Holy Opposites 55

	Embersson was waiting for them by the wardrobe.  He had clearly been home and back since the others had seen him.  His normal robe and cloak were gone, replaced by leather armor and a pair of enchanted bracers.  He straightened up when he saw the rest of the party.  “Alright, then,” he said.  He turned to the Eilistraeeans and bowed.  “Suivi Embersson.  I’m the man who tracks these portals,” he said.  “I work for Axiopistos.”

	“Welcome aboard,” Kyria said.

	“Thanks.”  Suivi paused.  This would not be easy.  “I was formerly a spy for the Baneites.”

	The three Eilistraeeans stared.  “You worked for the Cult of Tyranny?” Luanea asked coldly.  She fingered the pommel of her bastard sword.  “Axio, why did you only tell us this now?”

	“Because I have no idea how long it will take for our enemies to complete their ritual,” Axio said.  “I’ve extended my trust to him.”

	Luanea peered at the human spy for a long moment, and then slowly shook her head.  “Fine.  Time is of the essence.”

	Cavria coughed.  “Er, for those not in the know, I’m not human.”

	“You’re in good company,” Kyria said cheekily.  Cavria removed her amulet.

	Suivi’s knees went weak.  A Succubus.  His new employer’s sidekick was a Succubus.  He felt his head spin as she looked around sheepishly.  “I’m… not a very good spy,” he finally said.

	Axio chuckled.  To his surprise, so did Luanea and Doshellas.  “Don’t let it bother you.  I hide it very well,” Cavria said.  She turned her glowing eyes on Kyria.  “So… Kyria, if you want to leave, I won’t think less of you.  I know it’s hard to trust a devil.”  She raised her hand and showed the drow woman her amulet.  “This is an Amulet of Greater Repeated Disguise Self, a gift from Her Ladyship Ryaire.  It allows me to pass for mortal.”

	Kyria stared at her for a long minute.  Finally, she shrugged.  “I guess you two knew?” she asked the drow.

	Doshellas nodded.  “Didn’t care.”

	“I nearly killed her, if it makes you feel better,” Luanea said.  “Axio convinced me that Ryaire trusts her.”  She turned to smile at the devil.  “And so did she.”

	Kyria shook her head again, raising her hands in defense.  “Fine.  Fine, whatever.  Let’s go.”

	Cavria set her amulet back on her chest, and she again became an unattractive human woman.  The group stood around the wardrobe as Axio cleared his throat.  “Malsker,” he said, and the doors sprang open.

	The shining circle of light beyond showed nothing.  Axio frowned.  “The room on the other side is completely dark,” he noted.

	“Maybe to disorient us,” Cavria said uneasily.

	“Maybe.”  Axio drew out one of the Sunrods they had taken from Undermountain and tossed it through the glowing portal.  The light illuminated an empty room.  There was nobody inside, just empty wall sconces and a few crates and chests.  “Grand Cleric Solen got the password from Toller with Geas, so it is accurate,” Axio reminded himself.  “We’ll just have to trust that Toller had the right address.”

	“It could be a relay,” Suivi pointed out.  “There could be another portal somewhere else in the building.”

	“We don’t have time to waste,” Axio decided.  “We press on.  If there is another portal, we can just come back.”

	“Right.”  Luanea unsheathed her bastard sword and squared her shoulders.  “Lead the way.”

	Axio raised his shield and stepped through the portal.  The instant he was on the other side, he sprang forward and knelt with the Sunrod at his feet.

	Nothing.  No challenges issued from the darkness.  He felt no traps trigger.  The air was breathable, but dank and still.

	Cavria came through next, keeping her glaive raised.  She swept the room with her eyes, looking for doors.

	Doshellas emerged next with his bow strung and ready.  Suivi walked through, daggers in hand, but he was the only group member without darkvision, so he stayed close to the shining light of the Sunrod.  Luanea was next, and she circled behind the portal.  Kyria stepped through last.  She cast light on the ceiling tile above the portal, and the room shone with a magic glow.

	Still nothing.  The six travelers scanned the room, and there was nothing at all.  Axio slowly rose with his sword at the ready.  “I find myself somewhat unimpressed with the scale and complexity of this facility,” he said drily.  “Anybody see a door?”

	“Two doors,” Doshellas said.  He pointed at two stone doors set into the wall behind the large and freestanding stone square in the room’s center.  “Unmarked.  Locks in the door handles.”

	“Anybody detect magic in this place?” Axio asked.  “Besides the obvious.”

	“No, but speaking of obvious,” Cavria said.  She tapped a piece of parchment affixed to the stone square with the portal inside.  “This has a list of passwords.”

	“So this is a relay for the cult to travel,” Axio remarked.  “You were right, Suivi.”

	The spy acknowledged the remark with a nod.  “I suspected the cult had taken the time to map Halaster’s gates and portals before trying to use them,” he said.  “Toller’s mysterious employer had been working on this plan for decades.”

	Axio read the list.  “Hmm.  ‘Store wardrobe.  Undermountain.  Rookery.  Lighthouse.  Upstairs.’”  He rubbed his chin.  “Have we seen a lighthouse anywhere?”

	“Not yet,” Cavria said.  “Maybe they have a fallback in the Grand Harbor Lighthouse?”

	“I’m more interested in the ‘upstairs’ bit,” Axio said grimly.  “This place may be at the bottom of a larger complex.”

	“Right.”

	“Which means my sister could be anywhere,” he said heavily.  “All right.  Doshellas, pick a door.  We’re sweeping this place.”

	“You got it, Axio.”  Doshellas knelt next to the wall with the two stone doors.  “Hmm.  Identical.  Locks are the same.  Stone’s from the same place.”  He ran his gloved fingers over both handles to test the mechanisms.  “No traps.”  He considered their choice.  “Eh.  Right hand rule.”  He stepped back and rested one hand on the right door.  “Get ready.”


	I stood at the back of the formation and kept an eye on the portal behind us.  I knew it would run out of its charge soon and shut and we would have to use the password to turn it back on.  “Want me to grab the Sunrod?” I asked.

	“No.  We leave it be, so we can mark our trail in case we need to backtrack,” Axio said.

	“Alright.”

	Doshellas set his hand on the door handle and glanced over the rest of the group.  We were ready.

	“Go!”

	Doshellas threw the door open, and we all rushed through.  We were at the end of a long, dark hallway.  The portal room opened up into a corridor that stretched back over a hundred feet.  Doors marked the walls in places, but there was no light.  Axio cast the light cantrip on his glove, as did I with my glaive.  Even the extra illumination showed nothing of interest.  “Did we miss something?” I asked uneasily.  “Where is this cult?”

	“Not sure.  I suspected they had about sixty members, and you’ve killed over thirty in your raids,” Suivi said.  “They may be out recruiting or something.”

	“We move out.  Doshellas, tell us if any of the doors we pass are locked,” Axio commanded.


	Darius Vorthane stared into the depths of his psy-crystal and meditated.  The ritual was proceeding, as quickly as he could move it along without errors.  The new children were down in the basement processing into Grist at that very moment, and his lieutenants were busily recalling his men in the field in preparation for the inevitable counterattack.

	Still… something was wrong.

	He couldn’t put his finger on it, exactly.  Something was missing, or he was missing something.  There was some variable for which he hadn’t accounted.

	The old cleric struggled to his feet and walked towards the main altar room.  There were only a few men there at that moment.  They were sweeping up the altar and casting spells on the ritual needles.  “Master Vorthane, sir, what can we do for you?” one asked when he noticed the door opening.

	“Oh, nothing, I suppose,” Vorthane said.  “I simply feel the passing of time.  Could you be so kind, however, as to direct the security team to sweep the place again?”

	He phrased it like a favor, but it was an order, and both men knew it.  “Sir, yes sir,” the cultist said.  He set his broom aside and walked swiftly out of the room.  Vorthane watched him go, then slowly walked over to his throne and sank in.  He didn’t engage any of the magical or psionic devices embedded within, he just sat there and thought.

	Toller.  The rookery.  The farm.  The raid team.  What was going wrong?  What was he missing?


	I advanced slowly through the room.  Doshellas had picked the lock off the corridor’s side, and it had opened up into a long gallery.  A huge table dominated the center, with empty painting frames on the walls and elaborate candlesticks on the table.  “Were they hosting a restaurant?” I quipped.

	“Bane Cuisine,” Kyria chuckled.  “Yeah, Axio, I hate to say it, but we may not be in the right place.”

	My partner gripped his sword tighter.  “We push on regardless.  Toller couldn’t have lied.”

	“But he may have been misleading us,” I pointed out.  “What if he gave us the password to the basement portal because the Baneites aren’t using it?  That would have fulfilled the requirements of his geas if all Solen asked was how to get to the Temple.”

	I could see Axio go still as that dawned on him.  “Oh, grandfather,” he said under his breath.  “All right, fine.  We finish sweeping the room, and then we go back and try the password labeled upstairs.”

	I could practically see him kicking himself.  He must have been taking the potential deception personally, thanks his sister’s peril.  Doshellas finished leading them across the room, and we all doubled back, moving as fast as we dared to the entryway.