#and (as writer86 pointed out to me) her curiosity/needing the facts is one of the things that most works against the urge for her

[blackjackkent]

OK, the Underdark bit I've been most worried about for Rakha...

"Ah! A visitor! You're a welcome sight!"

Rakha is on guard immediately meeting this man. The only other such person she's met before - Wyll identified them as hobgoblins - was Ragzlin, one of the three leaders of the goblin camp aboveground. This fellow, though, smiles brightly at her and turns away from the large stack of books he has been examining, with no trace of hostility or malice in his manner.

"But," he goes on cheerfully, "let us observe the customs of the locals."

Narrator: The scholar's brow tenses. His voice spills into your skull, the spores connecting mind to mind.

Rakha squeezes her own eyes shut as her brain seems to vibrate with the man's voice. Blurg, proud member of the Society of Brilliance, at your service.

Then he flinches back and groans, rubbing his temple. "Hgn--nzzt. Or perhaps not. Your mind is far more complex than that of the fungi."

Rakha opens her eyes slowly. Society of Brilliance. She recognizes that name, too - the trader on the road to the creche mentioned working for them. The trader Rakha killed for being an ass to Lae'zel and threatening to steal a githyanki egg.

The man seems harmless, but she does not trust him. "Were you here when the duergar attacked?" she asks carefully.

Blurg smiles ruefully. "I observed the fight from a distance," he says. "Combat is not my field of expertise, but the myconids handled themselves well enough." He gestures around him. "My colleagues and I are working to improve conditions in the Underdark. This need not be such a dire, hostile place."

Rakha considers this, then relaxes slightly. Whatever this Society might be, Blurg does not grate on her the way Esther did; the beast urge remains at its low-level hum in the back of her mind.

Blurg, on the other hand, is looking at her with sincere interest. "It's curious to find a surface dweller here. What has brought you down so deep?"

(A/N: As usual - Rakha's primary resemblance to Hector is that her inclination is to be completely honest roughly 100% of the time. However, the only honest answer here goes straight to the tadpole; I think Rakha would have been more likely to talk about Moonrise Towers and their destination.

I know why they did it this way - bc they're setting up Omeluum's arrival - but it's always a bit annoying when the exact conversational tack I want to use isn't an option. Cos realistically it's already been established that telling a stranger who knows about such things that you have a tadpole is a recipe for being treated like a ticking time bomb. But we work with what we've got. XD )

"A mind flayer infected me with a tadpole," Rakha says with a slight shrug. She doubts this man will know anything about what that means, of course - and if he does, his reaction will probably be only fear. But there's no more point in sugarcoating the situation here than there has been anywhere else.

To her surprise, though, he perks up curiously. "Truly remarkable! But why come to the Underdark where they hold so much power?"

Rakha blinks. Curiosity is not the reaction she expected. And she can't help wondering if there are answers to be had here.

Explain the whole story.

Blurg listens with intent interest as Rakha, in quick clipped sentences, lays out the state of their adventure so far. He clicks his tongue thoughtfully when she's finished. "You were infected by an illithid tadpole? It's a miracle you're still intact. You must be worried sick - but have no fear! I have a friend who may be able to assist!"

Before she can ask him what she means by that, her head rings as the hobgoblin gives a shout through the connecting network of spores around them. Omeluum!

A pause - and then another ringing mental voice, this one lower and more resonant than Blurg's. I hope this is important, Blurg. My zurkhwood samples need constant attention.

"It is!" Blurg says excitedly, abandoning the mental communication and calling down the pathway behind him. "This adventurer has an illithid tadpole inside her head. But she hasn't turned!"

"No ceremorphosis?" says the deeper voice, now aloud as well. Rakha turns in time to see the new arrival--

"That's impossible," the mind flayer says placidly. "But intriguing. Are you looking to have it extracted?"

All of them go completely still, staring wide-eyed - for a moment too astonished to react.

Lae'zel finds her voice first, and her tone has gone ice-cold with trembling rage. "Ghaik!" she snaps. "Your head will make a fine trophy for my queen!"

"Please - hold," says the illithid; its tone has a muted urgency that might be a panicked shout in any other race. "I understand your rage against my kin. One of my brethren forced a tadpole into your eye - or ear, perhaps? But I assure you, I stand with the Society of Brilliance, not the colonies of my people."

Rakha barely hears him. Her heartbeat feels suddenly very loud in her ears, rage suddenly consuming everything else. Her vision pales out and the beast roars in her head. ENEMY. KILL.

She trembles with the urge to leap forward as she did back on the nautiloid, to hurl itself at this creature that is like those who captured her and destroy it, rip the tentacles from its head and shove a knife through that gaping maw of teeth beneath.

But--

She looks past Lae'zel's seething expression to Wyll behind her. He knows the hunting of monsters, but he has gone still with an expression of wary curiosity. He hears the same thing she does - there is something different about this illithid. Something strange, a mystery that tugs at the rational part of her mind.

And if she fights here, it might turn the myconids against them. And she does not wish them dead; she wants to bring them Nere's head and purchase another moment of peace.

"The myconids wouldn't appreciate us fighting here," she rasps out, her voice strained with the effort of resisting the blood urge. "I'll listen."

"Fool!" Lae'zel snarls. "They infest your head and invade your dreams, and still you would parley?"

Rakha ignores her. This isn't about the illithid, not really-- it's about the strangeness of this moment, and her need for answers, and her own inward struggle. It's another moment where the beast has wanted to kill and she has held it back, which is a sort of victory.

She half-expects Lae'zel to attack regardless, and hasn't quite decided whether to stop her. But Lae'zel remains still; her eyes are burning like coals with frustration... but she follows Rakha's lead and waits, a hand on her sword but leaving it undrawn.

The illithid seems to relax slightly. "I ask only that you refrain from violence," it says gravely. "I respect that your opinion of my kind may be... charged." It takes a slow, careful step forward. "If that settles matters for the time being - would you like a diagnosis? Open your mind to me. Let us see what lurks within?"

Rakha's jaw sets tightly at once. She has many invaders already in her head; she does not need another. Certainly not an illithid. "Never mind," she says curtly. "I'm done with mind flayers touching me."

The illithid tilts its head to the side. "I see," it says. It does not seem bothered by her attitude - but there is an odd air of regret in its monotone voice. "I will remain here... if you change your mind..."