Chapter 3 Chapter 1 Careerist

North of the great cave where Menzoberranzan, the city of the drow, resides.Jarlaxle, the mercenary leader, was leaning against a pillar in the wide stairway of Tyr Bridge, where the academy was located. He took off his wide-brimmed hat, and cursed softly while stroking his bald head. The city was brightly lit.The houses carved out of natural stalagmites have windows only at high places, where the light of torches flickers.There are actually lights in the drow city!Many fine buildings are adorned with faerie fire's soft bright colors, many glowing blue or purple, but faerie fire and lights are two different things.

Jarlaxle shifted his weight, flinching as his weight fell on his recently injured leg.Tril Baenre, the mistress and headmaster of the Spider Academy, the highest priest in the city, once healed his leg wound, but Jarlaxle suspected that the wicked priest deliberately left it unhealed, leaving a little wound, A reminder of yet another failure of the mercenary chief to hunt down Drizzt Do'Urden. "This light hurt my eyes." The sarcastic words came from behind him.Jarlaxle turned to Matron Baenre's eldest daughter, Triel, who had healed him.She was shorter than most drow, almost a foot shorter than Jarlaxle, yet she carried an air of inviolable majesty and composure.Jarlaxle understood her power (and her irascibility) better than most, and he always dealt with the diminutive woman with the utmost caution.

Flickering and shining, the lights all over the city are like pairs of malicious eyes.She walked up to him and cursed under her breath, "Damn light." "This is an order from your mistress," Jarlaxle reminded her.One of his eyes avoided her stare, the other was hidden under a blindfold.He put his hat back on, pulling it down to hide his smug smile. Trill resents her mother.The moment Matron Baenre began to hint at a plan, Jarlaxle knew it.But Tril was perhaps the Spider Queen's most ardent follower, and she would never defy Matron Baenre, First Matriarch of the city—unless Queen Lolth ordered her to do so.

"Come on," growled the priest.She turned and walked down Tyr Bridge, towards the largest and most ornate spider-shaped building of the three buildings in the Drow Academy. Jarlaxle moaned shrillly as he moved, stumbling and staggering with every limping step, seeking a morsel of healing magic.This attempt didn't work, Triel just stopped for a while in front of the tall building, waiting patiently for him.Jarlaxle knew it was a little out of character for Triel never waited for anything. As soon as he stepped into the hall, all kinds of auras immediately attacked the mercenary leader, ranging from the aroma of spices to the bloody smell of dried sacrifices. At the same time, there were bursts of singing from behind each side door.Tril didn't care about that, she shrugged and walked past a few disciples who saw her and bowed to her.

Baenre's daughter headed straight for the higher steps, her destination being the private chambers of the Matriarch.She stepped down a small foyer where live spiders (some of them taller than Jarlaxle's knees) crawled across the floor. Trill walked between the two identical doors and motioned for Jarlaxle to enter the one on the right.The mercenary leader hesitated for a while, carefully concealing his uneasiness, but Triel still found out. She grabbed Jarlaxle by the shoulders, twisted him roughly towards her, and snapped at him, "You've been here before!" "Only came when I graduated from the Fighting Tower." Jarlaxle said, shaking his shoulders out of her grasp, "like all the graduates of the Fighting Tower."

"You have been on it." Trill shouted angrily, staring at Jarlaxle with round eyes.The mercenary leader laughed out loud. "You hesitated when I asked you to go in," Trill continued, "because you knew the room on the left was my private room. That's what you wanted to go in." "I never expected to be called here," Jarlaxle retorted, trying to change the subject.When Trill stared at him so closely, he was a little disoriented.Had he underestimated her horror at her mother's latest plan? Trill looked at Jarlaxle without blinking, jaw clenched.

"I have my sources," Jarlaxle admitted finally. After another half hour, Triel still stared at him. "You invited me," Jarlaxle reminded her. "I ordered you to come." Trill corrected. Jarlaxle bowed low and exaggeratedly, took off his hat and waved it in a big circle.Baenre's daughter's eyes blazed with anger. "Enough!" she shouted. "You've had enough!" Jarlaxle snapped back. "You asked me to come to the Academy, and I didn't like it, but I did. You have questions to ask, and I, perhaps, know the answers. "

Triel narrowed his eyes, Jarlaxle did have the right to say that last sentence.He was a cunning opponent, she knew it as well as anyone in town.She had dealt with the cunning mercenary chief several times, but was still not entirely sure if she had offended or offended him.She turned and motioned him to go into her room on the left.He bowed gracefully once again, and walked into the delicate room covered with thick carpets and burning with soft magic light. "Take off your boots." Trilling said, taking off his shoes before stepping onto the blanket. Jarlaxle stood just inside the door, looking at his boots hesitantly against the tapestry wall.Anyone who knew the mercenary leader knew that those were magic boots.

"Forget it." Trill conceded, closed the door, strode past him, and sat in a large chair filled with cushions.Behind her was a writing desk, and beyond that was one of countless tapestries depicting a group of drow dancing around a large surface elf being sacrificed.Above the surface elves loomed the nearly transparent ghost of a half-elf, half-spider creature, its face beautiful and serene. "You didn't like your mother's instructions?" Jarlaxle asked. "Your own room is bright." Trill bit her lower lip and narrowed her eyes again.Most priests keep their rooms dimly lit so that they can read spellbooks, since thermal vision cannot read symbols written on paper.While some inks could retain heat for years, they were prohibitively expensive, even for someone as powerful as Triel.

Jarlaxle stared back at Baenre's daughter's stern look.It seems that Triel is often angry, the mercenary leader thought. "The lights seem to fit your mother's plan just right," he continued. "Actually," Trill's tone was sharp, "you are so proud and arrogant because you think you know what my mother's plan is?" "She intends to attack Mithril Hall again." Jarlaxle made it clear, knowing that Triel had already reached the same conclusion. "Will it?" Tril asked vaguely. The subtext of these words revived the mercenary leader.He made his way to another, less upholstered chair in the room, intending to have a long conversation.Even on the thick, soft blanket, his steps landed heavily.

Trill smiled, not affected by the pair of magic boots.Jarlaxle could walk noisily on any surface if he wanted, and he could also walk quietly.This is common sense.His vast array of jewels, bracelets, and trinkets seemed equally enchanted, for they could tinkle or be silent, as he wished. "If you make a hole in my rug, I'll fill it with your heart," Trill promised.At the same time, Jarlaxle slumped comfortably into the wrapped stone chair, flattening a crease on the armrest, revealing a clear pattern on it: a black and yellow Giantu spider, which is the wolf on the surface. A variant of the spider in the Underdark. "Why do you think your mother won't go?" Jarlaxle asked, ignoring her threats.Although he knew Trill's cruelty, he really wanted to know how many hearts had been woven into the fibers of this carpet. "Am I guessing?" Trill asked. Jarlaxle let out a long sigh.He had already guessed that this meeting would be meaningless, that Trill was going to find out how much he already knew without saying anything herself.Jarlaxle had been hoping to learn something solid this time when Tril insisted that Jarlaxle go see her instead of the usual arrangement of her leaving Tyr Bridge to meet the mercenary boss.But it soon became clear to Jarlaxle that the only reason Trill wanted to meet him at the Spider Academy was that it was safe, even from her mother's prying eyes and ears. And now, even after a whole lot of hard work, the most important meeting has turned into a mockery. Trill looked equally distraught.Suddenly she stood up from her chair and declared menacingly, "She wants a dynasty!" Jarlaxle joined his fingers, the bracelets jingled—they were finally getting to the point that made sense. "The dominion of Menzoberranzan is no longer enough for Matron Baenre," Triel went on, his tone growing calmer.She sat back in her seat, "She wants to expand her territory." "I thought Rose was behind your mother's plan," Jarlaxle said, before being utterly bewildered by Trill's apparent disdain. "Perhaps," Triel admitted. "The Spider Queen would be happy to see Mithral Hall ruled, and it would be best if the traitor Do'Urden could be captured. But we have other things to worry about." "Blingdenstone?" Jarlaxle asked, referring to Snebli, the drow's old enemy, the city of the gnomes. "This is one." Trill replied, "Blingdenstone is not far from the passage leading to Mithril Hall." "Your mother mentioned that Blingdenstone would be dealt with on the return journey." Jarlaxle confided a little inside information, knowing that if Triel was to continue to be honest, he would have to throw some bait first.In the view of the mercenary leader, Triel must be very worried, so he honestly showed his fear. Trill nodded, accepting the news calmly, without any surprise. "There are other problems," she reiterated. "Matron Baenre is taking quite a risk, so she's looking for allies, even illithids." Baenry's daughter's reasoning hit Jarlaxle as much as her voice (Jarrlaxle had to be shaken by Trill's words).Matron Baenre had always had an illithid companion, one of the ugliest and most dangerous creatures Jarlaxle had ever seen.He was never comfortable being around this octopus-headed, humanoid monster.Jarlaxle survived by outwitting his enemies, but against illithids, he was nothing. "Mind flayers" is the name of this evil race. Their thinking patterns are quite different from other races, and their actions are guided by beliefs and rules that only the illithids themselves understand. Even so, drow often negotiate successfully with illithid society.Menzoberranzan had twenty thousand skilled warriors, but illithids numbered less than a hundred here.Cui Er's worries were a little overdone. But Jarlaxle hadn't told her so.Knowing her unreasonable irascibility, the mercenary chief would rather listen than speak. Trill still shook his head, with obvious displeasure on his face.She sprang from her chair, her black and purple spider-patterned robe rustling as she paced. "The Baenre family is not alone," Jarlaxle reminded her, trying to reassure Triel. "Many families have lights in their windows." "My mother did a great job of bringing the whole city together," Trill admits, her tense pace slowing down. "But you're still scared." The mercenary leader speculated, "You need information to make a conclusion." Jarlaxle couldn't help but sneered in a low voice.For a long time, he and Trill had been enemies, suspicious of each other - of course, they had good reason to doubt each other!And now, she needs him.She is a priest in an academy isolated from the outside world, far from the gossip that floats around the city.Normally, a prayer to the Spider Queen would have given her all the information she needed, but now, if Goddess Lolth approves of Matron Baenre's actions (which seems to be an obvious fact), Trill will obviously be alone. left in the dark.She needed a spy, and there was an unrivaled spy system in Menzoberranzan, Jarlaxle and his network, the Dayet Independent Mercenaries. "We need each other." Trill retorted sharply, turning around and staring at the mercenary leader with wide eyes. "Mother took the risk. If her position is shaken, think who will take the position of ruler!" You are right.Jarlaxle acquiesced.Triel, as the eldest daughter of the Baenry family, will undoubtedly be the first successor to Mistress Banri; and as the headmistress of the Spider Academy, she has the second highest authority in the city after any ruling family mistress. power.Triel has laid an astounding foundation of power.In Menzoberranzan, however, legal subterfuge is but a shell over underlying chaos, and the foundations of power are as fluid as lava pools. "I will consider it." Jarlaxle replied, standing up and preparing to leave, "Then I will tell you the result of my consideration." Triel knew that the cunning mercenary leader could only half believe what he said, but she could only listen to what he said. After a while, Jarlaxle walked along Menzoberranzan's wide stone-carved avenue, past the family guards behind almost every stalagmite, past their watchful eyes and their ready-to-draw swords—the There are the same guards on the ring balcony.The mercenary leader was not worried at all, because the wide-brimmed hat he wore showed his identity, everyone in the city knew him, and no family wanted to conflict with the Dayet Independent Mercenary Group.It was a secret army—the exact size of which few could guess—and its base was tucked away in the many inconspicuous nooks and crannies of the vast cavern.The rank was well known, and the ruling houses acquiesced in its existence, and most in the city considered Jarlaxle to be one of the most powerful men in Menzoberranzan. Jarlaxle was in a good mood, not paying attention to the dangerous glances from the guards.He focused inwardly, reminiscing about the delicate conversation he had had with Trill.The hypothetical attack on Mithril Hall seems very feasible.Jarlaxle had been to the dwarven stronghold and had seen its defenses firsthand.While the fortress was certainly formidable, the dwarves seemed at a disadvantage against an army of drow. Once the team of Menzoberranzan led by Matron Baenre conquered Mithril Hall, Lady Lolth would be extremely happy, and the Baenre family would stand on the pinnacle of glory. Then Tril took it, and Matron Baenre would have a hereditary dynasty. The pinnacle of power?The thought hung in Jarlaxle's mind.He paused beside the great hour-pillars of Menzoberranzan in Narbondel, a smile on his dark face. "The pinnacle of power?" he whispered. Jarlaxle understood Triel's panic all at once.She worried that her mother had crossed the line, betting the already amazing lands of her own country by coveting the territory of another empire.Jarlaxle had even more far-reaching thoughts as he pondered the idea.Think about it, conquer Mithril Hall first, then Blingdenstone, what if Matron Baenre succeeds?he mused.What foe would later threaten the drow and hold the privileged factions of Menzoberranzan together? This is why Blingdenstone, an enemy camp so close to Menzoberranzan, has been tolerated for centuries.Jarlaxle had an answer.He understood that the dwarf had unwittingly been the glue that held the houses of Menzoberranzan together.With a common enemy at hand, the constant civil war among the drow had to be moderated. However, Matron Baenre wants to remove the glue by expanding her domain not only to Mithril Hall, but also to troublesome Gnomestown.Tril wasn't worried that the drow would be defeated, or that he'd be allied with a small band of illithids.She was afraid that her mother would win and leave trouble for her.Matron Baenre was old, and Trill would be first in line in that position.For now, that was indeed a comfortable position, but after Mithril Hall and Blingdenstone were taken, it was far from secure and secure.The common enemy that kept the houses united—that bond would no longer exist, and because of these actions, Trill would also bother to maintain contact with the surface world far from Menzoberranzan.There, retaliation by the Allies of Mithril Hall was almost inevitable. Jarlaxle understood what Matron Baenre wanted, but now he wondered what Queen Lolth was thinking behind the haggard old woman's plans. "It's chaos," he concluded.Menzoberranzan has been silent for far too long.Some families were at war—it was inevitable.House Do'Urden and House Defoe, the two ruling houses, have perished, but the general structure of the city remains strong and unthreatening. "Ah, but you are willing to do it." Jarlaxle couldn't help but opened his mouth to guess the intention of Queen Lolth.It suddenly dawned on him that Goddess Rose wanted a new order, a family reshuffle of a city that had grown tiresome.No wonder Tril—the one who would inherit everything her mother left her—would be upset. The bald mercenary chief, who loved intrigue and chaos himself, laughed heartily and looked at Narbondel Shizhu.Most of the heat energy of the hour pillar has dissipated, indicating that it is now deep night in the Underdark.Jarlaxle tapped his heels on the stones and set off for the plateau of House Quelazol, the walled plateau to the east of Menzoberranzan, home to the city's most powerful families.He didn't want to be late for a meeting with Matron Baenry to report to her about his "secret" meeting with her eldest daughter. Jarlaxle considered how much to tell the old matron, and how he might gain the most benefit. He loved the conspiracy.