Tales of the Legacy - Concluded

[Delemental]

Well, it took me six more days to finish off the rest of the story hour, and I'm still loving it. Very gratified to have Tolly back, as well.

I love your DM's world... the cosmology in particular. The blending of the elemental planes, the dieties, and the outer planes are all brilliant. Any chance that there's more setting info in published form somewhere?

you really do write this exceptionally well, as well as Sepulchrave or Spyscribe. Several times I found myself just pausing to contemplate the latest story development, and what I'd do if I was a player. Very nicely done.

Oh, and one thought to share: if you don't want the Orcs forming a new kingdom, perhaps the crown would best be given to the church of Feesha...

Unfortunately, there's no published material for our campaign, other than what we've collected on our campaign website (and I won't give the URL out, because it's not meant as a public site - among other reasons, I've 'borrowed' a few pictures found online for characters, and I have at least enough respect for intellectual property rights to not make those available for public viewing).

As far as the crown, current events in the campaign may give us a reason to pull the crown out of the bag (or hole, as the case may be) soon.

And if you like story developments... well, you'll enjoy the next few updates.

 

[Delemental]

Early the next morning, each of the party members was awoken by a loud knock on their doors.

Osborn sighed, and jumped off the side of his bed, tiptoeing past the sprawled forms of several natives who had decided to continue the evening’s celebrations in his hut. He opened the door to see two men standing there. Both men carried spears and wore headdresses made of long grasses, and wore sarongs of a darker material printed with grass and leaf patterns rather than the floral patterns he’d seen last night.

“His Majesty, King Bali, requests that you meet with him at his home,” one of the warriors said. “He apologizes for the intrusion into your time of rest, but he has need of your aid.”

“Sure, no problem,” Osborn walked back and grabbed his clothes and belongings, and a minute later was following one of the warriors up to Bali’s home. On the way, they met up with other members of the party, also being escorted by Bali’s men.

They were led to the dining room, where a breakfast of fruits was laid out on the floor. King Bali sat at the center of the table, with his son Aruna on his right. Lanara was already at the table, sitting on the other side of the king. The others sat down as they arrived, until only Xu was missing. It was several minutes later before she came in.

“My apologies,” she said to King Bali, sitting down, “I was not in my hut when your men came this morning.”

“My apologies to you, as well.” the king said. “I didn’t wish to trouble you with this, but something has happened that is very unusual, and truly is beyond our ability to deal with. This place has been a paradise for so long that when trouble comes that is outside of our usual concerns we scarcely know to handle it.” King Bali sighed. “One of our villages on the other side of the island has been destroyed, down to the foundations. Not a single person left alive, not a single home left standing.”

The party looked at each other. “Well, everyone,” Tolly said, clapping his hands together, “back to work.”

“Were this not such a drastic issue, I wouldn’t bring it to you,” the king continued. “But several of our people have been found not only dead, but partially eaten.”

“Ew!” Lanara said, voicing her initial gut reaction.

“Sahuagin?” Tolly inquired. “Kuo-toa?”

“Possibly,” the king said, “but I haven’t been there myself. And my people are accustomed to the occasional sahuagin raid. This was different.”

“Then, shall we be off?” Tolly asked.

“My son Aruna will accompany you,” Bali said, “so that my people will know that their king watches over them.”

The party returned to their huts to gather their gear. Tolly brought Iria up to the king’s home, and asked Bali if someone could watch her. His two daughters immediately agreed. The party then set out through the jungle, with Aruna leading the way. Two hours later, they merged onto the beach, into a scene of carnage.

The village had been small, no more than half a dozen huts, and sat on the beach above the high tide mark. Several warriors were patrolling the jungle perimeter to ward off scavengers, and a few dolphin riders could be seen just off shore. The huts were smashed into kindling, and several corpses lay scattered on the sand. The party immediately began to spread out and gather what information they could, while Aruna went to speak with the warriors along the perimeter.

“I found something!” Autumn called out after about twenty minutes.

“Me too!” Osborn said. “Can you bring yours over?”

“Not really,” she replied.

“I’ll come to you then.”

The party gathered around Autumn, who was poking at a patch of greenish-gray slime that was just above the high tide mark. The slime was very sticky, adhering to the stick and lifting off the ground when she pulled it up. Sand stuck to the underside of the patch.

“Anyone recognize this stuff?” she asked.

No one could place it. “It’s similar to the stuff they pack in a tanglefoot bag,” Kyle said. “It probably has a similar purpose.”

“It sort of looks like the trail a slug leaves,” Tolly said.

“Well, what about this?” Osborn asked. He held out the severed end of a finger, pale and puffy. They all bent to examine it.

“It wasn’t cut or pulled off,” Osborn said, “it looks more like it just fell off. And it’s been underwater.”

“For a while, I’d say,” Kyle said. “Whoever this came from died a long time ago, and has been underwater most of that time. Drowning victim, maybe?”
Arrie looked around. “What else have we figured out?”

“Most of the villagers died from blunt force wounds,” Tolly said. “There were remains of one that had been eaten. From what I can tell, he was being eaten before he died. The creature has a large bite radius, larger than human sized, and nothing but sharp teeth – no molars or incisors as far as I can tell.”

“The huts look like they were smashed by a large force,” Kyle added. “Some look like a huge weight was dropped on them from above, others look like they were hit from the side and knocked off their support poles.”

Arrie thought for a moment. “Tolly, are there flesh-eating zombies?”

“Not really,” Tolly replied, “ghouls tend to be the most common flesh-eating undead.”

“Do they drop fingers?” Autumn asked.

“No, they don’t.” Tolly picked up the finger that Osborn had found. “You know, whatever ate these villagers was large, and the smashed huts also suggest a large creature. This finger could have been the remnants of an old meal that fell out of its mouth during this attack.”

“You mean, like it was stuck in its teeth?” Arrie asked. “But it looks like it fell off, not like it was severed. So unless this thing has the rest of the hand still in its jaw…”

“That’s a good point,” Tolly admitted. “Kyle, is there any lingering magic in the area?”

“None.”

Autumn concentrated for a moment. “There is a lingering evil in the village.”

Arrie looked up and down the shore. “You know, it’d actually be handy to have Razael around right now.”

“Well, whatever it was probably came from the ocean,” Kyle said. “We’d have seen evidence if it had come out of the jungle. And it looks like the villagers that were eaten are all closer to the water, which means that whatever it was got full before it got to the village. If the creature had flown in, the eaten ones would be in the middle of the village.”

“Well, we could send a few people down to look,” Arrie said.

“I did pray for a water breathing spell,” Tolly said. “Perhaps Osborn, Kyle, and myself?”

As the party talked, a dolphin rider came in close to shore and leapt from his mount, running through the surf to where Aruna was standing. After speaking to the rider in rapid tones, the king’s son ran up to the party.

“I’ve just received word,” Aruna said. “The dolphins tell us that another village is being attacked. There are things coming out of the water.”

“Where?” Tolly asked, getting to his feet.

“That way,” Aruna pointed, down the shore. “About half a mile.”

“Let’s go,” Autumn said, and she began to run. But her plate armor slowed her down in the sand.

“I have a better way,” Kyle called out. He cast a spell, and a rift to the Shadow Plane opened. “Sorry, Aruna,” Kyle said, grabbing the king’s son by the shoulder, “unlike your brother, this time you don’t get a choice.”

* * *​

They emerged in the middle of the beach, close to the shore. Villagers were running about everywhere, screaming, as three zombie-like creatures shambled up and smashed into them with club-like fists, instantly snapping spines and crushing skulls. The zombies had the same waterlogged appearance as the finger they’d found, and the three had obviously just emerged from the ocean, still dripping seawater.

As the party stepped back into the land of the living, they immediately noticed an odd pressure on their lungs, as though they’d come out under the ocean surface instead of on the beach. The villagers seemed to be experiencing the same sensation, as they gasped for air and clutched their throats even as they ran.

Osborn immediately stepped up behind one of the sea-zombies, and planted a half-dozen daggers in its back. The undead creature seemed to barely notice.

“That’s not right,” Osborn said, watching as a pair of Arrie’s shotputs bounced off the sea-zombie’s head.

Tolly raised his holy symbol and tried to destroy the undead, but they seemed unperturbed by the waves of positive energy being emitted by the priest. Instead, one of them broke off from attacking villagers and ran over to land a solid blow on Tolly’s chest.

“These are not normal zombies!” he called out.

“What was your first hint?” Osborn shouted back, as a pair of fists from the zombie he’d attacked, who’d turned and advanced on the hin far faster than he’d expected, hammered him. Autumn, who had cut into the third zombie, was also being pummeled, despite landing several solid blows with her greataxe that rang with peals of thunderous energy.

“Are we this out of practice?” Arrie said, as she unfurled her spiked chain and went to help Osborn.

“Hardly,” Kyle said. “If they go faster than we expect, then we should return the favor.” He wizard stepped into the midst of his companions and cast a haste spell. At the same time, Lanara’s inspirational song began, bolstered not only by the power of the True Instruments but by her own magic as well.

Brimming with potency, Xu leapt into battle with the sea-zombie that had struck Autumn. Having fought undead many times in her career, she knew that there were no organs to burst, no blood vessels to collapse, no nerve clusters to overload. Instead, she focused on simply battering the corpse into a mangled, fleshy pulp. Fists and feet flashed, lightning fast, and the sea-zombie withered under the assault. Autumn’s follow-up attack, infused with divine power, was an extreme example of overkill.

The second zombie was torn apart by combined efforts from Osborn and Arrie, while the last was brought down by Kyle’s scorching rays and Tolly’s enormous maul. The instant the last undead was destroyed, they all felt the pressure lift from their lungs, like a heavy fog lifting in the sun. They all gasped for air as if they’d just emerged from a long dive.

“That was odd,” Kyle remarked. The rest of the party was moving around among the villagers, healing their wounds.

“What are these things?” Lanara asked, poking at one of the waterlogged corpses.

“That,” Autumn replied, “is what we’re going to find out.”

“Indeed,” Tolly said. “This isn’t over. These undead didn’t make the bite marks I saw.”

“We should report back to the king,” Autumn said, “let him know what we’ve found.”

“Well, let’s start back,” said Osborn, noting that the island’s warriors were starting to arrive, and were tending to the villagers.

“Autumn, will you take my armor?” Arrie said. “I’d like to swim out and talk to the dolphin riders. See if they can keep an eye out for anything odd. I’ll see if I can get a ride back to Bali’s village with them.”

“All right,” Autumn said. “We’ll meet you back there. But hurry – we have a monster to hunt.”

The party, minus Arrie, made their way through the jungle. Aruna had also stayed behind, to provide leadership and comfort to the terrified villagers. They followed a trail the king’s son had pointed out, a barely visible meandering track through the jungle. It took longer than they expected, but eventually they emerged into the clearing when the island’s largest village lay. The party went immediately to see Bali; fortunately, on this island, gaining an audience with the king was as simple as going to his home and shouting his name.

“We’ve identified at least some of the attackers,” Kyle said. “They’re undead, like zombies, but much faster and stronger.”

“And they make you feel like you’re underwater even on the land,” Lanara added.

“I’m familiar with them,” King Bali said. “They are the Drowned; bodies of those who died at sea. They bring their fate onto land with them so that others may share it.”

“There was another creature that attacked,” Kyle continued. “Either in conjunction with the Drowned, or at the same time by coincidence…”

“Or it was commanding them,” offered Tolly. “It had a bite radius of about a foot and a half, all incisors.”

“We believe it produces some sort of sticky slime,” Xu commented.

Tolly nodded to confirm the monk’s report. “We also think it’s capable of destroying a hut in a single blow.”

Bali frowned. “If the creature is large enough to do this, then it seems the bite radius is too small. Unless they are different creatures.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Tolly said.

“This is disturbing,” Bali said, still frowning. “The Drowned normally stay far out to sea. They harass our ships and dolphin riders on occasion, but they don’t approach the island. I don’t understand this.”

“I suspect they are under the command of something else,” Tolly said.

“Either that,” Kyle suggested, “or they’re being driven this way by something worse down there. About the only way we’re going to find out for sure is to take a look. As far as that goes, I’m not well prepared for that right now. If we could avoid any more Drowned attacks for the day, then tomorrow…”

“I have a water breathing spell prepared now,” Tolly said. “We could go now.”

“Go where?” asked Arrie, who suddenly came up behind them. She was soaking wet, but seemed unfazed by it.

“You’re back already?” Autumn asked, impressed.

“I got a ride from the dolphins,” she explained, before turning back to the rest of the group. “I learned a few things, too.”

Everyone turned to listen to Arrie. “There are a lot of places that whatever is responsible for this could be, because there’s a lot of sea-caves down there. So, fun times there. But the paladins said something else. You know how animals on land start acting weird before a big storm? They either flee or act strangely? The same thing happens in the sea, just before a storm, or a hurricane, or a tidal wave. Well, the riders and dolphins have noticed the same thing recently, even though there are no storms that have been spotted. And it’s not just the fish – things as big as sea drakes, and even a few sea hags have been seen acting jittery.”

“What on Aelfenn could be creepy enough to make a sea drake nervous?” Lanra asked, “or a sea hag, for that matter? I’m not really up on my aquatic lore.”

“Well, sea drakes are about as smart as a human child,” Arrie pointed out, “so they’re not stupid. And sea hags, of course, are usually smarter than adult humans. Whatever could be disturbing them has to be something pretty awful.”

“Then we should find whatever it is quickly, before more people die,” Tolly said.

“But we don’t even know where to start looking!” Osborn said. “You heard Arrie say there’s a ton of caves under the ocean.”

The party began to argue over what their best course of action was. Lanara, however, remained silent, thinking. Though her phobia of open water had given her a distinct lack of interest in learning many tales and legends involving ships or the ocean, there was one story she remembered hearing years ago…

“Tishalullé!” Lanara said suddenly.

“Bless you,” said Osborn.

“No, the sea hag Tishalullé. She lives not far from here, not more than a couple of miles.”

“You think this hag is responsible for the attacks?” Tolly said.

“No, Tishalullé is a seer,” Lanara explained. “Those willing to pay the price go to her for information.”

“What’s her price?” Arrie asked.

Lanara frowned. “That’s the problem. No one who’s ever gone to see Tishalullé has ever spoken of the price they paid. I’d guess it’s not gold, and I’d guess it is something unpleasant. She is a hag, after all. But the stories say that what she tells those who pay the price is always very accurate.”

Tolly frowned. “I’m not sure I approve of the idea of dealing with a hag.”

“I’m not so sure myself,” agreed Autumn.

“Well, we could always try and talk to the sea drakes,” Arrie suggested, “but that conversation will be quite a bit… simpler, I think.” She turned to Kyle. “What do you think?”

“I think we’d benefit more from an intelligent answer to this problem,” Kyle said. “I say we find this Tishalullé. If we don’t like the price, we can always say no.”

“Should we go now, then, or wait?” Tolly asked. “Perhaps we should wait a day or so and see if there are more attacks.”

“That may be well, Inquisitor Nightsleaving,” said King Bali, “but I don’t wish to put any more of my people in danger. I would ask that you do what you can quickly so that these attacks can be stopped.”

“Do you have extra soldiers you can call on?” Lanara asked.

“I will send messengers to the smaller islands surrounding this one, and order everyone to come to the main island. They will be easier to protect that way.”

“Sounds good. No sense protecting a bunch of huts that can be rebuilt.”

“The stormy season frequently destroys our dwellings,” King Bali explained. “We have learned not to become too attached to them. They are built to be easy to reassemble when knocked over.”

Tolly nodded. “The homes here do seem a bit unstable for my tastes. I would rather live higher up on the mountain, and dig into the rock.”

“We have no metal tools capable of digging into rock,” the king said. “But that is neither here nor there. Right now, I need to protect my people from danger, not debate architecture.”

“Osborn and I will stay on the island,” Autumn said. “In case of another Drowned attack. And having me along in a meeting with a sea hag might not go over well anyway.”

“Well then,” Kyle said. “Looks like all we need is a boat.”

 

[147]

Kudos to you Delemental. This story hour has kept me riveted for the past week as I tried to catch up. Now I join the many waiting for the next update.

After reading some of your comments, I believe you do give equal time and spotlight to the different characters. I understand that you can give Kyle a bit more persona, but still, all in all I think you do justice to the entire party.

I'm glad that Tolly is back, I've enjoyed the 'friction' between the characters - it allows for development.

This SH is now on my shortlist. Thanks again for the quality and quantity of writing.

 

[Delemental]

Kudos to you Delemental. This story hour has kept me riveted for the past week as I tried to catch up. Now I join the many waiting for the next update.

After reading some of your comments, I believe you do give equal time and spotlight to the different characters. I understand that you can give Kyle a bit more persona, but still, all in all I think you do justice to the entire party.

I'm glad that Tolly is back, I've enjoyed the 'friction' between the characters - it allows for development.

This SH is now on my shortlist. Thanks again for the quality and quantity of writing.

Thanks for the comment. I'm glad it seems like I'm giving fairly equal treatment to everyone. And I'm glad Tolly's back, too.

And speaking of updates...

 

[Delemental]

Soon the party was skimming along the ocean waves in a small catamaran, sea spray flying in their faces. Kyle pulled at the ropes, familiarizing himself with the unusual craft, while Lanara laid in the center of the deck, trying not to move or open her eyes.

It was only an hour before they reached the place that Lanara identified as Tishalullé’s lair. Four spires of black rock jutted out from the ocean, looking like a clawed hand ready to clutch a passing ship and pull it under. Kyle brought their ship into the center of the rocks, then brought it into the wind to empty the sails and stop it.

“Okay, now what?” he asked.

“I’m not sure,” Lanara said, still quite queasy after the boat ride. “Either she comes to us, or more likely we go to her. I say wait here a few minutes to see if anything happens. If not, then we probably have to get wet.”

The Legacy waited on their ship, listening to the waves lap against the hulls and against the four monoliths around them. As Lanara expected, nothing happened. She even tried singing a song announcing their presence and asking Tishalullé to see them.

“I can cast water breathing now,” Tolly said. “We’ll have about three hours.”

“Maybe we should wait,” Arrie said.

“We are going down there, aren’t we?” the priest asked.

“Yes, but maybe we should see if we can get down there without it,” she explained. “Your spell is the only one we have available to us today, and we don’t know what else we’ll need to do. Tishalullé’s price may involve going somewhere else in the ocean. Or we may have to fight more Drowned, or even whatever is causing these disturbances.”

“Then maybe a couple of you could check it out first?” suggested Lanara. “Wake me up when you get back.” With that, she laid down on the deck and closed her eyes.

Arrie and Xu dove off the side, and went down. A few minutes later, they surfaced.

“Looks like we’ll need your spell, Tolly,” Arrie said. “It’s too deep to hold your breath.”

One spell later, the entire group was diving into the ocean. They swam for several minutes, until they finally spotted a cave entrance on the ocean floor. After procuring a few light sources, they swam into the cave, which went almost straight down for several yards until it suddenly bent and turned upward again, leading into a large underwater cavern. The cavern floor sloped gently upward, leading to a ledge at the back where they could see a pocket of air. Inside the air pocket was what looked to be a laboratory of some sort. At the far end of the cave, sitting underwater on a throne carved of black basalt, was a hideous, green skinned woman.

“Welcome,” the hag said, in heavily accented Common. “So, what brings the land-dwellers to the abode of Tishalullé?”

“We have questions,” Tolly said, “and we have heard that you are a source of answers that can generally be trusted.”

“The spirits never guide Tishalullé wrong,” she replied.

“The ocean dwellers have been very edgy of late,” Tolly began.

“Tishalullé knows this,” the hag said. “What do you wish to know?”

“We have friends among those who live on the islands,” Lanara said. “They have been subjected to attacks lately. We believe that the force that is causing these attacks is the same that is causing the disturbance among the sea life, and if so, we wish to know what that is and how to stop it.”

“The spirits demand a price that is high for answers that search so far,” Tishalullé said.

“And what happens if we don’t wish to pay their price?” Lanara asked.

The hag smiled, showing off jagged, crooked teeth. “Then your question goes unanswered, land-dweller, as do many of the great questions of this life.”

“What price do the spirits ask for the information we seek?” Arrie asked.

“The spirit’s business is the spirit’s own,” Tishalullé said. “Their first price is secrecy. You must not tell anyone what they ask of you.”

The group nodded. They’d been expecting this, and it wasn’t as though they were unaccustomed to promises not to reveal information.

“The spirits can count on our discretion,” Arrie said.

“Tishalullé knows this.” The hag inhaled deeply, seeming to almost fall asleep for a brief moment. Then she opened her black, soulless eyes. “The spirits need one of their own returned to them. The spirit has drifted from where they belong, into the realm of the spirits of the dead. You must find a spirit of the living in the land of the dead, and return it to its proper place. Do this, and then return to see Tishalullé. Then the spirits will answer your questions.”

“Is there a time limit on this?” Lanara asked.

“Only if your questions have one,” Tishalullé said.

“Okay, then,” Lanara said. “As soon as possible then. Kyle, let’s go home and take a nap.”

Kyle tried hard to suppress a grin and almost succeeded. “Gosh, Lanara, Autumn would be awfully upset…”

“Not with me, you moron!” Lanara blurted. “I’m interested in someone else!”

“Besides, she is pursuing a prince, not a mere duke,” Xu said, getting into the spirit.

“I’m not quite a duke,” Kyle corrected.

“That’s right, ‘Duke-Consort’,” Arrie quipped.

“While this conversation is fascinating, land-dwellers,” Tishalullé sighed, “it would be better if you held it somewhere else.”

Tolly turned to the hag. “You have no idea how many times I’ve tried to say that.” He paused. “Actually, you might.”

Tishalullé smiled at Tolly, which seemed to be intended as charming, though the effect was more terrifying.

Their return trip to the island was uneventful, other than the fact that Kyle ended up sailing in the wrong direction for an hour before the party noted that the sun should really be ahead of them, not behind them. As they’d decided not to discuss the hag’s terms until they could present it to everyone, the ride back was also mostly silent. Lanara slept again on the tight netting between the hulls, until they were just about to slide onto the beach, when Tolly reached over and startled her awake, shouting about how the boat was capsizing. A moment later the cansin, her face covered with sand, jumped back up onto the catamaran and shoved Tolly off the other side.

The party reunited with Autumn and Osborn, and told them of Tishalullé’s bargain. They agreed that on the surface, the price seemed acceptable, though some niggling questions remained.

“What kind of spirit?” Autumn asked.

“I think more important than ‘what’ is ‘how’,” Osborn said. “Any idea how you find an unborn spirit on the Shadow plane and get it back?”

Everyone looked at Kyle, who shrugged. “No idea. If we were somewhere with a library, I could look it up, but…” he gestured to the palm trees and grass huts surrounding them.

“Let me ask around,” Lanara said. “Someone on this island might know something.”

As it turned out, Lanara was right. She learned that there was a hermit who lived on the top of the mountain peak, who was called simply ‘the wise man’. It was suggested that he was very knowledgeable about mystical matters. Lanara, Arrie, Xu and Osborn decided to make the journey, leaving Tolly, Autumn and Kyle behind to rest up for tomorrow’s journey and to help if there were any more attacks on the island.

The sun was low in the sky by the time the four adventurers made their way up the mountain to the peak. Once there, they were surprised to see that the peak was somewhat flat, and torches had been set all around the mountain. Two other features stood out; the first was an enormous tree, whose trunk was so large that the four of them, linking hands, would not have been able to reach even halfway around. The other was a man, who was sitting on a rock looking north. His hair and long beard were wild and unkempt, and his skin was dark and weathered. He wore simple clothing made of hemp, without any of the bright colors or patterns seen in the native garb. Cautiously, the adventurers approached.

“Hello,” said the wise man in a dry, yet deep voice. “Have you come to watch the storm?” His eyes were deep set, but piercing; Lanara immediately noticed that one of his eyes was ocean blue, the other bright green, much like her own.

“We weren’t aware there was a storm,” Lanara said.

The wise man pointed north. They all looked, but could see nothing but blue sky and ocean.

“A storm is coming,” the wise man said, “A very unusual storm.” Then he turned his gaze onto the group. “But you didn’t come to ask me about a storm.”

Looking out over the ocean, Arrie was suddenly not so sure they shouldn’t be asking about it. She recalled the magestorm they’d endured in Noxolt, when Kyle and Autumn had been attacked by the Scion-Watchers, and they’d met the two dragons Anduriel and Tiranel. Arrie wondered if this ‘unusual’ storm was another one like it. But without being able to see anything herself, there was no way to even guess what made the supposed storm so odd to the wise man.

“We have come to ask your help in a quest we’ve been given,” Lanara said. “You seem to be our best bet for getting the information we need.”

“What kind of information?”

“We need to find a spirit that belongs on the Ethereal Plane and return it there, but it’s currently on the Shadow,” Lanara explained. “We’re not certain how to accomplish this.”

“You seek life and death,” the wise man said. “How ironic. Most seek neither, as they already possess the one, and the other will come to find them in due time.”

“So, any suggestions?” Lanara was hoping this wouldn’t be one of those ‘wise men’ that dispensed knowledge in indecipherable mumbo-jumbo or obtuse prophecy.

“Death abhors life,” the wise man said, “and therefore will try to hunt it and subsume it. In the realm of death, watch for those who live there. Wherever they go, you will find the life you seek. This is the cycle. Death feeds on life, life feeds on death.”

“Okay,” Lanara said. It was surprisingly straightforward advice, but the bard felt it wasn’t quite enough. They knew how to find the spirit, but how to get it back? “I don’t suppose you have anything of more… tangible assistance to us? The advice and knowledge is insightful, but getting the spirit back where it belongs is beyond our capability.”

The wise man looked at Lanara for a moment, and then suddenly stood up, jumped off his rock, and walked over to the large tree. Transforming himself into a monkey, he climbed up to the highest branches. He returned carrying a branch, which bore leaves and a few small, unripe fruits which none of them recognized. Turning back into a human, the wise man looked the group over for a moment, and then handed the branch to Xu.

“This is a key,” the wise man said. “It opens the door between death and life. It will only work once, so use it wisely.”

“Thank you,” Xu said, bowing.

“There is a price,” the wise man said. “This tree marks a place of power, a place where the cycle of Erito takes form*. By taking this key to the Shadow, you empower the realm of death, ever so slightly, until the key is used. To take this key, you must provide a counterbalance to the realm of life.”

“Okay,” Lanara said, “how do we do that?”

“One of you must remain here, close to the tree, until the key is used,” the wise man explained. “The realm of life will draw upon your own living spirit to balance the power. Whoever stays will not be harmed by this.”

The four climbers looked at each other. “I’ll stay,” Osborn offered. “If you guys are going to the Shadow plane, you’ll probably end up fighting undead, and that’s not really my strong point anyway.” The hin drew his short sword and held it out, pommel first. “This sword’s enchanted to really hurt undead. If someone wants to borrow it, they can.”

“Thanks, Osborn,” Lanara said, taking the sword and sliding it in her pack. “We’ll hurry back.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Osborn said. “I can hang out up here for a while. I’ll get some rest, watch the storm coming in, climb the tree…”

“Do not climb the tree,” the wise man said.

“Okay, then, I won’t do that.” But he turned and flashed a big wink to Arrie.

* * *​

The next morning, the party assembled on the beach, ready to go.

“Oh, wonderful,” Arrie sighed. “Another trip to the land of the dead.”

“At least it’s not involuntary,” Tolly offered.

“Yeah, because the last time I was placed involuntarily into a near-death state it was a laugh riot,” Arrie griped.

“And you could have out-drank a dwarf afterward,” Tolly said.

“I had a lot of living to catch up on.”

“I’m not sure I would consider that ‘living’.”

“The presence of sensation was all I needed,” Arrie said. “Even the hangover was enjoyable.”

“I’ve had mornings like that,” Lanara said.

“Anyway,” Kyle said, “are we ready?” Besides wanting to get started, Kyle didn’t want Arrie to keep dwelling on her experiences in Miracle too much. She’d have a hard enough time having to be in the Shadow plane at all.

Kyle cast his spell, and soon they all found themselves in the gray, featureless expanse of the Shadow plane. They looked around at the landscape, a distorted mirror image of the real world. Sound was muted, and color almost nonexistent. Everyone shuddered and pulled their cloaks tightly around their shoulders as the chill of the plane set in.

“Anyone have an idea where we should start?” Lanara asked. “I don’t see any ethereal spirits around here.”

“Hold on,” Kyle said. He cast a spell, and suddenly a large number of eyeballs appeared around him. He concentrated for a moment, and then the eyes zoomed off in all directions.

“That’s a disturbing spell, Kyle,” Tolly said.

“I’ve instructed them to return when they see a large group of creatures besides us,” Kyle said. If it’s within a mile, we should be able to spot them.”

The party waited on the gray beach near the gray ocean, watching as barely-audible gray waves crashed at their feet. After about forty-five minutes, one of the eyes zipped back. Kyle held it in his hand for a while, his eyes closed, and then the eye vanished with a pop.

“I’ve got it,” he said. “They’re out by where Tishalullé lives. There’s a white ghost-like spirit being pursued by several shadowy black creatures. There seems to be an energy or essence leaking out of the white spirit. They’re all coming this way.”

“Let’s go,” said Tolly, drawing his maul.

“No need,” Kyle said. “Things travel faster on the Shadow. They’ll be on top of us in a minute or so. Get ready.”

The party made their preparations, casting a bevy of protective spells. Lanara’s bardic song was already underway when the mob reached them.

The saw the white ghostly form, hazy and indistinct, racing straight toward them. Behind it was a half-dozen of the black forms, which looked like shadows, though larger and more… shadowy than ones they’d seen before. Xu immediately ran forward, and with her natural foot speed enhanced by Kyle’s haste spell, she was able to close with the lead shadow in mere moments. Unfortunately, her very solid fist passed right through the insubstantial shadow. Xu felt numbing cold spreading up to her shoulder before she withdrew her arm.

Arrie was the next to move in, running right past the spirit and into the largest cluster of shadows. She swung her chain wide, and connected with all four as they tried to pass her. All four recoiled as the metal chain ripped through them; it had been enchanted to deal with insubstantial creatures such as they. Ignoring their prize, the four shadows converged on Arrie, a situation that seemed to suit the warrior just fine.

Tolly moved up to assist Arrie, ready to bathe the area with celestial brilliance. But as the spirit floated by, he paused. Though indistinct, the spirit’s features were definitely hag-like.

No wonder Tishalullé wanted this spirit saved, he thought. He was about to release his spell, but again hesitated. The spell damaged evil creatures; it would hurt the shadows, but what about the unborn soul of a hag? He focused for a moment on the spirit, using his training as an Inquisitor to read the hag’s aura. As he expected, there was a strong taint of evil. Sighing, he abandoned his spell, knowing that he risked destroying the spirit they’d come to rescue.

Autumn charged the one shadow that had slipped past the others, laying into it with her axe but failing to connect with the insubstantial shadow. Kyle launched an immense sphere of electricity into the group around Arrie, bending his spell through sheer will to create a hole in the blast around his friend. Two of the shadows were unharmed, but one vaporized, and another appeared to diminish.

Lanara looked to see where she could help out. She saw the shadow attacking Autumn connect, drawing the sentinel’s strength away, and decided to come to her aid. She started to release the strings of her lute so she could hurl a whip feather token at the shadow, but suddenly a compulsion seized her, and she realized she didn’t want to stop playing. Qin-Chu’s Toes! she swore to herself, realizing that for the first time since she’d begun collecting and merging the True Instruments, she had failed to maintain control over them. All she could do was keep playing, and hope it would end soon.

Arrie swung her chain again, ripping through shadows, while nearby Xu pounded her target with fists and feet, connecting enough times to batter the undead creature senseless. Autumn and her shadow were also locked in combat, the sentinel’s greataxe flashing despite the oppressive gloom of the plane. The hag-spirit floated past Kyle, in the rear of the battle, who immediately stepped toward it.

“Wait!” he called out, “we’re here to help you! We can get you home!”
When the spirit paused, Kyle reached out and cast a spell, covering the spirit in a shroud of negative energy that hid it from the shadow’s senses. The spirit, seeing that the shadows were no longer trying to break away from combat to pursue it, stopped running and turned to Kyle.

“You… help me?” it asked in an ephemeral voice.

Tolly lent his aid to Autumn, blasting her shadow with deific vengeance, even as Arrie finished off two more shadows and Xu destroyed hers as well. The two remaining shadows tried to break away and run, but the party converged on them and destroyed them.

As the party wound down from the frenzy of battle, they immediately noticed that Lanara was still singing. “Um, Lanara?” Arrie ventured.

Lanara looked at the warrior. Her face strained with a sudden effort, and a trickle of sweat ran down her forehead. Abruptly, the bard stopped singing, and with a sigh put her instrument away. “Yes?” she asked.

“Don’t you normally do more in battle while singing?” Tolly asked.

“Shut up!” the cansin snapped. “You know not of what you speak! Be quiet!” Tolly shrugged and turned away.

They all gathered around the hag-spirit next, who seemed weak and frail. Its essence was still trailing off into the Shadow, though not as rapidly. “You… help me… out….”

“Sure,” Lanara said, “we’re the good guys.”

“Actually, in this case that would normally be an impediment,” said Arrie, “but sure, we’ll help.”

“Door…” the hag-spirit said, pointing with a bony, withered finger toward the center of the island, indicating the top of the mountain.

“Door it is, then,” said Kyle, and they floated off.

It took only a few minutes for the party to close the distance to the island’s peak. The first thing they noticed at the top was that the enormous tree that they’d seen there was also present in the Shadow plane. This was unusual enough, since most of the time living plants and animals in the material world were not reflected in the Shadow, but what made it stand out more was that the tree was a deep, lightless black, that seemed to absorb what little light there was.

“Door…” the hag-spirit said, pointing at the tree.

“Looks like we have a ‘tree of life’ thing going here,” Lanara said. “Xu, you stil got that stick?”

The monk produced the branch. “But if this is the key, where is the lock?” she asked.

Most of the party started searching the tree, while Arrie and Tolly kept an eye out for undead. Finally, Xu found a spot on the bark that was loose, and when she moved it aside, a bean of white light shot out across the plane.

“I think that’s it,” Lanara said.

The party and the spirit gathered around as Xu placed the end of the stick against the beam. The light spread up and down in a thin line, and then began to widen, giving a visual impression of someone opening a set of double doors into a brightly lit room. When the light had reached about ten feet across and about twenty high, it stopped, and there was an audible click, which sounded clear despite the sound-muting properties of the Shadow plane. Suddenly, there was an enormous rushing of force toward the doorway, as though they had opened into a vacuum and air was rushing in. The hag-spirit rushed through the door without hesitation, while the party resisted the pull. Unfortunately, the pull was very strong, and moments later Kyle, Autumn, Xu, and Lanara were sucked through the doorway and vanished.

“We should go after them!” Tolly shouted over the maelstrom.

Arrie hesitated. She had no idea if going to the Ethereal plane would cause problems for her as a psionic being. She’d never even considered bringing the subject up to Aran, or even Kyle.

Tolly sensed her uncertainty. “Think of it as a rebirth!” he yelled, offering her his hand.

Well, better the plane of the unborn than the plane of the dead, she thought, and took Tolly’s hand and let herself be pulled through the door just as it slammed shut.

* * *​

Literally a world away, but not as far as he thought, Osborn had grown bored. He’d spent the night up on the mountain, and initially had enjoyed exploring, climbing around the mountain, and watching for the alleged storm to the north that never materialized. But the wise man proved a limited conversationalist, and he soon ran out of entertaining things to throw rocks at. When he awoke the next morning, he decided he was going to climb the big tree.

Osborn looked in on the wise man, and saw that he was sitting in meditation, his eyes closed. Quietly, he slipped away and approached the enormous tree. Try as he might, Osborn couldn’t even begin to guess what kind of tree it was, or how old. But the bark was rough, and there were a lot of sturdy branches, so the tree was practically begging to be climbed.

He made his way up into the foliage, scampering up nearly as fast as the wise man had yesterday while in the form of a monkey. Surprisingly, he saw no signs of insects, or birds nesting in the branches. The leaves were very dense, and Osborn only caught the occasional glimpse of sunlight peeking through.

He decided he would try and find the spot where the wise man had broken off the branch he’d given to Xu. It took several minutes of guesswork and climbing, but finally he was able to locate a tiny knothole in one of the highest branches. Examining the hole, Osborn was surprised to see that it didn’t look like that branch had been cut off, nor broken off. It had simply detached and fallen off in the wise man’s hands. The wood showing through the small round hole was white, and felt slightly springy. As he considered this, he noticed a slight sparkling near the knothole. As he watched, the sparkling coalesced into a faint white light that seemed to emanate from under the bark. Curious, Osborn poked at the hole with a finger to see if it was warm to the touch. As soon as he did, however, his finger stuck fast as if glued in place. As Osborn pulled at his hand to free it, the light began to spread up his finger toward his wrist. The light was warm and pleasant feeling, but still unnerving to Osborn, who tried desperately to break free. The light spread quickly up his arm and shoulder, and enveloped his chest. Within moments, it had covered his entire body. With a cry of surprise, Osborn vanished into thin air, and the light disappeared. Where Osborn’s finger had been stuck, a small branch laden with immature fruits now protruded.

A short distance away, the wise man opened his eyes. “I told him not to climb the tree,” he said to no one in particular, and then turned into a seagull and flew off.

* * *​

The Ethereal plane is the realm of the unborn. It is also the realm of possibility, of potential. Like its opposite, the Shadow, the surface of Aelfenn is reflected in the Ethereal, though here the images of living things can be seen as well. Unlike the Shadow, everything is shrouded in white, and there is an explosion of life and vitality there. Looking skyward, one sees not only the weather as it is, but in every possible combination. Thus clear skies coexist with hurricanes, gentle rain showers, even snowstorms. Plant and animal life of every variety bursts from the ground, overlapping each other. Here a desert cactus crowds out a fern, there a family of squirrels rides on the back of an elasmosaurus.

The party found themselves marveling at these sights, as they stood at the base of the only non-mutable object in the area; the tree atop the mountain, which was now pure white in color. Nearby, the hag-spirit stood, absorbing the energy of its home plane. Once Kyle had dispelled the shroud of negative energy around it, the spirit had begun to grow and heal, the rents in its form closing even as it grew from a shriveled form the size of a human to its full, nine-foot height.

The hag-spirit regarded the party. “This… will not be forgotten.” Then the hag turned and floated off rapidly.

“Say hello to Tishalullé for us!” Lanara called out.

“So, I take it that was the spirit you had to rescue?” Osborn asked.

Everyone turned at once. “What are you doing here?” Arrie said, shocked.

Osborn explained his tree-climbing adventure and what had happened to him. After the party filled him in on the rescue, Tolly looked around.

“So, are we ready to go back?” he asked.

“Shouldn’t we get closer to the village, so we don’t have to climb down the mountain?” Kyle asked.

Tolly shook his head. “The plane shift spell is inaccurate, much like your shadow walk over long distances,” he said. “In fact, I can guarantee that we’ll be off target. Which reminds me…” Tolly cast a spell, and touched everyone in the group. “That will keep you from sinking.”

“How far off the mark will this land us?” Lanara asked.

“Anywhere from one league to about a hundred and fifty leagues,” Tolly said. Noting the looks he was getting, he added, “our other choice is to look for another ‘door’ like this one, but even then we have no key. And the natives here aren’t necessarily friendly.”

“So, we’re getting wet,” Kyle said. “Well, let’s just hope for the best.”

The party joined hands, and Tolly cast his spell. Moments later, they had vanished.

* * *​

High in the sky, the wise man circled in the thermal currents above the island. He looked all around him as he flew, but paused as he glanced northeast.

Odd, he thought to himself, why would seven people choose to stand in the middle of the ocean?

-----------------------------------

* Recall that in this setting, Erito is the goddess of magic as well as life and death. She transforms the energy of life and death into magic - whenever a soul leaves the Ethereal to be born as a new being, or when a being dies and their soul goes to the Shadow, a little bit of the energy used in that transition bleeds off and gets used by Erito.

This is the reason that characters who are raised lose a level; it's called 'Erito's Tithe', and is the payment that a raised soul has to make to compensate for the energy that Erito loses. In the case of a true resurrection, the assumption is that the cleric casting the spell is in such high standing with their deity that the deity pays the Tithe for the raised soul (or, if the cleric is a priest of Erito, she just foregoes the Tithe).

 

[Delemental]

“Where in Feesha’s name are we?”

The seven adventurers found themselves in the middle of the ocean, with waves rolling underfoot. The party bobbed up and down on the surface, looking around to see if they could spot anything they recognized.

“We’re on Aelfenn,” Tolly said to Lanara’s question. “Close to the islands. Unfortunately, I can’t really say how far, or in what direction. Shifting between planes is an imprecise process.”

“You can say that again,” Lanara said, turning green as another wave rolled under her feet and lifted her into the air. She had a sudden newfound respect for boats.

“Well, we know that way is north, at least,” Xu said, pointing across the horizon after checking the position of the sun.

“Hey,” Kyle said, “what is that?” He was staring at the northern horizon, squinting against the sun glaring off the ocean. Everyone turned to look, and eventually they were able to make out something just barely visible, a faint darkish line.

“Land?” Arrie suggested.

“Could be. But didn’t you say that guy on the mountain was talking about a storm to the north?”

“That doesn’t look like a storm to me,” Autumn said.

“No, but that does,” said Osborn, pointing east. Sure enough, on the eastern horizon a line of gray clouds was forming.

“Well then,” Tolly said, “I can wind walk us out of here.”

“Yeah, but which way?” Arrie said. “If we go the wrong way, we’re in no better shape than we were before.”

“Maybe we should head north, for that land mass,” Kyle suggested. “Once we’re there, then we can get our bearings.”

“Do you still have that feather token, Tolly?” Lanara asked.

“The boat token? Yes, but there’s no need to waste it now.”

Lanara was about to protest, when Osborn pointed again, this time at Autumn. “Hey, what’s that?”

Looking down, Autumn saw that there was a faint blue glow coming from one of her belt pouches. Opening it up, she extracted a gold and platinum ring that bore the likeness of a dragon. The ring was glowing brightly.

“Hey!” she said, “I’d almost forgotten about this!”

“Where did you get that ring?” Tolly asked.

“I’ve had this for a long time, actually,” Autumn said.

“A dragon gave it to her,” Kyle said. “Anduriel.”

Autumn removed one of the rings she was already wearing, and slipped on the dragon ring. She waited for a moment, but nothing happened.

“Turn around,” Kyle said. “Maybe it gets brighter when it points a certain direction.”

She turned as Kyle asked, but there was no change in the glow. “Do you remember what you were supposed to do with that ring?” Lanara asked.

Autumn thought for a moment. “He said, ‘If your need to speak with me is great, concentrate on this ring and I will help you if I can.’”

“Okay, so, why not ask Anduriel which way we should go?” Lanara suggested.

Kyle coughed. “You’re going to bother a dragon to ask it for directions?”

“I agree,” Tolly said. “We shouldn’t bother it. Dragons are too busy for something like this.”

“Although,” Kyle said suddenly, “we are still carrying around all of that magical gear that the dragon loaned us for our south pole expedition. If we called him and offered to give it back…”

“No, no, that was the other one,” said Anduriel, whose enormous head had popped up out of the ocean.

After the initial shock, Osborn was the first to react. “Hi!” he said gleefully.

“Hello,” Autumn offered, “how are you?”

“Considerably better than you, I’d say,” Anduriel said.

“We’re not drowning,” Tolly pointed out.

“Not yet. But whatever magic is holding you up won’t last forever; and if not drowning, dying of thirst is also very unpleasant.”

“Well, what can we do for you?” Tolly asked.

“Actually, it’s more what can I do for you?”

“Get us back to the islands?” Lanara asked.

“Certainly,” Anduriel said. “Least I can do after your help with that Auxariel mess.”

“We’d greatly appreciate your assistance,” Autumn said.

“Very well. I was going to do some further investigation on that fleet over there,” he said, craning his neck northward, “but…”

“Fleet?” said Tolly.

“Fleet?” said Kyle.

“Fleet?” said Autumn.

“Fleet?” said Lanara.

“Yes. Come on. Hop on the back, and I’ll tell you about it on the way back.”

Everyone quickly climbed aboard the dragon’s large back as soon as he swam around under them. “This is so neat!” Osborn squealed, practically jumping up and down with joy.

“By the way,” Anduriel said, as everyone found a place to sit, “if you tell anyone about this, I’ll wait until your grandchildren are alive, and then hunt them down and kill them.”

“Tell anyone that we’ve met you?” Tolly asked.

“No, that you’re riding me. I’d never live it down.”

Anduriel suddenly surged forward through the ocean, tucking his legs against his body and using his wings like giant scoops to propel himself through the water. As white spray flew back, soaking everyone, the bronze dragon called back to them.

“So, how did you all end up out here?” he asked.

“Plane shifting,” Tolly said in Draconic. Anduriel nodded, needing no further explanation. Kyle, Arrie and Autumn all nodded in understanding. Lanara quickly cast a tongues spell on herself, and then, realizing that Tolly would likely not think to speak in a language they would all understand, cast the same spell on Xu and Osborn as well.

“Just in case something happens,” Anduriel was saying, “you’re about fifteen miles northeast of the Archipelago. You’ll get back if you keep going this direction.”

“Thank you. Now, you were going to tell us about this fleet?” Autumn prompted.

“Ah, yes. Apparently, there’s a very large fleet of ships coming in. They seem to be flying the flags of the Tauric Empire.”

“The what?” Autumn and Tolly asked.

“Remember Captain Starke?” Kyle said to Autumn. “A good part of his crew was from there. It’s where normal humans are slaves, and the ruling class is made of monsters who are half animal, half human, or what wizards usually call ‘tauric’ creatures. Thus, the Tauric Empire.”

“Are they coming for slaves?” Autumn asked.

“I don’t know, “Anduriel admitted. “It’s a big raid if they are.”

“How many ships, did you say?” Lanara asked.

“All of them, I think,” the dragon said.

“Oh, no,” Autumn moaned.

“We could be in deep trouble,” Lanara said.

“Considering that their Empire is twice the size of your entire continent, I’d say that was accurate,” the dragon opined.

Autumn turned to Kyle. “When did this become the honeymoon from Uros?” *

“I’d say about two hours past dawn yesterday,” Tolly offered.

“I’m actually starting to feel like Fate had it in for us the day I proposed,” Kyle said sadly.

“So, the Tauric Empire,” Tolly asked Anduriel, “isn’t it possible that this is a peaceful fleet?”
“From what I’ve seen, all of the Empire’s ships are out there. Doesn’t seem peaceful to me.”

“All of them?” Tolly asked, just to make sure he’d heard right.

Anduriel nodded. “They’ve got a lot of people on those ships, too.”

“There hasn’t been any sort of disaster in the Tauric Empire recently, has there?” Osborn asked.

“I don’t know. That’s part of what I was going over there to investigate.”

“Well, what say we ask them, if we can find someone willing to parley,” Lanara said.

“First we should get back, and warn King Bali,” Kyle said.

“We should send some messengers to the Peca Provinces,” Tolly said. “If we’re facing a naval invasion, then we’ll need the help of the gnomes.”

“Is the Tauric fleet heading for Affon, or for the Archipelago?” Kyle asked.

“Hard to say at this point,” Anduriel said, “but they have enough ships to simply overwhelm the islands and continue on to the continent. I suggest you advise the Seven Kings to evacuate the Red Archipelago.”

Kyle shook his head. “They’ll never let us come back for a second honeymoon after this.”

“That assumes that there are islands to come back to,” Anduriel said.

Tolly looked north toward the strange dark line on the horizon that they all now knew was not land. “I’d forgotten how interesting it was to travel with all of you,” he said. “I need to get Iria back to Medos.”

* * *​

Anduriel stopped well short of the islands, not wanting to alarm the locals with the arrival of a dragon. The party jumped off his back after Autumn summoned a celestial dolphin and Tolly summoned a celestial orca whale to use as transport. They watched as the bronze dragon dove, and then shot up into the air, spreading his wings and flying north.

They talked about everything that needed to be done, or could be done; issuing sendings to the heads of the six major nations and the five major churches in Affon (though they were unsure whether to bother contacting the Emperor of Targeth, assuming that the xenophobic country would simply hide behind their impenetrable shield and offer no help). Kyle wanted to return to the Tlaxan’s capital city to research everything he could about the Tauric Empire, in an effort to figure out what their purpose might be. Lanara still advocated diplomacy, though she admitted that without knowing more about the Tauric Empire’s intent, sending an emissary would be fruitless. The one thing they all agreed on, however, was that the first order of business was to get the people of the Red Archipelago off the islands.

As soon as they made landfall, the party made haste to get to King Bali’s home, ignoring the stares of the villagers on the beach who were pointing at the celestial dolphin who was happily swimming away, and the whale that was vanishing with a sparkle of light.

When Bali heard the news that the party delivered, his reaction was not quite what they had expected.

“Understand that it’s not that I don’t believe what you’re saying,” the king said, “it’s that getting the other six kings to gather all their people and flee our homes in the face of this ‘Tauric Empire invasion’ will require something more in the way of proof than the word of some honeymooners who’ve been out enjoying the ocean all day.”

“Send some dolphin riders out about a hundred and fifty miles north,” Tolly demanded. “When they come back, then we can proceed with the evacuation.”

“We will look into it,” King Bali reassured them. “I will also issue an invitation to the other six kings to join us tonight… for a feast in honor of the Princess of Tlaxan and Duchess of Vargex. We can discuss the matter then.”

“King Bali,” Tolly said evenly, “I am Inquisitor Primus of the Church of Ardara. I would not, to put it into more earthly terms, bullsh*t you on this.”

“I know you would not,” Bali said. “But I am one of the Seven Kings of the Red Archipelago, bearer of Tul-Antha’s Crown. You are asking me, and my six peers, to abandon our homes based on something that you have seen from a great distance… which you yourselves could not identify until you were told of its nature by this dragon you met in the midst of the ocean. I will confirm your words before I act.”

“So telling them that a dragon warned us won’t help?” Lanara asked.

“If anything, such a claim will only hurt your cause,” the king said. “It begins to sound like the wild tale a child would tell to cover up a small lie.”

“Confirm it, then,” Tolly said, “but confirm it quickly.”

Dolphin riders were sent out to the other six major islands of the Archipelago within the hour, amidst great fanfare and cheer. The distraction this provided allowed a small, sleek catamaran to set out unnoticed and head north. King Bali informed the Legacy that this ship was powered by a pair of water elementals that were bound into the twin hulls, a gift from a visiting wizard many decades ago. Only meant for use during extreme emergencies, the king wanted to keep its deployment a secret, so as not to raise alarm.

“Hopefully this convinces you of the trust I place in your word,” he said. “Sending dolphins or regular ships as far out as you say would take days.”

In the hours leading up to the feast, Lanara spent time with Prince Mu’ara, telling him what they’d learned and trying to persuade him to advocate for them should the need arise. The others tried to guess how long it would take before the Tauric fleet arrived; Kyle, who was the only one with practical nautical experience, guessed it would be about a week, give or take a day.

“That storm coming in from the east may slow them down,” Kyle said, “but it may not.”

With little else to do, the party pitched in to help Bali’s daughters prepare the feast. Lajila and Nidru were grateful for the help, as they were quite busy – too busy to even take advantage of Tolly’s presence.

As the sun dipped toward the western ocean, warriors blew on conch shells to announce the arrival of the other kings. As their ships arrived, and they were greeted at the shore by King Bali and Prince Mu’ara, the king’s younger son Aruna remained with the party, informing them who was who as each one came forward.

“That is King Keleko,” Aruna said, “he is the bearer of Tul-Antha’s Spear.” The man on the beach was very tall, and carried a golden spear much like the one King Bali carried, but much larger and made of coral.

“Next is his twin sister, Queen Kelana,” Aruna said, indicating the tall, striking woman behind Keleko. She wore a cloak that looked like it was made from flowers. “Bearer of Tul-Antha’s Mantle,” Aruna explained.

Next came a unusually slender, pale man, obviously air-touched, carrying a pearl-encrusted rod. “King Peleke, bearer of Tul-Antha’s Scepter.”

Aruna pointed out the next king, who was just jumping down from his ship. Strangely, he kept his grasp on his oar, which was made from a rich, dark wood. Aruna was quick to explain. “King Kai-Nui, bearer of Tul-Antha’s Oar.”

“One of the seven treasures of Tul-Antha is an oar?” Osborn asked.

“When one rules a kingdom of islands, the oar can be as much a symbol of power as a spear,” Aruna explained. He then pointed out into the bay, where two more ships were maneuvering into place. “That is the ship of Queen Akoni,” he said. “bearer of Tul-Antha’s Horn. And that is the ship of King Iepi, bearer of Tul-Antha’s Net.”

The party looked, and saw a short but regal gnomish woman standing on the deck of the ship, cradling a large conch shell. The other ship bore a rotund man carrying a mahogany box, which Aruna explained was where Tul-Antha’s Net was stored.

Once the official greetings were made, the Seven Kings made their way up to Bali’s home, where the Legacy was formally introduced. Then the Kings and their entourages were led to the feast area. Unlike the celebration two nights ago, this time long tables had been set up, laden with a variety of food and drink. After the guests were seated and the feast had begun, King Bali also summoned the entertainment for the evening. Several scantily clad dancers, both men and women, who jumped and cavorted about to the rhythm of large drums, while they twirled large bamboo poles in the air. The bamboo had been cut with several grooves and holes, which caused them to emit a haunting drone which varied in pitch as the poles were spun faster or slower. Though impressive, the festivities did little to mollify the party, who noted that King Bali did not seem to be speaking with his peers about the approaching armada.

About an hour into the feast, a tan elf with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes walked into the village. He sat down in the midst of the party, draping his expensive robes over his legs. “What are we having?” he asked.

“Roast pig, crab, and more fish than you can shake a harpoon at,” Lanara replied.

“Roast pig! Excellent. I get tired of fish.”

Tolly looked at the elf. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

Autumn was about to correct Tolly, when she realized that the Ardaran had not been with them when they’d gone to Noxolt to prepare for their voyage to the south pole. “Tolly, this is Anduriel. This is how he appeared to us when we first met him.”

Tolly studied the newcomer. “Ah. Polymorphing, of course. Welcome back.”

“What news do you bring?” Autumn asked.

“I have good news, bad news, and worse news,” Anduriel said. “Which do you want first?”

Autumn sighed. “Let’s have the good news first.”

“The good news is that the storm to the east will definitely delay the Tauric fleet,” the dragon said, talking through bites of roasted boar. “They won’t arrive here for a week and a half.”

“Hooray!” Osborn said.

“The bad news?” Tolly asked.

“The bad news is that the fleet is definitely hostile.”

“How do you know?” asked Kyle.

“I flew over their armada, trying to count their banners. I didn’t get a good look at the crew – I saw mostly centaurs, and of course the humanoid slave rowers. When I banked in for a better look, they fired on me. Spells, ballista, even manticores! Can you imagine? The young races have no respect.”

“What about the worse news?” Tolly and Autumn said in unison.

“That storm I mentioned? It’ll hit the Archipelago tonight, and probably last for the next two days.”

The party was so inured to bad news by this point that they barely reacted. Instead, Tolly stood up and crossed over to where King Bali sat. The priest whispered in Bali’s ear, and the king frowned. He waved over one of his warriors, gave him instructions, and sat back as the young man dashed off. A few minutes later, the warrior reappeared and signaled his king. Bali stood up and held his arms in the air. Almost immediately, the drumming and dancing stopped, and everyone looked at him.

“Our guest, Inquisitor Nightsleaving of Ardara, has important news that we all must hear,” he shouted. Bali then turned to Tolly. “Warn them of the storm only,” he cautioned. “No mention of dragons, or warships yet.”

“A great storm is coming from the east,” Tolly said loudly. “The gods have spoken to me and revealed this.” It’s not really a lie, he said to himself, dragons are the emissaries of the gods. “You may wish to consult with your own diviners, but I am told that the storm will reach here late this evening.”

King Keleko stood up. “If King Bali says your warnings are accurate, then I accept them as true,” he said. “If a storm is coming, then we must bring this celebration to a close. My apologies to Bali’s honored guests, but the Seven Kings must return to their domains to look after their subjects.”

The other kings queens nodded, and soon everyone was standing up and preparing to leave. Tolly turned to Bali.

“What about the ships from the Tauric Empire?” he asked.

“There was no time to tell them,” he replied. “And now they will be too concerned about the storm to listen. The scout ship will not return until tomorrow.”

Tolly threw his arms up in the air. “Then these islands are doomed,” he said, exasperated.

Suddenly, Lanara put her hand on Tolly’s arm. “Wait, Tolly,” she said. “I think I can get through to them.”

“How?”

The bard turned toward the crowd, some of whom were already starting to head toward the beach where the ships were waiting. She closed her eyes, concentrating for a moment, and then she started to speak. Lanara’s voice rang out clearly across the entire village, instantly stopping everyone and drawing their attention to her. She spoke plainly, without embellishment or poetics, though her words were no less compelling for it. She told everyone about the armada from the Tauric Empire, and how its existence had been confirmed by one of Krûsh’s own servants, the bronze dragon Anduriel, though she did not reveal his presence among the crowd. Each word seemed to carry the weight of unequivocal Truth; one could not help but believe what Lanara said. When she finished, there was a long silence, until finally King Peleke spoke.

“When the storm passes,” he said, “we shall send messengers to that we may plan how best to bring our people to safety.”

“Your people are welcome in the Duchy of Vargex,” Autumn said. “I will contact my steward to make preparations.”

“We are honored, Duchess,” said Queen Kelana. “But we must now depart to see our people through this first storm, before we deal with the second.”

As everyone hurried to their ships, Tolly went over to Lanara. “That was… impressive,” he said to the cansin. “More persuasive than I could had managed.”

“It takes a lot of effort,” Lanara admitted. “I had to pull out all the stops to do it. It’s not something I care to do very often.”

Meanwhile, King Bali approached Arrie, Autumn and Kyle. “I must ask for another favor,” he began.

“Tell us,” said Arrie.

“I would like your help evacuating one of my kingdom’s outlying islands to the main island before the storm hits,” he said. “The island is in the same area as the Drowned have been attacking, and I fear with the storm stirring up the ocean that those undead monsters may be stirred to strike.”

“Not a problem,” Autumn said, “glad to help.”

It was almost an hour before they were ready to depart. King Bali sent the party, along with his own men, on a large, single-hulled cargo ship that had been commandeered to transport evacuees. By the time they left, the wind was starting to pick up, and when they arrived, the winds were whipping furiously all around them, and they could hear the peal of thunder not too far away. The wind and blowing sand made things hard enough, but poor Osborn was nearly knocked over and blown away by the winds, until he borrowed a pair of magical boots from Arrie that helped steady him.

The party formed a defensive line on the beach, flanking either side of the villager’s escape route. The rescue ship had stopped close to shore, and dropped a gangplank onto the sand just above the water line. Now frightened men, women and children were running down the beach, toward the ramp, while the party waited on either side.

They didn’t have long to wait. A flash of lightning illuminated the small island, and in that brief flash they saw the shuffling approach of the Drowned, dripping as they emerged from the ocean.

Arrie was first to react, hurling a shotput at one of the undead. The wind pulled everything off target, but Arrie had compensated, and the shotput landed solidly against the skull of the Drowned. It hardly seemed to notice, however, and it advanced on the warrior, even as its companions moved in on the rest of the party. Tolly threw up a wall of whirling blades that arced from the gangplank and cut across the sand, blocking off half of the beach and carving deep gashes into two of the Drowned. On the other side of the beach, Autumn, Xu and Osborn turned to face the Drowned menacing them. Lanara tried to sing, but the strong winds ripped the notes from her lips as she sang, and she could only be heard a few feet away. Kyle zapped one of the Drowned, but stayed further up the beach to help the villagers flee back to their huts.

Sand whipped past the heroes, cutting into their exposed skin as they fought the undead monsters. Despite their hardiness, the party knew from past experience that the Drowned were relatively simple to defeat. Though the undead were landing solid blows that snapped ribs and tore flesh, their tactics were as simple and straightforward as any other mindless undead, and it would only be a matter of time before the party had the upper hand. That, of course, was why the other creatures had to emerge from the sea as well.

Two enormous forms rose up from the ocean, coming up from under the ship to land on the beach. They appeared like two large slugs, covered with millions of tiny cilia. Both Kyle and Tolly recognized the creatures from their past studies as seryulin. They tried to shout warnings to their companions that the creatures used a pain-inducing poison, but the wind carried their words away. One of the creatures turned and lashed at Autumn with a pseudopod, knocking her to her knees, while the other reversed course and began bashing into the ship, gnawing at the hull in an effort to get at the islanders already packed inside. The party couldn’t help but notice that the slugs had toothy maws about the same size as the bite wounds on the corpses they’d seen recently.

“I think we’ve found out what attacked the villages!” shouted Osborn.

“But these things aren’t big enough to crush a hut from above!” Autumn shouted back. “There has to be something else, too!”

“I could have gone without knowing that!” Osborn yelled, as he was clubbed by one of the Drowned. He’d been forced into melee, since the strong winds would have carried his daggers off target.

Tolly summoned divine power, and suddenly the beach was as bright as day, as he called upon the same celestial light that surrounded powerful angels. The light seemed to singe and burn the waterlogged flesh of the Drowned, but had no noticeable effect on the seryulin. He then took a moment to imbue himself with divine power, growing to immense size. Nearby, Lanara released a bolt of sonic energy at one of the slugs, shearing off a large chunk of greenish flesh. Kyle surrounded the fleeing villagers with an illusion, making them look like sand-crabs as they fled in the hopes that the enemy wouldn’t bother trying to make a meal of them.

Arrie managed to finish off the Drowned attacking her, and turned to deal with the seryulin that was bashing through the ship’s hull. She halted her advance when she saw that the slug had suddenly stopped moving. Glancing over her shoulder, she waved to Kyle, and then turned to help Tolly bring his Drowned opponent down. Xu traded blows with the other seryulin, though the monk came out far worse in the exchange, and was nearly killed when a pseudopod slammed into her head. She was forced to fall back, taking a moment to focus her inner power so that she could ignore the pain of some of her wounds. Xu’s attack did give Autumn the opening she needed to withdraw and drink a healing potion as well. Kyle, seeing that his wife was on her last legs, rushed forward and blasted the Drowned that had been attacking with fiery rays, burning it to a crisp. Unfortunately, the seryulin that he’d held managed to shake off the spell, and lashed out with pseudopods at Arrie and Tolly.

In the fury of battle, no one noticed that far off shore to the west, the turbulent ocean began to heave and froth as something began to surface. But as it broke the surface of the water with a roar, everyone stopped to stare. The creature was immense, and looked somewhat like a giant kuo-toa.

“Okay,” Osborn said, mostly to himself in the howling winds, “that is big enough to crush a hut.” He slipped on his ring of invisibility and vanished, hoping to buy some time to think. Unfortunately, the seryulin close to him seemed able to sense his presence somehow, and battered him with a pseudopod. Its other tentacle bashed Arrie, while its razor sharp teeth found Kyle’s shoulder. The party regained a faint glimmer of hope when Xu, leaping nimbly back and forth to avoid another battering from the seryulin, managed to fell the last Drowned, immediately relieving the feeling of being underwater.

Tolly swung his maul into one of the slug-creatures, sending greenish ichor spraying everywhere as the head penetrated its rubbery skin. Lanara pulled out a wand and launched a fireball at the monstrosity off shore, but incredibly it ducked out of the way, and the spell burst harmlessly over its head. Kyle, hoping to take care of two enemies at once, rushed up to the closest seryulin, and avoiding the lashing tentacles, cast a quick spell and touched the slug-creature. Kyle suddenly vanished, but nothing seemed to happen to the seryulin.

“Where’s Kyle?” Autumn shouted.

“No idea!” Arrie called back. She didn’t like the way things were shaping up. Autumn and Xu were badly wounded, Osborn’s invisibility seemed to be doing him little good, and she knew that Tolly, Kyle, and Lanara had to be running low on magical power between the morning’s trip to the Shadow plane and this evening’s fight, and now the wizard had vanished entirely. We’re in trouble…

Nearly three hundred yards over their heads, Kyle suddenly appeared, slightly woozy after his dimension door. The first thing he noticed was that there wasn’t a fifteen-foot long slug in the air beside him. It resisted? Cr*p!

The next thing he observed was the fact that he was falling, which wasn’t a huge surprise to him. But the winds from the storm were pushing him laterally in the air, causing him to drift back over the beach. He’d tried to transport the seryulin directly over the head of the surfacing aquatic monster, hoping the impact would kill them both. Obviously, he’d need another plan.

“First things first,” he said to himself. “Which pocket did I put that feather fall scroll in?”

Far below Kyle, the attack continued unabated. Arrie and Tolly concentrated on the seryulin closest to the ship, while Autumn, Xu, and Osborn dealt with the other one. It was now the hin bearing the brunt of the giant slug’s attention, as both Xu and Autumn had been forced to withdraw and heal themselves. “Osborn, come to me!” Autumn shouted, as her healing potion closed her wounds. She then summoned forth her inner power and blasted the seryulin with a beam of white light from her eyes, scorching its side. Osborn decided that this looked like a good tactic, and used his own circlet of blasting while tumbling away from the lashing tentacles.

Lanara, slightly further back from the main combat, decided to try and soften up the new combatant first, as it lunged onto shore and swiped at Osborn with a claw. She recognized the massive beast as a leviathan, and she knew the hin’s invisibility would do him little good against it. She pulled a wand out and blasted the leviathan with a sound burst. The spell seemed to have minimal effect, which frustrated the bard. The only thing that cheered her up was noticing that the leviathan seemed to be reacting to Tolly’s celestial brilliance.

Tolly released a burst of positive energy, healing the wounds of himself, Arrie, and Autumn before returning his attention back to the seryulin. Between the two of them, they rent great gaping holes in the slug’s glistening flesh, until it finally collapsed on the sand, twitching and oozing ichor. From high in the air, Kyle tried to create an illusion of a squad of dolphin riders swimming in to attack the leviathan, but the monstrous creature ignored them. It was impossible to tell whether it was because the beast could sense their unreality, or simply because making a convincing illusion while tumbling in free fall is a difficult task.

Osborn tried to fall back to Autumn as Arrie and Tolly ran up to engage the second seryulin. The loose, wet sand near the water line made it difficult to run, though, and one of the leviathan’s long tentacles whipped out and snared Osborn around the ankle before he could leap clear. The hin was pulled high into the air by the leviathan, who seemed to be bringing him closer to its gaping maw. Xu and Autumn began to rush forward, intent on saving their friend, when suddenly Osborn twisted and slipped out of the tentacle’s grasp, landing with a dull thud on the wet sand.

“Are you all right?” Autumn asked, coming to his side as Xu leapt in and punched the leviathan in the side, momentarily stunning it.

“Fine. Thought I was a goner until I remembered that I had this baby on.” He pointed to the glittering ring on his finger that prevented him from being restrained in any way.**

“Well, let’s back in there and…” Autumn stopped talking suddenly, and her eyes went wide as she looked toward the other side of the battlefield.

Kyle had been plummeting for several seconds, but had held off using his feather fall scroll. The high winds were pushing him away from the battle, and he knew that if he cast it too soon he’d end up in the ocean. He tried to time his spell, but a sudden unexpected downdraft threw off his count, and he was forced to activate the scroll early. But as he drifted to the ground, Kyle noticed he was being pushed across the island just as fast – and straight toward the blade barrier that Tolly had put up at the beginning of the battle. Kyle flailed, and initially thought to dispel the barrier. But he quickly changed his mind, and dispelled his own feather fall instead, falling hard to the ground just a few feet away from the whirling blades.

Once Autumn saw Kyle stand up, she was able to return her attention to the battle. The second seryulin had been killed, and now everyone was concentrating on the leviathan. Xu was leaping in and out, Tolly and Arrie were swinging their weapons hard and fast, and Osborn was slashing with his short sword as fast as he could. Lanara had used a wand to summon a large crocodile that was snapping at the leviathan from the ocean, and was now pelting it with magic missiles from another wand.

Roaring in pain and rage, the leviathan lashed out and wrapped a tentacle around Tolly’s midsection, lifiting him in the air despite his magically increased size. Moments later, the Ardaran had been stuffed into the sea creature’s gullet. Another heavy tentacle battered Osborn in the side of the head, forcing him to pull back to heal, and Arrie was punctured by the leviathan’s teeth. Osborn switched to his sling, hurling glass bullets filled with alchemist’s fire, but Arrie kept slashing with her spiked chain, using it to knock away tentacles as they flew toward her.

Kyle came running up to Autumn, handing her a few potion bottles. “You’re not getting out of your honeymoon that easy,” he said, noting her wounds.

“I could say the same for you,” she replied. “You ready?”

Kyle cast a spell, and a energy lance appeared in his hand. “Let’s go get Tolly back.”

But neither of them had the chance to enter the battle. Bleeding from several wounds, the leviathan decided that it had had enough trouble, and began to slide into the water again. Once submerged, it began to glide away swiftly. Xu backed up a few feet and ran across the sand, leaping into the air just before hitting the high tide line. She sailed through the air, and landed on top of the beast’s rapidly vanishing head. She had cocked her fist back mid-jump, and used the momentum of her landing as she slammed it into the leviathan’s skull. The creature shuddered, and spasmed in the water, though it was obviously still trying to swim out to deep water.

With a grim look on her face, Lanara pointed at the levithan with a wand. “You slimy bastard!” she shouted, “Give us back our cleric!” She shot a quartet of magic missiles at the creature, and as they hit there was a sudden explosion of blood and foam in the ocean, and the leviathan stopped moving. A few moments later, a slime-covered Tolly pulled himself out of the creature’s mouth.

“Are you all right?” Xu called out.

“I’m fine,” he shouted back. “Just go get me Autumn’s axe, please.”

“Why?” Xu asked.

“Because we should have some sort of trophy to present to King Bali when we get back,” he said.

* * *​

It took another hour to get the rest of the villagers on the ship, get the leviathan’s head lashed to the deck, and to sail to Bali’s main island. Once there, the villagers took refuge in mountainside caves, which were already well stocked with provisions. Obviously the procedure for weathering a severe storm was very familiar to the island natives.

The group gathered in the back of one of the caves, cleaning and stowing their gear as they prepared to sleep. Lanara was the last to join the group; she’d been wandering through the tunnels, playing soothing tunes for the children as the storm raged outside.

“I’ve spoken to King Bali,” Tolly said. “He still refuses to act until the scout ship comes back.”

“It’s not like he can do much in this storm anyway, Tolly,” Arrie said. “When does he expect the scouts to return?”

“Another day,” he said. “He apparently isn’t too worried about them navigating the storm.”

“With an elemental-powered craft, probably not,” said Kyle.

“The Seven Kings can take care of their own people, now that they know the danger,” Autumn said. “We need to focus on the rest of Affon.”

“I’ve already issued a sending to the Archprelate,” Tolly said. “He will likely inform those leaders he has close contacts with, such as the heads of the Dwarven Confederates and the heads of the other churches through the Divinity Council.”

“I can contact Herion and warn him,” Arrie said, tapping her wedding ring. “I have a feeling Haxtha might not respond as well to a direct message from us.”

“We need to notify the Peca Provinces as soon as we can,” Tolly said. “The gnome’s naval power will be vital to our defense, and their ships could help the Archipeligans evacuate.”

“I can do that in the morning,” Kyle said. “We met Overgovernor Garlen once, so he may recognize my voice when he hears the sending.”
“Good point. I can warn Maddie back in Vargas, and tell her to prepare for refugees from the Archipelago.”

“Can you send a message to Warchief Keth, too?” Osborn asked. “I want to make sure my clan brothers know.”

“Sure thing, Osborn,” Kyle said.

“And what about Targeth?” Osborn asked.

“They’ll probably sit behind their wall and ignore the whole thing,” Kyle said.

“Probably, but we should warn them, too. You never know. Besides, even if they don’t have troops, they might have useful information in the Tower.”

“Good points. But the shields interfere with magical communication, and we don’t really know anyone in the government anyway.”

“We’ll have to send a physical messenger then,” Tolly said. “Perhaps Maddie can send a rider?”

“If you return me to the mainland, I will go,” said Xu. “I run faster than any horse.”

“True,” said Kyle, “but the government doesn’t know who you are. I doubt you’d get in to see anyone. I think that if anyone should go, it should be Arrie, Tolly or Autumn. Or maybe all three.”

“What about you, Kyle?” Autumn asked.

“I’m going to the libraries in Noxolt,” Kyle said. “We need to learn everything we can about the Tauric Empire. Maybe I can find what would be motivating them to mount this attack.”

“Good idea,” Lanara said. “I can help you.”

“As can I,” Tolly said.

“Don’t forget that we still need to go back to Tishalullé and get our question answered,” Arrie reminded them. “Since we now know what was causing the disturbances in the ocean, we could use that question to find out about the armada.”

“Hold on,” Osborn interjected. “We’re starting to spread ourselves pretty thin here.”

“He’s right,” Lanara said. “I think we’re all too tired and wounded to make good plans.”

“Speaking of which,” Autumn said, “I think we need to take a good look at our healing situation. I know that I had to withdraw from the battle a few times, and so did others. Our first opportunity, we should restock our potions, and invest in some wands. I know I can use a healing wand, and so can Lanara, but we don’t carry them.”

“I’m starting to get more practice in with manipulating magic items, too,” said Osborn. “With time I could manage a wand myself.”

“Right,” said Kyle, “the problem isn’t capability, it’s resources.”

“Well, none of this is happening tonight,” Lanara said with a yawn. “I say we sleep like the dead, then in the morning Tolly and Kyle can pester the heads of state of Affon, and then we’ll figure out who is going where and when.”

The rest of the party agreed, and started to turn in. Tolly, who had healed his wounds and wasn’t quite ready to sleep, decided to take another walk through the caves before bedding down. He was about to head back when he saw King Bali approach him.

“Inquisitor Nightsleaving,” he said in low tones, “May I have a word?”

“Of course,” Tolly said.

“I’m afraid I must ask one more favor of you, Inquisitor,” the king said.

“What is it?”

“Take my daughters with you.”

Tolly blinked, surprised at the request.

“I know you will all be leaving in the morning,” the king said. “You have the capability to leave before the storm breaks, and an obligation to warn others of the armada. And there is little more that you can do here that I and my fellow kings cannot. My sons and I must stay to help our people, and defend them if need be. But if we fall, Lajila and Nidru will be all that’s left of my line.”

Tolly sighed, then nodded. “We will take Lajila and Nidru with us.”

Bali smiled broadly. “Thank you. I am in your debt, and I will find a way to repay you one day.”

As the king left, Tolly wandered over to the mouth of the cave, and stood out in the torrential rain for a moment, looking north.

We need to live through this first, he thought.

---------------------------------------

*Uros is the moon-plane of the god Fiel, god of murder and assassinations. In other words, not a fun place.

** Osborn has forgotten about this ring on more than one occasion, leading to the occasional retcon in the middle of combat. Kind of amusing, really.

 

[Pyske]

Great update, as always.

Getting rough, with the number of encounters in a row. And is Tolly getting himself a couple new cohorts?

 

[Delemental]

Great update, as always.

Getting rough, with the number of encounters in a row. And is Tolly getting himself a couple new cohorts?

Yeah, we were scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of resources. We'd prepped most of our spells and such for the journey to the Shadow Plane and rescuing the spirit, so the leviathan combat caught us a little short in that area. Plus, those Drowned hit hard...

As far as Tolly goes, I will say that yes, he did take the Leadership feat. But Lajila and Nidru are not his cohorts, just a little eye candy for our poor, upstanding Ardaran priest. And he was very upstanding, IYKWIMAITYD.

 

[Bryon_Soulweaver]

Delemental, That's messed up.... Having Tolly be baited like that.

[sblock]Go for it, Tolly. Go for it!![/sblock]

 

[Delemental]

Delemental, That's messed up.... Having Tolly be baited like that.

Heh. He does seem to have a talent for ending up in the company of attractive women. Aranal, Lajila, Nidru... and the trend continues, as you will see.

[sblock]Go for it, Tolly. Go for it!![/sblock]

Hey, I guess he deserves it, since the upstart wizard who deals in forbidden powers snatched away his first girlfriend.

Playing Kyle and Tolly off against each other is always fun. Toned down considerably from where it was, but still fun. Especially since 'where it was' was leading quickly to bloodshed. We talked about it one day, and figured that had Tolly not taken a break from the Legacy in Medos, then he and Kyle probably would have come to blows in Erito's Library.