"The goddess of luck reached down to pluck the rose, but the stem wouldn't break. Tyche yanked harder, only to be rewarded by thorns in her fingers. She cursed the young blossom with bad luck, and the stem snapped right off. Annoyed that the gift had proved so difficult, Tyche decided to keep Lathander waiting a while longer. She continued wandering about the Realms, with the rose fastened in her hair above her ear.
"The rose, however, was not an offering from Lathander but a trap set by Moander the Darkbringer, god of decay. The rose blossomed, and its pollen drifted into her ear, where it began to rot her from the inside out. Thus the Darkbringer hoped to gain for himself Tyche's power over luck.
"When Tyche returned to her home in the outer planes, Selune, goddess of the moon, was there waiting to speak with her. Selune was instantly aware of the corruption eating away at her friend. Without a moment's hesitation-"
"— she lashed out," said another voice, "with a bolt of purifying light that split Tyche down the center of her rotting core. All that was good and kind in Tyche coalesced into a single form and stepped out from Tyche's rotting corpse. That was Tymora. I brought her forth from the tragedy of Tyche's corruption, and she possessed power over good fortune." The speaker appeared to be an elderly matron with long, black hair streaked with silver. There was something extraordinarily regal about her. Joel was filled with a sense of awe. Although he realized her elderly appearance was probably a godly illusion, the bard was certain he was in the presence of someone far older than either Finder or Tymora, and far more powerful, With Winnie trailing along behind her, the speaker approached Finder.
"Lady Selune," Finder greeted her. His demeanor was grave as he bowed low. His mortal companions did likewise.
"Finder," Selune said, recognizing the god with a cursory nod. She knelt beside Tymora's unconscious form and set her hand over Lady Luck's heart. A white light far brighter than that which Tymora had summoned flowed from the older goddess's hand and covered Tymora's body. The light appeared to seep into the unconscious goddess. Finder gasped.
"Did you see that?" Selune asked Finder. "I think so," the younger god said.
"Let's try it again, shall we?" Selune asked. Once again the white light flowed from her hand over Tymora, then disappeared.
"Something's drawing it off," Finder whispered.
"What are you talking about?" Jas demanded. "The energy's going into her."
"No," Selune said. "It appears that way to your mortal eyes because you do not sense all that we do. Something is drawing off the power surrounding Tymora in such a way that it only appears to be sinking into her form. But that's only part of the problem. Close your eyes, Finder, and concentrate on Tymora. What do you sense?"
Finder closed his eyes. In less than two heartbeats, they flew open again. "She's leaking like a sieve," he said in a shocked voice.
Selune nodded. "Something has pierced the very source of her power. She can no longer control its release. Every time she uses her power, her control weakens so that more spills out of her. When she was casting her blessing on Jasmine, the power burst out. Whatever or whoever is siphoning her energy away was unprepared to absorb the surge. Some of the power went into the land, so the land quaked."
"So it wouldn't have happened if she hadn't tried to cure me," Jas said.
Selune leaned back on her heels and looked up at Jas. "The guilt is not your own, Jasmine. Do not rush to claim it," the older goddess said curtly. "Only another god would have the power to cause such damage. Had Tymora not attempted to cure you, we might not have discovered the drain until it was far too late."
Jas's body stiffened, and the feathers on her wings quivered until Selune looked back down at Tymora. The winged woman tilted her head in puzzlement. "You look like someone I knew a long time ago," she said softly.
"No," Selune replied without looking up at Jas again. "Someone you knew a long time ago looked like me." She stroked Tymora's forehead and said, "We must find a way to stop this drain and restore Tymora's ability to control her power."
"Tymora believed Beshaba was behind this," Winnie said.
"Please, who is Beshaba?" Emilo asked, stepping up beside the elderly goddess.
Selune turned toward the kender, and a look of surprise crossed her face. Perhaps she was surprised the kender had addressed her so directly, but Joel was left with the unmistakable impression that the goddess had not sensed the kender before.
"Beshaba, like Tymora," the goddess explained, "arose from the corrupted form of Tyche. Once Tymora came forth, all that was tainted by Moander coalesced and stepped out as the goddess of ill fortune, Beshaba. Beshaba was lovely to behold, but her heart was malicious and spiteful. She is called Tymora's sister only because they shared the same origin. Beshaba and Tymora hay one another instantly and tried to destroy each other. Fortunately other powerful gods were present at the time and helped separate the battling sisters. Beshaba fled to live on the dark planes, which were more suited to her spirit."
"We must discover out how Beshaba is draining my lady and stop her somehow," Winnie said.
Selune nodded. "Before we begin to investigate Beshaba, we need to take certain precautions. We can slow the drain from spells that Tymora grants to her priests. Winnie, as circumspectly as possible, you will have to spread word to Tymora's churches that Finder and I will grant their spells for now. The drain from adventurers who call on Lady Luck will be more difficult to control. It is already causing problems in Faerun, the sort of problems that could soon spread throughout the Realms. Tymora has always been generous. Even in her unconscious state, she's still sending good fortune to those she favors. Too much luck is disrupting their lives as assuredly as bad luck would."
"Can we stop that?" Finder asked.
"We must find a way," Selune said. "Or the consequences will be horrible."
"How can too much good luck be a bad thing?" Emilo asked.
"In more ways than you can imagine, but mostly it's a case of flood or famine," Selune replied. "Think a minute. When the good luck is all gone, what will be left?"
"Nothing but bad luck," Jas said, beginning to sense what the regal goddess was driving at.
"Perhaps another power could conceal from Tymora's senses any adventurers who call on her," Finder suggested. 'That should help to control her releases of power."
Selune nodded. "Lathander might be able to do that. I will speak with him. Wait here." The goddess vanished.
Joel went to Finder's side. "Will you be going to investigate Beshaba?" he asked softly.
Winnie flashed a look of utter disbelief at Joel. "He really is one of the clueless, isn't he?" the halfling priestess asked Finder.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jas snapped, glaring at Winnie.
"Easy, Jasmine," Finder warned. "No," he said to Joel, "I will do everything I can for Tymora, but I don't dare approach Beshaba's realm. She would detect another power in an instant. For another god to enter her realm without invitation would be tantamount to a declaration of war. And Beshaba is Tymora's equal in power. In a fight with her, I wouldn't stand a chance."
"But Selune is more powerful than Beshaba, isn't she?" Joel asked.
"Selune will do what she can to avoid a war with another power," Finder replied. "It's a messy business."
"We'll have to send in a discreet party on a reconnaissance mission," Winnie explained. "They'll have to take care not to set off any magical alarms that Beshaba may have cast upon her realm. If they cannot stop whatever it is that is draining my lady's power, if they find there is nothing to be done short of warring with Beshaba, then Selune may act."
"I can go on your behalf," Joel said to Finder.
Finder smiled sadly at his priest. "I know you would do anything for me, but you don't realize the dangers you would be facing. Beshaba's realm is in the Abyss, a place of infinite evil, cruelty, and bloody war. Moreover, the nature of the realm will weaken your ability to cast your priestly spells."