Chapter Eighty-four

On the Ocean Floor

I passed the surface of the water, but didn't feel any impact. It was dark all around me and my fall suddenly slowed. It grew darker and darker. I looked around me, it looked like I was in water, but as I moved my arm around, it felt dry.

I fell into what looked like a bubble, where the rest of my friends were waiting. The ground slowly came up to meet me, a soft sand floor greeting my feet, and all was still. There were thin towers of stone built around the bubble, holding torches lit with glowing blue-white crystals. A couple of guards stood sentry a little ways away from us, at the edge of the bubble.

Far in the distance on the seafloor, lights were twinkling. Looking up, I could only notice the faintest hint of light. We were down deep.

Sephra was hyperventilating, nearly crying. Melima was yelling at Jörgen, who was trying to poke her in the eye with his ethereal hand. I tried to break it up. We didn't want to give the guards the wrong impression.

A solitary figure in a cloak walked through a tunnel of small bubbles towards the larger bubble we had landed in. It appeared to be a half-elf with a blue tint to her skin. Her clothes were pretty fine, but she also wore slick, leathery armor. She had a small medallion on her forehead, which was held on by a band that went under her dark purple hair beneath her cloak's hood. She had a longsword at her side and carried a thin staff with a crystal hovering a few fingers above the top. She moved swiftly, yet confidently.

I asked Melima and Ari'yasa to do the talking. I'd jump in where needed. Melima stepped forward and bowed as the cloaked woman entered the bubble. "M'lady, good day. I am Princess Melima Moonfeather of the High Elven Kingdom. I come with my entourage of adventurers and colleagues, and I believe you have received word of our coming. Is that correct?"

The half-elf nodded in acknowledgment. "I am Marnalore of the Blackwater Guard— Captain of the Blackwater Guard here in Vessrah. You are expected. Please follow me closely and we will make our way into the city."

'Thank you very much," I said.

We followed her out of the bubble into the tunnel. The ground changed from sand to something harder, but not rock. I guessed that it was coral. Sure enough, the farther we walked, coral started growing up and around the tunnel.

Coming around a bend, a city was sprawled before our eyes. It looked like a tub of soap bubbles. Lights flickered within some of the bubbles, others were lit with a more consistent glow. Some of the bubbles were very large. They seemed like they all connected together somehow.

We walked into a large bubble that had a seating area. It had a shrine to a deity that I didn't recognize. We continued down towards the city, and I watched the area around us as we did. There was just enough light to see out a little ways. I forced myself not to duck as something swam over us. It was uncannily like the creature that had chased me down while flying in the underdark— Massive wings—or in this case, fins—long barbed tail, generally looking like a sheet.

Marnalore was unconcerned by any of the sea life passing by, whether overhead or swimming next to us. I half-expected something to try to penetrate the bubbles, but nothing did. It was all quite fascinating to watch, actually. Schools of fish swimming in clusters, an occasional eel, and the strange sheetlike creatures. Every now and then, something huge would swim far above us, blocking out what little light was filtering from the surface. Possibly a whale? I was surprised at how active the area was.

We finally reached the first of the bubbles in the city. A building on the inside was structured with coral and stone, there didn't seem to be any wood around. The larger bubbles converged over an archway that created a passway between them. There were bubbles that seemed to be houses, shops, and other buildings you'd see in any other city. I was in awe, it was unlike anything I'd ever dreamed. It was a pretty diverse city. Elves of both types, dwarves, humans, half-elves, and gnomes.

The first area we passed through was a marketplace. Odd trinkets, things constructed out of undersea materials, others that sold undersea creatures prepared as food. The next area was housing, and the next seemed to be community areas, places for gathering or worship.

There wasn't a straight path Marnalore led us through, but we rather wove through the city. One large bubble, probably in the center of the city, had six large statues carved out of a harder stone than anything else. They were all of different races.

There were seven different ways to leave that bubble, and we were led to the left. Down another path was another larger archway that had a large presence of guards, which we hadn't really seen in the city otherwise. They also wore the same strange armor. They guarded a building built of both coral and stone. There were between ten and fifteen guards, guarding the largest building in that direction.

We passed through an area where food was gathered and prepared. There were a few platforms where people could walk right up to the barrier of the bubbles, jumping out into the open ocean. We finally arrived at a dwelling. Marnalore invited us in. "If you don't mind, this will be your dwelling for the time that you are here. It has been provided per the requests that were given earlier that were brought to us. It would be most advantageous for you to stay here.

"You are welcome to wander the city, but please mind the guard. If they advise you to stay away from certain areas or to— be understanding to the people here. Most people know each other. It's a very close-knit community. Not many people come and go, as you might guess with how you entered. So we would ask that you not interfere too much. And also, anything that you see and or find in this city, please leave it. And please take the knowledge with you and do not share it."

"Of course," I said with a bow.

"So, we can't go to the shops and buy stuff?" Melima asked.

"Well, of course," Marnalore said. "You can meander the city, see the wares that are here, but when returning to the surface for whatever business you have, we would ask that you do not mention the location of the city. And I'm sure the headmaster of the city will explain everything when he meets with you tomorrow. His schedule is very busy today. But if you need anything, find one of the Black Guard and tell them to ask for the captain, and I can assist you in any way that you need. As far as my power directs. So, if there is nothing else, you can enter."

There were no doors on any of the buildings, and they were all curved. Sometimes the coral would penetrate the barrier, growing live beyond the bubbles. The ground below us was usually silty sand, but sometimes would change to rock. Even below the water, they had found a way to live in harmony with the environment around them. The lighting in the city was mostly provided by crystals built into the coral.

There were several rooms in our dwelling. There weren't quite beds, but obvious places to rest in each room. There were blankets and pillows made out of a unique material. It didn't look very soft—more like it would be coarse and firm—but reaching down to touch it, it was one of the softest fabrics I'd ever felt.

We all wanted to explore the city— it was unlike anything we'd ever seen. I was super curious as to what they ate. I hadn't spent a lot of time on the coast, but I was sure that whatever they ate here was going to be much different from anything I'd had before.

I kept my eye out for a tavern or restaurant as we wandered back the way we came, but couldn't find one. Whenever I asked someone, they didn't understand what I was asking for. I saw vendors that had food for sale that would need preparation, but I didn't know what types of things they ate in general, let alone how to prepare them. It was getting a bit frustrating.

I finally started asking my question in a different way— where could I get food? I finally found someone who could point me in the right direction. "You're new to the city, obviously. If you just go right over there..." He pointed in the direction that we entered the city from. "You probably saw as you came in, one of the larger buildings. Go inside there and you can find food and something to eat, if you need it."

Melima, Ari'yasa, and I headed that direction. The building was one that I thought was a communal area more for gathering, but there were tables and benches made of stone. Rather than a bar with someone serving behind it, there were large basins set into the bar, holding all sorts of different dishes. There were plates and simple cutlery on one side of the basins.

The person who seemed to be in charge greeted us. "Just go on ahead in. Find what you'd like, find a place to sit and eat. You're welcome to have whatever you would like. The only thing we ask is that if you decide you do not want to eat it, that you place it into one of these bins here because everything is reused and is able to be used for something else if you decide not to consume it."

There were multiple types of seafood— shrimp, squid, fish, underwater plants, as well as a few vegetables I was used to. Some of it was cooked, some of it was served cold or raw. Some food was tender, some was rather chewy, some was slimy. There were spice combinations I'd never had before, while other dishes didn't seem to be seasoned at all.

It was odd not to be paying for anything, but it seemed like that was the norm. I never saw anyone counting out coins. It also seemed that no one in the city was in any type of rush. Even coming into the city with Marnalore, she'd been moving at a pace I'd found painfully slow, almost a glide.

The three of us went separate ways to explore. The city probably had around a thousand to two-thousand people in it, much more than I'd expected. Every now and then I thought I saw a high elf with ears pointed back, or a wood elf with ears pointed up, like mine. Did high elves and wood elves marry each other down here?

It was easier to see the ocean above while inside the larger domes. Large whales swam above, and every now and then I'd hear one calling. Once, I thought I saw a huge squid dart by. I saw fish and anemones, but one creature I was surprised I didn't see was sharks.

I saw some tieflings walking around, then a few drow, which gave me pause. This people was very accepting. My heart skipped a beat as I turned one corner, a creature with black and silver scales and a tail was walking directly in front of me. It wore no shoes, but had large, clawed feet. It had hands though, otherwise built the same as any other humanoid. This must have been one of the race that Elora had been searching out— a dragonborn. She did say that they lived on Grenmar.

The people were cordial and would greet me as I walked by. I'd pick out pieces of conversations as I wandered around, both hearing and reading lips. It was all casual conversation— checking on how others were doing, asking about their day, compliments on complexion, and the like. There wasn't anything too interesting talked about.

I walked through an area where there were forges, which had smokestacks that released into the water. They seemed to be a popular place for sea creatures to congregate. I heard metal clanging, but it was more muted than I was used to hearing from shops. I poked my head into a couple of shops. They had beautiful work with a metal that I was not familiar with. That's probably why it sounded different.

I returned to the large central bubble with the statues. There was an elf, a dwarf, a human, a gnome, a tiefling, and another dragonborn without a tail. I read the plaques beneath each one. They all were noted as people who at some point had guarded the portal to the Elemental Plane of Water.

I asked someone about the heavily guarded hallway. I was told that was where the elemental portal was, which was what I had been wondering. It wasn't somewhere open to the public, but there probably wasn't much reason to visit it anyway.

In general, there was a manufacturing area, a training area, an arcane ward, a religious district, and a marketplace. Off of each area there were dwelling bubbles. It seemed they spread them throughout the city.

I noted what weapons the guards were carrying. I mostly saw swords, pikes, and many of the ones guarding the portal carried tridents and shields. A few had crossbows or hand crossbows. That's what I figured, bows probably wouldn't work well in the water.

I asked a guard about their armor. I wasn't sure if it would be a welcome question, but he was happy enough to answer. It was specially made for the Black Guard to move through the water with camouflage, which I thought was a great idea. It wasn't common for armor to blend in. It also gave them some protection against the elements and helped them swim faster. It was created from the hide of a long deep-sea creature and covered most of their body. Like most of the other people in the city, they didn't wear shoes.

The elders' meeting chambers were near the portal, as were their residences. The city was governed by those that were the eldest members of the community in some kind of council.

I asked a gnome I found around where the platforms to the ocean were about the sea life in the area and how they interacted with it. Most of the creatures around the city were deep-sea creatures. We must have been deeper underwater than I'd thought. I looked up again, I realized that the light I was seeing above was actually reflected back from the city itself. Looking straight up past the light, it looked like a starless night.

Most of the sea life was harmless, though he warned me of some smaller fish with bright coloring that were poisonous and would inflict pain if touched. Most of the larger, more dangerous creatures were kept at bay by the guards, who also helped catch the fish they used for food.

I pulled out my Stone when I got back to our dwelling. It was no longer glowing. That was interesting, it must have had to be near the other Stone in order to glow.

Sephra was in her Drow form when we all got back. She and Ari'yasa had gone to a bathhouse with some natural springs after Sephra had a frustrating and fruitless search in the library.

Jörgen came back with a trident, and Melima insisted on knowing where he got it, she wanted to go shopping too. She came back with an underwater crossbow and harpoons for me. She also had a potion to help someone be resistant to cold. She wanted Ari'yasa to be ready to cast her spell to help us breathe underwater when we met with the headmaster the next morning as well.