The battle was over. Having asked and received permission to return to Rilauven to handle some unfinished business, Zorbock was in a somber mood. Zor had lived in Rilauven for only 6 months or so prior to following the Ilharess Mavralyn to Velkyn Tirith.

Arriving at a small inn near the outskirts of Rilauven, Zor purchased a room and began unpacking. Alone with his thoughts in the tiny, yet private chambers, Zor reflected upon his past...

His thoughts drifted back to when he first contacted Phyrra about the city of drow that existed deep beneath Neverwinter, and the response she gave him when she entered the inn he was staying at. He remembered quite vividly the contingent of guards she possessed at her disposal. The seasoned look each and every guard had that she commanded, he wondered at the time if he would one day have the same confidence those warriors had.

He was granted permission to enter Rilauven as a Shebali^*1, being told that it was up to him to find acceptance to one of the houses. Zor made attempts to contact one or two of the Ilharessen, but not one of them showed any interest in a mere rogue male. Then, while wandering the surface one night, he came upon a powerful drow female who possessed great beauty; beauty complimented with grace and deadliness.

Making an attempt to contact her, Zor found out who she was and sent her word that he wished to join her house. To his surprise, he received a reply.

"You will meet my daughter in Neverwinter and she will bring you to me."

Having grown up upon the surface, Zor was unfamiliar with his native language, but this time he understood every word.

It was Zelghinna who Zor first met from the house. Zelghinna the Betrayer (See note *2 at bottom). She equipped him with a badge and told him to follow her. She led him through the sewers below Neverwinter and, eventually, to Mavralyn.

After looking him over and probing Zor with questions she gave him rank within her house. He was appointed as a guard to the house. Most would scoff at this rank; however, Zor was very pleased, for he had found somebody who was willing to give him a chance.

At that point Zor made a silent vow both to Lloth and himself, "I will serve my honored matron totally, my loyalty rests with her." Zor stood firm with his commitment to Mavralyn and her house.

Zorbock's thoughts drifted back immediately upon hearing a familiar voice speak out of nowhere. Recognizing the voice, Zor wondered what Halic wanted.

"Vendui' Abbil^*2," the air seemed to whisper, "I hope you are well." The voice continued, "I need your assistance. I ask you because there are few I am willing to deal with. You must go to Alessra's Couches and retrieve the following for me."

Before Zor could question the 'voice', the list began.  Clearing everything from his mind he listened intently.

"You must bring me a few of my possessions consisting of the following items... I would like my trophies, one of which was once my father. Also, a small rock that is no larger than a fist.  This rock resembles a piece of coal.  Lastly, I'll need you to bring back a certain  bag. A bag which has special properties to it. Anything else within the room is yours," said the disembodied voice. "Once you have these possessions bring them to the cave where the Kuo-Toa once existed," Halic finally finished with this last instruction.

Zor knew where the cave was, barely, but he knew. Zor had a decision to make, if he helped his friend, then he would no longer be permitted back in Rilauven for various reasons.

There really wasn't a decision to be made. With Mavralyn no longer in Rilauven, he really didn't have the desire to return. There were many still within the drow city that he respected; however, his loyalty was with Mavralyn, his Ilharess. Zorbock knew that he served Lloth through those she favored, and to his knowledge Mavralyn had never done anything to infringe upon that 'favor'.

Untying and removing the gold sash that showed his House and ranking, Zor folded it carefully and placed it upon his bunk.  Pulling his cloak about him tighter, Zor made his way out into the streets of Rilauven. Moving towards the maze of streets known simply as ‘Rogue Alley’, Zorbock moved silently towards Alessra's Couches.

The place was a modest parlor, a simple boarding house at best. He moved towards Halic's room silently and unnoticed.  Zor made haste. He gathered the items quickly and took a few things for himself. Then he departed as quietly as he arrived.

Zorbock cast one last glance upon Rilauven. From the elevated position he was in he saw greatness. Yet at the same time he saw more corruption than he ever cared to be around. Pivoting and turning into the darkness of the tunnels, Zorbock moved with great speed. He had to deliver these items to Halic and then return to his Ilharess...

After finding her Ilharess and chatting for a short while about the progress of the city's reconstruction, Farenth went exploring and finally came to a still abandoned section. After wandering around, she found a door to a balcony off the main room. Stepping out onto the balcony, she moved to the crumbling railing and looked out over the ruins, watching the tiny figures below scurrying around, working on restoring the tattered city to it's former glory. As she watched, her thoughts wandered back to the first time she had been here...

The sounds of battle echoed in her ears as she relived her efforts in the battle...

...As she stumbled along the cave tunnels, the sounds of fighting floated to her keen ears, telling her that the battle still raged, and she was not too late to help. Following the screams and explosions, she found her way to the main cavern, and stopped short at the entrance.

Spells flew through the air before her, finding their targets among the hordes of deepbats diving and swooping at the fighters below them. Continuing to scan the cavern, her eyes landed on the form of her Ilharess, several yathrinen and sargtlinen around her, circling an ominous looking adversary, seeking a weakness in its defenses. Narrowing her eyes to focus on the enemy, recognition slowly dawned on her. *An alhoon!* Her mind screamed.

Her mind made up, she raced down the slope, aiming for the group circling around the alhoon. Flinging missiles of energy at the deepbats as they tried to score her with their poisoned tails, she charged through the mayhem surrounding her, never taking more than half her attention off her goal. She passed the group of warriors and mages working on the dracolich, sparing only the time to cast a single fireball at the monster before continuing on her way.

In her haste she stumbled over the body of a fallen slave, tumbling to the ground rather gracelessly and slicing her left leg in the calf on a jutting rock before regaining her feet. Pain lanced up her leg as she ran on.

Suddenly, she saw Mavralyn struck by one of the deepbats swooping at the party occupied with the alhoon. Mavralyn froze as the poisoned tail caught her.

*Ilharess!* Farenth screamed in her mind, distracted by what she saw. In that moment of distraction a small group of deepbats dove at her. She dived at the last minute, just barely avoiding one of the deadly tails as it swung by less than an inch from her face. Surrounded by the bats she no longer had the chance to get to her Ilharess.

She flung a bolt of lightning at the bats, catching two of them in its flight towards the ceiling. The bolt struck a stalactite, bounced back, and crashed in down to the ground next to her. A stray shard struck her in the chest, slicing her right shoulder nearly to the bone. The blood flowed from her shoulder as the added pain nearly blinded her.

Quickly trying to mentally block the searing agony from the deep wound, she dove to the ground as the remaining bats continued to dive at her from above. *This isn't working* she thought. Carelessly, she flung a cloud of poisonous gas into the air above her, catching two more of the bats. But the cloud started to float down, and in her weakened state she suffered the effects of her own spell.

The fumes blurred her eyes and burned her throat as she watched the two bats crash to the ground screaming in pain as the noxious gas burned their eyes as well. Grabbing her flail from her waist, she dove at the bats and sent killing blows to their heads. Her dive carried her out of the cloud and she rolled painfully to her feet, just as the four remaining bats dived at her again. Her flail arched through the air, catching one of the bats in the wing as the others veered out of the weapons path. CRACK! She heard the bones snap as the bat fell to the floor. 

Ignoring the fallen beast for the moment, she focused her concentration on her remaining enemies. Now using the powers that Jhiieri had been kind enough to show her how to control, she screamed a word and flung her hands up commandingly at the ceiling above the circling bats, dropping her flail in her desperation.

The ceiling shuddered as her command caused a dozen of the stalactites to break free, a few slamming into three of the surviving bats, dragging them down to be crushed by the weight of the formations. The last bat had been lucky, just barely avoiding the falling objects. Farenth dove quickly out of the way, landing just outside the circle of devastation she had started. Landing on her side, the fall caused the gash on her left leg to tear open farther and waves of fresh agony dizzied her momentarily. The blood from her shoulder and leg had now drenched her clothing, plastering the heavy robes to her body. 

Dragging herself up to her knees, she ducked as the remaining deepbat dove for her head. Screaming in anger, she gestured towards the creature and spoke another of the now familiar arcane words. As her hand flung out and pointed to the diving bat, it burst into flames in mid-air. As the burning body crashed to the ground, Farenth pulled herself to her feet, retrieved her flail, and stumbled towards the bat with the broken wing flailing upon the ground. 
"LLOTH TLU MALLA!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed as she brought her flail down upon its skull.

Collapsing to the ground beside it, she struggled to block the pain from her wounds. As the pain faded into a dull ache, she reached her free hand to her shoulder and murmured a healing spell, feeling the wound slowly close beneath her hands. Looking up for a moment, she saw the fighting had stopped and those who were still alive were wandering around the devastation seeking out the wounded.

Looking down again, her eyes fell to the bleeding gash in her calf. Setting down her flail next to her, she set both hands on either side of the wound and pushed it together, casting another healing spell as she did. The wound closed, and with it, the dull throbbing stopped. Retrieving her flail, Farenth slowly rose to her feet and began walking towards the spot where she had last seen her matron, dreading the thought of seeing the powerful drowess among the dead. 

As she drew nearer, she saw Mavralyn alive and standing, and being tended by one of the other yathrin. Eyes meeting for a brief moment, Farenth forced a small smile on her face. Then turning, she began to scan the bodies, searching for others in need of healing. A short distance away she spotted one of the fortunate slaves kneeling next to a fallen drow. Deciding to take a closer look, she began walking towards them. 

The slave looked up, and Farenth saw fear and concern flash across the slave's face, as the slave moved protectively closer to the fallen male. Now able to make out the face of the male, she recognized Tullarix, the Ilharess' first son. She had been contemplating asking him to be her personal guard. A soft smile came to her face, and she saw the slave relax a little.

*So, she fears that I will hurt him... interesting* she thought. She watched as the slave turned back to Tull and began to call upon a minor healing spell to repair his wounds. Just as Farenth decided to speak, the slave looked up for a brief moment.

"No slave, I shall deal with this one. You may go and assist the others in need of healing," Farenth said softly.

The female tensed at her words and slowly shook her head. Farenth frowned and stepped closer to her, looking down into her eyes.

"And why do you not obey me slave?" there was faint anger in her voice.

Because," she replied softly, "he is my master, yathrin. I can not leave his side while he is still injured."

Farenth chuckled and nodded. "You are a good slave..." she paused, searching for her name.

"Tilfahr, yathrin. My name is Tilfahr," she whispered.

"Ahhh, I have heard of you from Tull before," Farenth replied. Then, without elaborating, Farenth knelt down on Tull's other side and gently shook his head, waking him from sleep. As Tull looked up at her in surprise and confusion, she laughed softly.

"Tullarix, you must be more careful in the future. It would not be good if you got yourself killed. You would prove to be a less than adequate guard for me if you did." she told him, mischief glinting in her eyes.

Drawing a symbol on his chest and murmuring a few words, Farenth sent a flood of power into Tull's body, healing as it spread through him. His bruises faded, and the gashes on his chest closed and faded without a mark left behind to show that they had ever been there. She saw Tilfahr watching in amazement as Tull's body healed quickly, right before her eyes.

As the power continued to spread through his body, it completed the healing that Tilfahr had started on the more severe burns, and finally extended out to his arms and legs. As it flooded his broken arm, the slave watched as he arched his back and clamped his eyes shut, for the magic was healing the broken bone at an extremely painful rate.

Finally, the flood of power stopped and Farenth lifted her hand from Tull's chest. As the power faded, Tull collapsed into an exhausted sleep. Turning to Tilfahr, Farenth spoke in a voice that was surprisingly gentle.

"Watch him, slave. See that no one disturbs him for the next few hours." Farenth rose to her feet and gracefully walked off to see to the other wounded still in need of healing...

...As the memory faded Farenth shuddered. The battle had been fierce, and yet, she had quietly reveled in the bloodshed. Remembering the slave that she had found with Tull, she shook her head. *The slave could be trouble. She is too emotionally involved with him* she thought. *It will prove a weakness of his, if he is not careful. I do not need a body-guard with a weakness like that. I shall need to talk with him about this slave of his.* She slowly turned away from the balcony, making her way down to the ground floor.

Heading towards the pens where she had left Flame, she began to think of her place in Rilauven. *I do not belong there. They do not need me. Here, they need me. There is much I can do here, much I could accomplish.* she decided. *I must go back and finish my business in Rilauven... Bid farewell to malla Ilharess Katishya...* She reached the pens and whistled for Flame. He came galloping up, eager for some exercise.

Bridling him, she vaulted onto his bare back and sent him toward the exit to the caverns, making her way back to the surface, and then, on to Rilauven...

---

Aftermath
by Mavralyn Elythanar

Mavralyn paced about on the top most balcony of the old structure her small group had discovered and worked on to make habitable again.  From where she stood, the huge column that now housed the Tier Breche stood tall and proud bathed in the dancing lights of faerie fire about the exquisite carvings and abutments.  The normal silence of the underdark did not prevail here with the constant rush of water from the swift flowing Underground River that wound it's way through the cavern.

A savage glow of pride burned within the sapphire orbs as the powerful drowess looked about at the bustle of the compound below.  Each drow that survived the battle with those that had claimed this cavern their own had shown a brutal grace and enjoyment at the challenge.  The alhoon and its pets had battled fiercely, difficult adversaries that had not gone down easily.  A slight frown marred the smooth brow a moment as Mavralyn remembered those that had not survived.

Ilinditha, hard pressed with several of the oversized deepbats trying to get at the young drowess, fought with a bloodthirsty vengeance.  Unable to concentrate enough to cast over the loud echoing screech of the creatures, a snarl of rage contorted her features as her flail kept the huge bats at bay.

The timely arrival of a seasoned drow warrior changed the tide of the raging fight just as one poisoned tail struck the battling drowess slowing her actions as she froze from the paralyzing venom.  Arrows sprouted from the deepbats swooping down on Ili, dropping them instantly as the poisoned tips found their mark.  The quiet snick of swords being drawn went unheard over the screeching as the flash of fine blades began an exquisite display of speed and style.

The males danced with deadly grace about the enormous bony form of a dracolich as their dark forms darted in and out of reach of its huge claws and fangs.  More deepbats dived and attacked the drow from above, striking with their poisonous tail and fortunately missing more often than not.

The mass press of bodies and the screams of those wounded and dying joined in the cacophony of sound.  The drow, nobles, servants, and slaves, fought the alhoon's forces in a bloody fight for a promise of conquest, treasure, and freedom.

Mavralyn and Shado, with a small force of yathrinen and sargtlinen, faced the alhoon in a deadly test of powerful magic and a fanatical desire to see this creature destroyed.  Knowing the pallid illithilich^*3 could stun them with a thought kept them circling about the undead Illithid^*4 seeking a weakness. The flicker of several small fires lit up the area with dancing shadows.

As Mav moved to find an opening, a flash of metal drew her attention to an amulet that hung about the alhoon's neck.  Distracted by the glint she failed to see the attack of a deepbat as it dove down and hit with it's poisoned stinger.  Mavralyn felt the poison stiffening her limbs rendering her helpless as the illithilich turned towards her frozen form.

It was then one of the young yathrinen charged forward with a howl of rage.  The alhoon turned its head towards this new threat and a mind blast caught the enraged priestess full force and stopped her cold. The writhing tentacles reached for the defenseless female and swiftly burrowed into the exposed flesh, seeking the living brain.

Unable to take her gaze away from the scene before her to observe any possible new menace, Mavralyn watched as the undead creature's attention diverted to the unfortunate drowess.  Then Shadosin stepped forward and began chanting, gathering the energy for a final assault against this powerful foe. The young yathrin's guard chose that moment to dive into the alhoon trying to break its hold from the priestess.  All three seemed to disappear as a swarm of fiery meteors left Shado's fingers and slammed into the struggling group, exploding in a blinding blast...

Mavralyn shook the memories from her thoughts and once more looked upon the vast cavern spread out before her.

*1.  Houseless rogue.
*2.  NOTE: Zel was First Daughter for a time until her ambitions grew stronger than her fear of Mavralyn. She was banished from Elythanar by Mavralyn and later adopted into the Qu'ellar Faen Tlabbar, First House of Rilauven. Zel eventually became Matron of the First House shortly after Mavralyn left Rilauven. So some remember her as "the Betrayer".
*3.  Another term for the undead mind flayer, S'rovetele.
*4.  Ilithid is the species name for mind flayer.