Chapter Eighty-seven

Understanding

It was a few hours before Marnalore came back to escort us back to the council's chamber. All five of the elders were seated, but Aleena stood as we entered the chamber. "Yes? You have summoned us again? What can we do for you? I must apologize. Because of the promptness of our previous encounter and the quickness of it, we did not introduce everyone on the council formally to you."

Zilidath, Aleena, and Edwin introduced themselves again, the female human introduced herself as Zeldana Fye, and the male tiefling introduced himself as Galexo Magnus. Aleena asked again what they could do, and Melima deferred to me. "We've been discussing our plans— we have a few more questions, if you'd be willing to answer."

"Absolutely," Aleena said. "Anything you would like to ask. We are more than willing to be open and share. As much as is possible to share."

Things were already going better than last time. "We appreciate that. And, I personally feel like we got off on the wrong foot as well, and that there may have been some miscommunication. And I was wondering if you would be open to me casting a zone of truth in this room so we both know that each other is answering honestly."

Aleena looked around at the other members of the council, then back at me with a troubled look. "We of the council, of our own accord, will not lie about anything. There are things that are of sacred nature that we may not choose to share, but we will not outright lie to any of you. We understand some of your predicament that your group is looking for the Stones, and that you are in need of them. To what extent, we do not know, which is one of the reasons why we as a council have decided that this task would help prove—in a way—that your intentions are of a positive nature."

She raised her arms and slid her hands out of her robes, her left hand in a white glove. A flat white Stone was set in the back of the glove, and it was faintly glowing.

"Aleena," Melima said, "thank you, first off, for meeting with us again. We understand that our request is an odd one, but it is imperative that we build utmost trust in our confidants because the mission that we are tasked with is of utmost importance and has the ability to transform the world as we know it. And the good.

"But we don't know your alignment. We don't know where your heart lies, where your alliances lie in this future endeavor that we are pursuing. So, yes, we do trust you, and we do trust that a glowing and incredible economic and powerful community and city as yours would only be providing the fruits that they are planted in, which are good. So, you can quell those fears immediately by explaining to us where your alignment is. What your intentions would be if you were to have the power of all the Stones."

Aleena nodded. "Thank you for your openness and honestness in this matter. As you can see," she held up her gloved hand, "I have been the Stone's guardian for over four-thousand years. I am only one of three guardians since it was created. And our task, and our job as guardians is to keep it safe so that it may not be used to unleash what it can do.

"You may not understand fully as I understand, that the Stone's power not only has the power to stop the gods and the creations. It has the power to create the Divine Gate, but at the same time, it also has the power to destroy it. If left in the wrong hands, could unleash all of the good and bad deities upon this land."

She put her hand down. "The reason why we ask this task of you, is one, to prove your strength, but also to prove whether you are willing to put yourself in danger to get it."

She looked at her hand again. "Obviously, at least one of you is a guardian of one of the other Stones."

Ari'yasa took her Stone out of her locket and showed it to the council. It was glowing slightly brighter than when we first found the Earth Stone. Aleena motioned to her with her other hand. "You are one of the guardians. Would you give it up if someone came to you—who you did not know—asking for it?"

"Hmm... Not until they proved themselves."

"Exactly. And it would go— and I am guessing your hesitancy to complete this task is partially because that you are a guardian, and you do not wish the Stone lost to time. Am I correct?"

"That is correct," Ari'yasa said.

I nodded as well, pulling out my Stone. "Correct."

"If you still wish to complete this task, but keep it safe..." Aleena paused, giving me a nod with a somewhat surprised look. My Stone was also glowing brighter than it had been. Neither of ours were as bright as Aleena's white Stone, but it probably had more to do with the color than anything else.

Aleena continued, "...if you would be willing, we do have—and I would trust anyone in this room—to guard and protect the Stones, if you would be willing to— want to leave them in our care, we would of the utmost be able to hold them and return them. I, as a guardian, cannot hold all three Stones myself. But if you want to keep them safe and not have them go within the Water Elemental Plane, you are welcome to keep them here. I trust all who are within this chamber, and I trust nearly anyone within this city.

"As you may have noticed, there are no doors in this city. There are no locks. There is only one place that is guarded within this city, and it is for the reason that—though you may not have noticed it—you are many fathoms below the ocean's surface. The city was brought here at the end— just as the Arcanum Focatum was done, I and some other druids plunged the city that was here, on the edge of the cliff above, down into the depths. And we put in security, and things available, so that only those we trusted would stay within the city. And everyone who is within the city has been—and has proven—their trust. We work together as a city. It is secret because it is sacred, because it is the anchor to the Water Elemental Plane.

"So, if you still wish to be able to go to the Water Elemental Plane, and wish to keep them safe, you have that option to leave them here. I will not force you to leave them, but you do have that option."

"Thank you," Melima said.

"It makes me extremely nervous," Ari'yasa said, "but I suppose I can't ask you to give yours and not be willing to do the same."

"Exactly. So... there is much danger—potential danger—in going. Normally, going and retrieving the lodestones in and of itself is a simple task, but is a dangerous one if the conditions are not correct. The last few groups that have gone, just because we do not know the motions of the kraken and its movements, can be dangerous at times. The reason why we ask of three stones to be brought is the last three times that we have sent out parties to go retrieve the stones, they have been unsuccessful, and we have lost many a good man and woman to the task and are now at short supply of the lodestones."

"So, do you have anyone who has recently—" Melima started. "So, you said three times. Three times you have sent parties to try and retrieve the lodestones, in the last however long you've needed them. Is there anyone still alive that can share their experience with retrieving the lodestones, the kraken's movements, the experience, that we could be versed with?"

"The movements of the kraken are highly unknown and somewhat erratic. The beast is very intelligent, but to study it is so dangerous that the majority of successful parties go in under stealth—as much as possible—to retrieve a stone and return as quickly as possible. The last person who was successful in retrieving it, you have actually met before— Marnalore, the guard who met you at the city entrance, has retrieved one stone on a previous occasion. Those who have retrieved it before," she said, nodding towards the dragonborn. "Zilidath, your troops, your trained specialists to retrieve the stones, what—if any—have they had interactions with the kraken?"

Zilidath stood. "Well, mostly those who have any interaction with the kraken, one— either die, or two— they begin to hear voices in their heads. We believe the kraken has a telepathic ability of sorts. Though it cannot speak, per se, it has the ability to project its thoughts into others' minds if need be. If it's able to project its thoughts into your mind, you are in grave danger, because it knows where you are."

The dragonborn sat back down. Aleena continued, "if you do wish to speak to Marnalore after we are done here, we are more than welcome to retrieve her for you, and you can ask whatever questions you wish. She and some of her other team have been able to retrieve a few stones on occasion. But she was the last one to retrieve a stone for us successfully."

"How big are the stones?" I asked.

Aleena nodded to Edwin, who made a motion, causing a stone to appear between us and the council. It was a little wider than my shoulders, round, and lumpy. It looked like a huge piece of dung.

"And we need three of those?" Sephra asked. "Those suckers are huge!"

"Hence why we usually only retrieve them one at a time," Aleena said. "But we are in need. The lodestones we currently have are close to being depleted, and if we do not get them soon, the city may begin to collapse upon itself."

"What is the stealthiest way to go?" Melima asked. "How do you be stealthy in water? You can still move while invisible..."

"On the rare occasion that— Many. many years ago, I was one of those that went and retrieved a stone. I have not done it in much time because I am a guardian and I do not wish the Stone to be lost. But when I did, if you have the ability to either swim quietly or if you feel like it may not be in your favor to swim, just walking along the bottom.

"The stones can be found all around the entrance, but depending on where the kraken has been, they may be farther away. As far as we know, there are no stones that are close, within just a few feet of the portal, but I would imagine there are some within your party who can use magics enough to locate where those objects are if you know of them."

Jörgen pointed to himself, and Aleena nodded. "It is up to you how you wish to move in the water. I would suggest staying closer to the ground, as the lodestones sit on the Elemental Sea floor. But it is not unheard of to just swim, rather than walk along the bottom. If you swim, you might be slightly faster than just walking stealthily. Moving through water does cause you to be a lot slower than you normally would. It's up to you and how you wish to proceed with the task. If you wish to discuss more with Marnalore, and see how she retrieved the last one, you are more than welcome to ask her. So, are there any other..."

"To locate the items," Melima said, "did you use any form of arcana? Did you use any form of shapeshifting animal that can pick up these types of things? What was the game plan? What worked? What didn't work? What seemed to attract the kraken? What deterred it, if at all?"

"As far as we know," Aleena said, motioning to Zilidath again, "there are no deterrents that keep the kraken away. Other than being as stealthy as possible and not letting it know you are there. But as far as being able to find it, as I said, I'm sure there are members within your party who through magical means can locate an object. That is an excellent use of the magics, to be able to do that, and since there is a limited time to be able to do that, it is probably in your favor to be able to cast those spells."

"So, arcana is a viable option as not," Melima said. "I mean, it's probably better, is what you're saying. So, there's no reason to believe that it would be better for us not to use it."

"Anything that can aid you in locating the lodestones quicker, will be in your favor."

"Okay, thank you. I appreciate that clarification."

"Is it better to not all be in one area?" I asked. "Or is it better to stay together?"

"That is entirely up to you, though we find that those that split up have a higher chance that sound may be heard and awaken the kraken. When you are together, you can help each other to stay quiet and avoid obstacles. The Elemental Ocean floor is not flat. It is not just sand. There are rocks, terrain, and there are some vegetation and other creatures that do live in the Elemental Plane, it is not devoid of life. So, it is probably better use of your time to stick together, locate them quickly, and then return."

"I like that plan!" Jörgen said.

"And if you have the magics that we believe you do, it may be of more import to be able to locate each one quickly. Because there is the option that you could retrieve them one at a time, and return with them one at a time and make several expeditions.

"The discussion about the Stone itself will not be discussed until all three have been retrieved. You being down there, obviously each time would need time to recover before you return, that your bodies may recover from the intense pressure that happens. Obviously, the more times you enter the Elemental Plane, the more chance you have..." She paused. "That may be something else you want to know and understand. The portal to the Elemental Plane is always open and nearly invisible. When you pass the portal to the Elemental Plane, the portal itself does emit some light as you exit the portal. So, if there are magics that you have to keep yourself shadowed, or other things, it may be in your power to help reduce the amount of possibility of the kraken noticing you. If the kraken is out and about at the time, it will be what it will be. If it is sleeping in its lair, you will have a longer time to be able to search. But as I said before, we do not know the movements of the kraken.

"What type of classification does the kraken have?" I asked.

"It is classified as a monstrosity."

We had no further questions for the council, so we were excused. We found Marnalore just outside the hallway to the portal and Jörgen asked her what she did when she last got a lodestone. Her face turned contemplative, almost sad. "Yes, I was the last one to get a single lodestone. When I went, I had my mariner's armor and I swam out about one-thousand feet to the left of the portal and quickly searched the area and luckily found a stone. I then shifted into the form of a whale and carried it in my mouth back to the portal. I was alone and did my best to stay silent the entire time. I literally just guessed for the direction to find the stone. They are found all over, but by the time we go they are usually buried quite a bit."

We thanked her and returned to our dwelling. The day was about over, and we needed to get as much of a good night's rest for the next day as we could. The depths awaited us.