Once Renato had made up his mind, he would not second-guess himself. Indecision had never been his habit. Once he made a choice, all that remained was to carry it out.
Tomorrow was Samoriel City's Holy Day Festival. Despite the unprecedented disaster, the likes of which had not been seen in a thousand years, the great families were still throwing themselves into preparations, hoping to win the Goddess's favor.
Faced with Lolth's silence, the flames on the altars would only burn brighter than usual, and more slaves than ever would be sacrificed. The entire city would be steeped in that frenzied religious fervor.
An event of this scale was bound to draw away large numbers of personnel. Guards, priests, patrols... the Drow would all be assigned to maintain order and prepare the rituals.
That would leave gaps in security along the edge of the white mist. The two of them could slip through and escape easily into the mysterious demiplane in the "West Wall" area.
This was the window of opportunity they had waited so long for.
Renato could not be certain whether the demiplane contained food or water. Klauthsura had repeatedly stressed that, since psionic scans had detected signs of life, it had to contain conditions suitable for living creatures and a small, self-sustaining ecosystem.
He was no psion and had no way to verify the Mind Flayer's claims, but Renato trusted his own eyes.
At the instant the mist appeared, he had clearly glimpsed a desolate expanse of ruins. It had not looked like a place where living people dwelled, but rather a city abandoned after some disaster had destroyed it.
So, despite the soaring prices in Samoriel City, Renato still decided to spend a large amount of gold on food and fresh water to store in his