“What’s your business in Hap?” the gruff veteran warrior, Elphron Pharlyn, war watcher of the lord’s men and legal authority of the small hamlet, demanded as he claimed the empty seat at the companions’ table in the Millery Inn’s common room, a pair of men-at-arms intimidatingly taking up positions behind him. Given the recent history of the area, they’d been expecting to be confronted by the lord’s men since arriving in the small, somewhat out of the way village in the fringed of the Cormanthor forest and the shadow of the great granite outcropping crowned by the ruins of a Red Wizard of Thay’s tower; Haptooth Hill. Not long ago, the wizard, a sizable cadre of drow and his dragon allies had tried to conquer the town, but were turned back, slayed and their strongholds, both the tower and extensive tunnels beneath it, were sacked and destroyed. It had taken them over a day to travel nearly the whole length of Battledale on Rauthauvyr’s Road, then almost another whole day cross-county and into the woodlands to reach the small settlement. “We intend to continue on in the morning… skirting the Cold Lands and forest, on our way to Harrowdale,” Coran replied in a calm, mater-of-fact tone, trying to keep any confrontation from escalating, then, indicating Taenya, continued; “She’s a priestess of Eilistraee, returning to the temple in the Velarswood after a pilgrimage to the Standing Stone, and we are accompanying her on that journey.” “Eilistraee?” Elphron questioned suspiciously, “I’ve never heard of that deity.” “She’s the daughter of Corellon Larethian and Araushnee, who would become Lolth after she lead the drow into the darkness,” Taenya explained, always willing to spread the word of her goddesses and her dogma. “She strives to show my kin the way back into the light, through kindness and bring joy to others.” “So, you don’t intend to going near Haptooth Hill?” the war watcher inquired, fixing them with an accusing gaze. “We have no reason to,” Coran answered openly in a steady voice, not flinching under the weight of the veteran warrior’s stare. “We only want to spend the night… and we’ll be off at first light. However, Taenya will need to find a secluded place to pray in the moonlight.” ‘Why does it have to be secluded?” Elphron asked with a puzzled expression. “No one in town is likely to approach a drow if they can avoid it.” “My prayers to the Lady of the Dance take the form of a song and spirited dance around my sword in the moonlight… naked,” Taenya advised in a mater-of-fact tone, but with a capricious gleam in her eye. “Naked?” he demanded, shocked by how casually she revealed that little aspect, and well aware of the mumbled exchange of bawdy remarks between the men-at-arms behind. “Yes,” the drow replied nonchalantly, “I must bare myself… body and soul… before Eilistraee and release all the stress and tension of the day in my song and dance to find peace and harmony with the world.” “Then you had better find a secluded place indeed,” he grumbled, imagining the uproar the sight of the truly breathtaking drow dancing naked would cause, especially since the out of the way hamlet didn’t have an abundance of young, attractive female residence… or visitors. In fact, she and the gorgeous half-elf accompanying her, where without doubt the most beautiful woman to have ever visited Hap. If the reactions from his men was any indication, news of the drow’s ‘prayer’ was likely to spread like wild fire through the town; which meant every able bodied man, and more than a few of the woman, were likely to be out stalking around in the dark to catch a peek of the almost unearthly beautiful dark elf in all her glory… which spelled trouble for him!