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With the incense burning and the spell begun, Pharaun asked his question, beseeching the elerant hiful answer

"Reveal to me the enemy of Quenthel Baenre of House Baenre in Menzoberranzan, the enemy who seeks to destroy her, who calls forth dens"

The burning incense flared, and se formed in Pharaun&039;s mind, words uttered by the wind, or perhaps the Weave itself However it was delivered, the e that Pharaun received was clear

The one who seeks the high priestess&039;s death shares her blood and her a from thesame womb but is not of the wo in the darkened room as the last re fro, but not a female A male? A brother? Gromph! It had to be

Pharaun was surprised, not so e of Menzoberranzan would wish his sister dead but by the fact that he hadn&039;t see it before then Gro the only real rival for Triel&039;s ear The archns on the throne of House Baenre itself, but he could be the puppet reed with everything her brother said, and vice versa, so she was an obvious and powerful i to that was the fact that Groe of the Academy&039;s defenses and had the capability to summon forth the fiends used in the attacks It was a talent few others possessed, at least few others with the interest to do so There were other powerful wizards within the halls of Sorcere, and Pharaun supposed that some of them would like to seesomeone replace Quenthel as the Mistress of the Acadeh he knew the answer, Pharaun wasn&039;t sure what to do with it

On the one hand, he considered, I&039; her aidto Sorcere? If I tell Gro to find out who&039;s after her, even do hi her, a s at Sorcere improve, or will he be unable to protect me from Triel&039;s wrath?

Of course, Pharaun knew thatto Menzoberranzan, and he was planning to argue with Quenthel against that course of action There were still too many variables, too many possible outcos&039; conflict to join He could stall Quenthel for a while She wouldn&039;t knohat ht be involved in his quest for her inforh a spell that actually took days to co a bargain to exchange so of a spell he himself did not know There were a nu

For the tis and see which way the rotheherd roae Either outcome, and he would improve his station within the Acadeer on the floor, recovering fro up his paraphernalia, stowing the strips of ivory away in a pocket of hispii

Next, Pharaun removed a s the same spell he had just employed to find Quenthel&039;s enemy would work better in these circu for a few hours then studying his spellbooks Fir the words needed to activate the

The Master of Sorcere knew the spell was dangerous Atte to look in on a deity without permission could have disastrous ra, if only to discern oddess&039;s absence Drawing on the e visit to the Demonweb Pits those decades past, he finished the spell and peered into the e of elsewhere rather than his own dark-skinned face

Pharaun gazed into thethat hein itsHe willed the spectral eye that he kneas on the other end of his spell to glide forward, reli

Thein the back of his mind He mentally scrambled to release the spell, to sever the connection with the eye at the far side of oblivion, and he aly slah the mirror like a punch, while at the sa hiical eye

As his senses returned, Pharaun realized he was sprawled on his back, blinking as his eyes tried to focus on the ceiling He groaned and sat up, seeing that he had been hurtled backward fros and staggered back over to the lass surface spider-webbed into hundreds of fissures He stared at the ruinedif the pattern was representative of so or merely a coincidence

Well, that answers that question, Pharaun thought A mere mortal cannot penetrate the veil that has settled over the sixty-sixth layer of the Abyss, but perhaps a higher being can

The Master of Sorcere shook his head and sighed as he gingerly gathered the fragh this trouble? he thought as he tried to figure out where he should discard the ruined thing Everything I do for everyone, and all I get is grief in return I&039;ll bet other folk don&039;t go through this ht wryly I&039;m sure they just look them up anytime -

The wizard froze in theHe alht I&039;ve been going about this all wrong Why didn&039;t I think of this before? We&039;re asking the wrong

Tossing the an to pace,to for hi out how to convince Quenthel

It was not long after that that Ryld and Valas returned from their own excursions

The wizard took one look at the pair of them and quickly surmised that their endeavors had not only ended unsatisfactorily but violently Both droere gluht limp, and Ryld seemed unable to lift his left arear on the floor and dropped down onto their Reverie couches

"I gather that things did not go well today," Pharaun commented "No chance to haul Quenthel&039;s supplies out of here?"

"Three places," Valas ot into two scuffles for our troubles"

"There just isn&039;t a pack lizard to be had, it seeood hand "If there is, no one is ready to sell it to outsiders"

"I don&039;t find that hard to believe," Pharaun replied, "considering that no caravans have entered or left the city in such a long while Everyone is holding tight to what they have, riding the crisis out"

Pharaun busied his while the other two er with you for who has to tell her," Ryld said to Valas "Rock, knife, and parchment?"

The scout shook his head

"Let&039;s justto Pharaun "He see her, anyway, so what&039;s one more bit of bad news out of his

"Well, we all have a reprieve, at least for the e said "She and the other two haven&039;t returned fro up "I would have thought they&039;d return before us for sure"

Pharaun shrugged and said, "As would I, but none of the back against the wall and closing his eyes "The less I have to see of that daloth, the better off I aoing to suggest next ht not set ith either the weaponstoday, too," he said quietly

Ryld opened one eye and looked at the wizard

"Oh?"

Valas leaned forward on the edge of the bed

"Have you determined what has happened to the Dark Mother?"

Pharaun chuckled and said, "Not exactly, but I did learn that her disappearance has not been limited to our own race Other species feel her loss, as well"

"I don&039;t knohether to consider that good news or not," the scout said, sitting back again

"Nor do I," Pharaun agreed, "but I have also learned that so us out from the Demonweb Pits I have atteoddess&039;s condition - indeed, if she yet exists - and I could not penetrate inside A barrier protects it and keepsnow of things I have no experience with," Ryld said "What kind of barrier?"

"A potent one I was nearly blasted into powder for my troubles," Pharaun said, a wry smile on his face, "I have tried it before, even spoke with Arche Gromph before we left Menzoberranzan He has experienced sih whatever the Spider Queen is doing, she does not wish to be disturbed," Valas said

"If it&039;s her who&039;s doing it," Ryld countered "Perhaps another god has erected the barrier to prevent us froerly "Surely someone knows - or can find out - e cannot discover"

"I thought that&039;s what our mission wasto discover Lolth&039;s fate," Valas said "That&039;s e&039;ve co, "though this business with storehouses of her priority In the interest of bringing us back to thepart of our little expedition, I have an idea I want to enlist help fro up, too

The wizard began to pace again as he explained his plan to his companions

"A mere mortal, even someone with my acumen, can&039;t penetrate the veil that has settled over the De us out We need to enlist so on there Someone not of our own ilk"

Both of the other droatching the wizard intently, doubt plain on their faces

"You can&039;t od"

The weapons ht have been conte the possibilities of such an act - and the ra," Pharaun continued, "especially one in close proximity to the Demonweb Pits - from one of the other layers of the Abyss - could, or possibly even already has, discovered more than we can possibly hope to on our own Maybe we can convince one of the inside

"Not directly, of course," Pharaun added hastily, "but through an intera his head "The Dark Mother may find such a course blaspheratulateto examine and explore, whatever the risk The other choice is to admit defeat, return to Menzoberranzan, and sit on our hands as our way of life ends"

"Quenthel will not be happy with this plan," Valas cautioned "She will most likely consider it a personal affront to her"

"Yes, well, Quenthel is too focused on lining House Baenre&039;s coffers to appreciate the larger picture before us I&039; to wonder hoise a choice she was to lead this expedition Don&039;t stare at me like that, RyldYou&039;ve questioned more than a few of her decisions since we departed"

"Never openly Not to her face"

"She&039;s not here now, is she? My friend, I play with fire, I know that, but if I don&039;t act where my heart lies then I&039;ve failed our race far worse than she I&039; her believe she controls our tempo, our course, but such a method requires patience, more than a little frustration, at ti thwarted or exposed It would stand a ether to maneuver her I could use your help"

Valas had his chin in his hand, thinking Ryld shook his head, lines of worry creasing his brow

&039;You fight against millennia of tradition and habit, Pharaun," the weapons master said "I can&039;t say that I welco to Menzoberranzan no better off than e left, but usurping the high priestess&039;s authority ht very wellsee our heads on the parapets of House Baenre"

"The wizard has already been at it for a couple of tendays" Valas said

"Perhaps, but until now, it was siht us into it"

Pharaun clicked his tongue in exasperation

"Do you honestly think that she won&039;t hold us all responsible, regardless of the relative levels of involvement?" the Master of Sorcere asked, "She will blaith"

Slowly, Ryld nodded

"I suppose you&039;re right," he said "It still doesn&039;twe bind her with cord and throw her in a box, Weapons Master All I&039;estion, that you back ree Helpforward, rather than back to Menzoberranzan, is the wiser course of action"

"You ht now, your idea is just that Weto serve as the conduit Do you know of any such creature?"

"I do," Valas said quietly

Pharaun crouched down in front of the scout and asked, "You do? Who?"

"There&039;s a priest I know, a follower of Vhaeraun"

"Vhaeraun," Ryld said in a clipped tone "I doubt we&039;ll receive any aid from him"

"Perhaps, but Tzirik is actually an old associate of mine," Valas replied

At Ryld&039;s surprised look, the scout added, "When you wander the wilds of the Underdark as matic than in the cozy confines of Menzoberranzan Tzirik Jaelre owes ht help us"

Valas turned to Pharaun and added, "Assu, of course, that you have a notion of what he should do once we get there"

Pharaun replied, "I e find this priest In the meantime, you keep this Tzirik Jaelre to yourself until I have words with Quenthel At the right moment, mention that you know hih to the end"

"I only hope the end corimly