Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh
Episode 22
As they swam through the underwater city, Rev took a closer look at the buildings, if you could really call them that. They weren't exactly built, but instead, it seemed as if they had been grown into their current forms by some sort of will or magic. Perhaps the sea elves shaped rocks into the forms they wished, then encouraged the coral to grow over it. Rev couldn't really say. Her father used to speak about elves on land bending nature so that they could live in harmony with all around them instead of sacrifice. It seemed the sea elves had a similar philosophy, and it manifested in a strange and beautiful way beneath the surface of the water.
They swam through a large arching stone, grown shaggy with various types of sea grasses and weeds. The foliage fanned and waved in the water as the turtle swam through and ducked beneath a large bulb of coral without any holes or windows.
The sea turtle nodded to them, leaving them within the room. Triton nodded back, letting out a high-pitched sound through the water. Borassos came to rest on an outcropping of rock that looked as if it should have been a floor, if they weren't floating a few feet above it. More seaweed and groomed clusters of glowing plants attached to the rocks along the walls and ceiling. There were no other openings in this room, except for the hole in the submerged floor, and a set of double doors almost hidden through the waving seaweed.
A sea elf with a broad chest swam closer, wearing bone armor similar to Triton's old breastplate, and short green hair braided into tight spikes. He gave them a flashing smile and swam around Triton in a clear greeting as he used some sort of bone harpoon to push himself off the walls or flip himself upside down as he conversed with Triton. Rev could make no sense of the sounds they were making in water, but they were clearly friends. At times they seemed to laugh, at others, the guard would playfully swipe the water in front of Triton or prod him with the butt of his harpoon. He jabbed the weapon twice, sharply upward, and a bubble formed at the top of the chamber. Slowly it grew bigger, and Rev swam over to Borassos, standing on the rock platform. As the bubble grew, Rev floated up and popped her head into the bubble. Suddenly it felt like she was at the surface instead of in the bubble, and the perspective made it feel as if the water were draining out of the room, instead of the bubble growing to fill it.
She descended with the water until her feet hit rough sea stone. Ruanea pressed her hands to her skirts, attempting to force them down as water dripped from her short, copper-tipped hair. She looked a little like a wet cat, and Rev tried desperately not to laugh at her discomfort. Borassos just seemed glad that gravity had returned to something they were used to as the level of the water reached equilibrium with the rock at their feet, leaving them in the chamber with a diving hole behind them.
"My name is Aqualus, and I am here to present you to King Neptune of the sea-elf kingdom," he had a sort of lilting accent that drew out his syllables and softened his hard consonants into a musical way of speaking. "I would tell you the name, but it is in our dialect. Just know that it means Glorious Kingdom. Tri-ton, why don't you introduce me to your friends." His smile was truly infectious, bright in his blue face, unaffected, and broad.
Elgoth was the first to speak. "My name is Elgoth Mistwalker," he said as he seemed to pull his brooding air around him like a cloak. To be fair, his dripping wet coat and soaked hair did make him seem even more steeped in misery than usual.
"El-goth Mistwalker," Aqualus greeted, leaning on his harpoon, like he wasn't completely used to the full pull of gravity. "It is a pleasure to see a good surface elf in the king-dom. It has been a long time. You had a long swim."
Rev wasn't entirely sure she would call Elgoth a good surface elf.
Aqualus continued. "Not used to the water, I can see."
"Hey now, let him be," Triton interjected, taking on the lilting manner of speech. It was strange, this new accent coming from him. Rev raised her eyebrows in surprise. "These surface crea-tures, they do not often have the chance to swim deep."
Aqualus laughed. "Yes, let him be."
"I was trapped on an island for twenty years," Elgoth lamented. "I have had enough water for my time."
"Oh," Aqualus' eyes went wide. "I know of that island. I do not envy you. That is not a place I would wish to tread."
"You are telling me," Triton agreed. "We have spent some time there recently. Ha, never again. Allow me to introduce Rev, and Borassos."
Aqualus' arms went wide as he turned to her. "Rev and Borassos!" his voice boomed in the chamber as he looked her over. Rev became very aware that her white shirt was now clinging to her arms and chest above her leather corset. Her pants plastered against her legs, outlining their silhouette. Surprisingly this didn't bother her, and she rather enjoyed Aqualus' appreciative gaze. She tilted her hip, then smiled at the bombastic sea elf. He held out a hand, and she gave him hers. He didn't kiss it, instead lifted it slightly in what must have been a sea elf greeting. "It is my pleasure."
"Rev Blackwind," she said. "I am glad to meet a friend of Triton's."
"You are part elf, or so I understand," he said with a glimmer of mischief in his expression.
"Half," Rev said coyly.
"Of course, I could see it in your cute little ears." He winked and Rev laughed. "We are about to go through into this next chamber, the surface chamber, then the king is setting a feast for you. We will eat, and it will be wonderful. Perhaps you can save me a seat." His voice dropped a pitch. "That would be great."
"I look forward to it," Rev said, and while Aqualus had lifted her spirit, her voice took on a dark edge before she could help it. Oh yes, a royal feast would be perfect for her plans.
Elgoth leaned closer to her. "You like men with gills?" he asked.
Was he jealous? Rev blinked innocently at him.
"I am much better looking than this one, I can assure you," Aqualus said as he pointed to Triton. Rev considered it. Actually, they made quite a striking and colorful pair, with the lean muscles and wide shoulders of swimmers, and the underlying beauty of elven features. Together they probably carved a wide swath through the sea elf ladies. Though she couldn't imagine Triton ever being as flirtatious as his friend.
"Oh, take that back, man," Triton protested. "You wouldn't last five seconds on the surface."
"I would not go to the surface for five seconds," Aqualus stated. "I am far too smart for that."
Triton looked at them all. "I must apologize," he said this with his very proper high-elf accent that they were all used to. "You all have been looking at me strangely hearing me speak in my native dialect. When I am away on missions, I find this trained dialect much more effective when speaking common at the surface, as surface dwellers have some trouble understanding us when we use the undersea dialect. All warriors and diplomats are trained to speak as I am now, but as you can see, at court, the king prefers if we speak this traditionally sea-elf way."
"Triton, you sound so weird," Aqualus teased.
He immediately fell back into the sea elf manner of speaking. "Ah, tell me about it. It takes so long to kick the habit. But once you get the hang of it, it's not so bad."
"Perhaps we should all speak in our common tongue of the elves," Elgoth said. "My accent, too, can be sometimes difficult for others to understand."
"If you wish to speak in elf, I would love to hear it," Aqualus encouraged. "But understand that my elf sounds a lot like this."
They all broke out in laughter.
"I think we should require Triton to speak like this all the time," Rev suggested. "I rather enjoy it."
"Amongst friends, perhaps," Triton suggested. "But other times I need clear and concise communication. That is what we are after."
"You know that is what the king always says," Aqualus agreed. "Crisp and clean. That is how the king likes it."
"Crisp and clean," Triton agreed as if this were some private joke between them.
"And Borassos! Finally we have a human with a good name! Humans are usually named things like Steve." His lilting speech dropped like a rock on the name, and he made a face. "Or Joe. It's good to see a man named, Bor-aws-oooohs."
"You really haven't been to the surface much," Elgoth commented. "Have you seen some of the names?"
Triton waved to Ruanea who was wringing out her skirts, and Merantha, who was doing the same with her hair. "And this is Ruanea and Merantha."
"Another pretty elf," Aqualus nodded appreciatively.
"You got that right, man," Triton agreed. Rev smiled, slightly surprised that Triton would admit Ruanea was pretty. Ruanea only scowled. She dropped her sopping skirts and raised one eyebrow at Triton's friend, sparing an icy, sidelong glance for Triton. Rev knew that look. Ruanea was not amused.
"You have no chance with her," Rev warned. "I'm sorry."
Aqualus threw his arms wide. "Ah, I smell a challenge!"
Triton must have picked up on Ruanea's irritation, because he waved his hands and a warm air blew through the chamber, drying them almost instantly. It was a good thing, too, because Ruanea looked as if she were about to shoot shards of ice out of her eyes at the sea elves. Once dry, she took a deep breath, and her normally inscrutable expression returned. At least Rev felt a little more certain Ruanea wouldn't start a diplomatic incident with their watery cousins.
"This is some fine magic," Aqualus declared. "You will only find such magic in the sea-elf kingdom."
"The only place you get warm air is under the sea?" Elgoth questioned.
"That's right," Aqualus smiled proudly again. "The sea elf kingdom is the only place you will find warm air, under the sea."
Elgoth shrugged. "I can't argue that logic."
Rev pulled her boots and hat out of her bag and pulled them on. They were also dry which was a relief. The sharp rocks, not worn by wind or wave, were hurting her bare feet.
"Come my friends!" Aqualus announced as he threw open the double doors behind him. Water dripped on them from the limp seaweed hanging over the doorway like a curtain. They stepped into a large hall, that had clearly been designed as an air chamber. A throne shaped from purple coral stood at the far end. Crowds of sea elves in beautiful finery filled the chamber, though the layers of clothing probably looked even more impressive when floating around the elves as they swam. There was an order to the crowd. The guards lined the walls, with advisors flanking the king, and small groups of dignitaries clustered together. The importance of the people in the court seemed defined by their proximity to the back of the room where the king sat on his throne. Aqualus led them right up the middle.
"King Neptune, let me present to you Agent Triton, and his surface friends!" Aqualus's voice boomed through the chamber. "Mr. Elgoth Mistwalker, Mr. Borassos, Miss Rev Blackwind, and the lovely Ruanea and Merantha."
"It is very good to see you, my friends. Come, come, closer Agent Triton." The king was a large elf with extra-long braids that reached his waist. He wore a crown of polished coral inlaid with gold and pearls. His somewhat round face resembled Aqualus. They shared a similar wide smile, and Rev wondered if the younger elf might have some royal blood-lines. The king didn't show his age in his face so much as the scars he bore. He must have seen countless years of battle against the sahuagin, and perhaps a shark or two.
Aqualus approached and as he reached the throne, he bent on one knee in a strange sort of genuflect. It appeared awkward, but perhaps that was only because it was a gesture that was meant to be made while floating, a knifing of the body in an elegant pike.
Rev being diplomatic, offered her own pirate form of a bowing curtsey, a hand gesture that reflected the removal of one's hat followed by the downward swish of an imaginary sword to honor the beginning of a duel.
Merantha leaned over to Triton and whispered. "Your king is a good-looking man."
"If you tell him that, you will make yourself a friend," Triton whispered back.
Elgoth shifted awkwardly on his feet.
"Triton and Aqualus, your genuflect is respectful. For your friends. It is unnecessary. You are not my subjects, after all."
"It is no difficulty for us to show you respect, great king," Rev offered.
"I like this one," the king said, sweeping his hand toward Rev while leaning over toward his advisors. "She is strong with her words. You need to watch out. Aqualus will get his eyeball on you."
"My liege," Triton said. "It is true of my friend, Rev. She is very strong-willed. I have disturbing news. The sahuagin, they have returned. And they are after the shards. There are strange things afoot in Saltmarsh. There is also a baby kraken about, that is linked to my friend Elgoth… and we have a box." Triton stumbled a bit on his words, clearly flustered and unable to convey the enormity of everything they had experienced.
"Triton, if I may," Rev said striding forward and lifting herself into a posture for a stage. She let her voice project through the chamber as she peered around searching for bards. Sure enough, a trio of sea elves, adorned with fancy ornaments, and holding strange instruments, peered at her with interest and whispered to one another. "The tale we have to tell is one filled with secrets, danger, and treachery. If it would please your majesty, I would be glad to tell it." As she came to the center of the room, she felt all eyes on her, and the noise in the chamber fell to a hushed whisper. It couldn't possibly have been the case, but it felt as if the glowing plants dimmed, except for the one directly above her. Rev figured Milo had sailed away assuming she would one day come for him with her blades. But Rev knew Milo's greatest pride was exactly that, pride. He loved to be admired and well-thought-of. There was a time to use the blade, and a time to use the bard. Let her revenge begin.
Triton seemed relieved. "My king, I will give you my full report, but perhaps this tale is best told by a bard," Gesturing to her as he faded back toward the wall.
"I would be delighted!" The king said, clapping his hands together. "Sing us your tale, bard."
Rev remembered countless nights aboard the Blackwind hearing her father's voice as it soared over the deck. He would move across the ship with gestures to emphasize the emotion and drama of his tale. In performing this strange dance of words, he would entrance them until they could feel the chill of fear in their blood at a tale of danger, even though they were safe. The thrill of victory coursed in their veins at the mention of heroic deeds, or the agony of grief during a tale of sadness would break them all, until the most hardened of sailors had to dry their eyes.
She took a deep breath and felt the magic of her father fill her as she began their tale, beginning with the warm and sunny days on the Northwind, and the comradery they shared at the Sundowners that turned them into the beginning of a family. Rev spared no detail in the tale, emphasizing loyalty through danger as she told of how they broke up the smuggling ring, freed Triton from his captivity and degradation, parlayed with the Lizardfolk and discovered the sahuagin threat. She told of hearing of the attack on the Northwind, and dread they felt as they worried that their beloved friends were in the grips of a ruthless goblin pirate.
Through her tale, she emphasized their bravery in protecting the crew of the Sea Ghost. Braving the attacks from ghost ships, giant squid, sahuagin, and the terrible storm, she told of how they sacrificed themselves to make the crew safe, taking moments to describe each of the crew with enough detail that anyone who heard the tale would recognize them even if they changed their names. She noted that not a single one of her crew had come under any harm, though her own blood had stained the deck multiple times to protect them.
She portrayed the danger infiltrating Brimstone, and how no one else dared attempt to rescue Milo or Callie. As she reached the moment where they found Callie, lifeless and broken, with her husband wailing for death beside her, several members of the court openly wept.
Rev kept the bards in the corner of her eye and noticed them taking notes as they listened to her tale. They took turns listening and writing so they could record every word. Though her body conveyed the weight of the grief she still felt for Callie, knowing the bards were heeding her story lit a fire in her heart. She told the king that the reason that their friends were captured and tortured was because Callie knew of a magical shard, and it was this shard that the goblin pirate, and the sahuagin were after.
Rev was careful not to reveal anything about the secret council in Saltmarsh, instead saying merely that Milo promised to take them to the island where the shard was hidden so that they could secure the shard from the sahuagin. That way Callie's death would not be in vain.
At the moment of the tale where Milo left them for dead on the desert island, Rev had to wait for the shocked gasps and angry murmurs to die down before continuing. Some of the guards gripped their harpoons tighter.
She then conveyed each of the horrors they faced on the island with dramatic aplomb, showing the court how easily they all could have died in their attempt to secure the shard and escape the island. If they had met such a fate, the shard would have fallen into dangerous hands, surely, endangering them all. She told of Triton falling to the quaggoths, and her selfless act, risking herself to save him. Finally, they found a magic ship, and set off on the sea once more.
"And instead of returning to our people," Rev said dramatically with a sweeping bow toward the king. "We came directly here to your great kingdom to give you these tidings."
The court remained silent and motionless for several moments, as if the tale were too much, and they needed time to absorb everything Rev had just made them feel deep into their hearts.
While her audience was still raw from the story, Rev pulled out her tin pipe and played the heartbreaking melody she had been composing on the island. Then she sang.
It was a song of a woman who clung desperately to life in the midst of terrible pain until the moment that she knew her beloved was made safe. Only then did she cross over to the golden shores, and now she waits for him there, desperate to see him again.
But on the day that he finally crosses over to the other side, and runs across the golden sands to meet her, she walks right past him because she cannot recognize him anymore. He is no longer the man that she once loved. And so, she waits forever for her love to return, though he never will.
It is Callie's Lament.
The hall was no longer silent but filled with the beautiful grief. One bard was already fiddling with chords on his instrument, attempting to recreate her song while another had collapsed on his friend's shoulder, shaking with sobs.
Slowly as the tide of emotion pulled out of the room and the lights brightened, the chamber filled with a sharp clattering sound as the sea elves knocked rocks against the walls or floor in an oceanic form of applause.
Pride filled her. She was her father's daughter. Now all she had to do was repeat this performance in every pub of every port on all the Sea of Steam and the entire Sword Coast until the whales sang it from the depths of the oceans, and the birds trilled it in the air. There would be no escape from it, and no mercy.
Rev turned her attention to the king, who had his hand in a small bowl of water, where he lovingly stroked a small orange octopus. It reached tentacles up around his hand in a comforting way. "After such a tale, we should replenish ourselves and feast!" the king announced. "Agent Triton, I will expect a more formal report, but it never hurts to use some flair in telling a tale."
"Yes sir, I will have my written report immediately," Triton said, "Truly though it was a marvelous telling. I will inform you though, of the political situation in Saltmarsh. There is more going on than it appears."
"Well let's begin this feast, so I can tell you what I have learned in your absence, my friends." The king rose and the crowds parted. He led the way back into the first chamber, only now it had been transformed. A long banquet table had been placed inside of it with a vast spread of ocean delicacies. Heaps of food had been arranged on beds of golden sea kelp, resting on fine plates flanked by shining silver utensils. Few of the plates actually matched. It created an elegant effect of loose artistry that suited the affable, undersea elves. Perhaps the pieces were salvaged from shipwrecks throughout the Sea of Steam. Stealing sunken treasures made the sea elves seem a little more like pirates, and Rev decided she liked these people very much.
They followed Aqualus, and Rev had to admit that she rather liked following Aqualus purely for the view, until they took their places around the table for what was clearly a formal royal dinner. The king took his place at the head of the table, and suddenly the room was filled with laughter and conversation. It was hard to believe that the reserved and collected Triton, came from these joyful and boisterous people.
"As you can see, we do our very best to accommodate persons of surface interests," the king declared proudly. Rev looked down the table at the hungry sea elves. How did they have a formal dinner normally? Did the food just float around? Or swim around? "As you can see, everything you have here is home grown. The clams are from my personal bed. The kelp is grown in the royal gardens. And you will find…"
The king paused as Elgoth hungrily dug into the food with his bare hands. The king waved as a servant took away his small octopus. "You must try the calamari."
"How much of this buffet are friends of yours?" Elgoth asked Triton.
"If I were to sit down, Elgoth, in your surface king-dom," the king interjected, "And you were to give me a hamburger, would I then be right to ask you the name of the cow?"
Rev laughed so suddenly she nearly sent wine through her nose.
"But I cannot speak to my food as Triton can," Elgoth said.
"Do they not have druids on this surface?" The king turned to Triton.
"My friend here, his powers do not derive from the natural world," Triton explained. "He is more of a mental man, with the arcane arts."
The king nodded wisely. "I can see very well that he is a mental man."
Just when Rev dared to take another drink, she almost laughed again.
"I have spent many years in quiet contemplation and study, this is true," Elgoth admitted, without noticing her amusement at the conversation.
"That is very much respectable, and I honor you for it," the king offered, kindly. "Come Borassos, how does one named Borassos with such a flairish name come from a human such as yourself, with the walrus hairs." He motioned at his own face, tracing the shape of Borassos' moustache.
Borassos looked like an animal caught in a trap as the whole court turned to give him attention. He didn't respond, and instead took several long drinks of the wine.
"Merantha! Try the wine!" He winked at her. "As you know, Agent Triton is one of the better people that I send to the surface for me. But I have hundreds of agents that I send to the surface. Many of them have returned to me, each with their own tales. I have my ministers take all this information and gather it together to get the bigger picture."
"I am at your service, my liege." Triton bowed his head.
"What I can tell you is that your story validates much of what has been told to me. It is coming together into a large picture that is very troubling. As you well know, years ago, we were attacked by the sahuagin. First they came in the t'ousands, then they came in the hundreds, then they came in the dozens. And as we beat them back, they kept coming, the hundreds, and the dozens, until it was only a few stragglers. In this way we knew we must be defeating them.
"Then finally the waves were only a few paltry individuals. The sahuagin literally threw themselves at our door until at last, every last one of them was dead. We honored them for the terrible tragedy they created in killing themselves at our doorstep. But we were always very confused about why they would do this."
"It is very alarming behavior indeed," Elgoth admitted.
"It was very not tactical, was it?" The king nodded to him.
"Perhaps something even more terrible was driving them forth." Elgoth looked contemplative.
"That is what we thought as well," the king said, then took a drink of his wine. Rev didn't suppose they got to drink wine very often while under the water. "I sent agents far and wide for years to discover just that mystery. But not only did we find that there was nothing that was driving them. We found nothing left of them at all. We concluded as anyone might, that they were all dead. That is what we shared with the people of this reef, so they can sleep well in their kelp beds at night."
"But we now know that the sahuagin have returned," Ruanea stated. She had arranged all the food very carefully into separate sections on her plate.
"What we have discovered about the sahuagin, is that they are lying low. They attacked us to distract us perhaps, but they are planning something. That is how we learned about the shards. And that is where you surface dwellers come in. The sahuagin have discovered that there is a way to open a portal to another dimension filled with terrible beings. These beings will kill many on the surface, and under the water as well."
"I have already seen such things," Elgoth admitted.
"My friend Elgoth has a history with a cult that tried to open the portal, The Twisted Rune." Triton glanced over toward Elgoth.
Rev gazed at him over the rim of her wine. "That's how he got his scars," she said in a soft voice.
"The Twisted Rune," the king looked a bit surprised. "I have heard of the Twisted Rune, and I am surprised to hear you speak of it now. For the thing I am about to ask you to do, calls greatly up on the Twisted Rune's tale. You have a shard in this box, do you not?"
"We believe so," Rev confirmed.
"But you cannot open this box." The king nodded, as if he were thinking about how everything was connected. "Is there a magic spell cast upon the lock that you cannot open it? And perhaps you need something special?"
"We believe we need the blood of a kraken to open the box," Rev admitted. "Although, it seems to me, that if the sahuagin are seeking these shards, it would be unwise to open this box. It would be best to keep it locked and hidden."
"I can tell you now," the king declared. "I do not want you to open this box in this kingdom. Once you open that box and the shard is exposed to the world, the sahuagin will be attracted to it."
"We have already had some trouble with that," Rev admitted.
"It is true," Triton interjected. "They can only detect it at close range, but they had a crystal that lit up, then turned black as it neared the box."
"Through the box even," the king looked surprised, then he rubbed his jaw. "A crystal that follows the shard." The king motioned to some officials that had been taking notes of their conversation. "Well, I will tell you that there are seven shards that we know of. There are three that make way along the southern coast. We have agents trailing the man who has them. There are two that make across the water. We have one with us, and there is one more shard, the location I do not know, yet.
"But, that brings us to the Twisted Rune. There is an island not too far from here and the Twisted Rune have an abbey. It has been neglected for very long. There are clerics there who claim the same mission as the Twisted Rune once did two decades ago. I do not know that they are the same, but their message is similar enough that they do not appear far apart. Now the clerics of this abbey are trading with pirates. My agent, you'll know her as your superior officer, Major Ursa, has discovered this island and observed that there has recently been some battle there. The abbey has burned. We believe the pirates that the abbey once traded with turned on them, perhaps in some ugly deal. We do not know the exact details. But I can tell you that that box leads to that island, and you'll find the kraken you seek on the island in that abbey with the clerics."
"I still don't understand why we should open this box," Rev said.
"You should definitely not open that box!" The king's voice rose. "We do not want anybody to open that box."
"Then why should we seek out the kraken?" Rev looked at the others. Elgoth seemed a bit torn.
"This kraken in the abbey," the king explained. "It was taken from the other portal on that other island, that you once lived on. I understand you were there?"
Elgoth looked uncomfortable. "I was."
"And that thing did not like to be disturbed?" The king's eyes grew wide. "And perhaps it killed everyone?"
"It apparently left me with a task, to look after the creature." Elgoth placed his glass of wine on the table.
"The babay kraken," the king nodded sagely. "The mother kraken told you to look after the baby, and what you think you do if you fail?"
"I die," Elgoth admitted sadly.
The king nodded again. "So, that box needs to not be opened, but that baby kraken cannot stay where it is. It is a danger to us all. It must be returned to its mother."
"My liege, is this what you would have me do?" Triton asked.
"Return the baby to its mother, that will make it right before the mother grows angry and kills us all." The king tipped an oyster shell into his mouth. "And I would have the shards protected. There is one shard left to find. I have an agent working on that. You keep safe that box," he said to Rev.
"I don't want anything to do with this box," Rev protested. "And I especially don't want to bring a box that can only be opened with a kraken, near a kraken. That seems foolish to me."
"You may leave the shard here with us," he said. "But I do not want that box opened in my kingdom."
"That seems fair to me," Rev stated, pushing the box containing the shard across the table. "Logically speaking, if we do not want a portal to dimensions terrible open, then our best course of action is to keep the shards, or anything that can reveal the shards, as far away from any other shards as possible. If this shard is a burden the sea elves are willing to bear, I will gladly leave it here."
"My liege," Triton said. "Is this your wish?"
"My wish is for you to return the baby kraken to its mamma before she grows angry and kills us all. The shards I wish to be protected," he declared. "I would rather it not be in my kingdom, but I think there is wisdom in what Rev has said." The king rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"My recommendation is that it not remain with us," Triton advised. "We shall face danger and we do not want it to fall in the wrong hands. I believe the shard will be safest here."
The king nodded to his guards, and they took the box away, followed by some sort of magistrate. "Very well. Borassos, do you have a thought?"
Again, the entire table turned to Borassos. He slowly peered around at everyone. "No," he said quietly.
"He is the strong and silent type," Triton mentioned.
The king pressed on. "You have something of a cleric about you. Do you have a problem with going to the abbey and confronting other clerics?"
"No," Borassos mumbled.
"Okay then, it is settled." The king leaned over toward a sea elf woman as the warrior whispered something in his ear. "I am sorry. We would very much like for you to spend the night in the sea elf kingdom and for you to write your report, however, there is new smoke rising from the abbey. It was attacked just this morning. I do not want to send my soldiers from under the water when we have such grand adventurers here as relayed by your own bard, Rev. It would be a great service for you to go to the surface, find the baby kraken in the abbey, and return it to its mother so that you may fulfill your duties."
"My friends," Triton turned to them. "It would be good for me to continue to adventure with you. My task is not yet done until we are safe again."
"I fear that opening the rift to return these creatures to each other will seal all our dooms. You have not seen what this thing can do." Elgoth paled beneath his scars as his eyes looked distant.
"At least this time we are returning the baby, instead of stealing it." Rev stated rather blandly.
"I fear it will not matter, but we must not leave such a dangerous creature in this world." Elgoth said. Rev agreed with him. This was a very dangerous task that would bring them back to the heart of that cursed island. But hopefully in the end, if they were successful, Elgoth would be free. Elgoth shook his head as if staring at his own gallows.
"It is settled then," King Neptune proclaimed. "You six, and Major Ursa, the seventh one. You shall go up! You know how I like things done, agent Triton. Crisp and Clean, ah, ah, ah! So, go now upon my signal. Seven up!"