Well, that was an interesting experience...
((OOC: Backdated to take place during the pendant plot.))
Considering that it vanished of its own accord, I doubt it was cursed. One has to wonder, though, who would enchant a piece of jewelry to give advice?
Pharaun looked at his surroundings with distaste. Not being in Econtra was all very well, but there were plenty of better places to go than back to the Demonweb Pits. He recognized this place, too - the plain beyond the Pass of the Soulreaver where he and the other remains of their little expedition had battled the yugoloth army.
"Be grateful you are beyond that place at all, male," a voice remarked. Pharaun couldn't place the voice at all, but the source of the voice was unmistakable.
An enormous black widow spider was standing on the plain with him - but this spider, rather than a head, had the upper body of a female drow. A very familar female drow.
Pharaun didn't answer for a moment, trying to process the fact that the Demon Queen of Spiders, Lolth herself, wore the face of the battle captive Danifae Yauntyrr. What was even more surprising was that, as he watched, her features flickered and settled into a likeness of Quenthel Baenre. A bit belatedly - and well aware of that fact - Pharaun knelt. "Goddess."
Lolth waved a hand irritably. "I have something to tell you, Pharaun Mizzrym. You have repeatedly flouted the commands of my priestesses and at times openly plotted their deaths and that of a draegloth, including several times in the Demonweb itself, and have in general defied drow society as my followers have dictated it..."
Pharaun nodded. "I am well aware of that, goddess. Were you planning on examining me again, or do you just intend to reiterate my crimes and kill me outright - again? Because in the latter case we may as well forgo the list."
Lolth glared down at him through gray eyes; she was Danifae again. "If you would allow me to finish... I was about to say that you have proved yourself a true drow precisely because you lack any respect for the proper way things are done beyond that required to prevent yourself from being killed. You have worries that your thoughts do not befit a drow, on occasion, do you not?"
Pharaun kept his expression carefully neutral. "My Lady knows that quite as well as I do."
The goddess sounded slightly amused. "You really believe flattering me would save you, should I decide to end your existence here and now?"
"Consistency isn't generally a trait one associates with you, my Lady," the wizard replied.
"True. Something Quenthel Baenre, by the way, failed to fully grasp, as you've suspected. As for certain moments of what might be considered weakness... your circumstances in Econtra are quite unusual. What is a weakness in Menzoberranzan may prove to be a key to survival and success there, including your tendency to form... attachments. Though you may find it prudent to abandon your pursuit of the Mercury girl, simply because she has allies who together - and, in some few cases, alone - are too powerful to be overcome at present. Not that prudence has ever been more than a passing acquaintance of yours," Lolth added with a faint smile.
Pharaun, uncharacteristically, hesitated. "There is one other matter that has been bothering me..."
"Your discomfort at the witch's disappearance and your sister's death." The Spider Queen shook her head. "As I said, you become attached to people more easily than most drow. The benefits this brings do not come without price - a price many races pay throughout their existences. If they've survived, I doubt a child of mine would fail to do the same."
Pharaun bowed low. "I am ever at your service, my queen."
"Now go. Your audience with me is at an end." Lolth turned towards the infinite web that spanned the void beyond the plain they stood on as the vision faded before Pharaun's eyes to be replaced by the wall of his apartment.
Considering that it vanished of its own accord, I doubt it was cursed. One has to wonder, though, who would enchant a piece of jewelry to give advice?
Pharaun looked at his surroundings with distaste. Not being in Econtra was all very well, but there were plenty of better places to go than back to the Demonweb Pits. He recognized this place, too - the plain beyond the Pass of the Soulreaver where he and the other remains of their little expedition had battled the yugoloth army.
"Be grateful you are beyond that place at all, male," a voice remarked. Pharaun couldn't place the voice at all, but the source of the voice was unmistakable.
An enormous black widow spider was standing on the plain with him - but this spider, rather than a head, had the upper body of a female drow. A very familar female drow.
Pharaun didn't answer for a moment, trying to process the fact that the Demon Queen of Spiders, Lolth herself, wore the face of the battle captive Danifae Yauntyrr. What was even more surprising was that, as he watched, her features flickered and settled into a likeness of Quenthel Baenre. A bit belatedly - and well aware of that fact - Pharaun knelt. "Goddess."
Lolth waved a hand irritably. "I have something to tell you, Pharaun Mizzrym. You have repeatedly flouted the commands of my priestesses and at times openly plotted their deaths and that of a draegloth, including several times in the Demonweb itself, and have in general defied drow society as my followers have dictated it..."
Pharaun nodded. "I am well aware of that, goddess. Were you planning on examining me again, or do you just intend to reiterate my crimes and kill me outright - again? Because in the latter case we may as well forgo the list."
Lolth glared down at him through gray eyes; she was Danifae again. "If you would allow me to finish... I was about to say that you have proved yourself a true drow precisely because you lack any respect for the proper way things are done beyond that required to prevent yourself from being killed. You have worries that your thoughts do not befit a drow, on occasion, do you not?"
Pharaun kept his expression carefully neutral. "My Lady knows that quite as well as I do."
The goddess sounded slightly amused. "You really believe flattering me would save you, should I decide to end your existence here and now?"
"Consistency isn't generally a trait one associates with you, my Lady," the wizard replied.
"True. Something Quenthel Baenre, by the way, failed to fully grasp, as you've suspected. As for certain moments of what might be considered weakness... your circumstances in Econtra are quite unusual. What is a weakness in Menzoberranzan may prove to be a key to survival and success there, including your tendency to form... attachments. Though you may find it prudent to abandon your pursuit of the Mercury girl, simply because she has allies who together - and, in some few cases, alone - are too powerful to be overcome at present. Not that prudence has ever been more than a passing acquaintance of yours," Lolth added with a faint smile.
Pharaun, uncharacteristically, hesitated. "There is one other matter that has been bothering me..."
"Your discomfort at the witch's disappearance and your sister's death." The Spider Queen shook her head. "As I said, you become attached to people more easily than most drow. The benefits this brings do not come without price - a price many races pay throughout their existences. If they've survived, I doubt a child of mine would fail to do the same."
Pharaun bowed low. "I am ever at your service, my queen."
"Now go. Your audience with me is at an end." Lolth turned towards the infinite web that spanned the void beyond the plain they stood on as the vision faded before Pharaun's eyes to be replaced by the wall of his apartment.