Dark Alliance: A Kirin's Tale

by Blackdrag-rose

Baldur's Gate: Into the Guild Hideout

Upon their return to the Elfsong Tavern the group found that there was a newcomer standing by Ethon, a dark robed male who likely knew him from his past as a thief, though whatever they had been discussing was stopped as Rain and her friends stepped into the inn, meaning they were about to have an important conversation.

"Friends, allow me to introduce Jherek. He's a friend and we work... together... on many things." Ethon said, speaking as the four heroes walked up to where he was standing, while at the same time gesturing to the man as he bowed his head a little to acknowledge them, "When you told me about the dangers in the Crypt, and went back down to challenge the threat that had been brought into our city, I called for him so we could discuss it... now that you're back, he would like some words with you. Don't worry, he can be trusted."

"You'll want to know that we crushed the Orb that was messing with the dead." Vahn stated, because if Jherek knew about the problem in the Crypt, and had come after discovering the information that Ethon had shared with him, he figured that it was best to start with their success, before he rubbed the back of his head for a moment, "Well, we fought the undead in the Chamber of Ash... Rain, um, crushed the Orb with her magical powers... we're still not sure how she did that, but she managed to smash it and stop the dead from rising."

"First druid abilities, and now what sounds like a priest or paladin skill." the man, Jherek, remarked, sounding impressed by the fact that Rain was capable of many things, instead of being restricted to the path of one profession, or whatever they were called since she was still confused about many thins, "I was told you four were great, but now I see that all four of you are exceptional in your own ways... especially with your great courage and your willingness to sacrifice yourselves for the rest of the realms. Ethon and I are members of a group known as the Harpers, who are dedicated to protecting the very people you have saved this day, along with the rest of the realms... after hearing about your successes, I have come to the conclusion to invite the four of you to join us, especially since you might be the key to stopping a grave threat to the entirety of Baldur's Gate. What say you?"

Rain found that Vahn, Kromlech, and Adrianna were fine with joining the group, causing her to nod as well, which was when Jherek informed them of the group that the Harpers were trying to bring down, the very same Guild that they had been trying to bring down since their arrival in Baldur's Gate. Originally he had feared asking them to deal with the new Guild, since it was possible that several mages were helping the Guild in it's war against the city, but after hearing about the powers that Rain was developing, and what it might mean for them, he had faith that the group might be able to deal with the thieves now. Such a thing meant they would have to infiltrate the Guild and figure out what was going on with it, who was in control and who was backing them, so they could attempt to get ready for whatever the future held, and he even informed them of the existence of a door leading into the Guild's hideout, one that couldn't be opened despite their best efforts. Adrianna revealed that she had found a key on the body of the man who brought the Orb to the Crypt, which caused Jherek to realize that they might have what was needed to bypass whatever blockade was in their way and enter the hideout, where he awakened the enchantment on the key without wasting a beat.

With that done the group turned to the merchant and did another round of selling and buying, something Rain was now becoming familiar with even though her friends were doing everything on their own, causing her to talk to the patrons for a time, as this might be the last time she'd be able to do such a thing. She talked with Osala about her fallen partner, as in the fact that they found him in the Chamber of Ash, slain, though while the lady was thankful for the information since she handed over a few coins for her services, it did leave her feeling sad and depressed at the same time. In addition to that she found a newcomer who was from a caravan that had been attacked, the thieves making off with the priceless spices they had been carrying, and, sure enough, it was the very same Guild that had attacked them some time ago, meaning she and her friends might find the spices along the way. She made sure the lady understood that they might not find them, as they could have been sold by this point, but she was more than willing to accept that fact as Rain rejoined the others, who were happy to assist something else in their time of need, even if they agreed with her that the spices might be gone by the time they reached their destination.

Once everyone was done with the merchant, who was pleased to help them since it meant helping the city, they left the inn and headed for the entrance that would take them down to where they needed to go, as Rain had been thinking about it during their conversation and she had figured it out. The door that Jherek had mentioned was in the area that they had found Ethon in, back when the Guild's monstrous minions had captured him during their patrols, as it had to be in the odd end location they had spotted, causing Adrianna to realize that she was right. It made too much sense to not be true, as it allowed the Guild to enter and leave the Sewers whenever they wanted, move their troops however they wanted, and also gave them access to the Crypt and the Lower Crypt, so the courier could deliver the Orb to the Chamber of Ash. Thanks to the information that had been gained from the slain courier, who shouldn't have been given all the items that would allow one to enter the Guild, they were poised to bring down the Guild and save the city, causing them to smile as they came to a stop in front of the end and Adrianna raised the key.

Sure enough part of the wall pulled back and moved out of the way, allowing them to see that a tunnel was between them and the Guild's hideout, causing the four of them to ready their weapons as they marched onward, knowing that this was going to be the greatest fight of their lives.

---

Karne was nervous, something he usually didn't feel unless he was fighting someone who was stronger than him, but there was one person in the entirety of the Guild that could kill him if he failed to uphold his missions, which showed everyone in the Guild that no one was safe. At first things had gone smoothly for the Guild, taking whatever they wanted from the people or the merchants while none of the city's guards dared to lift a finger to stop them, but after the arrival of the stranger, and the three adventurers who rushed to her aid, things had started to go downhill. First there was the loss of all the kobolds and bugbears that had been positioned in the Sewers, along with their prisoner based on his scout's report, and now all of his scouts were reporting that the plan to bring down the Shrine of Suffering, to create a diversion with an army of the dead, had been interrupted with the destruction of the Orb. What really surprised him, while confirming his thoughts, was that a few of his people reported seeing the odd pony figure with the adventurers, who was said to be the one who broke the Orb with her magic, and if that was true he seriously regretted not taking her with them when he first found her.

In that moment he paused in front of the large door that lead to the final chamber of the Guild's hideout, on the lowest floor to be exact, and entered his Master's domain, as he had a report to make and he was sure that Xantum knew that the Orb had been destroyed, causing him to brace himself as he entered the chamber.

"What happened in the Temple, Karne?" his Master asked, a large beholder who floated above the ground as his many eyes, many at the end of tendrils while he had one large one staring right at him, focused on the massive chamber they were in, all while one was likely one the onyx gateway that was right behind him, "Why do the priests still live? What happened to the Orb of the Dead?"

"I am unsure, my Lord Xantum. My scouts have informed me that the Orb could do little more than slay a few priests before it was destroyed." Karne answered, where he stood at attention and made sure the being in front of him was pleased with his answers, even though he knew that his Master would be displeased with their plans being interrupted like this, so close to the start of the master plan no less.

"Do you know who destroyed the Orb?" Xantum inquired, because Karne was one of his finest followers, despite the recent failures he had suffered lately, and he knew that, out of everyone in the Guild, his second likely had an idea as to who did it and was no doubt thinking of a way to make them suffer for interfering with their plans.

"There are rumors that three adventurers did the deed, three I was in the process of killing before the Guard interrupted me and my men... but it can't be them." Karne replied, as he had considered everything his men had discovered since the fool took the Orb into the Chamber of Ash and got himself killed while fulfilling his mission, every drop of information they could find in such a short period of time, and he suspected that he knew who the culprit was, "Just before they arrived I found an odd lady who looked to be a cross of a woman and some sort of pony... she had arrived in the city by a teleportation spell that must have gone wrong, as her clothing had been incinerated. Judging from the power she must have used to reach the city, and the rumors that someone smashed the Orb with their bare hands, I can only assume that the Stranger is the one who derailed our plans."

"Ah yes, the mysterious Stranger." Xantum said, his tone revealing that he believed Karne's statement, as not that long ago he had felt something magical enter the world for a few seconds, likely the figure in question, and knew that many of the other magical beings had likely felt her arrival as well, where he mentally reflected that it was a shame that Karne had been unable to claim her power for the Guild, "Her awakening under the watchful eyes of the Harpers is a shame, since they will use her to destroy their enemies, which currently includes us... it is unfortunate, I was hoping to turn her into yet another loyal soldier, but I can settle for fixing her once we're done with the heroes. Karne, gather the soldiers and keep an eye on our secret entrances... I suspect that we'll have guests in the near future, the adventurers and this Stranger no doubt, and we must be ready to intercept them."

"I'll see to it at once. I swear to stop them before they reach this point." Karne stated, bowing his head to his Master as he said that, as he knew that Xantum was angry with him, despite his curiosity with the Stranger, and that he had to correct it to avoid any serious consequences, since he knew his Master could be quite creative, especially after witnessing several interrogations in the past.

"We shall see, Karne." Xantum replied, because while he knew that Karne and his men were skilled, they had kept the rest of the Guild hidden until this point, he suspected that the truth might not be so simple, the Stranger might be far stronger than either of them realized, especially if she had broken the Orb with her own magical power.

Karne said nothing to that as he marched out to gather his forces, as he knew that his Master was curious to see which of them were stronger, him or the magical lady, and it made him nervous when he considered everything, but he was willing to do everything in his power to save the Guild, and maybe succeed in his true secret mission.

---

After walking for a while the group passed through a hole in the wall, coming out into a well maintained structure that had to be the Guild's hideout, made out of well polished wood with all sorts of emblems in the sides, along with several barrels that must have been used to mine the entire area out. Such a thing caused them to raise their weapons as soon as they reached the first door, as Rain and her friends knew that the thieves would be expecting them, there was no way that the breaking of the enchantment that had been on the door to this place. On the other side of the door the group found just another passage that had a few boxes in the way, which they navigated around with ease since most of them were empty, before opening another door and found all of the thieves on the other side, wielding swords as their weapons. Rain found that none of the thieves seemed to have armor, save for the leather attire they were currently wearing, meaning it was far too easy for her and her friends to deal with the first group of enemies and establish themselves in the hideout, though it was only a matter of time until the thieves discovered their existence.

While they did so Rain noticed that Kromlech had changed up his weapon, as he was now carrying a greatsword that he had to use both hands to hold, a special weapon from the merchant on account of the fact that they were heroes to the city and that it would go a long way to taking down the rest of the Guild.

Rain had to wonder if they had managed to get here before the thieves were able to get into place, because it seemed like they might have gotten the drop on the Guild's members, or at least those who had been assigned to watch the entrance that lead to the Sewers, since they were cutting through them. In addition to the thieves there were some kobolds and a few bugbears standing in their path, which was to be expected after everything they had seen during their time searching the Sewers, but Rain found that as long as they took the fights one step at a time she knew that nothing would stop them from reaching their true destination. Vahn even found a circular staircase leading up to a side alley that was far away from the main hub of this part of the city, which explained why the thieves had been able to get up here so quickly and leave before any guards could figure out where they had disappeared to, but he made sure the way was open and walked over to the inn to inform Jherek of it. Rain assumed that it was to help their new Harper allies, when it was time to bring down the rest of the Guild, so she said nothing about it and when Vahn returned they resumed their exploration of the Guild's hideout, carefully looking for any traps to warn their allies about later.

While they did that Rain also did something interesting, she noticed that one of the thieves dodged Vahn's arrows and just raised her hand, where it was caught in what she assumed was her aura as she redirected it into the side of another foe, stunning him so Kromlech could cut him down, leaving the others surprised by her actions. Adrianna was sure now that her powers defied explanation, because it was like Jherek had said earlier, Rain was capable of using all sorts of powers, from different classes, and it made her wonder what else she might be capable of, what powers or skills she might be able to call upon in the future. While they wondered about that, and what it might mean once they were done with the Guild's activities in Baldur's Gate, the group found a side passage to another room, as there were several before that point, that had what appeared to be gas balls floating above the ground, but they were easily broken. The final chamber of one just so happened to bring them to a treasury of sorts, where the loot that was stolen from those above ground was stored in between robbing and selling, and sure enough Rain found that her friends were able to recover their own gear, weapons of incredible power by the looks of it, and she recovered the spice as well.

After that they came to a set of stairs that took them down to the second level of the hideout, where there were traps to stop intruders from progressing deeper into the Guild's territory, which loosed fireballs out of four mouths and only did so in the direction that an intruder was approaching from. After a few of those the group found a chasm that had flat stones floating in the air, level with where they were standing, where Adrianna revealed that they would have to go one at a time to avoid someone falling to their deaths, which was what they did. Of course there was a variation of the straightforward path as another chasm had stones in what appeared to be a grid shaped pattern, where when one stone was stepped on a few in the surrounding area would glow for just a second and fall, forcing them to track down the singular stone that had remained whole and jump to it to continue on the path. It was an interesting way to do such a thing, instead of tackling it as a team, like Rain was used to, and they were able to cross all of the chasms with ease, without losing someone to the depths of the hideout, before reaching what seemed to be a spiral hallway that seemed far too large to be practical.

Sure, the group had to deal with a number of spiders, spice balls, rats, and the various fireball traps, but by taking them carefully they were able to make their way through the spiral with ease, before stopping at the end at what appeared to be a circular area with a figure Rain vaguely recalled standing in the center of it.

"And so you have arrived, Rain Shine, with your 'friends'... I should have erased them when I had the chance." Karne said, where he made no attempt to draw his weapons as he focused on the people in front of him, or rather on the person that was of great interest to his Master, while noting that the three adventurers had regained their weapons and were ready for a fight, "Come with me, my Master wishes to speak with you... these three are unworthy of your presence."

"You and your Master won't be touching a hair on her head!" Kromlech stated, where he shifted his stance and readied his weapon, something that caused the others to do the same thing as they stared at the figure, who clearly had a sword on his belt, and daggers attached to bits of his chest armor.

"You don't get it, do you? She's a magical being from another world, another realm, and sooner or later she'll abandon you for someone else!" Karne replied, as he was trying to drive a wedge between Rain and her companions, because while he planned on capturing the lady and delivering her to Xantum, for his own purposes, he wanted to break her connection to the adventurers before taking her down, to make things easier for his Master, "She doesn't need you fools... here, let me show you what I mean."

Rain, despite knowing that getting ahead of the others was a bad idea, rushed at the man with her weapon at the ready, a fact that was turned against her as he drew his blade, parried her attack, and then turned before pushing her against the wall to the left of the area that they had entered through. As the others realized that he might be an actual threat, since his speed was more than they expected from someone who let his minions do the fighting, Karne drove a blade into her shoulder, pinning Rain to the wall so she'd be out of the way, and, to ensure there was no funny business, he used one of his daggers to pin her right hand in the same manner. Rain bit back a scream as the blades tore through her flesh, due to the fact that it was incredibly painful, though something inside her stirred as Karne moved to do battle with her friends, a battle they might not be able to win if he was able to do this to her, causing the air to vibrate as the feeling ignited without her being able to stop it. Adrianna felt it before they saw it, as Rain's magic flared for a moment as dark wisps started to pour out of the sides of her eyes, like mist, and when she raised her head they found that there was a crimson coloration to them, with some sickly green around them, indicating that she must have awoken something new.

She raised her empty hand and the shadows reacted, bursting off the ground as they reached for Karne and struck him in the chest, though what surprised him was that they had avoided his daggers, almost as if they reacted to his movements, before hitting their marks, and before he could react he was surrounded by darkness as Rain crushed him with her power, or at least that was what they thought when they found nothing but a bloodstain.

"Wh... what was that?" Vahn asked, though at the same time he and Kromlech rushed to help Rain, to remove the blades in her arm and hand while offering her a healing potion, since the pain had to be great given where their foe had hit her in the span of a few seconds.

"I... don't know." Adrianna replied, where she noticed that Rain huffed as whatever power she had called upon vanished as she was freed from the wall, a power that seemed unlike anything she had seen before, which only made her curious as to what else Rain might awaken next.

As she said that, however, Adrianna knew that they were going to break for a moment, let Rain recover from her ordeal, and then, when everyone was ready to go, tackle whatever was in the depths of the Guild's hideout, since there was the Master to deal with when the time came.

Comments

[badninja]

Well it looks like our villains don’t know how to handle Rain.

[Chrome Masquerade]

"First druid abilities, and now what sounds like a priest or paladin skill." the man, Jherek, remarked, sounding impressed by the fact that Rain was capable of many things, instead of being restricted to the path of one profession, or whatever they were called since she was still confused about many things

I had a concept of a D&D character that could use abilities of any class at any tine, but only about 1/4, then 1/2 (you get the idea) as well as a character of that class.