Black and White Wings

Act I: Blades

Scouting the rest of the area around the Nautiloid, Zelaina, Astarion and Shadowheart had found no signs of survivors yet.

That was-until-they entered the Nautiloid again, finding a mind flayer pinned under some rubble while barely clinging onto life.

"Careful. That thing is still bound to be dangerous even while injured", Shadowheart cautions before they slowly approach the flayer.

Zelaina felt no remorse, no sympathy for this creature. Grasping the hilt of her greatsword, she unsheathes it and levels it at the dying monster. Raising it to strike, she stops midway as she began to feel... compassion.

Frowning, Zelaina was confused. "Compassion? Why do I feel compassion for this monster?", she thinks to herself as she is torn between hate and sympathy.

It was the tadpole in her head wriggling and squirming that gave away what was causing the sudden feeling. Even on the verge of death, the flayer attempted to control her.

Using her willpower alone, she breaks free from the mind flayer's telekinetic grasp. It relaxes its body as it accepts that Zelaina could not be controlled.

With a swift swing of her blade, the flayer's head comes cleanly off of its body. Flicking the blood off her blade and sheathing her sword, she smashes the head.

"Death is too good for it", she growls under her breath. The three continued on, passing by three dead goblins and looting them for supplies. They come to a halt, however, upon finding a strange sigil erratically pulsing with magic on a stone.

Carefully approaching the sigil, she reaches her hand out to touch it. Electric like magic shocks her, making her gasp in pain.

Just as she was about to leave the stone be, an arm popped out of the magic mass at the center of the sigil. "A hand? Anyone?", a voice calls out with an echo.

Analyzing the sigil, Zelaina tried to find the source of the hand but couldn't. "Who are you?", she asks the arm, "Just your average traveler trapped between realms. Pull me out, and we can get properly introduced".

The magic was dangerous, if she got too close to the sigil it could fry her. Reaching out, she began to pray while infusing the sigil with her magic. Slowly, the sigil's magic began to calm.

"Whatever you're doing it's doing wonders! Now a quick little pull should do the trick", the voice commends her smart thinking.

Zelaina approaches the sigil once more, this time she grabs the hand and uses all her strength to pull. With a strong pull, out comes flying a human man.

"Ooft! Hello! I'm Gale of Waterdeep. Apologies, I'm usually better at this", he says as he grabs her hand and shakes it with a smile.

Shocked at what just occurred, Zelaina simply nods, "Better at..?", she asks. "At magic. Say but I know you, in a manner of speaking. You were aboard the Nautiloid, weren't you?", he asks with a raised brow.

Shaking her shock off, she looks at the now dormant sigil behind him, then back at him. "Never mind the Nautiloid, how'd you get stuck in the stone?!", she asks.

Gale tells her of how he was aboard the ship as well, trapped inside a pod just like them. How he saw Zelaina and Shadowheart running about the ship.

He tells her of how he then found himself falling to his death and used magic to try and teleport himself to the ground, but failing to do so.

The four of them exchange what information they've gathered on the monsters that are in their heads, and what fate awaits them without a cure. Gale eventually reveals he's a wizard, and joins their group on their quest for a cure to the parasites.