You sit still, your eyes closed as you begin to slowly draw a breath into your lungs, feeling the controlled motion of your chest and belly expanding to accept the oxygen inside. Your mind becomes clear, as you listen to your body, how it exhales without any interruption; becoming a part of the song of a calm evening, adding new notes to the sound of the calmly flowing water, some distant chats of refugees gathered at Rivington and the scorching of the nearby fire and torches.

You know what you have to do. You have to make a decision that will solve a problem at hand, but the solution is something that everyone around you keeps presenting differently.

Gale wants to have the Crown, to deliver it to Mystra. The same cruel goddess who not so long ago advised him to march into the heart of the Absolute and blow himself up. To Gale, it might be an honorable death, but to you it is a request from a God that a mortal, of whom she was once fond of, should take their own life, just because she will not defuse a bomb hidden inside his body. And you were pretty sure that it was within her abilities to do so.

Raphael, the very person who briefly explained the complicated history of the Crown to you and a few of your companions, wanted the powerful item for himself. According to him, he is aiming to end the Blood War, raise as the Archdevil Supreme and also unite all of the Nine Hells under his banner.

Because of his nature, you know that there is a piece of information missing. And as it usually happens with the devils - the missing information is most likely the last piece of puzzle you needed to figure out the most suitable solution.

You draw another slow, deep breath in. Even though your eyes are closed, you can sense your surroundings, you can sense the life force of the nearby resting companions. It isn't late in the evening, but your team is regaining strength after a ruthless combat with the cultists of Bhaal.

You are one step closer to retrieving the crown, but the situation still doesn't seem to clear up. You had faith in the Emperor, until Raphael made you realize that you might just be his puppet.

'You are much simpler,' he said to you, merely four days ago at Sharess Caress. 'The Emperor's words serve as both the carrot and a stick,' he spat out, not even hiding how repulsed the words made him feel.

You exhale, and rid your mind of all the thoughts, making sure that the very inhabitant of your brain, will not see through what exactly happened inside the Devil's Den.

Then, you open your eyes and slowly stand up. Usually your meditation practice supposed to make your mind clear and synchronize it with your body, however with so many complicated choices at hand, you separated yourself from other stimuli in order to come up with the best plan for the issues at hand.

Still feeling the lightness of your steps, focusing your awareness on the ground below your soles and how firmly it felt when stomped upon, you let your feet carry you to Shadowheart's tent. She looks well given the recent events with her short reconnection with her parents.

'Do you need anything, Tav?' She is quick to notice you approaching.

'Your trust,' you respond and lower yourself to meet her face-level, as she sits with her legs crossed on a nice, blue blanket.

'I thought you knew that you already have it.'

You smile at her and give her a nod.

'Just making sure,' you clarify. 'There is something I need to do alone. Something that I can hear is calling to me. I do not wish any of you to follow me, not because I don't want to, but because my intuition guides me, telling me that I need to be alone for it.'

Without focusing your mind on the actions of your body, you stare at Shadowheart and let your hands retrieve the Astral Prism from inside of your bag. You tap it a few times and continue.
'I do not wish to be under anyone's influence.'

A flash of understanding passes through Shadowheart's face. She understands that by saying 'anyone' you meant shutting down the mind from the Emperor. She is aware of your upbringing as a shugenja monk and has no doubt that only you from your team are capable of silencing your thoughts to his constant invigilation.

'I'll make sure you have some privacy,' she gives you a meaningful look and you stand up again and soon turn around to walk from the camp.

'If something goes wrong and somehow I won't be able to return, I was looking for a diabologist in the city,' you inform her without giving any more of the details you keep deep inside your mind.

She frowns and studies you for a prolonged moment, but eventually, she nods and says she will ask Selune for your guidance.

You enter a rocky path, slicing through Rivington, leading all the way to the gate of Wyrm's Rock and then through the castle, to Baldur's Gate. You inspect your feelings as you stand in front of the Sharess Caress entrance and after a moment of consideration, decide to step inside.

As you push the door open and step across the threshold, a faint smell of incense as well as different scents of alcohol hits your nostrils. You approach the receptionist and glance around the first floor, past the nearest doorway and catch a glimpse of a stage and people seated in front of it, as a small band plays songs to which mostly women dancers perform.

You turn your attention back at the receptionist and before she suggest you any of the activities for the rest of the evening, you nod at her in a simple greeting and ask.

'Is your special guest still in his room upstairs?'

She takes a glance at a note under the counter, checking the hours of Raphael's availability.

'It seems that he has ended for the day. Come back for his services tomorrow, dear. Unless, you would like to try something else,' she raises her eyebrows and her gaze softens.

'I might actually, let me look around and relax a bit,' you respond with a slight smile and she clasps her hands together in a warm gesture.

'Oh, please! It will be our absolute pleasure.'

You turn your attention towards the corridor and slowly start pacing deeper into the building. Your real aim here is to inspect Raphael's room, but before you do anything specific, you can hear a voice inside your head.

'Why did you come here to this place? Were you asking for Raphael?' the Emperor asks.

'I wanted to make sure he is not present. I'd like to get some more information about him and his schemes. I don't like how much attention he gives me and my companions.'

The Emperor is silent for a while and your intuition tells you to strengthen the believability of your last sentence. You hide your true doubts about the Emperor himself, and instead allow him to see the surface of your mind, where you expose the fear, the suspicions about Raphael, without allowing him to see the rest of the feelings you have towards him.

'You shouldn't be dealing with him at all. And inspecting his room might lead to unfortunate events.'

'He has proven to be useful. He has helped us tremendously.'

'How so?' The Emperor asks and you can hear the tone of disbelief in his voice.

You begin to climb the staircase, passing a few tables with people sitting near them. A few visitors glance over at you and follow you with their gaze, as if admiring your presence.

'Did you not happen to spy on me when Astarion made a small deal with him? We kept our side, he kept his. He helped us figure out what the scars mean. Nothing bad came out of that. However his continuous attention is a bit worrying.'

'Even what you are saying is true, I strongly advise you to be careful.'

'Don't worry, I always am.'

You remain silent as you push the door open just to find yourself standing on a balcony. You take a turn to the right and look to the left, onto the street, trying to sense if anyone is spying on you. Well, at least anyone else excluding the Emperor.

You stand in front of the room where you met with Raphael some time ago and knock on the door. After a few moments, you risk and attempt to open it and to your surprise, you are freely let inside.

You subconsciously take a deep breath in, as if trying to sniff the devil out, but you cannot smell any fresh scent of cherries, musk and sulfur, so you assume that he is away. You look to the left at the rose petals sprayed in front of a luxurious bath (or more like an indoor pool) and close the doorway behind you. Nothing has changed here since your last visit, but you've only been in the first part of the room.

As you step further, you notice a king size bed with a canopy and red, velvet duvet set with a few pillows. There are a few small wardrobes, a cabinet and two nightstands as well as a small table with an armchair next to it. This is where you spot the first book. You look behind you and listen to the sounds coming from the party below, then reach with your hand to get the book.

You quickly scan through the pages with your eyes, until you realize that this is some kind of an epic tale, where a man tries to win the soul of his lover, by challenging a devil to some kind of a contest. As you jump through the pages, you realize that this is something that Raphael himself wrote.

A faint smile creeps on your face as you chuckle a bit at the ridiculousness of the item in your hand. You flip through the book, until a circle made of bloody red ink catches your eye.

'If the line doesn't scan,' the devil sneers, 'you forfeit your soul and end in tears.'
'Ha! I'll keep my time and make my rhyme, with vim and snap and no "down came the claw" crap'

You frown and mutter a single, confused 'what' under your breath, before placing the book in the exact same spot and position it was in before. You glance at the still-empty-doorway and move to the other side of the room, going around the giant bed.

There, you find a map showcasing the invasion plans on Baldur's Gate - the very same map, you've spotted at Ketheric's Moonrise Towers and in some other places that you can't even recall. Seems like the man got himself a copy. From under the map, you spot a piece of paper, a letter from Korilla addressed to Raphael. It seems that she was present during your fight with Ketheric Thorm. How was this possible? Was she chugging invisibility potions left and right? You and your team had to jump down one of the towers in order to get to the Ilithids and the Chosen Three. How on Earth did she manage to follow you silently?

You quickly take a look inside the wardrobes, but find that they are pretty much empty, except for some brothel provided skimpy underwear.

You turn around on your heel and just as you were about to leave, you decide to reach for the epic verse once again. You scan the pages a little bit slower this time and realize that the lover whose soul now belongs to the devil, who is a clear self-insert from Raphael, might actually be you.

You return the book back into its place and leave the room with a frown on your face. You hyperfocus your brain on everything that has happened including Raphael so far - everything that you know of at least - and allow your feet to carry you outside of the Sharess Caress. The trip to the Devil's Den didn't prove to be fruitful, at least not in a way you hoped for. But the discovery of the weird book titled 'The Devil Don't Rhyme' made you a bit uneasy. Your intuition gave you a simple answer to the question that appeared in your brain, an answer that you denied right of the batch.

You always assumed that the Devil You Know was interested in your entire group, but now that you decided to put more thought into that, you noticed a specific pattern. Each time you interacted with the fiend, he seemed to be interested mostly in you. Even when talking with Astarion, when he wanted to make a deal about his scars, most of Raphael's attention was fixated on you. Was it simply because you were the leader that your companions chose? Or was it something else? As a monk, your soul could be a bit more valuable than the ones of your companions, but that didn't seem quite right. Was it... some type of an obsession? Your intuition screamed at you once more, responding with a simple 'yes', but you wrinkle your nose, denying the answer again.

You turn to your right and continue your journey down the street towards the Baldur's Gate. You spot a buckboard heading in the direction of your interest and quickly catch up to the driver asking if he could spare you a seat if he travels to Baldur's Gate. The man agrees and you hop onto the vehicle. You look towards the Rivington and try to recall the small details of Raphael's behavior.

You had no doubt that he was excelling at manipulation. All of his words seemed almost rehearsed, so perfectly put together, with just the right amount of charm. Compared to Mizora for example, who was extremely sassy, he was giving a much different impression.

You shift your sole and place it next to your dangling knee, then support your elbow on your leg.

The interactions that Raphael had with others, were different. When meeting him in the Last Light Inn, you recall Raphael taking off Astarion's clothes with a click of his fingers, you recall his amusement at the vampire's humiliation. His behavior towards your friend left you furious and upon the next meeting with the fiend, you used the opportunity to verbally jab him.

Even then, he didn't cross the line. He was visibly annoyed at your verbal response, he called you a 'pipsqueak', but he didn't do anything that would harm you mentally or physically in any way. Back then, you were convinced that he just wants to be in your favor, because he is aware of you being the leader of your unusual group, but now that you look at it again, there might be something else to it.

Thanks to the unexpected transport, the journey is much easier and only a few minutes later you cross the Basilisk Gate.

'Excuse me,' you get up from your seat and get closer to the farmer holding the reins of his two horses dragging the buckboard forward. 'Do you happen to know where can I find a diabologist in the town?'

'A diabologist?' the man asks surprised and gives you a glance from above his shoulder. 'I know of an odd building with very much devil-themed decor, but I am not sure if that's what you are looking for, hun.'

'It's worth a try, where can I find it?'

The man pulls the reins of the horses, stopping them in their track. As the vehicle stops, you jump down to the ground and look at the man, pointing you in a general direction to the Northern-West.

'Somewhere there, from what I remember. Continue down this path until you see a forge and then it should be the building next to the forge. Or was it behind the forge?' The man's brows furrow and you can see the cogs turning behind his old, tired gaze. 'Sorry love, I really don't remember.'

'It's ok, you've helped me a lot! Thank you for the ride,' you say and hand him over a few gold coins, which he accepts and takes off his hat in a thank you gesture.

You nod at him and turn around, quickly heading towards the smith where Dammon worked. How could you have missed such a building, if it is so close to the forge - you wonder. But a few minutes later, to your pure disbelief, you really stand in front of a building with a Hellish décor.

You read the sign next to the door: 'Devil's Fee'. You pout at the sign and slide inside the building, noticing a counter a few dozen meters in front of you, from behind which you spot a dwarf woman with a Warlock staff.

'Good evening,' you greet.

'Good evening, welcome to the Devil's Fee! Would you like to trade? I just got my hands on some amazing cloak, if you are an adventurer,' she continues as you approach her from the other side of the counter.

You look around the building, trying to show her admiration in the place and mouth a little 'wow', as you scan your eyes across the vast room, mainly covered with bookshelves.

'Are you, by any chance, a diabologist?' you shoot her a meaningful smile.

'I am one, yes. Helsik is my name, by the way.'

'Perfect! I am looking for information on a specific devil. I've heard that you might've been the one who helped a certain someone break into Mephistopheles' vault? That is extremely impressive.'

'Nothing I sale is free.'

You smile gently at her and reach to your pocket.

'Of course, of course! I understand that this is a profession, just like any other,' you say and hand over 200 worth of gold. 'Was it actually you, then?'

She accepts the money and gives you a look, clearly displeased by the amount of coins in her hands.
'It was. I helped Enver Gortash get into the vault. What was the information that you needed?'

'Do you have any available books on cambions? I am looking for something specifically about Raphael.'

'Raphael?' she asks and thinks for a moment. 'I do have books about cambions, as species in general, but I do not recall having any source material on him himself, other than him being a son of the second most powerful Archdevil - Mephistopheles.'

You raise your eyebrows. You had no idea about that. Then, your memory flashes back to him mentioning his own rage at Mephistopheles locking the Crown in his vault. You can't recall if he mentioned the Archdevil being his father or not, but you expect that it didn't happen.
'Is there any chance you could get me into his House of Hope?'

'It's also going to cost you, but it is doable. Before anything happens, though,' she takes a deep breath in. 'I do not assist with any ritual that has to be performed in order to get into his domain. You do everything yourself, I want complete deniability. After all, I am only a humble passionate of the topics concerning fiends, nothing more than that.'

'I understand,' you nod once. 'So what would be the price?'

'One thousand gold.'

'That's quite a lot,' you look at her with your eyebrows raised.

'It's to scare off people going for a clear suicide mission. If you seek a cruel end, I want to at least have something from it.'

'Fair,' you respond and hear confused voice of The Emperor, wondering what in the sweet hells you are planning on doing. You assure him telepathically that you haven't decided on any course of action yet. You only wonder what your opportunities are.

'So, do we have a deal?' Helsik stares at you, as you fall silent, talking to The Emperor.

'I'll need to re-think this a few times, but I do want to take a book from you about cambions and Mephistopheles. Is borrowing a book an option?'

'Sure. I would like to get a deposit from you that I will return to you when you hand over the book to me again.'

'Would a hundred be enough?'

She gives you a blank stare again, but sighs and nods.

'What a greedy dwarf!' you think to yourself and smile as she leaves the counter and walks over to some bookshelf behind her, looking for two specific tomes.

After a few moments, she climbs onto a ladder and gets the desired books, then hands them over to you.

'Thank you so much,' you say and turn around towards the door. The sight of a few armchairs and a small table catches your eye. 'Could I possibly study over here?' you ask her, realizing that if you are in fact being followed everywhere, it might be safer to stay on the inside. Unless Korilla was capable of passing through walls, while also remaining invisible and inaudible.

'Sure, but I will be closing in around an hour.'

'Got it, thank you. May I use your ink?'

'Sure!'

You make your way towards the furthest table and twist your bag around your hip, taking out your notebook, then placing it next to the two books you got from Helsik. You pop the lid covering the ink open and grab a nearby quill, then find the next empty page in your notebook. As you hover the quill over the paper, you wish Raphael was around to silence The Emperor from your brain again.

You take notes on your observations, but try to keep them simple and a bit vague, so that you will know what they mean, but it might be a tad confusing for unwanted attention of other eyes. As you do your best at recalling the teachings of your monk monastery, you soon flip the page to the other side and continue taking notes, even without the two books in front of you open.

You straighten your back and close your eyes for a moment.
'Helsik?' you ask.

'Yes?'

'Do you know what's the whole deal with the Crown of Karsus?'

'Hmmm,' she walks around the counter and slowly heads towards your direction. 'I know it used to belong to a very powerful spellcaster. But I'm pretty sure you've heard of that part, right?'

'Yes, the Karsus' Folly, right?'

'Mhm. After the entire event the goddess Mystra has banned the use of magic greater than the ninth level.'

'But from what I've heard in my teachings, though they are most likely incomplete, as we do not use the Weave, but Ki,' you explain. 'I always thought that it wasn't the Crown but the spell that Karsus casted that lead to the Fall of the Empire, is that not correct?'

'It's unclear, but the Crown might've been an amplifier required to cast the said spell.'

'Ooh,' you look towards the entrance door. 'But if it has been locked in Mephistopheles vault for so long and no of the gods took interest in it, is it really that powerful?'

'I don't think any of us have an answer to that question.'

'Hmmm,' you hum to yourself in thought and turn your head towards Helsik, slowly returning back to the counter. 'Thank you for the talk.'

'My pleasure. I'm closing soon, remember about it, will ya?'

You nod and continue scribbling in your notebook.