OK. So, obviously that was a pretty upsetting experience for Hector, but it does finish up (as near as I can tell) everything we can do on the main floor of Moonrise Towers, so it's time to go upstairs and see what Z'rell wants to talk to us about.
This is a bit nervewracking because we overheard some of the Absolute guards talking about how Z'rell has been summoning a lot of True Souls up to her office lately, and none of them have come back down. So there's reason to believe this might be a dangerous prospect.
(Amusingly - mechanically, Hector still has a dislocated shoulder; from a story perspective I assumed Shadowheart probably healed it up already but I can't figure out how to make it go away in-game without a long rest so it's just kind of there for right now.)
Going upstairs, we find Z'rell setting guards around the door to the roof, where apparently General Thorm is doing some meditative shit or other.
"Excellent timing, True Soul."
She meets Hector's gaze with a casual smirk. There's an air of cool violence about her that is quite unsettling; even more than many of the cultists here, she seems as if she would be happy to lash out at him given half a chance.
"The goblins," she goes on eagerly. "Tell me how they suffered - or better yet, show me."
Narrator: Her mind enters yours abruptly, flickering across your memories in a blaze of excitement. She sees the goblins walking free, and a burning rage fans across your mind like wildfire.
Inwardly, Hector braces himself. He knew this was coming. The prisoners he released - he'll have to account for them somehow. He somehow didn't fully expect, though, quite the extent to which Z'rell's expression has hardened with pure fury at being denied the moment of sadism.
"Explain yourself!" she snaps.
Hector is very tired and really not in the mood to deal with someone who takes pleasure in others' pain to that degree - but the cover must be maintained. So with an effort of will, he remains perfectly still and resists the urge to fidget under her stare. [PERSUASION] "They won't get far," he says, affecting an air of casual disinterest. "Let the curse take them, and save us the job of cleaning up their innards."
A pause. The disciple sneers. "Very pragmatic. But very boring."
Hector starts to relax, seeing that his story has been accepted, but the ordeal is not yet over. "Let's see if there's *anything* interesting in that brain of yours."
Before Hector can fully register what she means, she is inside his mind.
Narrator: She parts the folds of your mind again, touching your wants and hopes. Tasting them. Every emotion soaks into her mind's palate, but there is purpose to her exploration - she is searching for proof of your faith.
Hector shudders at the feeling of her slipping through his thoughts. It's a tremendous violation that these people do so casually, but he cannot show his distaste without giving away the flimsy disguise that is all that keeps them safe here.
And proof of his faith...she will find plenty of proof there, but not the faith she wants. If she is allowed to explore too long, she will find his faith in Selune, as bright as the moonlight that still exists somewhere beyond this dark and awful place.
Focus. Show her only what you want her to see.
[MONK] Empty your mind. Show her a perfect, harmonious soul.
No sign of Selune within him. But not quite deception - no sign of the Absolute either. Balance. Serenity. Peace.
"When you are in harmony, you need fear nothing at all," one of the other monks told him once, early in his training. "For then your path will be unburdened by those who would see you unbalanced."
Narrator: You feel her grasp within your thoughts for familiar, roiling zealotry. It finds no purchase.
Z'rell blinks, drawing back; he feels her grip withdraw from within his mind and allows himself to tremble inwardly with relief. He feels dirty, marred by this contact, and wishes he could express the disgust that he feels.
"Simply...void," she murmurs, and she sounds legitimately perplexed, the sadistic glee for a moment gone in favor of simple confusion. "Why would you not embrace her? Worship her?"
A pause, and then she goes on, with renewed energy, "I have already been blessed to stand in Her presence. It was bliss." She stabs a finger towards his chest. "She gave me *everything* I wanted."
It's almost accusing, the way she looks at him. The calm and serenity that he showed her was not enough. She wants to see him caught in the web and does not understand the purpose of resistance.
"Everything?" Hector asks carefully. "What exactly do you want?" All the better to keep the conversation off of him and on her as much as possible - both for information and to avoid those questing fingers through his mind again.
Her eyes brighten with eager, hungry zealotry. "To take without asking, to feel without doubting, and to kill without consequence. In a word - freedom."
Hector swallows uncomfortably. He had expected at least a veneer of some more palatable assertion - unity or something like that. Not this unbridled cruelty without measure, completely unmasked.
"That's a little abstract," he says vaguely, trying to maintain his sense of calm with a little more effort now. "Show me something real."
Her eyes light as if she has never received a happier request.
"Oh, why not? What's the point in power if you don't get to have a little fun every now and again?" There is a brief moment in which Hector has time to realize that he made a grave mistake by phrasing his comment the way he did. Then she claps her hands together and a flash of light flickers between them.
"She gave me the power to cut the thread of life with a thought..." she murmurs, rapturous - and without warning, without even a sound, the ogre standing behind her throws her head back...and dies, blood spurting from every orifice of her face.
Hector stares down at the corpse, then back up at Z'rell wordlessly. He hopes his stunned silence will be taken for awe, rather than the fact that he is feeling suddenly sick to his stomach.
Thorm invulnerable. This woman killing with a snap of her fingers. How do we fight a force like this? How is it possible?
To his muted relief, Z'rell smiles.
"But I can caress as well as cut," she murmurs with a horrible sort of sweetness. "That's why you should stay on my good side." She reaches out, taps a clawed finger against his cheek. "And the best way to do that is to serve General Thorm. I have a mission for you."
All Hector wants to do is run from the room and never see this woman, or Thorm, or any of these people ever again. But that choice is not on the table. He focuses for a moment on Karlach's presence at his side, his other companions behind him. The dream guardian whispers in his mind, "That's it - play along. The closer you can get to the General, the closer you'll be to the answers you seek."
Calm. Find the center, two beats to the breath. He inhales slowly, lets it out heavily. "I live to serve," he says evenly. "What do I need to do?"
"There is a relic that General Thorm requires," Z'rell says briskly, all business now. "He sent his most trusted advisor, Disciple Balthazar, to retrieve it. The relic is beneath the Thorm family mausoleum. That is where you will find Balthazar. But we have lost contact with him - go there, aid Balthazar if you can, and bring the relic home."
Ah. He feels on slightly firmer ground now; they know of Balthazar already - and, in fact, already agreed to help him. "What exactly was this relic he was sent to retrieve?" Hector asks curiously, hoping to draw from her some of the answers he was not able to get from the necromancer.
"It is something that General Thorm desires, and that he ordered us to retrieve," she says curtly. "That is all you need know."
Narrator: [INSIGHT] She's suddenly nervous - on edge. Talking about the relic makes her anxious.
Hector hesitates - then presses. There will never be a better time than this to ask. [PERSUASION] "Talking of this relic makes you anxious," he says carefully. "Why is that?"
She too hesitates - and when she speaks again it is with more sincerity than he has seen from her thus far. "I am in awe of the power the relic must hold to be of such importance," she admits. "General Thorm will not leave Moonrise without it."
Hector senses a stir of unease through his companions. He shares it. What lies unsaid in Z'rell's words is that when the relic is found, Thorm will have no reason to stay at Moonrise. And the only possible reason for that...is that he will be ready to move on Baldur's Gate.
"I already met Balthazar," Hector says.
Her eyes flash. "Then he must have failed to make the urgency of his mission clear. I do not want to see you again until the relic is secure at Moonrise."
Well, thinks Hector, I don't want to see you again ever, so we're at least agreed on that.
9 notes
·
View notes