As night fell, the party left the cave, fully rested and now all standing at Tier I.
They found Moonhaven to be filled with nothing but corpses, just as Eden had left it. So, they continued deeper in, leaving the village through its northern exit, and advanced towards the goblin camp.
The goblins had made their camp in an old temple that used to be the biggest landmark of the area, but it had been practically razed down a hundred years ago, along with Moonhaven, by the Dark Justiciars of Shar.
It did not take them long to arrive to the camp's entrance. Despite it being night, more than a dozen goblins were posted there, along with a few Worgs.
The Party did not make themselves discreet, moving with torches, so the goblins warned, "What's you doing there!"
Shadowheart, who walked next to the bound Eden, frowned and hollered, "Is this how you receive a True Soul? We have an important prisoner, let us through."
Eden saw a strand of purple energy transfer from her to the lead goblin, who fumbled on his next words, "Ah, y-yes, of course! Enter, my lady."
Shadowheart huffed haughtily, the act coming to her easily as she yanked Eden's arm, leading the party deeper in. As they were about to enter the confines of the temple however, they suddenly stopped as Shadowheart and everyone with a tadpole clutched their heads painfully.
But just as they did, the mysterious artefact, which Shadowheart kept in her pocket, flew out of her pocket on its own. It pulsated with a soft orange light, protecting the party against the psychic attack.
Still, it took them a moment to gather their spirits. Fortunately, it was night, so not many goblins were left around. And even if some saw what happened, only the higher ups, or some Players, knew what the artefact was.
Although the sudden psychic assault had come as a surprise, they had all been warned already of the Absolute, as well as the capabilities of the Mysterious Artefact, or Astral Prism.
Proceeding inside, Shadowheart's face scrunched up as she gritted her teeth, seething under her breath, "A temple to Selune…"
Eden glanced at her, but said nothing. Her visible anger also worked in their favor as the guards posted at the temple's entrance did not dare to stop them.
The temple itself was only sparsely guarded, as most goblins were already sleeping. However, as they were moving deeper in, a short goblin with a feathered staff stopped them. She was flanked by a whole team of goblins.
[Name: Gut]
[Title: Priestess of the Absolute, True Soul]
[HP: 140/140]
[MP: 280/280]
[Strength: 25]
[Agility: 21]
[Physique: 25]
[Intelligence: 28]
[Wisdom: 32]
"So you are the team of True Souls I was warned about. I see you managed to catch your prisoner."
Shadowheart held her chin up, haughtily talking down to the goblin, "No thanks to your meat-bags. This is an important prisoner, who needs to be brought to the Absolute. Has the convoy for Ravengard already arrived?"
Gut gave Shadowheart the stink eye, unhappy with the way her people were talked about, and as a True Soul herself, she did not have to fear the cleric. She snorted, mocking, "Convoy? The human is already halfway to Moonrise Towers."
She looked at Eden, getting in his face as she poked her staff at various parts of his body, commenting, "Looks like any other human to me… Just throw him into the prison."
The members of the party looked at each other, and decided to do exactly that. Their initial goal here had been to find Halsin, and they felt the prison was a good place to start.
As they were headed there, Wyll groaned, "Curses, they have already taken the Duke away. We must head to Moonrise Towers."
Astarion did not look very invested in that, and said, "We must find the druid first."
Lae'zel added, "And the Creche. It is nearby, we must head there first. What use would there be in chasing after the Duke if we are turned into Ghaiks!"
Seeing there were few goblins around, Eden discreetly whispered, "If Halsin is anywhere, it's in the prison. But since Ravengard has already left… do we really need to pretend anymore?"
He pointed to several choke-holds, and continued, "They might have an army, but a few well placed spells could allow us to easily control them. Wyll, you can cast Hunger of Hadar, right?"
The Warlock nodded, though he cautioned, "I can, but are you really sure you want to attack now?"
Eden glanced at Astarion, proposing, "Not right this second, but when we reach the prison, yes. If Halsin is in there and alive, good. If he is not, then he is probably dead. But while we get there, Astarion should pay a visit to those still asleep. Before they get woken up."
Astarion twirled a blade in his hand, which was all the answer they needed, but Sylfine said, "Why not wait a little then? To not only give Astarion the time to… check on as many of our friends as possible, but also for us to explore, and find a better way than just throw ourselves at it. And if something goes wrong, Astarion can come warn you."
Gale perked, "Actually, I have something better."
He tapped Eden's hand behind his back, and Eden felt a surge of magic appear, but it was destroyed nearly instantly.
[Wisdom Check…]
[Wisdom Check overruled by 'Soul Overlord'!]
Gale paused for a second, before commenting, "How curious."
Eden looked over his shoulder at the wizard and revealed, "Tracing magic, or anything that would mark me, does not work. What were you trying to do?"
Gale took out a gold coin from his bag of holding, and explained, "A slightly altered Alarm spell. I will activate it if we encounter trouble, or any situation that requires you to start the attack on your side. After ten seconds, the spell will fizzle out, taking out the mark."
Eden nodded, grabbing the coin and keeping it in his hands for now. He then lowered his head, letting his hair cover his eyes as he circulated his mana through his body. It did not have any tangible effects, but it had almost become second nature to him at this point. It was like twirling a pen around his hand.
But as they approached the prison, Eden felt something surprising. His connection to his infernal contract flared up, not once, but twice. His two targets were nearby. One was deeper into the camp, likely with the leaders, while the other was in the prison.
This made things easier.
They quickly arrived at the prison, which was surprisingly heavily guarded. The prison itself was relatively small, and much less ornamented than the rest of the temple. It might not even have been a prison originally, which would not be surprising since temples generally did not need one.
There were six different cells, and a ton of goblins watching over them. There had to be no less than fifty goblins, which was a considerable portion of the goblins left, along with seven Bugbears, ten Worgs and two Ogres.
The reason for this heavy protection also became quickly apparent as they saw the imposing Elf tied in the central cell, with seemingly countless chains binding him. Other than his face, there was hardly any skin exposed.
Eden did not need to use Analysis to know who this was, though that did not stop him.
[Name: Halsin]
[Title: Archdruid of the Emerald Grove,]
[HP: 99/390]
[MP: 320/320]
[Strength: 49]
[Agility: 15]
[Physique: 39]
[Intelligence: 23]
[Wisdom: 42]
Those were some powerful attributes, befitting of an Archdruid, though some were surprisingly low, like Agility and Intelligence. This begged the question, however, of how exactly he had managed to get himself caught. Even though the Archdruid would certainly struggle to fight the entire camp by himself, by virtue of his power system that did not favor facing huge groups, he should still have been able to escape.
Actually, even a novice druid should have been able to turn into a rat or a bird to escape.
But what was perhaps even more surprising was that he was still alive. Especially since his identity as the Archdruid had been uncovered, considering he was not in Wild Shape, as he was supposed to be.
It was curious, but Eden paid more attention to the cell next to his, where a group of humans were imprisoned. Players, obviously. All Tier I, with some being newbies, others more experienced. One was about as strong as Ergon, Eden would gander, though not quite reaching Isis' level.
Of course, attributes were only one facet of power, and Perks also played an important role. One of these Players might be as strong as him, though he doubted it, considering their current situation.
Additionally, there was also another person in one of the cells, this one alone. He was Player, by the look of his status, though not a particularly impressive one. He just stayed in the back of his cell, not even looking in their direction.
[Name: Blanc]
[Title: Demon Slayer]
[Talent: ?]
[HP: 140/140]
[MP: 280/280]
[Strength: 21]
[Agility: 35]
[Physique: 19]
[Intelligence: 8]
[Wisdom: 15]
Eden and his group drew many eyes themselves, although the goblins did not appear to be on guard. The prison was deep in their camp, and although they could not innately feel True Souls, since they were bringing a prisoner in, they had to be friends.
The Players had different reactions, most of them showing a greedy look.
Shadowheart stepped forward, proclaiming, "Here, another prisoner. Be careful, he is extremely important, and just as dangerous. Do not touch him if you value your life."
Although the goblins did not like being ordered around by a Half-Elf, she apparently used her tadpole as the goblins suddenly cowered, one of them bowing with terrible form, "Of course, True Soul. Here, this cell is free."
Eden was led to a cell, his binds kept on. As they did, one of the Players in the cells warned, "Don't trust them! He is dangerous, kill him!"
Eden felt Shadowheart tense ever so slightly, but the goblins had none of it as one of them hit him with a staff through the cell, shouting, "Of course he's dangerous, the True Soul said so you moron!"
This earned him a wave of laughter from the other goblins, while Eden was led inside his cell.
Looking at the iron chains, Eden gave Shadowheart a glance, who wordlessly chained him. However, he whispered under his breath, "Kinky."
Shadowheart looked at him strangely, although a small smile appeared for the briefest moment on her face, before she wiped it off and left the cell.
Seeing the party leave, several of the goblins curiously approached Eden's cell, looking at him through the bars curiously. One of them tried to poke him with a stick, tentatively, as if he was a wild beast.
But upon seeing no reaction from him, the poking intensified, and the goblin mocked, "I don't see what's so tough about this one."
Eden said nothing, simply staring at the goblin, wondering how much his soul would nourish his Cursed Energy. Since he was no longer absorbing 'spirits', but whole souls, the amount he would be fed would drastically increase as well.
Speaking of which, Eden still had Sceleritas Fel's soul on him, along with the first portion of Bhaal's power, and the second portion of his soul he had used to project himself.
He could feel great power from them, but he did not absorb them, because he was afraid it would push his Sorcery to 50. Besides, it was just as valuable attached to him, as it constantly fed him more Cursed Energy. For now, since he was full, it did not matter, but once the fighting began, it would help him fight for longer.
Actually, because of the rather large number of spirits he had on him, along with Bhaal's power, Eden could fight with Cursed Energy pretty much indefinitely, so long as he kept it to reinforcing his body, or activating his Cursed Technique with only a part of his maximum output.
There was a reason Cursed Techniques had 'Maximum Output' versions. The closer one was to Maximum Output, the harder it became to manipulate Cursed Energy. Adding to that the sheer amount of Cursed Energy used, it led to a faster wear on his Innate Technique.
So far, Eden pretty much always used Maximum Output for Dismantle because he was never in any drawn out fight, and his Maximum Output was still pretty far from his total capacity, so he could easily afford spending a little more Cursed Energy if needed.
Not that the goblins or any of their allies would require Maximum Output from him.
After a while, the goblins left him alone, bored with his lack of response, and a boisterous voice boomed from the next cell, "What great restraint you've shown, my friend. But I wonder, who could you be to be so valued by the Absolute? Maybe I've heard of your name?"
One of the Players in the other cell answered for him, "His name is Ozymandias, a terrible murderer feared across planes. If he joins the forces of the Absolute, it could spell our doom."
Halsin exclaimed, "Ozymandias? A murderer feared across the planes? Say, you would not happen to be the infamous Omen of Death, would you?"
The goblins, who were listening in, showed confused expressions, having never heard of the name or title.
Eden remained silent for a second, before saying, "So you did hear of me. Still think I'm a friend?"
Unexpectedly, Halsin laughed, "Of course! Death is part of the cycle of nature, and requires agents just as much as life does. And I must admit, I could use one right now."
Although he could not see him, Eden heard the rattling of many chains, meaning he had to be trying to move. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "How come the Oakfather was caught by the children?"
Halsin stayed silent for a moment, before chuckling, catching on, "The Oakfather sought information, unaware wolves hid among them."
Eden hummed softly, before saying, "Still, he was caught by children. Will he be able to play another game by himself, or will he require Kelemvor's help?"
"The Oakfather can be as rigid as the mountain, or fluid as a stream. The heart of the mountain would never be able to hold him."
"Good. Then may he wait for Kelemvor."
The goblins looked at the two of them like they were mad, while the Players seemed suspicious, but were unable to decipher the precise meaning of their words either.