The favored one's name was Akil. He was one of the oldest and most learned members of our monastery and our only resident abomination. He held our his three fingered hands to either side of his body as he stared unblinkingly at the elf girl. I felt a pang of sympathy for the laboring woman, after all any non-yuan-ti that gained the attention of a favored one were often terrified by the appearance of a massive serpent. Two malisons were waiting with refined alcohol to pour over Akil's outstretched hands, ensuring no infection would seep into the operation.

He loomed over her as he approached her birthing bed. The terror was apparent on both lord Revan's face and his daughter's, but they dare not object to him. After all, he was the only chance they had of allowing both child and mother to survive this. With a flick of his wrist he signaled a malison to toss a handful of dried fungus into a nearby brazier which blazed purple before releasing a thick cloud of dark fumes into the air. As soon as it reached the lungs of any of the elves in the room they visibly relaxed, going glassy-eyed and staring far off. Even the elf girl's breath audibly relaxed as the fumes did their work.

The Yuan-ti in the room remain unaffected, our serpentine physiology allowing us to easily shrug off the effects of the burning mushrooms. As soon as the girl's breathing steadied, we set to work. With a slight gesture or a mental whisper implements were handed and taken away from Akil as he deftly parted flesh. The cuts were so precise and clean that the elf lost little blood. Specially treated leather bladders filled with various potions and drugs were affixed to shed serpent fangs. These made for perfect syringes, passing the potent substances directly into her blood as Akil separated the mother and child.

A hour stretched into two as he worked, gracefully and quickly his hands moved with a dexterity incongruous with his large size. At last with a wet wrenching noise, Akil held the child up, neatly severing the umbilical cord and lifting the baby away. He slithered a few feet away from the elf girl, who was already being stitched and administered healing elixirs. By the time Akil held the child up to the light to inspect it, the magical potions were already knitting the elf girls abdomen neatly together.

During all of this I had been assisting in preparing the injections and then infusing the girl once Akil departed from her. After I had emptied to contents of a healing elixir into her bloodstream, I looked up to see Akil impassively turning the babe over in his hands, inspecting it in the light. 

The babe was still and quiet.

I felt my heart drop into my stomach. Had this all been for naught?