Arc 9 Chapter XXI: Infiltrating the Temple (Patreon)

Give praise to my assistant gremlin, Aliya Genesis, for its dread murmurings are of much use.

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(General POV)

Shadowheart kept looking back at the ogre guarding the gates to the inner temple as they passed him by, her eyes flickering back and forth with nearly every other step she took, but the dumb beast didn't even acknowledge them aside from a bored grunt.

She felt her wound vibrate as she walked into the Selunite temple, the mark of her goddess burning despite it being a mere remnant of her enemy's stronghold.

Durge, jaw still covered in goblin blood, somehow noticed her flinch and gave her a questioning look.

It wasn't the first time he had seen her react like that.

And as much as she wanted to shrug it off and tell him not to stick his nose into her business, she also remembered all he had done for her...

'He could be trusted.' She decided.

And her wound burned anew.

"Later." She tried not to hiss the words out "I will explain everything, but later."

The sorcerer looked at her for a moment longer and then slowly nodded, looking back to the rest of the group as they walked through a pillared hallway, a dozen armored goblin guards looking them over with much greater care than those outside, one of them patting his crossbow but doing nothing else.

"My, what a grandiose locale." Reyvin Dagoth chuckled, completely ignoring said guards as if they did not even exist "Curious how something you'd usually find in a large city wound up in, well..." He made a flippant wave of his hand "The middle of nowhere."

"It could have been a site of pilgrimage." Gale of Waterdeep posed.

The elf merely shrugged at that "It does smell rather old, for all we know it could have been a military outpost of some kind. The outer walls certainly disguise well positioned defenses well enough, or what remains of them at least."

"Maybe our resident priest knows something we don't." Astarion drawled with a smirk, his eyes dancing with petty cruelty that existed solely for its own amusement.

Shadowheart glared at him "Just because I worship a god doesn't mean I know every thing about the damned moon witch." She spat.

"My, how rude." The pale elf covered his heart.

Reyvin on the other hand half turned back to her and quirked an eyebrow "I will admit moon gods are usually a fifty fifty-" He waved his hand as if to say 'so-so' "Proposition. But whatever the fuck you worship certainly doesn't elevate you high enough to judge."

Shadowheart narrowed her eyes 'He knew.' She cursed internally 'Of course he knew!'

"But." He turned back and resumed walking "So long as they do not bother me I frankly do not care." He tilted his head "Or maybe they should..."

He let out a dark chuckle "It would be like old times."

'What?' Shadowheart's mind froze.

"What?" karlach blinked.

Most of the others voiced a similar question.

But they received no answer as the elf just kept walking.

To both their fortune, and misfortune, Shadowheart concluded with bitter amusement, they had already gotten used to such from him, and wisely chose to ignore it in favor of following after him.

The following chamber of the temple was much grander in scope, and they came upon a site of a great wooden altar where a female goblin shaman of some power stood, waving around a hot iron poker as she called to those goblins kneeling below her "Who is next to accept the Absolute's mark? Who among you is not a coward?"

"Me, True Soul!" One goblin rushed up with fanaticism in his eyes.

The shaman, or True Soul, did not hesitate even for a moment and stabbed the poker into his forehead, making him scream out in both pain and elation as he was permanently branded.

She almost failed to hear it when Gale spoke up, so casual were his words at the grizzly sight.

"So this confirms True Souls are our fellow tadpole bearers." The wizard said.

"Those not protected by whatever is hidden in the artifact, yes." Reyvin nodded, scratching his beard "It is almost sad how it seems to make the goblins almost intelligent."

The wizard couldn't help but roll his eyes "I will never understand your hatred for them."

"One does not hate a pest." The grey elf chuckled darkly "I shall enlighten you yet."

The wizard shook his head and they wordlessly decided to continue on their way, keeping to the edges of the chamber and pretending to be part of the cult as others saluted them in passing, an almost implicit trust in their eyes.

Shadowheart wanted to bemoan the cruelty of it all but immediately killed the thought as her wound started itching.

She ignored the sourceless stare she felt and the group kept following the edge of the wall before suddenly rounding into a freshly excavated corridor, the grey elf leading them without breaking his stride.

'As if he knew exactly where he is going...' She realized.

But she did not have much time to consider the realization as the relative silence was broken by the pained wails of a torture victim.

"Now, now, my dear boy." A disgustingly silky voice came from within what could only be the torture chamber "Embrace your pain, let its sting was away your suffering!"

A sharp scream ripped through the air.

"Stop wasting time, Abdirak." A much gruffer voice barked out once the wails ceased "You're here to teach my boys how to torture properly, not get yer damn rocks off."

The man hummed in response "But why can't I do both?"

"Damn fucking-" The goblin cut himself off "The lady said we need to find the damn grove, so stop playing around you lout!"

"Ugh." The man's pout was audible "Alright, fine."

"Pl-please." A weak voice whimpered "No more."

That was as far as things got before they reached the chamber, the barred doors opening on their own as Reyvin walked inside with a... mildly irritated look in his eyes.

Shadowheart wasn't sure what else she should have expected.

Within they found a group of four goblins and a pale man holding a mace glowing with barely perceptible pinkish red energy.

Divine energy, she realized and narrowed her eyes. The man was a cleric.

Though the mace wasn't the part that drew most attention, for that would be his garb if it could even be called that.

Reyvin deadpanned at what he saw "A fucking BDSM enthusiast? I guess they will recruit anyone these days."

"And who might you be?" Said... whatever enthusiast practically purred.

"The fuck makes your degenerate ass think you get to ask?" He snapped back.

"Such delicious bite." The man hugged himself "Please, do continue."

"No." Red eyes flashed with annoyance and the priest's neck snapped.

"Whut?" The cruelest looking goblin looked confused of all things "What the fuck?"

The rest of the group took that as their signal to attack, but before they could, Wyll was already moving, his new sword cutting through a pair of the torturers with such ease he might as well had been waving it through air.

His offhand did not stay still either, as he summoned a bolt of energy that split in two and near instantly set the other two on fire.

The last goblin's pained screams died off, leaving behind an odd silence.

"What?" Wyll asked.

"You did not move that fast before." Lae'zel said with narrowed eyes "That sword is a mighty tool indeed."

"Well it does contain an Archdevil." Gale pointed out.

Wyll shook his head and looked back to the prisoner, who to everyone's surprise now looked completely hale and hearty save for the flecks of dry blood covering the places where he had been cut previously.

Reyvin waved his hand lazily and the man was freed, levitating onto the floor and plopping down in a seated position.

"Thank you." The increasingly coherent man said, shaking his head "I thought I was done for."

"I am surprised you weren't." Reyvin looked at him curiously "The goblins had already reached the grove before we set out."

The man's eyes snapped up "Did Aradin and the rest make it?"

"They did, and they live." Was the bland answer "Does the Archdruid still live?"

"He does." The mercenary nodded, not at all surprised he wasn't the main target of the rescue "He transformed into a bear during our escape, and killed many of them. I heard the guards bragging how they brought him to the beast pens."

"How lucky." Reyvin hummed and then snapped his fingers, summoning some... surprisingly high quality clothes "Put this on and follow after us, I am not babysitting you but you might just survive if you aren't an idiot."

"Thank you." The man bowed his head and did as he was told.

(Reyvin's POV)

Seeing as the prisoner was ready, I turned to the rest of them "I think I have an idea where our druid may be hiding out. Did any of you find out what exactly the cult is doing here while you were stepping on toes?" I gave Durge a look "Or biting them as it were."

The lizard man simply grinned.

Most others shook their heads but Astarion, ever the cheeky shit, smirked "I did overhear a conversation or two."

"And?" I asked.

"Hmmm." He placed a finger on his chin "My memory seems to be slipping."

"Are you fucking with me right now?" I deadpanned.

"Oh come now." He soothed "You know what I want."

"You already wasted your supply." I said simply.

"But how could I have known?" The grown ass elf whined "You didn't even warn me!"

"That sounds like a you problem mate." I smirked.

"What is he on about?" Karlach asked, looking between the two of us as if enjoying some hilarious play.

"I gave him drugs." I deadpanned "He wants more."

"Drugs?" She blinked "You fucking with me?"

"For the most part." I snorted.

She hid her relieved exhale quite well and grinned back.

Feeling mischievous, I summoned a cigar in my hand, lit it up, and took a long drag, delighting myself in how the concoction's mere smell made everyone's hairs stand on end.

Even Astarion's desire for more blood potion was silenced as he stared at the blue smoke that held more power than most of the mages he knew.

Waiting just long enough for him to get curious I summoned a blood potion and tossed it at him.

The vampire pouted at me but quickly pocketed it "You should have kept that Loviatar cultist alive." He complained "You would have gotten along."

"Mhm." I hummed, still enjoying my cigar, filing away the scried information of Loviatar being some kind of pain goddess.

"Alright, fine." The vampire slumped his shoulders dramatically "From what I overheard, the cult is here looking for something, or someone, specific. They think that whatever it is is hiding in the grove. Apparently the Absolute wants it real bad."

"Could it be the nautiloid?" Wyll asked.

"Unlikely." I frowned "They look like they arrived here days, or even weeks ago. I doubt they are efficient enough to occupy so much space in less than a few days at least."

"That makes sense." The adventurer nodded a couple of times before his eyes flashed with insight "Divination?"

I looked to the other casters in the group, and all the others immediately looked at Gale.

"It is certainly possible." The man muttered "The Elder Brain is incapable of using arcane or divine magic, but that doesn't stop it from commanding a skilled seer among its puppets to cast the necessary spells."

"It could be the artifact." Durge spoke suddenly, drawing all eyes "Think about it. It allows someone to resist its power, it is a vulnerability. And making plans while a knife is aimed at your back, ready to twist, is fucking stupid."

"So good old paranoia?" Karlach asked.

"It isn't paranoia if they are out to get you." The dragon man grinned.

My light scrying confirmed the hypothesis and I nodded "That sounds like it makes the most sense." I looked at Shadowheart "I wonder... did your patron orchestrate its retrieval, or the cult itself."

The poor cleric looked furious at first, but her expression quickly shifted to dawning dread.

'Man you are a fucking dick, you know that?' Scorch asked.

'Shut your beak, you know you are loving this.'

'Fuck yeah I am!'

Holding back a snort I waved for the others to pay attention "Let's get moving, we can theorize to our hearts' content when the druid is safe."

They didn't take much convincing and we quickly marched out of the torture chambers with the prisoner limping after us as quickly as he could.

The guards were as previously almost insultingly oblivious to the possibility of infiltration, which ironically only served to make me feel even more satisfied with the way I did things.

Mind control was for weaklings and parasites, and those that used it would reap their due rewards.

Following my sight of where the goblins were keeping their overlarge dog mounts, it did not take me long to guide the group through the increasingly small winding tunnels, and down a set of crumbling stairs.

A hooded goblin who had been dozing off moments ago perked up at me as I approached the passage into the pen and offered a deranged little grin "Here to see the bearfucker get his, eh?"

Eyebrows risen slightly I nodded "Exactly."

"Go on in then." He waved for us to pass "Ignore the fuckin' brats tho, lazy louts the lot of them."

I did not like the sound of that.

And my dislike was quickly justified as I walked into the beast pens, filled with a number of cages mostly holding the goblins' mounts save for one that held a large brown bear.

A bear that was currently curled in the corner of his cell and covered in numerous bloodied bruises as a number of... particularly small goblins pelted him with rocks and laughed their cruel little asses off.

I frowned.

On the one hand, those were definitely kids.

'On the other, fucking goblins.' Scorch chirped.

My hesitation must have been mistaken for something else as my followers charged in there without the slightest hint of hesitation, and I was nearly distracted from Wyll of all people just straight up braining one of the kids as I saw Gale almost manage a proper cast before resorting to his magic missile.

'Scorch.' I thought as the massacre continued and I absently slapped the door guard's head away as he rushed in 'Are we the baddies?'

Both me and my familiar kept looking at the bafflingly merciless purge and as one promptly decided ''Nah.''

Thus reconciled, and without an ounce of guilt in my heart, I walked down into the beast pen.

Just in time to see what I was guessing was the beastmaster goblin flinch away from Karlach's wild axe swing and against the bars of a prison cell.

The very same cell belonging to a very large, and very, very angry bear.

The beast roared and the goblin barely had time to wet himself before he was simply flattened by the metal bars, the bear biting down and ripping his head off in one swift movement less than a second later.

The others all took careful steps back.

But the bear seemed satisfied with its revenge and in a flash of green light, his form twisted and stood from four legs to two, revealing a downright fucking built human colored elf dressed in Emerald Grove robes in its place.

"Pardon the viscera." He flicked the blood from his hands, voice distinctly unconcerned despite his previous suffering "One should cherish all of nature's bounty but goblins are pretty far down on that list."

"Yes well you are the one who decide to put... that in your mouth." Astarion drawled in response, lip twitching in disgust.

"An unfortunate lapse in judgement." He shook his head, and promptly spat a glob of flesh onto the floor before looking back up with a completely relaxed, almost welcoming expression "I am Halsin, Archdruid of the Emerald Grove."

"Ah, excellent." The vampire clapped his hands "I would have hated for this all to have been a waste of time."

"It might still be." The druid said gravely "I cannot leave until the threat to the grove has been eliminated."

"You are in luck then." I finally decided to join the conversation, drawing the usual confused look from him as he looked at me "For we are here for that exact purpose."

Despite what one might expect from the usual treehugger, I wasn't greeted with the pathetic mewlings of the naive life worshiper.

But the bloodthirsty grin of a beast.

"Excellent." Halsin said "Luckily before my capture, I've been able to find out about the leaders of this band. If we kill them, whatever remains of the cult will break under its own weight."

'Optimistic but not incorrect.' I thought.

Ignoring my desire to just do a full cleanse, I gave him the consideration he was due "And who are these leaders?"

"Priestess Gut." He began listing "A goblin shaman, and preacher for the Absolute."

It did not take much thinking to realize he was talking about the same creature branding its brethren like cattle.

"Dror Ragzlin." He went on "A hobgoblin of great strength and the de facto leader of this band."

The same Ragzlin Volo was forced to sing about.

"And the leader of the drow contingent." Halsin frowned, a flash of hatred in his eyes "Going by Minthara."

My eye twitched violently.