I find Astarion sitting on a toppled stone pillar, head resting on his hand. He seems to have dozed off.

"Astarion."

He snorts and looks up. "Gods…" He yawns. "How many days has it been?"

"Come on. Let's find Nettie before I get anything else added to my fucking honey-do list."

"It's your fault, you know. You don't have to entertain every person who opens their mouth."

I smirk, playfully. "Especially not desperate dandies who are nothing more than roadside brigands in disguise."

"Especially them. You're learning fast." With a smarmy grin he pats me on the head.

I swat his hand away and glance around. "Where are the others?"

"I don't know. You'll need to use your eyes, darling. Maybe listen with your ears. I'm sure you'll find them."

Gods, he's annoying.

Shadowheart is at the gate, being held back by the guards, the woman and the man still in bear form. I walk up behind them and place my hand on the woman's shoulder.

I startle her. She whirls around, grimacing at me.

"She's with me," I say.

The guard eyes Shadowheart contemptuously before stepping aside.

"Thank you," Shadowheart says to me, as she passes. "They were being quite unreasonable."

"Everyone is on edge. This place is one sneeze away from a brain hemorrhage."

I spot Lae'zel sitting cross-legged near the Rite, observing the ritual, transfixed. She catches my eye, and I wave her over.

Gale is speaking to some pompous toff near a sleeping bear. The man is dressed in theatrical blue-and-red motley with an obnoxiously large hat. When he sees me, his eyes go wide. He shuffles a step behind Gale.

I hear the motley man ask Gale, none too subtly, "You know this gentleman?"

Gale turns back to him. "Oh, yes. Well, we just met, but we are currently traveling together."

The motley man lowers his voice. I don't catch what he says, but Gale nods placatingly before bidding him farewell and joining us.

"What did the jester say?" I ask.

"Hm? Oh, nothing. That man was a bit unhinged."

I glance back at him once more as we make our way toward Kagha's chamber.

The First Druid's chamber feels like another world.

Tranquil water flows into clear pools edging the chamber. The walls carry subtle echoes, having been honed flat by ancient craftsmen. Tall, imposing murals depict wars waged and won, sacred rituals, and ancient peace pacts. All colored in vivid hues and shining with the light reflected off the sacred pools.

Shadowheart drifts over to them, taking them in with a measured intensity.

Lae'zel remains planted near the door, scanning the chamber from the landing of the steps that lead down toward a stone table and two belligerent druids.

Their voices crack the silence.

"Come Kagha, surely we can show this girl mercy."

"Silence, Rath!"

Kagha is an elf, or half-elf. Her auburn hair is tied up neatly. She wears fine druid robes decorated with gold filigree and oak leaves draping from her shoulders.

Rath is human and his raiments are just as ornate. A modest antler headdress crowns his head. A wolf sits placidly by his side.

They loom over a tiefling girl. Komira's daughter, no doubt.

Astarion throws himself dramatically onto a stone chair at the table in the center of the chamber.

Gale stays glued to my side; eyes trained on the girl.

She couldn't be more than ten years of age, held at bay by a death viper... Teela. She flinches every time the snake moves.

Something stirs in my mind. I see myself, holding fangs to the edge of a vial. Venom trickles down the edges, staining the glass a translucent yellow. I've handled Death Vipers before.

Emila was right, it's all posture.

"Silvanus save me. Another devil." Kagha has shifted her focus from the girl to me. "So. You were the one who fended off the goblins at the gate?"

My focus narrows on her and my voice falls. "I was."

She studies me with a sour expression. "Let me finish dealing with this thief, then we must speak."

"Please!" The girl begs, "I won't do it again."

"You stole our holy idol! This isn't a loaf of bread, devil, this is blasphemy."

I watch the girl's plight and my mind begins to wander. Her death would be a catalyst for rebellion. The redoubt would become a slaughterhouse behind the very walls meant to protect the people within.

Bodies.

Everywhere.

A sacred inevitability.

The scent of iron and gall floods my senses.

"You're a paladin, Ser."

Rath pulls me from my wistful thoughts.

"Offer your judgment on the girl. This theft shouldn't be taken lightly, but surely we can offer grace. What say you?"

Kagha and the girl turn their attention to me.

"What say I?" I glance at the terrified girl, then snap my eyes to Kagha. "As First Druid, you have a circle to run. The grove is being threatened by goblin invaders. If you insist on putting yourself under siege, then have you prepared provisions? Have you established communication with circles outside the grove for support? What have you done beyond condemning refugees to die in the wilds?"

Kagha looks at me, wide-eyed. "I… I have communication with…"

She stops. Regroups. "The grove has enough to sustain prolonged isolation. It may very well come to that."

Rath falters. "How long will we be shrouded?"

"Until the threat is dealt with!" She snaps.

"Well." I place a hand on the girl's back. "It seems you have more important things to worry about then." I guide her away from Teela's posturing.

With little warning she lunges, and I am only just able to backhand her, knocking her back onto the stone table. She coils and hisses with ire.

Kagha takes a sharp breath in. "Teela!" She's armed with two scimitars and immediately reaches for them. "You wretch!"

I walk the girl to the base of the steps.

"Quiet, Kagha. You're frightening the child."

I turn my attention to the girl once more, speaking gently. "Your mother is just outside the gate. If I find you back here again, I'll deal with you myself. It is not your place to meddle in the grove's affairs. Now go."

She looks up at me, on the verge of tears, before scurrying out of the chamber without a second glance.

I turn back to Kagha. "Have you taken inventory of your resources, or is this just wishful thinking?"

She's staring at the door as it closes behind the girl. "You... you can't just..."

"You invited me here to speak. Let's speak, First Druid."

Her nostrils flare, and she slowly sheaths her swords and curtly thumbs through the papers scattered on the table.

"Here." She hands me a loose slip of paper. My nose curls at the mess. This should all be compiled in a ledger. I ignore as best I can and scan what she's given me.

By the nine hells... a bounty.

I glance at her from over the edge of the paper. Crop yields. Livestock. She could feed any army.

"You have the Chionthar bordering the grove. How will you secure the beach?"

"We have a modest militia. The Grove Wardens will guard the beach. First Warden Aelar will agree to assist no doubt."

"You didn't ask prior to starting the Rite?"

"I have no doubt he will agree. He is sworn to protect the grove."

"A bold assumption. Why did you call me here?"

"The tieflings." She says. "We will not have parasites clinging to us once the Rite is ended. It's good fortune you're a tiefling yourself. You should have no issue leading them away. Otherwise, we will be forced to deal with them ourselves."

I glance at Rath. "And you endorse this?"

I quietly pocket the inventory.

He is quiet for a moment before murmuring. "It is for the best."

"I see. If you insist on sticking your head in the sand, let me give you this bit of advice. The most dangerous men in the world are the ones who have nothing left to lose."

Kagha's face becomes pinched, but she says nothing more.

"Now, if we're finished, I am looking for your healer, Nettie."

She gestures toward a chamber door. "She's in the infirmary. If you are injured, she can help. Seek her aid if you must, as long as you and the outlanders go."

I give a short polite nod. "Thank you." Before silently leading my companions into the library.

The grove certainly has its secrets.

Secrets I've just become privy to.

The infirmary is well-stocked. Stone beds line the walls, and a cauldron bubbles in the corner, brewing a potion that permeates the air with a pungent, earthy fragrance. Standing by one of the beds is a dwarf woman hovering over an injured bluejay.

She gives me a brief acknowledgment but remains fixated on the bird. With a short incantation, she sends a pulse of blue light through it. A healing touch. The bluejay's injuries are mended but it lies on the table exhausted.

"Are you Nettie, the druids' healer?"

She glances in my direction but is still tending to the bird. "What is it that I could help you with?"

"Healing, and soon."

She notes the desperation in my voice and turns to me, studying me. "Tell me what's been ailing you, and I'll do my best."

"What do you know of illithid tadpoles?"

Something shifts in the room at the mention of illithids.

"...why do you ask?"

I grimace, gesturing to my eye. "I think I may be infected, but I've shown no signs of ceremorphosis. I'm seeking intervention before the damned thing decides to turn me."

"I see." She places her fingers on the stone bed. " Another one..." she mutters. "Come, let's go to my chambers so I can have a closer look at you." She walks over to a stone wall, and with a spark of magic from a circlet adorning her head, the wall opens. "Head on inside."

I step through as she follows behind.

Before my companions can join, the door closes behind me. I am suddenly alert and watch as Nettie rummages around on her desk. She's quiet for a while and then finally turns to me, a branch of thorns in her hand.

"It's a shame you got me and not Master Halsin. He'd have your tadpole out like that, but I still know how I can help. Before I cure you, though, I have a few questions."

"I don't exactly have time to wax poetic about my condition, I don't know what's delaying my transformation, but I'd rather not risk giving this thing any more time to kill me."

"I know! I know you must be desperate, but this is important."

"Nothing is more important to me than a cure. If you have it, I will answer any question you want after the tadpole is gone."

Nettie scowls, tapping her finger on the prickled branch. "How did you pick up the parasite?"

"Do you intend to cure me or not? If you're going to kill me, then let's get on with it." I gesture to a pungent corpse lying on a stone table. "You can lay me out like that one. The drow behind you isn't exactly masking your intentions."

Aside from the familiar acrid smell of death, the corpse has something else: the distinct scent of piss and iron. He had been infected too, and his parasite is sitting preserved in a vessel on her desk.

"I don't want to kill you, Ser. I just want answers."

I lean down, gripping my knees. "Nettie. Do you even have a cure?"

Her face twists into indignation. She twirls the branch between her fingers for a moment. "Of course."

Quick as lightning, Nettie lunges at me with the branch.

I snatch her wrist and lift her into the air, pulling the branch for her fist.

"Kelemvor's Kiss." I mutter.

Her feet kick frantically as she reaches up, picking at my hand, trying to get me to relent.

"Uch! Let me go! You've made your point!"

My face falls as I turn my attention back to her.

"Let me go! Please!"

"You were going to kill me."

She begins frantically chanting a spell.

My hand closes around her throat.

She claws at my hand in desperation, chest heaving. Her teeth cut into her swelling tongue, and the smell of her blood triggers another memory.

Dwarf. I've eaten dwarf before.

My mouth waters as she ebbs into the peace of death. My arm trembles with the strength of my grip.

She finally falls limp.

I shove the drow's corpse off the stone bed and lay Nettie's body out. I carve into her hip, and her leg breaks away cleanly under my dagger's edge.

I pick two choice pieces from the butchered meat and neatly wrap them in a cloth cut from her trousers. I tuck the parcels into my cloak pocket.

The lingering pieces of meat tempt me. I eat a morsel, savoring it while the blessing of silence envelops me.

I breathe.

The whispers hiss and purr as if approving of my profane appetite.

But the damned tadpole is still in my head.

I scan the library and soon spot a stone wall at the back of the chamber, grooves similar to the one leading into this room. With any luck, it's another door. I pull the circlet from Nettie's head and cast a spark of magic.

It opens.

Praise Tymora.

Behind it is a corridor that is hopefully a way out. I pass through into a wide cavern with boxes and barrels lining the walls. Provisions. Lot of them.

The chatter of goblins echoes from deeper within the cave. I duck down and creep forward, taking stock of the scene before me. I'm on a ledge, and below are three goblins, mingling lazily. An archer, a tracker, and a warrior. Another archer sits at eye level with me, just behind a few rocks.

So far, she hasn't spotted me.

There are several tall and imposing statues of various animal totems with glowing red eyes. Druid guardians that loom over the passage. The one nearest to me is in the figure of a stag, and it's facing a leaking barrel of oil.

I focus back on the archer. My sword is too cumbersome to take her out without alerting the others. She may make a fuss if I cut her throat with a dagger.

Slowly. Carefully. I creep up behind her and crack her neck.

I gather her bow and arrows, taking out the other archer below. This startles the two surviving goblins. They spot me and begin to charge. I'm able to take out the tracker before the warrior clears the ledge.

He takes a swing at me but I'm able to retreat, running past one of the guardians. The goblin begins to laugh as he chases me before he's interrupted with an explosion that coats him in scorching oil.

I receive a light misting of burning fumes on the edge of my cloak, but I'm able to stamp it out. Wool luckily doesn't burn very well.

The goblin's screams echo through the cavern. I am transfixed by his demise, but his silence is what brings me the greatest clarity. I hear water, and see a river flowing through the cavern, carving a runnel that likely leads to the Chionthar.

Nettie. I retrieve her butchered body from the library, carrying her to the muddy bank. I look at her in my arms before tossing her into the rushing waters.

She's gone in an instant, and I feel a chill run through me. Fear of the rushing waters. Dragging me. Drowning me...

I sift through my thoughts, trying to reconcile what I am. A man who does not hesitate to kill and kill again. It feels sacred to me, being the very hand that blesses the worthy with the gift of becoming undone.

I press my back against the cavern wall and sit. My eyes shut, the whispers linger, but they are subdued for the moment.

My shoulders fall and I breathe.

Wet earth and smoke permeate my senses.

Time to regroup. I climb to my feet and exit the passage.

The passage leads to a section of the dusty trail just round a bend from the ivy gates of the redoubt. A massive weakness in the grove's fortification if it were to be discovered. The guardians were clearly too unreliable to be effective against invading forces.

The redoubt is to my right, but I hear panicked voices coming from the left. I carefully follow the sounds, down a narrow and heavily shaded trail. Two humans hover over an injured dwarf.

I study the dwarf writhing on the ground. It looks like his belly was torn open by a wild animal.

Another bounty, tainted… he smells like he's infected too.

The woman's guard is raised the moment she sees me approach.

"Don't come any closer! This is none of your affair!"

I gesture to the dying man. "He's injured; I may be able to help."

"Don't you dare lay a finger on him!"

"Waaaiiit." A weak wheeze comes from the dying dwarf. "He is a True Soul… mind him… he…"

In a rush, he intrudes on my precious thoughts.

I see the names of the two humans, his siblings, Andrick and Brynna. I study them before returning my attention to the dwarf.

He's probed my mind, and his eyes have gone wide.

"By her will..."

He begins to choke and stutter. "...m-mercy..." His arms reach for the two humans. They grab his hands. His mouth opens and closes. "He..." His face begins to go blue.

He finally falls still.

"No!" Brynna falls to her knees next to the dwarf. "Edowyn." She whispers.

Andrick stoops and places his hand on her back, saddened in his own way.

He finally turns to me. "You're a True Soul?"

A lofty title, it seems. "I am." I say tentatively. "Your esteem is noted. Now look at me, and tell me, what is a True Soul?"

Brynna chokes, her eyes red with tears. She studies me before wiping her face. "The True Souls speak with the voice of The Absolute." She says, nose stuffed. "Once the Absolute takes her place as the Most High, you will rule."

I kneel down placing a hand on her shoulder. "Deferential enough to warrant my grace. I will look past your previous transgression. What are you two doing out in these wilds?"

Brynna becomes choked again and loses her voice.

I stand and Andrick speaks, though he doesn't meet my eye right away. "We were instructed to look for fugitives that survived that crash. The Absolute wants them found at any cost."

My focus becomes centered on him. "Do you know what the Absolute wants with these survivors?"

Andrick finds his confidence. "They have a weapon that is of great interest to her. We were instructed to bring the survivors back, dead or alive."

"How many survivors have you found so far?"

"None, True Soul." Andrick dips his head in reverence. "To be honest, I don't know how anyone could have survived that crash, but the True Souls who sent us on this mission insist there have been several. We thought it was going to be an easy mission." He shakes his head. "I fear I underestimated what the Absolute was asking of us. Forgive me, but I swear I won't stop until each one of them is found!"

"Shameful you would consider yourself fit for such a task. We cannot afford failure when it comes to duties such as this. Who sent you on this mission?"

"True Soul Minthara. She's stationed at the goblin camp just north of here, in an old Temple of Selûne." Andrick gestures toward the path.

I turn my gaze toward the trail leading north. "Is she the only True Soul stationed at this camp?"

Brynna finally speaks once more, though her pitch is low. "True Soul Dror Ragzlin, and Priestess Gut are also there. Other than that, it's mostly just goblins."

"I see." I take in this new information before addressing the two once again. "Return to the camp. I'm taking over this mission, personally."

Andrick pushes back. "With all due respect, True Soul, I request you give us more time to prove ourselves."

The corner of my lip twitches. "Prove yourself? I gave you a direct order."

"I know, True Soul, it's just..."

"Andrick." My voice cuts through his words.

He looks up and meets my eye.

My blade pierces him in the side of the neck several times in quick succession.

He collapses, and Brynna screams as she watches another brother die in front of her.

I step forward with rancor. "If you can't obey a simple order, then what good are you?"

She looks at me, wide eyed. "P-Please!!! Andrick was a fool to question your authority! I swear I'll return to the camp! I'll report to Minthara and let her know you're searching for the survivors!"

My bloodlust surges. I want to watch her die.

I drop the dagger and pull my greatsword. My swing misses her by centimeters.

I swing again and she shouts a command: Halt.

My blade surges down and I freeze mid-swing, caught in her spell. She shrieks with nerves, covering her face. She finally stares up at me as I hang over her, an effigy to her death. She turns her gaze to her dead brothers.

"Mercy." She mutters, her brows creased. It's not a plea, it's a question.

She regains enough of her senses to bolt, headed north.

Gone.

I stand helpless for what feels like an eternity before the hold fades. I ease back into myself.

I glance down the path, hearing the words once more. True Souls... will rule. Why did Edowyn think I was a True Soul? Was it the tadpole? Andrick and Brynna didn't seem to be infected.

I sheath my sword and collect my dagger before searching the pockets of the two bodies. That's when I feel it. That same pulsating sensation I felt in Nettie's chamber. The tadpole behind the True Soul's eye.

The yearning to collect it makes my skin crawl.

Busy work. Satisfying so many yearnings.

I plant my boot on Edowyn's head and fish the tadpole from behind his eye, then wipe my hands of the ordeal.

If True Souls are infected, then they may also have a cure. I need to get to the goblin camp.

I need Sazza.