"Telling me your name so I can check with Gale takes less time than arguing with me about how little time we have. I appreciate you not impersonating Desna."

"I'm the Dream Guardian."

She rises into the air towards the skull.

And the dream fades.

The next morning--

Mmmmmm. Morning cuddles.

...Lae'zel is going to die. It would be more efficient than every one else in the party dying.

She has no regrets spending the night with Cayden, both in hindsight or foresight. He is strong and skilled and will admit the backflips are charming.

But getting drunk and cuddling him on the floor in front of everyone. 

Death would be preferable.

...cuddling in private is acceptable.

"Morning. Do githyanki get hangovers?"

Ow, sounds. "I believe so."

Yeah Cayden's head isn't happy with him either.

He finds the water jug, sprinkles the Alchemist's Kindness into two cups of water, and brings one to Lae'zel. "Drink this, you'll feel better."

"Thank you." She drinks it, and it bubbles on her tongue. "Did you dream?"

"Lady called the Dream Guardian, wants me to be kind to the tadpoles."

"Wants me to consume them to become more powerful. I don't trust her."

"No shit. Did she expect us not to compare notes?"

"I have no idea what she expected. I don't trust anything that can get into my head like that."

"Me either. Or-- I don't mind all gods, some gods are good, but it gives me the creeps to think about them doing some minor intervention that puts me in exactly the right place to do their will."

"And you did find yourself on this planet accidentally."

"Until proven otherwise I'm going to believe that's Desna, our lady of the stars, just wanting to show me the universe. She's always liked me."

"Chk. It is possible."

"This doesn't make any sense, which sucks, because it means some powerful god or archmage or something is manipulating me to get something and I'm not smart enough to know how to make sure they don't get it."

"Maybe we should consult with the others." Aargh that's going to be painful and time wasting when they could be finding a creche, but knowledge is power and they need to find out what this thing wants.

"Let's grab a quick breakfast and talk about it on the road. Since we are going to rescue Master Halsin and see what he can do about the tadpoles."

Breakfast is mostly porridge, but a little while ago someone managed to bring down a boar, so at least the porridge is made with pork broth.

Most of the party seems fairly awake and perky. (Gale and Astarion didn't drink much, Wyll is a heavy weight, and Shadowheart knows Lesser Restoration.)

"Do you mind if we speak privately for a moment?"

"Sure," he says.

Wyll was pretty cool last night but Cayden is still bracing himself for a withering glare of Paladin Judgment.

"Finding Master Halsin to cure us is a good plan,  I do agree with it and want to help-- but if it doesn't work--" Wyll takes a steadying breath in the face of my own mortality. "I'm in pursuit of a devil, one that would burn down Baldur's Gate according to my sources. I don't want my last act to be-- failing and letting her loose on innocents. You don't have to help,  but-- I am asking, if you are willing."

"Astarion's going to kill me for trying to rescue every cat from a tree."

"You don't have to, but I would appreciate it. You are skilled, and I haven't managed to catch her yet." Wow, is that smile a brittle veneer over I'M A FAILED FAILURE WHO'S GOING TO FAIL AND PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DIE AND IT WILL BE MY FAULT.