Chapter 2 - The Wizard Debate
Off to their left, on the wall of a slope heading back northward, there was another of the runes they had discovered near the beach. All at once, it came to life with purple magic swirling around to form a portal. Then, out of the portal, a human male appeared. He was wearing blue robes and carrying a quarterstaff on his back. He had brown hair that he combed back, a noble chin, and a regal beard. On his belt, he wore pouches most likely filled with spell components. The portal closed almost as soon as he appeared.
Before anyone could utter a word, though everyone had fallen into defensive stances, the man spread his hands wide with a bread smile on his face. He said, quite happily, "You're alive! That's unexpected." He was looking at Vexir and Kaedyn. "Last I saw you, you were lying in a crucible's worth of blood; an intellect devourer nibbling at your ear. Glad to see my eyes deceived me. I'm Gale. Well met!"
Everyone continued to eye him with suspicion. "Well met," said Kaedyn. "You were on the ship as well, I presume?" He, alone, seemed to relax more. He was always so quick to trust people.
"The very same," Gale replied in a charismatic way. "A traumatizing experience; if an instructive one."
"Instructive? What makes you say that?" asked Kaedyn.
"Nautiloids are incredibly rare vessels. They are a Mind Flayer colony's most guarded secret and a Gith pack's greatest prize. Not to mention..." He paused, seeing the expressions on everyone's faces as if for the first time. "... You're staring at me like Rashemi at a blackboard. You're no wizards, are you?"
"No, We're not a wizards," said Kaedyn.
"Pity," said Gale. "But that'll have to wait. The primary need now is a healer. I take it you recall the insertion of the parasite?"
"I recall it, yes. Vividly," said Kaedyn.
"Are you aware that after a period of excruciating gestation, it will turn us into Mind Flayers? It's a process known as ceremorphosis. It is to be avoided. I assume you're no accomplished healer either. A powerful cleric maybe?"
"I am a cleric," Kaedyn replied. "My patron god grants me many spells."
"But not the power to remove tadpoles, I gather," replied Gale."
"I pray daily," said Kaedyn, "so I may be granted that power yet."
Gale gave him a patronizing look. "How about we look for someone who already has that power? How about we embark on the quest for a healer together?" This last part he said as if it would be great fun.
"That sounds like a plan," said Kaedyn without thought. "You're welcome to join us." Then, realizing he'd made the same mistake again, he turned to the others. "That is, unless any of you have objections."
"A few," said Vexir, "but I'm usually shot down. I hate wizards, for one. Second, remember what Ryth-Shan said about intellect devourers? We have no idea whether this guy has been body snatched. Third, we didn't mind-swap with him, so we don't know if he has one of these things or not. He might just be saying that he does. Fourth, we know very little about him. Fifth, where did he come from that he just popped out of this portal. Sixth, why is he here and why didn't he just take off on his own? Why has he been hanging around here for more than a day? Seventh, he seemed to have observed us getting taken out by intellect devourers, and yet he did nothing to help us. Eighth, did I mention I hate wizards and don't trust them. Ninth, he's human, and tenth, I think he's trying just a bit too hard to get us to like him."
"I thought you said a few," said Astarion with a chuckle. Ryth-Shan joined him. "But, I will say, you've hit pretty much everything I was thinking as well."
"Agreed," said Ryth-Shan.
Gale was taken aback. "Ouch! You are definitely traveling with some shrewd companions, My Friend," he said to Kaedyn. "Fine. Fine. Let me explain a few things. First, I can't help you with your hatred for wizards problem." He said this to Vexir.
She replied, "I don't see it as a problem." She folded her arms across her chest as she gave him a look of disdain. She still had her greataxe in hand, and it was obvious she could bring it to the ready at any moment.
He continued, ignoring her. "Second, you see that rune there? It's Netherese. Now. Last I checked, though intellect devourers can take on some of the skills and knowledge of their host bodies, I doubt that they'd be skilled enough to be able to cast the magic necessary to operate these Netherese runes."
Everyone made Arcana rolls to see if they knew whether the runes were Netherese or not. The only person who succeeded was Astarion with a Natural 20, for no one had any proficiency in it, and the DC was 20. "How do we know they're Netherese?" asked Shadowheart. "We can only take your word for it."
Astarion grunted. "They're Netherese, all right. I've seen similar runes before in my travels. It is a valid point. I doubt one of those brain things could do that. Right?"
Ryth-Shan shook his head. "You either don't know too much about intellect devourers, or you actually ARE one of them." Since he'd made rolls about knowing intellect devourers previously, the DM did not make him roll again. "When an intellect devourer uses Body Thief, it knows EVERYTHING the host knew, including spells and languages."
They all tensed once more, ready to fight. Kaedyn was shocked. "You lied to us?"
Gale had his hands up, gesturing for them to please calm down. He was not a threat. "Alright! Wait! Listen. So, my knowledge about Mind Flayers and intellect devourers is a bit lacking. Obviously, I'm no expert. Bad move on my part. That doesn't mean I'm an intellect devourer."
"We could always split his skull open to find out," suggested Vexir with a devious grin.
Gale shook his head quickly, and something about the way he spoke at this point caught everyone off guard. "I REALLY wouldn't do that, if I were you," he cautioned quite seriously. "I can't go into details, right now, but please trust me when I say that it would be most disastrous if you killed me right now."
"Idle threats," said Vexir. "I highly doubt they're true; just like anything he has to say."
"Okay! Wait!" said Gale. "So, I can't really prove I'm not an intellect devourer. But, actually, doesn't my lack of knowledge somewhat indicate that I'm not one? Wouldn't an intellect devourer have known what the Gith said? Wouldn't I have NOT made such a stupid mistake?"
Ryth-Shan did relax a bit at this. "I suppose that makes sense. Still, intellect devourers can be quite sneaky."
"Okay," said Gale. "This is a start. Let me address some of the other things she said. Um... Why didn't we mind-swap? Good question. I don't know. Anytime, now, Tad! Anytime would be MOST helpful." He seemed to be rolling his eyes up to look at his cranium, as if talking to it and expecting it to respond.
"We don't need this guy," Vexir decided. "Either we kill him or move on. I'm done here."
Gale was desperate now. "Wait! Listen. I really need your help. I have scouted out the area, and I've seen a good deal of potential hostiles. Even just a few minutes ago, some Tieflings captured another Gith and are holding her in a cage just off to the north of here. They are trying to figure out whether to kill her or leave her. To the east, there are mercenaries. Not sure what they are up to at the crypt."
"Besides my need for you, don't you need a good wizard?" he added. "I mean, my abilities could come in handy, you know."
Kaedyn looked over at the others. "We don't have a wizard yet," he replied. "It's true. We could use one."
"One that we trust, maybe," said Vexir. "But I don't trust this one."
"You don't trust anyone," said Ryth-Shan. "I mean, not that I trust him either."
"He still hasn't explained a few things," said Shadowheart. "Like Vexir said, we know very little about him. Where did he come from when he came out of the portal? Why is he here? Why has he been hanging around here for more than a day? Why didn't he help us fight the intellect devourers? Oh, and I agree, I think he's trying just a bit too hard to get us to like him."
Gale was exasperated now. He sighed heavily and seemed to just give up. "Alright! Alright! I give up. It seems you're all against me except this guy." He gestured to Kaedyn. "Look. Take me or leave me. Fine. Whatever. To answer most of your questions, though, the answer is simple. I'm a wizard. I'm no fighter. I'm powerful, but only as a support to people like you. There is a very likely chance that I'm going to die out here on my own."
"So, why was I hanging around here? I was looking for people like you; hoping beyond hope that I might find you. The mercenaries in the crypt do NOT seem friendly to me. If anything, they seem quite greedy and hostile. There are goblins around." He gestured to the ones they'd recently looted. "I barely managed to take them out. They nearly killed me yesterday during everything. I had to hide myself with my last invisibility potion. Afterwards, I found a decent-enough place to crawl into and hide so that no one would find me while I slept. I actually feared that it wasn't good enough, and I dreamt mostly of being discovered."
"And in regards to not helping you against the intellect devourers, I was still locked in my pod at the time. It was damaged, and I was struggling to get out. Nonetheless, I was stuck fast. All I could do was watch you fight those things from where my pod was, suspended form the ceiling in the next chamber by some claw-like apparatus. My pod's window was facing towards where you were, and the light of day was illuminating your battle for me. By the time I got free, HOURS later, you were already gone. I'm no tracker, so I had no idea where you might have disappeared to. I looked around for awhile. I thought maybe you'd taken a dip across the river."
"Then, this morning, I ventured out of my hiding place to go look for you again. I made my way down to the beach and found the portal there by the entrance to the crypt. Just now, I decided to activate it to see where it led. I was actually quite pleased to encounter you here. I assumed it was the fortune of the gods that I found you. I was thinking this was destiny. Silly me."
"So, there you have it," Gale concluded. "Naturally, I'm trying hard to get you to like me. I really don't want to try to travel alone. In fact, unless you're going to kill me - which, again, I highly advise against for reasons I will not disclose at this time - I plan on following you anyway. If you won't make me a part of your party, I'm at least going to follow you in the hopes that I can escape this dreadful place in your wake and maybe, just maybe, assist you if you need me."
Then he winced as he said, "Therefore, what's it gonna be? Are we going to be traveling companions, or are we all about to die today?" Then he chuckled, but his expression was genuinely sad. "I can guarantee that if you kill me, I'm taking you with me."
Kaedyn turned to the others. "Look. I know I'm maybe a bit too trusting." Vexir snorted as if he'd made a gross understatement. "I like him. I trust him. I think we can really benefit from him coming with us." His relationship with Gale went up to 52 because he said this. "I think his story pans out. I say we take him with. Like he said, he's just going to follow us anyway."
Vexir rolled her eyes and said nothing. Ryth-Shan closed his eyes and nodded. "Fine," he replied. "But I'll be looking for any signs that you are, in fact, infected, AND that you aren't an intellect devourer or thrall." By the end of this entire debate, her relationship with Gale was 45.
Shadowheart shook her head. "I suppose having him around won't hurt. Hopefully."
Astarion just shrugged. "I really don't care," he replied. "But I will warn him that if he tries anything, I won't hesitate to slit his throat." He said this in the most pleasant of manners, as if he was talking about carving open a turkey for everyone to eat.
Gale was beyond relieved. "Excellent! Wonderful! Thank you so much." He said this last thing to Kaedyn. "You are, by far, my favorite party member." Then he paused as he glanced over at Shadowheart. "Well, that is, for now. I suppose things could change. You do keep the most interesting company." He said this with a sly grin. "A woman with shadows for eyes; as deep as a dark lake. A pleasure! Truly!"
Shadowheart raised an eyebrow at this. "Is it now? We'll see." Then she said nothing more. It wasn't clear whether she liked him saying that or not.
"Well then," said Ryth-Shan suddenly, much to everyone's surprise. Gale had said something that had caused him to feel apprehensive. He had mentioned a Gith female in a cage, captured by Tieflings. He couldn't help but wonder if it was Lae'zel. He really wanted to check on that situation and fast. He wanted to reach her before the Tieflings maybe killed her. Even if it wasn't Lae'zel, it was a Gith, nevertheless. "We should get moving. Wizard, lead the way to the Gith at once."
Shadowheart regarded him with a steely expression. "Why? Sounded like the Tieflings had everything under control."
Ryth-Shan gave her a nasty look. "She's my kin. I want to help her."
"It's probably that nasty wench from the ship," Vexir replied with a sigh. "I agree with Shadowheart. Do we really need to bring her back into this?" Vexir's relationship with Ryth-Shan dropped to 54.
"She wanted to leave me for dead," said Shadowheart, trying to support her reasoning."
Ryth-Shan was determined. "Then I'll go alone," he told them. Come on, Wizard. Show me the way."
This time, Kaedyn said nothing. Did he agree with them for a change? Did he not want to have Lae'zel, or another Gith female, traveling with them? Astarion also said nothing. He just seemed to be sitting back and watching everyone in amusement.
As Ryth-Shan started to walk away, however, Vexir caved. "Fine," she said at last. "We'll go save your girlfriend." Then she joined him just up the path where he stopped. He was totally shocked.
"You... you're coming?" he asked.
Everyone else was equally stunned. "Yes," said Vexir, clearly in a foul mood. "If it is Lae'zel, she is one of us too. So, who knows. Maybe she'll come in useful somehow." Then she looked back at the others. "Well? Are you all coming? Let's get this over with. Shall we?" Her relationship with Ryth-Shan went back up to 55. However, her relationship with Shadowheart dropped to 52. (Just to note, the DM was keeping these relationship scores to himself. He did not reveal them to the players.)
And so, the party set out, following Gale, around the bend in the path and up the slope towards the north. He then led them down an intersecting pathway, for it did split at one point, and over to another intersection where there was a hanging cage. There, within, was Lae'zel, and there were two Tieflings standing there with weapons ready, still debating what to do with her.
Before facing the Tieflings, it was time to level up Gale. He began as a Level 1 Wizard. Because Wizards were more complex, right from the beginning, the DM decided to let the player decide on his stats and spells right from the beginning. He would level up to level 3 before the players were done, but the DM allowed them to pick each level in order to craft him to fit more with their party.
His basic build was that he was a Sage. So he got the special ability Researcher. This allowed him to know where he might find information and obtain it if he failed on a roll to determine if he already knew it. He had a quarterstaff, a component pouch, a scholar's pack, a spellbook, a bottle of black ink, a quill, a small knife, a letter from a dead colleague posing a question he had not yet been able to answer, a set of common clothes and a belt pouch as well as 10 gold.
At level 1, he also got to pick 3 cantrips and 6 level 1 spells. The players chose Fire Bolt, Light, and Ray of Frost. For his 6 level 1 spells, they chose Burning Hands, Find Familiar, Identify, Mage Armor, Magi Missile, and Silent Image. He could prepare 4 spells, so he prepared Burning Hands, Find Familiar, Silent Image and Magic Missile.
Then they leveled him up to level 2. One of the players rolled a 6, so his HP went up from 8 to 16. Maximum HP! It was time to choose which school of magic he was going to go with. After discussing it, the players chose Evocation. They wanted him to be their damage spellcaster. Immediately, he gained the Sculpt Spells ability. With this, he could use an area of effect spell that might even affect his allies. However, he would choose a number of them up to 1+ his spell caster level. The selected creatures would automatically succeed on their saving throws against the spell, and they would take no damage if they would normally take half damage on a successful save. He also got Evocation Savant. Any gold and time he would normally have to spend to copy a spell to his spell book would be halved, making copying his evocation spells easier and less costly to the party.
At level 2, he gained 2 more spells of his choice at level 1. So, the players chose Thunderwave and Witch Bolt. He could then prepare 1 additional spell. They chose Thunderwave.
Finally, they leveled him up again to level 3. They rolled a 2+2=4, so his HP increased to 20. He acquired 4 level 1 spell slots and 2 level 2 spell slots. He also learned 2 more spells of his choice from either Level 1 or Level 2 spells. The players chose Dragon's Breath and Mirror Image. Then they unprepared Silent Image and prepared both Dragon's Breath and Mirror Image. So Gale's prepared spells, in the end, were Burning Hands, Find Familiar, Magic Missile, Thunderwave, Dragon's Breath and Mirror Image.
After leveling up, Gale summoned the Find Familiar spell, creating for himself a cat.
