Chapter 19 Chapter 15 Masks

Catti-brie had never seen anything like it.They are more or less similar to dwarves, at least they are about three feet tall, but they don't even have a single hair on their bumpy, ruddy foreheads.Under the starlight of the enchanted jewels, she saw their skins were gray.They looked sturdy, almost as strong as a dwarf, and from the fine tools they carried and the well-fitting metal armor they wore, they were as good at mining and crafting as the dwarves. Drizzt had told Catti-brie about the snebli, the deep gnomes, and that was the race she thought she was seeing now.She couldn't be sure, for fear that this was an offshoot of the evil gray dwarves.

She huddled in a cluster of tall and thin stalagmites in the criss-crossing intersection.Subterranean gnomes, if they were that race, were coming down the opposite side, talking and laughing across the flat, wide corridor, oblivious to the cluster of stalagmites twenty feet away. Catti-brie didn't know what to do with it.If these were swarms, as she was sure of it now, they would be reliable allies, but how would she approach them?Of course they did not speak and were not familiar with human languages, and she knew nothing of theirs. She thought it best for her to just sit back and let them pass.But Catti-brie had never experienced the strangeness of night vision, nor did she take it seriously.Sitting among the cool stalagmites, her body temperature was thirty degrees higher than the surrounding stones, and in the heat-sensing eyes of the deep dwarves, she was literally glowing.

Even while the young lady was still huddled and waiting, the stern gnomes fanned out around her to make sure the drow (for Catti-brie was still wearing a magic mask) was alone or in a large party part.A few minutes passed, and Catti-brie lowered her eyes to look at her hand, feeling something strange about the stone, perhaps a slight vibration.She stared curiously at her trembling hands.What she didn't know was that the deep dwarves' communication was half telepathy and half telepathy. They could use stones to transmit thoughts, and their keen hand could feel the slight tremor of communication.

She didn't know that it was a confirmation message from a sbrunk scout that the drow, huddled among the stalagmites, was indeed alone. A dwarf ahead suddenly gesticulates and says a few words Catti-brie doesn't understand, and throws a stone at her.She ducked her head to avoid the flying stones, not knowing whether to shout surrender or draw out her bow to scare them away. The stones bounced several times on the ground, cracked and shattered, and scattered in front of the stalagmite pile.Then the debris began to smoke and hiss and the ground shook. Before Catti-brie could figure out what was happening, a huge mound of earth rose from the stone in front of her, and then turned into a fifteen-foot-tall giant, blocking the corridor.Its massive rocky arms can crush houses to pieces.The two stalagmites in front were pulled up by it.Made two dangerous spears in front of a thick chest.

Running down the passage, the gnomes let out a battle cry—cries that echoed in the corridors around the terrified woman. Catti-brie stepped back as a giant hand knocked down the tip of a stalagmite.She threw down the onyx statue, shouting Guenhyvar's name wildly, and hurriedly put an arrow on the bowstring. The earth elemental pressed forward step by step, stepping on the stalagmites on the road with his thick legs.It reached for Catti-brie, but a silver arrow sliced ​​through its stone face, sending a sharp gash between its eyes. The earth elemental stood up straight unsteadily, pressing back the broken head with both hands.It turned to look at the stalagmite bushes, but it didn't see the female drow, but a big cat lay on its hind legs, ready to go.

Catti-brie burst out from behind the stalagmites, trying to escape, only to find gnome swarming towards her from every side avenue.She sprinted along the main passage, dodging behind one stone peak after another, not daring to glance at the battle between Guanhaifar and the earth elementals behind her.But something caught her leg and she tripped and fell.She turned to see a slyfnom standing up from behind a pinnacle, the pickaxe still in the position where it had tripped her. Catti-brie drew her bow and sat up straight, but the weapon in her hand was instantly sent flying.She immediately rolled to one side, and heard three subterranean gnomes chasing her, holding a sledgehammer high and trying to smash her flat.

Guenhwyvar roared and jumped up, trying to get past the troll.But the earth elemental moved faster than the panther imagined, its giant hand caught the panther in mid-air, and pressed the big cat to its solid chest.Guenhwyvar howled when a stalagmite spear sank into his shoulder, and the sunderfrogs yelled just as loudly as they rushed to their guards, celebrating the soon-to-be-death drow and her unexpected accomplice. A sledgehammer fell on Catti-brie's head.She drew out her dagger and stabbed it at the mortise and tenon of the hammer head and hammer handle, and threw it hard to the ground.She dodged and dodged, running fast, hoping to put distance between the gnomes, but they kept following her, attacking from all directions, swinging sledgehammers, leaving the dark elf, who was soon tired of dealing with it, no chance at all. Make a clear counterattack.

Seeing that the amazing black panther will soon be pierced and crushed, the following team of deep dwarves shouted triumphantly, but two of them were full of suspicion.These two deep dwarves, Sedig and Pukato, played with such a black panther when they were young, and their playmate thirty years ago, the rebellious drow Drizzt Do'Urden, had just It was no accident that the Panther had appeared when leaving Blingdenstone. "Guenhwyvar!" Seydig yelled, and the Panther answered with a roar. The pronunciation of the name was so accurate, which surprised Catti-brie, and the three deep dwarves took the opportunity to surround her.

Purcato was the one who summoned the earth elemental, he kept it still, and Seidig quickly climbed onto the body of the earth elemental with the pickaxe. "Guenhwyvar?" he asked, just a few feet from the panther's face.The trapped big cat raised its ears and looked at the kind-hearted dwarf in front of him with aggrieved eyes. "Who is this?" Purcatto asked, pointing at Catti-brie. Even if she didn't understand a word of Snebli, Catti-brie knew she couldn't have had a better chance.She dropped the sword and reached out to pull off the magic mask, and immediately regained the appearance of a human woman.The three deep dwarves beside her yelled and backed away, looking unflattering on their faces, as if her new look was ugly by their standards.

Pukato worked up the courage to walk towards her step by step and stood in front of her. He knew Guenhwyvar's name, Catti-brie thought, and she wished he knew another.She pointed to herself, then held out her hands as if to embrace someone. "Drizzt Do'Urden?" she asked. Purcatto's gray eyes widened, and he nodded, as if he shouldn't have been surprised.Suppressing his distaste for human appearance, he stretched out a hand and pulled Catti-brie up. Catti-brie slowly removed the onyx and sent it back to Guenhuffar.Pukato also turned the earth elemental back into stone.

※※※※ "Cursens Ober," Jarlaxle whispered a secret word rarely heard in Menzoberranzan, which translates to "Pull off the spider's leg." The seemingly flat wall responded to the mercenary leader's signal, twisted and twisted into a spider web that unspooled outwards, and the spider threads were coiled together, leaving a hole for the mercenary leader and his human guards to crawl through. Even Jarlaxle, who was usually one step ahead of the other drow in everything, was a little surprised—or should I say pleasantly surprised—to find Triel waiting in this small room.This is the magic school in the academy - the school of warlocks, and this room is directly above the private room of Gonph Baenre.Jarlaxle had hoped that Gromph would be nearby to see the return, but Triel was a better witness. Entreri followed right behind the mercenary chief, wisely out of sight of the irascible Trill.The assassin surveyed the interesting room, which, like most of the wizard's tower, was bathed in a soft blue light.On the table, on the three chairs, on the floor, there were scrolls of parchment here and there.Bookshelves lined the walls, holding dozens of open wide-mouth jars and smaller hourglass-shaped containers, and sealed boxes aside.There were a hundred other odd objects, leaving the surface dweller to wonder what they were useful for amidst the clutter. "You brought Cobrus into the warlock school?" Trill raised his eyebrows in surprise. Entreri took care to keep his eyes on the ground, though he did sneak a few glances at Baenry's daughter.He had never seen Tril in such bright light before, and he now thought Tril was not very pretty by drow standards.She was too short, and her shoulders were too broad for a pointed face.The assassin wondered how Triel could have such a high rank among the beautiful drow.He thought she was so high only because she was Matron Baenre's daughter. Entreri didn't fully understand drow, but he realized that Triel was probably insulting him.Ordinarily, an Assassin would have responded with sword and sword, but not here, not far from the source of his power.He can't fight this man.Jarlaxle had warned Entreri a hundred times how dangerous Triel was.She was looking for excuses to kill him—the vicious Baenry daughters were always looking for excuses to kill Corbulus, and certain drow. "I've taken him to many places," Jarlaxle replied. "I don't think your brother will have a problem with that." Trill scanned the room, his eyes falling on the large polished table of dwarven bones and the upholstered chair behind it.There was no door leading to it, no conspicuous hiding place, and Gromph wasn't there. "Groff should be here," Jarlaxle argued. "Besides, why is the mistress of the Spider Academy showing up here? I remember it's against the rules, just bring a fedrow with me." Like warlock school." "Be careful, you are questioning Tril Baenre," the short priest warned back. "Esenqui." Jarlaxle replied with a slight bow.It's a somewhat ambiguous word that means "as you wish" or "almost". "Why are you here?" Trill asked. "You knew I was coming," Jarlaxle said. "Of course." Trill replied slickly, "I know many things, but I want to hear your explanation of entering the warlock school, why you entered the principal's private stash, and entered the private room of the chief mage in the city." Jarlaxle reached into the folds of his cloak and pulled out the strange spider mask, the magic item that allowed him to get over Baenry's cobweb fence.Trill's red eyes widened. "Your mother taught me to return this to Gromph," the mercenary chief replied sourly. "Still here?" Tril hesitated, "This mask belongs to Baen Rui's family." Jarlaxle couldn't help smiling. He looked at Entreri, secretly hoping that the assassin could read something from this conversation. "Gromph will return it," Jarlaxle replied.Trill walked towards him.But he walked around to the dwarf bone table, muttered a word, and quickly stuffed the mask into a drawer.She strode over to the desk and sighed deeply when she saw the locked drawer.Apparently Gromph had set a trap and sealed it with a secret word. "Open it," she instructed Jarlaxle. "I'll take the mask to Gromph." "I can't open it," Jarlaxle lied. "The word changes every time I use it. I only know one word." Jarlaxle knew he was playing a dangerous trick, but Trill and Gromph were very concerned. There was little talk, and especially during these days, Gromph was busy with various preparations for Baenre's house, and rarely appeared in his workshop at the Warlock School.All Jarlaxle had to do was get rid of the mask, and do so publicly so that it wouldn't have anything to do with him anymore.The spider mask is the only piece of equipment among all the magical spells and items in Menzoberranzan that allows people to pass through the fence of Baenre's house. If things go as Jarlaxle envisions, this mask will soon become a Important props -- and evidence. Trill sang softly, still staring at the closed drawer.She noticed that the drawers were woven with intricate patterns of magic - Golem Guardianship - too densely woven for her to untangle easily.Her powers were among the best in Menzoberranzan, but Tril was still afraid to lay her hands on the wizard brother's masterpiece.Throwing a menacing look at the slippery mercenary leader, she came and stood in front of Entreri. "Look at me," she said in Surface Common, which surprised the assassin, since few drow in Menzoberranzan spoke it. Entreri looked at Trill's sharp eyes.He tried to keep his composure, trying to look submissive and unassuming, but Tril knew the pretense all too well.She saw the strength in the assassin's heart and showed a satisfied smile. "How much do you know about the whole thing?" she asked. "I only know what Jarlaxle told me." Entreri tore off his mask, his eyes fixed on Tril.If she intends to have a contest of willpower, then the assassin will not back down. He is a figure who has survived and succeeded in the most dangerous streets on the surface of Faerun. Triel and him looked at each other for a long time, convinced that he could not get any useful information from this opponent who was proficient in this way. "Go away." She said to Jarrah, still using the surface language. Jarlaxle rushed past her, yanking Entreri awake. "Hurry up!" said the mercenary chief, "we need to stay out of the warlock school before Trill tries to open that drawer!" And so they passed through the cobweb door, and the cobweb changed back to the flat wall behind them, blocking the He heard the cursing that Trill must have heard when he saw Might and Magic. But Baen Rui's daughter was not provoked into a rage.She realized that there were three ways into this chamber: her own, her mother's, and it was clear now that Jarlaxle had his.The mercenary chief was planning something, she knew, a plan that undoubtedly involved Artemis Entreri. ※※※※ Jarlaxle translated to him what Entreri had seen when he was safely out of Tyr Bridge and the Academy. "Didn't you tell her that Drizzt will be here soon?" the assassin commented.He had expected this to be the subject of Jarlaxle's brief conversation with Trill, but the mercenary leader hadn't mentioned it at all now. "Triel has her own source of information." Jarlaxle replied, "I don't want her to know so easily—there is no clear answer if there is no benefit!" Entreri smiled, then bit his lower lip as he pondered what the mercenary leader had said.There are always so many plots in this damned city, the assassin mused.No doubt Jarlaxle was enjoying it!Entreri almost wished he were a drow, so that he could carve out his own future like Jarlaxle, playing on the brink of disaster.He "almost" hoped so. "When will Matron Baenre teach you to return the mask?" the assassin asked.He and Jarlaxle had been away from the city for a time, to meet a Spnelli eyeliner in an outer cavern.They were off to the Warlock School shortly after their return, and as far as Entreri knew, Jarlaxle hadn't been anywhere near Baenry's home. "Sometimes ago," Jarlaxle replied. "Teaching you to return it to the Academy?" Entreri demanded.From his point of view it was inappropriate.And why did Jarlaxle bring him?He had never been invited to a high-class place before, and his occasional request would be rejected. For example, when he asked to accompany Jarlaxle to the fighting martial tower, Jarlaxle refused.The mercenary chief's excuse was that he was taking a risk by taking a Corbulus, that is, taking a non-drow there.But now, for some reason, Jarlaxle thought it appropriate to take Entreri to the School of Warlocks, a farther and more dangerous place from the Brawler's Tower. "She didn't specify where to return the mask," Jarlaxle admitted honestly. Entreri didn't respond, though he knew it was the truth.A gift from House Baenry, the Spider Mask is a potential weakness in the home's fortified defenses.It should belong to the security department of Baen Rui's house and nowhere else. "Stupid Tril," Jarlaxle remarked casually, "that same word, Esenqui, would make her open the drawer. She should know that her brother is conceited and confident that no one will steal from him, so Don't spend too much time playing password games." The mercenary chief laughed, and Entreri laughed too.But he was more curious than amused.Jarlaxle's speech and behavior were rarely without purpose. Everything the mercenary leader told him had a reason.But what is it for?