'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 uncertainly.
'If you're intending to help Tymora, save the Realms, and keep Joel out of trouble,' Selune said, 'you'd better accept the sword.'
Jas took the weapon from Winnie. She slid its sheath onto her weapons belt, then drew it out to examine it. She tested its balance and smiled.
'When you're ready to return, you can use the sword to wish your party back here,' Winnie said. 'Wish aloud, and wish carefully, so no one is left behind. A wish will attract the attention of everyone from Beshaba to the tanar'ri lords, so you don't want to remain in the Abyss after you've made one. Just use the wish to get home, nothing else,' the priestess warned. 'In the backpacks, you will find food and water, a tarp for shelter, a magical lantern, rope, some healing potions, and a few magical scrolls that you may find useful. There is also some gold; creatures in the Abyss are not above accepting bribes.'
'Beshaba's realm is the thirteenth layer of the Abyss,' Selune explained. 'Long ago the layer was flooded to prevent the baatezu from ever invading it again. Umberlee, the evil goddess of the sea, makes her realm in those waters. Towering over the waters is the Blood Tor, a massive rocky peak that some sages say rivals Mt. Olympus in size. Beshaba and her court live in a cavern complex within the mountain, somewhere near the pinnacle. I will make you a gateway in the mountainside. You will have to discover your own route into Beshaba's caverns. Many other evil things live on and within the Blood Tor. Take care to avoid as many of them as you can.'
Joel nodded.
'Finder and I will be able to detect what is going on throughout Beshaba's realm the moment you arrive, but the longer you stay, the more we can learn. You do not need to get close to Beshaba for us to sense her, but you may be safer near the heart of her realm,' the goddess explained. 'The fiends in the Abyss avoid tangling with the powers. If creatures there think you are one of Beshaba's minions, they will avoid you. You do not need to take risks. For now, we only need you to be our eyes, not our armies. Do you understand?'
Joel nodded in agreement.
Selune motioned with her hand, and a magical portal formed beside the root ball of the fallen birch tree. A barren wind-blasted slope appeared on the opposite side of the portal, and an unpleasant odor issued forth, which Joel recognized as the stench of blood.
Joel felt a twinge of fear, but his determination did not waiver. Finder was relying on him to help Lady Luck, and so were the luckless Realms, although no one there probably yet realized their peril.
Finder embraced his priest. 'Be careful. I don't want you as a petitioner yet,' the god said.
'I will,' Joel promised. He picked up one of the backpacks provided by Winnie. Jas picked up the other one. Together they stepped into the Abyss.
'Hey, wait for me,' Emilo called out and leapt after them.
OFFSTAGE
Somewhere in the Prime Material Plane on the world known as Toril in Realmspace, Mirt the Moneylender settled his prodigious girth on a heavy ironwood chair and said, 'You are the last person I ever expected to see in my office.'
Joshuan Havabuck-'Fast Joshy,' as he was known on the street-squirmed in his chair, his furry halfling feet dangling a good foot off the floor. 'Would that you were not seeing me, guv'nor,' the halfling said, 'but I appreciate your willingness to aid my situation.'
Mirt folded his hands over his belly and smiled. His aid always came at a hefty, if deferred, cost. 'It's hard to believe that you, of all people, are short of ready money,' Mirt stated. 'You've lectured me many a time about keeping your eggs in numerous baskets.'
'Diversification,' Havabuck said with a sage bob of his head.
'Numbers running, smuggling, pornographic Talis cards, stolen goods…' Mirt enumerated Havabuck's baskets, ticking them off on his sausage-sized fingers.
'All solid enterprises,' the halfling boasted, 'though subject to normal irregularities and marketing fluxes.'
'So why are you here?' Mirt asked.
The halfling sighed, a sigh that ended in a shuddering sob. A moment later Havabuck pulled himself together and explained. 'It's my core business, guv'nor. The ready money for all the others comes from a lottery I run in Dock Ward. A bet on the total daily tonnage that conies into Waterdeep, as reported by the dockmaster.' 'An honest man,' said Mirt solemnly. The halfling nodded. 'Incorruptible, and best of all, a man with a trustworthy demeanor. The lottery costs a gold lion a ticket, and it pays out a thousand gold lions. Normal take is ten thousand lions, so I get a tidy profit, which I can use to cover losses of other, less dependable operations.'
'Unless more than ten people pick the winning number,' said Mirt.
The halfling suppressed another shudder and nodded.
'So I take it more than ten people won?' Mirt queried
The halfling nodded again.
'Fifteen people?'
The halfling pressed his lips together and did not respond.
'Twenty?'
Havabuck shook his head.
