Interesting development, so the Tiefling is a combination of several different species?

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The tiefling was evidently nervous, frisking the tail back and forth, as she took in the stale air of the tower. Many of Thvara's memories lay in this place, memories which were by and large not pleasant.
One part of her wanted to leave, to hide and merge with the crowd, to get out of the city as fast as possible, yet another wanted to get some gold, and if possible an answer or two. This part of her was the one driving her forward now. It was the part that made her not falter, at least not visibly so.
She tried to ignore all the young mages, the adepts of the 'mystical arts' and whatever other people were around.
Her gaze dashing up and down the hallway. Only relaxing once reaching a deserted hallway. The small wisp that had been leading them ever since entering the portal kept bobbing just in front of them.

“What are you fidgeting like that tana'ri? Don't worry, no amount of your so called oils mask your vile scent.” The armored man suddenly whispered viciously into her ear. Thvara tensed for a second, before coming forth with a reply :”Oi berk, your smell ain't much better I figure. You ever been out of the hunk of metal of yours? You reek.”
“I do not smell tana'ri, my blood is not filled with the plague of chaos flowing trough it.”
“Yeah yadda yadda helmet. Your blood might smell like a casket of sweet roses, but that doesn't stop your sweat from bringing up visions of pigs in a stall that's too small for them, ya know?”
“Silence you insolent wretch!”
“What the helmet has got feelings to hurt? Such a surprise. I though you were cold order. Keep claiming it either way. Now can we go after the wisp again? The thing seems impatiant!”
Malkavor almost burst out in anger as she flashed her teeth at him, showing what someone might call a smile. The man wanted to make a lasting impression. He caught the tieflings neck and lifted her upwards, revelling in the sudden flash of fear from her eyes.
“I said silence wench. I'd kill you right now if I didn't feel as if I owe you something. Lead on, but remember that the moment you set me up, you will die.”
The large gauntlet let her fall to the ground. And cold eyes watched the tiefling as she took in as many gulps of air as she could.
Yet both were unaware that the mage still sat on his perch, watching the duo by the portal. A rustle of robes, a whisper went trough the dark chamber.
“Tss tss, the child will have to be more careful, else she'll get herself killed. Why do I doubt she has the brains at times.”

The sensation of coming thru the portal felt different, as Malkavor noted to himself. He had no idea as to which floor they were in the tower as of the moment, but the judging by the more nervous looks of the tiefling beside him, he was sure they were at the right floor. A prime was there to meet them as he gave it some curious looks since it’s his first sight of an orc. The butler simply showed them some gestures and uttered some guttural low growls. It seemed to beckon them to follow it he could almost feel Thvara’s breath beneath his armor as she almost instantly leapt near his back. The blackguard shook his head in disgust and followed the orc, noting every interesting doorway or corner they passed thru the hallways until at last they came into a larger room that seem to be the designated welcoming area for guests on this floor.

There were two individuals already there waiting to receive them. One of them was strikingly beautiful the other one that was seated had an ill favored look on his eyes. Was it morbid curiosity? or pure hatred? Malkavor thought, but it was gone as quick as a flash from the mages eyes by the time he tried to get a second look. So he just shrugged it off from his current thoughts for now, storing it at the back of his memory to ponder on it later. The one seated then slowly raised his left hand palm opened upward and began to speak in a slow yet elegantly pitched voice. “Greetings honored guests and welcome to my little piece of paradise in this tower, My name is Rickdac Tomikos and this is my ‘associate’ Elena. No theres no need to introduce yourselves since your identities were the first things you surrendered upon entering this place. So what service may I serve upon you on this fine luskanite morning?”
Malkavor couldn’t help but feel a little bit impressed with the mage’s grace of movement, and at the same time feeing the same disgust and mistrust he had for mages of any kind. After all it was a mage that led him to his current predicament. Then he felt a slight nudge from behind him, it was Thvara slightly clipping him with her shoulder. He then just wordlessly fumbled in his armor till he found what he was looking for. Flicking it at the direction towards the seated mage, his aim was a bit off and the ring was slowly veering towards the mage’s right flank. But much to his surprise Rickdak’s hand shot out and catches it without even changing the bored look upon his face. Malkavor made a mental note of the mage’s lightning reflexes, just in case a conflict of interests might arise between them in the near future. He has been in this business long enough to know that always happens sooner or later. Rickdak casually turned the ring over to inspect it more closely. “I have heard that you are somewhat knowledgeable in things that are demonic in origin. Do you know something about the inscriptions in that ring?”

Rickdack did not as much as look at the blackguard. He always regarded their type as boorish and boisterous. In his eyes there was only this fine line that sets them apart from common street thug He already knew what the ring was and what the inscriptions meant but why spoil a good opportunity? He thought to himself. Without as much as looking up to Malkavor, he just said is slow clear tone “Well the inscription seems to be a coordinate of a sort, sadly it is sealed within a geas spell that only opens up to point the way to the person which it was originally given to which I doubt was you in the first place and I’m sorry to say I don’t have the proper tools to break this geas ..Yet.” He let the last word hang out and sink in more slowly because in his opinion the mental acuity of a blackguard is one of the many similar traits they actually share with the common street thug. Lucky for him he was not even looking at Malkavor. Unlike Elena who managed to catch a small glimpse of his eyes thru the slots in his helmet. For a flashing brief moment what she saw in it was raw anger and hate. She knew there and then that this was no ordinary blackguard.

“Spare me your nonsense and tell me what you need from me.” Spat out Malkavor, His tolerance for the pompous mage was very close to breaking point that he was having thoughts of throttling the answers out of the mage and to hell with the consequences afterwards. This brazen response seemed to snap the mage out of his feigned trance. He tried looking for any expression underneath the helmet. He did not detect any because Malkavor’s eyes were dangerous slits right about now. To him the mage stopped existing to look like anything but an insignificant grapefruit. Easy to squash in an instant if only someone or anyone ordered him to do so. Sensing the rising agitation from both his guests Rickdak quickly regained composure and continued his talking. “What I need from you is some semblance of civility my good man. You are the guests here only because of the good graces of the masters in this tower.” That seemed to stun the blackguard a bit, much to his satisfaction that he continued droning on with little pause. ”I need a particular Item to break the spell on this ring that “something” is the rod of Taak-baall, who is he you might ask? “

“Well he was a renowned summoner during the rise of the netherese empire, a kingdom of men who did wondrous and horrible things during their time here in torill. But due to some unknown catastrophe their empire fell and all their ruins and relics scattered throughout the aunaroch desert in the east. And before you ask yes I happen to have a map at my disposal here that has the exact coordinates to Taak-baal’s sanctuary but it’s pretty much useless to anyone who has it without acquiring two important artifacts first.” At this point Malkavor was silent as the grave so the mage picked it up as a cue for him to continue with his tale.

“Now stories abound about the netherese mages and their constant feuding with each other at the height of their empires power that it even rivals the story of the eventual fall of their once glorious kingdom. Taak-baal was no exception to this. In order to keep his sanctum protected from invading rival mages, he erected several portals to the abyss within his sanctum, this gave him unlimited access to call forth demonic slaves to protect him. When Netheril fell, the demonic magic from those very same portals was so great that they are still functioning to this very day. There are even whispers that "Old Taak" still exists along with his minions in the form of a very powerful lich. Of course proof of this rumor is as of yet unconfirmed but it will be just one minor snag to the likes of you. The real threat is in the portals themselves as their continued functioning would insure an endless supply of demons into Taak-baal's sanctum and their superior and unlimited numbers will eventually overwhelm you in due time. What you need is something to counter the demonic magics powering those portals, that 'something' is the celestial heart".

"A holy artifact in a form of an orb used in some unsung crusade against a demonic invasion on Faerunn ages ago. What I dug up from old scriptures on my spare time was that it was wielded by a powerful battlemage who belonged to a holy order during that time. The properties of the orb are sketchy at best save one, it has the ability to negate any effects of demonic magic the scripts clearly states how the mage managed to close the demonic portal by just simply touching the portal with said orb, so in theory it would have the same effect with those portals Taak-baal created. The story went on that the mage weary with bloodshed and death after the crusade went to seek refuge in the high forest where he at first made friends with its wood elf inhabitants, eventually falling in love with an elf maiden and finally died and was buried there. Now wood elves are notorious for being less “civilized” than their other elven cousins. So I suspect the mage lies buried in some unmarked grave in the woods. Now I know you don’t have time to go scouring for the infernal thing in the forest so this requires the acquiring of the last artifact which is the first artifact you actually need to find first.”

“Tis’ a stiletto blade named “Odium” and was rumored to be used by a powerful agent of the abyss an assassin by profession. This particular agent specialized in killing off outer planar creatures, namely celestials and archons, he got so good hunting down and killing off his would be targets that the blade itself came to have a life of its own. When it’s either stabbed or thrown it would always go for the heart of its intended victim, if you ask me it’s more likely a specialized heart-seeker enchantment meant for celestials and archons but try telling that to those so called scholars who writes these scripts.” The mage said with a sneer and a shrug, he took another look at the blackguard and saw that Malkavor was genuinely interested now so he on with his story. “Now the story goes that Harper agents finally cornered and killed the assassin in The evermoors the blade lost within it all these years. Now the real interesting part in all this runabout is that the Celestial heart used to be literal in its origin, stories tell that it once belonged to a dedicated champion of the heavens so great was her loyalty and sense of duty in serving justice and order that one the day that she fell in combating the forces of evil, one of the gods descended into the battlefield and turned her still beating heart into the artifact that it is now. So if my calculations are correct Odium will lead you straight to it.” At this point Malkavor raised his hand with the palm outward and the mage knew that he was about to be greeted by a few questions.

So in silent anticipation he shifted to a more relaxed position in his chair. “First off is this going be a simple fetch and carry quest? Or are we expected to fight our way towards these items of power? Second I don’t know the way thru this plane so I’m going to need directions of a sort and a map would come in handy.
And lastly what do we do with the other items that are in no way directly connected to unraveling the mystery behind that ring.?" Ahh…Greed Rickdack thought to himself, something neither planar nor prime is immune to. “Very well the stiletto you can keep to yourself, I’m pretty sure your skulking ‘friend’ will find it useful.” At that slightest mention of her presence in the room Thvara leaned herself closer to Malkavors back almost tipping him forward. The black guard just stiffened his posture some more, to prevent himself from stumbling forward. He then deftly and slightly elbowed Thvara behind him and was satisfied to hear a muffled “oof” from her. . .

Elena just looked at the two with a tinge of amusement in her eyes while Rickdack continued on "Concerning the dangers. Yes you will meet resistance on the way The location of the dagger was once site to a great battle between the forces of good and evil long ago, and stories passed on from traveling merchants say that when Odium struck the ground it's enchantment was so great that the dead who lay resting there got fed their hate bidding them to rise up and do battle with each other once again,
They do not recognize friend from foe so it would be best to thread carefully in that place." Malkavor was already making a mental note of it as the mage droned on. "The High forest where the orb is located is also the home to some wood elf fanatics. knowing your current alignment I suggest caution in venturing in that place. I have no doubt of your abilities in facing them in a head on confrontation but wood elves are known more for their cunning ambushes and marksmanship with the bow and arrow and not infighting. at best you would be captured and kicked out of their domain, at worse you would be pierced with their arrows by the hundreds some of their arrow tips are made of mithrill might I add. I already told you of the dangers in Taak-baal's sanctum and there is not much more to tell concerning that part."

”Now the orb I’m a bit interested in and would much like to have it for research purposes.” “How much would you pay for the orb?” The blackguard cut in. Hmmnn… Brazen, greedy and direct to the point, maybe he was a street thug in his former years the mage thought. “How about trading you a service for the item? Looking at that battered and worn armor of yours I can tell that it’s made of admantine. A very rare metal in these parts and the smiths that are skilled in handling them rarer still since only the drow and the duergar and maybe some rare master smith on the surface is adequately skilled in repairing that type of metall.” Malkavor was now listening more attentively at this he knew who the drow and the druergar, he has seen their pitiful souls wander around cania. himself and it was a duergar that actually made him his armor. Seeing as he once again got the full attention of the blackguard Rickdack went on without fear of being interrupted for the time being. ”I happen to have a duergar smith in my employ, and would gladly make him do the repairs on your armor free of charge, in turn you will hand over the orb to me with the same stipulation, a fair enough trade don’t you think?” Malkavor just grunted in approval “Then that settles it we have a deal.” The mage concluded, frisking to his robe he took out a small leather parchment and handed it to the blackguard. ”Here is a map of faerun it will come in good use to you on your travels. After you leave this room my butler will lead you to Nigmus my smith. You may depart when you feel that you are ready to undertake this quest.” And looking at his slight wave of the hand Malkavor knew it was a cue to tell him that this meeting was at its end. He bowed a bit then quickly exited out of the room with Thvara thinking nasty thoughts.

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He was still staring at the pommel jewel the duergar added on the right side on the shoulder guard of his armor. To his trained eye they were not enchanted or anything but were simply put there for aesthetic purposes. Still the jewel shone as black as his armor and staring at it too long seemed to be akin to staring at the unending depths of the abyss itself. He shrugged the impulse to shiver at the thought. He twisted his arms and his body a bit, like he was trying on a new suit for the very first time again. The duergar smith was indeed a master craftsman he thought to himself. Then he abruptly felt the slight tugging of Thvara on his left hand. Sighing inwardly he bowed to the duergar smith and dragging the tiefling along as quickly as his feet can take him towards the exit portal. Outside of the host tower, the tiefling felt a giant weight fall from her chest. Her mind was no longer racing, seeking ways to get away from the mage. Her breathing slowed down and became less frantic. She could finally think again.





Shaking her head, she slowly but surely began forming a plan. Items, portals, demons, it all slowly began to fit together.
A grim resolution tugged at her mind, pushing the fear at least partially to the side. She knew what she'd do. But that would come later. Now they had to find a blade, that could pierce an angel’s heart.
“Gah, in the swamps, does it have to lie? Beshaba's own luck!” The tiefling muttered, her voice showing a hard edge.
“What happened to you in there, deamonic spawn. You were more stricken than a lamb. I thought you wanted to hurt the mage, not crawl before him! I should rather get rid of you than anything else. Maybe make sure you won't be a annoyance anymo-”
“As if you're stench seeping out of that armor wasn't enough, your brains seem addled right now too. You know fully well that you need me. You're clueless here and every single street wise swindler is going to rip you off in such a way you'd never imagine. Remember who took you took you to Lolth's own son!”
The blackguard just shook his head at this. “That would be the mage I presume demon.”
“Of course! Who else do you think would be a bastard big enough to actually know how to help an outsider. as for me locking up. Must have been some spell the swine cast on me, for whatever reason. There's no way he could have recognized. me. It’s been too many years. Just too many bloody years . Since I got out of there. Way too much.” Thvara seemed locked in her memories for a moment, trying to get them out of her mind. Oddly, this outburst of her past, both calmed her, as put Malkavor more at ease. A heavy past was something he could acquaint himself with, even if he would never have admitted it, even to himself. But he’d be damned to try and understand a demon especially a female one.
“Alright “horns”, I won't kill you. But make one blunder and not even your mother will recognize you.”
Thvara laughed, almost heartily.
“Well then helmet, I doubt we'll have an issue. Since I doubt I'd recognise my mother, or father for that matter, even if they stood right in front of me.”
“That makes two of us.”
“So I think you should go buy some stores, while I go talk up a few old crones and dieing bards on old swampy legends. Meet here at sundown. Will make going out the city gates just so much more easier. 'Stood?” The tiefling was gone, even before Malkavor managed to open his mouth.


The sun was finally reaching the end of it's daily path, already arcing towards the horizon, and turning an odd, bloody red. The warrior nervously glanced around. Did the demon set him up or no. I should never have left her run off, he thought. Still, he was holding a sack of stores. They may have been meager, but they would do for a small trek. At worst, they could always hunt. And the paladins gold was growing thinner by the moment.
Still the sun was almost down, and there was still no single sign of the damned woman. Even the square was almost empty, the good citizens of the city already hurried to their homes, while those liking the shadows more, still haven't crept out.
I never should have trusted a tan'a'ri...his mind injected. “You know, that pack won't take us far. Whatever, I've got about six fitting evermoorian legends and myths, that just might fit our little knife. All have big bad evil good-killers, a mage with gifts from the celestials nada nada nada. You get the image. Guess will have to crawl trough each and every dungeon of those six.
And what you starring at? Surprised to see me? Or just looking weird, since I haven't gotten those oils of yet. I want that piece of metal just as much as you do you know. No need to gape like a carp on the dry ya know! Come on, we've got gates to get past. As to those oils, there's a stream not too far away from the city walls. Plan to catch a dip, you should too. Remember that smell? It's still there.”
Malkavor did not know whether to slap her silly or just throttle her to cure her of her childish stabs at his smell.
“Hey I did say no bloody gaping. Now let's move.”

Hours later, the pair, shining with the pearly white of the moonlight, with the tiefling shuffling her feet in grim exhaustion, they came on to a small clearing. “Bloody bastards of Gruuumsh! The bloody river should have been here by now!”
“Are we lost.”
“Well as far as I bloody can tell, we aren't. The description of the way, was either off though, or the damned old bastard forgot to mention they were on horses! GAH.” Thvara finished dejectedly.
“Then I think it wouldn't hurt, if we were to rest here for a while. What do you think ta'nari?”
“Could you stop calling me that? I don't even know what that means by Selune! Sure I get it, you smell something off, figures with the horns.”
“But a ta'nari is what you a demon of the chaotic persuasion.”
“Hey! I never cared much bout the hellish law, but I'm no frigid demon of chaos. I'm just a tiefling. What's next? You going to tell me, you're what? The same jjust with law in your blood? Seeing how you ripped trough those silver armored buffoons, I doubt it. Those buggers are the law reborn in flesh. Ugly flesh mind you.”
Malkavor just sighed to himself thinking that the sooner he can get the tiefling of his back the better off he would be lost or not..
“So horns, do you want to rest here or not?”
“By the nine hells yes! And as long as you make the fire, I'll even tell you a few of the tidbits that senile bard told me. Agreed?”
“Agreed.” She flashed one of her teethy smiles and almost before he even finished the word, slumped against a large tree.
“You good for nothing swine, don't you even dare of falling asleep till you told me of those legends.”
Thvara stretched and smiled.: ”Only once I hear the creaking of branches aflame helmet, not a breath sooner.” At this she purred and closed her eyes, apparently oblivious to Malkavor starring at her in disbelief.
No one ever acted like that to him. He had a full mind to strike her down just there, but decided against it. In the end, he wouldn't be able to get directions from a corpse. Instead he headed out of the clearing into the forest to gather as much firewood as he could.
The moment the sound of his heavy boots moved away, Thvara finally relaxed her muscles. She was afraid there that the blackguard couldn't stomach the treatment. Still she mused at the legends given to her by the bard.
What was the first again? The road of Heswer'Sa. Yuanti assassin right? Apparently killed in the evermoors round 913 in the time of the dale, the hunter's corpse was never found.
Next, 850, some demon get's killed there, lot'sa fire and death. Nothing more. Hmm doesn't sound that right. 814 death skullz, orkish mercenary band-
Then the cold of the night began to sink in on her as she curled more to keep warm. “Now where in Betsheba’s name did that dumb blackguard went off to?”
Little that she did knew that the blackguard had manage to wander a bit far-off
from their camp site. Cursing and mumbling under his breath, Malkavor still can’t believe that he managed to let the tiefling boss him around again. Choosing to pick up the largest fallen branches he could find chopping them up to log size as he went along, still unaware that he had already collected a sizeable number of logs enough to roast a kobold or two.

Then something made him stop dead on his tracks. He could not mistake the sounds of battle, it was coming from the left of the treeline to the west of him. The first thought that came to him was maybe it was those so called brigands that he heard the guard at the town gates warned them off earlier. “Hmpf!..Looks like those primes have cornered another victim” He thought to himself. He simply shrugged and was about to turn back towards the camp when he remembered the triumphant grin p;asterd all over Thvara’s face as she managed to bully him around to do the manual labor. He cringed at the thought of her gloating as he was trying to be nice to the tiefling just to get even a morsel of information from her infernal mouth. The thought and the continued cries of battle heard from beyond the treeline nagged at him until his curiosity couldn’t be contained anymore. ”Bah! Let her freeze her arse off for a little bit longer.” He thought as he ran towards the area where the sounds of commotion are coming from, careful not to make any loud noises with a bunch of logs and twigs tucked under one arm.


Upon reaching the treeline the sounds of combat have subsided into heavy panting and shuffling sounds of weak struggle that Malkavor slowed his pace every step he took was more careful and calculated. His ears straining to gauge
the difference between his own foot steps and that of his quarry. Until he got past the treeline and into a medium sized clearing that faced a small brook. He could make out five figures surrounding a lone one. They were easily seen under the illumination of what the berks on this world called the moon. The five were poorly dressed except for one clad in some type of leather armor Probably the leader this group he thought to himself while the lone figure turned out to be a humanoid female and despite having part of her dress torn up looked decent enough. At the motion of the brigand leader the biggest berk in the group quickly maneuvered from behind and grabbed the female by the arms and neck not to tight as to strangle her but enough to stop her from moving, the leader slowly approaching her followed by the remaining three from behind.


“Stupid elven wench you and your lover just cost me three of my good men.” He said as he grabbed her by her platinum blonde hair. Malkavor saw the four bodies sprawled not far from his own location careful not to reveal himself to them he was thankful for the bushes which provided him with enough cover. Concealing his presence from them, he then noticed that one of the bodies looked well dressed than the rest assuming that it was the elf maiden’s felled companion. He continued to listen. “We wus just gonna rob the both of you’s and dump your bodies in the brook but nooo…You elven folk are too haughty and proud for your own good. Had to fight backand all ! So now with your lover out of the way we’re gonna have some fun with ye…Am I right boys?” Nodding back and smiling at the three thugs behind him as they cheered him on lust in heir eyes, along with the big half- orc holding the elf from behind. “Well I do believe Krugg over there has not yet himself seen how perky an elf’s breast looks like right Krugg?” the half orc nodding and salivating dumbly “Right-o boss me no seen perky elf breast before.” At this the Elf female spat out at them. ”I am a servant of Selune you fiends would not dare despoil me!”
“Tsk…There you go again with that with that misplaced elven pried of yours cleric.” He let go of her face and turned to face his henchmen then quickly turned around again slapping her with such brute force that the thug holding the elven cleric almost lost his grip on her. “Your God. Not ours!” He slowly unsheathed his dagger and played it in font of her, touching her face with it and then slowly moving it towards the upper part of her chest. “I don’t want to keep me boys waiting. Time to see those perky, lovely brea…”

He never managed to finish the sentence as a loud crack split his skull open and broke his neck. The culprit was a log the size of a man’s arm colliding violently with the side of his head, thrown with such a force by a blackguard hiding from the cover of darkness. The rest of the brigands were too stunned to react for a few seconds to even know what had just happened. The big one suddenly dropped the elf cleric to come to his leader’s aid. “Boss! is you alright?” He was already in tears as one of the other men kneeled down beside him to check on the leader as well. “He’s dead Krugg” he said as he picked up the broken log from beside the corpse. He turned around to squint into the darkness and saw a small glitter in the dark. “You there, reveal yourself coward!” At this blatant challenge the blackguard slowly stood and walked towards the opening illuminated by a moonlit night. “Oh I’m sorry! I seem to have dropped one of my logs somewhere.” He said to the group in such a casual tone that they just looked dumbly at each other at first before turning slowly again to face him again. The one kneeling stood up. Pointed towards Malkavor and shouted “Enough of your sarcasm. Krugg, he killed Taruko! Sic im!” By Malkavor’s estimate it took almost a minute for this simple order to sink into the big oaf’s brain. Until the half orc stood up and unsheathed his falchion. And by the gods it was a huge two handed one, the kind that can cleave even a lightly armored man in two. “You’re in for it now tin-man. “ Shouted henchmen number three. Having left his weapons at the camp, Malkavor started to sort thru the logs until he pulled out a twig it was not much thicker than his thumb but was almost straight and unusually sturdy. He heard one of the brigands snigger at this but paid no heed to it, simply gesturing to the half-orc to come closer. The big oaf responded by charging towards his direction at once screaming with both hands holding the falchion upwards, intent to cleave the blackguard in half only in one blow. Malkavor just looked at his opponent’s shoulders intently. He knew he was risking his life with this maneuver he decided to use but that’s the only satisfaction he can ever get by going up against amateurs, especially large brutish ones. He knew that the weapon had a medium reach and if he timed this right he could end it with one swift stroke.
He suddenly made a few quick paces towards the half-orc and then following thru with a pivot to his left, as if he already knew his foe’s next move beforehand.

Used to chopping down cowering nobles and peasants alike,
Krugg was suddenly surprised by this move and reacted instinctively by chopping down prematurely with all his balance and force behind his attack.
His falchion hit nothing but thin air as he saw the blackguard pivoting as the same time he started to strike him down. Stones in the grass went sparking as his sword hit home it but not a single nick touched the blackguard.
And to add in his horror, Malkavor was just a breath away from him.
The next and last thing he saw the blackguards arm swiveling in a sideways arc towards him, still holding the twig pointed straight for his left eye.
The ensuing silence between the combatants for a few seconds was too much for the rest of the onlookers. As they can only see Krugg’s massive back facing them and not much of the blackguard’s. “Well what happened? Did he get im’?” mumbled one of the remaining brigands to the rest of his companions. “No I’m afraid I was not ‘got’ answered Malkavor as he let go of the twig he was holding.
Along with the dead but still twitching body of Krugg, The moonlit night showing only the portion of the twig the blackguard was holding sticking out from the half-orc’s left eye socket. It took a few seconds more for the remaining three to come out of their initial shock until the brigand near the leader spat out and pulled out his sword as well. “Pah! So what if you kiiled Krugg? We still outnumber you three to one right lads?” The only answer he got was two loud thuds from his companions. He tuned and looked towards them only to see that both have fallen into the ground as well, mouths agape and eyes wide open with a dart sticking out of their foreheads.


Thvara came out casually walking from behind Malkavor saying to nobody in particular. ”Somebody said something about being outnumbered hmmn?” Seeing as he was now the one being outnumbered the last remaining brigand threw his blade in the brook, fell to his knees and began groveling/ at the sight of the blackguard slowly approaching him ”Oh…Please kind sir don’t kill me! I’m only doing it to feed my starving family” He said between sobs. Malkavor who was already in front of him kneeled down and held his head from the back with his free hand. “Three things berk: One throwing your weapon away was a stupid move. Two: I really don’t give a pit fiends arse whether your family dies of starvation or not. And finally I am neither kind nor a gentleman so don’t patronize me!” and with that he promptly twisted the brigands head around and broke his neck. He then turned to look at Thvara pulling out and cleaning her darts from the two dead brigands commenting dryly at him “Tsk…Tell him to get a few logs for a fire and he gets himself into a scrap…Is everything this complicated with you planars?” The blackguard just gave her a shrug stood up and turned to look at the lone survivor of the fight. The elven woman was holding her companion tightly in her arms by then, seemingly oblivious to the events that just transpired. Clutching her fallen companion and uttering prayers, her face was soaked with tears but there was also a trace of calm and peace on it.
The tiefling came beside him, nudging the blackguard in the shoulder and nodding towards the elf “What about her? Kill her and loot her as well?”
Malkavor shook his head and whispered “No I got a better solution escort her to our camp.” Thvara was about to protest when Malkavor cut her short “I’ll explain things later horns, I bring the logs you bring the girl. Just do it!”

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A new companion joins them, it seems.
Very interesting read. I want more already!

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Malkavor quickened the pace back to their own camp with the tiefling dragging the elf along with them, he noticed the elf was not even resisting and was in a sort of a trance like state. “Such weird prime customs” he mumbled to himself.
But the look he got from Thvara was another thing altogether, she was giving him one of those glares mixed with an inquisitive look in her eyes again.
The blackguard just sighed deeply and mentally prepared an explanation or two for his decision in letting the elven wench live. He was already feeling a bit tired due to the long journey and short skirmish with the brigands just a few minutes before, and wanted nothing more than a good sleep in front of a warm fire, and less pointless bickering with the tiefling. As he was slowly setting up the logs he spied thvara dumping the elf unceremoniously near a tree stump and turned around and walked towards his direction. He already had a decent fire by that time and would want nothing else but to lay his head down and rest for a bit.
But it looked liked it would have to wait a bit longer he thought to himself.


She just sat there and watched him with eyes narrowed as if she can make him small and stomp on him by way of willpower alone. Him not even trying to pay attention to the looks she was giving him. He slowly rose up and went to the elf instead, kneeling down to meet her gaze he could see in her eyes the look of resignation of one who’s already accepted death. “Do you have a name?” He asked. The question seemed to startle her and it took a while for her to answer him back. “Yyyess.. I..I…do have a name ti’s Ry’alen sir.” she said while trying hard not to stare at him. “I know that you holy types can sense a creatures aura so I know you’re pretty disgusted by mine right now.” Malkavor said while trying to squint at the nearby trees. “Yes tis’ disconcerting but also part comfusing. But if I may ask why did you spare me?” She asked back a bit hopeful. Malkavor heard footsteps and already knew that Thvara was behind him breathing down on his neck nonetheless. “Well even tho I am not of this plane I was tutored in the
Ways of some of its sentient creatures. For instance I know you elves also honor blood debts. I saved your honor and your life that means you owe me one.”
“This is true…So what do you want of me?” Ry’laen answered with a touch of resignation in her voice. “You are an elven priestess right?” The black guard asked in which she nodded curtly. “You have the ability to turn undead then” Malkavor asked which also yielded another nod from the elf.


Malkavor sighed inwardly in relief before proceeding. “Very well then here are my terms: You will accompany us on our quests to recover some artifacts. In which we could use your specialties in dealing with some of its hazards. Upon completion of our quest I will hold your life debt to me paid in full and you will be free to go as you please. You have the word of a Baatezu warrior on that and not some tana’ari scum.” He spat sideways as he gave Thvara a slight glare as he looked at her direction. This was too much for the tiefling it seemed and she decided to put her foot down then and there. “Great another mouth to feed…Come on helmet what help could she possibly give us aside from turning a few skellies and zombies? I mean look at her! She looks like she’s just fresh outta the monastery. Well aside from looking like a rape victim.” She just could not let her snyde remarks slide, the black guard thought to himself shaking his head. He looked her in the eyes in which she stared at his right back, defiance burning like hot coals in them. He was trying to find a solution to convince her when the idea struck him. “Hmmn…Can I look at those punch daggers for a moment Thvara?” He asked. Thvara was all and ready to counter what she expected would be a verbal tirade coming from Malkavor that the simple question caught her off-guard and she simply complied as if dumb stuck and gave him her punch daggers. “This is of fine design. Is it enchanted?” he asked. To which the only respond he got from the stuill dumbfounded tiefling was a brief shaking of the head.
“Ahh so tell me Ry’laen..” He began as he shifted his attention back his attention to the elven priestess. “Do you still have healing spells left on you? Can you actually heal?”
“Well..Yes I can do minor and some medium healing but I don’t have the experience to raise the dead yet.” Ry’laen answered a mix of curiosity and caution on her voice. Malkavor heard a slight smirk and a murmur of the phrase “Bane’s blood we got a wet one here.” from behind him. Malkavor looked up at the stars as if to gauge the distance between them. He did it for quite some time that the other two tried following his gaze upwards as well. Then his grip in the punch daggers tightened and quickly whirled towards the tiefling, both daggers in his hand in an open attack position. which both their found marks on Thvara’s thighs.


The initial pain and shock sent Thvara reeling and screaming curses at Malkavor who just grinned and twisted the blades a bit before pulling it out. Turning to a shocked Ry’laen he just nodded to her and said “Now is the time to prove your worth madam and heal horns over here.” THe balck guard said, slowly standing up and still smirking as he looked at the tiefling rolling in pain. The elven priestess wasted no more time and went to work straight away and in a few moments of incantation, and a glow that seem t6o come right off her palms, there were no wounds to be found on the tiefling thighs only faint scars, somewhat a reminder of the daggers entry points. “See that horns? She proved more useful than you.” He said as he threw the daggers next to Thvara. “Now you both get some rest, we still got plenty of ground to cover by tomorrow.” He barked as he stalked back into the burning logs.

A few minutes later Thvara sat by the campfire rubbing her tights, wincing at times, not being able to get the sensation of the fiery pain out of them. The flesh may have healed, but it takes the soul longer to realize it.
She was muttering curses directed both at Malkavor and Ry'laen during the whole time. "Darned elf-whore with her devil boy. I sincerely hope those two sleep together, stabbing their thighs would be then oh so merrier."
"You were saying something horns?" Malkavor called from over the fire in a mocking sweet voice. "Yeah you metal runt. One more time you try this and it will hurt. But you!"
"Are you really that daft. We need the cleric."
"What sort of Black guard are you supposed to be? Evil in my book goes up to the brigands. Scares them at sight, and after a while calms them down. Enjoys the elf with them, shares mead with them, and then kills them and takes liberty of all their valuables. Then maybe if feeling charitable puts the elf out of her mi.-"
Before Thvara even managed to finish her sentence, Ry'leah, sitting not far from her slapped her squarely across the face.
"Is that how'd you want it to go? What if it was you they cornered? What then."
"Elf, you fail to understand two things. First if one of those idiots tried to lie down on me, I'd gut them. And second of all you are not part of this argument. HE is!"
Ignoring the elf once more Thvara turned over to Malkavor once more. "Understand this helmet. If you ever, ever start an argument about a thing like this, I swear by Beshaba's own blood and luck, that I will put a dagger trough your eye. Let’s see your newfound lapdog heal you then."
The tiefling got up, making it clear that she won't be wincing from the pain and grabbed a bedroll.
"Now I'm going to sleep. Try to make an effort to not wake me while the two of you are frolicking around the fire."
She went over into the shadows, followed by the gazes of Malkavor with his ice cold yet humored eyes and those of Ry'leah who threw nervous glances at Malkavor. To which the black guard responded by just by throwing his hands up in a final gesture of resignation and covered his eyes with the other arm to sleep.









So yeah everyone else updating their stuff prompted me to update mine as well...>.>
Thanks to Kitty for the added help.

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Wow, poor little runt

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Heh, you'd think some daggers would shut the Tiefling up, but noooo, she just gets more defiant.

Nice chapter, Wassy.

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They made good time trekking past the thick forests of Neverwinterwood. Avoided traffic on the road of Longsaddle and by night time managed to make it to the edge of Grifffons nest. There Malkavor decided they should camp out.
Seeing as her companions were silent for the wholeness of the long hike, with the exception of Thvara's occasional grumblings and dangerous glances, Ryl’aen decided to try for a bit of small talk with the black guard, when they settled in and got a decent fire going.


The elf started brushing her auburn hair back with her hands, clearly wanting to talk. Just not sure with whom. After a while she reached the conclusion that the hostile tiefling was not a good person to spark a conversation with. In the end she decided to turn to the blackguard.
"So what cult do you follow? I've never seen this styling of the armor before. It seems to have been made by people who know what they were doing. Not like what you see with most cults that follow the lower deities"
The warrior laughed, almost sounding amused. "Elf I do not worship any deithy, nor do I fear of becoming a stone in the fortress of grey. I am a warrior of Mephistotheles a lord of hell itself. To throw my lot in with one of the gods, laughable. I'm not like one of you morons from the prime."
"That...that means you are a planar right?" The elf woman suddenly livened up. A meeting with a planar. Something almost impossible for a young cleric. Admittedly, all her senses told her that this planar was evil. But he was still a prime and didn't seem to be trying to kill anyone.....yet, her consciousness chimed in.
"From which of the planes are you? I presume one of the lower ones. and did you ever see Sigil? Battle any archons, or fight in the blood war? You must have fought in the blood war. haven't you?"
The black clad warrior merely sighed and decided that the best way to make the elf shut up, was by answering her question. Little did he know that these were merely the beginning of an avalanche. An avalanche that seemed to run undiminished. After almost an hour, the elf, her eyes wide from excitement suddenly turned to Thvara.
"So where from the planes are you? Do you also serve Mephistopheles? You're a tiefling and following a blackguard. You're from the planes as well right?"
"Me berg? You daft or what? What in the name of all Bhaal's assassins are you thinking? I'm from Luskan you dolt. And helmet here needed a guide on Faerun. Else the first moneygrabber would have had him on a hook."
"Oh." The elf exclaimed, her excitement diminishing from the news.
"Horns, I did not need a guide. You offered to be one, for springing you out from those paladins."
"Well and flaming bastards they were. Good riddance to them. And it was a blasted deal. I didn't need helping. T’was just bloody faster that way. Beshaba be my witness."
"Yeah just remember Tan'a'ri. If you plan to break the deal"
"Hey lay off it helmet. I brought you to that bastard didn't I?
"And how much good did it brought me? I'm now bound on some stupid quest to find a dagger, an orb and finally a rod from a dead mage and I get to do it with two hangers on."
"I said lay off it helmet. The guy is a bitch, but he's the best bloody bastard in the area." “I highly doubt that tiefling, when it comes to mages there’s always someone more devious and nastier.” Malkavor snorted. “But considering the circumstances fate has thrown my way, I seriously doubt this Rickdak will stick to the bargain we struck. Best be ready for that half expected double cross I say.”
“You really think you will get backhanded?” Interjected the elf, her brow rising, creasing her forehead, only to accentuate her looks some more. “My dear, I am a black guard of the eight level of hell, we tend to expect treachery at every term.” Malkavor answered sweetly. Thvara just turned to look away and grumbled to herself. She hated the fact that despite just spending a short time with the group, the elf had somehow managed to endear herself to the black guard. Where Malkavor was condescending and even outright disrespectful towards her, he would show courteousness to the elf wench. She was disgusted and somewhat confused by his display. Doesn’t he have better things to do? She thought to herself. She resolved then and there that she would confront him about it as soon as they get some spare time together, just the two of them. “You two go ahead and rest up, I get firs watch” Malkavor volunteered. “I must admit I’m still not used to the ambience of this world’s wilderness”
“Suits me just fine helmet, I get to have last watch” the tiefling retorted, giving both the elf and the blackguard a challenging look. Ryl’aen just shrugged and went to her spot to meditate and Malkavor just shook his head, turned around and chose a spot to stand guard and watch. They were at it again the very next day. And much to the elf’s chagrin, both her companions said very little to one another, even to her. Malkavor seemed obsessed in doubling the pace this time around. They managed to reach the river of Serbin in no time at all, yet at the cost of their stamina. “We rest here for the night.” Malkavor declared. “Just beyond the other side lie the Evermoors and our first quarry”
“Piissh…Why stop now helmet? Let’s just go straight for the thing and get it over with” Interjected Thvara. “If you want to go find the blade near nightfall in a place crawling with undead you go right ahead horns, I’ll be sitting right here comfy and warm while hearing your scream” Malkavor replied with a snort. “Oh yeah? Well whatever…Since its still early for bed why not use the time to take a bath helmet? You stink like an orc stuck in a bog “ Thvara retorted. “Fine I will, guard the camp while I do, the last thing I want is to run half naked in here to save your skinny tail!” Malkavor growled as he stomped off towards the river.

When he was well beyond hearing range Ryl’aen started gathering twigs and mumbled to no one in particular “Whew! that went well” not noticing thvara was just next to her who just snorted in response. “Is it just me or is Malkavor really distrustful of mages?” To which the tiefling just answered with a shrug “beats me elfy I personally think he has a distrust of anybody wielding magic.” Ryl’aen chuckled for a bit which garnered a curious stare from the tiefling.
“You find that funny? You’re a weird one you are.” The priestesses seem a bit out of sort for a second before responding “Oh no it’s not that I’m just thinking if I still had my sister with me. With us here on this adventure or her instead of me in here” Now was thvara’s turn to be curious. “Oh yeah? What of your sister?”
“Well she’s my twin sister and…Well she’s a sorceress… A hot headed one too at that, just like Malkavor at times and might I dare say twice as passionate.” The elf stated. “Well what happened to her then?” The tiefling asked. “She ran away when we both came of age. I’ve never seen her since then there were complications to the matter…I’de rather not speak of it.” And thvara could tell that Ryl’aen was silent bow. “Bwah!... Boring story anyway, look elfy I’m gonna go check on helmet back there. He might have gotten himself drowned with all that heavy armor, think you can watch this place for a bit?” The elf just nodded in agreement and thvara gave her a half smile as she turned and went looking for the blackguard.

The tiefling walked up a few minutes upriver, looking for the blackguard. She thought about the elf and shuddered inside, the thought of of the blackguard picking up another stray damsel in distress, gave her the creeps. The man was nowhere and she slowly became worried. Only when she came across a number of rocky outcroppings did she hear light splashes of water.
She was sure it was him. Took a stealthier approach this time and climbed carefully down the rocks. She saw his armor, hidden from plain view tucked under an overhang. She saw that the water looked clearer and cooler on this part of the river and decided she should take a bath herself. Carefully removing her armor and her undergarments so as not to make a sound and hiding them from plain sight as well. She slowly slinked into the water with only her head above it, and proceeded slowly towards the area where the splashing sounds could be heard.
What she saw next dismayed her for a bit. Malkavor despite having most of the lower half of his body submerged into the water, he was still wearing his helmet. She frowned at this thinking that maybe paranoia really does run high in the blackguard’s blood. Suddenly her senses spiked. For a second she tought that something flashed on his back. It was still too far for her clearly. Not even noticing, she sighed deeply and loudly enough for Malkavor to hear.
“What do you want horns? I’m trying to enjoy a cool bath here and you have all but invaded what little serenity and peace I’ve had since ages.”
Quickly covering the front of her body by crossing both her arms over her chest, Thvara managed to recover from her earlier blunder.
“Hey you’re not the only one that has a right to take a bath you know? And by the way why do you still have that helmet on you? It’s not like were gonna be attacked out here. Or maybe you just don’t want anyone to see your hideous face.”
She said in closing with a snort.
It was the blackguards turn to sigh inwardly this time, these primes and their useless questions he thought to himself.
“The helmet I can do nothing about and frankly horns, I don’t care what I look like underneath it. Last I checked I did not sign on for the looks. And lastly I think you just stained the water here so I might as well get out and get dressed and go head back to the camp. The elf might get herself into trouble again.”
He was about to move away back to where he stashed his armor when Thvara’s hand suddenly shot out to grab his.
“Wait…Are you sure you’re clean? It seems to me like you just dipped yourself for a few minutes in the water. Stand with your back in front of me I’ll scrub it then you can scrub mine as well as soon as I’m done and you can be on your way.”
Malkavor couldn't help but turn to look at her now and the tiefling self consciously let go of his arm to return to covering her chest.
“You sure you don’t have a blade with you?”
The blackguard asked apprehensively.
“Pfft…All I got with me is this scrubbing stone I doubt it could even dent that armor of yours not that you have much on by the dark gods.”
The tiefling retorted. Malkavor just silently assumed the position that was ordered for him. Thvara then started scrubbing his back.
Intently memorizing every single of the runes to her memory. It was text. It was written on skin. It was also long and stretched with age. If anything was worth something somehow, it was this. Still she paused for a second.
"Ey helmet, what's this on ya skin?"
“Oh they’re just whip scars I got when I was young. I was a stubborn as an ornery balrog back then” Malkavor answered with a chuckle.
“No I don’t mean the whip scars but the strange marking beneath them”
The tiefling explained which made Malkavor frown a bit.
"What markings?"
"Oi that's sweet. Helmet doesn't know his own body." She drove the blackguard deep into thought.
“To be honest I don’t know…No one has ever mentioned anything about them to me before.”
“Hmmmn..Strange.. And your’e helmet? You said earlier theres nothing you can do about it? That just ain't usual.”
Malkavor was enjoying the back scrubs by now that he didn’t seem to mind the question anymore.
“Ti’s ensorcelled with a word of power I do not know what, along with other enchantments that make it cool and smooth in the inside to prevent itches and chaffing. You satisfied now?”
Thvara smiled at this, the first straight answer she ever got out of Malkavor.
“Yes I am and I’m done so it’s your turn.”
She said giddily, turned around and handed Malkavor the stone from across her shoulder. Malkavor just silently took the stone and began to scrub her back as well. He couldn't help but notice a few things about her. She had splotches on her skin here and there but they seemed to accentuate her features more than distract. And the texture of her skin was deceivingly smooth and not scaly as he expected. He began to think of inappropriate things. At least that's what his trainers used to tell him.
“Focus boy dammit!”
He thought while violently shrugging his head.
“Hmmn you’re awfully quick, aren't ya? I hope you’re not enjoying yourself too much.”
Thvara commented raising her brow and trying to turn to get a good look at his eyes.
“Well maybe a bit…This world has an amazing blue sky one can stare at it the whole day. Too bad you only have one sun.”
The blackguard commented much to Thvara’s chagrin.
“Oh pssh you I think you’re done here and should head back to camp now.”
Malkavor slightly recoiled at this.
”Don’t you want me to do the front as well?”
He asked. Thvara slowly turned towards him, arms across her chest. She playfully raised her brow.
“You would like that won’t you? Admit it!”
This directness seemed to make the blackguard stutter a bit. But before he could even come up with a reply, the tiefling suddenly butted her head against his helmet so hard he fell back into the water.
“Go back to camp you pervert!”
Then quickly helping him up she whispered near the side of his head.
” Well’ speak of this later.” Before gently pushing him off.
All Malkavor did was shake his head violently as if stunned by a mace in lieu of the sudden turn of events and wordlessly waded out of the water. Thvara turned and smiled impishly to herself.


It was past dusk when she returned to the camp. The blackguard already had a decent fire going. The elven priestess meditated on the other side of the fire. Carefully sitting down beside Malkavor, she nudged him and tried to look at his eyes in the blazing firelight.
“About the thing I mentioned earlier…”
She began in a hushed tone, but the blackguard’s only response to it was a finger pressed on his own lips and a nod towards the elf. The tiefling understood immediately what it meant and started to lay down.
“You go right ahead I got first watch.”
Was all Malkavor said. Thvara nodded and grabbed one of the blankets. A smile passing across her face just before she closed her eyes.

Maybe it was finally time that Tymorra smiled on her instead of her twin. Of course on second thought, she could never trust either of the twins, nor the black guard himself. With these thoughts the tiefling fell asleep, her dreams filled with odd symbolism, none of which she recalled come morning.

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wee another part :)



Maybe it was finally time that Tymorra smiled on her instead of her twin. Of course on second thought, she could never trust either of the twins, nor the black guard himself. With these thoughts the tiefling fell asleep, her dreams filled with odd symbolism, none of which she recalled come morning.





Odium 2


The tree were all forced to wake up with the morning sun. The first one awake was the elf, her meditation being notably shorter than the sleep of either of the two others.
Ry'laen cleaned herself up and began preparing a breakfast, in hopes to nicely surprise her saviours.
An hour or two after her, it was the blackguard's turn to wake up. The man felt oddly relaxed, far more than he did in hell. At the same time, he just didn't know what he felt towards the tiefling and kept throwing odd glances at her sleeping form. Glances that couldn't escape the attention of the elf.
Ry'laen, taking some of the porridge she was preparing, came over to him and sat down. Malkavor took the offered meal and wondered what would come next.
“So you've got anything with the girl?” The priestess asked directly, not willing to tip-toe alongside the subject.
“What? What do you mean?” It took Malkavor a while to fully understand what she meant. But once he did, his face contorted into a hateful grimace.
“Are you mad! That would be like having something with a succubus. I wouldn't touch that tan'ari dirt even if it was offered to me. And whatever the tiefling is, it reeks of tan'ari blood.” He almost spit out the last word.
The elf on the other hand wasn't moved by his tirade.
“Well if you say so, but be careful. Blood often comes to odds with the organ that pumps it. Have you ever heard the story of Ramiel and Juselle? I presume not. It's a story specific to this world. A drow and wood elf, otherwise impassive enemies found each others hearts. Sadly their story was not a happy one. They were both killed by their respective people in the end. As an example from what I hear.
But I can tell you, if my sister were here, she'd make a run at you.” The elf smiled in her ageless way and walked away, letting Malkavor to ponder on what she said. Naturally he didn't trust a worth.
Soon afterwards it was the tiefling's turn to wake up. The woman didn't hesitate and got her meal without a wait.
“So ye sods, when do all head into the muddy swamp? The day's usually Tymorra's so my guts tell me to get at an early hour while the sun lasts. What yeah two say?”
The elf decided to speak up before the blackguard could: “I agree. While I believe that none of us has a problem with the darkness, at least on a moonlit night, the sun is so much more comfortable. And most of the dangerous creatures tend to sleep.”
“Well elf. Not sure about you. But I ain't scared of any animal. This just a thing. I don't think the night will be fun tonight. Something's itching on me horns.”
“Well admit it. You're just scared that some monster will show up in the night!”
“I ain't elf!”
It didn't take long for the two women to get into an argument once more. The only thing that Malkavor could do, was wonder how long it would take for the two tempers to cool down, for he knew that if he spoke up. Both the women would turn on him instantly.
A few minutes later, both Thvara and Ry'laen still seemed to bicker at each other, but no longer shout.
The man pondered for a moment if he could speak now and decided on a positive answer.
Thvara opened her mouth for a second, almost wanting to say that she didn't fear something jumping them. More like outright murdering, but she decided against it. Instead and agreed with the blackguard.
The elf added her agreement and began packing the gear that remained. The blackguard joined her, followed by the tiefling's fiery gaze.

They somehow managed to make it to the Evermoors even before midday. There was a slight fogginess to the place that seems to have been there since early morning and was just starting to dissipate as the midday sun shone more brightly in it. The three were just getting a breather when the last fog dissipated and what they saw next took their breaths away again. The blackguard just scratched his head, the elf chewed her thumb and the tiefling cursed at the wind openly. For what they beheld was not only one. But rows upon rows of assorted half buried daggers and stilettos stuck on the rocky soil as far as their eyes could see.
“Well..This complicates things a little.” Malkavor uttered. Thvara just glared at him while the elven cleric simply shrugged. “Didn’t your contact provide you with some kind of an illustration of the damn thing?” He asked Thvara who just mutely answered by biting her lip and shaking her head savagely. He sighed inwardly “That blasted mage will get his comeuppance soon enough, he did say we could keep the dagger” He thought to himself. Looking at both his companions he tried his best to shrug even underneath all that full plate. “Well ladies I have an idea or two that might work with our current predicament. You want to hear it?” The black guard ventured. “Just spare us the eloquence and spit it out helmet.” The tiefling spat out. “All right then back when I was still a neophyte, I used to wield a different weapon way back then on the planes, much different from these two snuggled behind me” He stated and at the same time pointing at his twin swords. When he was sure he got the full attention of the two he continued. “T’was a two handed sword called a Paladin cleaver, though I never did managed to use it on any actual paladins during the time it was in my possession.” He had to pause a bit due to the Elf giving him disapproving looks. When he was sure he could continue he rambled on again. “But I did get to test the sword’s mettle on those uppity celestials, and many fell before that blade because it had a very unique enchantment quite similar to the dagger we are looking for…And that is to be more efficient in killing holier-than-thou halfwits, be they planar or prime. That blade served me well till that particular embarrassing ‘accident’ that got me somehow stranded on the plains of baator which in turn forced me to trade it to a passing Djinn merchant for safe passage home back to Cania. Excuse me if I won’t go to details., But the whole point to this whole rambling of mine is that I suddenly remembered what the smithy of that particular blade told me as he was handing me the sword. He told me that the particular enchantment which mostly consisted of chaos magics turned the blade black and gave it a reddish glow.” He paused for a bit of breath and observed his two companions and noticed that they two were nodding deep in their own thoughts which to him looked like that they were also heading to the same conclusion as he is. “So chances are this particular dagger has the same characteristics of my old sword.” “Aye there’s a chance you might be right helmet. You surprise me, and here I thought all you have are muscles from the feet up” conceded Thvara. “Hmpf..If I only got more time to bandy crude insults with you horns.” The blackguard retorted. “So what do we do then? Just look for a dagger with those characteristics you mentioned?” Ry’laen interjected, trying to defuse the rising tension she felt brewing between the two. “Well we could just wait for the hour when the blade will start doing it’s unholy magics. I’m not an expert on the weather here in the primes but I bet that mist we saw earlier was not natural. I suspect that it was probably emanating from the blade itself. So plan is to wait for it then Horns can sneak and try to track it to it’s source while me and Ry’laen will create a diversion and try to draw the undead towards us” The blackguard concluded he then took a long look at the desolate place that they were in and raising both hands in a gesture of exasperation. “Either way we’re in for a long night, so we might as well conserve our strengths now while we still got time.” And the three of them just sat there aming the rocks and ruins for some time but Malkavor was seeing thvara was slowly getting restless from all the waiting just by observing her tail flickering more intermittently. The tiefling just wordlessly stood up and started wandering off pulling blades out of the ground, throwing them away and at the same time kicking the various piles of bones in the ground. The blackguard and the elven cleric silently looking on. “Aren’t you going to stop her?” Asked R’ylaen. “What’s the point? It’s in her nature…” The blackguard answered with a deep sigh.

“By Beshaba those two are slow. If I can help it, I'm grabbing the bloody sogging dagger and gonna get out of this talos forsaken weather as fast as I can. “ The tiefling grumbled under her breath, slowly making headway towards where she believed the center of the field to be.
“There's no way I can miss it. It's probably a circle anyway. And there's not even anything of worth among these by gods forsaken bones.” The truth was, she was nervous and already having second thoughts about having gone off alone. Yet she couldn't go back, she had to go forward to prove to herself that she could do more than just rub someone’s back and on top of that, she didn't like the looks he threw at the elf.
“Bloody mist, if only the bastard had taught me some wind spells so I could see.” She slowly recited the few cantrips she knew, it wasn't much, but she rarely relied on it.
As she progressed the place became darker and murkier, the mist deeper, her footsteps more muffled and it was slowly getting colder as well.
Thvara was now frantically looking around, expecting something to jump at her from anywhere from the mist, jumping slightly at every loud crack as she stepped on one of the ancient bones. This place was almost like an upturned graveyard. The weapons the tombstones, the armors the graves.
And it happened, when she least expected it. Suddenly something reared up and grabbed at her from below the ground and sent her into a stumble. She kept her balance only by the virtue of her tail and quickly stomped on what was grabbing for her ankle.
It cracked as she did so and bony fingers showed under her boot. One of the skeletal hands had grabbed at her. She was visibly shaken and only then realized that something was making noise in the mist. She looked around and after a second noticed a bony white tide at her feet creeping closer. Hands, all of them slowly moving forwards in an almost silent skittering fashion

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Took me a while to finally get round to reading this. Very nice, very entertaining, too. The little romance makes things interesting as well.

Can't wait to read the next chapter, write faster!

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