Chapter 3 - A Short Rest
They were just outside the main entrance area where they had encountered Gimblebock and his crew. There was a peaceful overlook that even had benches for people to sit and relax as they viewed the southern horizon. From there, they could see the wreckage of the nautiloid, a terrible reminder of what they had been through. They also saw the beach below. On the left of the overlook, there was their camp, hidden away and nestled below the trees. They knew it was down there, but they were relieved to know that it could not be seen from where they were perched. To the south was where they had met Shadowheart at the door into the Dank Crypt.
Perception rolls were made in secret. Shadowheart was the first to notice something, for she rolled a Natural 20. "Look! There's a ridge that runs along there. We could get to it from up here. It looks like part of the nautiloid smashed open there. I think I see one of the Mind Flayer chests there. We should check it out."
Gale sat on one of the benches. "Be my guest. I'm going to take a moment to calm my nerves and do the Identify spell on the amulet we found in the crypt. I also want to see what the book is about that we found in the sarcophagus."
"I'll go with you," said Ryth-Shan. Astarion also wanted to tag along. Ryth-Shan gained a relationship point with each. "Zriek. Check it out, please. Make sure no enemies are lurking about that might see us." Then the raven did just that. Before the three even came close to finding the path, the bird returned and gave him a sign that the way was clear. They had to do some climbing and jumping, but they made it without much difficulty. The DM decided that they didn't have to roll. The terrain wasn't so challenging that it was necessary.
They discovered the chest was locked, so Astarion went to work on it. He failed with a roll of 6+7=13, and his Thieves Tools broke. "Blast!" he cried as he tossed the broken tools to the side. They were useless now. He looked up at Ryth-Shan. "I know you had another set. May I?"
Ryth-Shan handed them to him. "You're the expert." For trusting Astarion to the task, Ryth-Shan gained another point of relationship. He was up to 59 now.
Astarion tried again and failed with a roll of 4+7=11. He was not having any luck with the chest. The tools broke as well, and he tossed them to the ground. He cursed a second time. "Well. Perhaps you shouldn't have trusted me after all. Apparently, this chest is a bit more complicated than I anticipated. I don't suppose we found any additional kits?"
Both shook their heads. "We'll just have to bring it with, I guess," said Ryth-Shan.
"What?" said Shadowheart. "Do you plan on stuffing it into your magic pocket?"
Ryth-Shan shrugged and smiled. "Sure. Why not?" They then lifted the heavy, ornate chest and slowly attempted to stuff one end of it into Ryth-Shan's magic pocket. It was awkward, but interestingly enough, as one leg of it touched the pocket, the whole thing began to shrink in size. They continued to stuff it into the pocket until it vanished within.
It was only then that Ryth-Shan noticed the weight. "Oh! Apparently we don't share the weight, unless this load is particularly heavy." He groaned. "Wow! It's going to be difficult to get to the top of the cliff again to rejoin the others."
"We'll help you along," said Shadowheart. She seemed be warming up to him. And so, the three returned along the ridge and back up to the overlook where the others rested.
While they were doing that, Gale used Identify on the amulet. He discovered that it was the Amulet of Lost Voices. With it, the wearer could cast Speak with Dead once a day. "Who should wear it?" he asked as he held it aloft for all to see.
"I don't particularly care for necromancy," said Kaedyn as Ryth-Shan, Shadowheart and Astarion returned.
Vexir shrugged, "I don't want it. I don't care for magic. You know that. The only magic I like is imbued in weapons and armor. You can keep the rest."
Ryth-Shan heard the description of the amulet's powers, and he also declined. "I am also not keen on necromancy."
"Well," said Gale. "If no one else wants it, I..."
"I'll take it," said Astarion. "I AM undead, after all. Yes? So, why not? Seems appropriate. Doesn't it?"
No one else argued. As far as they were concerned, he could have it. Then they all rested for a bit, taking a short rest. Kaedyn was full health, so he didn't need to use any of his Hit Dice to recover HP. Vexir used 1 of her 3 d10's and rolled a 7. She added her Constitution modifier of +2 to that. Thus, she recovered 9 HP. She had 16, so she was at 25. Her max was 27, so that was close enough for her. After resting an hour, she still felt a bit off, but she felt considerably better.
Ryth-Shan also used a hit die. He got 1d10 as well. He only rolled a 1+1=2. His HP was now 22 with a max of 26. He decided to stop there also. He could have used another Hit Dice, but he decided against it. At Level 3, he could only regain 1 Hit Die per long rest. So, it was better to save it for later, just in case.
Finally, Gale used a Hit Die. He had 6 HP out of 20. He would get 1d6 per Hit Die. He rolled 4+2=6. Still not liking how low his HP was, he used another and rolled a 4+2=6. Ah! 18 was much better. The DM also reminded him that he could use Arcane Recovery to regain a spell slots during a Short Rest. He could regain a number of spell slots equal to or less than half his wizard level (rounded up). He had 4 Level 1 slots to begin with, and had used 2, and he had 2 Level 2 slots and used 1. Being at Level 3, he could recover 2 slots total. He chose to recover both of his Level 1 slots.
During that hour, the party enjoyed some food and drink as they rested in the overlook. Then Gale opened the book they'd found in the sarcophagus, and he read the title. "Metatext: Rebound, by Iosefa Elgin, a scholar excommunicated from the Church of Deneir for her heretical efforts to reconstruct the Metatext, her god's annal of lost and hidden knowledge."
Everyone made Religion rolls. Vexir and Astarion, surprisingly, were the only two who had heard of Deneir. Everyone else had a blank look on their faces. Shadowheart even said, "Okay. I give up. Who is Deneir? Any connection to the Dead Three?"
Vexir replied. "I remember hearing about him. He was a neutral good lesser deity of art, cartography, images, knowledge, scholars, etc. He was often called the Scribe of Oghma. I think he was Oghma's younger brother, or something like that." This was not entirely true. Oghma was Deneir's brother god. In other words, they were similar in nature and connected by similar portfolios. However, Vexir didn't roll a 25 or more, so some of the information she thought she knew wasn't entirely accurate. "The teachings of Deneir dictated that his followers avoid designing weapons of war and death."
"During the Spellplague, I think Deneir tried to reestablish the stability of Mystra's Weave," Astarion added. "He wrote the Metatext and seemed to completely disappear. Some say he became apart of the Weave, granting his remaining Chosen more arcane abilities.
"Hmmm. The only connection, then, seems to have to do with the Spellplague," said Ryth-Shan. "That's not much. The Spellplague affected everyone."
"Well, what does it say?" asked Lae'zel.
Gale found an excerpt that he thought was most important, and he read, "Of what value a life?"
"Well," said Vexir. "I wonder where the talkative skeleton got his 'One Question' from?" A few chuckled at this.
Gale continued. "Far too esoteric a topic to warrant any serious critical consideration between these pages, surely - or so it would seem at first glance. But once we push aside the mysticism and dewy-eyed sentiment so often clouding our assessment, it is clear that across all the spinning planes, each and every life does indeed have a quantifiable value. It is simply that not all are equally valuable."
"Looks like you may have answered correctly," Shadowheart commented in Kaedyn's direction. "At least you didn't say everyone was created equally. I wonder what he would have done if you had?"
Gale continued once more. "Consider: we already know that the destruction of our material form is not the end. If anything, our souls are more free after death, transcending planar barriers in search of a resting place that best befits our deeds, beliefs, and station in life. But even this assessment is subject to market forces: Lord Kelemvor weighing our souls against how thoroughly we have given them over to other gods, empowering them in turn."
"There is, of course, an alternate route; not the end of the path, but the chance to retread it. Clerics across the Realms wield the power to return to life to any soul deemed worthy or willing enough. It is strange, then, that these so frequently intersect with those deemed wealthy enough, for the components for such a spell are beyond the means of most mortals."
"I have interviewed those who have made such a return, and in truth have found them to be of the most dull and unimaginative sort that I cannot possibly imagine what it is they were so eager to return to. If a true assessment of the journey is to be made, then there is simply no replacement for embarking upon it oneself. Perhaps, one day, this great volume of learning will make me worthy enough to walk that path - and wealthy enough to return."
He closed the book. "In other words," he concluded, summing it all up, "it seems Kaedyn only answered the question in part."
"How do you figure?" asked Shadowheart.
"If the Guardian of Tombs was taking these words to heart," explained Gale, "then it seems the point of the text is that the worth of a single mortal's life is relative. The writer, Deneir, seems to view the wealthy as not being really worthy to be resurrected. Meanwhile, those who are worthy are those who can't afford resurrection. Priests charge an obscene amount of gold, usually, to cast resurrection spells and bring people back to life, if you can even find one who is powerful enough to do it. So, only the wealthy can afford it, and Deneir seems to view all such people as dull and unworthy of continued life on the Material Plane. Meanwhile, the truly valuable souls, those who are most interesting and precious, are those who die and are forgotten."
"So, of what worth is a single mortal's life?" asked Gale. "Answer 1: It depends on the person's deeds, as our friend here told the Guardian. If their deeds are interesting, then their life was worth a good deal to Deneir. If they were boring and dull, their life was worth very little to Deneir."
"Then there's Answer 2: People like clerics put a price tag on mortal lives. Therefore, from the viewpoint of mortals, the worth of a single mortal's life depends on how much money a person has. Rich people, therefore, are more valuable than poor people, according to the ways of most mortals. And so, if you are poor, you are truly worth nothing."
"But then," said Astarion, "wouldn't that mean his answer was completely correct?"
Shadowheart was lost. "Philosophy was never my strong suit," she said shaking her head.
He continued. "If a person's deeds allowed them to accumulate lots of wealth, then they could afford to pay for resurrection and live longer. Thus, from the mortal perspective, deeds are still the measure of value. However, from the eyes of Deneir and many others, if a person's deeds are interesting, that makes them more valuable. Therefore, deeds determine a person's value from the perspective of gods as well. So, it seems Kaedyn answered correctly regardless of the point of view. Whether you are mortal or deity, a person's deeds determine their value."
"Well," said Lae'zel. "This still has nothing to do with the Dead Three or the parasites or anything. Let's stop wasting time. I think we've rested enough." Then she turned to Ryth-Shan. "Did you find anything on the ridge?"
"A chest," he said. "It's in the inventory. We couldn't get the lock open, and we've run out of lockpicks."
"We could crack it open with Vexir's axe," she replied.
"Could damage what's inside," said Kaedyn. "I say we keep it until we find more lockpicks or a key."
"It's heavy," said Ryth-Shan. "Apparently, though we sort of share an inventory, the person who puts the object in their magic pocket is the only one who carries the load."
"We could leave it at the camp below," suggested Shadowheart.
After a bit more debate, the group agreed. "I'll use the Netherese portal to go from where we met Gale down to the camp area," said Ryth-Shan. "Then we'll meet back here. It shouldn't take too long. I'll be back shortly. Come on, Zriek." Then, before anyone could say another word, Ryth-Shan ran off alone.
It took Lae'zel only a moment before she rolled her eyes and sighed. "Bah! We shouldn't go off alone. Intellect Devourers like to pray on lone travelers. He could get ambushed and we'd never know." Then she ran off after him. Ryth-Shan's Relationship Score with Lae'zel went up to 56. She was impressed that he was fearlessly willing to go it alone, and he was pleased to see that she was concerned for his safety.
The DM then gave them all an extra 279 XP to not only round up their points to 1,500 but also because they reached a checkpoint in the story. The DM also gave each character Inspiration. Either a character had Inspiration or they did not. It did not accumulate. Thus, after the Short Rest, the morale of the party was high, and the DM determined that they would all have Inspiration.
If a character had Inspiration, they could expend it when they made an Attack roll, saving throw, or ability check. Spending Inspiration gave them advantage on that roll. Additionally, they could reward another character for good roleplaying, clever thinking, or simply doing something exciting in the game by giving them their Inspiration. So, if Kaedyn still had Inspiration and Vexir did not, Kaedyn could give Vexir Inspiration as long as the DM determined that Vexir was doing something worthy of that Inspiration. If she was merely trying to barter with a merchant, Kaedyn couldn't give her Inspiration, but if she was trying to save a life, that would be something worthy of giving up Inspiration.
All these rewards they received because they had successfully escaped the nautiloid and the Mind Flayers, formed a party of 7, defeated mercenaries and guardians, and completed their first dungeon together. After Ryth-Shan returned, they began their next story arc.
End of Chapter 3.
