Khalid
Today we arrived in Nashkel, where we encountered a Selûnite monk and fellow Calishite named Rasaad yn Bashir. He was being harassed by the locals, but both he and Syrin~ handled the situation admirably, I'm glad to say. I am pleased that Syrin~ has chosen to invite him into our group. Her decision demonstrates that she has good judgement, which is important for someone in her position. Gorion would certainly be proud.
Jaheira≈ agrees that this Rasaad~ fellow will likely be an excellent influence on our young friend. They are fast becoming friends. Even as I write this, Syrin~ is sitting with him across the room at the bar, deep in conversation. She seems fascinated by his faith, which is not all that surprising, given that she grew up in Candlekeep and is inquisitive by nature.
Viconia
I don't know what I was thinking, joining up with these surfacers. I would almost rather face the wrath of Lolth than endure this. If it were not for the fact that I owe my life to Syrin, I would have left by now. She affiliates herself not just with mongrels, but with a servant of Shar's simpering sister. And if that were not bad enough, the sexual tension between Syrin and this infidel is so strong that I am convinced prolonged exposure will result in burns for everyone else.
Syrin needs to stop coddling him, show some initiative and take what she so clearly desires, what the male so clearly wants to give her. I will even take the time to show her how if need be, for this situation is utterly unbearable. I am considering locking them in a room together at the next inn until they have had it out. Perhaps, Shar willing, it will break the male and show him that his goddess is wrong, that there is pleasure in darkness.
Xan
There have been many disturbing developments lately, the greatest of them perhaps being that Syrin is the child of the Lord of Murder, Bhaal. For someone who is usually so unwilling to accept the futility of her situation, she was oddly severely affected by this news. I would not have been concerned if she had merely lost hope. That would just be an understandable recognition of reality. But she has gone beyond that. She has lost more than hope. So much more.
I was unable to see this in time to prevent her from knocking directly on doom's door, but in an entirely unexpected good turn of fate's hand, the monk, Rasaad, anticipated that she might do this and pulled her from Kelemvor's embrace. I must admit, I did not believe he possessed that level of maturity. He has usually shown himself to be perversely optimistic and naïve. I think I can see now why Syrin is so charmed by him.
If she was simply charmed by him before today, I would say she is now thoroughly in his thrall, given that the pair of them are currently huddled together by the campfire and she has barely spoken to anyone else since the incident. The truly pitiful thing is that neither of them seem to realize this, but that's fate for you. If one tragedy is avoided, another will surely emerge to replace it.
Aerie
Trademeet is a truly beautiful city. The mosaic of Waukeen by the gates alone is dazzling. I'm so glad Syrin decided to take me with her on her adventures. The circus has only ever granted me a limited view of the places it visited. Syrin usually shares at least some of my wonder over new places like this, but today she was different. I think it was because of the monk we met in the plaza. He is a worshipper of Selûne named Rasaad yn Bashir and she knew him before she came to Amn. I think there's something special about him. She was definitely happy to see him. Her eyes lit up like nothing else and she smiled. And it was a real smile. I have never seen her do that before. It was beautiful. The smiles she wears when Yoshimo says something funny are always hollow, like she wants to express her amusement, but she just can't feel it inside.
Syrin acts differently now that Rasaad is with us and it's not just the smiling. She seems alive in a way that she wasn't before. She used to be so reserved and serious. Now she has a side that's...playful? I'm not sure that's the right word. Her witty remarks have been a lot more lighthearted today.
I asked Jaheira about Rasaad and she said that he was a good friend who was there when Syrin saved Baldur's Gate. When I asked why he could make Syrin smile like that, she wouldn't give me a direct answer. All she would say was that Syrin and Rasaad have things left unspoken between them from before and it wasn't for her to speak them to me.
Whatever that means, I'm glad this has happened. I like seeing Syrin happy. She deserves it after what she's gone through.
Yoshimo
We're at sea now. It has been somewhat amusing so far. Syrin has never been aboard a ship before and she's had some trouble with sickness, though she's handled it rather well. It was easy to slip Irenicus' potion into her soup, despite the ever watchful eye of Rasaad. I still haven't earned his trust, but I suppose that's a just a sign that lovely Syrin has good taste in men, which is lucky for her, given how easily I convinced her to trust me as merely a friend.
Rasaad is far more clever than he lets on. He obviously understands how vulnerable Syrin is, how much of an opportunity she is for someone of my reputation, and is quite protective of her. It's almost a shame that he respects Syrin too much to challenge her judgement when it comes to me. It pains me to betray him as much as it does to betray her.
If I complete my geas, it will not just destroy two decent people, but also a love that will never have the chance to blossom that it deserves. I have always done what is necessary, no matter the cost, with little regret, but ever since Syrin and Rasaad's unconsummated attraction became apparent, I have often found myself bearing the weight of my crime.
Perhaps they will understand in the end. I do what I do because I am compelled to. Syrin will stop at nothing to rescue her sister and Rasaad is consumed with the want of revenge for his brother. They are good, honourable people. Surely they will understand.
Jaheira
Once more, we are lucky to be alive. Imoen is with is again, but that is all we have going for us. Yoshimo betrayed us, the coward. Irenicus has taken not just Imoen's soul, but Syrin's as well. For what purpose, I do not truly know. All I know is that we are now trapped in some sick game of Bodhi's, and Gorion's daughters, who I swore to protect, are slowly dying. How many more of those who matter to me will I fail before this is over?
At times like this, I am glad to have friends such as Rasaad at my side. He has always gone beyond my expectations in caring for others and today was no exception. Syrin tried to deflect his concern, but he saw through it and persisted. He got her to open up and understand that she needn't suffer alone. That young man has wisdom far greater than his years. I can say without any reservation now that I'm glad he is in Syrin's life and that she has given her heart to him of all people.
Likewise, she appears to be an excellent influence on him. When we found him in Trademeet, he was clearly suffering his brother's death terribly. I can understand how he feels, but his need for revenge has put him on a dark path. Syrin keeps him grounded and gives him something else to be devoted to.
I hope those two realize they're in love with each other soon. Death and worse seem to be waiting around every corner these days and they deserve to be happy for however long they have, to hell with the Sun Soul if it's forbidden. I'm sure Khalid would agreed.
Neera
Guess who showed up today for the first time in about a month, looking like hell and talking about how she just recently escaped both Spellhold and the Underdark and then stormed a Twofold Goddess temple. That's right. Syrin A'Gorion. And now we're camped out in a spider infested forest for reasons known only to said ranger, it seems.
I'm honestly worried about her. Imoen says some horrific things happened in Spellhold, but she wouldn't specify. I had to prod Jaheira into telling me. Apparently Irenicus stole Imoen and Syrin's souls, which explains why they both look so ill. Then when they were escaping Bodhi's maze, Syrin sort of lost it and turned into some kind of rampaging demon for long enough that she nearly killed everyone. That's probably why she screams in her sleep even more than she used to and talks to us like she's afraid we're all just going to abandon her at the drop of a hat.
Not all the news is bad, though. She and Rasaad finally seem to have a relationship going. Aerie practically squealed when she told me about how Rasaad kissed Syrin before they went out to fight the Dark Moon Monks that attacked the Twofold temple. I've got to hand it to him. That was some pretty great timing. Very romantic. Which is not what I would expect from a monk. Does he even still count as a monk at this point? His order pretty much excommunicated him. Maybe it doesn't matter, as long as Selûne still answers his calls. I hope so.
Anyway, Syrin and Rasaad are definitely a thing now, given that I just saw them go off alone together, looking like their up to something they don't want anyone to know about. I think I'll stop my observations there. I don't want to feel like I need my brain cleansed.
Imoen
I thought things were looking up. We staked Bodhi and I got my soul back. We've finally made it into Suldanessellar. We're bringing hope to all these poor elves. And then Rasaad had to go and be overly noble. He broke it off with Syrin last night because he's so consumed with his desire for revenge that he's afraid that their relationship will become harmful to her. I know he's right, but I can't help being furious with him. Can I be blamed? He broke my sister's heart!
She's utterly crushed. She pretends that she isn't, but I know better. I caught her crying this morning. Actually crying. The last time I saw her do that was when Gorion died. "Don't let Rasaad see. I don't want him to feel anymore guilt than he already does. In fact, don't say anything to anyone. I'll be fine," she told me. Gods, even when she's barely holding it together, she manages to be considerate. I don't know how she does it.
The others aren't taking any of this well. Jaheira looked like she was ready to commit murder when she found out what Rasaad did. He's lucky he got away with just a slap across the face, in my opinion. The sad part is that he totally could have stopped her, but he didn't. Aerie won't even look at him, let alone speak to him now. Minsc has been weirdly passive-aggressive about the whole thing. I think that might just be because he's been speaking for Boo, though. Rasaad knows I'm angry at him, but I've made sure that he sees that I understand why he chose to let Syrin go.
Despite all of this, we're still getting the job done. Everyday, we're one step closer to Irenicus and Syrin's soul. I just hope that everything doesn't go completely to hell before we can put things right. I want to see my sister happy again.
Minsc
The butt-kicking of evil is never done for Minsc and Boo! We have come to a new city teaming with evil and of course Syrin is eager to lead us in stamping it out. She is a very clever elf and uses both brain and sword in the name of justice. Boo and I are happy to see friend Rasaad is starting to remember this. He forgot in his righteous fury. He must learn that he has two fists, one serving his brother, one serving Syrin, and he can use them at the same time. We will rejoice when she is his ranger again just as Aerie is my witch. Boo thinks this will be soon.
Boo
Why is it that no one else notices how Syrin always drops everything, no matter how important, so that Rasaad can pursue his dreams of vengeance? This time, all it took was some very rude Sharrans making an attempt on his life when we escaped the city and suddenly Syrin is putting the rather pressing issue of MASS MURDER on hold to drag us all to some mine so that the man who dumped her in favour of his revenge fantasy can have his damn revenge. Of course, it couldn't even be that simple. We just HAD to chase Alorgoth into THE FUCKING PLANE OF SHADOW. WHO DOES THAT? What am I saying? These are Minsc's friends we're talking about. Anything that can happen will happen, especially when it comes to butt-kicking for justice. I guess that's why I like them.
Anyway, that's all done with now and we're back in the forest, thank the stars. Rasaad's revenge fever has broken, as he feels Alorgoth has been properly punished. Predictably, he has finally realized that what he did to Syrin was pretty shitty, so he has done some serious grovelling, which was kind of amusing in that it's painfully obvious to everyone but him that she has never not been in love with him, so his efforts were a bit excessive. Needless to say, they are now enjoying each other's company more than ever and I have had Minsc notify Rasaad that he is allowed to pet me again. Everything is as it should be, minus the armies brutally paving a bloody path along the Sword Coast. We'll get to that.
A/N: Two important notes- one, the squiggles Khalid puts next to some people's names are Calishite annuvs, which denote omitted titles; two, I've always thought that Boo is actually highly intelligent, if a bit sardonic and excitable. And yes, he totally has a tiny hamster journal that he writes in when no one is looking.