Xull'rae by Nobodyno1

If the artist wants this removed please contact me!

This was a commission I paid for. The art is by ~nobodyno1 This was a scene from Xull'rae's Plight.

Roughly five minutes had passed since Cogliostro and his small entourage took their leave of Narbondel's Shadow. In their wake, the Inn's proprietor hastened to pass a message along to Xull'rae right as she prepared to leave. How he had known her identity, cloaked as she was, had not been revealed; the room was filled with no less than forty of the proprietor's regular, somewhat loyal guests. Xull'rae figured it would not be to her benefit to cause a ruckus in order to find out.

Reviewing the message let her know it came from a certain bladesinger that she had come to know, and it asked her to meet him at the ramshackle dwelling he'd managed to procure for himself in the Stenchstreets district as soon as was possible. Sighing loudly to herself, Xull'rae wondered what the damnable male was doing here and what he wanted now.

Xull'rae left the tavern and moved her way carefully through the crowded streets. Her steps were deliberate and slow as she did not want to bump into anyone or have her cloak brush against dirty bodies. The Braeryn always made her skin crawl and her nerves shy away in pure disgust. She, from a noble house, could not stand this hovel of a place. Xull'rae didn't consider herself snooty, as living in the wilds of the Underdark for a time taught her to appreciate what she had, but she still could not pity those that chose to live this way. It was why she came to hate Menzoberranzan, it was ruled by fear; fear of change.

As expected in such environs, the odor of decay, sweat, and other less mentionable things proved nearly overwhelming to Xull'rae's senses. Though she kept her identity largely hidden, most of the creatures residing within the Braeryn were shrewd enough to figure out she was not one to be trifled with. She was but a short distance from her destination, one would think the journey would be a quick one. However, the streets were far busier, and more crowded, than she could remember. She had wind around so many mobs of the filthy, disease-infested slave races and outcast drow just to make forward progress.

At last, the description of the small spire that comprised the bladesinger's home was in her line of sight. The once-grand sculpting along its walls was now but a shadow of its former glory, covered in every manner of unmentionable fluids and gore. Xull'rae's amber colored eyes surveyed the home of the calling male, a frown creased her lips beyond the cowl of her piwafwi. Tiny feet carried her confidently inside.