Ellu'kha and her people were in the gith creche. The healer who Lae'zel was certain would cure them of the parasite instead tried to kill them and now Lae'zel wanted to complain about the healer — whom she considered a traitor to the gith people — to the Inquisitor.
However, in order to speak with the Inquisitor, Ellu'kha had to betray the dream woman and Shadowheart's trust by showing the gith the artifact they sought. Hopefully it was worth it.
The group stood outside of the Inquisitor's chambers and composed themselves. Hopefully they would be able to make it out of this alive, and with their honour intact.
At last they dared to step into the Inquisitor's chambers, where he welcomed them most cheerfully with a demeanour unlike any gith Ellu'kha had met so far.
He bade them approach; they had much to discuss.
It seemed that the gith knew much about them. They knew they were the ones who had escaped the mindflayer ship on the beach, that they had been infested with parasites and had been communicating with those of the Absolute's cult. It was a pestilence! The first symptom of the grand design and it must be dealt with.
They needed the weapon, the artifact they carried, to destroy the Absolute and its influence before all the realms became mindflayer spawn.
He took the artifact from Ellu'kha and suddenly, a great gith goddess appeared. Vlaakith herself.
The artifact belonged to her! It had been stolen from her! And the entity that had stolen it was inside the damned thing and needed to die so the artifact was no longer corrupted.
Ellu'kha tried to explain that the entity inside was what was protecting them, but Vlaakith would hear none of it. The entity inside must die, and after they had killed it, she would purify Ellu'kha and her companions with a goddess' touch.
Lae'zel pleaded with Ellu'kha to follow Vlaakith's will, whilst the dream voice inside of her mind screamed, "NO!"
Thinking they could at least go in to speak with the entity and find out its version of the story, Ellu'kha activated the artifact and they stepped inside.
Inside of the artifact was a small slice of the astral plane... it appeared just as the realm that Ellu'kha had visited in her dreams, with the dream person who had been guiding them.
It was beautiful.
After admiring the view, they investigated the small area and found a portal that led further inside the realm. The dream woman's voice encased them. She would speak to Ellu'kha only.
Leaving her companions behind, Ellu'kha stepped through the portal and found herself face-to-face with the woman from her dreams.
She reprimanded Ellu'kha. She had told her not to go to the gith, to stay away from them, but she just couldn't help herself could she? She had stolen this power from Vlaakith and was using it to protect Ellu'kha and her people, Vlaakith cared nothing for them and indeed, had already told the Inquisitor to kill them upon their return.
Was Ellu'kha really going to kill her?
Ellu'kha said, "No." She had only come to speak with her, to hear her version of events, and she agreed that Vlaakith and most of the gith could not be trusted.
Ellu'kha returned to her companions and Lae'zel raced over to her, asking her if she had fulfilled Vlaakith's desire.
No, Ellu'kha had not, and she persuaded Lae'zel to see reason. This artifact was protecting them and the gith would be turning on them the moment they stepped out of this realm.
Lae'zel would not believe it. Ellu'kha had to be lying, her Goddess would not lie to her...
They would soon find out. They stepped out of the astral plane and back into the material realm.
When they appeared on the other side of the portal, the gith inquisitor grinned at them. Vlaakith had demanded their death and he would claim their heads in the name of his queen.
When the fight was won and the gith attackers lay dead on the floor, Ellu'kha checked in with Lae'zel hoping that she would realise that what Ellu'kha had said was true — the gith had turned on them just as the dream woman had said.
Lae'zel was upset at first, but then steeled herself. Her queen was testing her. That was all this was. A test.
A test or not, they had to get out of here, and it was very likely that the entire creche would be ready to turn on them. Lae'zel had no issue with that. This creche was weak and deserved to be burned to the ground.
Just as Ellu'kha thought, the entire creche had turned on them. They would have to fight their way out.
One of the gith they took out carried a fantastic greatsword that Lae'zel could wield with pride. She quickly equipped it and marvelled at its perfection.
While Lae'zel marvelled at the weapon, Ellu'kha noted to herself: they would eradicate the gith, and then they would investigate this monastery from top to bottom and discover its secrets.
Slowly and methodically, soon the monastery was clear of gith — at least all the ones who had been home at the time. They were free to explore, investigate, and purloin to their heart's content.
The monastery was in shambles and it was difficult to reach some places, but with a bit of fancy footwork they climbed up the mountain a bit and then jumped through a crumbling hole in the wall up high. They would start their treasure hunt here.
It didn't take long before they found a curiosity: a chamber with a stained glass floor and four altars surrounding it. One altar had a ceremonial weapon and magical lights glowing blue; the others did not. Maybe if they found the other ceremonial weapons, something would be unlocked.
They found a ceremonial weapon just outside this chamber, protected by a guardian. Placing it on the appropriate alter, the lights glowed blue and Ellu'kha felt sure that once they found the other two something grand would be made available to them.
The next weapon they sought had the unfortunate resting place of in an eagle's nest.
Ellu'kha tried to speak with the eagle but it would not relinquish the shiny. As much as it pained her to do so, they had to defend themselves and kill the great eagles if they wanted that weapon.
Once it had been retrieved and placed on its altar, they group went searching for the last one. In a yet-unexplored region of the monastery for walked in on what appeared to twenty kobolds having a very boozy party.
A few of them were fighting amongst themselves, alcohol was splashed all over the floor... Gale knew just what to do. He threw a fireball!
"Drunk and flammable, what a combination!" He exclaimed as all the kobolds burnt to a crisp.
One of the kobolds had the final weapon on its charred remains and after racing it back to the stained-glass room and placing it upon the final altar... a latch unlocked itself.
Inside the latch was the crest of the Dawnmaster and instructions for the new Dawnmaster on the whereabouts of the fabled Blood of Lathander. A great weapon.
Back in the Inquisitor's chamber they discovered a secret passageway filled with warnings to trespassers, traps, and magically closed doors that could only be activated by Gale transforming Ellu'kha into a gaseous cloud so that she could safely avoid one trap and activate the door from the opposite side.
This Blood of Lathander must be great indeed if it was taking so much trouble and effort to get the blasted thing.
Finally, with the last door opened, they stepped through into a great ceremonial chamber where a glowing mace sat on display. There was a slot for the Dawnmaster's crest which allowed Ellu'kha to retrieve the weapon safely and she grasped it tight in both hands.
It had been worth the trouble.
Passing it to Shadowheart, she hurriedly equipped it with glee. While it dealt less damage than her current weapon, all of its benefits made up for it. If she were to even fall in battle, she would be instantly healed. Everyone around her would be healed. A constant buff radiated out from the weapon and imbued the entire party. And all undead fiends that would dare approach her would be blinded by the radiance.
It was fantastic.
She couldn't wait to wield it in battle!
Until next time! 😊
and are from the game: Baldur's Gate 3