Ellu'kha had followed Lae'zel through the mountain pass and into an old monastery that had been taken over by the gith. Lae'zel had been certain that the healer here would be able to cure them of their parasites, but alas, the "cure" was none other than death.
They fought to survive and then had an altercation with the Inquisitor and Vlaakith, goddess queen of the gith. Ellu'kha had the weapon they sought.
Soon all of the gith in the creche lay dead upon the stone. Lae'zel did not care for these kin of hers were weak and she was strong. She would honour her queen and ascend. She was delusional. Finally, they explored the now-emptied halls of the monastery and found a great, legendary weapon for Shadowheart to wield. At least their journey to speak with the gith had not been in vain.
That night, in camp, Ellu'kha snapped awake to find a gith looking down at her. The same one they had seen astride the red dragon several days prior. The gith: Voss.
Stumbling to her feet and grabbing for her weapon, Voss bowed his head and offered his blade, slowly placing it on the ground, and then knelt submissively beside it. He only wished to speak with them.
He had been hunting for the astral prism they carried, but not to return to the queen ā but to usurp and dethrone her. She had been lying to the gith people for centuries. There was no ascension. No purification from mindflayer parasites. Only Vlaakith's lust for power to one day become a true goddess.
Voss wanted to ally with them. To unleash the power of the prism against Vlaakith herself. The entity inside was they key to the gith reclaiming their lives and no longer being slaves to tyranny.
He offered the group a psionic detector. The queen's gith agents would be hunting them now and this detector would allow them knowledge of any incoming attackers so they could prepare themselves to fight, or flee.
Asking them to meet him in Baldur's Gate, then left in peace.
Immediately, Ellu'kha raced over to Lae'zel to hear her thoughts on the matter. At first she had not believed him, but his words had dripped with truth. She had never thought of herself as a slave to a tyrant, but, if what Voss had said was true... she was nothing but cattle. Livestock. Bred for her queen to feed upon. She would meet Voss in Baldur's Gate and find out more, whenever it was they would eventually arrive there.
With the gith creche out of the way, they now had a decision to make. They needed to get to Moonrise Towers. Would they continue on through the mountains or return to the Underdark and find their way beneath the surface?
Ellu'kha decided they would return to the Underdark.
Returning to where they and the mutinous grey dwarves turned on the Twat Soul Nere, they prepared themselves to walk through the door that led to the Cursed Shadow Lands.
Stepping through the door, they entered a strange, lifeless place encased in wafting, writhing shadows. It was cold, gloomy, and chilled their bones.
Lighting a torch, thankfully, sent the shadows at bay and helped strengthen their resolve to pass through the cursed area.
There were people in the distance ā scouts who appeared to be surveying the region, cautiously, with terror in their veins as they silently stepped through the shadows guided by a single torch.
Ellu'kha and her people stepped out of the shadows to see if they were friend or foe... but before they could really communicate, the nothingness grabbed one of the people and dragged him into the undergrowth. Shrieks and screams emanated forth, but then, he returned to them.
He had been transformed into a shadow. Afflicted by the curse. More shadows in the shape of men came out of the darkness alongside him. They needed to fight for their survival.
When all of the shadows lay vanquished, the remaining scouts thanked them for their assistance and informed them of an inn further into the region ā it was protected by magic and they would find safety and a place to rest there.
When the scouts returned to their scouting, Gale pulled Ellu'kha aside. This was hardly the time or place, but flush with the heat of battle he needed to tell her something very important: she was mesmerising. He wanted her. Not right now in these cursed lands of course, but soon, when the time was right.
Cheeks aflame, Ellu'kha voiced her reciprocation of his desire for a future date and they continued to creep through the shadow lands.
Just past an old, ramshackle house long lost to the curse lay the corpse of a raven. Ellu'kha was curious and trod closer, only to be ambushed by near fifty shadow ravens.
Thankfully, though there were many, they were weak and easy to kill with a few well-positioned fireballs. They would need to take more care here.
Soon they came across the inn that the scouts had mentioned. It was indeed protected by a powerful magic. The moment they stepped inside, a relief washed over them as the threat of shadows vanished.
More scouts rushed over and demanded to know if they were friend or foe, but the scout Ellu'kha had rescued quickly told them that this group was alright and to let them past.
However a woman stepped over and entangled Ellu'kha in vines, suspicious of this newcomer... a newcomer with a parasite in her head.
The woman was Jaheira, and she had a True Soul parasite trapped in a bottle. That was how she knew what was in Ellu'kha's mind.
Ellu'kha stood proud and declared herself not a True Soul; she still had her own mind and did not serve the Absolute. Then a tiefling child ran over and welcomed her, and told Jaheira that this was Ellu'kha! The great goblin slayer who had saved the druid grove!
With that knowledge, Jaheira unravelled Ellu'kha from the tangling vines and welcomed her to the inn, declaring her the miracle they sought to breach Moonrise Towers.
Ushering Ellu'kha and her people into the warm confines of the tavern, Jaheira sat them down to talk.
They had followed the Cult of the Absolute from Baldur's Gate to here, to Moonrise Towers. She suggested that Ellu'kha and her companions, complete with True Soul parasites yet a part from the Absolute, could infiltrate Moonrise Towers with ease.
Ellu'kha and her group could be the hope, the saving grace that they had been waiting for. Would they help?
Ellu'kha smiled. She and her group were already in the process of doing just that.
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Until next time! š
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and are from the game: Baldur's Gate 3