The four companions, Astarion, Kalarch, Kerica, and Lae'zel, passed through the swirling torrent of weave as they were pulled from the bottom of the ruined temple. The deactivation of the great Sun Beam had opened up a passage in the ether, allowing Kerica to activate the waystone, and the party passed effortlessly away.
They arrived at the Trielta Crags waypoint, high once more in the mountains. They weren't that far away from camp, but safely away from the creche. The steeple of the monastery shimmered off in the distance of the nearby valley. The Caress of sunlight glinted against Lathander's sacred symbol.
Astarion stumbled out in front. His boots passed from the ethereal torrent of the flickering weave that passed by and landed all too quickly on solid cobbled stone and packed earth. He turned quickly to catch Kerica, figuring she too had been thrown off balance by the rush of magic and distance. Luckily she had not since she had been the one who activated the transportation spell. She was even more sure on her feet than the other two women beside her.
"Well!" Astarion huffed. "That was fun. Not that I want to repeat it. Lae'zel, my dear, your people are absolutely awful at welcoming strangers. Oh well, at least we got a shiny new artifact out of our little escapade. Even if we can't use it, it should sell for a decent price.
"Be quiet, shka'keth." Lae'zel seethed. She had been quiet after confronting her God-Queen. Now in the light of day, all her venom seemed to be back. "We have bigger problems at hand! We will now be labeled as githzerai. Hshar'lak! Traitors to Vlaakih and we shall be hunted on sight! Soon, all of Creche will come to bear on our heads for our betrayal. We had best be ready."
"Exactly." Kerica took Lae'zel's anger in stride. She'd been waiting for the outburst, so it was easy to flow with it. She was grateful for Astarion's steadying hand, but she was quick to straighten even as she stayed close to him. She'd put the mace carefully away in her bag of holding she'd gotten from Volo, and as she looked around at the way the setting sun shined across everything, she sighed. "Karlach. Return with Lae'zel to the camp and tell everyone to start packing and get the wagons ready. I have no doubt your people are great hunters, Lae'zel. Which means a choice needs to be made. Send Gale to meet Astarion and I at the curved trail that leads to the mountain pass. You don't need to come back. Focus on getting everyone to pack and help where you can. Lae'zel, I know you went against that Commander by yourself. Bite your tongue and have Shadowheart or Halsin check you over regardless of the health potions you took. Lingering wounds are a danger."
"Tsk'va." Lae'zel hissed. "You're right. I shall go. But do not take long with the wizard. One way or another, we should be well clear of this place come nightfall." With that, Lae'zel marched off toward the camp. Kalarch followed up behind her at a brisk jog.
As the two women disappeared off in the direction of camp, Astarion turned to Kerica, standing a little bit closer. "So." He began in his pleasing lilt. "Shall we be off to the border of the Shadow Cursed Lands?"
"Yes. That's the plan." Kerica agreed and rubbed her forehead. She was feeling extremely drained from the day. "First, let me give this egg to the woman down below. Maybe I'll take a look at her wares again and see if I changed my mind on anything, too. Then we'll go and meet Gale at the pass." She flipped open a pocket on her jerkin and pulled out a second apple she had brought along, sinking her teeth into it and starting down the steps. "Gods, I can't believe I managed to get a whole goddamn Creche, maybe a whole f*cking race, on my ass today. I really am somethin'." She muttered in a self-deprecating sarcastic manner.
"You really are." agreed Astarion, following alongside her. He tucked his hands behind his back and couldn't help but puff out his chest as he walked in stride alongside her. "Don't forget stealing an ancient, sacred artifact. You might even have two whole gods chasing after us." He added, sounding pleased.
"Vlaakith is the furthest from a Goddess, but I'm not going to say that to Lae’zel's face." Kerica grunted. "You seem to know quite a bit about Religion, too. More than I do, and I love books and learning. Vlaakith is a fraud, though she is terrifying I give her that." She paused briefly. "Also, I don’t consider my taking of the Blood of Lathander stealing. I did the trial and the Monastery is decrepit. I also don't intend to sell it. Perhaps I'll give it to another Temple. There’s a chance Shadowheart could use it, she’s proficient in that kind of weapon even if Shar is darkness and night."
Astarion clicked his tongue. “That would be a waste.” He said. “I don’t know much about the Gods, just the pertinent information. And we went through the trouble to win that mace, maybe Karlach could wield it instead. It could be useful, having something blessed by the sun in the ‘Shadow Cursed Lands’.”
"We have a long way to go, yes. I agree about having a miniature sun with us in a dark land, too." Kerica nibbled on another bite of her apple and walked up to the woman waiting in the camp she had made for herself.
It didn't take long to transfer the Githyanki Egg into her care, gaining a good amount of gold for her troubles. Kerica took it and left, not exactly feeling good about the situation, but it was the best outcome she had seen for it in the end. From there she walked with Astarion back up the stairs and to the pass where they would wait for Gale. "Once we're safe somewhere I am going to need to lay down and try and sort through everything in my head."
“I know the feeling.” Astarion hummed. They walked in silence for a moment. The sound of leaves crunching between their boots and the cobblestones was unavoidable. At last, when the quiet had stretched on long enough, Astarion added in. “I didn’t like that woman, by the way.” He sneered, crinkling his nose in disgust. “So condescending.”
She glanced at him when he spoke. Without the apple to keep her occupied, the silence made her feel more lethargic and his voice snapped her out of her drifting. His scrunched face made her giggle a little. "I agree. That whole situation is out of our hands now, so never mind it." She shook her head, and her gaze went down to her feet. Her stomach twisted. "…Do you have anything in mind for your reward, by the way? No better time to talk about it than now, while we're alone and can be frank."
“Mm? My reward…” Astarion tilted his head to the side as he thought. “I didn’t actually think I was going to get a reward. Honestly, I thought we were going to have to fight our whole way out of that Crèche. Good show getting us out of there.”
Was he avoiding answering the question? Absolutely.
"A lot of people would think it's crazy to run a party with two Rogues, and admittedly I do use ranged more than my daggers, but you're one of my best fighters besides Karlach. I fully expected you to do well. You know that, don't you?" Kerica tilted her head slightly at him, the gold and green earring on one of her ears revealing itself as her hair moved. "Four to zero is still a resounding loss. You deserve something. It could be a smaller request if you'd like?"
Astarion kept quiet. He didn’t know that. Even after hearing her say it, he didn’t know. A soft scoff escaped his lips, and he rolled a shrug off his shoulders. “A small request, hm? Too bad. The only thing I want is a pretty big ask. Do you still think I deserve it?”
"Yes." No hesitation, blinking slowly at him with rapt attention and curiosity, expecting to hear whatever was on his mind. Maybe he'd figured it out already, but she liked pleasing people. Perhaps it came from a life struggling to get people to listen to her and understand her. Struggling to make any sort of friend. Overall, it genuinely brought her joy to see the companions she had made brighten up because of what she did for them. "You support me in a lot of ways, Astarion. Lay it on me."
Astarion’s sharp gaze ran over her, taking all of her in as if he were appraising her all over again. He clicked his tongue again, and leaned over, to whisper into half-Elven ear. “You, I want you.” He said, in his deepest, lowest voice. He didn’t. It wasn’t what he really wanted. He wanted her blood, but he knew how she got when he drank from her. Even as a reward, making a compromise of his own body would have to do in order to sate his sanguine needs.
A hard tremor ran through her and when she released her breath it was shaky and her neck felt hot. Her gaze dropped from his. “In what way?” she asked, voice small. “I know our…time together…the other night wasn’t exactly…satisfactory. I didn’t perform very well and I talked too much and didn’t know…what to do…” she started twisting her fingers together, “I didn’t tell you outright I was inexperienced because it felt like I’d… ruin the moment but you figured it out anyway. I know I agreed to the silly game and it sounded fun to do, but I was also fretting the whole time because what if I got to suck you off? You’d probably get irritated rather quickly and I don’t want things to be awkward with you when we work really well together and…”
Astarion reached for her. He put his hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her. From behind his long lashes, he set his crimson gaze on her, and when he spoke, his voice low, he was still trying to seduce her. “Is that what you want? Do you want to suck me off?” He asked. It wasn’t what he wanted. It was something he would let her do. He assumed she’d be… fine… at it. She would be inexperienced and clumsy, but that was fine. Astarion could still take pleasure from that. More importantly, if she took pleasure from it then it was a fair trade. Blood for pleasure. Precious life force for a moment of discomfort, a moment of being reminded that his value was in how pleasing his body was. It was a fair trade.
Kerica made a muffled 'eep' noise behind her closed lips and in her throat when he touched her, jumping a smidgen under his hand. It was difficult to meet his gaze when he tried. "It was the first thing I thought of when you suggested the game." She admitted, voice breathy and higher pitched. "That… d-doesn't m-mean we have to. I've never… so I was curious… but I don't know how honest you'd be. I wouldn't want you to tell me I'm doing great to spare my feelings when you hate it. I'd like to think you'd respect me enough, like this morning. I understand sex is a whole different…" her hands flailed, uncertain of the term she wanted to use, "Hells…" she placed a hand to her stomach, feeling queasy with all of her nerves going wild. "Do you want to know what I was thinking of asking for my reward?" She laughed, a hollow, sad sound. "It's so much simpler, especially with the goal we were setting and the very idea we'd be fighting so many more…"
"Yes, darling. Please tell me." Astarion whispered. He kept his hands on either side of her shoulders, ready to help her keep steady if she needed it. He was trying to be comforting. If she needed emotional grounding, he was here for her. At her side like he had been from the beginning. His brow was furrowed, and he as watched her carefully, looking for any opening. Her defenses were down, and she was coming undone, but he hadn't meant to have her fall to pieces like this. Seducing someone was so much more complicated when they stayed around.
Kerica took a deep breath, though it was still shaky and her eyes shined with unshed tears. She desperately tried to calm down. "I just…" Whenever she opened her mouth her throat felt tight and she had to swallow around it. "All I wanted…" She looked away, lower lip wobbling. "I just wanted a kiss." Before he said anything, however, she shrugged her longbow off and ducked under his arm in order to jog away and she disappeared behind the trees.
Astarion was stunned. A kiss? …That was all? They'd already had sex, yes? They had. He couldn't put together why his request to ask for her had been met with anything more than either a playful tutting or enthusiastic compliance. Why had she even brought up the concept of blow j*bs? He hadn't mentioned it until she did. He certainly didn't want one. Why did she run off? Astarion would have more than happily settled on a kiss!
"Not the best of times to be having lady troubles from what I understand." Gale's voice spoke up from nearby, the wizard peeking from his own tree in case Astarion decided to throw a dagger in his direction.
He didn't. His head was still reeling until Gale got closer and realized. ‘Oh. The Wizard.’ The Wizard was here and he had said something. "No. Not the best of times indeed." Astarion tried to put on an air of pleasantry. "But, I suppose it's my own fault. Trifling with a maiden's heart. I'm sure you wouldn't understand."
"On the contrary!" Gale perked up at the mention, approaching Astarion more confidently. "I'll have you know, I managed to woo the Goddess Mystra into my bed once upon a time. You likely don't believe that, but in any case I have dealt with a relationship before. I only heard the tail end of that conversation, and before you get any ideas I didn't mean to eavesdrop!" He quickly held his hands up defensively. "It seems to me our dear leader is all tangled up in knots because she hasn't had any dealings with matters of the heart before. She merely asked for a kiss and then she bolted off like a startled deer. That is a glaring beacon to me that she might be terribly shy."
"That might be something of an understatement, my good wizard. But I suppose that bashful nature is all part of her charm. It only makes me want to chase her more." Astarion replied. He pressed his fingers together, from where he had been touching her. How quickly she had fled… He could still feel her warmth on his cold fingertips. Tilting his head to the side, Astarion appraised the wizard. "So. The Goddess Mystra, was it? Tell me, from a man who managed to woo a goddess, how should I go about patching things up with our most charming little rogue?"
Gale regarded him for a long moment, then put his fingers over his chin in a physical display of thinking. It was almost possible to see the gears turning in his head. "I think…" he said slowly, trying to piece together the right string of words. "Between the time I wandered with you two and Shadowheart to take care of that Owlbear Cave, to when I joined you in the Wetlands against the Hag, there has been a significant jump in how you two interact with each other and even speak to one another. None of us are blind, we all saw you two walking back after the night of the Party. Yet… that being said, and seeing what happened here… there seems to be some sort of…disconnect." He used his hands to demonstrate, putting them side by side and then jerking them so they were no longer in alignment.
Realization crossed Gale's face. "Even last night… I can see it now. She was nervous then as well." He made a hard humming sound of contemplation. "You ask me how to fix things. I don't think anything necessarily needs fixing per se… but do as you have been doing. Be forthcoming. When we are all safely wherever it is Kerica decides to take us for the night, speak with her. While she is shy, something you can use in your favor is the very fact you two can be blunt when you're speaking to one another. You both have sharp tongues and quick wits, though you display it differently." Gale waved his hand to indicate Astarion's person. "You have your charm about you, but lay that outside the tent flap, as it were. Be frank with her and don't play games. She's smart, Astarion. Don't treat her as if she isn't, even with a matter as delicate as whether or not she can feel comfortable asking for a kiss. A kiss could be far different than sex in her mind for all you know."
This was a lot to take in. Astarion twisted them about from every angle and swallowed them down. It was all the more infuriating that this good advice was coming from Gale of all people. 'Don't play games. She's smart.' Whether Gale realized it or not, that felt like the insight Astarion had been lacking. Of course, now that he looked back, he could see it. The times when she'd opened up to him, the times when she had fallen for his charms. It was moments when he'd let himself open up and be somewhat vulnerable around her. When he'd included the slightest sliver of truth, that was always when she had accepted his advances best.
Unfortunately, that made things all the more difficult, didn't it? A moment of carefully revealed vulnerability could set Astarion's plan back on track. It could twist her back around his fingertips, ensuring his protection from the rest of the group… the rest of the group that was cooking him meals. Giving good, earnest romance advice. Sharing their warmth with him in the cold of the night. The group called him 'fangs' as though it were an adorable nickname and not a scathing indictment of what he was at his very core.
Did… Did he really need protection from these people? …No, that's silly. Of course he did. Even if they hadn't staked him the morning they all found out what he was, they had all been quite clear about staying away from their necks. They were friendly now, while he was on good terms with their leader, but they were like everybody else. They'd turn on him the moment it was their necks that he needed to sink his fangs into.
The one who hadn't however…
There was just one problem with this controlled vulnerability plan. That was the question of how much more vulnerable in front of this woman could he really be? He'd already slipped several times by accident. If he slipped again, how much was left to be forthcoming before his whole plan was fully exposed?
"Hm. I hadn't thought of that." Astarion finally hummed out loud to the wizard. "I had heard that some prostitutes in the lower quarter abstain from kissing their clients… Not that I would know, of course, and not that I'm suggesting anything untoward about our timid companion, either. I'm saying you're right. Perhaps I'm not giving the proper weight to something as sentimental as a kiss." He clicked his tongue and gave their surroundings a brief consideration. "So, what do you think we should do for now? Go after her? Or go investigate this shadow curse like she called us here to do?"
"She'll come back. She just needs time to pull herself together again. I didn't get much detail, but with how frantically everyone was told to pull down their tents, you were all very busy today and all of it came crashing down." Gale nodded solemnly. "Forgive me if I… overwhelmed you with information. Everyone handles stress differently as well."
"No, it was appreciated." Astarion waved his hand dismissively of the apology. "Fortunately, we were lucky enough that it all didn't come crashing down… but it was an uncomfortably close call. We're expecting Lae'zel's people to be on us as soon as they figure out what all we got up to."
"Astarion, Gale." Kerica's voice reached them as she came back around a rock face. Her eyes were red-rimmed but she seemed to be doing better. "I found an old man. Come, follow me. Some steps lead down towards the Shadow Pass." She hesitated as she looked at Astarion. "I really don't like what I was feeling down there, but I'll let you two be the judge of it."
Gale looked at Astarion as well and motioned ahead. "After you. I was told one of the reasons I'm meant to come along was to give my take on this Shadow Curse and I'll do just that when we get closer."
Astarion looked around befuddled. He turned and looked back at Kerica in utter exasperation. "You found an old man? Out here? In the mountains? At the edge of the shadow curse? Where is he? Are we going to go meet him now?" He stepped toward her and took a closer look at where they had been going in the first place. Over by the steps, a dead rabbit was laying by the pathway. Further down he saw a gathering of dead birds, a dead squirrel beyond that.
"He's past the bridge. He looks like an old wizard." Kerica explained, leading them down the steps.
Gale tensed. "Oh really?" he asked slowly, swallowing thick. It really didn't take long for the old man to come into view and his breath caught in his throat. Oh sh*t. "Elminster?" he asked in disbelief as they walked up to the old man.
Elminster doddled on for quite some time and Gale felt… apprehensive, he supposed was the best word. Frustrated with the old man's inability to stay on course long enough to tell them, him, why he was there. Spare him the misery of waiting. He felt grateful rather than irritated as Kerica offered Elminster to go on ahead to their camp and that they would be right behind him. They needed to finish taking a look at the tendrils of the Shadow Curse, which Gale could see leaking from the only road forward.
They stepped closer towards it, even going down another set of stone steps, and Kerica sounded like she was choking. She even wavered and stepped back, sitting on the stairs. This was where Gale remembered she was a half-elf, a wood elf no less, and he could see the color draining from her face as she stared at the gnarled arch of roots and branches before the stairs went up. Up and over, he guessed. "The magic I feel coming from up ahead is sickening. Far more horrific than that ghastly swampland the Hag resided in. Viscous, like it wants to eat us alive and spit out our bones."
Astarion stepped carefully toward the darkness. The sun was setting but already this place was dark. Ominous. A predatory malice seeped from every corner, every twist every shadow, of which there were many. They weren't even past the threshold yet and the darkness felt cloying and claustrophobic.
"Nope." He announced. "This is worse. This is worse than the Underdark." He turned around, spinning on his heels back to Kerica's side. "You were right darling, Underdark is the way to go." He offered her a hand to help her back up to her feet. "We should go that way immediately."
Gale watched as Kerica took his hand with a firm grip and let him haul her up, curling tightly into the pale elf with a wide-eyed look over her shoulder. Gale supposed he had more resistance against it, but that didn't mean he wasn't quick to follow as Astarion sped up the stairs with Kerica tucked into his side, close to running. This area spooked them greatly and he was inclined to feel the same. He wondered if that was why Elminster had waited for them here, knowing they would come this way. An old Wizard like that would have dozens… hundreds of ways to ward against it.
They didn't stop until they reached where they had begun, and only to catch their breath where the last of the setting sun graced their skin. "Let's feed the old man and hear what he has to say as quickly as possible. I know we're on a time limit with the creche on your tails." He said as he watched Kerica move away from Astarion and put her hands on her knees, shaking and trying to breathe. "Everything will be alright. We'll go around like Halsin kept suggesting."
"The Tieflings went through there. The other bridge was broken by that goddamn Githyanki dragon!" She finally choked out and Gale's blood felt icy cold. "Since we're going to the Underdark, we'll have to be quick down there… and hope to whatever God or Goddess will listen that we can find the other entrance in a decent timeframe."
"They're… They're a tough folk. Whatever they faced they'll be able to make it to safety." Gale tried to soothe. "We'll find them, Kerica. Don't worry."
Astarion's blood was always icy cold, so the sinking feeling he felt as Kerica mentioned the Tieflings really didn't bother him too much, but the false hope Gale offered nearly turned his stomach. "We'd better find them. After we spent all that effort rescuing them from goblins and druids, they'd better not repay us by dying in all of… that." He hissed as he waved in the general direction of the malicious shadows. He huffed. "But we're not going to save them charging in ourselves without a plan. At the very least we need to talk to Halsin. Gale can talk to the old man while we come up with an idea."
"I agree." Kerica stood straight, shaky and Gale thought she appeared green around the edges. She led the way back to their camp where the old wizard was being overlooked by Halsin.
The older druid glanced their direction and his usual calm and collected demeanor was clearly troubled. "I've been informed by this wizard that he met you by the entrance to the Shadow Lands. Is this true?"
"That is. He's not here to stay. Let him eat and drink, there's plenty of meat, cheese, and wine which is what he wanted. I'm going to break down my tent. Gale, Astarion, you two do the same. Talking can happen when it's done and hopefully, the old man will be finished by then, too." Kerica ordered in a rapid-fire manner, leaving them no room to say anything more to her as she darted off to where Karlach was already removing the steaks holding down the edges and all she had to do was remove her things from inside.
Without question, Astarion stalked back to his tent. He did not break his tent down quickly, but it wasn't for lack of trying. He simply wasn't experienced with roughing it, even with all this time they had spent since the nautiloid crash. There were also more bits and bobbles at his tent than anyone else's, more pillows and blankets and… oh, spare rocks, too. He must have forgotten about that at some point during the night…
Thankfully, Wyll, the heroic Blade of the Frontiers came over to volunteer himself to help. Which was weird. Astarion still had no idea why he was doing that. Wyll had probably been told to like everyone else.
"All the heavy lifters are busy filling the wagons or packing their backpacks. I didn't want to touch anyone's things without them, but it looks like you could use the extra hands." Wyll answered Astarion's sideways glances and unspoken question, using one of the rocks to knock one steak loose from its mooring, and from there, it was easier to use that to work on the other ones. "I noticed you've kept this rug around. I bet that does wonders for smoothing out the ground so you can sleep better. Or, ah… trance in your case, right?"
"Yes. Trance. And it does." Astarion said, making pleasant conversation as he worked to fold up some of his blankets and pack his various bottles and things. "It's especially good at keeping the cold out of the ground. Not as good as a mattress, but beggars can't be choosers." Astarion had spent nearly 200 years as a beggar.
"As someone who's used a boulder or a tree as a pillow many times, I can certainly agree." Wyll chuckled and carefully controlled the fall of the tent as it came down, then moved it off to the side to start rolling it up. "So, ah… is Kerica doing alright, do you know? I haven't been with the group for long, and only see you a lot when you come back for the night, but she hasn't come across so… out of sorts. Not even when Mizora paid her little visit, or that night after the fire at Walkeen's Rest. She's quite frantic, actually."
"Hn." Astarion hummed, giving it some thought. "No. She's not alright. I'm afraid we're going to have to narrow down exactly which crisis has her all out of sorts since there are so many at our heels. It's not that the Creche was a bust, I think half of us were expecting that it would be. So it's probably not the Tadpoles that are bothering her either. We're all stuck with those." Astarion started to list off. “It could be that the Creche is probably coming after us sometime soon if not as we speak. Or, it could be that we checked out the Shadow Curse and it was just as bad if not worse than Halsin made it out to be. I'm not sure if Wood Elves are any more or less sensitive to it than I was, but I was pretty damned affected by it and I'm a vampire. I'm used to the shadows.
"Oh, and last but not least…it finally occurred to her that the Tieflings must have come this way since the Githyanki Dragon burned the only other wagon-safe bridge down on the way here. So, it's probably one of those things." Astarion didn't mention his role in all of that. That part was private, and while he appreciated Wyll's help at the moment he wasn't quite ready to share such information with him.
Wyll stared at him with wide eyes, and though one was stone the expression did its purpose. "Hells Teeth, all of that in one day? Then there's no wonder even Karlach and Lae'zel are up in arms. On top of that, if the Shadow Curse affected you as bad as you say it did, then we're going to be balls-deep in sh*t once we get there, huh?" He shook his head and continued what he was doing. "The Tieflings, too… that's a hard one to swallow."
"Yes. It's… a lot. So we've got to make a decision. Are we going to dive right now into the Shadows before the Githyanki can follow us? Or are we going to jump down into the Underdark? All that's falling on her shoulders right now. Oh, and Gale has a visitor." Astarion gestured over to the old man, who was being helped to some of their food rations as they spoke. "I didn't know we could have visitors. I don't particularly like that… Incidentally, my vote changed for the Underdark, by the way. So you understand how much I didn't like the Shadow Curse."
"Myself and a few others… might've overheard you two having a… er… disagreement over it this morning." Wyll agreed slowly. "As for visitors… Halsin was on that Wizard the moment he crossed the threshold of our campgrounds. Just so you know. All big and imposing-like, too." He pursed his lips and finished strapping the tent roll together for easier transport. Then he began working on the next easiest thing which was rolling Astarion's rug while he packed his backpack and sleeping roll. "Elminster said he was no friend of Cazador's before Halsin could get a word in edgewise after the 'who are you' question and that stunned the druid. After they had a bit of an old man stare down he let him pass, though stayed on his heels."
Something crossed Astarion's high cheekbones at that. It wasn't a flush. Vampires didn't flush. Blood was too precious a resource to waste on something as trivial as blushing. So if anyone noticed him suddenly looking a little pink in the face they were absolutely imagining it. However, even Astarion had to admit he did get a little stiff in the shoulders when he heard what Wyll was saying. "He did that? Really?"
"He sure did." Wyll chuckled. "He's still watching over the old man as we speak. Granted, he's not being nearly as intimidating, but he's not leaving him alone while the rest of us work. Honestly, it's a good thing we didn't unpack much from the wagons to begin with or we'd really be f*cked. It's only the tents and random knick-knacks we unloaded overnight for comfort like Gale and his books."
Astarion and his pillows, his rug and his empty jars of coagulated blood… Astarion tried to make himself look busy. All his things into the camp pack. Everything secured, nice and tight. Yes, yes… but really, Astarion was baffled that Halsin would do that. Why? Why would he keep his promise like that? So earnestly too… "Well. Ahm. Thank you, Wyll… For helping me, with this." Astarion said when they were starting to load up the last armfuls of his things. "I really appreciate it."
"Of course!" Wyll responded cheerfully. "I'm going to see if anyone else needs help."
As he jogged off, it became apparent Kerica had long since finished with her tent and had been eagerly listening to what Elminster and Gale were talking about. Things seemed to be going well, at first, and then suddenly, “That’s monstrous! You’re tasking him to kill himself?!” She practically shrieked, the sound echoing off the ruins and she took a step towards the old man.
Halsin, standing as near as he allowed himself for what seemed like a private conversation, whipped his head to stare at her, as did everyone else in camp.
"He is not, but it seems that Mystra is." Gale tried to placate her, his hands up and he gently patted at her arm. "Calm yourself for a little longer, please. Let's hear him out the rest of the way."
Astarion had been on his way to go talk to Halsin himself. He was feeling strangely unsure of himself, about what he was going to talk about, exactly. Was he going to thank him? It was starting to seem like an excessive amount of gratitude. When Astarion thought about how Halsin had been here, stalwartly protecting the camp like he had promised him he would, it made Astarion's chest feel strangely tight. Not in a romantic way, of course. Not in a sexual way either. It was more similar to what Astarion had felt when he had been presented with that bowl of blood. It made him feel… safe.
Then Kerica screamed about Gale killing himself.
He watched her continue to listen though the wild look in her eyes didn't dissipate and her lips pinched severely. They watched as the Wizard waved his hands, said some magic words and Gale glowed purple. When it all faded, the painful tightness in Gale's eyes was gone, but it was replaced by a different kind of pain and sadness.
Kerica hated every bit of it.
"To you, I commit into care Gale himself. I count on you to shepherd him well on this strangest of journeys." Elminster said to her, his voice sounding regretful but that didn't ease her at all.
"There's still a long journey ahead. We'll find another way." Kerica's answer was rushed, desperate. There had to be another way. She barely listened as Elminster spouted something else about how 'even the waves of fate can break upon the shores of will' and finally, finally left their camp in a puff of magic.
Any thought Astarion had about walking over to Halsin was gone. He had slowly traipsed his way over to Kerica and Gale instead. The conversation happened loudly enough that Astarion didn't feel like he was intruding to slide up next to Kerica. While he didn't participate, Astarion watched on from a position outside the circle of conversation.
Gale couldn't kill himself. Astarion had started to like Gale! Letting Gale kill himself was going to be an absolute waste of a perfectly good wizard!
Their busy day didn't seem to have an end.
Kerica acknowledged his presence with a glance and a head dip but quickly followed after Gale, trying to talk to him about what happened. Her lip and chin trembled, but miraculously she didn't start crying. She got him to agree, though in an exasperated way, that they would keep an eye and ear out for 'another way' before she went to check on everyone else to make sure they were all about ready to head to the nearest waypoint.
After that, just before they were about to leave with the sky dark and moon rising in the sky, Kith'rak Voss appeared and scared the sh*t out of them. Lae'zel and Karlach flanked Kerica immediately, and Kerica's hand was at her hip ready to fight when Voss held out his sword and kneeled. The half-elf was pale, and something like recognition passed her face. Unbeknownst to the rest of them, her Guardian had done this exact pose. When Lae'zel had peered into her mind, Kerica had blurred and passed over that part, focusing on her Guardian's words over everything else. Now Voss was making a show of good faith and Lae'zel pulled her newly acquired Githyanki sword, the one she had taken from the Commander she had felled. "Lae'zel, your hotheaded reactions are why I've kept you at the camp. Stand down and let's hear what he has to say. You didn't want to believe me before, when I had myself open to you. Maybe you'll believe one of your own."
From there, Voss essentially reiterated the exact same thing Kerica had tried to tell Lae'zel when she had been too deep in denial to listen. Realistically, Kerica shouldn't be so upset with her. People who had their faith and life so ingrained in a God or Goddess didn't do well when their whole world and foundation shook and came to ruins around them. Today was simply too much. Perhaps later she would apologize to Lae'zel, but for now, she would take her win. The Githyanki woman finally saw reason and the whole thing concerning 'Ascension' was a trap to serve a false Goddess.
Voss disappeared through a portal once his message was delivered and a deal was struck. Kerica waved her hand and led the group to the nearest Waygate where she configured it to allow them through to the Selune Temple in the Underdark.
