war of the spider queen 1 dissolution
ttle back and forth。〃 Pharaun nodded toward a trio of filthy; bandy…legged creatures with flat faces and sloping brows。 〃They’re aquiver with anticipation。 If they’re still as giddy after the gathering breaks up; we may want to seek solace for our frustrations in their hairy; misshapen arms。〃
Certain his friend was joking; Ryld snorted 。 。 。 then realized he wasn’t quite sure after all。
〃You’d have relations with a goblin!〃
〃A true scholar always seeks new experiences。 Besides; what’s the point of being a dark elf; a lord of the Underdark; if you don’t exploit the slave races to the utmost?〃
〃Hmm。 I admit they might be no worse than one of those priestesses who demand you grovel and do exactly as you’re…〃
〃Hush!〃
The drum had stopped。
〃Something’s happening;〃 Pharaun added。
Ryld saw that his friend was correct。 A stir ran through the crowd and they started to shout; 〃Prophet! Prophet! Prophet!〃
The master of Melee…Magthere didn’t know what he expected to see next; but it certainly wasn’t the figure in the nondescript cloak and hood whose upper body appeared above the heads of the crowd。 Perhaps he’d climbed up on a bench or table; or maybe he’d simply levitated; for this 〃Prophet;〃 plainly beloved of the lower orders; appeared to be a handsome drow male。
The Prophet let his followers chant and shout for a minute or so; then he raised his slender hands and gradually they subsided。 Pharaun leaned close to Ryld again。
〃It’s possible the fellow’s not really one of us;〃 the wizard said。 〃He’s wrapped in a glamour somewhat like ours; but his spell makes every obnotserver perceive him in a favorable light。 I imagine the goblins see him as a goblin; the gnolls; as one of their own; and so forth。〃
〃What’s inside the illusion?〃
〃I don’t know。 The enchantment is peculiar。 I’ve never encountered anynotthing quite like it。 I can’t see through it; but I suspect we’re about to learn his intentions。〃
〃My brothers and sisters;〃 the Prophet said。
His voice sparked another round of cheering; and he waited for it to run its course。
〃My brothers and sisters;〃 he repeated。 〃Since the founding of this city; the Menzoberranyr have held our peoples in bondage or in conditions equally degraded。 They work us until we die of exhaustion。 They torture and kill us on a whim。 They condemn us to starve; sicken; and live in squalor。〃
The audience growled its agreement。
〃You witness our misery everywhere you look;〃 the hooded orator connottinued。 〃Yesterday; I walked through Manyfolk。 I saw a hobgoblin girl…child; surely no older than five or six; trying to pick up a scrap of mushroom from the street。 With her teeth! Her hands wouldn’t serve。 Some drow had magically fused them together behind her back so she would live and die a cripple and a freak。〃
The crowd snarled in outrage; even though their races monly ennotgaged in tortures equally cruel; albeit far less varied and imaginative。
〃I walked through Narbondellyn;〃 the Prophet said。 〃I saw an ore; parnotalyzed in some manner; lying on the ground。 A dark elf slit his chest; spread the flaps of skin; cut some ribs with a saw; and whistled his riding lizard over to feed on the still…living thrall’s organs。 The drow told a notpanion that he gave the reptile one such meal every tenday to make it a faster racer。〃
The audience howled its wrath。 One female ore; transported with fury; gashed her cheeks and brow with a piece of broken glass。
The Prophet’s litany of atrocities ran on and on; and Ryld gradually felt a strange emotion overtaking him。 He knew it couldn’t be guilt…no dark elf experienced that ridiculous condition…but perhaps it was a kind of shame; a disgust at the sheer waste and childishness manifest in Menzoberranzan’s abuse of its undercreatures and a desire to rectify the situanottion if he could。
The feeling was irrational; of course。 The goblins and their kin existed only to serve the pleasure of the drow; and if you ruined one; you just caught or bought another。 The weapons master gave his head a shake; clearing it; then turned to Pharaun。
Even through his ore mask; the wizard’s amusement was apparent。
〃Resolved to mend your wicked ways?〃
〃I gather you feel the influence; too;〃 said Ryld。 〃What’s happening?〃
〃The Prophet has magic buttressing his oratory; again; in a sort of connotfiguration I don’t quite understand。〃
〃Right; but what’s the point of all this bellyaching?’
〃I assume he’ll get around to telling us。’
The speaker continued in the same vein a while longer; goading the crowd to the brink of hysteria。
At last he cried; 〃But it does not have to be that way!’
The undercreatures howled; and for a moment;
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