““My, my…haven’t you started a delightful little war!”
Upon hearing those words from the well-dressed drow gentleman with the rapier pointed at her party, Imogen felt a moment of disorientation, and found the world around her once again shifted. The circumstances were the same, though her companions were once again those with whom she fell in the battle with the deep gnomes.
As before, she questioned her perceptions, though pushed things aside as a matter of magic working in mysterious ways. These shifts of perception may be dangerous, but all things equal, her shifting perceptions weren’t pointing a blade at her throat at the moment; better to deal with the matters at hand before speculating about the whims of the universe.
The mysterious drow introduced himself as Merinid Dalael, though refused to name his allies, only saying that they were no friend of the Lolth, the Spider-Queen. Further questioning indicated that Hostar, the “kidnapped” drow, was a “guest” in the compound; alive for the moment, though one who wouldn’t be leaving any time soon.
Imogen focused her mental energy and attempted to influence Dalael to release Hoshtar to the party, though her more experienced opponent immediately saw the attempt for what it was. Dalael advised the party’s Melarn priestess to “better control her slave”, but also indicated that (as House Melarn suspected) Hoshtar had come to meet with the Council elders of his own free will. He also indicated that that meeting had been cut short, and that the Elders would never speak again, thanks to his intervention.
Imogen’s drow companions were momentarily stunned by this revelation. Imogen, though, took the opportunity to conjure ghost sounds of a struggle coming from the door behind Dalael, hoping to elicit more information. The man is momentarily startled, muttering quietly “not yet…not yet”, before falling into a combat stance, favoring the party with a haughty laugh, telling them that their mere presence here has already served his purpose, and that they were mere pawns in much larger game. The party braced for his attack, not entirely expecting him to quickly disappear through the doors behind him, followed by the appearance of two humanoid creatures made of shadow in his place…
The party’s fighter and warlock launched into the fray, immediately attempting to engage the enemy shadow creatures, who were soon joined by larger humanoids clad in dusky armor, who attempted to control the flow of battle in the small room. Mightly blows are traded by the melee combatants, while Imogen attempts to turn the enemies against one another, and the party’s other wizard calls down the elemental power of lightning to strike several foes at once.
The battle rages, flowing into the hallway behind the doorway; it almost appears as if they combatants are leading the party there. The figher falls to one of the armored abominations, though is soon raised by the priestess, who then strikes down one of the shadow creatures with a mighty blow from her mace. The fight continues down a narrow corridor, the fighter pressing the advantage, and the shadow creatures falling back strategically. The party’s other wizard attempts to flank the enemy by approaching from an adjoining hallway, eventually making his way to a position behind some of them, launching bolts of force and allowing the melee combatants to slay two of the smaller creatures. They fall, though not before triggering what could be described as a death curse: a cloud of magickal obscuring mist with the power to blind their enemies, in this case, the fighter and priestess.
Imogen advances cautiously behind the main line of battle, working where she can to arrange the battlefield to the advantage of her companions, particularly the war wizard, who is able to launch a powerful blast of flame into a group of enemies as the priestess and fighter work to shake their arcane blindness.
The battle flows further through the narrow hallway, eventually arriving in a well-well appointed magical library and laboratory. Standing in the center of the room, in front of a table festooned with volitile alchemical reagents is Merinid Dalael, holding a gleaming dagger to the throat of a bound and gagged Hoshtar!
The remaining armored shadow creature blocks entry to the room, though is standing close enough to Dalael for Imogen to strike, forcing powerful illusions of a widening chasm under the feet into the minds of her adversaries, causing them to fall to the ground, immobile and psychically damaged. The war wizard follows up this attack with another gout of flame, felling the final shadow and setting the area, including Dalael, alight with magickal flame.
With Dalael bloodied and immobile, Imogen attempts to once again negotiate Hoshtar’s release and perhaps Dalael’s surrender. He resists, however, driven by his desire for chaos and war. he is eventually felled by the warlock’s enchanted blade, taunting the party as he expires, ranting about how the war cannot be stopped, that “the wizards of the city will not allow the slaughter of so many of their own to go unpunished! Tension is already at a boiling point, thanks to the Avatar of Lolth! You have simply provided the spark to ignite the flames!”
The party questions Hoshtar, who provides some context to the situation. He did, in fact, come to this location willingly, at the invitation of his cousin, a wizard of house Xorlarrin, to speak to a representative of the council about it’s aims. That representative, as well as his cousin, lie dead on the floor of the laboratory. they’d hoped to secure Hoshtar’s support to their cause, to increase the power and influence of the wizards of Menzoberranzan through political means. Hoshtar rebuffed their advances, of course, and professed loyalty to Lolth. Dalael interrupted the meeting with his shadow creatures, however, slaying the Council wizards and drawing the attention of the priestesses of Lolth, who sent the party to intervene, leading to an insurmountable rift between the priestesses and wizards, igniting a civil war within Menzoberranzan.
Imogen, upon examining the bodies of the fallen, recognizes the shadow creatures as having historical ties to the Shadowfell, the dark realm of the fey. In the great drow city’s history, these sorts of creatures have always been tied inextricably to one group; a secretive group of assassins seeking to upset’s Lolth’s tyranny over the city, who, in centuries past, have set armies of orcs and duergar (corrupted dwarves) against Menzoberranzan. Sowing conflict between the servants of Lolth and the city’s community of wizards would certainly further the assassin order’s aims.
She shares this knowledge with the party, as they divide up the spoils of war – coin and magickal artifacts. As the drow argue over who should take posession of a set of enchanted armor, Imogen deftly pockets a magickal crystal orb she finds secreted away on a dusty bookshelf. She does not share news of this discovery with her companions.
The party, with Hoshtar in tow, returns to their patrons with the results of their mission. The house leaders listen patiently, left with much to think about. The spectre of war looms over the city, and wizards who they thought to be allies have sought to meet secretly with enemies of Lolth. The future of the city, and the dominion of the servants of Lolth is at risk. The leaders retreat to their various lairs with much to think about.
For her part, so does Imogen. As a part of House Melarn, her interests lie with preserving the status quo with power in the hands of Lolth’s priestesses. However, as a slave, unrest within the city might mean a chance for escape to the surface and freedom from her chains. Indeed, she has much to consider about her actions in the days to come.
