[Game Thread] Chapter 6c: A Shadow Over Feid

[SpatulaOdoom]

Morgan has no particular questions for Niafem when she gives her orders, merely offering his hand.
”Good luck. Fight well.”
Alnei's arrival is met with a slightly forced smile and a wave.
”Afternoon sir. For the record, not my fault this time. We'll see what we can do to put a stop to it though.”
He'd hoped more of them would show up, but at least the Trueforged had taken his warning seriously and been ready to act when need be. Humility and Didina receive sober nods of greeting. He's glad they're there but Morgan is surprised that Misa isn't with her tiefling lover.
Must be something important.

Morgan spends a minute taking advantage of their elevated position, scanning the area they will move through and trying to memorize the pattern of the streets. Since this is Nallaul's first time meeting her, here's Eloise's description.
She has sharp green eyes, a heart shaped face with strong cheeks, a delicately pointed chin, and small button nose. Her skin is creamy and pale, not the pale of someone in poor health but simply a pale complexion. Her straight hair is raven dark and long. She'd hastily tied it up in a bun. Eloise stands at an unremarkable height, perhaps just a hair over average and has a slender, long legged figure.

She'd been wearing a very feminine floral dress when they'd first met, but had activated the Shiftweave to change them to her working clothes the moment Zilira arrived. Close fitted black clothing, cotton it seems. Pants with a sharp crease and low heeled riding boots, a black wrap shirt and thin leather gloves. The outfit is mostly devoid of buckles, clasps, or other metallic bits that might jingle or reflect light and catch notice. Mostly except the weapons. Her narrow waist is cinched with a thick belt holding two guns and two blades. One hip holds Lady, a large pearl handled Phaeran pistol made of shining silvery mithral and delicately engraved. On the opposite hip rides a short straight thrusting sword, also made of mithril. It too is engraved and the hilt is wrapped in white leather. Crossed at the small of her back, resting just above her rump, are more utilitarian looking but still well made fighting knife and a smaller Phaeran pistol. She has a few other weapons, namely a slender truncheon and some boot daggers, and some pouches are scattered here and there, but she obviously travels light for the most part.Eloise Watson also looks to the streets below, a remote and serious expression on her face.
”What do you think?”
”Reminds me of five years ago.”
Eloise shakes her head, returning to the present.
”Many fiends and only a few of us. Some of them are quite big. Stay low and in the tighter streets. It should give us the advantage. Conserve your magic and let the warriors take care of the small stuff.”
“Yea. If we get in trouble we can duck into one of the buildings. It'd be nice if we had a proper healer though.”
”It would be nice if we had many things, but we don't.”

Originally Posted by Rhys

"I don't suppose you've got a lot of flight spells prepared Morgan?"

Morgan's contemplation is broken by the question. Right. Time to move.
”No, but I'm sure Eloise will let everyone borrow her favourite toy if they ask nicely.
Di, what do you say to a telepathic bond?”
What seemed to be a slender wooden baton strapped to Eloise's thigh turns out to be a Rod of Ropesmagical rod. She demonstrates how pressing a few buttons will extrude, stop, or retract rope from it. Once it's tied off this allows people to quickly and safely descend the side of the building and then send the handle back up for the next person. The only necessity is that someone keep a hand on the rope, as knots automatically untie once it reaches the last thirty feet when the rope is retracted.

Normally she uses her rod of ropes grappling hook functions to Batman aroundtraverse her hometown, Mayasoris the city of bridges, and some built up parts of Halvanna as well. With daring and skill one could get around surprisingly quickly like this.

For his part Morgan simply jumps, cloak billowing out to automatic feather fall effectslow his fall.

[Makenshi]

The Tiefling, who was still wearing a noble gown, albeit one with slits in the side having been designed with mobility in mind, nodded back to Morgan and the others before introducing herself to Nallaul. "Lady Didina Reid of Halva, a pleasure."

Originally Posted by Morgan

"Yea. If we get in trouble we can duck into one of the buildings. It'd be nice if we had a proper healer though."

"I can use a Dimension Door to return anyone injured to here so that they can get attention from the church if we get desperate." She smiles slyly. "Although I wouldn't worry so much about me, I can heal myself if need be."

On the matter of forming a telepathic bond Didina glances towards Humility. "Provided that everyone here is happy for me to form one. I've encountered more than a few people who dislike telepathy, even if it doesn't give anyone influence over you." Assuming everyone was happy with it, Didina would create a Mindlink between everyone, allowing them all to communicate with each other telepathically. Once that was dealt with Didina had one more matter to discuss before heading off, using the new telepathic link between the group. "What is the distance of that spell of yours that delays teleportations Morgan? I've a similar power which allows me to divert incoming and outgoing teleportation effects out to about...hmmm...200ft or so, provided that there isn't a Force effect blocking me. I quite like the idea of diverting them into your own spell, even if I can only do it i.e. she can divert a teleportation 1/roundonce ever few seconds." She gives them another sly smile.

Once that matter was dealt with Didina looked a little put out about having to climb down a rope, grumbling a little. "Honestly, what's wrong with using the damned stairs?" Never the less, she takes up the offer, and would go down on the knotted rope into a narrow alleyway below that ran parallel to the main street and would take them most of the way to the southern square where Rhys could see a lot of fighting going on. Upon getting down, she quickly dusted off her dress and activated another power which made her eyes glow. "For all the shapeshifters likely knocking about." She passed on through the bond.

High up above the shadow-less Shadow and Invidia continued their duel, with neither seeming to be able to gain ground against the other, especially with Shadow constantly shifting form and attacks, seemingly trying to find a way past the Lone Lord's defences and agility.

~MTWC

[Acathala]

Nallaul nearly decides to show off and climb down the tower himself. However the pragmatic drow avails himself of the rope and it is very clear he's an expert climber whom relishes the activity. What's more impressive is that he doesn't appear to be using magic, and barely seems to need the rope. You could even call his climb arachnid-like, which is no surprise given he is an arachnomancer. Finding footholds and hand-holds with ease, Nallaul is only slowed by those in front of him. After passing the rope baton thingy up to the next person, Nallaul comments "I really must remember to return to climb that tower properly. I prefer normally to climb unaided. Still not a bad climb though"

Nallaul takes a moment to center himself and use his survival training to automatically determine true north in relation to himself. On the subject of shapeshifters, he nods. "Yes, good idea. " On the subject of teleportation, he sends this telepathic missive. "If it's Greater Anticipate Teleport, I too have that spell active. The range is 30ft for me."

[DiabolicalGenius]

Humility watched the shadows recede from the increasingly familiar experience of being transported through them by either The Sword or Zilira, but while she was growing used to being thrown into strange and unfamiliar places on Aheka, the woman was unusually tense this time around. When the people present who had met her before had seen her, she had possessed the loose poise of a life-long warrior who was ready for battle at any moment, even when sleeping on her Family's own camp. There was no difference between being relaxed and being primed for battle any more once you reached a certain point. You simply found a balance between the two that you could maintain constantly and trained until it became your natural state of being. That was the usual Humility. The usual Humility was normally calm and straight-faced, but prone to a sardonic smile that gave her fine features an air of mockery towards the world and herself at the same time. The usual Humility looked unshakable and prepared to deal with any problem with the same calm, careful manner combined with an unyielding will, that made it seem that she wouldn't be surprised or disturbed come what may. Right then though, she was none of those things. Her body and stiff and wound tight as a spring, and though holding herself back with all her strength, her face was a stiff, taut mask with her clenched teeth and jaw showing the high level of tension and unease behind it. She looked as though she barely noticed anyone else there as she immediately looked left and right, up and down in a distracted, edgy manner, the red tinted lenses coving her eyes panning all around until they stopped at the dark dot far up in the sky that was drifting around as those there fought. She sees them and she stops dead, looking nowhere else.

As the others look at her it's plain that she's come straight from another battle, spatters of blood visible here and there on her mismatched clothing, a few cuts and singes marring said garments here and there that had yet to be mended. She's still holding her short swords in reverse grips in each hand, one of them still soiled with slowly drying blood that she hasn't had a chance to clean off yet. Right then though, she seemed too preoccupied to care. When Nallaul sees her, he would note that she seems to show all the traits of the pure blood drow that had been becoming rare in the Underdark even before recent events, and yet strangely seems subtly different at the same time. Just little things at first glance, shorter than a lot of drow, only five-foot-six feet tall, her curves a little more generous than drow tend to be contrasting with her perfectly trained body that is well toned and flexible from a lifetime of martial training, her features softer and not as sharp or angular as pure drow tend to be, and most notably her pointed ears are longer than usual. Almost half again as long as those of any drow he has seen. For one born and raised in the Underdark and having been familiar with drow both common and well-bred, the differences would be rather more obvious than to a surface-dweller who was used to drow-touched alone. Quite curious indeed. For now that she hears him and Rhys introduce themselves to her, finally sparking a response if not quite as proper as it usually would be.

"....Teaches Humility of the First-Born Tal'gos, in short Humility."

Her tone is curt and distracted, her gaze never shifting from the dot in the sky even as she talks. Her voice is quiet and almost haunted, but she does still reply. The need to give her name and origin properly upon meeting is deeply ingrained into her from an early age due to the customs of the Children, and she replies almost unconsciously. After that she says nothing else, but seems to hear what everyone else is saying with half an ear. Another perfunctory nod follows when Didina glances at her while offering the mindlink, obviously indicating her consent. Truth be told it was an utterly minor thing to her, since when fighting the Fiends in the World Between Worlds they used anything and everything that could give them an advantage, and the tactical benefits of a mindlink of some kind were obvious to anyone with real battle experience. She had used such things in the past herself when working with someone able to provide it. Scorning it out of some sense of personal discomfort or privacy seemed the attitude of a spoilt and soft Freeborn to her. Or at least it would if she was thinking of anything other than that black dot in the sky at that moment. Her tension just keeps winding up, the grips on her blades so tense that her knuckles would be white had her skin not been black as Indian-ink. Her white teeth make a sharp contrast against her skin as she bite down hard on her bottom lip in obvious frustration, expressing her inward struggle to maintain her self-control and equilibrium. A moment later deep-red blood trickles from the lip, down her chin to drip on her tunic. She doesn't even seem to notice.

She doesn't react as Didina creates the Mindlink, doesn't move or shift her gaze even as the others begin their descent to the street below. She stares into the sky as if obsessed and fixated, whether with hatred or terror it's impossible to tell simply from looking. It's only as she becomes the only on left on the tower that she finally seems to realise that there is a reason why she is there. It takes a good moment and a herculean exertion of will before she finally tears her visored gaze from the sky before turning and heading after the others. The uneasy look on her face remains, but she hasn't endured a lifetime of utmost physical and mental training and discipline for nothing, and she forcefully roots her attention on the task at hand like a woman desperately grasping onto something while hanging off the edge of a cliff. It's one of the hardest things she has ever done and the presence in the sky is tangible enough to feel, making her feel horribly exposed for tearing her attention from it. Trying to put business first, she gives one dismissive glance at the rope before simply ignoring it and stepping off, swooping straight down to the ground fast before slowing suddenly at the last moment and alighting without a sound. The spell her comrades had cast on her at the previous field of battle is still in effect, so that much poses no obstacle. She doesn't lower her guard no matter how she feels, knowing that the enemy is around, an enemy that she knows very well indeed. She knows better than anyone how dangerous it is and stays watchful, even as she tries to get her bearings in the strange Freeborn city.

 

 

Non-detection
Greater Resistance
Overland Flight

all cast by her fellow Children before Zilira sent her to Feid.

Humility is currently in the Hearing the Air stance and so has 30-foot Blindsense and +5 to listen.

[SpatulaOdoom]

As the rod reels itself back up and then falls when the knot anchoring it to the building unties itself Morgan looks around, noting the makeup of the group. Rhys, Eloise, and Didina he knew well enough. From her story and demeanour Humility was a warrior and scout, but she seemed distracted for some reason. Nallaul called himself an Arachnomancer, which didn't actually tell Morgan all that much. He carried no weapons or armor, and didn't comport himself as a warrior. so Morgan assumed he was more or less a pure spellcaster like himself.
”Just regular Anticipate Teleportation, but mine's about eighty feet in radius.
If you see a good opportunity to cut off an escape go ahead, but don't just go bringing in random teleporters. We have no idea how much fighting we'll need to do before this is through so let's all try to be efficient with our strength, magical or otherwise.
I think with this lot we should be fine, but I don't want to see pride or honor or any of that nonsense getting in the way. Slit throats, sucker punch, team up, kick em in the danglies, play dead, and run if you have to. Whatever it takes to get the job done and get everyone back alive. If we do get separated get back to the tower as best you can.”
There's a brief internal debate as he tries to decide who would be best taking point. Humility didn't spend much time on the mortal plane as far as he knew, so a city would be strange ground to her, and she seemed distracted, but she'd supposedly snuck up on a demigod and fighting fiends was the Children's expertise. Eloise knows cities well and is a consummate professional, but Morgan knew she was only moderately good at stealth. Better at detecting things than avoiding detection. Rhys he'd never actually seen in action, which is somewhat concerning, but he assumed he was good.
”Humility, would you please take point? Eloise on trail, everyone else in the middle. Let's see what we can do about taking as many by surprise as we can.”
Expertise wins out over stability. Hopefully being “on the job” would help to focus her.

[Makenshi]

OOC Ignore Didina's talk about the divert teleport. It seems I missed a key and crippling part of the power that makes it practically useless for her, so she'll be using Energy Conversion instead and would have told Morgan not to worry 'too much' if he had to drop a fireball or the like near her.

Rhys, still with his large bow, takes up position slightly behind Humility alongside Didina, who shifts her clothing into a more practical and threadbare dress that made her look slightly less out of place. Although he's wearing a breastplateheavily armoured, the tall human was incredibly soft of foot and as a part of the Rogue Legion he was an experienced scout, even if his true skill was at arms, Rhys has the Quick Reconoiter feat, allowing him to make a free spot/listen check every roundwith his eyes darting around on the look out for any danger.

"Now would also be a good time for everyone to share what they can do so we can anticipate how to support one another." Didina begins. "I'm a telepath, a psionic enchanter in laments terms, which means most of what I do is affecting the minds of others, from reading/altering thoughts, manipulating memories and outright dominating the minds of others or causing them to die on the spot. I've a number of other powers, including the ability to telepathically stun, manipulates objects at a distance and a few powers that protect me from harm or heal me."

"I hit things." Is Rhys' initial comment, although he does expand on it. "I'm decent with a bow but I'm best fighting with the sword you saw earlier, with which I can do a lot of damage, especially to anything not immune to critical hitsanything with squishy bits and I can also quickly disarm armed opponents with it."

~MTWC

[Acathala]

Humility sees that Nallaul keeps his white-blond hair short, which is unlike most of the male drow she may, or may not have encountered. The mage is also sporting a headband which is odds on to be magical. An Ioun stone also orbits Nallaul. Facially he seems more panther-like, perhaps leonine. A black cloak writhed and moved like a shadow, and Nallaul wore that over a black silk robe with red lining. The robe looked expensive. His red eyes are like rubies, though she gets the impression they can burn when he's angry. Right now he seems....passive for the moment.
He hesitates when Didina asks everyone what they can do. A lifetime of paranoia and suspicion is not easily disgarded like an old shoe, and frankly the woman reminds him of a drow female. However Tel'shar's fate is in his hands, and they do seem to be on the same side for the moment. Hoping he isn't going to regret this, he sends. "I have a number of battlefield control spells prepared as well as a limited amount of offensive and defensive soells. Be aware I have cloudkill." Since he is not terribly good at deception, the others can probably tell he's not very comfortable even sharing that amount of information, and that he seems to be regretting it.

[DiabolicalGenius]

The drow Child gives a silent, terse nod at Morgan's request and moves forward to take the lead of the group as they went about taking the fight to the fiends. Humility might not know these people well, having only met Morgan and Didina back at the palace, but she was a Child of the Dark to her core, and they were all about pragmatism and getting things done over all else. It was clear that Morgan was in charge here and that The Sword himself had told her to aid him however she could until her brethren could organise and join the fight on the surface. So that meant he was in charge, and she was well experienced with working within a unit in very hostile territory. Establishing clear leadership and everyone's roles was important and she had put her need to be playing the starring role in whatever group she was in past her a very long time ago. For now she throws herself into the business at hand with a will, partly out of genuine dedication and understanding of the seriousness of the situation, but almost as much just to keep herself from thinking too much about who it was that was there in that dark dot high up in the sky. She couldn't let herself think about it, or she wouldn't be able to think about anything else. The metallic tang of blood on her lips attested to that. She needed to keep her mind of that and on the work she was doing. She almost welcomed the Halvan lady's request that they describe what their respective capabilities for the sake of effective cooperation. Anything to help keep her thoughts on what was right in front of her. She replies slowly in that odd accent the Children spoke in, her tone still rather absent, though this time at least part of it is more to her giving most of her attention to watching out for enemies.

"I am a warrior of the Children of the Dark who has properly earned her sword, no more, no less. I follow the Sublime Way and am just about proficient enough to teach the young ones the basics, though there are those far more skilled than I. I tend to favour fighting with speed and subtlety over strength and force. I learnt the value of choosing your battles and fighting on your own terms far later than a should have, and paid the price. Since then I have learnt how to avoid being seen or heard when I do not wish to be. Well enough at least to sneak up on your common fiend and strike before it knows I'm there, though I won't say I'm the best there is. All have room for improvement, though I believe I should at least be more of a benefit than a hindrance....."

Her words are thick with a sense of habitual self-criticism and derision, to the point that she says it all without a second thought. She raises an arm up to her face, turning the blade it holds away from her as she used the back of a gloved hand to adjust the ruby tinted lenses that protected her sensitive vision from the light, in order to keep her view clear. It might not occur to the others, but none of them had seen what she looked like without the eye-piece yet.

[SpatulaOdoom]

”I am Morgan Wainraith, wizard of the Indicating he's capable of casting eighth level spells.eighth circle. I have some ability to fiddle with the probability of events, but you'll most likely never even notice it when I do. I'm decent in spell battle, and tougher than most, but still not much use in hand to hand combat.” He actually could outfight your average city guardsman with his quarterstaff or out-shoot them with a crossbow, but amongst a group like this and against the enemies they'd face that wasn't saying much. ”Ahh. Question Mr. Nallaul, is your cloudkill different in some way that will allow it to affect Fiends?”

”I am Eloise Watson, hunter of men and fiends. I am not a spellcaster at all. In a fight I prefer to hit hard and fast and move on, rather than be drawn into slugfests. While I usually fight at range with my signature Phaeran pistol, it is noisy, so I'll keep it sheathed until the time for stealth is past.” The lady pulls one of the blades from her boot, holding it in a throwers grip, but otherwise keeps her hands free for the moment.

Morgan and Eloise were well practised at working together, and he'd even fought with or against Rhys and Didina, but the others were unknown factors. It should prove interesting if nothing else.

[Acathala]

Nallaul looks at Morgan before replying. "No. Nor do I expect it to be. I intend it for any mortal followers they may have brought."
The other thing Humility might have noticed, is that the light didn't seem to affect his eyes, and he wasn't wearing any sort of eye protection. For his part he turns to Humility and sends "I hope that you don't feel compelled to share your leader's poetry with us."

[DiabolicalGenius]

Humility gave a slight nod as Morgan introduced himself again and described his battle potential, followed by his companion Eloise who she was meeting for the first time. A nod, but no more than that. She doesn't glance in their direction, keeping her full attention on the world around them. They were in a war zone now and could be attacked at any moment, so she had no intention of looking away and leaving herself open to attack. The dark dot up in the sky pulled at her attention insistently and she could swear she could actually feel the Lone Lord's presence upon her like a tangible weight, making her skin prickle with loathing and making it hard for her to breath. If she didn't concentrate and keep her mind centred and focused upon the task at hand, she was sure she would end up involuntarily staring up into the sky all over again, grasping her weapons in a death-grip and crouching in the shadows for fear of what she might do, or might not do for that matter. She wouldn't be able to bear it if she simply ended up huddling in fear and praying for him to just disappear from there. As it was, she controlled her breathing, slow and deep, and forced her mind to focus only one the upcoming battle. If she didn't do that, she'd end up getting herself killed by some random small fry before her hated enemy even noticed she was around.

Tense as she was, Nallaul's pleasantry ends up unintentionally irritating due to his bad timing in distracting her, and the fact that she has no idea what he's talking about. Her emotions are already bottled up a little too tightly in that particular place and time and she was in no mood to banter at all. Now that an opportune outlet for her to vent on has presented itself, she can't resist the urge to snap at him.

"Poetry? Is that some strange Freeborn joke....?"

She starts out deceptively soft spoken at first, but without raising her voice in any way that might attract the wrong kind of attention, a tangible hint of venom slowly creeps into her measured tone as she carries on.

"I don't know you Nallaul of House 'that doesn't matter now ', I only know what I have heard second hand. Whatever your circumstances or motives though, you are certainly one of the Drow who dwelt deep under the surface of Aheka, yes? In that case I should let you know that up until we heard from Zilira and The Sword in the Dark asked me to come here and offer Morgan Wainraith my help, I was down there with the other Children, helping to free the people the Drow kept enslaved down there for all this time. One of who included a foolish Child named Errant, an old student of mine, who carelessly pursued a fiend through the World Between Worlds and followed it out into the Underdark where the Drow chained him and forced him to fight for their entertainment in that arena of yours. I've seen exactly how the Drow treat their slaves first hand. Bad enough that there are Freeborn on the surface who revere the likes of Deimos and build temples in his name, but that there are people on this world who emulate the practices of the Fiends with such enthusiasm? Not only that, but they being the Drow who I might be distantly tied to by blood and who I might even look to be the same race as? If the Children did not teach that we are Children of the Dark before all else, regardless of what blood runs in our veins, I might die of the shame...."

She grits her teeth bitterly, though she doesn't mention the fact that she has much greater reason to be ashamed of the blood in her veins than that. She pauses for a moment to renew her self-control before finishing.

"So Nallaul, keep in mind that I have every reason to hate and despise your people, the blood currently staining these blades having belonged to those who didn't like the idea of their slaves being freed and were foolish enough to get in our way. Whether or not you are an exception, is something I am still reserving judgement on. It will depend entirely upon your actions, which is as fair as it gets....."

It may be that Nallaul had convinced Morgan and the others that he was their ally and worthy of being trusted, but until she sees it with her own eyes, she doesn't plan on taking anyone else word on it. The man grew up in a culture that embraced slavery and oppression, and that's not something any of the Children can just shrug off.

[Acathala]

Nllaul sighed. He supposed he'd have to expect more outbursts like that, as Tel'shar had told him of the attitudes towards slavery on the surface. The mage wished he could lie and tell them he had an epiphany when he was young that slavery was wrong, but it had been only recently that he can came into that view, which was more due to pragmatism than moral responsiblity. Thankfully the most any slave could level at Nallaul was indifference. He had never really thought about the ones whom brought him food and drink, cleaned his rooms, and washed his clothes. In a way, Nallaul supposed he was like them. He might have had more freedom, but he was never allowed to forget his place, or that his existance depended on the caprious whims of Lolth and her priestesses. A gilded cage is still a cage.
Looking directly at Humility he says "You're right. The Drow have done a lot of evil, Frankly I'm not even going to try defending them. Neither of us has any reason to trust one another. I can tell you I do not wish for a return to the same drow culture I've just left." He opens up his robe. It is not an erotic revelation as his torso is covered in scars, evidently by a bladed weapon. "This was done to me years ago. I was caught sleeping, having no spells readied. Well no useful spells anyway. If she hadn't gotten distracted, I would have died. Fortunately a pre-cast phase door was my escape roure. What happened to my would be assassin? She was caught, and as she was part of my house and female, she was confined to her room for about a couiple of weeks. If our positions had been reversed, I would have been executed." He does up his robe again.

[SpatulaOdoom]

Morgan grits his teeth as he renews his Shield spell. He'd been hoping to spare Humility's pride, but he was beginning to see that she was a more volatile personality than the other Children he'd met. Hopefully he could get through to her.
”Humility. I can sympathize with your feelings, and I have similar concerns. It's a subject I would be happy to discuss at length. Now is really NOT the time to do it. We can be reasonably assured Nallaul's best interests are tied to ours for the time being. We need you to focus on the job at hand. Be honest with yourself and decide if you are capable of doing that or not. If you can't, please head back to the temple. I'm sure you could find ways to help there without putting the team at risk.”
The mage hands out some antitoxins to Eloise and Rhys, offering a few to the other teammates.
”And please remember to use the mind link everyone. We're trying to stay quiet and hidden.”

[DiabolicalGenius]

Humility's words had been quiet and intense as she had spoken, but the tension and enmity had been clear in her voice, and more subtly evident in her controlled expression. The things she had witnessed in the Underdark were still fresh in her memories, the cruelties and abuse inflicted upon helpless people of a degree that she had thought only fiends capable of, along with the faces of those responsible. Seeing Nallaul's face had brought all that clearly to mind, and along with him catching her at a very bad time and saying something that set her off, all had made it hard for her to keep her silence. Listening to his response, she didn't soften her attitude much, though she did feel a measure of respect for the fact that he wasn't claiming it wasn't his fault or that he had nothing to do with it, simply because he hadn't done the worst of it with his own two hands. As he gestured and showed what was under his robe, she took it in out of the corner of her eye without ever fully taking her attention of their surroundings, and raised an eyebrow without any further change of expression. As he finished off and made himself decent once more, shook her head slightly and replied in a tone that was still quite cool, though not quite as accusatory as before.

"A culture that enslaves others and employs cruel and ruthless competition within their own ranks? Viciously murdering or maiming their rivals to get ahead and sadistically inflicting brutality and torture on those without the power to stand against them? Sounds like the next best thing to Cardia on Aheka, just like I said. The Drow seemed to be practically trying to become Fiends themselves. Truly you might have suffered and been discriminated against on account of being male among the Drow Nallaul, but take a moment to consider the fates of all those who couldn't escape or lacked the ability to resist at all. With nothing to protect them other than the difficulties in procuring replacements for dead slaves. How many male slaves suffered a slow and horrific demise simply because their mistress was in a bad mood? Can you even guess? Nobody was confined over such an act I'd imagine, in fact I doubt anyone even noticed it ever occurred. Not even you. So if you please, I'll save my compassion for those who truly deserve it."

The hint of anger is gone from her tone and expression, but the distance is still very much present. Her clipped voice is level and frosted with a wintery chill. As Morgan intercedes she finally removes her sideways gaze from Nallaul and sighs as she responds via the mindlink.

[There is no need to warn me off Morgan Wainraith, this is hardly the first time I've gone into battle of someone I had no liking for. I've been fighting The Enemy since before your mother and father ever met, and I at least know not to let my personal feelings get in the way. But since the man addressed me himself I felt the need to explain how things stood. If we're going to fight alongside one another, knowing how we each stand is important to avoid any conflicts interfering when it actually matters. I was simply doing Nallaul the favour of informing him that the Children won't simply forget the things his people have done, and if he wants to show that he's different than they are then he'll need to prove it. Until then he cannot be more than an ally of convenience. So long as that is understood, we won't have any other problems. Well not here and now that is. If you feel at any time that I am putting the team at risk, then don't hesitate to make it clear. I'm aware that I am imperfect still, but I would not do such a thing knowingly.]

Having vented a little on the Arachnomancer, she gotten rid of a little of her tension. But as long as HE is in the same time and place she is, then there's no way she can ever come close to being truly calm.

 

I'm using square brackets for mental communication. If there's something else that works better for you guys then please let me know.

[Acathala]

Nallaul corrects a misunderstanding Humility may have gotten. "As you rightly observe I'm not deserving of your compassion. Nor would I dare to seek it. If I die here then....it's a death I have coming. You are correct also that few of the Drow cared what happened to their slaves, which makes their abduction by the Fiends in general and that bastard up there in specific, ironic. Before you rejoice too much, they also took the children. Lolth is dead, and the young lose the chance to be free of their blood-drenched destiny within minutes."