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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(contact)" data-source="post: 1140366" data-attributes="member: 41">88—Hard ChoicesTaran is thankful that he awakens alone—he is too proud to cry in front of the people that he believes need to see him as strong, competent and confident.  He mourns for Galathonriel, for his followers, for all those who have time and again placed themselves within his care only to face eventual terror and death.  He weeps for his own self-image, shattered by a night of True Dreaming.Gathering himself, he reaches for his bedside flask, then thinks again, and splashes his face with water, instead.  He uses stealth to reach Thelbar’s chambers unseen, and asks his brother, “Is it true?”Thelbar is more composed than Taran, but no less haunted.  The mage looks as if he is panicking somewhere deep beneath the surface.  They compare their dreams, perhaps looking for inaccuracies or some discrepancy that might suggest a falsehood—but there are none.-----That morning, the brothers Tar-Ilou admit Elgin Trezler, and Taran asks to be atoned.  Elgin casts the spell, and then the three adventurers discuss their response to Moradin’s ultimatum.“But are we overreaching again?” Taran wants to know.  “What we’ve done in the past—every life we’ve lived—is dare too much.  The stakes get raised, and we bull forward until we find the conflict that we can’t win, and then what?”Elgin Trezler nods sagely.  “Wisdom is learned through hardship,” he offers.  “And this is no longer a matter of personal ambition, but a divinely-sanctioned role we play.  By the workings of our gods we have been given this choice to make, and I don’t believe that we would be here if our powers did not trust us with this responsibility.”“You’re wrong, Elgin,” Taran says darkly.  “We’re only here because we’re the a-sholes the other a-sholes can’t kill.”“Elgin speaks the truth, Taran,” Thelbar says.  “And I’m not sure that I agree with your sense of desperation.  Ishlok is like no other, and the pasoun places her followers beyond the grasp of these jealous gods, despite their threats.”“So the religious guys have their souls covered.  Great.  But what about our responsibility to their mortal lives?” Taran persists.  “Who is looking out for their here-and-now?  If it is to be war, and it seems like war is inevitable, people will suffer, and we may be the cause.”“Ceredain suffers as well,” Elgin points out.  “And the pasoun is meaningless if it is not offered freely.”“Alvodar was a friend,” Thebar muses.  “We know that now.”“Well, religion be damned,” Taran says.  “We don’t leave friends behind.”“No we do not,” Thelbar agrees.  “And what would Ishlok have of us right now, were she to speak?”Taran scowls.  “She would say to hell with Moradin and his bullying.”  Taran is pacing.  “She would say, ‘I left this up to you because I know you’re stupid enough to tell that bearded bastard what we think of his ‘justice’.”  Taran looks at his friends and smirks darkly.  “We’re stupid, stupid, stupid.  But we’re going to spit in his eye.”  The three men ponder this statement in silence for several moments.  Then Thelbar leans back and says, “Well, I guess we won’t be hiring any dwarves to help build New Ithor.”Taran snorts.  “Aw hell, we’ve already got a city full of evil elves—why not build it with evil dwarves?”-----Veldegan is silent for a long time after the brothers Tar-Ilou and Elgin Trezler announce their decision to offer the pasoun to Ceredain.  Finally, he says, “Your goddess’ faith in her mortal servants is misplaced.  This is an infamous thing you do.”  He regards the trio sternly, his face set into a mask of cold detachment.  “So be it,” he says.  And with that, Veldegan disappears.“Huh,” Taran says.  “I thought for sure we were going to have to pound on that dwarf.”-----The three adventurers return to Kor’En Eamor, and discern the location of a bit of Fearless ‘Fernal’s body—a gobbet of dried flesh apparently overlooked by the gnolls who made a meal of the rest of him.  Returning to Storm’s Rise, Elgin prepares the ritual for true resurrection, and receives an enthusiastic new convert to the pasoun.  ‘Fernal was godless, and as such, had no patron power to vouchsafe for his otherworldly existence.  Dying in Kor’En Eamor, where no soul can escape, was a blessing in disguise for the ambitious tiefling—for it spared him from the Baatezu that harvest unclaimed souls in Faerun’s afterlife.‘Fernal thanks his saviors somewhat bewilderedly, and learns that Merkatha is the companion responsible for his return to life.  Elgin tells ‘Fernal that he may express his gratitude to her in person—the Champions of the Risen Goddess teleport their newly-reborn charge to her side in Myth Ithor, and leave them both with another stern admonishment to stay away from the Great Delve.-----“Okay,” Taran sighs.  The group sits in their accustomed spot in Storms Rise’s unnamed inn.  “First up is Ceredain . . . and Alvodar.  We need to get the dwarf’s phylactery if were to have any chance of talking sense into the evil bastard, and to do that we have to stand face-to-face with the goddess.  Then, we have a mini-pantheon of enemy faiths lining up against us and encouraging their worshippers to act against us.  In response to this organization, our pantheon has . . . well, us.”“I suspect we will prove to be more than our enemies have bargained for,” Thelbar says without a trace of boastfulness.“We are not alone in this cause,” Elgin reminds the brothers.  “And there is also a genuine threat from Obuld and his orcish horde that may demand our efforts.  Let that not be forgotten.”“Well, I don’t know if I’m so worried about that,” Taran says.“Gorquen has agreed to see to this task,” Thelbar adds.  “She will determine which of our foes to the North require her intervention, if in fact any do.”“Hey, Gorquen’s boyfriend is no slouch either,” Taran continues, “plus she has Khuumar with her . . . and he’s a bad man.  But in a good way . . . good meaning on our side, of course, ‘cause he’s probably not, you know, Elgin good.”  Taran smiles at the priest.  “They’ll manhandle this Obuld, I think.  He picked the wrong damn region to invade.  He shoulda gone West.”“I would like to also add the cult of Iiam here in Faerun to our list of enemies,” Thelbar says.  “While Iiam is a child of Ishlok, and of our pantheon, we should expect nothing but sabotage from him.  No doubt he is already working closely with our enemies.”“And finally, there’s Isk.” Taran says quietly.  “Someday, I’d really like to find out what happened to Isk.”------Merkatha is growing furious with ‘Fernal.  The teifling rogue has been expressing his eagerness to return to the cursed Delve.“It is our adventure, Merkatha, and we should see it through to its end.”“You already did, dumb f-ck,” Merkatha says.“Now, Merkatha.  That is just a mean thing to say.”  Fernal is drinking from Thelbar’s wine reserve, leaving sloppy IOUs for each bottle he takes.  Two days past, Elgin Trezler honored his promise to Merkatha and returned ‘Fernal to life.  The rogue has since spent most of this time drunk.  “Drow frighten me,” he says, “present company excluded, and I should like to get back into the adventuring life.”  ‘Fernal regales his companion with promises that upon their return to the Delve they will immediately go after the mind-flayers for whom Merkatha reserves the best and deepest portion of her formidable hatred.  With the prospect of revenge dangled before her like a proverbial carrot before the mule, Merkatha slowly comes to see the “other side of the coin,” as ‘Fernal puts it.“There is monetary gain to be had, which is grand; and then there is glory, which is greater still,” he says.  “But revenge, ah . . . revenge is the best treasure of all . . . and you have so many of those hoards to loot, my dear.”</blockquote>

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