You wake up inside your tent, clutching the three books close to your chest, feeling your dried throat. You were so tired that the moment your body collapsed to the bedrool, you most likely immediately fell asleep and snorted your way through the night.

As you carefully stretch your feet and slide the books from the top of your body, you push the blanket to the side and step outside the tent. The morning sun is already shining over the horizon, greeting your camp with a warm embrace.

You approach a drying rack with your shirt and spare underwear hanging from it and check if your clothing is already dry. It is almost ready to be put on again and you are happy to notice that the shirt doesn't have any blood stains from your recent combat.

As a monk, you prefer to avoid violence, in fact, one of the vows you take at your monastery, forces you to avoid it at all costs. With recent events, though, it was rarely possible.

You did your best to knock out foes who couldn't be convinced of letting you or your team fulfill their task, sometimes it also included tying them up, but other times - like with the goblins - the dangerous, bloodthirsty creatures wouldn't just listen to anything else, but their cult of the Absolute.

You walk to a campfire and grab a few dry sticks, snapping them in smaller pieces, just to place them on top of a few cinders. You lean to the side and reach for a metal kettle, then approach a rain collector nearby your tent. You had a few water bottles already filled up, but you decided not to waste any drop of the leftover water. Your team will soon have to relocate this camp either way. All you had to deal with was Gortash and well... the Netherbrain.

When the kettle is set above the fire, with some gorgeously smelling tea leaves inside, you rub your temples in a circular motion, trying not to think about Orpheus and The Emperor. You decide to focus your mind on a slight hunger that you feel and approach a bag with the camp rations.

'Up so early, soldier?' you can hear Karlach's voice behind you, her heavy steps marking their way through the grass.

You look at her above your shoulder and smile, happy to see one of your best friends.

'Hand me over some of those pork ribs, will you?' she requests and you do as she wishes, taking out her desired breakfast.

'How are you feeling this fine morning?' you ask, your face still turned towards the camp supplies. You manage to find the pork ribs wrapped in a preserving paper, a few bread rolls and a baked vegetables spread.

Karlach sighs and you look at her with a slight concern as she crouches down next to you, accepting the meal from your hands. In exchange, she takes the kettle from above the fire and carefully pours delicious green tea into a few metal cups, clearly awaiting the rest of the team to join the breakfast.

'Like I'm running on fumes.'

The sound of her voice grasps your heart in the coldest of embraces. Your mind recalls how Yurgir, Raphael's minion himself noticed the poor condition of Karlach's engine - only by its scent.

'We need to kick Gortash's ass... I hope I will have the fuel to face the Netherbrain as well,' she chuckles a bit to reduce the dreadful tension hanging in the air. It doesn't help. Not really.

'Karlach, I know what you've told me and...'

'I am not going back there.' She looks at you seriously. 'That place... Tav, you have no idea. I swore to myself I will never place a foot in Avernus again.'

'I don't have to know from my personal experience to realize how important that decision is for you. I only... I wish there was something I could do about that.'

She places a hand on your shoulder, squeezing it tightly.
'I want you to know that I appreciate your efforts. But even so, it's hard to talk about my engine, you know.'

'I'm sorry, I will be more considerate. I just,' you wave your right hand towards your tent. 'I got a few books from a diabologist and I know how the entire kidnapping for Blood War works. And I can never get over how much you went through, every time I think about it.' You look at her with puppy eyes, as she takes a bite of the pork ribs and nods to herself with her eyes partially closed.

'It's been going for so long, the Blood War, I mean,' Karlach sighs and takes a sip of her tea.

You slice the bun with a knife and spread the vegetable paste on top of it and sink your teeth in it a moment later. As you chew the breakfast, you can feel your mind loosing focus on your current task.

'If only there was no Blood War.'

A sight of Raphael chuckling flashes through your mind as you swallow a big chonk of the bread roll and feel the pain of food passing through your gullet. You slap your chest and reach towards the cup with the tea with the tears forming at the corners of your eyes.

'Whoa! Easy there!' Karlach reaches out to support you by firmly holding your arms. 'You ok?'

'Yeah,' you say breathlessly and nod once.

'Oh, pity! I was hoping for some fresh bag of blood to feed me this morning,' Astarion announces his arrival and stands behind Karlach, looking over you with a fake disappointment on his face. 'Guess I will settle on some other food this time around.'

'If Astarion is up, then the rest should be joining soon,' Karlach notices and the vampire gives her a glance.

'What's that supposed to imply?'

'Nothing, Karlach is just being observant,' you respond with a slight smile. You are so happy that despite the grim circumstances, this weird mixed bunch of people from all over Fearun is capable of hanging out with each other so easily. 'I need to talk to Gale.'

Astarion steps aside, careful not to bump into you as you stand up and march to Gale's tent. A few moments later, you watch the man holding a Githyanki enchanted sword in his arms, consuming the Weave from inside of the blade.

'Hi, am I interrupting?'

'Of course not.'

You nod and quickly glance towards Lae'Zel, sharpening her sword, wordlessly asking her if you can take her wooden stool for a moment. She agrees and you drag the stool to sit in front of Gale.

'We need to talk. Very seriously.'

'Is it about the Crown, then?'

'Yes. I am still having second thoughts.'

'There is nothing to think about, Tav. The choice is rather simple. Mystra is interested in the item, I can deliver it to her. I think it will be safest with her out of every possible party involved.'

'When you look at it that way, it surely is very simple. But let me paint a picture from my perspective, alright?'

You can see a flash of disappointment on his face, but it's gone as soon as it appeared. The wizard drops the eye contact with you and sits himself down on some kind of a simple chair to chat with you.

'We lack the information. Let's admit it.'

'What kind of information?'

'About the Crown, about what it is capable of, about Mystra, about The Emperor,' you can feel the rapid stir inside your mind, as if the tadpole felt offended at the mention of the name. 'And about Raphael as well. We are just the cogs of some mechanism we can't even fully see.'

'Is it you trying to tell me you have been considering his contract again?'

'How can I not, Gale? How can I not consider it?'

'Because it's madness!' he shouts and calms down a few moments later. Lae'Zel clicks her tongue on the back of her teeth, muttering something about 'loud wizards'. He sighs. 'You should never deal with a devil,' he clarifies in a calmer tone.

You tap your fingers on your knee and stare at him.
'As a monk, I would never deal with gods either. Especially the ones who can cure you and refuse to, just because of a childish tantrum, endangering not just you but thousands around as well. You don't think straight, Gale. Mystra, even though she is considered a goddess, doesn't seem to be fulfilling her god duties well. In fact, I'd go a step further and call her cruel,' you say and see Gale open his mouth, but you continue before he cuts you off. 'And why the sudden interest in the crown anyway? She could have reacted when Karsus was performing a spell that brought the Netheril empire to its knees.'

Gale closed his mouth and frowned, looking away from your face for a second.

'The Crown got into the Mephistopheles' hands. I have a theory, that maybe Raphael is giving too much credit to this crown. If it was oh so powerful, capable of making one into a god, like he himself stated, then why wouldn't Mephistopheles use it? It doesn't make sense to me. I've read that his domain, Cania, is basically a gigantic arctic lab. He has researchers working on spells and he can unleash them safely there, as there is almost nothing but ice wasteland in sight. Wouldn't he use it if it was that powerful?'

'It does make sense, Tav, I admit it does. But you know what I have noticed?'

'Tell me.'

'The way you justify the entire perspective... it sounds like you have already made your mind. You will not convince me, but you keep convincing yourself that it's the right choice.'

It's your turn to shut up. Gale lowers his voice and you can hear his words, coated in a concerned tone.
'I am worried that this bastard wormed his way into your brain, just as our tadpole friend did. You sound painfully similar to me from the past. When talking, thinking about Mystra.'

Your eyes shot him a warning glance, but you see no malice on his face.

'You will not be able to convince me, but I trust you as a leader. I just want you to be careful.'

'What are you saying, exactly?' you frown, but your intuition knows the answer.

Gale looks to the side, as if checking how private that conversation is, then slowly his eyes return to your face.
'When one knows what to look for, it's hard to hide some signs of your... interest.'

You open your mouth, but just as before, its Gale's turn to speak.
'I know! I know! It's not simple, I am in no place to condemn you for it. After all, he's a crazy charming bastard. And the fact that unlike The Emperor, he sheds some light onto his motives, here and there, I know it makes you want to believe his words. Just, please. Do not let him influence your will in any way. Let your choice be only your own. No matter what you end up choosing.'

You look at Gale silently, feeling a light burn on your cheeks, a burn of embarrassment. You know he is certainly right, everything about the Devil was appealing to you. His voice, his human form, hells, even his cambion form, it almost felt like he forged his physical form just to specifically appear attractive to you. You found all of the tieflings very attractive, but Raphael... he was quite literally the best of both worlds. Same for Mizora. All of them were somehow incredibly pretty, but so were your companions.

It's just that with Raphael - it was a completely different dynamic. You've only met him a few times, but you always felt as if somehow, some way, his gaze was always set on you. Well, after your recent discovery, it seems that it wasn't his gaze but Korrila's.

Your arms drop to your sides as the air leaves your lungs.

'Thank you, Gale. Thank you for understanding, more than in one way.'

'Anytime.'

'Aside from that. I wanted to tell you that I have some plans for today. Would you be interested in joining the expedition aiming to retrieve the Annals of Karsus?'

'Retrieve? It sounds to me like it's more of a stealing attempt, but my answer is yes!'

About an hour later, your team is gathered together to discuss the strategy. Usually you try to operate in a smaller group, but this time around, you will need more people involved. After Shadowheart casts the silencing dome covering your camp, you check every possible corner inside the area, while under the influence of a potion allowing you to see invisibility. Korrila doesn't seem to be present, but if she is, she is a damn good warlock.

You sit down in the middle of your team gathered together around the food rations. You silently inform them about your discoveries inside Sharess Caress, which immediately calms down confused Lae'Zel who wasn't sure what all the 'sneaky measures' were for. Karlach voices her disapproval of you going on a solo mission like this one, but you are quick to convince her that it was the right approach.

You inform your team about the conversation you had with the librarian at the Lorroakan's Tower, let them know that the Annals of Karsus are being held in a secure vault and you also let them know that the ground floor, doesn't seem to have any staircase that would lead below, which means that either the vault is not kept underground, or there is some kind of a teleport which can take you there. You also inform that last time you were there, the Lorroakan's clones were still in their rightful place and no one seemed to have noticed that the wizard is missing.

With all the members updated on your small side quest, you start laying out the plan for the theft. You pick Astarion, Gale, Karlach and Halsin and let them know about a curious thing you spotted the last time you and your team were inside the tower, fighting the wizard. You let them know about odd floating tables and disabled Arcane Turrets right below the floor on which the battle with Lorroakan took place. You ask them to investigate, as your gut tells you they might find a teleport to a vault over there.

You explain the choice of your companions. Astarion for his obvious talent of picking even the most complicated locks, Gale for his knowledge of the topic that could be useful in the adventure, Karlach for her ability to see in the dark as well as immunity to fire and overall battle power and Halsin for his vast knowledge but also necessary support.

'I thought that this time around I will get to stay at the camp for a while,' Astarion notices. 'My back wound still isn't completely healed, you know,' he protests.

'Astarion, please, you are irreplaceable when it comes to missions like this one.'

'Of course dear, I only wanted you to say that out loud.'

You smile and shake your head to the sides. There is only one last part of the plan that your team is not aware of. You let them know that you will enter the tower with them, but you will not be the one to enter the vault. The theft, although still necessary, is meant also as a distraction to mess up Korrila's plans. You gently ask Dame Aylin, if she could possibly aid you with safely getting out of the tower, without the need of using the front door. The aasimar paladin laughs, but agrees to your request, spreading her wings as if to warm them up.

You go through the equipment of your companions and discuss if possibly flushing one thousand gold down the drain would be a terrible idea or something that the team can allow themselves to do. It creates a bit of confusion, but you assure them that it has to remain a secret, as you have to venture out alone. Lae'Zel makes a request for gloves she saw at the Dammon's smithy the other day and you discuss with her the requested item, then give her the necessary gold from your shared stash. The one thousand gold is mainly from your own savings, you think that it is the fairest course of action.

Shadowheart addresses the lack of a few oils for coating weapons and Yenna offers to go look for the herbal ingredients, while Jaheira offers to keep an eye on the kid and help her out using her druid knowledge. Shadowhear then says that she will be able to brew the required potions. Minthara and Minsc stay behind to guard the camp and prepare it for relocation.

As every puzzle is in its place, the silencing dome is lifted from above your camp and all of the members stand up, their mind focused on the tasks before them.