Tymora's Luck - Kate Novak [43]
"Then I'll go with them," Emilo said. "I've never been to that Abyss. I should take a look around."
"Perhaps you haven't been paying careful attention, Mr. Haversack," Winnie said sternly. "The Abyss is an evil, horrible place. No one goes there to 'take a look around.' Take my word for it."
"Have you been there?" Emilo asked.
"Once, which was one time too many," Winnie retorted.
"So you couldn't resist either," Emilo noted.
"Resist?" Winnie squeaked. "It had nothing to do with-" Finder put up his hand to silence the priestess. "Forget it, Winnie. A kender's curiosity can't be quenched with tales of horror. They're completely fearless. I think Mr. Haversack will make an excellent addition to the party. Joel and Jas could use someone older and wiser."
Winnie sighed. "Very well."
"The sooner we go, the better," Joel suggested.
"Wait here while I fetch some things you'll need," Winnie said. Once again she left them alone in the garden.
Finder pulled out half of the finder's stone. He sang a single note, and a blue light burst about his hand, then seeped into the stone. He handed the stone to Joel. "Take this," he said. "I've imbued it with enough power so it can serve you as a power key for a few days, at least."
"A what?" Joel asked.
"A power key," Finder repeated. "As I said before, in Beshaba's realm, your ability to cast priest spells will be greatly weakened. A power key will lessen that effect. It will also keep your spells from being twisted by the nature of the realm."
"Can I still use the finder's stone to find Beshaba?" Joel
Finder shook his head. "It can only locate people you know. I wouldn't recommend using it that way even if you could. Beshaba would be certain to detect it, and you don't want to attract her notice. Still, the stone has other powers I have never fully understood. Sometimes it functions as if it has a mind of its own, sending out a light to guide the lost. That may work for you. At the very least, it can serve you as a magical torch."
Selune reappeared before the party. "Lathander will do what he can to obscure Tymora's sensing ability in the Realms. Lathander suspects that Tymora's power has been overmanifesting itself all day."
"We've arranged a party to investigate Beshaba's realm," Joel said.
The goddess gave Joel a look of motherly reproach and said, "I may have been in another plane, but I had no trouble sensing the plans you were making here. There can be no doubt you are a priest of Finder. You're as reckless a fool as he."
Joel lowered his eyes, unable to face the goddess's disapproval.
Finder stepped between the goddess and his priest, "They stand as good a chance as any other adventurers. It would be no more difficult for Beshaba to destroy the strongest proxy in your court, my lady, than to destroy a lowly follower of mine. With any luck, Beshaba may take no note of their arrival."
"We may not be able to count on luck," Selune said darkly. She looked again at Joel and warned, "Do not lose the power key. It could be used against Finder as long as it holds some of his power. I hope you will guard it better than Finder did the last time he filled it with power."
"Yes, ma'am," Joel said nervously. Less than a month ago Finder had stored more than half his power in the stone, then had it stolen by the evil priestess Walinda, who had given it to her master, a crazed banelich. Joel and Finder had been forced to do the banelich's bidding until they'd managed to wrest it away from the evil undead creature.
"It would be impossible to guard it worse than I did," the god pointed out with a smile.
Selune gave a derisive snort.
Winnie returned, carrying a sheathed sword. Two human servants behind her carried backpacks of gear. The halfling stood before Jas.
"It is the custom of my lady to loan this sword to those who perform a mission for her," she explained to the winged woman. "It's a fine weapon, and it will bring you luck."
Jas looked at the others