"I can see why you would want to get away from that. Even if you would prefer happier circumstances."

"I just lied. Some of my party members knew, but-- as far as most of my friends knew, I was just a lucky dumbass."

"-- and if you're good enough, you could make a dodge look like a lucky miss."

"Exactly. --Please don't tell anyone. Especially Astarion."

"Gods, no. I wouldn't break your confidences like that."

"If he knows the only thing he'll be able to think about is making me love him so that he'll be safe."

"He does seem the type, unfortunately. ... do you know if he is actually a vampire, or was the hunter messing with us?"

"I also keep people's confidences."

That comes alarmingly close to answering the question! "It's a good trait of yours, I must say."

"I'm not going to poke at why you need magic items, please don't poke at why people are looking for a vampire elf named Astarion who happens to look a lot like our Astarion."

"I fear I haven't been playing as straight a hand as I should there. There is an argument you shouldn't have to poke, and I should tell you."

"People have a lot of reasons to need odd things and to not want to answer questions about why. I care about what you're going to do as my party member, not anything else."

Small, embarrassed voice. "... that's I should tell you."

"What's up?"

The fact that he should do this annoyingly does not negate how deeply uncomfortable this is. "I want you to know you would be the third person to know--after me, after Tara. I don't expect secrecy, I just-- want you to understand that."

"I'm not going to tell people!"

"Do you want the whole story, or just the parts that are, ah, strategically relevant?"

"It's your information to tell me or not. --It sounds like you want to tell me but are scared I'll judge you or something. I won't. I could imagine killing you but not judging you."

"That's a strange sort of comforting. --You deserve the story in full. Mystra has bounds she keeps mortal wizards in. When I was with her, I could see just beyond the edges of those bounds. I wanted to go past them, she just laughed and told me to be content."

He smiles wistfully. "So I thought to prove myself to her. You wouldn't know the history of Netheril, but the summary you need is that the King, Karsus, tried to supplant Mystra. He didn't succeed, but he shattered the Weave, shattered all magic, until Mystra could gather it up again.

"I found a piece she missed. I was going to give it to her."

How is Cayden reacting to this story?

Honestly this sounds like normal archmage stuff to Cayden. He had plenty of time to get used to the idea of an archmage in the party.

"I found it, but it also found me." He parts his collar, just a little. There's a black mark there, a circle wreathed in flames. At first, it looks like a faded tattoo, but it moves rhythmically, like a vein just under his skin. "It's lodged in there now, and it is ravenous."

"I don't mind you telling me but I don't really understand why this is the sort of thing you have to tell me."

"I wouldn't tell you if it would just affect me. It's becoming increasingly less stable, and if it ever becomes completely unstable-- I did the calculations. The explosion would level a medium sized city."

"...okay, that's bad. Do you know how long you have?"

"I'm able to keep it stable enough by ripping the magic out of items, but the effect is not lasting as long as it used to." He inhales. "I wish I could give a more precise answer than that."