[ Gale makes a sound in the back of his throat, some combination of distress and frustration. He can hear Astarion off to his left, hear him start to say darling in a way that is pitying yet resigned. ]
Anything.
[ Say anything, anything at all. Karlach comes to rest a hand on him, and Gale resits the urge to throw it off. She speaks to him, low and quiet, and he nods. ]
Alright. Let's get you to Shadowheart. She can --
[ His voice catches, taking in the amount of blood. The damage. ]
She can help. We can't afford to linger in the open. Not now.
[ Not while they have all the netherstones, and while the brain is so close. It's only a matter of time. ]
Anything. [Bhaalspawn parrots dumbly, his senses numbed to who he’s talking to. He sees the tiefling approach but again makes no motion to attack. Instead, he continues to remain still in the wizard’s arms as he continues to stare with no sense of interest.
He doesn’t ask who Shadowheart is, where they are going, as that is all far above his station. He does not even ask if he should walk or not; if they wish him to walk the wizard will make him.]
[ Rain hammers against the glass of the Elfsong Tavern windows, and Gale watches Shadowheart cast spell after spell on Tav. Healing spells, restoration spells, curse removals: nothing.
Gale paces, anxious, until Astarion snaps at him to sit down.
Then he sits anxiously instead, watching the proceedings.
This is... painful. They cannot ask Tav what he wants, because he doesn't know. They cannot heal him, apparently. Yet there must be something.
If he had the Crown of Karsus --
Yet, no. Tav had dissuaded him from using that before.
(It's only that it could work, it could work...)
He escorts Tav back to his room, defeated, and tries to ply him with his favourite food instead. With a book he liked, with familiar clothing, anything that might help.
He sits on a chair, giving up his anxious hovering, and studies the man. ]
You remember nothing at all?
[ There's only so long they can wait, the looming presence of the Elder Brain is still a problem.
Gale wonders, grimly, if they will be enough without Tav to hold them together. He wonders if he should --
But, no. He promised to stay by Tav's side. He can't break that promise, not now. ]
[Bhaalspawn quickly learns his name is Tav and even more quickly that he needs to respond to that name or else make the pacing wizard even more anxious. There are spells cast on him, waves of turquoise light that spread over him, give him strength, but do nothing for his memory. They provide him with dry clothes that seem familiar to him and the same with a hearty meal-- he can't remember the last time he ate-- and by the end of the night Bhaal-- Tav is sitting across from the wizard without recognition in his eyes. The hearty stew brought up a few memories, of a man in a purple robe, but the details of his face were warped and distant, unfamiliar to Tav in every way.]
What am I meant to remember? [Tav asks, not trying to anger the wizard but to try and regain part of what he's clearly lost. He's heard the others call the wizard by a name and so Tav tries that, hoping to soothe the anxieties of the man in front of him.] You are Gale, yes?
Should he... show him? Would that help? Or would a mental connection unbalance the man's already shattered mind? Shadowheart had said give him time, and she's certainly lost enough memories. Hers had come back, with exposure.
Perhaps better not to risk it. He's already done enough damage, hasn't he? ]
Gale, yes, Gale of Waterdeep. We were all of us on a nautiloid, yourself included. Woke up to find we'd had a little ocular insertion and yet none of us were growing tentacles and turning towards the Grand Design. So, being of similar minds that this was an unwelcome development we banded together in the hopes of finding a healer who could handle it. It's been a long road.
[The Grand Design triggers something beneath the surface of Tav's mind, brief catches of something truly dark and diabolical that hollows out Tav's chest, makes him look around at the gathered group before back to Gale. In nearly all of the memories that have been recovered, which aren't many, those same purple robes are present. Tav shuts his eyes to try and force himself to see the face, to see expressions, to see something more than a moment or two, but doing so only furthers the headache threatening to cripple him for the rest of the night.]
I spend a lot of time with you. [Tav opens his eyes again, but they're glassy with pain, with the effort of trying to remember.]
[ The pained expression inspires a new flash of guilt. ]
Yes. Yes, you did.
[ He swallows, trying to think, and hears Astarion loudly proclaiming that he's tired and should get some sleep. That there's nothing to be gained by his lingering. A wave of gratitude passes over him and he hears the others slowly trickle out too, leaving the two of them sat staring at each other. ]
If it hurts, don't push yourself. I am... impatient for you to remember, I will readily admit that, but I thought I'd lost you entirely. To have you here, once more, even devoid of the memory of our journey is a relief I cannot begin to describe. Take your time, please.
[Tav leans on his forehead, gently rubbing his temples in a slow circular motion to try and ease the building headache. He wants to remember, especially Gale, but his head is blisteringly sore, his brain so scrambling he can hardly meet Gale's gaze.]
You were... are important to Bhaalsp-- to Tav. [The headache mounts higher and he groans. He covers his eyes to try and relieve the pain.] Weren't you.
[Blood dribbles down from his nose, a leftover from Orin's torture.]
[ Gale pushes to his feet, retrieving a cloth and filling a basin with water. He circles back, crouches in front of Tav and begins to gently clean the blood from his face. ]
You won't be any good to anyone if we make this worse. So, slowly. A little at a time. When it gets too much, take a moment. I'll still be here, whenever you need me.
[Tav is just about to tumble off his chair when Gale is there with the washcloth to wipe away the blood. There's something inherently familiar about Gale's promise that Tav can't shake. Against Gale's advice, he pushes harder, through the pain to find the memory of Gale fighting back against the Dark Urge, promising to stay by his side.]
You promised to stay by my side. [More blood leaks out of Tav's nose, but he's not stopping.] I was fighting something. I had longer hair.
[Tav's eyes slide shut for a moment or two as Gale dabs the blood away. His headache is excruciating, but he breathes through it to open his mismatched eyes once more, just to see a pained expression on Gale's face as well.
Tav doesn't know what to do, doesn't know the boundaries that may exist between them or lack there of. He supposes he's allowed to cup Gale's face, but does he want to? Does he know Gale well enough to perform such an intimate act?
Unsure, he reaches up to hold Gale's wrist, his grip gentle.]
I don't know what to tell you to help. [At least there's a sense of his personality emerging from the cinders: the Tav who likes to help and wants to help.]
You don't need to say anything, you don't -- trust me I talk enough for the both of us most days.
[ He laughs, something hollow and weak, and draws his hand back. He gently takes Tav's hand, presses his face to it and tries to breathe. The tangle of emotion feels as hot and volatile as the Netherese Orb itself, liable to overload at any moment. ]
But I came so close to losing you, and the world would have been a much darker place indeed without your light.
My light? [Tav tilts his head and flexes his fingers against Gale's bearded cheek. He doesn't understand how he could possibly produce enough light to affect the world at large in a literal sense.
Still, he can see that Gale needs some kind of reassurance and so he offers what he can,] I am right here now. There is no need for 'what if's, Gale. Or none that I know of.
[He's heard a great deal about a battle with a brain?? and he supposes he's not in any shape endure that fight, but again, he knows so little.] If you need me for the fight, I will be there.
[ He promised to stay by his side, after all. His heart wants to do that. Yet what if they need him? What if everyone else dies, because he's here tending to Tav?
[ The problem is, Gale is a selfish creature at heart.
He wants happiness so aggressively, wants Tav to remember him, wants the feeling of being cared for above anyone else. Wants to be in Waterdeep, with Tara, enjoying peace.
He deserves that, doesn't he?
Doesn't he?
Maybe he doesn't. Maybe he needs to earn it. He's already failed once, after making a promise.
The selfish desire to run, to take Tav and run right now, wars with his self-esteem.
If the other man remembered, what would he have wanted? He'd have wanted to help, surely? So then, of course, Gale would have stayed by his side.
Yet what if they cannot win? What if the only option ends up the Netherese Orb in his chest? ]
Well of course they need me, a wizard of my renown. Without me to hold them together I have the unfortunate suspicion they would struggle.
[Tav nods. He does not know much about Gale, only what he's heard in the last few hours of being cared for and what patches of memory remain after what he now understands to have been torture from Orin.
He also understands that he's not well enough to go with Gale. He barely has his own name on his tongue, much less how to use a sword or cast a spell. In the fight looming ahead, he would be a distraction, a liability.]
And I suspect you would want me to stay. [Tav bows his head for a moment or two, brushing away the blood that seeps from his nose when he does so.] I promise to stay safe.
[ How can he promise that? Gale retrieves the cloth again, rinsing it with a frown and moving to gently clean the new trickles of blood away from the man's nose.
His heart plays a restless beat as he tries to envision all the outcomes. A world of endless possibilities, of roads not taken, of battles won and lost.
If they go and leave the prism here, they'll be out of its protection anyway. If they take the prism, they doom those they leave behind.
If the battle is lost, they all become mindflayers.
Gale lowers the cloth, hand lifting to touch Tav's face once more. ]
What voice? [Tav has little memories of any voices urging him to violence or what that might mean for his new friends-- he hopes they're friends, else they're just well-dressed kidnappers.] The voice from the pit?
[He is about to shut his eyes to think when Gale's fingers brush his face, ease over his cheek, and Tav allows himself to become distracted. This touch is so much kinder than any that he has ever known. Granted, he doesn't know many other touches than being cut with a knife innumerable times and a thin blade in his ear, but he desires more of it, desires more of Gale.
For a moment, he allows himself to watch Gale, to study those brown eyes and search his scattered memories for something. The mention of the voice actually brings forth a memory, a rather unpleasant one.]
I tried to kill you once. [His breath hitches in his chest. That must be the voice Gale is talking about, the one urging him to split Gale open, to paint the ground with his blood.] N-no I don't hear that voice.
[Tav reaches up to rest a hand over Gale's, even if it shakes with this new memory that storms into his mind. He'd been tied up, thankfully, but he'd tried to kill Gale all the same. It's not something he wants to remember, but Gale doesn't seem to mind.
There's a knock at the door and the tiefling-- Karlach, he's come to know-- pushes her head in.]
Soldier, [She nods to Tav, who stares blankly at her. She then turns to Gale, the heat of the upcoming battle in her words.] It's time, Gale.
[Tav turns back to Gale and allows his hand to slowly drop away.] Lock the door anyway? Just in case.
[He doesn't want there to be the slightest chance that a voice might call him away from the safety of the Elfsong.] I'll see you on the other side.
No matter. Perhaps a potion or two can restore him. Gale grasps for the hand dropping from his face, presses a kiss to the back of it. ]
Wait for me.
[ Then Gale retreats, swipes up his pack and leaves the room.
After a moment of hesitation, he carefully locks the door from the outside as requested. In truth, he suspects if the whispers truly pushed Tav to do harm again one door wouldn't be enough to stop him.
One way or another, he thinks, this will be over soon.
The group descend under the city, and Gale quietly hopes that he will be able to return to unlock that door. That Tav will be there when he returns.
That he can take him to Waterdeep, finally find some peace.
[Tav nods at his quiet, affectionate command from Gale as best he can. He watches the entire battle from the window of their room at the Elfsong. Brilliant sparks of light and dark curls of magic burst from every corner of the brain as Tav’s heart pounds in his chest. He quietly prays to whatever gods may exist to bring his new friends back safely. A strange ship even shows up to bombard the surface of the brain and Tav’s hope begins to silently disappear. Please bring them back.
Please bring Gale back.
There’s a bright glimmering halo at some point and then the brain begins to fall. The tail drags through building after building and it doesn’t take someone with all of their memories to see the path of that fall. The Elfsong will be destroyed and him with it if he doesn’t get out of the way. He promised Gale to keep safe and he will keep safe in any way he can. Tav dashes to the door before remembering it’s locked and he flits through his scattered memories to try and remember any sort of spell to break it open. Nothing. Nothing. But there are statuettes over the fireplace and he breaks one over the door handle and kicks the door the rest of the way open. Dashing down the stairs, he can’t understand why everyone is still standing around.]
We’re in its path! Go!
[But now he can see the spine curving and twisting and nearly on top of them. There’s no time to get out, only---
Down.]
There’s a hatch! [Tav leads the way to a hatch he only has the faintest recall of and tears back the carpet covering it. Oh gods.] Jump down! Ignore the ladder! Just jump!
[Men, women, children, all sorts scramble for the opening as brick and mortar come down around them and Tav knows he promised, but he might not make it with a handful of patrons still a foot or so away. He reaches out to grab them, pulls them in, and then the hatch over the top of them just as the white brick slams down on top of them. Tav falls down on top of someone but he stares around at those gathered, those alive, some with twisted ankles and bruised bones, but alive.
He should know this spell, he thinks to himself as he extends his hand. Illuminate the room, he tries to tell himself, brighten their faces, remove their fear, and just as he thinks it won’t work, light plays off his fingertips, growing into a ball and he allows it to sail up and into the cracked ceiling of the cellar. His chest heaves with the effort of the spell and he finds himself a pillar to lean against, waiting and hoping to see Gale and his friends to return.
---
It takes time, perhaps hours, and most of which coaxing young ones with light shows he has no energy for, but Tav thinks he hears footsteps above them, voices, someone to help them. He hurries over to the ladder and climbs up to the hatch and bangs against it with his fist.]
We’re down here!
[He coughs, as the hatch is covered with dust and debris, but he tries again.]
Down here! We’re down here!
[For extra measure, he tries to gather the light again and force it through the key hole as a beacon for whoever might be out there.]
By the weave they won, and Gale had been cautiously optimistic of course but the odds --
The odds had not been in their favour, especially missing someone. Gale had stood there, gazing up at the stem, and known he could end it all. That if he ascended alone, allowed his companions to retreat, he could finish this.
He could save everyone,
Yet they won, and as they stand on the dock watching the brain sink into the Chionthar, Gale cannot help but feel his mind wander.
The Crown of Karsus. It's out there, somewhere. The potential answer to so many problems.
First, however, perhaps at least a little sit down -- if not a drink. A drink truly would be a blessing, he's so tired.
Yet as they walk through Baldur's Gate, Gale feels the unease begin to build. The wave of destruction the netherbrain left in its wake is not without casualties, and some buildings have been tipped fully over.
He locked Tav in. He locked him in, and as they round the corner Gale feels the last of his strength begin to ebb.
The Elfsong, half collapsed.
Maybe if he'd detonated the orb, it wouldn't have happened. Maybe the blast would have destroyed the brain entirely, blown it into so many pieces the tavern would have survived.
Maybe Gale is a selfish fool, and in trying to have everything his own way he's left himself with nothing.
Karlach's voice snaps him out of it, her strong arms hauling fallen masonry and beams.
Soldier! On your feet, I can hear voices.
Voices.
Shadowheart is already helping dig, Astarion carefully picking over the structure to listen for where people might be buried, and Gale scrambles forward to start digging. He's not the strongest among them, but adrenaline is a powerful thing and scrabbles through rubble until his fingers begin to bleed.
Here, Karlach says, and Gale is at his side in a moment. The hatch -- of course, of course, and he's fumbling to help unearth it. To move as much rubble as he can until she can pull it open. ]
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no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 02:20 pm (UTC)Anything.
[ Say anything, anything at all. Karlach comes to rest a hand on him, and Gale resits the urge to throw it off. She speaks to him, low and quiet, and he nods. ]
Alright. Let's get you to Shadowheart. She can --
[ His voice catches, taking in the amount of blood. The damage. ]
She can help. We can't afford to linger in the open. Not now.
[ Not while they have all the netherstones, and while the brain is so close. It's only a matter of time. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 02:30 pm (UTC)He doesn’t ask who Shadowheart is, where they are going, as that is all far above his station. He does not even ask if he should walk or not; if they wish him to walk the wizard will make him.]
no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 07:29 pm (UTC)Gale paces, anxious, until Astarion snaps at him to sit down.
Then he sits anxiously instead, watching the proceedings.
This is... painful. They cannot ask Tav what he wants, because he doesn't know. They cannot heal him, apparently. Yet there must be something.
If he had the Crown of Karsus --
Yet, no. Tav had dissuaded him from using that before.
(It's only that it could work, it could work...)
He escorts Tav back to his room, defeated, and tries to ply him with his favourite food instead. With a book he liked, with familiar clothing, anything that might help.
He sits on a chair, giving up his anxious hovering, and studies the man. ]
You remember nothing at all?
[ There's only so long they can wait, the looming presence of the Elder Brain is still a problem.
Gale wonders, grimly, if they will be enough without Tav to hold them together. He wonders if he should --
But, no. He promised to stay by Tav's side. He can't break that promise, not now. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 07:53 pm (UTC)What am I meant to remember? [Tav asks, not trying to anger the wizard but to try and regain part of what he's clearly lost. He's heard the others call the wizard by a name and so Tav tries that, hoping to soothe the anxieties of the man in front of him.] You are Gale, yes?
no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 08:08 pm (UTC)Should he... show him? Would that help? Or would a mental connection unbalance the man's already shattered mind? Shadowheart had said give him time, and she's certainly lost enough memories. Hers had come back, with exposure.
Perhaps better not to risk it. He's already done enough damage, hasn't he? ]
Gale, yes, Gale of Waterdeep. We were all of us on a nautiloid, yourself included. Woke up to find we'd had a little ocular insertion and yet none of us were growing tentacles and turning towards the Grand Design. So, being of similar minds that this was an unwelcome development we banded together in the hopes of finding a healer who could handle it. It's been a long road.
no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 08:24 pm (UTC)I spend a lot of time with you. [Tav opens his eyes again, but they're glassy with pain, with the effort of trying to remember.]
no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 09:05 pm (UTC)Yes. Yes, you did.
[ He swallows, trying to think, and hears Astarion loudly proclaiming that he's tired and should get some sleep. That there's nothing to be gained by his lingering. A wave of gratitude passes over him and he hears the others slowly trickle out too, leaving the two of them sat staring at each other. ]
If it hurts, don't push yourself. I am... impatient for you to remember, I will readily admit that, but I thought I'd lost you entirely. To have you here, once more, even devoid of the memory of our journey is a relief I cannot begin to describe. Take your time, please.
no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 09:19 pm (UTC)You were... are important to Bhaalsp-- to Tav. [The headache mounts higher and he groans. He covers his eyes to try and relieve the pain.] Weren't you.
[Blood dribbles down from his nose, a leftover from Orin's torture.]
no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 09:25 pm (UTC)[ Gale pushes to his feet, retrieving a cloth and filling a basin with water. He circles back, crouches in front of Tav and begins to gently clean the blood from his face. ]
You won't be any good to anyone if we make this worse. So, slowly. A little at a time. When it gets too much, take a moment. I'll still be here, whenever you need me.
no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 09:37 pm (UTC)You promised to stay by my side. [More blood leaks out of Tav's nose, but he's not stopping.] I was fighting something. I had longer hair.
no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 11:17 pm (UTC)[ He cups Tav's face gently, dabbing more of the blood away. ]
But you aren't wrong. I did make you that promise. I told you I wouldn't let you down, and I failed you.
[ He drops the cloth a moment, expression pinched in pain. ]
And I'm sorry for that. I'd give anything to make things right, to undo the pain you're in.
no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 11:26 pm (UTC)Tav doesn't know what to do, doesn't know the boundaries that may exist between them or lack there of. He supposes he's allowed to cup Gale's face, but does he want to? Does he know Gale well enough to perform such an intimate act?
Unsure, he reaches up to hold Gale's wrist, his grip gentle.]
I don't know what to tell you to help. [At least there's a sense of his personality emerging from the cinders: the Tav who likes to help and wants to help.]
no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 11:46 pm (UTC)[ He laughs, something hollow and weak, and draws his hand back. He gently takes Tav's hand, presses his face to it and tries to breathe. The tangle of emotion feels as hot and volatile as the Netherese Orb itself, liable to overload at any moment. ]
But I came so close to losing you, and the world would have been a much darker place indeed without your light.
no subject
Date: 2023-10-13 11:55 pm (UTC)Still, he can see that Gale needs some kind of reassurance and so he offers what he can,] I am right here now. There is no need for 'what if's, Gale. Or none that I know of.
[He's heard a great deal about a battle with a brain?? and he supposes he's not in any shape endure that fight, but again, he knows so little.] If you need me for the fight, I will be there.
no subject
Date: 2023-10-14 12:10 am (UTC)[ Gale swallows, uneasy. ]
But I don't want to leave you.
[ He promised to stay by his side, after all. His heart wants to do that. Yet what if they need him? What if everyone else dies, because he's here tending to Tav?
Neither choice is good. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-10-14 12:15 am (UTC)[Tav starts to withdraw his hand, brushing his knuckles along Gale’s cheek.]
Do you need to lock me in?
[Tav has come to understand that Gale doesn’t want him out of his sight for some reason but a locked door might be just as good.]
no subject
Date: 2023-10-14 08:56 pm (UTC)He wants happiness so aggressively, wants Tav to remember him, wants the feeling of being cared for above anyone else. Wants to be in Waterdeep, with Tara, enjoying peace.
He deserves that, doesn't he?
Doesn't he?
Maybe he doesn't. Maybe he needs to earn it. He's already failed once, after making a promise.
The selfish desire to run, to take Tav and run right now, wars with his self-esteem.
If the other man remembered, what would he have wanted? He'd have wanted to help, surely? So then, of course, Gale would have stayed by his side.
Yet what if they cannot win? What if the only option ends up the Netherese Orb in his chest? ]
Well of course they need me, a wizard of my renown. Without me to hold them together I have the unfortunate suspicion they would struggle.
no subject
Date: 2023-10-14 09:03 pm (UTC)He also understands that he's not well enough to go with Gale. He barely has his own name on his tongue, much less how to use a sword or cast a spell. In the fight looming ahead, he would be a distraction, a liability.]
And I suspect you would want me to stay. [Tav bows his head for a moment or two, brushing away the blood that seeps from his nose when he does so.] I promise to stay safe.
no subject
Date: 2023-10-14 09:43 pm (UTC)His heart plays a restless beat as he tries to envision all the outcomes. A world of endless possibilities, of roads not taken, of battles won and lost.
If they go and leave the prism here, they'll be out of its protection anyway. If they take the prism, they doom those they leave behind.
If the battle is lost, they all become mindflayers.
Gale lowers the cloth, hand lifting to touch Tav's face once more. ]
Do you still hear it? The voice?
[ Urging him into violence? ]
no subject
Date: 2023-10-14 09:50 pm (UTC)[He is about to shut his eyes to think when Gale's fingers brush his face, ease over his cheek, and Tav allows himself to become distracted. This touch is so much kinder than any that he has ever known. Granted, he doesn't know many other touches than being cut with a knife innumerable times and a thin blade in his ear, but he desires more of it, desires more of Gale.
For a moment, he allows himself to watch Gale, to study those brown eyes and search his scattered memories for something. The mention of the voice actually brings forth a memory, a rather unpleasant one.]
I tried to kill you once. [His breath hitches in his chest. That must be the voice Gale is talking about, the one urging him to split Gale open, to paint the ground with his blood.] N-no I don't hear that voice.
no subject
Date: 2023-10-14 11:30 pm (UTC)Try being the operative word. My knots held you steady, no matter how much you longed to make a necklace of my eyeballs.
[ His thumb continues to gently rub over Tav's skin in soothing strokes. ]
I don't hold it against you. I know it wasn't what you wanted.
[ He remembers, vividly, the rest of what had been said.
No matter what I say after these next few minutes, I love you, Gale.
He believes him. He'll hold onto that. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-10-14 11:37 pm (UTC)There's a knock at the door and the tiefling-- Karlach, he's come to know-- pushes her head in.]
Soldier, [She nods to Tav, who stares blankly at her. She then turns to Gale, the heat of the upcoming battle in her words.] It's time, Gale.
[Tav turns back to Gale and allows his hand to slowly drop away.] Lock the door anyway? Just in case.
[He doesn't want there to be the slightest chance that a voice might call him away from the safety of the Elfsong.] I'll see you on the other side.
no subject
Date: 2023-10-15 10:49 am (UTC)He feels as if he's barely had any rest at all.
No matter. Perhaps a potion or two can restore him. Gale grasps for the hand dropping from his face, presses a kiss to the back of it. ]
Wait for me.
[ Then Gale retreats, swipes up his pack and leaves the room.
After a moment of hesitation, he carefully locks the door from the outside as requested. In truth, he suspects if the whispers truly pushed Tav to do harm again one door wouldn't be enough to stop him.
One way or another, he thinks, this will be over soon.
The group descend under the city, and Gale quietly hopes that he will be able to return to unlock that door. That Tav will be there when he returns.
That he can take him to Waterdeep, finally find some peace.
That the Emperor is trustworthy after all. ]
no subject
Date: 2023-10-15 11:14 am (UTC)Please bring Gale back.
There’s a bright glimmering halo at some point and then the brain begins to fall. The tail drags through building after building and it doesn’t take someone with all of their memories to see the path of that fall. The Elfsong will be destroyed and him with it if he doesn’t get out of the way. He promised Gale to keep safe and he will keep safe in any way he can. Tav dashes to the door before remembering it’s locked and he flits through his scattered memories to try and remember any sort of spell to break it open. Nothing. Nothing. But there are statuettes over the fireplace and he breaks one over the door handle and kicks the door the rest of the way open. Dashing down the stairs, he can’t understand why everyone is still standing around.]
We’re in its path! Go!
[But now he can see the spine curving and twisting and nearly on top of them. There’s no time to get out, only---
Down.]
There’s a hatch! [Tav leads the way to a hatch he only has the faintest recall of and tears back the carpet covering it. Oh gods.] Jump down! Ignore the ladder! Just jump!
[Men, women, children, all sorts scramble for the opening as brick and mortar come down around them and Tav knows he promised, but he might not make it with a handful of patrons still a foot or so away. He reaches out to grab them, pulls them in, and then the hatch over the top of them just as the white brick slams down on top of them. Tav falls down on top of someone but he stares around at those gathered, those alive, some with twisted ankles and bruised bones, but alive.
He should know this spell, he thinks to himself as he extends his hand. Illuminate the room, he tries to tell himself, brighten their faces, remove their fear, and just as he thinks it won’t work, light plays off his fingertips, growing into a ball and he allows it to sail up and into the cracked ceiling of the cellar. His chest heaves with the effort of the spell and he finds himself a pillar to lean against, waiting and hoping to see Gale and his friends to return.
---
It takes time, perhaps hours, and most of which coaxing young ones with light shows he has no energy for, but Tav thinks he hears footsteps above them, voices, someone to help them. He hurries over to the ladder and climbs up to the hatch and bangs against it with his fist.]
We’re down here!
[He coughs, as the hatch is covered with dust and debris, but he tries again.]
Down here! We’re down here!
[For extra measure, he tries to gather the light again and force it through the key hole as a beacon for whoever might be out there.]
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Date: 2023-10-15 12:29 pm (UTC)By the weave they won, and Gale had been cautiously optimistic of course but the odds --
The odds had not been in their favour, especially missing someone. Gale had stood there, gazing up at the stem, and known he could end it all. That if he ascended alone, allowed his companions to retreat, he could finish this.
He could save everyone,
Yet they won, and as they stand on the dock watching the brain sink into the Chionthar, Gale cannot help but feel his mind wander.
The Crown of Karsus. It's out there, somewhere. The potential answer to so many problems.
First, however, perhaps at least a little sit down -- if not a drink. A drink truly would be a blessing, he's so tired.
Yet as they walk through Baldur's Gate, Gale feels the unease begin to build. The wave of destruction the netherbrain left in its wake is not without casualties, and some buildings have been tipped fully over.
He locked Tav in. He locked him in, and as they round the corner Gale feels the last of his strength begin to ebb.
The Elfsong, half collapsed.
Maybe if he'd detonated the orb, it wouldn't have happened. Maybe the blast would have destroyed the brain entirely, blown it into so many pieces the tavern would have survived.
Maybe Gale is a selfish fool, and in trying to have everything his own way he's left himself with nothing.
Karlach's voice snaps him out of it, her strong arms hauling fallen masonry and beams.
Soldier! On your feet, I can hear voices.
Voices.
Shadowheart is already helping dig, Astarion carefully picking over the structure to listen for where people might be buried, and Gale scrambles forward to start digging. He's not the strongest among them, but adrenaline is a powerful thing and scrabbles through rubble until his fingers begin to bleed.
Here, Karlach says, and Gale is at his side in a moment. The hatch -- of course, of course, and he's fumbling to help unearth it. To move as much rubble as he can until she can pull it open. ]
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