Private Tales The Old Ways

[Velkyn]

Velkyn didn't slow down even for a second.

As he walked he was like a predator among prey. People flowed away from him almost naturally, stepping to the side and drawing away. They glanced at him, a frown flickering over their faces as they realized he was a stranger.

Most well dressed men, most Drow of his sort, were known in this city. A few of the commoners didn't care of course, simply disregarding another rich man on the street, and yet those that noticed seemed almost...unsettled by his presence.

It was not long before they cut into the inner city, the ancient buildings crafted by his people still standing tall. "Do not speak to anyone."

He told Xylthe as they approached the massive onyx steps of the Raath'Suul.

"When you see someone of import..." Briefly the Drow Lord glanced at her. "You may whisper to me."

Velkyn stopped. "Understand?"

Yellow eyes seemed to burn as he stared at her. It was rare that anyone got close enough to him to whisper.

 

[Xylthe]

Those eyes were even worse when he stared down at her from his perch two steps above her. His words made her swallow with nerves; never before had there been a person she wanted to be less near. But to walk with him close enough to whisper? That would mean walking to the point their bodies nearly brushed one another. Her skin prickled at the thought of being near such an obvious predator but in the end she did what she had to do and nodded, forcing herself to take the two steps up so that she was next to him. A voice in the back of her head screamed at her to run but she schooled herself tightly.

She held his eyes as she rose to his side then finally let them flicker to just beyond him to the figures coming down the steps.

"Lord and Lady Yithrel," she murmured quietly behind a polite smile. "The Lady Yithrel hold a main seat on the Council, her husband is from the surface. A Tiefling I believe."

 

[Velkyn]

Tiefling.

He knew of them, more than a few hailed from the cities within the Underrealm. Velkyn had even hired one as an assassin once. As far as those who were tainting this city, he would consider their number the least of his worries.

It was humans he was mostly concerned with.

A nod tipped his head, but he offered her no word of thanks. Instead he turned towards the two approaching states-people.

"Lady Yithrel." He addressed the Drow of the pair, ignoring the Tiefling for now. "So glad to finally meet you."

His voice changed. "I've heard quite a bit about you."

The woman frowned for a moment, glancing at Xylthe with recognition, but looking at Velkyn with nothing but confusion.

"Th-thank you, My lord. I'm afraid I don't know your name."​

"Deth." The moment he said the word a small gasp seemed to part from the woman's lips. Her eyes widened and her jaw tensed almost instantly. Her husband offered her a glance, not quite understanding.

"It's a pleasure, Lord Deth. If you'll excuse me. We have much to attend to."​

Velkyn offered a nod, stepping aside. "Of course."

He said, offering a wave to let them pass by.

 

[Xylthe]

Deth.

The name pinned her to the spot like a butterfly in a collectors library. She hadn't dared ask his name the previous night, more focused on trying to keep her head on her shoulders, but she hadn't thought for one single moment one of the prominent names of the underdark had been the one to come knocking on her masters small estate doors. Her heart sunk even further. The small task she had set herself seemed even more impossible. Even if she could find a moment to speak to someone else what could they do against such a power?

Her eyes slid sideways to watch him watch the other two walk away then waited for him to continue walking before following.

The revelation had her mind abuzz as they stepped inside the chambers which were filled with people bustling to and from, most of them with stacks of paper and dressed in a similar fashion to Xylthe. None of them stopped to bow like one would expect a slave to do though. They chatted amongst themselves, enjoying their work. Xylthe tried to make herself seem even smaller.

"Xylthe!" one of the human servants called and came bustling over with a grin, only glancing at her companion in curiosity. "I could use your help later with the Accords when you're done showing your guest around," every word made the drow want to wince.

 

[Velkyn]

Velkyn slowly, very slowly turned towards the servant that approached them.

The Drow Lord's gaze carried the weight of a citadel. Beady yellow eyes staring down at the man who had walked towards them so brazzenly. A burning hatred sat behind those eyes, his gaze flickering with more power than any of these gnats could ever hope to have.

He didn't speak a word, he didn't need to.

Those around them would feel a pulse. A dusty floor stirred, papers rustled, and the air itself seemed to buckle slightly as Velkyn stared at the man.

A choked cry started from the man's throat, his hands frozen at his side as fingers clenched into tight fists. His eyes bulged open, flickering desperately towards Xylthe as he silently begged for some sort of assistance. He seemed to shake, and then his legs fell out from beneath him as he tumbled to his knees. "Has this city forgotten even the most base etiquette?"

His voice boomed out, and those within the hall seemed to stop.

Head turned almost immediately, darting towards Velkyn and Xylthe. Fear flickered across the faces of many servants, though those in grand robes seemed more confused than afraid.

A voice broke out from among them.

"My Lord!"​

The sound barked out, coming from the lips of a Deep Gnome. The short man gray skinned man rushed forward, dressed within the silks of a wealthy man. He bowed as he approached, though not as deep as he should have.

"My Lord, apologies. Servant within the great Hall are often...familiar with each other. I assure you, no offense was meant."​

The sudden pressure within the air seemed to break away, that odd pressure fleeing within the span of a heartbeat. The kneeling servant in front of them seemed to breath, desperately sucking air into his lungs.

Silently, Velkyn glanced to Xylthe, waiting for her whispered knowledge.

 

[Xylthe]

Xlythe took a step forward as if she might be able to help but then she stopped. Her hands fell, useless, by her sides and with a heart breaking swallow she stepped back to her new Masters side with unshed tears in her eyes. She hoped her friend could see the apology in her eyes as unable as she was to take her eyes off of him. When he gasped back air into his lungs however the only look he gave her was one of fear. Xylthe couldn't quite tell if it was fear of her or for her. Even humans had myths about the Aevendrow.

I'm sorry, she mouthed.

As he scrambled back she finally realised what was happening with Deth and Lord Sekhet. Blinking back tears she stammer whispered.

"L-lord S-sekhet. One of the city's key bearers."

 

[Velkyn]

"Ah." The Drow said, making no attempt to hide his displeasure at the notion.

As the servant scrambled away Velkyn watched him for a brief moment, shaking his head before he slowly turned his attention back towards the Deep Gnome.

"Your apology is accepted, Lord Sekhet." Velkyn said plainly. "I am a bit of a stickler for the old ways."

Though the Deep Gnome kept his face a pleasant mask, it was clear that the words rang within his skull. Apparently the little gnome was no fool. He understood what Velkyn meant, and the look in his eyes spoke volumes. "But perhaps, I must change if I am to take up the roll of my cousin."

He said with a smile.

"Your cousin?"​

The Gnome said, his voice more than suspicious. "Yes."

Velkyn said with a nod.

"Cousin Llwyen." The Gnome glanced towards Xylthe, his face a mask of sudden confusion. "He has been summoned back into the reaches of the Underrealm. Family matters. I am here to take up his responsibilities."

He smiled pleasantly. "At least until he can return."

 

[Xylthe]

Xylthe very pointedly did not look at the Lord in front of her, her eyes trained studiously on her feet instead.

"I see," Lord Sekhet intoned and she thought - hoped - that he did. Or at least had a little inclining of what was really going on. For Llwyen to suddenly up and leave his work, his people, and hand them to someone who claimed to like the old ways... anyone who knew him would have frowned over the sequence of events. Maybe Sekhet would step in and some how help her. Save her.

"Well, in that case let me show you to his office, you'll be wanting to crack on with his part of the Accord I'm sure," he smiled in that pleasant way that didn't reach his eyes then set off down the corridor. Xylthe trailed after them both.

The office was much the same as the one back at the manor but smaller and stuffed to the brim with books. Notes were carefully organised on the desk and the 'in' box with things that needed seeing to was full. Opposite the main desk was another desk, clearly where Xylthe had sat with her own work.

"If there's anything else I can help you with..."

 

[Velkyn]

Velkyn was like a hawk as they made their way through the halls. He watched everyone and everything around them, eyes darting between faces and decorative robes. He had to bite down the bile in his stomach as he passed a few of the tapestries that hung, feeling only worse when he saw the statues of 'unity' that now decorated this once sacred place.

His lips were practically a line as they entered the office.

"No." Velkyn's answer was short, cutting. The less time he spent around this...thing the better off he would be. Xylthe at least knew her place, this creature? This creature thought himself Velkyn's equal.

"You have done quite enough." Velkyn said, turning to the man with a veneer of a smile. "Xylthe will guide me through the rest."

The Gnome seemed to glance up at the Avendrow for a moment, suspicion coloring his features. "She has been quite...useful."

A frown touched the other man's face, his lips opening as though he were about to ask another question. Then slowly his eyes wandered over towards Xylthe. After a few seconds he only nodded, and then took another too short bow.

"Of course. If you have anything else to ask, Xylthe will know where to find me."​

He offered one last glance at the avendrow, and then moved out the door.

As soon as he passed through the threshold and the door fell closed behind him Velkyn turned on a dime. The back of his hand lashed across Xylthe's cheek. "Don't ever put yourself on equal footing to them."

Velkyn spat.

"You may be a slave, but you are still Drow." Despite the mar of her flesh.

 

[Xylthe]

Xylthe gave a sharp cry as his hand left a large welt across her skin. The mark didn't show up in the same way it might another Drow because of the shade of her skin and instead turned a horrible black ashen shade. The force of the blow sent her stumbling into her desk where she hit her hip and her hands came up to cup her cheek which stung like a thousand bee stings. She tried to blink back the tears but the spilled forth anyway causing her to choke up.

"I-I'm sorry s-sir," she whimpered even though she didn't quite understand what it was he wanted from her. Was she not meant to bow to other Lords now? Did being a Drow place her above them in this mans mind? Or was it the clear friendship she had had with the human man he had despised so much?

 

[Velkyn]

"Tst." The noise came from his tongue pressing between his teeth, head shaking in disapproval. "You'll learn, yet."

No clarification came from Velkyn, offering up only another minefield for Xylthe to step through.

The Drow Lord glanced back at the door for just a brief moment, then took in a breath. He wandered through the room and towards the desk, glancing at some of the papers and finding that at least a few had been written in the proper hand.

He shuffled them, letting his eyes dart over the script he found. "What is this 'Accord' they spoke of?"

Velkyn asked, reading quietly as he waited for his answer.

 

[Xylthe]

Xylthe leaned against her desk, half sitting on it in an effort to steady herself. Her whole body was visibly shaking from the ordeal though she tried to keep her voice calm and her explanation simple even as she tried to overcome it.

"T-the Accord is the m-main work the Council are working on. I-if it passes it would mean there w-was a city down here where all people can live in peace... but also... a city on the surface where the people of the Underdark could live in peace. T-the idea is to make this level and the surface... peaceful for all kinds."

Something Deth was no doubt going to hate.

 

[Velkyn]

She was right, he did hate it.

Lips thinned almost instantly, fingers tightening on the paper that he held. The edges scrunched slightly, not that it mattered much. It was a report on some of the areas downtown. Something about how crime rates were raising.

"Well." He said with a slow shake of his head. "That cannot be allowed to happen."

Gently he placed the paper down onto the desk.

Slowly he turned back towards Xylthe. "That human."

He said it with such disgust one would think the very word but a bitter taste upon his tongue. "What did he want your help with?"

Velkyn was under no illusion. If the Council was looking to pass this, then breaking it's stride would be difficult. He had not known such a document was coming, but if it passed it would stem the very tide he was trying to create. It simply could not be allowed to exist.

 

[Xylthe]

Xylthe's hand slowly lowered from her cheek which still throbbed with the echo of the slap.

"I don't know," she said simply. Replaying the whole affair over in her mind still stunned her. The sight of the man choking... her skin still crawled with the memory of watching him gasp for air and the feel of magic in the air. It was an old power, an oppressive one that made her want to run and hide. Xylthe swallowed and tried to bring her scrambled thoughts back to answering the question.

"I've been taking the lead on the Accord amongst the scribes... Llywen talked to me at length of his vision so it made sense... to... lead..." she trailed off, realising how the sentiment sounded as a slave.

 

[Velkyn]

Velkyn looked at her with a mixture of confusion and rage. Just how far has this city fallen.

He did not speak the words, but the disgust on his features made them more than clear. Lips thinned, and slowly he shook his head as if he couldn't quite understand what she was saying to him. The very thought of all of this would have made his ancestors roll over in their graces.

His head shook.

Lips thinned for a brief moment, his hand scrunching some of the papers on the desk.

"The scribes will have to die." Velkyn declared. "No..."

He corrected himself. Killing them was not the right way to go about this. That would only draw eyes onto him. "Who are the other Councilors backing this?"

Velkyn asked Xylthe. "And who oppose it?"

The Drow Lord knew a few himself, though only the two other Drow on the Council. Lord Xelkath and Lady Trilln, both of the old world, and both of a closer mindset to him. Yet he needed to make sure Xylthe was still telling the truth, not trying to deceive.

Everything was a test.

 

[Xylthe]

Xylthe blinked at him with all the innocent naivety in the world.

"Master Llywen said everyone supports the Accords," a truth she had accepted whole heartedly. Though... she frowned and pursed her lips. "But..." her mind went back through the carefully kept files of her memories to different interactions that her old owner had had with the other members of the council. "I... I didn't have a good feeling about the other Drow," her cheeks heated. Serfs weren't meant to have their own thoughts. "I once heard Lady Trilln call the Master a traiter, and Lord Xelkath once stormed out of a meeting," her head tilted to the side as she pondered it more.

"There was also the incident with Lady Petruda - she is one of the human missives from the surface. She did not agree with the other humans that this Accord should go ahead, she believed it was a way for the Underdark to get a footing on the surface to branch out from. The humans replaced her a few years ago, though. But Lord Jesp and Lord Faeren both seemed to sympathise with her thoughts."

 

[Velkyn]

He considered the words for a brief moment. At least Xylthe had been honest. Trusting her had always been a...gamble to say the least, the more it paid off the more secure her life was going to be. "I see."

For now he drew back thoughts of pulling his blade across her throat, instead focusing on the task ahead.

"I will need to meet this lady Petruda." She was a human, yes, but their interests were at the very least aligned. More than that, their species was one which could be manipulated remarkably easily. At least in his experience.

He mused for a moment, and then turned on Xylthe.

Slowly he stepped towards her. "And you."

His voice grew stern, hand reaching out. Nailed fingers grasped at her chin.

"You I have a special project for." She had passed two tests so far, he wondered if he could press her for a third. There would need to be assurance, of course, but...well why not try. "That little...serf."

The term was still utterly ridiculous to him. "That approached you. What was his name?"

 

[Xylthe]

Xylthe was wondering how in the Underdark she would be able to find out information about a human who had not stepped foot in it for nearly five years. Was she even alive still? Human lives moved so quickly it was hard to keep up and the smallest thing could kill them. She was so focused on creating a mental list of people she could quietly approach that he caught her entirely off guard when he grabbed a hold of her chin. Her immediate reaction was to try and jerk away but with the table to her back she couldn't get very far.

Then her whole body filled with dread.

"H-he didn't mean it Sir, M-Master Llwyen was very... very lenient with all the serfs. He didn't mind them talking to each other without him."

 

[Velkyn]

Velkyn rolled his eyes.

He was tired of hearing of Xylthe's former master, the rotten legacy that he had left behind in this city. It would be wiped out in due time, but having to listen to his mistakes was tiresome. "Yes yes."

The Drow dismissed curtly.

"Whom does he serve?" There was already an answer in his head he was sure would be correct, but each leading question was another test.

There would be a point when he would trust Xylthe, but it was far off yet. She would have to prove herself many times over, and this would be the next step.

 

[Xylthe]

Every line of her body betrayed how much she didn't want to answer his question. Her bottom lip trembled with the effort of staying quiet until she could take it no longer. The deep rooted instinct to survive outweighed giving information, especially when she could convince herself it was the other master he would be annoyed with and not her friend.

"Lord Sekhet hired the human," unable to hold his gaze anymore her eyes lowered. "He does not... he is not a... He is a freeman, Sir. He is paid for his work here," she cringed away from him already expecting the explosion of disgust.

 

[Velkyn]

Surprisingly, Velkyn could respect being paid for ones duty more than simply being pressed into service. Even in the Underrealm one had to find a way to live. There was still wrong in it of course, there was no way around that.

Yet he could at least respect it. "I see."

The Drow said curiously.

For a moment he fell silent, letting Xylthe pull away from him just slightly. He seemed to fall into thought, and then a moment later reached out to once again grip her chin. His touch was harder this time, bruising. He brought her eyes to meet his.

"You'll bring him to the edge of the city." He told her simply. "A warehouse in the Cre'thell district. Thirty seven B."

It was where he and the Reavers had first come into the city. "Understand?"

He demanded.

 

[Xylthe]

A noise of pain mewled in the back of her throat as his touch turned bruising and a hand came up automatically as if to try and pry him off her. Of course she didn't dare to actually touch him and her hands clenched into painful fists instead as tears pooled in her eyes. They both knew what awaited the human at the warehouse; Xylthe wasn't stupid even if she was young among their kind. Her harsh life had probably aged her much quicker than many others.

"Yes Sir," she whispered and then swallowed hard.

A single tear rolled down her cheek.

 

[Velkyn]

For a few seconds Velkyn simply stared at her, his expression harsh.

He studied every line of her face, every little twitch in her features. The Drow had always been good at reading people, excelled at it. There was a reason he had managed to claw his families way back to the top. Lies were spoken, but solidified within the eyes.

His fingers dug into Xylthe's skin for a brief moment more, his eyes staring into hers. Then slowly he nodded. "Good."

Velkyn declared.

"You have until midnight to get him there." He finally released her. "If you flee, you'll find a fate worse than death."

Slowly he turned away from her, walking back towards the desk. "I don't think I have to explain that to you."

 

[Xylthe]

Xylthe slumped against the desk when she was released and hurriedly tried to brush away the tears that were now falling quite freely as her mind grieved in advance of her friends death. How many other people would die because they spoke to her without realising the fundamental change that had happened in her life? A change she couldn't even warn them about?

"No Sir," she said in a husky tear-soaked manner and then turned away entirely to look back down at her own desk. Oh how she had been so proud when she had first been given the desk, a place to work, to use her mind and the skills she had been taught back home once more. It felt like finally she had been given another change. How cruel fate was.

"Is there anything else you need from me?" perhaps he would excuse her.

 

[Velkyn]

Velkyn didn't notice Xylthe's existential crisis, or if he did, the Drow chose to ignore it entirely.

The minds of slaves were something far away for him. There were matters to attend to, atrocities within this city that he had to correct. Xylthe had her job, how she righted herself with doing it was entirely up to her. That was if she even did it in the first place.

He was prepared for her to deny him. To teach a lesson. "No."

Velkyn dismissed with a wave.

"You may go." He told her. "Attend to your duties."

There was a slight pause, and then slowly Velkyn turned to her. "And make sure you do them well."

Yellow eyes peered through her, piercing gaze speaking of unsaid punishments.