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Faeryl&039;s face looked stricken at the prospect of sharing her quarters with the draegloth, but she said nothing

The rooer of the two, the one Quenthel clai room It was near the front of the structure, with several se, the fe off into the distance both above and below The smaller chaated room with two beds and a divan for a third person The loneopened to the wall of the cavern, where rivulets of water ran down, leaking through fro down to the bottoi

It&039;s not ht prove useful for leaving the inn unobserved

"I want to rest for a while, so you three," Quenthel said, looking at the males, "stay out of trouble We will convene at the end of the day and discuss what to do next over our meal Until then, leave ing Faeryl and Jeggred along with her

Valas agreed to rest on the couch, and as the three of the his back

"I don&039;t know about you two," the wizard said after a bit, "but I&039;m too excited to flop around here I fancy a drink somewhere and maybe a chance to hear more of the buzz around town Are you two interested in accoave the scout a nod

"Sure," they both said in unison, and the three of theh the streets of Ched Nasad proved to be h Pharaun supposed that a large part of it was due to the fact that he, Ryld, and Valas were sauntering along back web streets in a higher section of the city As they strolled, listening to the din of business all around thee couldn&039;t help but be thrilled at the exploration of the city Unlike Menzoberranzan, Ched Nasad was a coshts, sounds, and smells that permeated the entire city He could certainly detect subtle differences as the trio ardless of where they found the that the air vibrated with a kind of cla, that was only present in the baser areas of Menzoberranzan

It was certainly more lively than Tier Breche, where Pharaun spent far too much time cloistered in the towers of the Academy, hidden away in Sorcere Back ho out into the main city when he needed supplies or the occasional drink and bit of fun It had been that way for ed to kill hi a problem, he hborhoods of home more often

As they strolled, Valas and Ryld see everywhere at once, but Pharaun knew that their attentiveness to the cacophony around them was due to a different reason than his own Certainly, he ary of a pickpocket or thug, but for the weapons master and the scout, it hat they had trained themselves to do for years upon years They had honed their skills of wariness and observation to keen levels, and their entire beings reverberated with it Pharaun doubted seriously that anyone in the city would get the drop on hi thought, if only because it allowed him to truly relax and enjoy the splendor of the City of Shie certainly understood why Ched Nasad had been dubbed suchThe tangle of streets crisscrossed in purples, areens, and yellows for hundreds of feet in every direction, and it was a ht Everywhere the three of them walked vendors hawked oods see - everyone had a hint of so in his eyes Fear, he decided Everyone looked afraid

One filthy looking drowa small four-armed humanoid with multifaceted eyes, mandibles, and a spidery abdo closer, Pharaun could see that the creatures had web-spinning capabilities They shrank back as he studied them

"You wish to buy one, Master?" theup froed

"Infant chitines," Valas said "The adults are hunted for sport, and whenever a nest is found the babies are brought back here andsold as pets"

"Interesting," Pharaun replied and briefly contes, the drowany interest in his wares "I&039;d consider getting one - as a present for Quenthel, you know - but these seem over priced"

The male&039;s hopeful stare faded to disappointain

Ryld snorted, and Valas shook his head

"They&039;re not too expensive," the scout said as they walked on "The ht now"

"Why is that?" Pharaun asked

"Because chitines and choldriths worship the goddess, too," Valas answered quietly

"Choldriths?"

"Chitine priestesses Saer and dark-skinned No hair, hu the same calamity that has befallen our own clerics"

Pharaun&039;s curiosity was piqued

"Really," he said, ht prove useful if we could track down so the saoddess&039;s silence, too, and once we get proof, Quenthel ive us the meansto explore further, find out if Lolth&039;s reticence is universal or just limited to our own race"

"It&039;s a nice idea in theory,to convince his, "but you&039;d be hard-pressed to track any down, and struggle even more to elicit information from them The drow hunt them for sport, so the chitines and choldriths have learned to flee or fight to the death"

"H he wanted "Perhaps, but my particular talents could coes co spirits, which was hanging at the corner of two fairly large web streets To reach it, custo to the front of the vending stand, then ascend a ladder of webbing to return to the street Pharaun studied the s the slide and purchasing a flaskor e

"You&039;d think they could have put steps in on both sides," the Master of Sorcere sniffed disdainfully

"Oh, by the Dark Mother," Ryld said, shaking his head "I&039;ll get us soh the crowd, very feere actually buying, instead begging coin or a sip fronored them and descended upon the vendor, while Pharaun and Valas stood out of the way of traffic and took the opportunity to absorb the sights again

When Ryld returned, he had a bitof a strange look on his face

"What is it?" Valas asked

"That gray dwarf charged me ten times what this swill is worth and seeing is to be expected, when caravan traffic has dried up," Pharaun said

"Yes, but when a goblin asked for the saht after me, I heard the proprietor sell it to hied ular," Valas offered

"Possibly," Pharaun said, opening the flask that Ryld had procured and inhaling a waft He jerked his head back and scrunched up his face a bit "I suspect it hasthe opportunity to earn a little payback against the drow" He took a sip of the brandy and passed the flask to Valas "After all, who regulates the coets first choice of all the best vending locations? Who runs the caravan systeoods?"

"In other words, who sticks it to the other races with regularity?" Ryld finished

"Exactly The gray dwarves,the trogs, the kuo-toans, and everyone else in this city know that the ruling class has fallen on hard times, and despite the fact that they&039;ve been allowed to trade in a city of dark elves, they won&039;t waste a chance to earn a spot of revenge And Ryld," Pharaun added, gesturing to the flask that Valas was handing to the warrior, "you would have been had at one-tenth the price"

Ryld shrugged, took a sip, and said, "You&039;re drinking it, aren&039;t you?"

The three co the prospects of acquiring soible confirmation that Lolth was absent froued by the idea of investigating other races known to worship the goddess, and even as he contributed to the conversation, he mulled the concept over It would require soness, he had a good idea where he s were interrupted when the trio ascended a webbed staircase, turned a corner, and foundthe an open plaza Froht it obvious that refugees had taken to using the place as a sort of ca the raised ay around the peri shoulder to shoulder with the riffraff, and the three dark elves glided along, ignoring the pleas and demands for coin from the unwashed around them

A shout from belo the drow&039;s attention, and when Pharaun peered toward the center of the plaza, he spotted the source of the disturbance A priestess was standing in a fairly open area, three or four hobgoblins gathered around her She see, but from a distance Pharaun couldn&039;t make out what it was The female drow raised her aroblins with a scourge, but the creature easily stepped aside, and the priestess stumbled forward from the exertion She was quite drunk, Pharaun realized

"Filthy aniht "Stay away from me!"

Pharaun noticed her unkehed half off her shoulders, her lustrous white hair was disheveled, and she held a bottle of so the wizard presuoblins , which caused the priestess to turn, trying to keep an eye on theain, and she nearly went down in a heap

"I don&039;t think I&039;ve ever seen such a thing," Valas breathed "The gall those subcreatures have is truly bewildering"

"Let&039;s put a stop to this," Ryld said, taking a step forward

Suddenly, Pharaun are of ic around him, an effect that seemed to be centered on him and his two companions He reached out and put a hand on the warrior&039;s arm

"Wait," he said "Let&039;s see what happens"

When Ryld looked at the wizard quizzically, he continued, "Drawing attention to ourselves is not the best way to investigate Besides," the ht see once and for all if our theory is correct This uage,Ithink soically

Both Ryld and Valas raised eyebrows in concern, but before they could turn and look around, Pharaun cautioned,Don&039;t draw attention to the fact that we know Just pretend we&039;re watching the spectacle

Pharaun briefly considered dispelling the ic, but he discounted the idea because he kneould only give their spy notification that they were aware of his or her presence Instead, he pretended to turn his attention back to the brewing fight belohile in actuality scanning the plaza for signs of sooblins There were a greatfrom many different individuals, but no one, as far as the wizard could observe, seeoblins seeh they were increasingly pressed fro crowd For her part, the priestess see relatively still, her eyes closed, swaying slightly She was ain could not ht, I want to knohat she&039;s saying

He reached into one of his many pockets and produced a tiny brass horn, hich he casta spell When the ic was cos as though he were standing right in front of her

" - beseech thee, our Mistress Lolth, return to s Do not abandon oblins had chosen that moment to prod the droith a sharpened stick, and she shrieked as she jurip on the bottle of spirits It fell to the calcified pave only the trickle that reoblin that hadto stalk forward, her hand outstretched as though she were going to throttle hioblin casually reached out with his own short spear and tripped the priestess, ent sprawling

She rose to her hands and knees and began shouting, "My goddess, come to me, aid me! Do not abandon oddess is dead," the first hobgoblin snarled, kicking the drow

She grunted froe

"No!" she shrieked "Lolth would not abandon us! She is oblins advanced together, and the drow priestess tried to kick at them, but the creature in the lead easily sidestepped the attack and jabbed down at her with his spear Pharaun saw the point draw blood froh

Ryld snarled and flashed,This is not right We should do soreeer in each hand

The e laid a hand on each drow&039;s shoulder to slow thenedAs you can see, no other drow estured down into the crohere several other dark elves were in attendance, observing dispassionately

She has lost her faith and deserves no less,Pharaun admonished his companions

It is not the priestess I am worried about,Ryld replied, a sullen look on his face,but to allow those ver spells trouble for us all They should be put in their place

Perhaps,Pharaun responded,but we need anony those beasts does nothing to further our own goals

The wizard is right,Valas e of the colonnadeIfthematron mothers hear that three outsiders interfered in what er be able to walk this city unhindered and unobserved

If they&039;re not already watching us,Ryld flashedAre we still being observed? When Pharaun nodded yes, the warrior continued,We&039;ve got the proof we sought, anyway Let&039;s return to the inn I no longer have the stoh he did not share his friend&039;s sentiether, they turned and strolled back the way they had cooblins opened her a hundred times with quick, controlled thrusts of their short spears After a few steps, the aze around onceto find the source He did not, and the three of theathered around the confrontation stirred and gredy Several other drow in the throng found themselves pushed and prodded as they tried to extricate therowing bold after witnessing the murder of a dark elf Shouts rose up, curses to drow and their oddess Finally, the handful of dark elves scraressors around theh to ly in Ched Nasad