The Weight of Knowing

The cavern floor was littered with the aftermath of ****—ogre blood pooling between chunks of shattered bulette shell, the acrid stench of digestive acids still hanging in the air. Karlach crouched beside the massive landshark’s corpse as she poked through the creature’s gullet with curious fascination.

Shadowheart took the opportunity to finish healing the two volunteers. She crouched beside Kagha first, cool golden light washing over the wood elf and erasing the last traces of the bulette’s impact. Before making her way to Lae’zel, who was seated against a boulder nearby, looking more irritated than injured after her brief flight through the Underdark.

“This thing’s been eating everything that moves down here,” Karlach muttered, elbow-deep in the creature’s maw. She straightened up, holding a set of dark leather garments that dripped with digestive slime. “Bloodguzzler’s Garb. Looks like it belonged to some poor bastard who got too close.”

I glanced at the dripping garment. It offered no real protection, only a minor surge of anger-fueled strength when struck. “They’re yours if you want them.”

She held it up between two fingers, wrinkling her nose. “Nah, I’ll pass. Getting even angrier in a fight doesn’t do me any favors, and this’d just hide all the good parts anyway.” She put it aside without a second thought.

“Check the big ogre,” I told her, nodding toward the corpse. “Might be something worthwhile.”

Karlach grinned, crouched down and sliced open the creature’s bulging gut. For a moment she poked through the steaming mess, then her expression shifted to curiosity. “Oh, hello. What’s this?”

She pulled out a twisted band of silver metal adorned with a blue gemstone that pulsed with faint magical energy. “The Warped Headband of Intellect? Hah! No wonder the bastard sounded like a dusty librarian with a stick up his arse.”

“Give it here!” I called out, trying to hide my excitement.

Karlach tossed it and I caught it with both hands. The metal was still warm, but the gem had an air of cool around it. I began wiping away the worst of the gore, revealing the elegant craftsmanship beneath. The stone grew brighter as the grime came away.

I slipped it onto my head.

The shift was instantaneous. My thoughts sharpened into crystalline focus, as if a fog I’d never noticed had suddenly lifted. Patterns I’d only half-perceived before now stood out in clean, merciless relief. My existing grasp of combat, timing, and positioning clarified into something far more precise. I saw the entire flow of previous combats and lost opportunities—how I could have just as easily duped the minotaurs from earlier into charging the bulette instead, saving me the ogre horn for later. Everything was clicking into place.

My Intelligence had jumped from 12 to 17 in a heartbeat.

Karlach’s sharp whistle yanked me from the depths of my thoughts. “Damn, boss,” she said, eyes wide with appreciation. “That thing makes you look distinguished as all hells. Like some scholarly prince.” She bounced on her toes, grin turning cheeky. “Maybe I should try it on. See how it feels?”

The words hit me like ice water.

My enhanced mind immediately began calculating what would happen if Karlach—or any of them—wore this headband. Suddenly blessed with this clarity, they would easily be able to see through every manipulation that kept them loyal and corrupted. They’d realize the “ceremorphosis suppression” was actually corruption magic and that I’d been playing them from the very beginning.

Shadowheart would see that her “punishments” were obviously not from Shar. Lae’zel would recognize that her submission hadn’t been earned through honorable combat but through trickery. Kagha… well, Kagha already knew about Graz’zt. She’d likely applaud the depth of my depravity.

But the other three—they’d abandon me at best, turn on me at worst.

I **** my expression to remain calm, even as my newly enhanced mind raced through worst-case scenarios. The headband had made me smart enough to realize exactly how fucked I would be if anyone else tried it on, even by accident. I needed to get rid of it. Fast.

“Pffff, it doesn’t really work. Must be broken,” I said with a dismissive wave, letting just the right amount of casual disappointment creep into my voice. “But it looks nice. Might fetch a pretty penny from the right collector.”

Karlach’s face fell slightly. “Aw, really? I was hoping it might make me better at math or something. You know, figure out how many goblins I can cleave in one swing.”

“Trust me,” I said, the lie sliding out smoothly despite my thundering pulse, “it’s purely decorative. Just expensive-looking jewelry.”

The enhanced clarity from the headband let me see exactly how my words affected her—the slight relaxation in her shoulders, the way her attention drifted to other potential loot. She believed me completely.

Shadowheart glanced up from her healing incantations, her lips curving into a sweetly mocking smile. “My, my. You’re looking rather decorative today,” she purred. “I never took you for the sort to drape yourself in jewelry. How fetching.”

Lae’zel snorted from where she leaned against the boulder, arms crossed. “Aesthetics are irrelevant. Only utility matters.”

Shadowheart’s smile sharpened. She gestured lazily at Lae’zel’s own heavily customized armor. “Oh? Then do explain this.”

Lae’zel’s posture stiffened. A faint flush crept up her neck as her eyes flicked toward me before she looked away. “It serves its purpose,” she muttered.

“Whatever you say,” Shadowheart murmured, the words heavy with amusement.

Kagha stirred beside her. Her emerald eyes found mine, soft and fervent. “It looks magnificent on you,” she said quietly, her voice laced with possessive warmth. “If you like it, then so do I,”

I simply answered with a nod, but the weight of it sat heavier than before.

The closest merchant was a slight detour, in the opposite direction of the forge, posted out in a Myconid village. That was where I needed to go. Sell it, be done with it, and make sure it stayed gone.

I pointed toward a cluster of enormous mushrooms rising in the distance. “Let’s move down this path,” I said. “Something tells me this is the way.”

As the girls fell into step behind me, I stayed unusually quiet. The headband had done more than just sharpen my thoughts—it had made something painfully clear.
I was smart enough now to realize just how dangerous smart companions could be.