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lettersfrombel14 Tarsakh 1492 DR
Emerald Grove environs
My dear River,
I think Master Halsin might have been a poor choice to lead the grove. Oh, he tries, and he is loved, but I don’t think his heart was in it. He’s asked to travel with us going forward, for reasons I will explain, and requested a colleague from another grove come take over. I hope he told them before he told us, but I suspect he didn’t. Several of the druids aren’t willing to take our success at decapitating the local cult as proof that they were wrong to try and seal the grove. Given these are people who can turn into animals, they might well have had some luck, but probably suffered more casualties than we did. The camp was prepared for druids, but not for people who felt like True Souls but were free of the Absolute’s control.
He was able to tell us where Moonrise Towers were and the history of the region. Unfortunately, it is at the heart of a shadow-cursed land, which makes travel difficult. There is an alternate route, but it is through the Underdark. Still, I’d prefer the danger I know to the one I don’t. I do have to remind Master Gale that he is responsible for making sure he can see, and check with Wyll to see how his vision is now. Somehow I doubt Madame Mizora was generous enough to give him any advantage over his prior, fully-human, state. (Please take my deep contempt when writing ‘generous’ as understood, dear River. Alas that my handwriting does not offer the expressiveness of my voice.)
The whole thing is also connected to Shar worship, so I also have to keep an eye on Shadowheart, to know which way she will jump. Never get involved with gods, dear River. Nothing but trouble. Perhaps the occasional offering is fine, but don’t go relying on them to guard your best interests. Good advice for everything, but at least with people, you have some response if they prove untrustworthy.
I do want to meet with Madame Lae’zel’s people. At the least, I would consider it a courtesy to warn them that these tadpoles will not manifest the way they expect, and if I were the Cult of the Absolute, I would be infiltrating the githyanki if they are in the area. I’m sure the Cult considers the githyanki queen just as false a god as Silvanus. When looking for the reward one of the druids offered us, I also found Kagha’s notes. It seems that she might have more than just garden-variety paranoia working on her. No doubt Halsin will want to deal with this before we can leave the area. Karlach also has some ‘friends’ sent by the Archdevil Zariel that aren’t just manipulated do-gooders like Wyll.
Our dream friend is back. I still don’t trust him because he doesn’t exactly give clear and direct answers to my questions, but I have long accepted that I don’t always have a choice to avoid dealing with untrustworthy people. He did confirm some of what Master Halsin said; as long as the parasites have whatever magic the Cult of the Absolute placed on them, they cannot be removed without killing us. And that Moonrise Towers appears to be the Cult’s heart, and where most people are infected. (Why the seven of us were infected on the nautiloid is an open question.) And the assumption that all True Souls are under the Absolute’s control means their security will be not designed to catch us unless word has reached them.
The only way out seems to be through, dear River. I would pass on what I have told you about this Cult of the Absolute. At least we might be able to contain them to the Chonthair River valley. I, unfortunately, also have to write my family to let them know to look on the Underdark side.
Your friend,
Bel.
From the Player:
Emerald Grove environs
My dear River,
I think Master Halsin might have been a poor choice to lead the grove. Oh, he tries, and he is loved, but I don’t think his heart was in it. He’s asked to travel with us going forward, for reasons I will explain, and requested a colleague from another grove come take over. I hope he told them before he told us, but I suspect he didn’t. Several of the druids aren’t willing to take our success at decapitating the local cult as proof that they were wrong to try and seal the grove. Given these are people who can turn into animals, they might well have had some luck, but probably suffered more casualties than we did. The camp was prepared for druids, but not for people who felt like True Souls but were free of the Absolute’s control.
He was able to tell us where Moonrise Towers were and the history of the region. Unfortunately, it is at the heart of a shadow-cursed land, which makes travel difficult. There is an alternate route, but it is through the Underdark. Still, I’d prefer the danger I know to the one I don’t. I do have to remind Master Gale that he is responsible for making sure he can see, and check with Wyll to see how his vision is now. Somehow I doubt Madame Mizora was generous enough to give him any advantage over his prior, fully-human, state. (Please take my deep contempt when writing ‘generous’ as understood, dear River. Alas that my handwriting does not offer the expressiveness of my voice.)
I do want to meet with Madame Lae’zel’s people. At the least, I would consider it a courtesy to warn them that these tadpoles will not manifest the way they expect, and if I were the Cult of the Absolute, I would be infiltrating the githyanki if they are in the area. I’m sure the Cult considers the githyanki queen just as false a god as Silvanus. When looking for the reward one of the druids offered us, I also found Kagha’s notes. It seems that she might have more than just garden-variety paranoia working on her. No doubt Halsin will want to deal with this before we can leave the area. Karlach also has some ‘friends’ sent by the Archdevil Zariel that aren’t just manipulated do-gooders like Wyll.
Our dream friend is back. I still don’t trust him because he doesn’t exactly give clear and direct answers to my questions, but I have long accepted that I don’t always have a choice to avoid dealing with untrustworthy people. He did confirm some of what Master Halsin said; as long as the parasites have whatever magic the Cult of the Absolute placed on them, they cannot be removed without killing us. And that Moonrise Towers appears to be the Cult’s heart, and where most people are infected. (Why the seven of us were infected on the nautiloid is an open question.) And the assumption that all True Souls are under the Absolute’s control means their security will be not designed to catch us unless word has reached them.
The only way out seems to be through, dear River. I would pass on what I have told you about this Cult of the Absolute. At least we might be able to contain them to the Chonthair River valley. I, unfortunately, also have to write my family to let them know to look on the Underdark side.
Your friend,
Bel.
From the Player:
A shorter letter, which is fine. Bel doesn't need to comment on everything he does as an adventurer. I think this was where I started to clear out the phase spiders below the blighted village, and got the Volo scene where he offers to 'help'. (i know meta-wise, you end up with a permanent see-invisibility effect, but Bel isn't willing to let Volo come at him with sharp objects for very obvious reasons.
Bel is also concerned enough to get the word out to hopefully cut off broader attempts.
It’s funny about darkvision; how many people I know who hate playing characters who lack it. I created Bel in Pathfinder 1st edition, where low-light vision is a thing, so he started as the only character with actual darkvision; when Nurgle’s player swapped in Orva, we got a second person with darkvision. In D&D 5th, of course, it’s simplified so that everyone who used to have low-light vision now has darkvision.
From a worldbuilding point of view, Bel assumes that seeing in the dark is normal. Light is for when you need color or to see at a distance, which is best done in civilized parts. Light might increase the distance you see when out in the wilderness, but it also means that people can see you, so tradeoffs. Having party members that can’t do so is a pain, and he can’t just have Gale spam Magic Missile.
It’s funny how Bel is willing to keep Shadowheart’s secrets, but no one else’s. Perhaps because she isn’t the first cleric of a distasteful god he’s worked with, but he also doesn’t know that much about how bad Shar is viewed. He might consider Gale and Astarion’s secrets, but he doesn’t know Gale’s much now besides ‘magical accident, needs to eat Weave to avoid effects’, and he also has a better gauge of how River treats with vampires. (That and Bel isn’t sure how much of a threat Shadowheart is as a person; it could just be that the Church of Shar are jerks, with or without Shadowheart.)
I apparently had to unearth the Shadow Druid stuff before I rescued Halsin, so whoops.
Bel is cynical about the Dream Visitor, because he’s fully aware he’s not being told everything. For now, everything Bel can confirm as true is, and their motives align, but it also means Bel isn’t going to talk anyone who doesn’t want to experiment with illithid tadpoles into it.
