***end the story with Nate's eyes snapping open
Nate's eyes snapped open at the exact moment the tiny dart penetrated into the soft flesh of his neck, releasing a thin squirt of blood as the sudden rush of adrenaline caused his heart rate to briefly surge. He maintained his composure and laid perfectly still, controlling his breathing, and slowing his heart.
Feigning paralysis Nate listened for his attacker to make their next move. The mystery attacker had obvious skill in stealth to get within dart range of Nate. Even while sleeping, Nate had a keen awareness of his surroundings and it was extremely difficult to get the drop on him.
Nate knew immediately the dart that now resided in the side of his neck was coated with the toxin of a Purple Ghost Mushroom. The numbness on his neck at the point of entry, accompanied by a cooling mint sensation traveling through his veins with every beat of his heart was the dead giveaway.
Under normal circumstances the victim would have felt the immediate paralyzing effects of the poison but this was not normal circumstances.
Nate had undergone extensive research and experimentation with small doses of multiple poisons, venom, and other toxins that had given him an immunity to all but the most exotic toxins. It was apparent that his attacker was not aware of this fact or they would have chosen a different assassination tactic.
With the patience of a boulder, Nate waited.
He heard her soft breaths, feather soft footfalls, and the whisper of clothing as she moved into position.
It had taken just a matter of seconds, after the initial attack, for Nate to have gathered enough information from his heightened awareness to feel confident that he was dealing with a single attacker and based on her movement patterns and scent it was most likely a female dark elf who had spent some time at sea.
All of which allowed Nate to pinpoint her exact location and he surged into action!
Nate snatched up his pillow using it to shield his body as he rolled to his left. He hit the floor and a muffled thump told him that a dagger had struck the pillow right where is throat would have been.
He immediately kicked out at his bed's wooden frame causing it to rock up on its side creating a barrier between himself and his unknown assailant.
He was rewarded with a slight startled yelp as the suddenly shifting bed frame slammed into the shins of his leaping attacker who was attempting to pursue him by leaping atop the bed.
His eyes, now adjusted to the dim light, Nate could make out the slender figure crouching across from him and he quickly threw a dagger at the target. A quick flash and the metallic clank of steel on steel indicated that the missile had been promptly batted away.
Now confident that he was facing his attacker on even ground Nate drew forth his fighting knives and circled his way to the left, keeping the bed in between himself and his attacker. He could now see that she was indeed a female dark elf. She stood from her crouch and drew a scimitar from her back-sheath.
Nate gave her a smirk and commented matter-of-factly, "You work for Delilah but she would not be so bold as to send a single assassin after me. I surmise that you are doing this on your own, hoping to bring her my head to help you ascend up the hierarchy."
Nate gave a flourish with his hands accompanied by a mocking chuckle as he said "hierarchy".
The assassin just stared coldly at Nate not taking the bait.
"Well SURPRISE! Your poison did not work and now you're going to meet your god."
With that, Nate leapt into action with his right blade leading the attack only to be withdrawn at the last second and the left blade slashed forward slicing at the elf's exposed face.
A quick parry by the elf easily deflected the attack but it was followed up by another as Nate slashed and stabbed in a blinding flurry of motion. His relentless attacks could not be followed by the naked eye but in an incredible show of skill and speed the elf blocked every single attack all while maintaining her expressionless visage.
They disengaged and Nate felt a sticky wetness on his chest. He looked down to see a jagged slash across his collarbone. He could not hide his shock as he realized this unknown elf had somehow managed to land a strike against him all while blocking every single one of his attacks.
Nate circled more warily as he studied his opponent. Narrowing his eyes and eyeing her appraisingly he asked, "Who are you?"
Her stone face never wavered as she took the offensive and attacked with a powerful overhand strike followed by a backhanded slash that kept Nate on his heels and unable to counter attack. After a quick follow-up cross slash she dropped to the floor and kicked out with her foot attempting to hook Nate's ankle with a foot sweep.
Nate shifted his weight and bounced back on his heels before returning with his own kick aimed for the elf's face but she rolled back into a reverse somersault and was back to her feet and safely out of range.
Nate now eyed her suspiciously and spat in her direction. He recognized this fighting style and if his suspicions were correct he was in true danger.
Keeping his guard high Nate warily made his way across the room trying his best to keep an obstruction between himself and the elf while trying not to be obvious that he was working his way towards the desk in the corner.
In a sudden rush he covered the last few feet and grabbed at a handful of shimmer dust that he kept in a shallow dish and tossed it at the elf. She appeared to shimmer slightly as the glamour spell began to blink in and out and he saw her true self.
This was not some scalawag that worked for Delilah. This WAS Delilah! Nate growled at his long time nemesis and braced himself for a true fight. Delilah was every bit a blade master and a favored of the god Morsash. This was not a foe that he desired to cross blades with in a fair fight.
Delilah finally broke her stone faced scowl and smirked at Nate and said, "Hello Nate, you're going to move your crew from warehouses eight through eleven and relinquish control to me or you wont get the antidote."
Nate scoffed and replied, "Those are some of my most profitable properties, why would you...he trailed off as the second part of her comment sunk in...What do you mean antidote?"
Delilah smiled sweetly and replied, "Do you really think I'd try and poison you with something as mundane as Purple Ghost Mushrooms by themselves?"
"Come on Nate, the mushroom toxin was just the distraction. This is my own personal blend and I suspect if you focus on it I am sure you will feel it creeping slowly through your veins."
She then finished with, "I suspect you have about 40 hours or so before it kicks in" and with that, she leapt out of the window and was gone in the night."
----------
Nate sat at the bar in the White Pony entertaining a couple of the local ladies with some slight of hand. He had come here to speak with his friend and the owner of the White Pony, Cad Brungle.
Nate had spent the majority of the day researching toxins and their antidotes but he was no closer to understanding what that bitch Delilah had poisoned him with and he wanted to see if Cad could offer any insight.
Everything seemed like a typical early evening in the Pony. Nate even noticed Dogwater sitting in a corner booth nursing a mug of ale. Dogwater was a bit of a recluse and didn't make too many public appearances.
Dogwater was a master assassin and Nate thought of approaching him to see if he could offer any guidance on his situation but he thought better of it. Delilah and Dogwater both followed the god Morsash, Lord of Murder and Nate wasn't really sure how Dogwater felt about Delilah or the inner workings of their religion.
As Nate contemplated his options and chances of Dogwater assisting him a few rough looking gnolls strolled into the tavern and the tension rose immediately as they took notice of Dogwater and pushed their way towards the bar.
As the gnolls approached Dogwater, Cad leaned in to Nate and whispered loudly into his ear to be at the ready. Before Cad even finished the sentence one of the gnolls was already dead and lying on the floor and within minutes the other two joined him in death.
A forth gnoll appeared at the door and that is when Cad ordered Nate to intervene. Nate with a look of uncertainty replied, "Are you crazy?" Cad scowled angrily and Nate continued, "I'm not getting between those two."
Cad huffed angrily and told Nate, "If you don't want me to collect on your sizable tab you'll do something. Those two will tear up my bar and I will bill YOU for it."
Nate relented and deftly threw a dagger at the gnoll followed immediately by a second, a third was forthcoming but the gnoll disappeared in a puff of acrid smoke.
Dogwater spun angrily on him but Nate threw up his hands and deflected the blame for his interference squarely on Cad. As Dogwater stormed out of the tavern Nate knew he would get no help from him in the immediate future.
----------
Nate was back in his room contemplating his options. He could feel the toxin in his system but felt helpless trying to figure out how to neutralize it.
After the scuffle in the White Pony, Cad was in no mood to assist Nate. He couldn't really blame him, Cad had three dead gnolls and multiple broken tables and chairs to clean up. This left Nate on his own.
He knew of priests that had the ability to cleanse toxins from the body but this toxin was nothing he had ever known. Knowing Delilah it was probably the only one of it's kind within a thousand miles of here.
Nate only knew of one priest that was powerful enough and possibly willing to assist him but this was his last resort.
Treyfalgar was the High Priest of Banach and one of the most powerful individuals in the city. Nate hated working with Treyfalgar and to be honest the monk scared him a bit. His younger brother Kast had quite the reputation as well. He had once killed a dragon with a single, perfectly placed strike with a dagger.
These two were never far from each other and were about as unpredictable as a rabid wildcat. Their god was the Lord of Hate and was pure chaos. These two embraced hatred and chaos like no others. They were crazy but Nate could think of no one else that might be able to purge this poison from his system.