Easy To Say No

- "But... but think about it again! I could make you rich beyond belief!"

The man had this greedy, cunning look in his eyes. The look so many denizens of the Dragon Coast possessed. The look of someone whose narrow vision only allows him see the sweaty, petty pleasures his wealth could pay for him, and comprehending nothing more, Sarevok found himself thinking.

- "We are having a meal here, and don't appreciate the interruption," he managed to say in a rather mild voice.

- "You are insane if you think that you will get another offer like this!"

Sarevok rose. Deliberately slowly, into his full height. He grabbed the man's shirt and hauled him up, level with his eyes burning intense with displeasure.

- "Have you any idea how many offers like that we have already had, traveling through your coastal area of miserable cutthroats seeking to make easy profit from the misery of the powerless? Your offer is in no way original, and we are already rich beyond belief. We are not interested in getting involved in your petty schemes. We are passing through for a purpose. Now get your sorry self out of our presence or I will break you in two halves with one hand. Address any further questions to me, now."

Thud. The little thug was dropped on the floor, gathered himself and was gone very, very quickly.

Sarevok sat again, rubbing his forehead. Jelena looked at him arching her eyebrow.

- "You still don't quite have the hang of understatement," Winski said.

- "I have had enough of people. They try my patience." Sarevok sighed, his expression a mix between embarrassment and weariness.

The party had chosen to travel through the Dragon Coast and take the long sail trip across the pirate-infested Sea of Fallen Stars. Sarevok was starting to think it was maybe a mistake.

- "I can appreciate what you said about these people being more open about their greed," he said to Winski. "But it just never ceases to amaze me, how... contemptible people are. How devoid of vision, how petty. Like pigs screaming for their share of the feed, thinking of nothing more. So brave when they are sure of winning, sycophantic cowards when met by someone more powerful. And... many respectable pillars of Sembia society operate here, where law is not enforced. They seize the profit, sell the slaves, all the time presenting their honorable face in my former homeland. I thought I would not feel this contempt with my new goals and outlook... but I do."

- "I know what you mean," Peri sighed. "But people are a little bit of everything, really. There are random acts of kindness, unimaginable altruism and bravery in the face of death as well. This is an area where those qualities are easily hidden. Don't let it get to you. I get this feeling that you think you should be a saint now as you allegedly once were a demon. Just be yourself. It will be alright."

- "I think Peri is right about choosing this route," Winski said. Already there was a pattern that the two of them ganged up against the others, who were torn between the need of doing more general good and staying focused to their own priorities. Winski wanted to atone for his sins too, but in his opinion they had to stay focused, as the need to do good was endless and everpresent. "While it would be very decent to help the dragons to be allowed their final rest, there is nothing personal at stake for any of us. And that situation is just the top of an iceberg, I fear. With the sense of duty Imoen and Jelena possess, and the guilt of Sarevok's, there will be no shortage of people urging us to take up a worthy cause if we traveled in those lands."

- "Yeah. The bottom line is, we are on the move to get Tamoko buried and to get to Kara-Tur, which is no mean feat," Peri said. "Here it is easy to say no to any offer, and I think we are more than capable of handling a few pirates."

- "You speak the truth, sister," Sarevok said. "My duty to Tamoko is the most important thing I need to accomplish. General atonements can wait."

- "There is this teensy matter," Imoen said. "You saved the Realms from a new Lady of Murder. You talked Peri out of it."

- "Hey, you never know. Perhaps I would have seen the light and turned the essence into a blinding light of righteousness smiting all evil from the face of Toril," Peri grinned.

- "I didn't do it for Toril," Sarevok said. "I did it for Gorion, myself... and you two."

- "Does it matter?" Jelena asked. "There are many who delude themselves to think that they are doing things out of pure unselfish sense of duty, but there really is no such thing. Whatever we choose to do, we do for our own reasons and it gives us personal pleasure."

- "In my eyes that doesn't diminish the value of doing decent things the least," Peri said. "It is only rational. Getting pleasure out of doing the right thing, or out of hurting others are both pleasure - but the former makes you a good person."

She was quiet for a while.

- "Hey, I want to get drunk. Any takers?"

- "I could share a carafe of wine," Jelena said. She had begun to enjoy wine more than she ever did in her mortal life.

- "I will join you," Sarevok said. He wanted to be with Peri. He had been relieved to notice that the everpresent darkness of her spirit had started to lift the further they moved from the Sword Coast. Winski and Imoen bid them good night, retreating to study their spells.