#Serot thought they'd destroyed it but they'd kept it instead

[deathbind]

I think in Act One Serot has had his bond with Refhremmit pinged by the tadpole situation, and they're trying to reach out. Serot's memories start coming back, though they're difficult to parse. The problem is probably that the memories from multiple lifetimes are trying to resurface / getting all jumbled together. I think this results in once or twice a memory coming back in full and slamming him so hard that he accidentally tadpole connects with whoever's nearby and drags them into it. Presumably this can be resisted by passing a wisdom check.

Encountering the sussur blooms in the Underdark really knocks him on his ass. He suddenly gets slammed back into his lifetime as Neheb. He needs the rest of the journey through the Underdark to sit with everything, but by the end, his lifetime as Serot has also come back into clarity. His bond with Refhremmit gets tuned up, too. Now they can communicate clearly. Well, the distance probably poses a problem, but [hand waves]

Act Two I think is very difficult for him. It's not just contending with his memories resurfacing or learning Meresankh wasn't destroyed almost 2,000 years ago or that the shadow-cursed lands were tailor made to piss him off. I think, because the Negative Energy Plane went into creating the Shadowfell and he draws on / is especially attuned to that plane, he is thus doubly susceptible to the shadow-curse. Selune's Blessing + the Moonlantern do work for him, but he is looking physically ill the longer they stay there. His HP actually drops over time and can't be healed until the curse is lifted. He begins to look dead / undead over time as well. I think we're looking at constant migraines and increasing lethargy as well. Again, this heals up when the curse is lifted and they have time away from the shadow-cursed lands on the way to Baldur's Gate, but it's not a fun time while they're there.

On the plus side, he found a lead on an agent of Meresankh: Mystic Carrion. Balthazar was probably in communication with him, idk. I think . . . Carrion has some important relic of Meresankh's. Serot can consume it, which strengthens his bond to them. He can destroy it, which dampens their bond (and consequently his bond with Refhremmit; the two began to twine together after Neheb's death). Or he can simply take it, which will allow him to research how to dissolve the bond.

#OOC / HOLLY. #what would really fuck me up is if it was like #so Serot has a cameo of Meresankh that has the face scratched off #[Meresankh scratched it off when they had a falling out. it was a whole thing] #but let's say Meresankh had a matching cameo with Serot's face #Serot thought they'd destroyed it but they'd kept it instead #it was on them 2000 years ago when they were trapped in the Negative Energy Plane #they were able to throw it back out into the world during the Spellplague when the Negative Energy Plane fell into the Elemental Chaos #Carrion then found it and entered into a pact with Meresankh #I think this is the real origin behind Carrion's able to act as a mystic / commune with the dead #beyond being a mummy lord of course #I just mean now he has a direct line to the Plane of Death #[or what remains of it within the Elemental Chaos] #anyway this also prompted Carrion's move to the world of the living #selling his services in exchange for all the wealth and comforts he desired