Astarion POV mid chapter

Nyx and Astarion did a quick scout of the courtyard, but other than the courtyard watchtowers, there wasn't much 'sneaky stuff' to do or use. They made their way to the righthand side of the compound where they found ladders, up the low-rise escarpment, that provided access to elevated areas.

The top floors of the temple and courtyard were accessible from here, including a crumbling wall that receded into the temple itself. The wall may just make do as a makeshift escape, albeit a poor one considering that the wall would have to be brought down first. Astarion made a comment about simply 'sending Karlach or Lae'zel through it like some sort of blazing battering ram'. Nyx snorted and reminded him that Karlach is the only blazing one of the two, to which he replied, 'so simply set Lae'zel on fire too'.

Nyx just set her mouth in a line and shook her head.

On the way back from the temple's top floors they spotted an overgrown path on an adjacent escarpment further away from the courtyard. Upon investigation, they found a hidden passageway.

"By the lack of tracks on the ground, it doesn't seem to be in use.", Nyx observed as she surveyed the entrance.

Astarion peered into the cave ahead, "Nevertheless, darling, keep your blades close."

"Short of them sprouting from my fingertips; they can't get any closer", she quipped.

He grinned over his shoulder. "In that case, shall we?", he lulled, and he stepped into the darkness.

---

Nyx spoke in low tones towards Astarion who was strolling ahead, "This may be a bit too dark for some of our fellow crew members to use.", Nyx regarded the deep trench next to the footpath, "And it looks to be a long way down if someone were to, err, lose their footing", she finished.

Astarion glanced at the trench and sighed, "Someone falling to their death would at least make it markedly less dull, darling."

She shook her head again, That's just horrible.

He suddenly stopped and huffed gesturing with outstretched hands before him, "How long does it continue for? Surely, we would have reached the temple by now?"

Nyx started to snort, but something brushed against her peripheral magic making it prickle and cutting off her snort. She turned her head towards the trench, trying to focus on the sensation, but it was gone.

Astarion took notice and turned towards her, "Something the matter, my dear?"

"I don't know. I thought I felt something, but it’s gone now.", she said into the darkness looking down at the trench again.

He didn't respond and she replied to his previous statement, "We should try to get to the end at least. Knowing it dead ends is still valuable information, even if it’s dull."

He shot her an unimpressed glance and sighed dramatically in a defeated shrug, "Fine. If the Lady of Dull insists."

Nyx chuckled at that, and they continued.

The corridor did eventually lead towards the temple. It turned into an abandoned hallway; the floor partially crumbled into the widening cavern trench. It was much the same as the tunnel; dark, dank, and dusty.

Astarion tilted his head, "I can hear people ahead. Through there.", he pointed to the wall. The room looked to be sealed off from the rest of the temple. He moved to the wall and inspected it mumbling something about 'not wanting to walk all the way back' and 'smelling a draft of fresh air which could lead to a hidden doorway'.

While he was sniffing their way out. Nyx walked around the room and noticed some faint disturbance in the dust on the floor. She frowned, it looked to be drag marks that led to the crumbling edge of the floor and into the trench.

How odd, she looked around, there were no other signs of disturbance. None to suggest even a doorway.

Nyx gripped her hunting knife and carefully inched towards the edge of the floor, keeping close to the wall on her left side. She leaned forwards and peered into the darkness below. The trench stretched before her to create a chasm as large as the remaining room itself. She could not see anything down there, it was too deep and too dark, even for her night vision.

She felt that same prickling sensation again and immediately backed away from the edge. The sensation dissipated and she frowned.

What is that?, she mused standing a bit away from the ledge.

"Ah ha!", Astarion exclaimed triumphantly behind her, and Nyx heard him push a button.

The mechanism' gears clanked inside the wall next to Nyx, she backed away from it. She was facing the wall with the gears and could feel the vibrations of its machinery travel through the ground with her feet. To her right, she could hear things tumble into the trench on the far side of the chasm as the vibrations dislodged years of erosion.

A few feet to her left, a door slid open. It was on the same wall as the button, next to Astarion and he shot her a self-satisfied glance at his discovery. Dim light drifted in from the door.

Nyx was still facing the wall with the gears; she took a breath to congratulate Astarion. However, when she shifted her weight, she heard a terrible creak from the floor below and the earth beneath her feet sunk with an abrupt jerk. She saw the crack run on the floor out of the corner of her eye in a wide semi-circle from the right side of ledge behind her. By the time she registered the crack with wide eyes, it had already engulfed her position within its semi-circle shortly followed by her perspective of the room teetering upwards. She had to bend her knees to compensate for the change in the floor's angle while it slid backwards into the trench eliciting a yelp from her.

Nyx instinctively sent magic to her limbs and started to half climb against the floor when it tore off from the main platform. The receding ground cut off her view of the room above. The darkness welcomed both her and the chunk of floor when it tumbled into the chasm. The floor toppled and she scrambled the side of the airborne chunk of floor. From there she launched herself at the room above her with as much of her magic she could muster. Panic, fear and adrenaline boosting her magic. She managed to hurl herself towards the broken platform of the remaining floor above.

She grabbed at the uneven biting stonework the moment her hands made contact with the decaying tiles. She was dangling off the ruined cliff face, her hands scratching and scraping for purchase. Her feet sliding against its side; gravel and dirt giving way under her boots. Her magic was useless in this circumstance, she needed more leverage, something to push against; otherwise, she'll slip back into the darkness. Suddenly strong hands gripped her upper arms and Astarion dragged her kicking back onto the platform. She grabbed onto him, and he continued to drag her away from the crumbling ledge, her legs flailing as they went.

They were sitting on the floor; she was heaving with exertion and fright. Her heart and stomach in her throat while she half laid on the floor, leaning on her elbows, holding onto Astarion's tunic. He was crouched next to her with one hand on her back. She was scowling at the now obnoxiously offensive precipice. After a few deliberate breaths she found her brain and her tongue as the fog of fear lifted.

In a shaky voice, not looking away from the ledge, she said, "By the Abyss! I thought I was going to find out the hard way what was at the bottom of that chasm."

He chuckled wryly at her side, "It wasn't your finest moment."

Jerk!, she thought and turned her frown on him. He was very close to her, she was staring up into his face followed by his eyes.

Her frown fell from her forehead when she noticed the different colours of red in his eyes. They looked like fractured rubies, light red hues closest to the pupil and darker shades towards the outside. Then she felt his hand on her back, and she saw a sly smile split his face.

"Darling, are you planning on letting me go?", he purred dangerously while she watched his lips move.

She glanced down at her hands realizing that they were still fisted in his tunic. She immediately released her grip on him, and he gave her a knowing look.

"I, uh. Thank you.", she managed lamely while he stood. She watched him stalk off with that wicked grin in all his dashingly handsome manner. She sat up, staring towards the chasm and felt the slightest hint of a blush on her cheeks. She touched it briefly with her cold hands to get rid of it.

Thank the graces he didn't see it. Like he's not insufferable enough already. Why does he need to be so handsome? And be so confidently smug about it? Jerk.

The moment passed and she climbed to her own feet. She dusted herself off, frowning at the chasm again and remembered the strange sensation she felt emanating from it.

Fortunately, I didn't find out what it was by greeting it at the bottom. Thank the graces Astarion was here.

She turned to find him leaning against the doorway, watching her with that knowing look still on his face. She had a random thought, and before he could make his undoubtedly smartass remark she said, "I just saw the writing on my tombstone."

He raised an amused eyebrow at her, "Oh? Don't keep me in suspense, darling."

She grinned, schooled her face, and said evenly, "Here lies Nyx. She stood too close to the edge."

His pitched laugh escaped him.

--- --- ---

Astarion practically tasted her delicious blush just then, however short-lived it was. His plan was going better than he expected, and it was fun, much to his own slight surprise and mild amusement.

She was, unexpectedly, more entertaining than she gives herself credit for. She had an unconventional way about her, sure, but it made his task that much easier at least. He did have a smidge of doubt about whether his plan would work on her. She did seem rather immune to most of his advances.

But in the end, no one can resist me it seems, he preened the wrinkles in his tunic, smiling to himself.

They walked into a large, abandoned hall with densely overgrown windows, sunlight barely filtering through the foliage. Shambling and shattered furniture was strewn against the walls. She sidled next to him and asked, "Where to next?"

He regarded her and gestured with a small wave at the source of the voices. She tilted her head trying to hear it, he presumed. He took a breath to speak.

"I'm relieved that I don't have to explain to Tav how you 'stood too close to the edge' back there", she watched him with amusement shining in her eyes and he asked, "Why were you 'too close' to it to begin with?"

She shifted, "I thought I saw drag marks on the floor towards the chasm, but then I felt that same strange thing from earlier and I backed away from it.", she paused for a moment and chuckled, "Clearly not far enough."

"I didn't hear or smell anything", he provided.

She shook her head and looked up searching for the words, "My magic sensed it. Almost as though from a distance", and looked back at him.

His vampiric senses allowed him to hear voices of people many rooms away, and she could not. He assumes her magic would work in a similar fashion. He inclined his head to her and conceded, "Fair enough."

They continued through a few more abandoned rooms of various sizes. Forgotten, rotten and discarded mundane things were littered about. Nothing of interest and nothing of value. He sighed dramatically.

Nyx snorted somewhere behind him, likely amused at his declaration of boredom. He could hear her move around the room.

She started to speak, "I th-", then sneezed. He didn't turn to her. He surveyed the room instead, and she continued, "Pheh, all this dust. I think there is something behind this painting, or whatever is left of the painting."

His ears and interest perked up. He swivelled and glided towards her. She removed the painting, setting it aside on the floor and he tilted his head at the wall behind. Indeed, there was a square outline, likely to a small hidden vault. He glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. She regarded him with amused expectation.

Very good.

He lilted, "If I crack it, I keep it.", and to his surprise she just shrugged. He blinked at her, Truly?

"Sure, you're the one doing the work after all", she stated as though his previous comment was the most obvious and natural outcome. He looked at her askance.

She put one hand on her hip and shifted her weight to the opposite leg. She stated plainly, "If I were interested in pilfered things; I'd learn to lockpick myself.", pointing at the hidden vault.

He frowned at her and scoffed, "I don't pilfer, darling, I repossess. Besides the dead and forgotten don't have use for it, now do they?"

She snorted with amusement in her voice, "Sounds like a distinction without a difference", he glared at her, and she added with a smirk, "I do agree with your second point though."

He lulled at her and gestured to himself, "My dear, I know the difference. I was a magistrate before I got turned after all."

She raised her eyebrows and held her hands up in feigned surrender, "Oh, very well. In that case. Don't mind me", she chuckled and walked away to inspect the rest of the room.

--- --- ---

Pilfering vampire quoting law at me, Nyx rolled her eyes internally at the paradox, and smiled while she checked the rest of the room. The functioning cupboards and drawers of the dusty furniture only contained more dust. She sneezed again, "Pheh", waving the dancing beams away.

Astarion was muttering at the wall. It seems some of the mechanisms are stuck due to disuse. Nyx snickered and he huffed.

"My dear, instead of deriving amusement from my troubles, tell me whether you have a bottle of grease or oil on you.", he lulled at her disapprovingly.

"Uh, no. But -", she rifled in her backpack and held out a jar next to his face, "I do have the next best thing."

He looked at the jar and gave her a side-eye over his shoulder, "The horn wax."

"Yes, 'the horn wax'", she repeated flatly with amusement in her eyes.

He begrudgingly took it from her. She turned away and said with the same amusement in her voice, "By the way, it is the same 'horn wax' base that kept all those nasty biting beasties at bay in the swamp. Just so you know."

Something clacked and popped behind her, and the vault door swung open with a loud moan.

"Hm? Did you say something, darling?"

She rolled her eyes proper then and smiled as she watched him pilfer the vault with her arms crossed.

"Here, I have no use for this", he held a stack of papers over his shoulder while he continued to rummage through the vault.

So I get the unwanted junk?, she rolled her eyes again and took the papers from him.

She unfolded the papers, squinting at it in the gloom while she sifted through them.

Prayers, junk, scripture, unreadable, junk... a map?

She brought the map closer to her nose reading the feint square lines, No diagrams.

She raised her eyebrows, "Architectural blueprints of the temple", she shuffled the papers, "Above and below ground."

She made an impressed sound, "Tav will be most pleased indeed."

"Very good, my dear, any indication of something larger than this", he lilted uninterested and gestured to the vault before him. She snorted and humoured him by peering at the diagrams again.

"I don't think so, but the ink is faded, perhaps with better light...", she mused mostly to herself and asked over the paper, "Was your repossession not as fruitful as you like?"

He turned to her with a grin, "It could always be better, my dear."

"Fair enough", she smiled and shook her head.

---

Nyx had a minor anti-magic migraine from her near tumble into the chasm.

All things being equal, I'd expected a much worse migraine, she mused rubbing her temple as the pain sat behind her right eye. Mercifully, the rooms they navigated remained dark. Unfortunately, Astarion insisted that she oversees reading the 'map'. The 'map' being the architectural diagram, which is not only harder to read than a normal map, but she must do it in faded ink, while having a migraine.

She had brought them to a set of stairs, which according to the 'map' should lead into the main hall of the temple. Astarion also noted that the voices (and smells) of the latest temple inhabitants were becoming stronger. His impatience at wanting to leave the 'dull dusty furniture' behind wasn't helping with her own annoyance.

Nyx checked the diagram once more to confirm and Astarion huffed behind her. She frowned at the stairs, Hovering over me would not make me read it any faster. She ignored him instead then ascended the stairwell. At the top was another dead-end wall, however torch light was filtering through one or two broken cracks. Either it was sealed up after the fact or it was another one of those hidden doorways. Astarion had the same conclusion and they started to look around for a lever or button or something. Another 'ah ha!' from Astarion and mechanisms began to clank and slide in the walls.

They took a step back and watched how the wall slid upwards then stopped with a groan when the mechanisms got jammed, streaking a bright line of light over the top of their boots.

Nyx snorted with combined amusement and annoyance, "Ah, just our luck. We're gonna have to slide on out of here I see."

Astarion attempted to lift the stone door, but the mechanisms were proper stuck.

Nyx crouched next to him, "I don't think horn wax is going to be of much use here."

Astarion huffed at her and gave her a dubious look, "Your sarcasm is not appreciated at this time, darling."

Maybe you don't, Nyx snickered mentally. She has no intention of tugging at stone walls when she already had a migraine.

She stated, "My head is pounding, because of the magic I already used, so I'm just going to slide on through if it's all the same to you."

Astarion scoffed, "But the floor is filthy!", and Nyx rolled her eyes.

By the abyss! He really does behave like a princess sometimes.

She lifted her hand from her face, "Then it’s a good thing I'm going first to 'clean' it up a bit for you", she quipped and didn't wait for his response.

With a grunt, she proceeded to shimmy her way underneath the opening. Nyx stood up on the other side and turned back to the wall. She watched with amusement as Astarion followed suit, scowling all the way. He glowered at her half smile when he finally stood, and she chocked on a laugh.

"I wouldn't be so smug with that much grime on my face, darling.", he lulled at her unimpressed.

Nyx smiled, "You're not looking so pristine yourself", and she motioned to her own hair pretending to pluck things from it.

He scowled again and vigorously ruffled his hair with his hands, dust bunnies flying every which way. She watched with a grin, "We should probably start heading back. Unless,” she paused with an upturned hand, “You'd like to ask the goblins for directions to their washing up facilities."

He glared at her with a predatory grin that verged on a snarl, "My dear, you are threading on increasingly thin ice."

Nyx smiled instead and shrugged, "Alright, I had my fun", she quoted Karlach and walked past him ignoring his tracking glower.

Note to self, don't tease Astarion about his vanity too much. He gets a bit prickly, she mused with a small smile on her face.

They seemed to be on the top floor of the main temple hall. Ahead of them was the wide support beams of the roof, obscured in shadow, Which would make for fine vantage points. On the floor below was a platform and an altar of sorts in the middle. She looked around and didn't see a clear route down or across to the other side. A quick survey of the walkways on this side suggested more vantage points to the left of the temple.

They returned to their previous position and concluded that the only way across was to walk along the support beams to the opposite walkway. The walkway on the opposite side spanned the length of the main hall, and a quick glance at the map suggested there were no 'hidden or sealed off' rooms here as the temple itself seemed to be flush with the exterior of the mountain it was nestled in. With nothing more so see on the top floor they descended to the main hall below using a surprisingly steady iron ladder bolted onto the walkway wall.

Nyx asked some loitering goblins about the front door, and they murmured things about 'idiot tall porks who think they're the bosses' while pointing at its general direction. At hearing that Astarion gave them an intense predatory stare down his nose, which made them scamper away in alarm. Nyx snorted at the interaction and Astarion gave her a wink.

---

Nyx and Astarion made it back to camp before the skies threatened to change colour. Karlach was sitting at the campfire when they arrived.

"Hey, ho!", she greeted. Her grin widening as they neared, "Woah, what happened to you two?"

Nyx glanced at Astarion, whose 'grime' was far more noticeable than hers due to his complexion. He had several dark streaks that ran down his face like a waterfall. He gave her a warning look and she answered Karlach, "An unfortunate incident with a rather dusty floor."

Karlach guffawed.

Astarion sighed dramatically, "If you'll excuse me, darling. There is a bath and a soft bed roll in my near future", he lulled at no one in particular and drifted to his tent with his nose in the air.

Karlach watched him go and turned to Nyx, "Fancy boy doesn't like the dust much, does he?"

Nyx snorted at 'fancy boy', Clive would approve. However, she'll refrain from any more teasing on that topic while Astarion remained within vampire earshot.

Nyx returned Karlach's grin, "Yeah", she paused for a moment, "When do we, report in?"

Karlach gestured at her with a dismissive hand, "Tav said usual debrief during dinner. Easier that way."

"Ah, much appreciated.", Nyx inclined her head. Nyx was about to turn when she suddenly remembered something and pointed at Karlach, "Have you looked into that infernal iron that Dammon mentioned?"

Karlach's eyes widened, "No, not yet.", she paused and snapped her fingers, "Ooh, I'll ask Wyll to help, he's always going on about how he could 'smell the hells' on things.", she grinned widely, "Thanks for the reminder!"

Nyx inclined her head and finished, "Then, you'll excuse me as well, I'm going to get myself cleaned up too."

Karlach waved her off, still grinning.

Nyx felt Clive shift on her back as she entered her tent.

"Good afternoon, sir, I was just thinking about you", she greeted.

He harrumphed amused and said, "Now that's a greeting I didn't expect. What exactly were ye thinking about?", she could hear his feigned leer in his voice.

She snorted, "About when you and Karlach would be finishing your insult duel."

"Har!", he bellowed, "She spoilin' for a fight, eh?"

Nyx chuckled, "More like practicing for it.", and she removed him from her back and propped him up on the ground.

His eye patterns looked her up and down. "Har! Ye look like ye got dragged by a horse!", he laughed his whole pack shaking with it.

She crossed her arms, "Those is grimy houses should not sling mud", she said with amusement in her eyes.

"Eh?", he paused. He narrowed his patterned eyes at the smile creeping onto her face, "Ye didn't! Ye dragged me through the feckin' shite too, didn't ye!"

She burst out laughing at the disgraced look he could manage given he is a backpack. He hated it when she had to wash him, not because of the act itself, but because the water and soap interfered with his magic somehow. Fortunately, it was only a great nuisance to him, and nothing more. However, prolonged dirt buildup was a bigger problem than the occasional scrub.

"Feckin' hells, Nyx", he grumbled and said, "Have the bloody decency to wait until I'm gone at least before ye come at me with the soap."

Nyx quickly brought Clive up to speed on the recent developments. The circumvention of the Shadow Druid's plot and their current 'Camp Gob Operation'. She switched to Tufani vernacular when she mentioned more personal updates, which included how colourful many of the members at camp where. Gale requiring artifacts to sustain some condition of his and Shadowheart being a disciple of Shar. Not that Nyx could stand in judgement of any one here, seeing as she had secrets that ran deep and dark as well. Nyx refrained from telling Clive about Cazador, there were things that Clive didn't need to know. Though she had to appreciate the irony of being the confidant to a vampire spawn of all people.

Nyx also told Clive about Raphael forcing her hand and it resulted in a partial confession of the scope of her own powers. Clive did not take it well. Let's just say that the insults thrown at Astarion looked like child's play in comparison to the names Clive was putting to Raphael. Nyx was sure the devil himself would appear in person to shut Clive up at the rate he was going.

"Clive", she repeated his name again and he finally stilled. Scowling scornfully at the floor.

He shifted, "You did warn the others about him?"

"Yes, I did."

"Good. That's good.", then he grumbled incoherently to himself.

Clive was with Nyx the very first time Raphael had appeared with his 'offer to take away her problem'. Nyx was young, naïve, confused, and desperate at that time. She had lost control of her magic a few days prior, with terrible consequences and her spiralling self-loathing had taken root. Clive had talked her out of taking the deal with the devil, much to Raphael's contempt. Clive explained to her fully what 'a deal with a devil' entailed and saved her from becoming his willing slave. In this life, and the next. She will be forever grateful to Clive for that day. Hence Clive's severe aversion towards the devil and his insistent attempts at manipulating Nyx into taking a deal, especially when her situation became most dire.

Clive sighed, "Ye think it'll be safe to remain travelling with this lot?"

Nyx had put that consideration off for some time now. She mirrored Clive's sigh and rubbed her forehead.

"I don't know. It's a mess either way. I doubt I can get rid of this thing in my head on my own and it seems to be on a warpath to destroy us both. Who knows what that could mean for everyone else if - ", she ran through a few scenarios in her head, "If I lose control or I lose myself to it."

Clive's mood had gone as dark as her own and he said, "Or, it lands ye into her clutches. I wouldn't be able to live with meself if that happens Nyx. The rest of the world be damned."

Which is exactly what would happen if I was to be captured.

She plopped down onto her bedroll and fretted at its wrinkles.

This is why I keep to myself, it's easier to manage, easier to prevent the world from being damned by something I did, or didn't do. I'm so tired of it.

She sighed and threw her head back, "To be honest, I don't have answers. I can't risk exposure by being upfront about it and neither can I leave because of the same result."

I do like travelling with these people. It almost feels like Tufani. Almost like home. I'm tired of not having a home.

She groaned, lifting her hands in the air, and making them into claws, "It's so frustrating."

Clive grumbled in agreement.

She finally stood up and declared, "No use in brooding over it. I'll...", she paused, "I don't know - I'll go take a walk or meditate and think on it proper. Maybe something shakes lose."

Clive looked back at her, "Aye, I'll chew on it as well."

---

After Clive departed, she gave herself and her backpack a quick wipe down to get rid the layers of dust. Nyx decided a walk is in order to sort out her thoughts. There was a good deal of the day left.

She quickly checked in with Gale regarding camp provision, who confirmed that a hunt won't be necessary tonight. She passed Tav on the way out and gave her a quick update on her and Astarion's findings for the day as well as handing over the temple blueprints Astarion had 'repossessed'. Tav gave Nyx a knowing smirk at word usage. Afterwards, Nyx set out towards forest.