Perhaps it was Nasray's deep resentment, or maybe Marko was indeed swayed by that minuscule abyssal energy, or perhaps... even though the moon in Icewind Valley was large and round, bright and radiant, it could not illuminate the cold heart of the last direct descendant of the Haber family beneath the Great Glacier.
Marko Haber fell directly into darkness at midnight that day.
Those who discovered this were not surprised at all.
Marko made himself guard the Abyssal Gate because he needed a reason to make the final decision.
If not, a kind-aligned archmage like him would take hundreds of years to fall even if he stood at the open Abyssal Gate... let alone the currently tightly sealed Abyssal Gate.
The abyssal energy sent into Toril couldn't even corrupt a mid-level mage.
Marko needed only a reason to convince himself; one whose family was wiped out had long stopped suppressing that bit of grievance.
