Chapter 2 - The Suspicious Elf
It was early morning. The sun was not high over the eastern horizon. The four strangers made their way back to the crashed nautiloid. As they approached the location where they had faced the three intellect devourers, Kaedyn and Vexir both felt a shudder run down their spines. They couldn't help but remember what it was like to have their intellects devoured.
But the remainder of that section of the ship was empty of life. There were a few more bodies lying about. After a quick search, they found a Mind Flayer chest and a few Mind Flayer corpses. On them, they found another potion of speed and a few coins. There was a locket that belonged to some kid, or so they thought. It had some sort of inscription on it referring to "Daddy."
There were two ways to go. They could either continue on into the midst of the ruined ship, or they could head through to the west side via a massive, gaping hole in the hull. They chose the west side. None wanted to really explore the nautiloid further if they could help it.
On the far side, the river cut them off again, winding north a short ways into a cove. The rapids were moving too fast to swim across, but they could see that beyond there was some sort of bog in the distance. On the southern shore, just to their left, there were destroyed fishing boats and some crates strewn about the shoreline. Only one crate seemed to be of any importance. It was locked.
"Must have something good inside," Ryth-Shan commented. "Still don't have me any thieves tools, though. If I did, I'd try to pick the lock."
"We could just bash it open," suggested Vexir.
"Too much noise," Kaedyn cautioned. "We still don't know who might be around. I'd rather not draw unwanted attention."
"Also, we might destroy what's inside," said Shadowheart.
Perception rolls were made in secret by the DM for each character. Kaedyn rolled a 5, Vexir an 18, Ryth-Shan an 11 and Shadowheart a 3. The difficulty was 15, so Kaedyn and Shadowheart certainly didn't make it even with their skill bonuses. Vexir made it for sure even without looking at her bonus, and Ryth-Shan only barely made it because he got a +4 for his Perception skill for a total of 15.
Ryth-Shan and Vexir both spotted a set of thieves tools in the bushes not too far from the crate. "How convenient!" said Ryth-Shan as he ran up to them. "I wonder where they came from."
Vexir had been just about to point them out, but when she saw him already heading towards them she simply replied, "Who cares? Let's just see what's in the crate. You never know what could help us survive this."
Everyone agreed. Ryth-Shan grabbed the thieves tools and ran up to the crate. He rolled a 14+4=18 to succeed in picking the lock. Success! He needed a 15. The lock clicked open and he threw the lid off. He found a leather helmet, some gold, some food, and a few bottles of wine.
It was like a gift during the holidays for them. Ryth-Shan's Relationship Score increased by 2 for everyone. They were so happy with him for acquiring such a feast that they could hardly contain it. "You are truly one of the most valuable members of the party," Vexir commented as she snatched a bottle of wine from him.
"It is the simple things that matter most, sometimes, isn't it," said Shadowheart as she took another of the bottles.
Kaedyn grabbed an apple and some bread. "I like fish, and all, but this will due for a nice lunch and will even last us for supper."
They quickly stowed the food and such in their magic pockets, and then Ryth-Shan held the leather helmet. "Anyone want the helmet?"
"It's better than nothing, I suppose," said Vexir. "I'd better take it. I'm always the one up close." He then gave it to her without complaint. He was a ranged person, after all.
No one argued as she put it on. She had to take out her ponytail so that she could tuck her hair up inside the cap, but in the end, she fastened it on. She actually looked somewhat silly, but they knew that it would at least provide her with some protection if she suffered a blow to the head. Basically, in game terms, the DM decided that he would award her with a +2 Damage Resistance against Critical Hits. In other words, if someone scored a Critical Hit on her, she would take 2 less points of damage.
After this, the group made their way along a path to the north. They came upon another hole in the ship on their right and some bushes on the left. The path sloped up a bit until they spotted, in the distance, a pod just like the ones the Mind Flayers had put them in. It looked as if the pod had been ejected and had crashed there feet first. Like the nautiloid, it looked as if it had been on fire, but those fires were now burned out. It had, after all, been more than a day since the crash.
As they approached, they suddenly spotted a pale elf male with curly, white hair. His hair was combed back but looked wild and crazy. In spite of it being a bit messy, it looked rather good on him; as if he intended it to be that way. He was dressed somewhat like a nobleman, though he wore fancy padded armor and was armed with a rapier. It was clear he was not dressed for court. He was crouched over as if observing something beyond the foliage near him.
As he spotted the group, he said over his shoulder, "Ah! Good." He hissed in low tones. "Thank goodness you've arrived when you did. Please, can you help me? Hurry. I've got one of those brain things cornered. There. In the grass. You can kill it, can't you? Like you killed the others."
Nature rolls were made in secret by the DM. He rolled a 4 for Kaedyn, a 10 for Vexir, a 20 for Ryth-Shan and a 10 for Shadowheart. The difficulty was 15, so only Ryth-Shan made it. He actually got an advantage, since it was in regards to an aberration, but the DM didn't have to use that.
Kaedyn was about to step forward to help the man as he hefted his already readied mace and shield, but Ryth-Shan stopped him. "This could be an intellect devourer trick," he warned with his hand to Kaedyn's chest. "They have the body thief ability to steal someone's body. Remember? Basically, they could have devoured this guy's brain and taken him over. They often use the bodies of normal people like him to lure unsuspecting victims into a Mind Flayer trap, or to kill them outright."
The white-haired elf was appalled. "How dare you?" he scolded. "I..." Just then, a boar ran out of the bushes and fled further away along the shelf of land they were on. Seeing this, the elf replied, "Well, I was hoping for a kinder soul, but I guess I'll just have to improvise." He spoke charmingly enough, but everyone immediately sensed lethal intent.
Initiative was rolled. Kaedyn rolled an 8+2=10. Vexir also rolled an 8+2=10. Ryth-Shan rolled a 7+2=9. Shadowheart rolled a 16+2=18, and the elf rolled a 9+3=12. So the Initiative Order was Shadowheart, the elf, Kaedyn, Vexir and Ryth-Shan.
A dagger suddenly appeared in the elf's hand. He made a move as if he was going to rush Kaedyn. Shadowheart, however, was quicker. With crossbow in hand, she took a shot. She rolled a 5+4=9. Miss. The elf had 14 AC. He dodged to the side deftly and rushed Kaedyn. Much to everyone's surprise, at the last second, he spun and came at Vexir. He then rolled an 11+5=16. Her AC was 16. Hit!
But that was the end of the battle. He didn't actually strike a blow. Instead, his dagger came up to her throat, just under her chin. Everyone froze. The tip was pressed against her skin with his free hand cupped around behind her head. He made it clear that he could kill her with a flick of his wrist, but he chose not to. He wanted answers, it seemed.
"Now then. That's better," the elf said, his voice strained. He was clearly rather desperate. "Shh! Shh! Not a sound; not if you want to keep that darling neck of yours. I have a few questions, and you will only speak when I ask them. If any of your friends try anything, you're dead. Everyone understand? Nod." He nodded as if trying to coax them along.
Vexir's eyes glanced about at her companions. They were poised and ready to attack the elf if she could somehow break free. Instead, she nodded carefully. They followed her lead. She was both terrified and quite furious. She did NOT like having this puny, cocky elf holding her at knife-point.
"Splendid!" said the elf as if they were the best of friends and he was having such a delightful conversation with her. "See? That wasn't so hard. Now. I saw you on the ship, didn't I? Nod." They all nodded again. "Delightful! See? Isn't this great fun? You know. I think you're getting the hang of this game. Next question. Well, actually, it's more of a statement." His voice and expression became instantly hostile and sinister. "You're going to tell me exactly what you and those tentacled freaks did to me."
Kaedyn spoke up. "You have it backwards. They took us prisoner, just like you."
The elf shot him a vicious look. "Don't lie to me! I... agh!"
Just then, their minds twisted. There was a flash of activity in their heads. All four of the adventurers were suddenly looking out of unfamiliar eyes, prowling dark, busy streets. They each tried to hold the memory, but it faded to the worm. The light. The fear.
The elf released Vexir and staggered away, clutching his head. "What was that? What's going on?" He brandished his dagger to ward them off, but he was like a drunk; bleary-eyed and staggering.
Vexir was about to pounce, when Kaedyn stepped in the way. "Wait! I think he's one of us. It's the Mind Flayer worm. It connected us."
The elf seemed to realize that he was right, as did the others. All weapons except for Vexir's lowered. The elf said, "You're not one of them. They took you, just the same as me. And to think, I was ready to decorate the ground with your innards. Apologies." He was back to being his usual charming, friendly persona.
"Glad to see we're all caught up," Ryth-Shan remarked offhandedly.
"Indeed, we are," said the elf, almost seductively. It somewhat gave Ryth-Shan a creepy feeling. He even felt a shudder run down his spine. "Please, allow me to introduce myself. My name's Astarion. I was in Baldur's Gate when those beasts snatched me."
"I'm Kaedyn," the Half-Drow replied. "This is Vexir." He touched the top of her axe and slowly lowered it for her. She gave him a steely gaze but let him. Their Relationship Score dropped to 52. "That's Ryth-Shan and Shadowheart." Then he proceeded to tell Astarion everything they had been through.
"Wonderful!" said Astarion. "Isn't this a happy occasion. Now we're all such good friends. My. My. You've been busy. So, did you learn anything about these worms while wandering the ship?"
"Yes," said Ryth-Shan. "Unfortunately, they'll turn us into Ghaik. Mind Flayers."
"Turn us into... Ha! Hahahaha!" His face then contorted to a teeth gritting scowl. "Of course it'll turn me into a monster. What else did I expect? Although, it hasn't happened yet. If we can find an expert; someone that can control these things. There might still be time."
"Control it!?" Ryth-Shan snapped. "Are you mad? We need to get rid of it. We're lucky that they haven't transformed us into Mind Flayers yet. We should have lost our minds, literally, and our personalities, within hours of infestation. We're living on borrowed time as it is."
"Well, yes. Of course," said Astarion as if completely unaffected by his response. "But first things first. Control it, THEN get it removed. Right?"
"You should travel with us," Kaedyn stated. "Our odds are better together. We all have these things in us. Maybe if we work together, we can overcome it." And with that, his Relationship Score with Astarion increased to 52.
"I was ready to go this alone, but maybe sticking with the herd isn't a bad idea. Safety in numbers, after all," said Astarion. "And I hate to turn down an invitation." Again, Ryth-Shan detected a creepy vibe. Why was an invitation something he delighted in a little TOO much? "All right, I accept. Lead on."
"Don't you think we should have discussed this first before you made a decision to add another party member?" asked Vexir. She did not seem pleased with this arrangement.
Ryth-Shan grunted. "He's decided that he's our leader now. Fall in line, Drow."
It was a joke, and Vexir caught it. She glanced at him with a smirk. Their Relationship Score increased to 54. "Watch your tone, Gith," she replied sharply, but it was clear that she was only returning in jest. Their score went up to 55.
"Sorry," said Kaedyn. "I just figured that if you disagreed, you'd let me know. Do we have to discuss everything in a committee? Are you disagreeing?"
Their eyes met. Vexir seemed uncertain. Then she sighed. "I admit that he's got skills. I wasn't expecting someone so soft and squishy looking to catch me off guard like that. It was impressive." Her Relationship Score with Astarion increased to 51. "Fine."
"I'm glad you approve, Darling," said Astarion graciously. "Again, you should also be pleased that I chose you as my primary target. It was most certainly because I viewed you as the greatest threat to me." His score with her increased to 52.
"Just don't do something like that again," she replied. "Come. Let's get moving. We've wasted enough time here."
"Wait," said Ryth-Shan. "That boar. I think I could maybe speak with him and see if he can help guide us around here. We might be able to get some answers about what's been happening here, too."
"Speaking of that," said Shadowheart. "Our new friend hasn't exactly been very forthcoming on information about what's happened to him since the crash and what he knows. Don't tell me you were in that pod the whole time. What have you been up to since we crashed over a day ago? What can YOU tell us?"
Astarion shrugged. "There's really not much to tell. I was stuck in that pod in the bowels of the ship. I saw you." He pointed at Ryth-Shan. "You came into the chamber my pod was in. There were explosions. The ship spun sideways. Pods were being thrown out the hole left and right. My pod was thrown out just as the ship was about to crash. It hit the ground hard here. The pod was heavily damaged, and it took some time to break free. I didn't feel well, so I staggered into the bushes and hid myself there."
"But then, there were people running about wildly," he continued. "They were in a frightful state. I wasn't sure if they were friend or foe, so I continued to stay hidden. Mind Flayers and those brain creatures were killing everyone still. It was madness. The fighting seemed to last forever. So many died. Apparently, the shores of this river were lined with people when the ship crashed. Must be a settlement or something nearby; a fishing village perhaps."
"A lot of them obviously had boats, though," said Ryth-Shan, gesturing back the way they'd come. "Could be more than one settlement along the river here. Maybe the fish are biting more on this side of the river."
"Do you think we could get across to the other side?" asked Kaedyn.
Ryth-Shan shook his head. "The currents are too strong. Without a boat, we'd risk having an undertow drag us under."
As they were discussing this, Shadowheart continued to regard Astarion warily. "What happened next?" she asked. It was as if she was interrogating him. Even her stance indicated this.
Astarion was a bit put out by her. "Well, then I noticed that dawn was coming. I will confess, I panicked." He seemed to get lost, for a moment, in his own thoughts, as if he was still pondering something that puzzled him. Then he shook this off and continued. "With dawn coming, my spot in the bushes wouldn't likely shield me forever, you see. I feared the light would expose me. So, I hunted around for a better hiding place. The only one I could find in time was one of the crates the fishermen had in their shattered boat just south of here. I popped open one of the unbroken ones and prayed no one found me."
"We saw the crates," remarked Kaedyn. "We found one had some food supplies inside. Ryth-Shan here had to pick the lock. He found some thieves tools in the bushes and..."
"My tools!" Astarion remarked. "Bravo, Dear Boy! I was wondering what happened to those. If you don't mind, I'd like to have those back. I guarantee I'm much better at them than you are." He grinned charmingly. "I'm somewhat of an expert."
Ryth-Shan hesitated, but he decided to pull them out and hand them to Astarion. His Relationship Score with Kaedyn decreased to 51. He was not pleased that Kaedyn had told him about the tools. "Fine by me," he lied. "Now. Maybe I can try to go have a chat with that boar."
"Sounds good to me," said Kaedyn. "Any help would be good."
Shadowheart was not content, though. Once more, she stopped them from moving on. She was obviously suspicious of Astarion. "So, were you hiding in the crate the whole time until we came along?"
Astarion now made it obvious that he was totally annoyed by her questions. "My Dear. You are an inquisitive one, aren't you?" He then sighed. "No. I will confess that I remained in the crate for some time as that first morning came. Those brain creatures continued going about hunting people. One came for me and smashed the crate open. It was all rather... terrifying, to say the least." He then became like a person who is haunted by some horrible trauma. "The light pierced my eyes as the beast's claws tore the lid off. I... I'll never forget that moment."
"I bet," said Kaedyn, sympathetically. "Vexir and I have recently had the unpleasant experience of having one of those things eat our intellects."
His words seemed to snap Astarion out of his nightmarish reverie. "Well, that's the thing," said Astarion. "You actually saved me. You came along just then and drew the creature's attention. They seemed more interested in you than me at that point. I saw you killing them. You were all quite good, I must say." He then glanced over at Shadowheart when he said this last bit.
"Why didn't you help us?" asked Shadowheart, still obviously suspicious.
"I admit, I was utterly terrified. I ran," he confessed sheepishly. "I'm dreadfully ashamed of my actions, but... well... after everything I'd been through... Bah! That's no excuse, and I am terribly sorry. It's just... well... I hope you'll forgive me."
"What did you do then?" Shadowheart continued.
Astarion sneered. "You ARE relentless, aren't you? I found another place to hide. There's a small alcove down there." He pointed to a path down the cliff on the west side that ran around to the cove. There was a little nook in the side of the cliff there that was bathed in shadow. "I was hoping beyond hope nothing would find me."
At this, the DM made secret Insight rolls against Astarion's Deception skill roll. Astarion rolled a 14+2=16. Kaedyn rolled a 9+4=13, Vexir a 20+2=22, Ryth-Shan a 10+2=12 and Shadowheart a 13+4=17.
The DM informed Vexir and Shadowheart that they notice that Astarion was not telling them everything. He was certainly, MOSTLY, telling the truth. However, there were little details he was leaving out that he did NOT want them to know about. It would take a lot to get the information out of him. They would either have to strap him down and being a full-blown interrogation or let the matter drop.
Vexir was the one, this time, to question him. "Can we trust you if you don't tell us the whole truth?" she asked. "You're hiding something important from us. What is it? Now!" Her Relationship Score with Shadowheart increased to 53.
Astarion sighed heavily. "Look. I understand what you're saying, but we all have our secrets, now don't we? Do I have to share ALL my secrets with everyone here right this moment? If so, I'd like to hear yours and hers." He gestured to Vexir first and then to Shadowheart.
Shadowheart fell silent. Vexir's eyes narrowed to slits. Her score with Astarion dropped to 50 again. "First you put a knife to my throat, and now you refuse to tell me what you're hiding. I'm rethinking this little arrangement. I think we're better off without him." Her score with him dropped to 48.
Astarion sneered. "Have it your way," he said, and he was clearly outraged.
He was about to walk away when Kaedyn stepped in. "Wait!" he said. "Vexir. Let's rethink this. Ryth-Shan even told us that things with these parasites are different. He's infected. We're infected. Don't you think it's more important that we stick together and work through this? He has a right to his privacy just as much as we do. Right? Can't we respect his privacy?"
They all considered this. Finally, Vexir agreed. "Fine. However," she said as she firmly locked eyes with Astarion, "if I find out you were withholding valuable information from us that we needed..."
Astarion bowed graciously, once more his charming self. "Darling, I assure you it is nothing like that. It is merely personal matters that I am keeping to myself. Nothing more."
"Good," said Kaedyn at last. "We're all in agreement. Ryth-Shan, will you please lead the way now? Hopefully the boar isn't gone."
Ryth-Shan chuckled. "No kidding! We've probably scared him halfway to Icewindale." Then he set out to follow the boars tracks. The rest followed.
