(General POV)
Shadowheart's chest flashed with an unfamiliar rage as she watched the snake slithering up to the Tiefling child, the hissing of both beast and druid making her hand unconsciously twitch for her spear.
The relief she felt when she saw the elf choking on nothing made her scar flash with a searing pain, forcing her to hold her voice down.
An utter failure, judging by the grey elf's curious sideways glance.
Her Lady's challenges were demanding indeed.
(Reyvin's POV)
"What a disgusting sight to walk upon." I spoke darkly as I walked down the stone staircase "Threatening a child with painful death by poison, and for what?" I tilted my head "Stealing a fancy trinket?"
The other druids were already readying their weapons and their animal companions were rearing up to lunge at me, even a trio of obviously transformed rats in the grass were glaring daggers into me from their little grassy hideout.
"Let her go!" The druid leader's human second ordered, magically charged club in his hand.
"Shh." I rose a finger in front of my mouth, and his voice disappeared.
Thus satisfied I turned to the filth in front of me "Now." I ordered "Unless you want to learn how it feels to be filleted from the inside out." The creature trembled "You will let the kid go, and apologize for the mere insinuation of the filth you threatened her with."
The other druids had had enough, but found they too couldn't move now, and their growing terror was like a fucking perfume to my spiteful soul.
The despair of the deserving was a powerful and favored tonic.
Ulitmately, the ginger shit was a true coward at heart and nodded rapidly, falling like an empty sack and coughing painfully as I released my hold on her.
"Well?" I asked as she looked up to me, my arms crossed.
She flashed me with a hateful glare but still looked to the terrified child "Apologies, you may leave." She bit out.
The poor girl trembled in fear and confusion but a pat on the shoulder drew her back to the present as I motioned to the exit with my head "Get going girl, your parents are terrified for you."
"Thank you." She quickly mumbled and ran off.
The druids, who were now permitted to move, merely congregated hesitantly around their slowly rising leader, notably not aiding her as she pulled herself up.
"What do you want in our grove?" She demanded as she dusted herself off, the flash of defiance in her eyes dying the instant they met mine again.
"Your continued existence persists at my leisure." I stated, the cold echo of my voice making many of them shiver at the sudden drop in temperature "You have received the first strike." I leaned in, making her take a step back "There will not be a second."
The three rats on the edges of the chamber stirred angrily but remained where they were.
"With that fact cleared up." I straightened back up "We are in need of your most well studied healer for a quick consultation."
"Nettie is our best, she is in the back." Kagha hissed "Is that all?"
"For now." I hummed, allowing the pathetic worm to stumble away and lick her wounds.
"Well now." Astarion hummed, pure amusement dancing in his eyes "That was certainly something."
"A bit over the line." Wyll added "But it couldn't have happened to a better person."
"Do try not to moralize at me, kid. It's a waste of breath." I deadpanned.
He frowned in surprise at the sudden and direct admonishment and took a step back, though remaining silent.
"In any case." I continued "Gale and Lae'zel are with me. The rest of you can snoop around." I waved flippantly before smirking and whispering "My conspiracy senses are tingling."
Not waiting for their opinion, I began walking to the most pungent section of the underground sanctuary.
(General POV)
"I am not sure if the way he does things is insufferable or inspiring." Durge mutered, half-annoyed as the trio left them.
"Don't take it too personally." Astarion said with a knowing smirk "People like him are quite simply above the usual pretenses we like to hide behind."
"And this justifies it?" Wyll, feeling just a tad flustered, asked.
"Justifies?" Astarion tilted his head, looking at the man patronizingly "Whoever said anything about justice?"
The adventurer clicked his tongue but held his silence.
"Oh fine, be like that." Astarion sniffed "I am going to and do our terrifying new master's bidding and actually snoop, he has me all curious." And before the rest could protest he slinked away in the opposite direction, absently muttering to himself "Never thought I'd get into druid drama..."
"I'll go and check on the child." Wyll said after a moment, though his true intention of just getting some air was plain for all to see.
Durge watched them all go before exhaling and turning to his sole remaining companion "Maybe we should look around as well Shado-" He paused.
The half-elf was completely ignoring him and staring into a half-faded mural on the wall, depicting darkly armored figures wielding spears and shields, standing before some unknown enemy.
"The Dark Justiciars." He heard her mutter to herself before she blinked rapidly and twitched as if in pain as she realized she had been noticed.
"Know something about that mural?" Durge asked.
"No." She said far too quickly "It just had me curious about why druids would paint it like that."
"Mhm." The draconic sorcerer voiced his obvious disbelief but let it go "Come on then, you look like you need a breath of air."
She nodded in thanks and followed him out.
(Reyvin's POV)
"I'm afraid that is all I can do." The dwarf druid healer woman, Nettie, frowned, having just waved a thorny branch in front of Gale's face with barely a touch of druidic magic and hoping it would work.
"What a waste of time." Lae'zel growled.
And for once, I found myself in agreement "Should have tried kissing his boo-boos away, might have worked better."
Gale choked down his laughter.
"You are the ones asking for my help." The druid huffed "Bloody Mind Flayer tadpoles aren't something I am used to dealing with!"
"And yet." I pointed at her stone desk, one holding a jar with a tadpole floating within just beside a Drow corpse with its head carved open "You obviously know something more than we."
"That was Master Halsin's project." The woman frowned.
"You really know nothing?" I frowned, tapping my foot "I could heal them all right now but I am trying not to wipe their brains while extracting the thing, and it is too volatile to just disintegrate."
She blinked in surprise "All I heard from Master Halsin is that these tadpoles are different than usual, something's stopping them from transforming but it still gives the host some of its power."
"That was our experience as well." My lips thinned in annoyance.
"Look, if you want someone who actually knows about these things, you need to get Halsin." She said "And not just because he is our true leader and can put a stop to Kagha's idiocy." She added with a huff.
"How lucky." I pinched the bridge of my nose and forced myself to be patient "Thank you for your help, and apologies for the snark."
She laughed at that "Don't worry yourself over it, ain't no healer out there who isn't used to some sass."
"Very true." I chuckled and waved for the duo "Come."
The instant we stepped out of the healer's laboratory and into the library, Lae'zel couldn't help but hiss out "You see now? We waste our time and learn nothing. Only my people can show you the truth."
'Changing tactics, are we?' I quirked an eyebrow "That isn't the complete truth, now is it?" I tilted my head at the wizard "Gale, what did we learn?"
"That the tadpoles were here before the crash." He answered immediately.
"And that a group of people are using them as a form of empowerment." I went on leadingly.
Gale's eyes brightened "Almost like a cult."
"A Gaikh cult?!" The Githyanki growled "We must purge this abomination from existence!"
"Indubitably." I nodded and raised a finger to forestall her rant "Not without preparation however."
"You have a plan, this is obvious." Lae'zel said after a moment "Very well, I will follow."
Both eyebrows raised, I gave her a reevaluating look "Happy to have your true cooperation then. But first we must find our target, and we can't leave the Tieflings behind either."
"So much to do, so little time." Gale 'lamented.'
"Just wait 'till you are forced to spend twenty years on fucking paperwork and see if you can repeat that sentence." I grumbled.
---
Completely reasonably, the druids were now utterly suspicious of our presence, many of them giving us the stink eye but pointedly not so much as twitching at us in a threatening manner.
My little show of force had left them with a satisfying impression.
I let my valorous posse talk with the relieved parents and receive their thanks while completely ignoring some flamboyant retard calling himself Volo and declaring for all to hear his desire to march out to the goblins' camp and learn about their 'culture'.
As if creatures like that were even capable of forming such.
Utterly ridiculous!
Bah, no point in wasting more thoughts on the wretches, for the plot in the grove had thickened considerably with our return from Nettie's failing ministrations!
Astarion's snooping had revealed a hidden chest belonging to Kagha that held a note addressed to her, a request for a meeting from a person named Olodan, and just a spitting distance away from 'Auntie Ethel's' home as well.
How incredibly convenient for my most spiteful self.
Why, I giggled not once but thrice at the thought of fucking both walking offenses over!
But as all things, they would have to wait, for my servants, able as they are, would need rest. And so they were left to gather themselves and enjoy the company of the Tieflings while I kept snooping around on my own.
Or well, it was more of me going on on a walk and the world deciding to throw something interesting at me as I felt a premonition some distance beyond me just as I was climbing up the grove's overlook.
A few shadow-steps was all it took for me to reach the point of interest and I found myself looking down on a small beach surrounded by jagged rock formations.
But despite being a beautiful sight, it was not what primarily drew my eye.
No, it was the quartet of half-naked, winged women currently singing a magical song to a Tiefling child and looking down at the hypnotized boy with hunger in their eyes and drool on their lips.
'What is it with this fucking place and harming kids?!' My right eye twitched rapidly.
In a blink, I reappeared behind the boy, arm on his shoulder to hold him back and a glare in my eyes at the startled bird-women.
The most 'well dressed' of them screeched something stupid in birdbrain language and all four began singing as one, their pathetic little illusion simply bouncing off my mind like a pebble might off a steel mountain.
My disappointment was so grand, it actually made the four choke on their tones without any true effort from me.
"Why is the pretty music gone?" The little boy asked absent-mindedly.
And thus my disappointment was once more replaced with rage as I raised a single hand, fingers facing outwardly "Be." The skies darkened "Gone." Static filled the air "Thot!"
Four precise blasts of lightning landed on their heads, the impromptu 'incantation' working with the world's own Weave to combine with my Magicka and empower the spell to the point the mere thunderbolt utterly disintegrated its targets.
I dispelled the sound barrier around the boy's head and he blinked rapidly, as if awakening.
"What?" He asked, suddenly panicked "Where am I?"
"You got lured into a trap by a musical illusion." I told him, startling him again as he looked up at me and paused "You are safe now kid, no need to fear the scary elf, yeah?"
"...Yeah." He nodded slowly "Thanks, Mr. Drow."
My eye twitched violently "Not a Drow." I corrected patiently "But that doesn't matter, off you trot back to the grove. And remember, just because something sounds or looks pretty, doesn't mean it is good, hm?"
"You talk weird." The kid said.
"Talk weird, do I?" I crossed my arms, amused "Someonewhoisoutwaypasttheirbedtimesayswhat?"
"What?" He replied automatically and frowned, crossing his arms and huffing "You are mean."
Chuckling I waved for him to get going "Sure thing, kid. Now off you go, shoo."
He pouted at me for a while longer but did ultimately listen to reason and promptly trotted off.
Shaking my head in both amusement, and satisfaction for preventing more heinous shit, I walked up the grove's hopefully silent overlook only to pause as I heard the strumming of strings and a voice trying to harmonize.
And there sat a pale-blue skinned Tiefling with a fancy lute in her hands, wearing a colorful if faded jester-esque dress and a deep frown of concentration on her face.
"Words of mine will change-" She stopped "No." And tried again "Become-" She paused again "Dammit!"
"Having a hard time?" I said in lieu of greetings.
She stopped and looked up "Oh." She blinked "You are the one who saved everyone." She turned nervous "I... I could leave if you uhm... want the spot?"
"Relax, girl. No need for that." I chuckled and waved her down, sitting on a broken slab of stone a few steps away from her own, feeling a touch inquisitive I asked "So, what troubles you?"
"This entire damned song." She answered frustratedly "I just can't seem to get it work."
"Hm." I nodded, eyes closed "My own friend who just happens to be a bard likes to say writing a new song is like wrestling a bear. Very satisfying once you get it done but all pain and agony on the way there."
"Your bard friend has... interesting tastes." The musician noted, morbidly intrigued.
"Marco is a..." I huffed through my nose "He has certainly grown daring, I will give him that."
"But that is enough about that." I waved the train of thought away and decided to be generous "Need some help?"
"It couldn't hurt." She said a bit hesitantly "I have her- her lute with me."
"Your...?" I said leadingly.
"My Master's." She said wistfully "Her name was Lihala, used to love dancing even if she had two left feet..." She shook her head "She died on the road, and now I am trying to-"
"Immortalize her in song?" I offered.
"Yes." She smiled to herself "That is exactly it."
"Well, it has been a few years since I touched the lute." I said and promptly levitated her reserve instrument to myself "Might as well get some of the dust off."
The bard's eyes lit up in genuine surprise once she heard I actually knew how to play and we spent the next hour or so jamming it out, actually managing to help her finish the song to my grand surprise.
It was... pretty good. Even by my lofty standards.*
The girl excused herself after a while, leaving me alone on the overlook, and to my thoughts.
Which is why I promptly decided to distract myself by summoning a my canvass stand and my paints. The grove was not my usual jaunt, but Kyne does appreciate such places for whatever reason, and thus so did I, at least on a subconscious level.
"I suppose the treehuggers could be granted the honor of my work." I hummed as I began the first strokes "Even if they will never have the pleasure of seeing it."
---
The following day found me thoroughly refreshed and relaxed as myself and my posse gathered in front of the grove's gates.
"So you are just going to leave us?" Durge asked me, frowning.
"I have placed a highly potent detection spell on all of you." I explained patiently "Should anything begin to happen I will be there in a blink, however you have to understand that we need to cover more ground and all of you are frankly, just slowing me down."
There was a lot of grumbling at that, but no one thought to refute it.
"So go and search for the goblin's camp, scout the place out and prepare a route of attack." I repeated the plan "If, and I will stress this, if, you are able to get Halsin out with relative ease then do so. Otherwise, explore the area and wait while I deal with whatever is happening at the 'meadow' on the coastline and investigate the druid."
Feeling far too generous for whatever reason I added "My familiar has also set up shop in a nearby ruined village, so don't hesitate to ask him for help."
"Your familiar?" Gale blinked.
"You'll know him when you see him." I grinned darkly.
And for absolutely no reason whatsoever, all of them suddenly shivered.
---
*https://youtu .be/T2LWNc90rJc?si=LKFVe-3ecgSf5vwz
Pretty neat song if I do say so myself, cinematic also has a view of the grove if you haven't looked it up already :P
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Alternate title: The Emerald stone mine.
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