Tymora's luck

ACT FOUR SCENE 3

Guilt-ridden that she had endangered Joel and faced with Finder's wrath, Holly lowered her head and sobbed like a child.

The paladin's tears did not soften the god's mood. "No tears," Finder snapped. "Like a desert will your eyes and heart be until my priest is returned."

Holly looked up fearfully. Finder's curse removed the tears from her cheeks and the corners of her eyes.

"Now tell me why you summoned the phoenix," Finder ordered.

"Dawnbringer Aurora told me I was to collect whatever materials Sirrion of the Flowing Flame needed for the spell he was casting with Lord Lathander," the paladin explained.

"Sirrion?" Jas asked. "Would this be Emilo's Sirrion, the one who nearly got us killed in the fetch's lair?" "I don't know," Holly whispered. "Who's Dawnbringer Aurora?" Emilo asked. "Lathander's proxy," Finder said. "A very powerful priestess. Go on, paladin," he instructed Holly.

"Dawnbringer Aurora and Lord Sirrion said the spell would right an ancient wrong. Lord Sirrion sent me to fetch an odd assortment of things, symbols of bad luck and good, including chickens and an old coin from Myth Drannor and a rose from the Desertsmouth Mountains and a blue crystal ball that Dawnbringer Aurora kept in a locked box in the temple in Morning Glory. He set them on an altar. Then Lord Sirrion sent me to fetch Lady Beshaba. He didn't think I could do it, but Dawnbringer Aurora said Lord Lathander had every confidence in me. I didn't think I could do it either, so I asked Dawnbringer Aurora how. She gave me the holy symbol made of red glass and told me it would summon a phoenix, who would grab Lady Beshaba and bring her to Lord Sirrion. She told me not to be afraid for myself or the phoenix because Lady Beshaba would be very weak when I stepped through the gate to the Abyss."

"But when you stepped through the gate, Beshaba wasn't there," Finder said. "She'd already fled."

Holly nodded. "So I went with Joel and Jas and Emilo to find her in Gehenna, and Lord Lathander sent me a vision telling me to help Walinda so I could reach Beshaba. I didn't summon the phoenix right away because Walinda said nothing could get in or out of the Bastion of Hate except through the gate."

"But when you reached the Outlands, you couldn't find the summoning stone in your backpack because Emilo had it," Finder said. "But the moment he returned it, you used it, even though Beshaba had threatened Joel's life if you did not protect her."

There was such hard fury in Finder's tone that Jas felt she should say something in Holly's defense. "Surely Lathander won't let Joel come to any harm," she said.

That is, assuming he is alive by the time the phoenix delivers Beshaba to Lord Sirrion," the god growled.

"But you can still sense him, right?" Jas asked. "With that god sense you have?"

Finder closed his eyes. "He is over Elysium, flying toward Morning Glory."

"All right," Jas said. "So he's not dead yet. We go to Elysium-"

"No!" Finder gasped. He opened his eyes. "He's gone! I can't sense him any longer!"

Fearing the absolute worst, Jas shoved Holly aside and placed herself between the god and the paladin.

"You have to be able to sense him," Jas insisted, putting her hands on Finder's arms. "Even if he's died and become a petitioner, you would sense him in Fermata."

That witch has killed him," the god screamed at Holly, "and it's your fault!"

Dark clouds filled with lightning rolled toward them.

Jas stepped backward as Finder moved toward the paladin. The god tried to push Jas aside, but the winged woman clung to his sleeves. "Finder, you're still pretty new at this god thing. You could be wrong. Don't do something you'll regret," Jas begged.

"Lord Finder," a voice called out from behind the god. "Wait, please."

Finder whirled around. Two persons stood there. One was a statuesque blonde woman wearing a white gown of sheer fabric, and the other was a tall, pale warrior with cat eyes.

"Bors! Kenda!" Holly gasped.

Finder obviously recognized the warrior, for he addressed him. "If you've come for your treacherous friend, Sensate Bors," the god growled, "you had best abandon your mission now."

"Lord Finder," Kenda Fretterstag said hastily, making a slight curtsy, "Factol Montgomery bids us inform you there is a dark region in Lathander's realm that defies all attempts to scry into it. You cannot sense your priest because he was taken inside this region. But if he still lives, you will still be able to sense the area in Elysium surrounding the dark region."

It took only a moment for Finder to take in what the Sensate wizardess was saying, but it seemed to Jas like an eternity before the god relaxed the muscles in his neck and closed his eyes to follow Kenda's suggestion.

"Yes," Finder whispered. "It is like a dark spot on my inner eye." The god looked up at the Sensates. "What is the purpose of this darkness?"

"We do not know," Bors replied.

Kenda snorted derisively and said, "But some of us suspect Lathander has imprisoned both Tymora and Beshaba. We have scried tinker gnomes moving in and out of this dark region."

"Gnomes!" Emilo said excitedly. "What were they building?"

"We cannot see," Bors said.

Finder looked at Holly. "What is it, paladin?" he demanded.

"It is a great clockwork machine," Holly explained, "which Lord Sirrion is building for Lord Lathander to help cast the spell that will right an ancient wrong. Lord Sirrion wouldn't tell me anything more, but I heard the gnomes call it a 'few chin chamber.' "

"A fusion chamber?" Emilo suggested.

"That could have been it," Holly agreed.

"Those are neat," the kender said. "I would love to see another one work."

"What does a fusion chamber do?" Finder asked.

"Well, when the gnomes make scrambled eggs for a large group of people," Emilo explained, "they beat up all the eggs with a little milk and salt and pepper, and then they cook the eggs. But there's always leftover egg mixture. They pour the leftover egg mixture in a fusion chamber, and the fusion chamber puts the eggs back into their shells so the gnomes can use them again later. I'm not sure what happens to the milk and salt and pepper. I'm not sure the gnomes know either."

"The gnomes were making omelets, not scrambled eggs," Kenda said.

Emilo shrugged. "I guess it doesn't make much difference."

"Somehow I don't suspect Lord Sirrion is in Elysium just to oversee tinker gnomes making omelets," Finder said irately.

"Well, it does explain why Sirrion wanted Holly to fetch some chickens," Emilo pointed out.

"But what were the other things for?" Jas asked. "The luck charms and the rose and the coin and the crystal sphere?"

"Spell keys?" Kenda suggested.

"What?" Finder asked in surprise.

"What are spell keys?" Emilo asked.

"They're special requirements necessary for a wizard to cast magic in different planes," Kenda explained. "Spell keys vary greatly from plane to plane and spell to spell. Sometimes the wizard must perform a certain action, such as free a bird or sacrifice a goat or spit in the wind or sing a song. Other times the wizard need only possess a certain item, like a dagger or cat or a feather or some sort of gems tone."

"Or something like the power key that Finder gave Joel?" Emilo asked.

"Well, similar to that, yes," Kenda replied. "But power keys are created by gods for their priests."

"That's it!" Finder said excitedly. "Lathander must know some of Tymora's major power keys. He may have guessed at some of Beshaba's."

"Is that important?" Jas asked.

"A power key allows a priest to siphon off some of his god's power," Finder explained. 'That's why they're kept secret, or made to be temporary, or made so they can only be used by one person. If they aren't, they can be used by the wrong person to drain a god's powers."

Finder turned to Holly and asked sternly, "So what is this ancient wrong Lathander intends to right, paladin?"

"I–I don't know," Holly said, her voice trembling.

"But you suspect something," Finder said. "I can sense it. Tell me what it is," he growled.

"Dawnbringer Aurora said Lord Lathander would right an ancient wrong, but when Lord Sirrion said the same thing, I knew he was lying. I didn't know how that could be… unless…"

"Unless Lord Sirrion has lied to Lord Lathander, and Lord Lathander and his priestess were taken in by the lie," Finder suggested to the paladin.

"Yes," Holly whispered.

"So perhaps Sirrion only intends to drain away the two goddesses' powers," Bors suggested.

"But what's the ancient wrong that Lathander thinks he's righting?" Jas asked.

"Oh! I get it! He's going to put Tymora and Beshaba back together again!" Emilo cried out excitedly.

"What are you talking about?" Holly demanded.

"The kender has the dark of it," Kenda said. "Lathander wants to put Tyche back together as if she were a cracked egg."