floor of the village building's  main room.  He would arrange it about the house to make everything more comfortable later, but now he needed rest.  The combination of the spell casting and supressing his lycanthropic urges was taking its toll.  The full moon was only two days away and Sirrenen would not be able to fight them for long.

Anonymous

<FONT face="Monotype Corsiva">Mith Kal’daka turned on his heel and walked out the door, he would await word from Venorik on the Olath Elemmiire.  As the door shut behind him, he looked about before heading east towards the hills.  With the sun soon up he and the ship were best hidden from sight. He had much to consider, if he devoted resources to this part of the realm he would be committed on yet another front. As he reached the edge of the village he began an intricate somatic with his right hand, and with his left hand and staff drew a large oval I the air.  When his hand completed its circuit a multicolored vortex opened, with a final look behind he stepped through………….


__________________________________________________________________________-----------------------Olath Elemmiire-------------------------------__________________


 In the dead center of the rear of the internal command deck a round circle approximately ten feet in diameter with many drow runes around it bloomed into life as Mith’s portal locked onto it.   Commander Jollin’ar   stood from the command throne as Mith stepped through, the portal collapsing seconds later.  Mith Kal’daka rarely left the ship long enough to warrant it having a second commander, but one could never be too careful.   Jollin’ar kneeled as Mith sat in the throne, “we are headed away from the village, though Ty’cor was none to agreeable on the course I chose.â€? He reported.  Mith dismissed him with a wave of his hand as he set his staff in the nooks provided on the left side of the throne.  It was the closest thing to home a drow would get this far out from the underdark.  The interior had an ithillid design to it; consoles lined the walls glowing with enchanted scrying spells, levers and other strange mechanics. Under several gnomes and collared Ithillid (mind flayers) were tinkering to get the flayer made systems to keep working properly.  The collars on the mind flayers kept them under Mith’s control letting them believe they still served the great flayer brain in the brain pool.  Control panels   the darkness only permeated by the glow of the control panels and the runes on the portal gate ring.   Mith tapped a few buttons and flicked several lever switches, thus setting the portal to allow Venorik's entrance.   Now he would wait.   He barked a command to the drow steering the ship.  They slowly circled the village,  keeping a safe distance from any living quarters and places of high traffic.   While powerful they were they had no nee to over extend their luck.
</FONT>

Anonymous

Ten had been waiting for Mith to retrun for a good amount of time, it seemed to him. He paced across the deck of the ship, with Kenda sitting close by. He could see the eyes of the other drow on board eyeing her and so he eyed them, viciously. His eyes told each drow that he would not pause to kill them, and the he was not afraid of them. "Kenda, come. Mith has returned." He said as he walked towards the hatch and entered the bridge.

He had entered just as the portal closed and walked to the side of Mith where nobody stood at the moment. "Did you find Venorik? How many strong is the army? Where are we??" He asked the questions quickly, slightly excited that war would soon break out. His seal had matured to the point where he now had to kill to satisfy it.

War would give him enough kills to make his seal mature to the final stage. He would be able to destroy the demon within him, control it, or release it. The power was so close he could taste it. The power he desired to finish what he had started, the killing of the Ancient/Old Ones. It was his fault that they had been re-awakened and he had almost finished them off when Shi'nayne sold him out to the remaining Ancient/Old Ones. He had been tortured for 100 years time in only a few short months.

"I can taste the power flowing through me. The Seal hungers for more killing. The Seal needs to feed on the souls of those we slay so that it can mature to the final stage, giving me the power I desire, the power I need to finish off the Ancient Ones, the power to kill that bitch Shi'nayne."

As he spoke the seal began to appear on his arm and the purple pattern began to spread across his body, his eyes shifting from silver to a red and silver mix.

Anonymous

Mith smiled his Lt. in arms, coming from the top deck. The mirrors tied into the scrying crystals on the hull showing the sun cresting the horizon. He waved his hand over a stone in his consol and the mirror darkened then reverted to a reflective surface.  He still preferred  the darkness in all his doings.  â€œI t appears small, I believe they have suffered a defeat very recently, they are cautious…. Very cautios.â€?  He replied.  The Olath Elemmiire tilted as she turned to avoid disturbing a small encampment in the woods.  Jollin’ar now manned the helm, an ever experienced seaman, though still getting used to the thought of his ship “sailingâ€? through the air.    Mith turned to face Ten’ru , “I believe Venorik will inform us of the local events soon enough, that is if he truly wants my assistance.  Mith finished.



   Below the camp stirred, a sorcerer had sensed the flying beast.  The spell had been reinforced after the wards had been triggered after the last detection, but nothing was  certain.  The man roused his fellows and they began to follow in the darkness.  The ships slow pace more than easy to match, she wasn’t running from anything.

Anonymous

Sighed slightly as he curled his hands into fists and closed his eyes as he forced the Seal to stop spreading. As the Seal stopped spreading and slowly reveresed he cracked his neck.

"I wish we could get some information now. There are so many villages that need destroying right now. So many innocents to slay...." He twitched slightly as he spoke.

"Sorry about that. That fucking demon is fighting more and more for control ever since I achieved the third seal level. But he is right. By my calculation I only need 600 more added to my list of kills. Then the seal will reach full maturity and I will be able to do what I desire."

He smirked slightly as he sat down, his back against the wall. His arms crossed over on his knees and his head rested on h is arms. "Wake me when you leave or when Ven contacts you." he then looked up to Kenda and motioned for her to sit with him.

Anonymous

 Kenda slowly sat up and walked over to Ten, obeying his wishes silently. She had become even more uneasy after seeing the crew of Drow watch her, defintie threat in their eyes. She sat quietly at his side, taking one last glance before starting up with her usual questions. She knew very little at what was happening, but had a feeling if there were precise things she needed to know, Ten would tell her.

Her seal began to burn again. Her hand flew up to the back of her neck where the seal lingered, rubbing it slightly as a desperate attempt to subside the pain. She could feel the same burning feeling spreading a bit and sighed. She hadn't killed in a while so, why was it spreading? Finally, the pain began to lessen and she leaned back in the seat, her arm slowly dropping to her lap. She studied Ten's facial expressions for a moment, sensing a bit of tensity, but not too much. Closing her eyes for a moment, she bluntly asks "How much longer?"

Anonymous

They didn’t know who they were sent by, or for what reason they were told to find this Drow ship.  All they knew was that they were meant to get them away from the Dread army.   The leader led the group in stealth behind the ship, oddly they didn’t seem to actually have a destination, rather a random set of course changes kept them floating in the sky approximately a mile out of the city.  They were dressed as monks, and had few possessions on their bodies, no means of identifying them.  Their most valuable possessions…. Their memories and the cheap circlets that sat on their heads as crowns, to protect against prying minds.  Quietly the began to chant……..



------------------ Olath Elemmiire--------------------------

Mith sat relaxed in his throne.  Jollin’ar had kept the ship away from the clusters surfacers on the surface, all the while maintaining a relative distance from the village.  Yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that they had been spotted.    He touched a stone on the ithillid control panel and looked through a small scrying mirror that rose up from the floor.   The sunlight hid what his eyes would have seen at night, and so missed the following entourage  .  he still felt uneasy.    â€œJollin’arâ€?  Mith barked as he stood.  â€œumy al posh si ders chroarâ€?  he commanded.  Jollin’ar nodded and the ship began to tilt heavily as she swung about.  The Olath Elemmiire would shortly be over the dark mage village……….






Some how the monks kept pace with the ship even thought they did not sun, their chanting becoming louder but not loud enough to cut through the wind passing the drow war ship.  The energies that they called forth were almost ready, soon they would sen that ship far out to sea.  Let them try to return  they would be waiting.   As the village came into sight they cast off their cloaks    the elves  revealed themselves………

Anonymous


Nothing in the underdark is ever quite as it seemed.  The drow society flourished when secrets were kept.  Secrets ensured power over all who did not know what one knew.  Few knew how to get those secrets better than Shea’nin Ischarri.  

To the naked eye, it appeared nothing more than a simple, if rather large, stalagmite formation deep in the heart of the house Ayvarth compound.  Even the sensitive heat detecting eyes of the dark elves could not see the structure for what it truly was.  It was her secret, known to but a hand picked few, and revealed to none other on pain of a very painful death.   There was more than one way to protect secrets: tell no one, or kill any who threaten the safety of it.    Through the hidden door, revealed only by the touch of those permitted, through dozens of twisting corridors, past minotaur sentinels and countless stair ways lay Shea’nin’s paradise, her hobby of sorts.  

Those fiery crimson eyes narrowed with each pathetic scream, and delighted in each twisting new torment she inflicted upon the sickening excuse for a patron.  He was a pretty face, past that, she could not tell for what purpose such a lowly creature was placed so highly within the house ranks.   However, fortunately his position and his abysmal fighting abilities made him both valuable and easily taken.  She had extracted the information she needed form the male.  It was easier than she had expected.  Honestly, who would have though severing toes could be so persuasive, most required quite a deal more than that.  Now Shea’nin was simply enjoying herself at the expense of the weak, and weakened male, as she had been for nearly a tenday.  

Again she twisted the blade, wedged between his calf bone and muscle, eliciting another tormented scream before he lost consciousness once more.   With her play time foiled once more, she escaped to the study, abandoned for so long now, in the upper chambers of her little secret.

~*~

Her elegant form draped across the velvety upholstered lounge, dimpling the couch as her nails dragged through the many folds of rich fabric.  Shea’nin’s face had again taken its usual stern expression, considering the many possibilities of the war emerging.   Despite the ramblings of a tortured mind, she hadn’t the proof she needed to offer her aid on the victorious side, yet such an opportunity rarely was provided, could she simply stay to the side, and not benefit?  Pondering the possibilities of a double agency, she rose the wine flute to her pursed lips and promptly dropped it, shattering on the floor and staining the expensive fur carpeting.  

Her eyes glazed a sickly white and her head was thrown back against the awaiting pillows.  Every muscle grew tense, clutching desperately, as if for her very life to the couch below her.  Again, the goddess was calling her,  whispering promises of power, promising more than she could offer as usual, but none the less, Shea’nin would heed the call.  

~*~  

Three hours passed before the trance had left the drow.  She ached, every over worked muscle exhausted through their three house of constant contraction, but hardly did she head the grinding pain as she rose to ready herself.  The task took but a few moments and soon she was clad in her floor length piwafwi armed and packed with a few days rations.  She stood before the book case on the far wall of the room, her stormy grey gaze casting along the binds of the many spell books she had acquired.  At length, she found the small well worn leather bound book, and thumbed through it’s pages frantically to find the spell she wished.  

With a few curt hand motions and whispered words a glistening portal opened before her.  With a high chin and confident stride, Shea’nin stepped into the swirling glitters of the magical door way.   In mere moments the female stepped into her cabin aboard Mith Kal’Daka’s ship, she had now only to wonder for what purpose she was to come.  Her goddess would guide her, she presumed, despite the fact that she knew presumptions most often end in death.


Anonymous

Venorik walked into thee dark mage village with his hood covering his face, Elemmiire still hidden under his large cloak, shielding her from the dreaded sunlight. Many things, all good, had happened to him this past night, Elemmiire and an acceptance of his newfound brother among them. " we're almost there." he whispers to her as they near the dread army headquarters. He spots many boot prints along the road, and wonders if new recruits are here..or possibly, was serendipity here to finish them off? his questionss were answered as he turned the corner. A small band of duergar were standing in front of the dread army building, each one of them in shining armor with axes strapped to their backs. Some of their armor was smooth, other sets were jagged and spiked. Many of them had shining sheilds, with some sort of spiked eye symbol engraved on it. They seemed to be the battle hardened remains of a prosperous clan. " can i help you?" Venorik asks as he approached them, pulling his hood from his face.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  " A drow...you must be with the army. Could you be showin' me the way to the commander,we mighten be joinin' ye." Dimbian says to Venorik, drawing agreeing nods from various members of his group.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

  " I am Venorik Vharzyym, commander of the dread army. We welcome you. Theres a parchment in the building there, go ahead and sign your names." He walks into the room before them, quickly taking Elemmiire to the back room and shutting the door behind them. He could hear the dwarves shuffling around in the main room, signing their names and getting into small arguements in line. He sits down on the single bed in the small room, still holding Elemmiire close. " you will be safe here. If anything happens, call to me, i shall come." He kisses her one more time before standing. He could find Mith, and knew his friend was close. With a mental nod to Qee'lakstreea, the portal takes him, transporting his form to the Olath Elemmiire.
----------------------------------------------------------

         The portal opened in the ship, only a few feet from Mith,and Venorik lightly steps out, the dark cloak flowing behind him like waves. " greetings." he says to the drow, not yet noticing his old partner, Ten Ru. " there was something you wished to discuss?"

Anonymous

Mith walked out of the control chamber and down a corridor,  a set of stairs later he was on the outer deck of the Olath Elemmiire heading aft.  His movements were causual but at the same time determined, as he moved across the deck.  The sails were fluttering  slightly ion the breeze. He bagan chanting as he reached the railing his eyes locked onto the group that seemed to be following his invisible vessel.  How they could see him did not concern him what did was how to remove them..  soon they would be over the village, soon it would be time… his right hand began to carve intricate symbols into the air, slight trails left the tips showing what might have been runes.  




The monks quieted as the drew into the village, the giant beast in the sky they had been coerced into attacking was slowing, perhaps now was a good time… something in the leaders mind twanged as he thought about this,  a subservient thought,  â€œwhy am I doing this?.... but it wasn’t enough.  The dominant commands still took precedence as they pushed their minds to the limits.  If this worked they would be hero’ if it failed… then death was their reward.   As they took their first steps into the village  of the dark mages.    It was time……………


The sky erupted into swirls of coulor ,  fire balls and lighting shot back and forth from the ground to the sky.   Moments later the huge sword shaped drow warship appeared in the sky not a mere 80 feet off the ground, it invisibility spells disrupted and completely exposed to the world.


…….. it was time…..  Miths hands flew up and forward, releasing the hell ball towards the ground, though his hand emediatly resumed there intricate tracings, for even as the ball dove down to the ground other mages added their own spells to the fray….  Mith  finished his spell and the air infront of the ship bloomed into a swirling vortex of color before resolving into a hole that appeared to lead into darkness.  The true nature of the attack would now never be know, though in the town square the crater would tell all of the battle…..


Mith walked back below decks and and grinned at Venoriks arrival.... "greetings my friend,  welcome to the great experiment... the Olath Elemmiire,"  he said casualy as he sat on the throne...  "you have impecable timing     ...........( continued  in LIth My'athar threads)


((((( sorry for abruptness but we are moving to the proper setting….. mwuaahahahahah   all hail the drow.)))))

Anonymous

It was mid day as the hooded party of drow entered the gate of the village.  For those giving only a casual glance at the group, they would seem suface dwellers.  Most of those under the sun would never imagine dark elves in their midst.  But those who payed more attention, they would notice that something was not right.  The hair on the back of their necks would stand on end, and they would be afraid.  Such was the aura that surrounded the drow when not in hiding.

Kerath was not surprized that Venorik and his friend, Mith, were not at the headquarters when he arrived.  He had expected the mysterious Mith to have some private meeting with him to discuss his involvment in the army.  Kerath was surprized, however, to see an entire clan of Druegar milling about the building, some sleeping, some eating, some talking, and the rest fighting amongst themselves.  "Good," he told Bor'raizok with a slight smile.  "Our army's ranks are swelling."  The warrior then moved back to where four of his shadows were guarding the semi-concious drow queen.  He turns to Xitosh, an older drow who had been Kerath's favorite alchemist behind his brother.  "Make sure she cannot escape or regain consciousness until i wish it," he tells the old drow.  "I have to check on the new recruits."

Anonymous

Venorik stepped out of the portal in the main room of the dread army headquarters. His steps were silent and his cloak was flowing behind him, even though there was no wind. Many thought his cloak had an enchatnment on it that kept it flowing whenever th drow moved, but it was silmply the grace of his movements. He was happy to see Kerath and some other drow in the room, and glad that the duergar were making themselves comfortable. He felt as though he had gained nothing from his trip to Lith My'athar, but at least knew he was not bluffing, that he had the full intention of requiring loyalty from all the ruling houses of the drow city.

   "i see you are back from your journey my friend." he says to Kerath. "I hope it was successful." he looks around the room, eyeing the new drow. If they were with Kerath, they could most likely be trusted. He looks over and spies he queen. " and i see you brought a friend to visit." he adds jokingly, a chuckle in his words. " how nice." He stands and thinks for a second. They couldn't wait very much longer, he needed to start working personally on getting new recruits. He pondered about ten seconds before it came to him. He knew what they needed, what they were now missing. A dragon.

Anonymous

Kerath, almost through the door, spun around slowly upon hearing Venorik's voice.  By this time he was well used to his friend popping behind him out of thin air, and was, thus, not surprised like the rest of those in the building.  "Very successful indeed," he replies as he finishes his spin and begins walking back the way he had come just seconds before.  He could sense the tension in the air, could almost feel the half-dozen knives and hand crossbows about to be shot at Venorik.  I didn't matter.  His men... and woman, were well trained.  They would not try to harm th commander until Kerath gave some sort of signal.  His shadows would see his calm and, slowly, calm as well.  He spread his arms, encompassing the entire room.  "I give you..."  He paused for dramatic effect.  "... The Shadows of Carnage."  A little smile, something blasphemous in itself.  It was as if some rule of the multiverse knew such an expression was not meant to be seen upon his face, and was trying with all its might to make it un-so.  The smile would seem painful to all of pure heart, for its evil.  

"And that."  Kerath pointed to the bound and gagged queen, somewhere between consiousness and sleep, lying on the floor between two of his shadows.  "That is the great prize of my journey.  She, my sister, shall pay for what she did to me!"  It was sad that he would not have the time he wanted to torture her, with his responsibilities as sub-commander.  Then an idea struck him.  He could sense magic, and its users, from some distance.  A byproduct of centuries in the close proximity of such powerfully magical beings as demons.  They had a wizard.  "Bring me the mage that was here!" he shouts to the shadow nearest him.  "Lenetra!"  He pointed at the priestess, standing in the corner flicking dirt from her fingernails.  "Go with him!  And begin rehearsing you summoning rituals!"  Kerath smiled wider, and the pure darkness of it pained even his subordinates slightly.  "If I cannot do the work myself.... I shall have myself a demon."  He knew how absurd it was.  Trying to control a demon for prolonged spaces of time was dangerous, if not suicidal.  But the drow had lost any care for safety.  Whatever had happened to him in that palace, whatever had thrown him over the edge of the wall between hate and insanity... he was enjoying it.

Anonymous

Venorik smiled at the tension. No doubt these drow with Kerath were well trained, and he would not strike them, but he almost wished they would have struck at him, just to see the looks on their faces when all their attacks, which would then seem pitiful, were simply cast aside. "greetings." he says to them in a manner similar to the way he spoke to Kerath. "I am Venorik, the commander of this little band." he explains, smirking. Commander of a band that could, even in it's current early stages of power, conquer any kingdom they wanted to at any time they felt convenient, Qee'lakstreea tells him in his mind.

  He smirks even wider at Kerath's treatment of his sister. She looked so helpless, so pitiful, bound and half concious, but he could tell she was a beautiful specimen. He also had an idea. More a joke, but something he would follow through with if Kerath agreed. He obviously held no love for his sister, and he knew why. "perhaps i could have her for a bit until the arrangements are completed?" he asks his friend with a chuckle. " I think the queen deserves a little goodbye party." he says. " it would be so fun to mess with her head, would it not?" Qee'lakstreea's sends to Kerath's mind, his voice sounding in the same demonic tones even through telepathy." i shall have my way with her, then bring her. I can keep the demon controlled, do not doubt, but you know i don't like wasting a female...and just for you, my friend, Qee'lakstreea will have his way with her mind. You know not the horrors he can impart, and she will pass into insanity when finally your demon has it's say in her punishment.

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"No," Kerath said even before Venorik had finished speaking his offer.  "There are ways of torture more heinous than even you, my friend, can even imagine.  Yes, you were brutally trained by the Tenar'ri, and you know pain more intimately than almost anyone else alive, but I was tortured, not to strengthen me or train me, but to break me, by demons of Lolth's own personal stock."  He clenched his hands at the thought of his imprisonment, blood seeeping through the cracks between his fingers.  "At times, when i was at my most wretched, close to finally giving in, the Spider Queen herself would have her way with me."  Kerath opened his hands again as his mind returned to the present.  "So you see, Venorik, I know ways of torture not meant for this realm of mortals, not meant for this world."  The drow smiled once again.  "And I want her to be fully sane when the time comes."

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Venorik smiled, for that answer was better than any he could have expected..yet, he had expected it, for he knew his friend well. He thought for a minute, then remembered what he needed to do. He would have Balkin set up a rescue for their failed ex-commander Nakaris..he owed the man that much for leaving him such a seat of power, and he had most likely recieved enough punishment. And they needed a dragon. They must own all fields of battle, including the sky, and a dragon or two would make that happen...and a mount, he needed a mount...he would need to search well for a creature fit for him to ride on, something that would strike as much terror upon his enemies as he did. " i'm going out then." he tells Kerath. " i'm gonna go get us a dragon." he added simply, like it was nothing more than another chore. He had no doubt that he would return with one, and he gave a small wave as a portal came once again upon his form.

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Sirrenen looked up from the parchment he was reading at his desk in the upper story of the house he had taken for his own.  He had finished arranging his belongings and was currently reading one of his texts dealing with Lycanthrops, hoping to find some spell or elixer which could halt or contain his... condition.  

"It is customary to knock when entering one's place of residence," he said dryly to the two drow standing in his doorway.  "Even armies of darkness can show some civility to its members."

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Lenetra smiled.  Looking to her companion she remarked, "Terini'nestg.  Usstan orn'la inbal ssiggrin sarcasm zhahus tu'jol l' rivvil dazzan."  Turning back to the mage, she looked him over:  A bit tall, and broad at the shoulders to be considered beautiful by drow standards, and the hair on his chin irked her slightly.  "Natha brou nind morfeth mina ji izznarg phor ghil.  Uk orn'la inbal tlus natha bwael jivvin m'ranndii."  Still smiling, she waited to see the irritation upon the human's face at being obviously spoken about in another language.

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Now it was Sirrenen's turn to smile.  He was an educated man, and took it upon himself to know the languages of many people.  "Usstan tlun taudl Usstan tlun naut phor ulu dosst degree d' ssin," he replied, in perfect drow.  "So, what is the meaning of this little visit?  Unless the army is assembling or I am otherwise needed by the commander, I would prefer to be left alone to continue my studies."