"Garrus, I acknowledge that killing nasty things is satisfying but whenever I'm in a situation where I'm killing a thing because I think its species is horrible I get real self conscious about that. Also the specific reason they're horrifying - one of the specific reasons, anyway - is all the fucky mind-affecting they sling around, so I'd rather appreciate their deaths from a safe distance if possible."

"You're not wrong. Alright, I'll forego my vote."

"Cool. Anybody think any of these sound especially time-sensitive or assassin-compatible, I'm not at my clearest-headed right now."

"Deekin think elf village sound very... static? Valen said they not getting eaten even though they in Underdark, so they probably stay not eaten if we leave them for last. Also, not fighting drow and undead or drow and golems at same time, so Belmarniss able to prepare appropriate spells for situation."

"I accept your logic."

"And I am of the opinion that we should strike at the source of the undead army first - before they have the chance to send her even one more skeleton. The golem island can come after that; there doesn't seem to be much of a rush to secure their aid."

"Yeah. Okay."

"The temple is a day's travel southwest from Lith My'athar. When you're done there, you can come back here and stop by the Docks, where Caballas the Ferryman will sail you across the Dark River to the appropriate islands. Toss a coin into the river when you're done with the first island, and Caballas will show up, ferry you to the second, and notify us that it's time to send our agents to the beholder caves and Zorvak'Mur." She pauses. "We don't know how he does the... river/coin thing, but he's given us every reason to believe he's on our side, so we don't worry about it."

"Is it rude to ask him?"

"He's very evasive in conversation. All we can get out of him is that he's 'bound to the river', and that 'more than this you do not need to know'. But he hates the Valsharess, and he's been very helpful to us."

"If you say so."

"Cavallas's peculiarities aside, do you have any questions for us, or should we go and attend to our duties?"

"What should we watch out for in transit?"

"You will be traveling through the Underdark, so... I don't like to say 'be prepared for anything,' because there's no such state. But prepare as best you can for umber hulks, enemy drow, driders, harpies, roaming undead, and various other hazards."

Nod.

"You can reserve rooms for yourselves in the Lith My'athar public house free of charge, if you wish to rest, and there are merchants of arcane and martial goods in the market district. The guards on the western gate will be told to let you through when you're ready to go."

"Thanks."

"Walk in freedom, and blessed be."

Nathyrra and Valen take this as a dismissal.

"Guess I should pad my spellbook out a level or two, I'm leveling quick."

"Oh, yes, I was going to show you mine as well - we can repair to one of the side rooms, if you like, and trade spells? You might have something I don't, too."

"For being from another planet my repertoire is surprisingly nonexotic but sure."

They repair to a side room. Spellbooks are flipped through.

As she mentioned, Nathyrra's selection leans heavily into ways to kill things. However, she has a decent number of spells that are instead dedicated to preventing things from killing her, or getting close enough to kill things without being noticed. She also has a handful of spells that aren't related to killing things at all, but they're pretty thin on the ground.

Well, killing things is the order of the day. Nathyrra might like Belmarniss's anti-tripping cantrip root or the rite of centered mind or keep watch - "I'm out of the habit of using that because it takes two slots but I should get in it, it's first level".

"Keep Watch could be very useful, thank you. And Rite of Centered Mind sounds potentially helpful if I know in advance I'll be dealing with, say, illithid. I'm very steady on my feet, so I doubt I'll need Root - when I was training as an assassin, the slightest misstep would have meant certain death."

"I have a magic item for it now but it was a lifesaver as a kid."