Tale 44 told by Taniwha on 28.11.2000
The Spirit-Wraith

This is one of the traditional tales told as a warning to young Drow.

Zankfyn Dvareen moved quietly through the tunnels of the Underdark. He moved
with ease, for he was at home in these tunnels and as a skilled drow warrior
he excelled in the art of moving undetected through the perils of these
tunnels. Entering a tunnel crossing he stopped and listened. For a long time
he heard nothing, not even the beating of his own heart. Then it came to
him, through tons of rock, an echo, rebounding off the cavern walls. It was
extremely faint, but it was definitely: The sound of battle. Pausing for
only a second more, Zankfyn selected one of the tunnels and quickly, but
still extremely quietly, he made his way towards the sound.

He could feel it now, the tingling feeling in his mind. Someone was using
psionic powers. The order he was given burned clearly in his mind. 'Seek,
destroy and retrieve!'

The mind-flayers were pleased. The deep gnome mining party had been easily
captured, and with their skill in stonework, they would make excellent
slaves. Chatting telepathically, they discussed the price they would put on
one of the deep gnomes, an especially strong specimen. They would enter him
into the gladiator games and make a fortune on betting. He was now standing
idly, a blank look on his face, his mind wiped blank from the mindflayers
mental attacks. They had already seen his fighting skill though, one of the
mindflayers was laying limply on the stone floor, his skull smashed from the
deep gnomes powerful blow. The mindflayers didn't mourn him. They had all
known the risk they were taking, and besides, it would be one less to split
the profit with.

They didn't notice the drow until he was amongst them. The telepathic
question flashed through their minds. What did he want? Who was he? It
didn't matter. He was a powerful warrior, they could see that from his
weapons and he would make an even better gladiator than the deep gnome. The
five mindflayers arrayed themselves to attack the drow simultaneously. Five
cones of mental energy blasted the drow. The attack would have stunned the
most intelligent wizard or the angriest giant. The drow didn't seem to
notice though. He simply waded through the cones of mental energy and by now
his scimitairs had appeared from their sheaths. The telepatical message went
out. How could the drow survive their assault? Two of the mind flayers never
got to hear the answer. A scimitar penetrated their soft sculls. Their dead
bodies fell silently to the ground. The three remaining flayers were better
prepared though. They managed to bearhug the drow and their pale tentacles
were already moving towards the drows brain to feed. The drow would be dead
in a second. Strangely he didn't seem to notice. Scimitars flashing, Zankfyn
cut the tentacles clean off with a sweep. The next second, two of them were
dead. The last mind flayer tried to beg for his life, sending a telepathical
plead for mercy to the drow. The message was never received. Zankfyn had
only one thing in mind. Besides, the scimitars were already in motion.

Back in Banefall, Matron Mother Dvareen screamed in ecstasy. The spirit
wraith had found its target and was already searching the corpses and would
soon have found the artefact. When it did so, the mission she had got from
the Spider Goddess would have been completed, and her favour would be
regained. She had sacrificed Zankfyn, the best weapons master House Dvareen
had ever had to Cyrcia in an attempt to regain her favour and had been
heard. A handmaiden of Cyrcia had appeared and commanded her to gather her
daughters, all high priestesses of Cyrcia like herself and prepare for a
very rare ceremony. The making of a spirit wraith, the animation of Zankfyns
body, with all his skill intact, but completely under the Matron mothers
telepathically control, and with a special power, a gift from Cyrcia.  House
Dvareen had been given a mission, to find and retrieve a magical artefact
that held powers extremely important for the drow. The message came to her
from Zankfyn out in the tunnels: 'Mission complet...'. The Matron mother
screamed and fell to the floor. The link to the spirit wraith had been cut.
Someone or something had ended her control of her former weapons master. She
had failed the mission given to her by the Spider Goddess. What doom that
awaited her for her failure? She didn't know.

Far from Banefall, Zankfyn stopped abruptly. He had found the artefact and
was sending a telepathical message to his ruler when the magical energy of
the artefact had cut the link. There was no will that controlled him now,
and the ceremony that had given his body life, had only given him back the
part of his mind that contained his warrior skills. He had no conscious
thought and no will of his own. Zankfyn stood still for a moment. Then the
words of his last command came back to him. 'Seek, destroy and retrieve!'.
Retrieve what? Zankfyn didn't know, but he quickly selected another tunnel
and set out into the darkness.