It's also pretty good as an inn, all things considered; the food's inconsistently spiced and the beds aren't as soft as they could be, but it's clean, and she's able to fall asleep just in time to catch the prophetic dream channel.

A drow woman, stomping around in armor that truly must be seen to be believed, growls at a nearby wizard wearing black-and-red robes. "Do not test my patience, iblith. Would you have me wait? I, the Valsharess? I, the great queen of shadow?"

"No, dread Mistress," he trembles.

"Then proceed with the ritual. I wish to see this being that my agents say has the potential to stop my rise to power."

"I do not believe anyone could stop you now, dread Mistress."

"So I thought. But my agents have resources beyond the means of mortals, and they say this one may yet defeat me... if I do not act."

An illusion of Belmarniss appears, after an amount of arcane fanfare that can't have been strictly necessary for a simple divination.

The Valsharess prowls around the image like a cat examining a bird it doesn't know yet if it can kill. "What is this? This... child... wearing the signet of no house? Have your spells grown faulty, fool?"

"N-no, dread Mistress. This is indeed an image of the one who shall defeat you."

"I will not be defeated." The Valsharess incants a quick spell, and the wizard screams as he dies. "This image shows but a threat which will be dealt with like the others. You, other male. Remove this trash and summon my assassins." A nearby wizard casts some kind of spell which causes the body of the first wizard to vanish, bows, and scurries out of the room.

"And you, iblith," the Valsharess says to Belmarniss' image. "Whoever you are, and whatever threat you pose... you will not be able to hide. My Red Sisters will strike quickly and without mercy."

She wakes up, puzzled about the implications for the local functionality of prophecy.

Well, points towards the "something is up" hypothesis: there is another drow in her room, carrying a knife that could not be more obviously coated in deadly poison. Currently she's going through Belmarniss's stuff; she doesn't seem to have noticed that her prospective thievery/murder(?) victim has woken up.

Well, she didn't intend to level in sorcerer but having done it the opportunity cost is much lower, and the cost of being caught in her underwear before she prepares her spells much less, if she says, "Admonishing Ray."

The intruder doesn't even have time to turn around, she just drops like a sack of rocks. Her dagger skitters across the floor.

Belmarniss wraps the dagger in the hand towel from the bathroom and ties up the assassin in the bedsheet. She peeks out in the hallway for other attackers.

No other attackers, but there is a concerned half-(surface)elf adolescent with a breakfast tray who looks like she was considering knocking. "Is everything alright, ma'am? I heard, um, spells."

"Assassination attempt! I don't even know if my insurance even covers me out here. Can I get you to dispose of this poisoned dagger?" She holds up the towel coccoon.

"Oh my goodness!" the girl exclaims. She puts her tray down carefully and takes the towel cocoon much more carefully. "I suppose I'll, um, put that in the armory? Or, no, I'll bring it to Father, he'll know what to do with it. I'm so sorry this happened, is there anything I can - well, I can take this dagger. That's what I'll do. Thank you for telling me."

She takes the dagger-in-towel and hurries downstairs.

Belmarniss preps spells while waiting for the assassin to wake.

The assassin wakes up after a little while! She's quite groggy, and looks deeply surprised to be alive. When she realizes she's been captured, she goes a much paler blue than her usual tone, and swallows heavily.

"I bet you've got just oodles to tell me," says Belmarniss, without looking up from sharpening her dagger more than momentarily.

"I... tell... nothing," the assassin says in halting Common.

"Really?" She flips through her spellbook. "Nothing?"

She nods firmly. "No stop Valsharess, iblith qu'ellaril."

The color's coming back to her face pretty quickly.

"Really! Why's that?"

"Queen of darkness. All Underdark fears she. Humans not stop her, qu'ellaril not stop her, not even- hrkk-"

Blood starts dribbling down her chin, and she grins fiercely. Belmarniss might notice, now, that she's missing a tooth.

"Wow, okay, have fun in the Abyss, I guess." She steps into the hallway. "Housekeeping!"

The half-elf girl has come back and was once again hovering outside her door. In the meantime she cleared away the breakfast tray. "Hello again! Did you need something?"

"My assassin bit her poisoned fake tooth. Can you get her out of my room?"

"Oh my word," the girl says faintly. "I, um, I can, I can get Father, I'd be no use at all with. That kind of thing. I can put you in another room in the meanwhile? Or you could get breakfast, I'm sure we'll have it all cleared up in an hour or so."

"I'll get breakfast. Thanks, you're a champ."

"Well, thank you," she says happily. Then she scurries off again, presumably to get her father.

Downstairs, where breakfast is, there are a few people eating together who look... adventuresome.

There's a scarred-up lizardfolk in plate armor with an obviously enchanted visor over his eyes and a composite longbow strapped to his back.

There's a kobold with a lute and crossbow, ignoring his food in favor of scrawling in a book.