Set Al-Sayyid
Changeling Fighter/Hexblade
AC: 17 HP: 36/36 [44]
PP: 11 PIv: 12 PIs: 9
Conditions: Iumenta Pox (-8 max hp); 3rd level Aid for 8 hours (Mal, +10 max hp)
Concentration: Detect Magic

Northwest of Dam'ess - Stagecoach Interior

"Ask yourself if there's anything - or anyone - you'd sell your soul for. If you hesitate even for a moment, you should probably stay away from devils...You shouldn't be so eager to embrace curses."

Set listens solemnly as Vargath lays out his reasons, stiffening as the Mighty calmly instructs Set to consider what his soul is worth, and whether he could sell it for any reason without hesitation. In the time since he'd passed into the Shadowkeeper's service, Set had learned many things, but he hadn't yet learned how to crawl into his own shadow and disappear. He wished for such power now.

His soul was forfeit already, but he hadn't sold it without hesitation. He'd made the Shadowkeeper wait as he agonized over the choice, everlasting service to Him in exchange for his sister's safety, and Abydos with them. But even weighed against all that, it was still his soul. Eternity stretches out in one's mind when faced with the possibility of never, ever finding peace. Without a push from the coin, he might not have been able to take what was offered.

"It is not my place to judge. You have five people in your party, which is a sacrosanct number without ties. However, Vargath is right. Devils always crave more and more."

Set returns to the present in time to hear Ulu's measured words. Although she speaks with direct knowledge of the counting devils, honestly relating their merits and drawbacks, Set's mind refocuses on just a few of her words. 'Devils always crave more and more.' The Shadowkeeper is no devil, as far as Set knows, but would he start to crave more? He'd seemingly been content with binding Set to Him and entertaining himself at Set's expense, but would He come to crave more? Would He ask Set to do something that would see him banished from these people just as they wished to banish the imp?

"With all due respect, my friends. Are you flipping mad? You would give a fiend power over reality by dealing in our name? ...Nonono, I will proceed to manage our finances. Despite my front as a peddler of alchemical wonders, I am both indeed a capable alchemist and a merchant at heart."

The gnome's words break Set out of more morose thoughts for a moment, tugging at him to take notice. Madaras had already proven himself to be a master of medicine, diagnosing Set easily before he'd even realized he was sick. Ignacius was a solver of cyphers with a mind capable of penetrating Bence's best attempt to leave behind a mystery. And apparently he had a mind for finance as well.

The number three, much like five, was similarly blessed in matters that required careful consideration. A master of medicine, a mystery-solver, and a merchant at heart, Ignacius was Thrice-Blessed with gifts of the mind. Set considers the coin-purse tucked away in his pack atop the coach, but the thought escapes him as he listens to Thrice-Blessed's closing argument.

"Good not something you just are. Is something you strive for. Sometimes you fall short. But means trying. Making amends means not making things worse. You're cursed. Doesn't mean you should seek a different evil. Don't- betray yourself. Even though it's hard. Especially."

Set nods slowly, mouth twitching as he struggles to respond. "I strive to do good where I can, Selissa, but if I ever stop believing that good can come from using evil," Set says, trailing off for a moment. He looks away, takes a breath, and looks back. "I don't know where that would leave me." Biting down on the inside of his cheek to hold Evergreen's gaze without flinching, Set's shoulders sag as the tension drains from him. He looks back and forth between Vargath and Selissa, two people he'd watched slay numerous werewolves, monsters, and demons alike. "I will try to do good without devils, but I am only a spear without the Shadowkeeper. I can't go back to feeling like Hans, helpless while those around me or those I care about are threatened."

He hadn't been strong enough to turn away the monster that had come calling in Abydos, and now Sirus was dead and Set was bound to Him. He'd already paid the cost, but the thought of Sirus weighed heavier than his own soul. A deal with devils would cost less than losing his sisters too.

"The group has achieved a quorum. By your consensus, so by your hand."

As Iceblood settles his account with Evergreen, Set looks around at the others and tries to shift his thoughts away from thinking about what he would be willing to pay for them, or for Moira.

Northwest of Dam'ess - Along the Delvus River

Set examines the river flanking them as he looks around while Kagiso berrates their impediment. It may not have been the Great River that slaked Abydos' thirst, but it's waters looked dangerous all the same. The road ahead was blocked. There was only the road behind, and the forest, which looked like a perfect spot from which to launch an ambush. Set peers out into the shadows as they stretch longer and longer from the trees on their left.

<"Residual."> Set reawakens his sense of magic before exiting the coach, glancing back at those who hadn't had a chance to move yet. "Just talk, right?" Set asks quickly, voice hushed despite the distance, before turning after Mal and Ulu. He is not as eager, but he shifts forward enough to support them from a distance, putting himself within 30 feet of the woman-in-charge. Cursing himself for a fool, his mind turns to the spear on his pack atop the coach and the empty strap on his belt where his hatchet should be.

Deals with devils. Set's fingers twitch anxiously, feeling naked without a weapon, but at least the Shadowkeeper's power would be there if he needed it.

Spoiler: OOC
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Perception check the forest for signs of additional troops lying in wait: (1d20+2)[10]

Detect Magic, if allowed to cast in addition to the perception check.