"The Mark of the Comet? This is blasphemy!" Lae'zel, snapping out of her prayer, spotted the insignia in the corner as well. Her expression instantly turned ferocious—the first time Ethemon and the others had ever seen her truly angry. "If I ever catch the vandal who did this, I will tear them apart with my own hands!"
"Blasphemy? What did this Orpheus do?" Astarion curiously examined the painting before him, then averted his gaze with a look of disgust. The Githyanki depicted here looked quite different from the ones they had encountered; her sharp facial features were stretched across pale skin, and her cold eyes gazed emotionlessly at everyone passing by. Whether it was his imagination or not, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was looking at a portrait of Cazador back at Szarr Mansion. His former master also favored those oversized, expressionless oil paintings—devoid of all warmth, deeply unsettling.
"Many years ago, when the Githyanki were still slaves to the mind flayers, the Gith Queen led my predecessors in a rebellion to reclaim our freedom and establish a new rule," Lae'zel explained. "Seeking a greater destiny, the Gith Queen ventured deep into the Nine Hells, hoping to secure the aid of the Red Dragons for her people and her cause. But Orpheus defied the Queen's will. Not only did he murder his own mother, but he also sought to usurp the throne with his honor guard and fracture our empire!"
Chapter 56