'So you are in league with Xvim,' Beshaba declared.
'Hardly,' Lathander replied with a tone that suggested he found the idea extremely distasteful.
'Then how did he know when to attack my realm?' Beshaba demanded.
'That was an unfortunate mistake on my part, Lady Beshaba,' Sirrion said. 'The priests of Xvim had stolen one of your power keys from your temple in Waterdeep. The minion I sent to purchase it said far more than he should have, and the priests of Xvim figured out the rest. Thus, soon after rumors of Tymora's weakness began to spread, Xvim, realizing you, too, must also be weakened, took advantage of the knowledge to attack you. Unfortunately for him I had not yet drained as much power from you as I had from Tymora. He fled from your wrath and is hiding in Baator.'
'And why is it necessary for you to drain away our power?' Beshaba asked.
'First, so that we could capture you,' Lathander explained. 'Second, so that the fusion chamber could handle the job of uniting the two of you. It's an ingenious device, but hardly up to the task of containing and fusing that much godly power. We returned some of your power so you would regain consciousness and I could explain to you what was about to happen. Now, however, we must drain you again so that you will once more fall unconscious and we can remove the bard from the fusion chamber. He couldn't possibly survive the fusion process.'
'What's going to happen to all the power you drain from us?' Tymora asked bitterly.
'It's being transferred into the blue crystal sphere,' Lathander said. 'It was the last power key Tyche ever made.'
'Yes, I remember,' Tymora snapped. 'When you and Beshaba are united, all the power will be restored to you,' Lathander promised. 'You will be more powerful than ever.'
'Interesting,' Beshaba said. Suddenly a great spear appeared in her hand. She drew it back and pointed it at Tymora, who was so engrossed with glaring at Lathander and Sirrion that she didn't seem to notice.
'Look out!' Joel cried out as Beshaba hurled the weapon. In the nick of time, he threw himself at Lady Luck, knocking her out of the spear's path.
'Beshaba, what are you doing?' Lathander shouted.
Tymora leapt to her feet and took cover with Joel behind a large shield she created from the chaos matter.
'If Tymora is dead, Lathander,' Beshaba replied, 'obviously you cannot shackle me to her side.' She addressed Tymora. 'You would do well to follow my lead, Sister. Soon we will be too weak to act on our own behalf. If you destroy me, so be it. I am willing to risk my life to spite this arrogant peacock. We are now at war,' Beshaba declared. She pointed one hand at Tymora, and a bolt of lightning crashed down just to the left of Tymora.
Tymora responded by conjuring a magical dagger and hurling it at the Maid of Misfortune. As Beshaba ducked, Tymora grabbed Joel's hand and fled from the temple, flying into the chaos.
ACT FOUR SCENE 5
Back in the wilderness of the Outlands, Finder nodded to Bors and Kenda. 'Give Factol Montgomery my thanks for your timely information.' Then he looked at Holly. 'We have a report to make to Selune,' he said, reaching out and grabbing the paladin's shoulder. He held his other hand out to Jas. The winged woman grabbed Emilo, then took up Finder's hand. The god whispered, 'Argentil,' and teleported the three adventurers away from the Outlands.
The next moment Jas found herself swimming beneath a bright full moon in a cold sea. She burst from the water, pulling the kender with her. Of Finder and Holly there was no sign. Cradling Emilo in her arms, she fluttered above the surface of the choppy water with huge white mothlike wings, shouting for the god and the paladin. The moonlight glittered along the waves, but Jas was too panic-stricken to appreciate the beauty all about her.
She couldn't understand why Finder had teleported to this place, but she knew that Holly, in her heavy plate armor, would never be able to make it to the water's surface. For a second, she wondered if Finder was still so angry with the paladin that he would allow her to drown, but she dismissed the idea with a shake of her head. She was sure Finder couldn't be so cruel.
After several fearful moments, Finder bobbed to the surface of the water, cradling Holly, coughing and spluttering, in his arms.
'What went wrong?' Jas asked.
'I tried to teleport to Argentil, Selune's hall, but someone has placed a barrier about the Isle of the Gates of the Moon. We slid into the sea when I hit the barrier.' 'Lathander,' Holly whispered. 'He knows you know his plan. He's trying to keep Selune from discovering it.'
'Can't Selune sense us out in the ocean?' Jas asked.
'Not if Lathander's taken the precaution to shield us magically from her senses. He's much more powerful than I,' Finder said. 'I can't beat him at this game.'
'My presence will give away your every move,' Holly said. She held up a small white flower and ripped it in half, whispering, 'Morning Glory.' The paladin vanished.
'What happened?' Emilo gasped. 'Where did Holly go?'
'She returned to Lathander with a piece of magic, like the one I gave you to return to Fermata,' Finder explained.
'So what now?' Jas asked. 'Back to Fermata?'
'No,' Finder said. He set one hand on Jas's head and the other on Emilo's and murmured the word, 'Precipice.'
Then next moment they stood at the top of a high cliff covered with heather and overlooking a river. The river poured into a lagoon before it plunged over an even higher cliff. Spray from the waterfall rose all the way to the top of the highest cliff, moistening the heather and making the air smell sweet. The sun shone brightly, creating rainbows in the mist.
As Jas set Emilo down beside her, the kender held his hands over his stomach. 'I think I'm getting dizzy from all this popping in and out,' he said. 'Oooh. Jas, your wings look just like the phoenix's wings,' the kender added.
Jas looked at the flame-colored feathers sprouting from her back and grimaced. 'That's just ducky,' she muttered. 'Where are we, anyway?'
'Somewhere near Lathander's realm, or at least as near as I dare try to teleport,' Finder replied. 'If Lathander has a barrier around Selune's realm, he's sure to have one around his own.'
'So what now?' Jas asked.
'We make our way toward his realm and hope we can sneak up on him,' Finder said.
'How do you sneak up on a god?' Jas asked.
'Well, between maintaining the barrier around Selune's isle, shielding me from Selune's senses, keeping the dark region in his realm from prying eyes, and trying to put Tyche together again, he has a good deal on his mind,' Finder said. 'We'll have to seize any chance that comes our way and hope he's too distracted to notice.'
'Distracted,' a quavering voice said behind them. 'I get distracted all the time.'
The god and his companions whirled around. There stood an ancient old man in gray robes, his face and head covered with long, flowing, white hair.
'Sometimes the least little thing can distract me,' the old man said. 'I reach for the cheese cutter, and I remember I've left the barn door open. Of course, eventually all the cows come home to roost, but still, if you let them wander in strange corn, they start claiming alien spelljammers took them jumping over the moon. Then I sit down to dinner and realize I've forgotten to bring out not only the cheese cutter but the cheese as well.'
'Oh, boy,' Jas murmured, having met more than a few senile old men in her life.
In spite of the dire nature of his quest, Finder was so amused by the old man's ramblings that he chuckled in spite of himself. 'Sir, I know just how you feel,' Finder answered the old man. 'Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Finder Wyvernspur, and these are my companions, Jasmine and Emilo Haversack.'
