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A battle is coming.
We need to be prepared. We need more information.
The two creatures conversed mentally, as easy as one might breath. They did not so much project their thoughts to each other as they shared them. They belonged to a community of other mentally linked creatures and at any time, anywhere within their cavern, they could communicate with each other as if they were all of the same mind. That was actually not far from the truth. They were illithids.
Which race will strike first?
The gnomes care nothing for us and are only after the ore. We would be initiating any fight with them. We do not need more slaves at the moment. We would be wise to avoid conflict.
Agreed. There was no room for debate within the illithid community. Each answer to each question was derived from their collected knowledge and no further debate was necessary. The questions were only asked to bring a structure to their thought pattern.
And what of the drow?
The drow concern us. We do not know of their true mission. Revenge? Conquest? The ore? We do not know. Lloth leads them in such a way that it defies structured thought or reason.
The illithids had several dozen drow as slaves. They had obtained them a decade ago, and after ten years of scrutiny, they had learned little of the evil race. In order to analyze their thought patterns and motivations, too much of the drow's psyche had to be given back to them and they reacted violently to the illithids around them. After several failed attempts at gaining any knowledge of the drow's way of life, the illithids had decided to keep their valuable slaves in a state of mindless servitude.
Any other race would say that illithids were the most hideous and evil race in all the realms. Illithids did not see themselves that way. They killed out of convenience and ignorance. To them, if another creature blocked a passage, it was just simpler to kill them than to ask them to move. As far as manual labor, it made more sense to acquire slaves to do the work for them.
As a result, illithids had developed a very impressive superiority complex that was second to none. They lived like kings within their own cavern. The other races stayed clear, and if they did not, they ended up as slaves, working the gardens, herding the cattle, or fighting and dying for entertainment. As little as illithids respected the other races, they held drow in a special place in their consciousness.
Though their current drow had been captured during a pathetic attempt at an attack, several illithids had lost their lives, and the telepathic creatures could tell that the drow they defeated were not very powerful by drow standards. Now some of their advanced scouts had detected more drow movement within the tunnels around the cavern and the time for another battle might soon be at hand.
Will this fight go as well as the last one?
If we can assume that they will learn from their mistakes, then no.
If they have the ability to understand why they lost before, might it also stand to reason that they would not be so foolish to attack again?
Since the drow were all united in Lloth, the illithids assumed that meant they shared a consciousness similar to their own. What happened to one, was experienced by all. If that were the case, these new drow would know exactly how badly the last fight against the illithids had gone. This misunderstanding of how drow lived only bolstered the fact that they needed to gain more information about their dangerous neighbors.
Perhaps if House Del'Axle did know the full extent of the last battle and how thoroughly the lesser houses had been annihilated, they would not even bother thinking about a second attack. Instead, both Jarlnian and Krol were scouting around the edges of the illithid cavern. Every time they drew near, they could feel the pressing of the illithid's mind probes. They were still a mile away, but the probes were strong.
The ruby red headband that Jarl wore throbbed against the powerful probe each time he ventured too close, and the cautious drow backed away. Matron Reinela had told him the magical headband would protect him against mental intrusion, but he saw very quickly that it would not stand up to the illithids if pressed too far. It was more of a warning device right now, and Jarl was quick to heed its warnings.
Two more drow approach.
Is the time for battle at hand?
We sense only two. They are probably just gathering information again.
Drow had been scouting the tunnels around the cavern off and on for the past decade, never showing themselves visibly, but they were as obvious to the illithids as if they had been carrying torches. This type of superiority usually inspired confidence within the illithids, but some dissention within the common mind had kept them from acting against the scouts. They needed information not more slaves.
The type of scouting the drow were doing made no sense to the illithids. The mind flayers needed no scouting. They kept advanced guards at the edge of their cavern to warn of intruders, but scouting was not necessary. When a battle came, they simply consumed the first attackers in a mental barrage and instantly knew their enemies' entire battle plan. The community reacted accordingly and could easily repel the best planned attack.
Perhaps we should be investigating them more closely.
No illithid has ever been within the drow city. What is the need?
The drow should not be underestimated. Knowledge of our enemy will only strengthen our position.
The individuality of the second illithid rose up briefly, but was quickly put to rest. It knew what the community wanted. I shall go with them, it said.
The use of singular personal pronouns was not common within the illithid community, but there were times when it became necessary. Illithids often sent individuals outside of the community to gain information about a particular race or magical item when its presence or power was made known to the mind flayers. This particular community had not yet attempted such an effort, but the central brain had the ability to temporarily link up with other illithid communities and knew the procedures.
The other illithid communities were excited - well, as excited as the emotionless race ever got - at the idea of sending one of their own to live with the drow to gain information. Not only would this scouting effort increase the knowledge of this community, but all illithids everywhere would gain from the expedition.
It was necessary to give the illithid scout a name. Though it was over a century old, it had never been given one. It was now, though very little effort was made to make it pronounceable. The name was more a thought pattern than anything verbal. The illithids would learn from this mistake quite quickly.
Jarl was getting frustrated. He had scouted around the cavern for over an hour now. The cavern itself was not even a mile across, but because he could not get any closer than a mile without feeling the mental intrusion of the mind flayer community, and only then when the tunnels came that close, the circuit he walked was much larger.
Krol was beside his brother, and even though he had been one of the best scouts in the city for about ten times as long as Jarl had been alive, he yielded to his brother on this trip. He could feel the mental intrusions as well, but unlike Jarl, he had not connected with his magical headband in the same way, and could not use it to fight back. He saw magical items as having power within themselves, and did not understand how to prod them further. Instead, each time they drew near to the cavern, he grew dizzy and nearly lost consciousness.
"Is it always this way?" Jarl asked, using the hand code. This was his first trip out to the cavern while Krol had been here countless times.
"No," Krol replied. "I never get this close." Krol had gotten almost all his information from scouting the lesser houses that had foolishly attacked the compound. He also had an acquaintance within the svirfnebli. The deep gnomes were able listen to the stone, and even at this great distance were able to map out the entire illithid cavern down to the last stalagmite.
Alliances between the two feuding races were not common, but Krol made it worth the gnome's trouble, offering him plenty of precious stones and also promised that he and his companions would have access to the ore once the Del'Axles defeated the illithids. If Matron Reinela had known about this, Krol would be on an altar faster than he could think. That was why he never planned on telling his mother how he had gathered his information.
"This close?" Jarl repeated, sarcasm dripping off his fingers. "You have given Matron Reinela maps of the compound. Have you been lying?"
"I have been resourceful," was all he said in response.
Jarl decided not to press the point. Instead he saw that the tunnel ahead branched back toward the illithid compound. As pointless as it seemed, Jarl was determined to prod every possible point in the cavern's perimeter. The two started slowly down the new tunnel, carefully feeling out for the mental shield that surrounded the cavern. It was not there.
Jarl was sure they had passed the point at which they had been turned aside every time before, but his mind stayed clear and unhindered. Tapping into his magical headband, he slowly reversed the enchantment on it, reaching out with it down the tunnel. After several agonizing moments, he finally felt the presence of the mind flayers and quickly snapped his mental block back in place.
"They are ahead, maybe another half mile," Jarl said.
"Could this be a breach in their defenses?"
Jarl nodded to his brother, but inwardly he doubted it. This tunnel was not huge, but was big enough that it would be hard for the illithids to miss. That they had left this avenue wide open scared Jarl more than it brought him confidence. Still, he led Krol forward slowly.
The two actually saw a few goblin slaves before they ever felt the illithid barrier. Jarl brought the two of them to a halt. He did not want to press this opening. If it truly was a breach in their defenses, alerting the illithids to their presence would only close this opening, leaving House Del'Axle no point of attack in the future.
The goblins were busy gathering rocks. It looked like a pretty pointless task, but Jarl had seen House Del'Axle slaves dig holes and then fill them up again. The main thing was to keep them busy so they could not think about how they could not think about anything.
Further past the goblins, deeper into the cavern a few drow were visible. There were four of them on their hands and knees tending to a moss bed in which a few edible plants grew. Jarl could hear Krol growl quietly behind him. The same instinctual reaction at seeing their kind at such degrading work rose up in Jarl, but he put it down easily. Rushing in blindly now would gain nothing.
"It is a disgrace," Krol said quietly.
"And what do you want to do about it?" Jarl asked back. "We can not free them by ourselves. All we can do is observe what goes on and report back to Matron Reinela."
"If we could free even one of the slaves, we might be able to get invaluable information from him."
Jarl agreed, but unless one of the slaves presented themselves to the pair, there was no way to sneak in undetected.
A noise from behind brought both brothers to attention, and they turned to see a goblin approach from down the tunnel. How this creature had wandered so far away from the compound that it could have looped in around the drow, was something neither could understand. What they did understand, was that if the goblin got any closer, he would definitely see them.
In reality, the goblin was under full control of the illithids and only saw what he was told to see. The pitiful creature would walk straight through a fire if the illithids did not tell him to turn. Not only that, but attacking the creature would alert the illithids as to their presence when the mental link with the goblin was broken.
Krol did not know this, and as he leaped form his hiding place, driving his sword through the chest of the goblin, Jarl wondered about the prudence of such an action. The goblin did not react in any other way then to fall dead, dropping his armful of rocks on the ground before him.
Krol stood over the dead goblin grinning at his actions as if the task had been a difficult one. More noise from down the tunnel, back the way they had come, brought him to attention. Two more goblins came, arms full with rocks. Krol wanted to attack again, but Jarl caught his attention first.
The two goblins walked past them without once giving either drow a first glance. Then came three more goblins. "How did they remain under the illithids' control so far from the cavern?" Krol asked.
"I don't kn-" Jarl started but cut his response short as they both felt the mental intrusion approaching. A dozen more goblins came into view down the tunnel and behind them walked two illithids.
As soon as the mind flayers saw the drow, the goblins leaped into action. What had been armfuls of useless rocks, now turned into armfuls of useful projectiles. Both Del'Axles danced around as they charged their opponents amidst the hail of rocks. Goblins fell faster than could be counted, and the illithids did nothing but watch. Krol finished off the last one of the pathetic creatures, and turned to the closer of the two illithids. The creature was franticly waiving its arms in front of its body as if the soft limbs would be able to repel Krol's weapon.
With hesitation at first, knowing the reputation of the powerful race, Krol went through a few attack routines, but after he had severed both arms, and no counter attack was forth coming, he thrust his blade into the creature's heart. It emitted a painful cry and fell dead.
Jarl was next to Krol now and held him back before he could attack the second illithid. "Please," the illithid said in a very watery voice that sounded nothing like the creature Krol had just killed. "Please do not kill me."
The two drow could barely understand the mind flayer's voice, but they understood the meaning behind it. The illithids had taken the time in the past to listen to the pleadings of the races they enslaved, and knew how it was done. "I surrender. Please do not kill me."
Krol smiled. Jarl frowned. He had never faced, or even seen, an illithid before, but from everything he had read and the mental shield he had just skirted, he knew these creatures were supposed to be powerful beyond reason. But as much as he wanted to doubt the genuineness of this situation, he could not help but feel that the illithid in front of them really was helpless.
It stood six feet tall but did not seem to have one muscle on its body. It wore only a slight tunic, with no weapon visible. Its spindly four-fingered hand looked far too weak to even hold a weapon. Its skeletal structure seemed only strong enough to support its frame, and added no extra strength to the creature. The four thick tentacles emerging from its face seemed formidable, but after facing an six-headed high priestess whip, Jarl was not worried. If it were not for this creature's famed mental attacks it would be quite pathetic.
Those mental attacks were nowhere to be found right now, and it worried Jarl more than a little. Krol was eager to kill it, but Jarl continued to hold him back. Maybe there was something special about this tunnel. There was no mental barrier here. Perhaps the illithid's mind powers did not work here. Then how did these two illithids control the goblin slaves?
The illithid could feel the hesitation within Jarl and was worried the drow would not accept his surrender. It got down on its knees, so its taller frame did not intimidate the shorter dark elves. "Please, do not kill me. I will be your slave."
This caught the attention of both drow. As Krol questioned the illithid as to his potential loyalty, Jarl became even more concerned. Any race that kept slaves knew what it meant to be one and should want nothing to do with it. Jarl knew how drow kept slaves and would kill himself before he ever accepted such a fate. The illithids' entire society was based on slaves. This creature should be begging for a blade right now, knowing what lay in store for it if it was taken captive.
"What is your name?" Krol asked.
"Methilxctreququestrinptriaz," the illithid responded, using the name that had been given to it.
Krol nearly fell over. "What?"
"Methilxctrequques-"
"Methil is good enough," Jarl cut in. He still did not like this situation, but he understood that the illithid wanted to come with them. If the creature was really as powerful as legend suggested, it would not need to set a trap to kill the two drow. If it wanted just to infiltrate the city and then wreak havoc, Jarl would like to see it try. On the other hand, if it really was helpless, Matron Reinela would be quite pleased with the slave. What better way to get information about the illithid compound than to interrogate an illithid? Even with as powerful as illithids were supposed to be, Jarl doubted the strongest of that race would be able to stand up against the seven Del'Axle high priestesses.
Krol tied a leather strap around the creature's wrists to secure them, almost breaking the thin appendages in the process. Krol gave several instructions to Methil as he lead the creature back down the tunnel away from the illithid compound. Jarl gave one last look at the carnage they had left behind, taking special notice of the dead illithid, remembering the very clear cry it had given. Jarl shrugged and turned to follow his brother.
Behind, the dead illithid slowly changed back into the form of a particularly tall kobold. Methil dropped the illusion as soon as it felt that Jarl was no longer looking. In the main cavern, the goblins that had been collecting rocks now moved to collect the dead bodies in the nearby tunnel. The illithids had watched the whole encounter through the eyes of Methil and were pleased.
***
Krol, Jarl, and Methil all stood in front of Matron Reinela. Lillium and Goria were there as well, and the two eldest daughters wrinkled their faces in disgust at the hideous mind flayer before them.
"He came willingly?" Matron Reinela asked after Krol had relayed what had happened. In the telling of the tale, the scout tried to spice it up as much as possible, but he began to realize exactly how easy the capture had been and wondered if they had not made a huge mistake.
The memory of him standing in front of the same trio with a different gift ran through his mind. When he had stolen the Baenre child from the spider web, it had seemed like a very good idea at the time, but each day since, he constantly wondered how he could have been that stupid. Trenian had died that day, some 31 years ago. Now if his mother and sisters decided to kill one of the noble sons for their foolish actions, Krol had a bad feeling they would not be disposing of Jarl.
"We had him outnumbered," Krol tried to explain. "If he attacked one of us, the other would be able to strike him down. He must have known this and surrendered."
The two daughters in the room restrained their laughter with rude coughs. Matron Reinela was not so amused. Still, she realized that this was not the same type of situation as before when her sons had stolen the Baenre child. If the illithids decided to attack their house, the entire city would stand against the mind flayers.
As far as this solitary illithid, Matron Reinela did not fear it. "Why did you allow yourself to be captured?" she asked Methil directly.
Your sons over-power- it started to transmit mentally, realizing that the powerful high priestess would be able to receive the mental communication.
Matron Reinela shook her head, violently casting the illithid out of her mind. "Speak aloud at all times!" she demanded.
Methil had not forcibly entered her mind, but the mind flayer was still surprised at how easily the drow had closed off her consciousness.
"Your sons over-powered me," Methil spoke. The watery voice was far more disturbing than the mental intrusion had been, but Matron Reinela preferred it. She did not like what had been said, however.
"You can read my mind," Reinela said bluntly. "You know I do not believe you. You could have easily enslaved both of my sons, yet instead, you allowed yourself to be captured. Why?"
"Why am I still alive?" The personal pronouns still did not seem natural. "If you believe my surrender was insincere, why have you not yet killed me?"
"We will ask the questions!" Lillium shouted, her whip out and ready to attack.
Reinela motioned for her daughter to be quiet. She had not killed this illithid because she wanted information. She wanted to learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of the mysterious race. She quickly realized this was the same reason that Methil had not killed Krol and Jarlnian. The illithid wanted information as well.
This type of speech was not common for Methil. Illithids were used to very straightforward reasoning and simple statements. All of this double talk and trickery was an attempt to fit in with what Reinela and the other drow in the room were emanating. Methil also wished to test the matron mother. She passed.
"You wish to learn about our people," Matron Reinela said aloud for the other three in the room that had not figured this out on their own. Jarl had figured it out a long time ago.
"We crave knowledge," Methil responded. "The drow have lived near us for as long as we can remember, but you are far more complex than the goblins, kobolds, or even the gnomes. This worries us."
Matron Reinela nodded. "Very well," she said to the surprise of all in the room. Was their matron mother actually going to allow a spy to remain within their house? "You shall stay by my side, and I shall learn from you all that I wish about your race."
"In exchange-" Methil started, finishing the deal.
"In exchange you shall live!" she cut the illithid off. Though she had very little experience reading the facial expressions of the ugly mind flayers, she could tell this one was not happy. This was not a typical drow male that she could intimidate. "You will also perform tasks for me," she continued, "putting to use your powerful skills."
Methil was growing more restless by the second. "This city of ours is one of chaos," Reinela went on. "Information is the most valuable commodity, out-shining mithril and adamntium by leaps and bounds. To know what your enemy is thinking is the ultimate goal of every matron mother within this city. With you hiding in the shadows, I shall have the upper hand with everyone I talk to. In the process, you shall gain a very intimate knowledge of the way our city works. You will come to understand our motivations and desires better than we do ourselves."
Methil had been prepared to loose a considerable blast of energy at the pompous matron and make an escape, but this new piece of information brought pause to the illithid. With the mental link maintained with the elder brain back in the illithid cavern, the other mind flayers listening in on the conversation agreed with the proposal. "Very well," Methil agreed. "Your offer is a generous one."
"I'm glad we could agree on this," Reinela smiled. "Please let my two daughters know of your physical needs, and we shall have a room prepared for you."
With that, Reinela dismissed her two sons. Krol's head was spinning. No matter how many times he saw his mother at work, turning his blunders into gold, he was still amazed every time she did it. Jarl was just happy to be living within a house that was so well led. He was quite confident they would prosper for a long time to come.
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