Nyx and Tav PoV

Hmm - I should likely warn here for gore again, and disturbing content.

Nyx was certain the passageway had circled back on itself several times during their arduous descent. It was littered with rooms, although most were either in the same state of abandonment or sealed by a non-functioning door. Finally, a large operable door truncated the corridor.

It took both Tav and Lae'zel to open the door with its dual panels on either side proving to be more 'fiddly' than the others.

Dread made Nyx wonder whether this ant hill was a colony or a prison. Winding tunnels, dead-end passages and a disorientating layout - Surely there are better ways to build a home?

The door peeled away, and they collectively chocked on the air released from within.

"Woe is the Weave! How many bodies are in there?"

"They've been there for quite some time, hells.", Wyll croaked between his coughing.

An unfamiliar voice rung out from within, "What did you not understand about moving him gently? He is worth the whole lot of you and more!"

With hands, capes, tunics or magic over their noses and mouths, they inched forward keeping to the shadows. Nyx crouched lower in an attempt to avoid the humid stench of decay and undead. They crept along the side of the chamber, taking vantage points behind stone columns and workbenches. It was as though they'd found themselves in an entirely different place, the chamber did not resemble the rest of the colony, except for its sprawling dome shaped architecture.

The room was filled with stone slabs, arranged in linear rows. Dozens upon dozens. Coated in both fresh and blackened blood, bit of flesh, unidentifiable animal pieces and bones. More bones were stacked next to the slabs. Nyx squinted at them, the bones were arranged themselves into vessels, tools and even other containers. Said containers were filled to the brim with organic matter at various stages of decomposition. Blood seeping from them. Everything was coated in gore.

By the Abyss! It's a horrid version of a morgue. In stark contrast to the clinical cleanliness of the mindflayer practices; here people truly were spare parts to be used and discarded. Nyx's stomach churned.

The woman spoke again, Nyx noticing her outline against the red glow of giant vats at the other end of the block of slabs.

"Hold him still, but don't break his limbs! This is a delicate procedure."

Tav beckoned them toward the entrance and whispered instructions as they huddled together in a crouched circle. "They're actively experimenting on someone over there. We need to stop it."

Lae'zel, Astarion and Shadowheart either grunted, scoffed or scowled their objection. Shadowheart motioned with her arm and a flat hand to the wall. "Why get involved? We could skirt around the side and bypass them completely."

Karlach shook her head, "I saw a swarm of undead things at the other end. We're not getting through without being noticed."

Several of the others swore, Nyx shot a cautionary glance and spotted the figures at the far end of the room.

Bugger.

In the gloom Nyx could make out each of their group's winces and grimaces at the unsettling noise of squelching coming from the 'procedure'.

Nyx remarked, "I don't think interrupting right now would be advisable, sounds like they've opened him up. Whomever that is may already be dead."

Tav's eyes flashed, and she bristled, "I hate this." There were nods and noises of agreement. Tav took a steadying breath and her 'negotiator' face slipped on. After a few rounds of hushed heated strategizing, they dispersed to their relative positions.

Nyx, Karlach and Lae'zel were to accompany Tav. The others waited out of sight. Nyx had handed out strong smelling herbs for them to crush and apply around their noses. An untested combination she spackled together on the spot. It didn't neutralize the smell in totality, but it was a marked improvement. As for the sight of the procedure, her nightmares would be well fed for some time to come.

The procedure was taking place in the centre of the giant vats. They passed two vats, one on either side. Nyx glimpsed people inside, suspended in opaque liquid. Ahead the heads of the assistants snapped to their approach. The beady eyes of ghouls watched them keenly, each holding onto the unfortunate patient’s arms and legs. They couldn't see the procedure as the woman was standing before the body. She had her back turned to them and her hands buried in the body of a dragonborn. His head visible at one side; eyes closed and tongue lolling from his jaw.

The woman addressed their group casually, "You should not be here."

Tav answered to her back, "We are here to ensure everyone has cleared out."

Another sickening squelch made Nyx's stomach churn and Karlach's lip pulled in disgust. Lae'zel remained unperturbed, but Tav was visibly turning green. The dragonborn's limbs twitched.

He's alive?!

Alarm snapped them out of their collective unease and Tav demanded, "Why are there so many remaining in the colony?"

The woman ignored Tav and removed her bloodied hands from the body. She retrieved a sowing kit and methodically stitched (what Nyx presumed) was the torso of the dragonborn.

Tav's query as to her identity was met with an uncaring statement, "I do not answer to you, True Soul. I will deal with you shortly."

Nyx's magic prickled in anticipation, the movements of the woman's arms seemed painfully slow and time consuming all the while the ghouls stared at them. Jaws moving at unnatural angles like they were already chewing on her and her companion’s flesh and bones.

Nyx flexed her fingers, brushing against her magic reserves when the skeletons at the back started to move.

Finally, the woman reached out for her secateurs and snipped the chord. She straightened and turned while wiping her hands. The ghouls released the dragonborn's limbs.

From the pointed triangular hat on her head, to the pieces of bones affixed into her armour, she was likely a Myrkulite. Her cold gaze surveyed them in much the same way as Balthazar, Wonderful.

She demanded, "Are you not supposed to be joining the thralls instead of gawking at me down here?"

Tav set her shoulders back and countered, "We were tasked with rounding up stragglers."

She regarded Tav as though she were dim. "No need for that here. As you can see," she turned to the dragonborn a smug grin tugging at her lips and said, "I'm busy with my own preparations that are required for what is to come after."

Nyx was curious to know what exactly that would be, but Tav asked instead, "Is he not going to join the Absolute's army?"

"No, of course not. He was given to me for improvement."

Nyx had to keep a straight face at the last word, fortunately Karlach had glared the ghouls into stopping their imaginary chewing.

The Myrkulite continued, "After creating so many of you thralls, I have been given the opportunity to apply my talents to serve my Lord's higher purposes." She stroked the dragonborn's snout and spoke with fondness, "He was the first. A marvel of resilience and a creature of exceptional will. I have to know why."

The dragonborn's eyes shot open and he roared, but before he could grab at the woman, the ghouls grappled him into submission. He snarled trying to bite the Myrkulite's hand when she stroked his snout again.

"My pet. You will see, my improvements will help you. I will show Balthazar that I too, Kressa Bonedaughter am more capable than he gave me credit for."

Tav blurted barely containing her anger, "Improvements to what end?"

Before Kressa could answer the dragonborn raged and howled, "Kill, kill! A feast of blood and death!" His claws gouged at one of the ghouls, it reeled backward clutching its face and screeched.

"I told you to restrain him properly!"

Nyx and the others took a step back, unsheathing their weapons while the ghouls and Kressa struggled to maintain control.

Kressa spat at them, "Don't interfere!", briefly glaring at their weapons.

Tav reached for her temple, and Nyx primed her magic. The dragonborn howled again, spouting vivid descriptions of bathing in their blood and wearing their guts. Nyx felt Shadowheart's healing magic wrap around him.

Kressa cried in anguish, "What have you done!?", scrambling to make distance between herself and 'her pet'.

He tore himself from his restraints, ripping out the throat of one of the ghouls. Kressa's magic flared forcing him back onto the slab, yelling incantations of submission while the other ghouls piled on top.

Lae'zel and Karlach moved at once, cleaving and bludgeoning ghouls from behind. Nyx followed suit by shadow-stepping to the opposite side of the slab and the force of her magic sent skeletons veering off into separate pieces.

"You snivelling pestilence, I'll feed you to him and make the others watch!", Kressa's slammed the enraged and charging dragonborn with a burst of power, only breaking his momentum toward her temporarily. Gale and Tav intercepted Kressa’s next blast of magic, allowing the dragonborn to gain ground, however a chilling wave of energy stopped them all short for a moment.

Nyx's limbs were sluggish - the magic emanated from one of the exits, a large skeleton stepped through almost bending in half to enter. The Death Lord extended his hand, and the slain ghouls and skeletons rose.

Abyss take it! Why can't these accursed undead stay down!

Nyx dodged the oversized sword swooping through the air above her. More ghouls and skeletons poured from behind the Death lord. Nyx lost track of the others in the commotion. Magic rippled, weapons rung and projectiles whizzed around her while she remained locked in the Death lord's assault. She took the opportunity to shatter skeletons that came to close, but the Death lord's blade gave him an extended reach, not allowing her to build up enough power to blast him at range.

Kressa's bloodcurdling cry pierced the air. Nyx glimpsed the dragonborn overwhelming her and clamping his jaws around her head. Nyx's momentary shock nearly cost her an arm. The wound burned and blood steaked along the length of her arm after clumsily diving to the side. The Death lord straightened and Kressa's body rose, her upper body half eaten by the dragonborn, who had moved on to ripping ghouls apart.

It bought Nyx valuable time, and she retrieved her quarterstaff wrapping it in layers of her force magic, Graces I hope this works. The Death lord intercepted her blow without taking his attention from Kressa's reanimated body. Power rocked through Nyx's body staggering her backwards, she recovered. Each consecutive blow allowed Nyx adjusted her magic, one half to reinforce the staff and the other pooling to one end. Growing it into a larger and larger cudgel. Regardless of her crude technique at using the weapon; it proved effective enough to keep the overly tall skeleton occupied with parrying her blows instead of reanimating the rest of its fallen companions.

Shadowheart, Lae'zel, Tav and Astarion were finishing off skeletons and ghouls the dragonborn had broken and injured. Gale, Wyll and Karlach had taken to destroying the bodies and remains completely, either by fire or brute force.

Kressa's unnatural and garbled voice cried out for a second time. The dragonborn rending her limb from limb with his bare hands, soaked in blood and gore. The Death Lord levelled his outstretched hand at Nyx. She clutched at her throat, necrosis seeping into her flesh - she fell backwards flailing while panic took over her body. Pain coursed down her spine, and she desperately yanked at her chaos magic. It flooded her with power, surging to dismantle the necrotic energy threatening its host. Her vision filled with spots, and between her ragged gasps she caught the flash of a blade held over her.

Lae'zel's battle cry rattled Nyx out of her disorientation, and her mind snapped into focus just in time for her to drag her numb body out of the reach of flying sparks. Karlach joined Lae'zel and they harassed the death lord in a blur of steel and fire, drawing him away. Nyx crawled through muck and groggily propped herself against something hard. Everything a swirl of pain and noise. She startled when Shadowheart was suddenly by her side, her soothing magic a welcome relief and cooling against Nyx's necrotic burns. The fog lifted from her mind, and she gave Shadowheart a nod. Nyx waved her off while securing a healing potion to take care of the rest of her injuries.

Nyx coughed, her throat still raw and steeled herself. A deep breath saw her to her feet. The battle was nearly over. Karlach, Lae'zel and Wyll were driving the Death lord into a corner, the rest covering them against skeletons from behind. The dragonborn was rampaging somewhere out of sigh. Nyx turned her attention to blasting stray skeletons hard enough to cast their bones clear across the chamber.

The death lord joined his minions’ demise, and the last bones clanked onto the floor in the distance. Nyx heaved, her hands on her knees. Reprieve was short lived when the dragonborn howled again and charged at Astarion. Before Nyx could will her tired body into motion, Astarion had swiftly side-stepped to safety.

"Damn you!" Astarion snarled when the dragonborn came at him with gnashing jaws. "Stop this nonsense you idiot! Can't you see the fight is over?" Claws slashed fruitlessly at the empty space Astarion no longer occupied.

Tav tried to get through to him, "We're on your side. You don't need to fight us."

A slew of disturbing depictions of Tav's mutilated body spilled from the dragonborn's lips in reply.

"Non movere!" Chains of purple energy lashed out from Gale's hands and ensnared the dragonborn’s arms, bringing him to his knees. Gale remarked, hurrying over to Tav while the prisoner thrashed against the magic, "That won't hold him for long."

Karlach backed away after attempting to talk the dragonborn down as well only to receive gruesome threats for her efforts. She asked, "What's wrong with him?"

Tav reached for her temple and the dragonborn stilled. She gasped dropping her hand, and his trashing renewed. Tav fisted her hands, her body shook but she started to sing. It was the same lullaby she used on the cursed oak. The dragonborn's movements became slow and irregular. He leaned forward until his snout touched the floor and he dozed there.

They were gathered around the dragonborn. Nyx puffed out her cheeks while Tav explained that his mind was broken to the point where she cannot discern one sensible thought. Only pain, blood and death remained.

Lae'zel reached for her temple and concluded after a few moments, "Chk! Tay’kith shar viriak: 'The steel has lost its edge forever'. He has become a shattered weapon... Wasteful." Her gaze became almost contemplative. The others nodded in solemn concession.

Wyll glanced at the slab from whence they freed the dragonborn and he mused, "Caged and broken."

"An awful fate.", Gale remarked his brows furrowed. "What do we do with him? He's clearly of only one mind: To slay everything in his path."

Tav fidgeted at her braid. She held up her hand when Lae'zel attempted to offer her assistance. "No. He has been through enough violence." She chewed her lip and turned to Nyx. Tav struggled to keep the emotion from her voice, "Do you have any of the permanent sleep potion left?"

Nyx set her mouth in a line, but inclined her head in acknowledgement.

Graces, this place truly needs to burn.

Both Tav and Gale's magic had worn off; replaced by the dulling effects of Nyx's potion. Tav insisted to stay with him until the end. Strangely, the dragonborn seemed at ease with the situation. Tav explained to him what was happening through teary eyes and a tight throat.

Laying on his side, he blinked at her slowly and merely sighed in contentment, "I return. My father."

--- --- ---

Tav hated this place with a hellion rage akin to Karlach's. She stood wiping the tears from her eyes with her fingers, not daring to wipe the gore from her clothing onto her face. If more people were to be sent back to the fates, she would carry some of the responsibility and ownership of that herself - leaving it only to others was selfish. A silent prayer was all else she could offer.

She closed her eyes and said onto the still body at her feet, "Tymora, bring him better fortune in the next life."

And for whomever else we may come across. Please. Not like this.

Nyx jarred Tav out of her thoughts, "The act of greater kindness doesn't make it easier, but you should rest easy knowing that you had the courage to give it."

Nyx's steadfast, but warm smile was accompanied with similar reassurances from several of the others. Even though, Tav had to excuse herself for a moment, her heart was leagues lighter than a few moments ago.

---

Tav hesitated at the console, unwilling to find out what lay beyond the next door. She tried for a deep breath, but it came out ragged. A dark room waited. Lae'zel and Wyll took the lead. Upon entering the chamber, several lights flitted to life of their own accord, rolling down the length of the room to illuminate rows of shelves.

"A library?", Shadowheart mused inspecting one of the shelves crowded with books, slates and papers.

"Good graces." Nyx was cast in a red glow standing between the shelves further ahead. She asked over her shoulder, "Um, Lae'zel - How do mindflayers store knowledge?"

Lae'zel's armoured footfalls bounced between the shelves, and she sidled next to Nyx. The walls were littered with mounted pods of various sizes and brains floated within. They throbbed in tandem, tubes sprouting from their pods connecting to ports in the wall. More tubes extended to a control panel fixed to the ground.

Lae'zel snarled nearing the massive console beneath with its glowing tendrils and elaborate alien interfaces. "A psionic mind store." She unsheathed her blade, "We must destroy it."

There was a collective, "What!?"

--- --- ---

"Whoa, hold up Lae'zel." Karlach received a glower. "I'm not a fan of books, but even I know that you don't burn down a library."

"It is an abomination! Category 37, Subcategory 5, Protocol 17 demands the eradication of Illithid influence!"

Nyx interjected gesturing to the console, "Surely this knowledge would allow you to better fight your enemy?"

Lae'zel turned on Nyx, a menacing look in her eye. "And how do you purpose to do that? Are you familiar with the telepathic decryption of mind-flayer mind stores? Are you fluent in Qualith? The psionic language only decipherable by their own kind."

Nyx crossed her arms and gave Lae'zel's fuming a flat look. "No, I do not."

"Then we are wasting precious time."

Gale was paging through one of the journals and said with a hand stroking his beard, "These looks to be translated records? Details on mindflayer ceremorphosis, colony life cycles, elder brains..."

"Chk!", Lae'zel stomped over and rudely yanked the journal from his hands. Gale's protest died in the back of his throat when Lae'zel glowered at him before inspecting the pages.

Gale instead swept his gaze over the shelves and peered down the hallway. "These records are priceless. Destroying them would be the fallacy of our age."

Lae'zel grumbled something incoherent.

Tav shoulders slumped, and she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Let's not doing anything in haste right now. We leave these," she gestured to the room around them, "Archives intact. We can debate on what to do about them after dealing with Ketheric."

Lae'zel grunted, but conceded and their group continued onward. Gale seemed especially pained to leave the literary treasure trove behind.

---

"Darlings, there seems to be more to this library than meets the eye." Astarion sauntered between the second last row of shelves. The wall between was empty. Deft hands probed at the wall and surveyed the shelves. His hands glided along several books, and he placed a finger on one.

The top of the book had no dust due to recent handling and he said, "This one."

Pulling the book downwards resulted in a door sliding open and the expelling of dusty air.

He chuckled. "Easy", and a smug fanged grin asked the others, "Just a quick peek, hm? Shall we?"

It was an unlit cave. Magic lights floated ahead of the group and at first the cave seemed empty. Their lights did not reach the end, either vertically or horizontally.

Astarion crossed his arms unimpressed and tsked, "Disappointing."

"Wait," Tav beckoned her magic light to a section of smooth wall and a few steps later revealed huge murals carved into the grey bedrock. It stretched upwards and sideways, Tav combined her floating lights with Gale and Shadowheart. Standing against the opposite wall they could fully appreciate both its scale and the design.

Lae'zel provided, "These were not made by ghaik."

The etchings and edges showed signs of erosion, but the hard bedrock had aged well. It depicted a village, the architecture unfamiliar and ancient. It was a pleasant scene: people going about their daily lives in the field or the forest.

By walking deeper into the cave, the story unravelled. People were fleeing from the fields, gathered at one end of the village they pointed to the sky. Oblong shapes with tentacles littered the area above. The village was plunged into fire, bodies lay on the ground with people hunched over in grief while others were taken away in chains by tall figures - tentacles sprouting from their faces. A string of letters ended the first slate. The markings were crude, and no one recognised the language immediately.

After some squinting and head scratching, Gale managed to decipher the ancient elven dialect with some inputs from Astarion:

‘They came in the night. The sky broke open, and we were taken.’

Nyx gasped, "By the Abyss, how old is this mural?"

Lae'zel answered plainly, "We rebelled against them more than two-thousand of ‘your’ years ago."

Gale nodded sagely, "That being the lower estimate."

The next slate depicted humanoids bound and bowed before an enormous floating brain. Figures held onto their heads in agony, tadpoles burying into their eyes and ears. Some people became illithid whereas those left untransformed became slaves, shackled and put to work. Used to scout, excavate and prepare the natural cave system beneath the village for the mindflayer colony to come.

A long series of word clusters were scrawled onto the wall for a few paces. It was 'hypothesised' that these were names; a census of sorts since some names were unfinished or scratched out.

Rougher etchings followed; small acts of defiance: thralls hiding knives, people whispering in corners, a woman clutching what they assumed to be a holy symbol, though her face was worn away. Another string of letters terminated the second slate.

'We worked, we resisted, we suffered, we obeyed. They feasted on our minds. We forgot ourselves. Our children won't remember. I am... I was...'

The subsequent text was scratched out.

The final slate was crude and hastily hacked into the stone without the same care or attention than its predecessors. It was literal chaos and carnage. The floating brain depicted as cracked and bleeding. Colony tunnels crumbling, thralls fighting against their weakened masters. Bodies of both species littered the passageways while people fled to the surface. Oblong shapes dotted the landscape around the ruins of the village, crashed into the ground. The mural ended abruptly. A large section of it was gouged out as if it were deliberately erased. Fortunately, the last string of text was spared.

'The chains fell, but we were borne wrong. We were free, but we were already gone.'

Graces.

Lae'zel walked to the mural and swept her hand over a small portion of it, "Enslaved by an Elderbrain. They had no weapon against it."

Wyll mulled, "What led to its death?"

Gale provided listing on his fingers, "If it wasn't the Githyanki uprising; destruction, planar infection or starvation are the most likely."

Karlach asked what an Elderbrain was and Lae'zel spat not looking away from the mural, "Kr’ath’ith! 'Tyrant-worm'. It seeks to bring ruin through their grand design," she swept her hand along the wall, "To do what is shown here. To every world and every plane they infest. The return of the Illithid empire."

A long silence settled between the group.

Nyx couldn't decide whether Astarion's flippant jest was well - or ill timed.

He sighed inspecting his nails and quipped, "Still disappointing though, I was hoping for treasure."

The remark dispelled the lingering unease about their findings. They returned to the library and left the aptly named 'Brain chambers' behind. Continuing to their next destination known as 'The Pools'.

Nyx steeled herself for whatever tragedy may come next, secretly hoping for none.

Latin incantation:

Non movere (for Hold Person): “You do not move”