Chapter Text
Dastarri had not planned this well.
She tossed her pack on to the cave floor and leaned against a tall stalagmite, slowly sliding down into a squat. The scar in her chest was less of a pain today, so she’d taken the opportunity to travel more than she normally could, but now she needed the rest. She’d needed more and more of it as she’d traveled, something she hated. Dastarri wanted to keep moving as much as possible, but her body had other ideas.
Dastarri rifled through her pack before pulling out a small strip of rothé jerky, probably the last piece she had. Dastarri eyed it, considering whether she should eat it now or save it. Her stomach answered that question for her, the low grumble reverberating through her bones, the empty feeling in her an old friend. The jerky was quickly lost to that pit in her stomach.
Dastarri took stock of her supplies. Food was low, so she’d have to start foraging soon. She knew of some basic fungus and flora that could be safely eaten, but cooking it was another prospect. Perhaps she’d find some wild rothé. she knew how to safely prepare that without the need of a fire. She was also out of spell components, which hurt, but weren’t strictly necessary for her survival. Her most important magic didn’t require any physical components anyways, so she felt secure in that at least. The worst part was that she had no map. She’d been in a hurry and hadn’t taken proper care in securing her necessities, and a map had been one of those that’d fallen to the wayside.
She was, to put it mildly, lost. The only thing she knew was to move upwards best she could, her only goal was to reach the surface world. Dastarri thought to herself about what that entailed. The surface, whatever that meant, would have to be better than these awful caves. But what Dastarri knew of the surface had been filtered through a concerted disinformation effort to keep the drow underground, under Lolth’s thrawl. What was true and what was false, exaggerated, or misrepresented was near impossible to parse. Logically, Dastarri understood that the surface would be dangerous, but nowhere near as dangerous as the Lolthites made it seem, but there was a fear interlaced with that. Would this “sun” really burn her alive? Would the peoples above really kill her just for existing? Would the strange flora and fauna she’d read of truly be so terrifying in life as they were described in text? She didn’t know, she couldn’t know.
Dastarri wasn’t sure what else to do, her stuff had all been neatly packed, her armor snug about her body. She wouldn’t have to perform her ritual unti-
The ritual.
She looked to the book at her side, still nestled its holster. A thought crept from the back of her mind. There’d been a name in the book, listed as the source for a number of rituals and magics. Dastarri pulled the book open, furiously flipping through the pages, until she landed on it. The page detailing a surface drow ritual called the Changedance, and nestled within the description of the ritual, lay a name, Eilistraee. Dastarri read over the name again and again, she’d never heard it before finding this book, and it had never really stood out to her, especially since she was more interested in the ritual itself. She didn’t know if it was a drow god, some surfacer god, or if it was even real, but she decided it was worth the attempt.
Kneeling down, Dastarri set the open book in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she turned her gaze up to the cave ceiling, wondering what the it’d look like above. She imagined the sun, as it’d been described to her, a massive fiery ball of pure light. It was terrifying, but that light meant something to her. Safety? Freedom? She closed her eyes, it meant the surface. She folded her arms on her lap and prayed.
Please. Eilistraee, whoever you are, whatever you are. Please, show me something, show me the way out.
She wasn’t sure if that was a proper prayer, or if she’d said the god’s name right, or if being so deep underground affected it. She imagined there’d be some feeling, some sort of sign. Maybe a light, a song, a voice.
The knot in her chest tightened slightly, the ambient magic nearby must be shifting, moving.
Perhaps-
Dastarri’s eyes shot open, and she quickly began looking around for a possible source, maybe she’d be answered, maybe something was going to show her the way out, maybe-
Nothing. There was nothing around her.
No divine light showing her the way, no hand outstretched to aid her, nothing.
Typical.
Dastarri scoffed. She’d have to find her own way, like she had planned, like she knew she would have to. Whatever gods existed clearly weren’t paying her any mind, not that she wasn’t used to the feeling.
Dastarri stood, she needed to find a better spot to sleep. Scanning the area, she spotted a small dip in the cave floor. Moving to it, it seemed to be just the right size for her, her bag, and some coverage so she wasn’t immediately spotted. She got to work, searching for various rocks and other things to cover herself with. After a few minutes, a small pile began to form just outside the dip, after a few more, it grew into a sizable stack of small rocks.
As Dastarri searched, a low tone filled the air. Immediately, Dastarri’s head began to swivel around wildly, searching for the source. There seemed to be nothing nearby, but sound travels fast and far in these caves. She ran back to the dip, leaving what she’d just grabbed behind, the current stack would have to be enough. Dastarri slipped into the dip, tossing her bag to the head. She quickly started grabbing rocks and covering her body with them. The tone slowly faded, but Dastarri didn’t think of it anymore, she only thought about what could be its source. Soon she was covered in rocks, Dastarri then grabbed her bag, it’s dark grey leather blended well with the terrain, she covered her head with it and forced her body still.
A minute went by, then two, then five, then a low thumping sound began to echo through the cave. Large footsteps, Dastarri surmised. Slowly, the thumping grew louder and louder before the ground Dastarri lay in began to shake. She dared not move, dared not peak out from under the bag.
The thumping continued, whatever beast it was lumbered right over the dip Dastarri was in. She hoped and hoped it didn’t see her, or step on her, or somehow hear her.
The lumbering slowed for a moment, Dastarri stiffened and held her breath.
Beat
Beat
The beast slowly continued on its path, lumbering down the cave away from Dastarri. She slowly relaxed her body, the stones that covered her settling once more. She still did not dare move, not wanting to draw the creature’s attention. As curious as she could be, she did not want a closer look at whatever had just walked over her.
Dastarri weighed her options, she could rest here, she’d already been planning to, the beast had just accelerated her plans, or she could move, find a safer spot that wouldn’t be so easily trampled on.
But the need for sleep made itself quite clear quite fast, and Dastarri was already covered in rocks. If only she could engage in Reverie. She’d feel much more comfortable, aside from the hard ground and rocks. Not that she wasn’t used to the poor conditions out in these caves, but the ability to rest without losing awareness sounded great to Dastarri right now.
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that, she told herself. Now was the time to rest, she might not get so lucky next time.