The Hornet's Nest

Blank’s companions scattered like leaves on a swirling breeze. They seemed to know exactly where they wanted to be, and she was left with a sinking feeling in her stomach. A drink, that’s what she needed. Something to buoy her determination.

She drifted past the knots of people, nodding casually to those who bothered to notice her. Though she kept on alert for any snatch of pertinent information, nothing but tipsy laughter met her ears. It was too late in the evening and alcohol for lackeys to discuss sober matters. She’d have to find someone higher up.

The nearest bar was little more than an alcove in the massive hall, one of many pressed into the curved side of the temple. A lash of dark red caught her eye. A tiefling woman sat at the bar, her tail flicking slowly as a man leaned close to her and smiled lecherously.

There was just enough space between them for Blank to wedge herself in, facing the tiefling. “Hey,” she jerked a thumb over her shoulder to the drunk, “Is this guy bothering you?”

She knocked back her drink and slammed the tankard on the sandstone counter. “Yeah, but believe me, I’m used to it. Dingbats like him come a dime a dozen.”

The man swiped at his eyes. “Woah. Am I seeing double?”

Blank leveled her best withering glare at him, and after a minute, he stumbled away to take his nonsense elsewhere.

“You okay?” She asked the woman, hopping up on the stool the man vacated.

“Just fine.” She gave Blank a once over. “Thanks, friend. What’s your name? Haven’t seen you around before.”

She almost blurted out her own name. “Bla- Blaze.” The torches on the walls lent her quick inspiration. “And this is my first time here, actually, I’m a bit of a wanderer.”

“A free spirit, huh?” The woman motioned for two more tankards. “I like that. I’m Queenie.”

“Wonderful to meet you, Queenie.” This was going better than she’d hoped. Queenie seemed to be warming up to her.

“What a night, am I right?” Queenie asked, flicking a lock of curly hair over her shoulder. “Zandeer is going places. Did you see what we did to Tralco?”

“I… wasn’t in town.” Horrific images of injured Tralcans and burning ships flashed before her eyes.

“I had a front row seat. Our ship was just beyond the harbor when everything went down.”

Blank rested her chin in her hand. “That must have been…”

“-Amazing.” Queenie finished with her, then laughed. Blank laughed too, hoping she was conveying jealousy rather than disgust.

“The mage was a fair loss,” Queenie shrugged, “He got cocky messing around with that group on the beach. We have hundreds more at the ready, and Tralco will burn.”

“Wow.” A shiver ran down her spine. “That’s intense.”

Queenie tapped the countertop with a nail for emphasis. “The message needs to be clear. Ever since he joined forces with us, things have gotten crazy.” She looked at Blank over the rim of her drink. “How long have you been with us?”

“Not long, I’m a pretty recent recruit.”

“I’ve been with Zandeer for fifteen years and let me say this; we have never before been so brazen. Never. Listen, stick with Zandeer and they’ll treat you right. We’ll all be living like kings by the end of this.”

“Or… Queenies?” Blank joked weakly.

The tiefling threw back her head and cackled, dropping her hand so heavily on Blank’s shoulder that she winced.

“I like you. We girls need to watch out for each other,” Queenie smiled broadly, the kind of grin only one too many drinks could produce. “If you ever need to reach me, I’m stationed aboard the Honesty.”

“The Honesty,” She repeated wryly. Some name for a pirate ship. “I’ll remember that.”

“And you?”

“Ahh,” she grasped for a name, then remembered one she’d overheard a few minutes before. “The Illumination.”

Queenie laughed. “Bounty hunters? A word of advice to you- Keep those boys in line. Always gotta show ‘em who’s boss.”

“I’ll… keep that in mind.”

Queenie grinned and wandered off with only a hint of a drunken sway. Blank turned back to her drink. She hadn’t gotten much, but at least it was something. She hoped the others were faring better.

____________________________________________________

Rue beelined it for the gambling room. It had been forever since she’d played and she was sure that she’d recognize someone in there. Someone- anyone- who could get her back to the Honesty and away from the party that had her sneaking around like a spy. She wasn’t a spy. She was a pirate.

There was no one that she knew there. Her disappointment was dampered somewhat when she spotted an open seat at a roulette table. It faced out into the room and the archway beyond back into the main temple. Perfect. She could play for a while and keep a lookout at the same time.

“Two hundred gold to buy in, fifty minimum bet.” the dealer said blandly, and she dropped the gold on the table. Her crew used to say she had a weakness for gambling games, and she wasn’t about to prove them wrong now.

She swept a glance around the table. Seated already were a hawkish aarakocra and two tabaxi; the two taller and lankier than Oda, with complex markings down their dusty-colored fur. All three bore the mark of Zandeer, though both the tabaxi ranked higher, medallions bared proudly.

The betting went for a few rounds, Rue managing to win a few and break even with the buy-in. She kept her eyes open and mouth shut. It was starting to get hot under the cowl. She debated slipping it down, but she wanted to be the one to find someone she knew, not the other way around. There would be a much bigger fuss made if she was noticed in a crowd than if she could catch them alone. Surely she knew enough people in Zandeer to have spotted someone by now…

The aarakocra leaned against the table, clearly bored of the game. “It must be so nice to relax after that meeting,” he said to the tabaxi officers, drawling pointedly, “You all were in there for forever.”

“Ah ah, I can’t go spilling secrets,” the female at his side laughed gently. “There's still days to go yet.”

“Come on, tell me more.” He urged.

“Shut up.” The male, who was faring significantly worse than the others at the betting, glared at them.

“Oh come off it,” the female tabaxi purred, her yellow eyes glinting, “We’re all friends here.” She turned to the bird-man and ran a claw gently down his beak. “If you really want to know, that first attack was just the beginning, Tralco’s going up in flames, and the rest of Alkenpo will follow unless they know what’s good for them. In a week’s time, we’ll watch it all burn.”

Rue’s stomach turned to lead.

The Zandeer she thought she knew would never dare. They were criminals, sure, but terrorism? This was too large-scale.

The Tralco attack was something she’d tried to deny their hand in. Now the stark truth was staring her in the face, and all she could do was keep her eyes on the spinning table. She picked red, to match the anger bubbling under her skin.

Win.

She had to get out.

____________________________________________________

Ides found a large, torch-lit room near one of the busy bars. Inside were what appeared to be boxing rings, several scattered around and people sparring on every single one. There were dozens of spectators, one of whom appeared to be overseeing things. He was a tough, grizzled older man, shirtless, with a massive Zandeer tattoo covering the majority of his chest. He was leaning against one of the posts at the corner of a ring, hurling insults at both the men sparring.

Ides wandered over. “Training?” He asked the closest person.

The smaller but muscular human looked him up and down. When he didn’t see any obvious Zandeer insignias on Ides, his expression turned contemptuous. “What’s it to you, outsider?”

Ides rolled his shoulders. “A workout.”

“Right,” the man laughed, “go back to the gambling hall, little man.”

Now he had to be careful. Ides was starting to get mad, and he needed to keep a level head. It rankled him to turn away, but killing this cocky jerk was not going to help keep his cover either.

He turned to leave when the man shifted and jostled his arm, hard.

“Don’t bump me.” Ides kept a measured tone, straining against every instinct telling him to throw him through a wall.

“Yeah?” The man challenged, "What are you gonna do about it?”

That was the final straw. “Cause a ruckus is what I’m gonna do.”

“Hey, Sensei!” Cocky shouted to the older man, “Me and the leonin are next!”

The last fight had just ended, and the sensei nodded them towards the ring.

“Just a moment.” Ides found an empty corner and divested himself of his cloak, tunic, and weapons, leaving the Zandeer pouch face up on the top of the pile.

Stepping into the ring, Cocky immediately squared off. Ides took a moment, sizing him up. Small but fast, he guessed. Weasel-like. Likely to strike first and fast. Ides attempted to get the upper hand and lunged. The smaller man slipped out of the way, landing a blow to his back. He tried again and was deflected before he could grapple him. Then Cocky lunged. His quicker opponent caught him at just the wrong angle and they went to the floor. Twisting quickly, Ides managed to catch him in a leg lock and bore down. Cocky started howling in pain.

“Stop, stop! You’re gonna break my leg!”

He was going to do hells of a lot more than break his leg.

“Hold!” The sensei shouted, and after a moment’s hesitation, Ides relented. Cocky scrambled upright and ducked out of the ring, glaring daggers the whole time.

The older man stepped in to help Ides to his feet. ”What’s your name, stranger?”

“Caesar.” He offered, a name coming automatically. Instantly, he regretted it, but for the moment it sufficed. The flashes of memory were inescapable, no matter how hard he tried to repress them. All it did was make his rage burn a darker shade of red.

“Caesar wins!” The man proffered a hand. "Sensei."

Ides waited for him to add a name. Slowly, he accepted the man's hand. "Just Sensei?

He laughed. "Don't need any more'n that. But you can call me Sen." Sen followed Ides out of the ring and over to his belongings. “You Zandeer?”

Ides pointedly put the pouch back on his belt. “Yeah. I was one of the ones who made it out of Dialis.” An easy enough lie, precious few remained that could cast doubt on the story.

“Huh.” Sen looked at him with renewed interest. “So you were there when… I guess you would have been there when one of your kind took out our branch?”

“I was.”

“It’s a lucky thing you got out. I’ll bet you want nothing more than to get your claws into him after what he did.”

“Sure,” He quickly corrected his noncommittal answer. “Absolutely.”

“Let me buy you a drink, Caesar.”

The last thing he wanted to do was drink with a Zandeer officer, but, out of options besides fighting his way out, he followed him over to the bar and sat down. As Sen went to the counter for drinks, Ides took a deep breath. He just hoped he wouldn’t let his anger get the better of him and get himself killed. At least if he did, he’d be taking as many roaches as he could down with him. He took another deep breath and let it out slowly.

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Thanks for reading part 11 of my ongoing D&D series! As of right now this is still an active campaign so there's tons of content to come.

Start here -> Part One

Latest update -> Part Twelve