"Most intoxicating it is," the skeleton nodded. "All the more reason to resist that initial temptation."
"If Moonrise is indeed the lair of this nascent cult, then thou art likely to find fawning followers and ambitious acolytes. Perhaps they have been granted a measure of power, but no matter what has been gained, their ultimate fate remains: loss of both body and soul to ceremorphosis."
The mention of Moonrise Towers enwrapped her heart the ever-encroaching dread that plagued her since Halsin mentioned that it likely served as the heart of the Absolute cult and the source of the tadpoles that wriggled in her head. Not for fear of facing off with powerful foes, of dealing with zealots willing to do anything in the name of the god.
No. Her conviction wavered in the face of uncertainty. Not that they might not find a cure, but in that it might not matter if they find one there. If this was where the power of the Absolute lay, would entering her house overpower their dream guardians' protection? Once the crossed that threshold, would that protection wane and enthrall them like the rest? Turn them into full-fledged mindflayers?
She didn't want to focus on that now. Couldn't. If she wanted a cure and to stop this cult, she could not lose her nerve. She had to risk losing her free will again to ensure she keeps it.
" Maybe not. If we can stop all of this here, I suppose we'll save those fools from such a fate, too. " A pause. " Why does ceremorphosis strip a victim of its soul, though? Mindflayers are living things, and as far as I've found out, they're not undead, so why do they not maintain their souls? What does it matter if they don't? Omeluum seems perfectly fine, at least. "
"To ensure total domination, all that makes a mortal unique must be stripped away: personality, memory, psychic essence and soul. An illithid tadpole does not merely control a host, but consumes their grey matter until only it remains within the skull..."
