Meanwhile, deep in the Underdark, Jarlaxle watches in confusion as the magical lights of the city flicker. Faerie Fire doesn't flicker, there's no air down this far to give that affect. He turns to Kimmuriel, wondering if the powerful psionicist had any ideas. But he was as lost as he was on this. For the last five years things have been normal. Then over the last few days this had been going on. Jarlaxle wasn't sure what to think, but he can't shake something bad was about to happen. Like the calm before the storm. Not only that but it feels as it magic itself is growing weaker. The air is heavy, and hard to breath. Some of the lesser Drow have packed up and left. While some of the Priestess were already working on sacrificing people in the name of Lolth to 'fix' the problem. A lot of good that was doing. It's almost a repeat of the Time of Troubles, but this doesn't feel right. Athrogate had already left to Mithral Hall some time ago. Not that he could blame the Dwarf. Jarlaxle pulls out a old heart shape locket, inside was a picture of Drizzt. The fair Lady Alustriel made it ages ago to help Cattie-brie find the Drow. Now Jarlaxle was wondering if he should use this locket to find him. He needs answers and maybe leaving the Underdark would be for the best, for now. Kimmuriel doesn't like his plan, which is nothing new, but after some talking into, the elf opens a portal, just outside a cave that leads to the Underdark.
Just as Jarlaxle steps through, he feels this horrid pull. He fights the portal and ends up on the other side safely, but it slams shut behind him. He paints deeply as he lays on the ground, trying to catch his breath. What had just happened?" He slowly gets up, but he feels heavy. He checks his items, and much like the Underdark they feel weak, as if all his enchantments are just slowly fading. He needs to move, now or he's never going to find Drizzt. He knew things were bad, but he had no idea things were just this bad. Somewhere, some miles away from Mithral Hall Drizzt stood just outside the tree line that lead into the forest. Bruenor had locked the doors to the Hall, there was no going back. The Spellplague had hit the area hard, leaving the area with little to no magic. It had killed his love Cattie-brie, and his long time friend Regis. They were far to young in his mind, they had deserved better. But there was nothing more he can do. He can barely summon Guenhwyvar to his side. He plans to make his way to Silverymoon, but he can barely find the will to move. He feels lost, empty. How did things go so wrong? He was finally free to admit his love to Cattie-brie, and now she was gone. They had a few good happy years together, but it should have been more. She should have died as a old and happy woman. Not a woman killed by a plague. But he needs answers, to find out what in the world happened, so he says his good-byes and picks up Taulmaril, Cattie-brie's bow and slowly heads off into the forest.
It's like some kind of miracle that Jarlaxle finds Drizzt midway into the forest. Drizzt pauses when he sees the Drow, not really knowing what he could want. The last time they had crossed paths was when Jarlaxle made a friend of his look like Cadderly, a friendly priest Drizzt knew. He had then used the Crystal to create a tower and made him have one last fight with Artemis. Artemis won, or so he was lead to believe and Drizzt was free to go. He keeps his hands near his swords as Jarlaxle holds out his hands. "Wait, I know we're not friends and you don't trust me. You have no reason to, but hear me out. I came to find you." Drizzt lowers his hands. "Why?" "Magic is fading....or dying I don't know which. I had Kimmuriel send me through a portal, but it slammed shut on me.." He takes a slow deep breath. "I...I don't think I can go back..." Drizzt watches him closely as he shakes his head. "The Spellplague." Jarlaxle rises a single brow. "The...what now?" Drizzt shrugs helplessly. "I'm on my way to Silverymoon for answers..." Jarlaxle nods slowly as he joins his fellow Drow. "Is...it just me, or does the air feel....heavy?" Drizzt looks up slightly as the walk. "I have noticed that as well. Most of my magical items have become useless. I can't even summon Guenhwyvar." He goes quiet for awhile, he's not really sure if he should be telling Jarlaxle this. But right now he's willing to let anyone join him. Jarlaxle doesn't seem much of a threat right now and they have other things to worry about.
"Where is Artemis?" Drizzt can't help but ask. Jarlaxle is about to answer, but he shakes his head. "I have no idea.." He digs into his pockets for a bit as he finds a small pin. The other one, is still hidden on Artemis' belt. "It's....faint, like he's alive but he's not here. Like he's somewhere else, but I can't tell where..." Drizzt isn't sure what to say to that. "The Crystal Shard?" "Gone, I tried to use it. But Artemis helped me to see that not even I could control it. So we paid a visit to that Cadderly fellow and found the shard could be destroyed using the fires of a red dragon. The plan worked, sadly one of my men died, but he betrayed me." He shrugs slightly, it didn't really matter anymore. "To be fair, I did try and help Artemis. Though I admit most of my ideas fell flat. The void that man lives in is deep. I learned things I don't think most people know of the man..." Drizzt stays quiet as he talks. The air in the forest feels the same as it did under ground. He doesn't like it, it's as if all nature is off balance. It's going to take them days to reach Silverymoon, so they may as well fill in the silence. "I'm surprised to see you alone.." Jarlaxle turns to Drizzt. He just looks the other way. "The plague killed two of my friends..." "O-oh..." Seeing the bow, Jarlaxle has a good idea who he lost so he's not going to say anything. For the next couple of days they talk lightly. Drizzt still doesn't fully trust Jarlaxle, but the next few days make things better.
A couple of weeks pass as they finally start to get close to Silverymoon. Drizzt is surprised they didn't come across any Orc's in their travels. But as they got closer to the city, they can't help but notice the large pillars of smoke coming from the grand city. They move slowly as they make it to the main path and they freeze. Lining the road are the bodies of elves, mages, priest, and other races. But set in the middle of it all, was Alustriel herself. Stripped naked and tied to a post, the words 'traitor' are caved into her delicate skin. Blind with rage, Drizzt was about to go storming into the city. But Jarlaxle stops him just before the guards could see them. Drizzt fights him, but Jarlaxle gives him a hard slap to the face. "Enough.." The sting was enough to give him pause. "There's nothing we can do here. We're outnumbered. Just...look.." Drizzt looks around slowly, Jarlaxle was right. For some reason, the people here have turned on anything nonhuman or anyone that used magic. "We step into that city, we're as good as dead..." Drizzt lowers his head at this, a few tears running down his cheeks. It takes Jarlaxle a few tugs to get him to walk away. However, there lays the problem. Where could they go? If most cities were turning out like this. "Where to now?" Drizzt lets out a low sigh, then blinks. They had one option left. "Longsaddle, a group of mages live there. If anyone is left to help us, it will be them." Jarlaxle smiles brightly as he places his hand on his shoulder. "To Longsaddle then!"
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Artemis shivers, and not from the cold. They had just entered a small town called Morthal, Evelyn was wearing her Arch-Mage robes. They looked warm and covered her well. She turns her head back to him. "You okay?" She saw him shiver, because Morthal is surrounded by marsh, there's always a chill in the air. "Fine.." They were on a job, a simple one. Take out a new merchant that had set up shop in the small town. He was located near the back just past Falion's home. She just shrugs as she enters the small shop. The place was ran by a dark elf, and it looked like he was still setting up. It looked shady, but that's why she was here. From what her 'employer' told her. The elf had a habit of stealing his goods from him and sold them cheaper. The elf looks up and gives her a charming smile. But it's more creepy then charming. Artemis just walks off to the side, pretending to look around. She leans over the counter, his eyes trail down just slightly. "I was looking for something, rare." He smirks as he takes her to the back room. She doesn't stay for long before she comes out, cleaning her dagger. She shutters slightly. "I need a bath after that.." She frowns a bit as she walks over to Artemis. "Seriously, what's with men and breast?" He says nothing as he looks the other way. She crosses her arms, still waiting for an answer but he's not about to give her one. "Fine, keep your secrets." She lowers her arms and heads out of the shop. They head south, so no one will take notice of them. Not that there's a lot of guards out here to start with. They find the road as Artemis turns his gaze south as they walk. "What's that?" He can see the outline of what looks to be one of the Nordic ruins that dot Skyrim.
"That's Labyrinthian. Like the name suggest, the place is huge.." He's still looking up at the place. She gives him a slight nudge as she makes her way up the path. They head up until they reach the main level of the ruins. Artemis moves slowly as they enter the large courtyard. He had never seen a place this big. It's quiet, the only sound is the wind. Evelyn keeps her eyes open for Ice Trolls. But there don't seem to be any around. "There's also a maze here." He gives her a confused look as she leads the way. There's a small tunnel that leads to a door. They're still outside as she goes up another set of stairs. Once he joins her, he looks down to see a large maze. It was shaped like an hour glass, the end leading to a Word Wall. She had told him about them before. "What was this maze for?" Evelyn leans forward on the ledge. "I think it was used by the Arch-Mages in the past as a test. I don't think it works the way it used to." He joins her, looking out at the maze. The place is old, there's no telling how long this place sat here, untouched. "Wonder what the prize was." "A staff no doubt, mages used to carry staffs. In fact it used to be mandatory to make them. But times changed, some people still use staffs but not as often." After a few minutes or so of standing there, she turns and heads back. They needed to head north back to Dawnstar. She already explored this place to it's fullest and knows there's really nothing here anymore.
As they head north, Artemis can't hold back another shiver. "Are you sure you're okay?" He frowns slightly as he walks. "Ever get the feeling someone is talking about you?" She chuckles slightly. "Are you kidding?" He turns to her, realizing that's a stupid question. "I mean personally." She nods her head at this. "Ah, no, so you think someone is talking about you?" "It feels that way.." She wraps her arm around his shoulder. "Ah, it'll be okay, if it's anything bad, I'll stab them in the eye for you." He shakes his head slightly, but says nothing. Once they make it back to the road, she summons Arvak, he summons his own horse and they ride off together. It's near night time when they make it back. She makes her way over to Nazir who's in the middle of listening to Cicero tell his own story. "You're back." "Aye, the elf is dead, the employer will know soon enough and we'll pop in to tell him. We don't want anyone to think he's responsible." Nazir chuckles softly. "Of course not." She sits herself down, Cicero quickly taking the chair next to her. "Oh Cicero can finish his story now!" Artemis takes a chair across from her as she lifts one shoulder. "I once followed the Grand Champion, he had no idea I had been hired to kill him." Artemis rises a brow. "There's an arena in Cyrodiil. I think it's still running. Anyways, you fight and to climb the ranks.." Cicero nods along with this. "I played the part of a loyal fan, then stabbed the fool when he wasn't looking!" Nazir is just slowly shaking his head as Babette joins them. "I think I remember that fellow." Evelyn looks up. "Handsome, a bit of an arse though. Wasn't he into..." She pauses then goes quiet. "Yeah I remember him..."
She wasn't a fan of the arena. She wasn't sure what it was about the place. She's all for fighting, but to the death seems pointless. "There's was this one time, me and a few guards where hired to look after this mansion. I...don't remember where, but it was remote. Now we had no idea what we were guarding but this guy was borderline paranoid someone would break in. Well one night, I decided to go look, he had.." She tries to remember what it was. "A vault...he called it, like a huge safe built into the wall. Anyways I got in, the room was full of bones...tiny...bones. We arrested him." She shakes her head slightly. "I don't think he was brotherhood, the guy was just off his rocker..." Cicero removes his hat, running his hand through his hair. "Ohh I remember that story. The Lairour Mansion there was only one person living there. And Cicero thought he went mad." Evelyn helps herself to some food as she sits there. Babette is happy with a small bottle she had she kept blood in. She can eat, but she doesn't need it to survive so she doesn't bother. "Do you ever miss food?" "Sometimes I crave sweets, other then that I don't miss hunger." Evelyn knows well enough if vampires go long enough without blood, they can go insane. It does make them more powerful, but it's risky. "I think I like food far to much to give it up. Hell half the time I still feel like a teenage with how hungry I get." She does burn through a lot of energy with all the traveling she does. Babette looks her over. "You could use a little more meat on your bones." Evelyn puts down her fork. "Hey...are you trying to fatten me up?" "Listener I don't think that would be an issue."
After awhile she heads for her room to change out of her robes. She feels better once she's in her more normal clothes. Not that she minds the robes she's given. But there's so much fluff to them sometimes she gets to warm in them. She runs her hand through her hair as she sees Artemis slowly wonder in. He's like her new shadow now. He got so used to following people it's like a habit. Oddly she finds she doesn't mind having him around. He's like the more sane part of her brain that puts things in the right spot. He understands her as well as she understands him and it's formed an interesting bond over time. It's unlike any bond she's created with anyone else. He even trusts her, to a small degree. "I should go talk with the Night Mother before I do anything. Make sure there's nothing new before taking that hot bath. I still feel gross.." She turns as she heads for the Night Mother. "You know, I don't mind people looking at me. Really I don't it's when their gaze starts to travel." He glances up, looking into her eyes. "Most men can't help themselves." "And that earns them a dagger in the gut.." He can't help but wince as she chuckles slightly. She grabs some paper and a pen before she sits herself by the Night Mother. There's always work that needs to be done.
