The first day of their journey back to Waterdeep, Mara was sitting at lunch and eating. She got up to examine a large rock near their landing spot, concentrating on the rock as she ran her hand over it. With the astonished party looking on, she transformed into an earth elemental before their very eyes. She stomped around briefly and waved her arms to see how an earth elemental body moves. She tunneled down into the ground and emerged about 50 ft away, without leaving any disturbance in the soil that would suggest she had done so. Picking up a fallen branch in the creature's massive hands, she easily snapped it in two. When she was finished testing the wildshape, she returned to half-elf form.

"Mara! When did you learn to do that?" gasped Kellen.

"Just now." responded Mara. "As I was praying last night to Mother Moon, she told me she thought I was ready to assume elemental forms. She suggested I try it and see if I could."

"Wow!" Bree squealed in glee. "That is so wonderful! Can you change into other elementals, like fire and water?"

"I don't know. I can't try right now. It takes a lot of my energy to become an elemental, and I have to take a short rest before I try again."

Frostbite looked worried. "Please don't turn into a fire elemental when you're next to me! I don't want to get fried!"

"Okay. I will warn everyone and step back when I transform into an elemental."

"Can you talk as an elemental?" asked Borovik.

Mara thought about it and responded, "I don't know. The creature's mouth was constructed differently than a humanoid's mouth, so I didn't really know how to control it to make sounds. I'll have to practice with it."

Otaaryliakkarnos spoke up, "They do have their own native language, called Terran, and the other elementals have their own native languages. Even if they can't make the necessary sounds to speak Common, the party might be able to learn a few phrases in these languages so you could exchange simple communications with Mara when she's in one of those wildshapes."

"I'm sure some of my scholar friends know the native languages of the elementals," said Borovik. "I will see if we can arrange to get some instruction."

They finished their noon meal and climbed back on Otaaryliakkarnos' back. For the next several hours there was a spirited discussion about what Mara could do in elemental wildshapes.

That evening, when they landed to camp for the night and were settling into the Leomund's Tiny Hut, the rest of the party reflected that they all had felt increases in their power. Their maximum health seemed to be greater, and their available magical energy did, as well. Casters had new spells revealed to them by their deities. Neega realized she now understood how to do the Commune with Nature spell as a ritual, and this could be a real boon when they made land journeys to their various missions.

The second day of their journey, Talis finally worked up the courage to telepathically relate to Ralazrad all that Otaaryliakkarnos had said to her in during the meeting with the metallic dragons.

"Are the white dragons really okay with sharing me with the silver dragons?" she asked.

"Some are unhappy about it, but it's more important for us to ensure your safety than it is to get blinded by our pride and possessiveness," responded Ralazrad. "You are a unique and rare individual. It has been many hundreds of years since we found a humanoid with the ability to telepathically communicate with white dragons."

"Why didn't the silver dragons realize before now that I can communicate telepathically with them, as well?"

"They just weren't looking for anyone like you, whereas we were. They never really expected another one like you to appear. We always had hoped that one would and were able to pick up on your affinity for us. It also may be that your affinity for silver dragons is weaker than for white dragons, which would have made it more difficult for them to notice you."

"Otaaryliakkarnos has also asked me if I would be willing to renounce my devotion of Tiamat and begin to worship Bahamut."

Ralazrad paused briefly before responding, "She told us she was going to ask you that. We are very conflicted about that. On the one hand, we know that your devotion to Tiamat caused a break with your lover and brought you a lot of pain. On the other hand, we fear that Bahamut will try to drive a wedge between you and the white dragons. Remember, it was the white dragons who arranged to pull you and your mother out of poverty. Even the half-elves, your own people, didn't do that for you. We feel a kinship with you and would grieve if you were turned against us."

"I understand," Talis said, tears forming in her eyes. "I don't think any person or even deity could make me hate the white dragons. I sometimes wish Mara and I could turn into white dragons and fly away from all this chaos. Then no one would question my allegiance to you."

"I just thought of something, Talis. It's possible that Severin Silrajin has told Tiamat that you betrayed the plans to summon her to the material plane. She may decide to remove your ability to channel her power and take away your magical abilities as one of her clerics. What will you do then? Is that a price you're willing to pay?"

"If it will allow me to keep Mara, then I am willing to pay it. It frightens me to think of losing the power I have been enjoying for many years. But the power came at a very high price. Maybe eventually I could become a cleric of Bahamut, if he will have me."

"I wish I knew how it will all turn out, Talis. But even a wise ancient dragon such as myself doesn't know everything. I can promise you that several of us will watch out for you as best we can, as long as you don't turn against us."

"Thank you, Ralazrad." Talis formed a mental image of herself as a young white dragon and sent it to Ralazrad. In the image, she bowed lowly before Ralazrad and then nuzzled Ralazrad's neck in affection. Ralazrad responded by sending an image of her nuzzling Talis in return, much as a mother would nuzzle her child. With this image in her mind, Talis slept peacefully that night, despite the doubt and anxiety she was carrying.

They returned to Waterdeep a little before noon on their 4th day of the journey. Otaaryliakkarnos let them off at the Flagon Dragon Inn and said. "I'm going to stash my riding board in my local mini-lair, than come back to the inn as Elia, in my elf form. I will rent a room in the inn so that I can be near enough to keep watch over you and be available to the Council of Waterdeep."

The party dropped off their gear in their rooms and had a noon meal in the tavern. Just as they were finishing up, a courier came up to their table and said that Lady Laeral Silverhand and Lord Dagult Neverember had ordered them to come to the city palace in 2 hours for a debriefing on the meeting with the metallic dragons.

Two hours later the party entered the office of the Open Lord in the City Palace and sat down at a long table with Lady Laeral and Lord Dagult. Laeral began the debriefing.

"Did you get the metallic dragons to agree to become part of our alliance?" she asked.

Borovik, chosen as speaker for the group, responded, "Yes, we did. It was a difficult and stressful negotiation. We had to make some concessions to them that may be distasteful for various Council members."

Laeral's eyebrows went up, "Oh? What kind of concessions?"

Borovik responded, "For one thing, they want King Melandrach to apologize on behalf of all elves for the Dracorage Mythal, a powerful and horrible spell from ancient times that caused dragons to periodically go insane."

"Yes, the Dracorage Mythal would cause them to erupt in violent and destructive behavior, and it was only about 100 years ago that it finally ceased to function. Over the millennia, it has caused the deaths of countless dragons. But no elves now living were around when the spell was cast. Why do the metallic dragons think that elves of today will want to apologize for something they didn't do?"

"They didn't explain their reasoning to me. Perhaps they feel that guilt is passed down from generation to generation. But I suspect that if we can't get that concession from King Melandrach, the metallic dragons will refuse to join our alliance. However they would still work to stop the summoning ritual on their own."

Laeral sighed, "We will send a message to King Melandrach informing him of this requested concession. Where there any other concessions we should know about?"

"They've asked that Connerad Brawnanvil, on behalf of all dwarves, apologize for the Dragonmoots, which the dwarves mounted in the past to hunt down dragons they felt were endangering dwarven communities. And, one of the dragons of their council, Otaaryliakkarnos, whom we know as Elia, wants the dwarves to return the skin of one of her relatives who was slain in a Dragonmoot and whose hide was used to make armor for a dwarven lord of the time."

Dagult buried his head in his hands at this. "Connerad is going to have the same response to this as Melandrach will have for the requested apology from the elves. The Dragonmoots haven't been run for a century, and the many of the dwarves now living never participated in one."

Borovik looked weary. "I understand. But these are the concessions they asked for as a condition of joining the alliance. A further concession they wanted is that any of the dragon masks we recover be turned over to the metallic dragons for safe keeping. They fear that as long as any dragon masks are in the possession of humanoids, there will be too much temptation for greedy, power hungry humanoids to steal them and use them for evil."

"That actually makes sense," said Laeral. "I have no problem giving those accursed items to the metallic dragons, and I don't think the rest of the Council will, either."

"One final concession they asked for was that the metallic dragon council as a whole be given a share of any recovered treasure which is the same size as the other members of the Council of Waterdeep will get," said Borovik.

"What?" shouted Dagult, jumping to his feet and slamming his hand on the table. "We need that treasure to pay for rebuilding the towns devastated by the Cult of the Dragon raids! What do the metallic dragons need it for? To fatten the hoards in their lairs? It sounds like they're asking us for a hefty bribe in exchange for their help!"

"I agree," sighed Borovik. "I would have expected that creatures who claim to be of good alignment to be slightly more altruistic. But those are their terms."

Dagult paced angrily around the room, muttering to himself. Laeral turned to the party and said, "Thank you for reporting on the results of the meeting, and thank you for taking on this task. I knew when we sent you that it was going to be a challenging assignment, and you have performed admirably. You did your part, now it is up to us to do our part."

"Thank you, Lady Silverhand and Lord Neverember, If you have no further questions, we would like to be dismissed to return to our quarters." Borovik responded.

"No more questions. You are free to go."

The party returned to the Flagon Dragon Inn and sat together solemnly in one of their rooms. Elia came in to join them shortly after they returned.

"I have been waiting for you to return," she said. "How did you meeting with the Open Lord of Waterdeep go?'

Borovik looked miserably at her and said, "The only one of the concessions you wanted that she and Lord Neverember thought was reasonable was to let the metallic dragons take possession of any recovered dragon masks. The other 3 concessions are probably going to cause big arguments among the members of the Council of Waterdeep."

Bree, fighting back tears, added "I feel like we failed. We'll never be able to get agreement for these concessions!"

Elia thought for a few minutes, then said, "I have some ideas about favors we can offer to those council members who are likely to have the worst disagreements with our demands. Who are the council members most likely to be upset, and what are the issues they will be upset about?"

Mara spoke up, "King Melandrach will most certainly be upset about the request to deliver an apology for the Dracorage Mythal. And Connerad Brawnanvil will be upset about giving an apology for the Dragonmoots."

"And who is most likely to be upset about the equal share of any treasure recovered from Tiamat's hoard?"

Kellen replied, "All the members of the council will be angry about that, but I suspect that Lady Silverhand and Lord Neverember will be most angry. The Sword Coast has suffered great devastation from the Cult of the Dragon raids. As representatives of the town of Waterdeep and of the Lords' Alliance, they were hoping to use their potion of the treasure to rebuild the destroyed towns."

"I will contact the other members of the metallic dragon council and see if we can come up with some sweeteners for your council members. Maybe that will make them a little more likely to agree to the concessions."

The party felt somewhat reassured by this and rested a little. Later in the evening they went to the tavern and had a meal. Elia joined them and regaled them with many stories about the heroic deeds of the metallic dragons and of wars with the giants. Kellen mentally took notes, because he wanted to use these stories to create new ballads that he could sing to the people.

The next day, the party sold off more of the loot they had been accumulating from their various missions. There were several spell scrolls that Borovok already had in his spellbook, as well as the Insignia of Claws brooch they had looted from the battle with Rezmir, the Black Dragon Wyrmspeaker.

While at the magical supplies shop, Mara purchased spell components for the Greater Restoration spell and Kellen purchased components for the Raise Dead and Teleportation Circle spells. Borovik bought a goodly supply of the expensive inks needed to transcribe spells into his spellbook.

The party returned to the inn around the time of the noon meal. Borovik took his food up to his room, happily spending the next several hours transcribing spells from the scrolls they had looted. Ten hours and 250gp worth of fine ink later he had the Fire Shield and Gaseous Form spells inscribed. By the time he had transcribed these 2 spells, he was exhausted, but went to sleep with a feeling of great satisfaction.

The rest of the party ate a more leisurely meal in the tavern. As they sat at the table, they were approached by a group of 4 people whom they had never seen before. All of them bore either an amulet or a brooch with a silvery head of a dragon in profile against a blue background.

"May we join you?" said one of them. "We have been instructed to talk to the half-elf called Talis Kasterel."

"Umm, yes," stammered Talis. "I am Talis Kasterel."

The man who had spoken to the party smiled and said, "I am pleased to meet you. My name is Benjamin the Righteous. I am a paladin dedicated to the god Bahamut. You may call me Ben.

"Hello, Ben," responded the members of the party.

Ben pointed to a dwarven woman dressed in silvery armor and carrying a mace. "Amber Fireforge is a cleric of Bahamut."

"Next we have Shava Amastacia, a scholarly sort who specializes in the lore of those who dedicate themselves to good, and who practices arcane magic. She is also a devotee of Bahamut."

Shava, a tall elf clothed in a shimmering silvery gown and carrying a staff that glowed with a soft light, smiled at them and made a small bow.

"Finally, Oren Cantonson is another paladin of Bahamut," Ben said, gesturing to a young human man standing next to Shava. Oren smiled shyly and waved at the party.

Ben continued, "We have business to discuss with Talis that is of a private nature. We're fine with her companions being present, but the conversation should take place in your quarters, rather than in the tavern here."

"I'm willing to talk to them if the rest of you are," Talis addressed the rest of the party.

"Just let us finish eating first," griped Neega.

Ben laughed. "Sure."

Around half an hour later they finished their food and went up to their quarters. Knowing that Borovik would not want to be distracted as he transcribed spells into his spellbook, they chose to meet with the Bahamut devotees in the other room.

When they had settled into chairs, Ben began speaking, "One of the seven gold dragons who serve as Bahamut's council visited us and told us that the ancient silver dragon Otaaryliakkarnos had petitioned Bahamut to aid Talis in her transition from being evil to being good. Otaaryliakkarnos desires that Talis would abandon the worship of Tiamat and begin to worship Bahamut. The gold dragon who visited us told us that Talis would have to make the decision on her own to renounce Tiamat and abandon evil. If she made that decision, one of the dragon devotees of Bahamut would begin teaching Talis the precepts that we are expected to live by. Talis would be mentored and also given tests to ensure that she was indeed embracing good."

Talis looked worried, "I currently possess a good deal of magical ability as a result of being a cleric of Tiamat. If I renounce Tiamat, I will lose the ability to draw on her power for my magic. Would I permanently lose my magic?"

"I don't know the answer to that question," said Ben with a frown. "Amber, can you answer that one?"

Amber looked closely at Talis and said, "Bahamut will certainly not take you on as a cleric and let you draw on his power until you have demonstrated a clear devotion to good. Whether you might be allowed to use a small portion of your magic as part of a test is up for speculation. But, at least until you have passed all the tests, you would not be the powerful cleric you now are."

Talis bowed her head and sighed, "I'm willing to give up the worship of Tiamat and receive the training to change my alignment to good. But there is a condition. I must not be separated from Mara. She's the reason I am making this change. My drift into evil is what separated us in the first place, and my desire to remain with her is driving my resolve to leave the evil behind."

The 4 Bahamut devotees all nodded, and Shava spoke up, "We understand this, and will report your decision back to the member of Bahamut's council A guide will be assigned to you shortly and will approach you to begin your training. We will be sure to relay your request never to be separated from Mara to whomever is chosen to be your guide in this journey."

The Bahamut devotees got up, bowed to the party and left the room. When they were gone, Talis clung to Mara and trembled.

"Mara! I'm scared to death! What will I do without my magical powers?" she cried.

Mara held her close and said, "Baby, we will get through it together. I didn't fall in love with because of your magic, and I will stay by your side even if you lose your magic."

The entire party gathered around Talis to comfort and support her. They all affirmed that their friendship with her would not suffer if she was no longer able to call on divine energy for magic.

The next day, Borovik set to the task of inscribing more spells in his spellbook. He looked at the 4 looted scrolls he had left, but 2 of them were higher level spells than he could cast. The 2 with spells he could cast were for Haste and Hold Monster. He chose to inscribe Haste that day and wait until the next day to inscribe Hold Monster.

A few days after the visit by the devotees of Bahamut. Talis received a visit from Otaaryliakkarnos, in her guise as Elia.

"Talis," she said, "Bahamut has assigned me the task of training you in the code of ethics that devotees of Bahamut must adhere to. Justice, nobility, protection, and honor form the basis of the ethic. His followers are expected to be constantly vigilant against evil, to oppose it on all fronts, to protect the weak, to liberate the oppressed and to defend a just order. You will need to embrace all that is good within you and allow it to flourish. You will need to reject all that is evil within you and allow it to wither. Bahamut will not force you to do this. It will have to be on your own initiative.

"Bahamut is not going to completely remove your magical abilities as a cleric, but will only allow you to draw on his power for a small subset of the spells you can cast now. The allowed spells are the ones dealing with curing wounds and injuries. So, Cure Wounds, Healing Word, Mass Healing Word, Mass Cure Wounds and Heal will be allowed, but no others. You will also be allowed to channel Bahamut's divinity to do a Preserve Life action to cure wounds of several creatures at once. You will be allowed to utilize the same amount of magical energy per day as you currently do. I will give you a holy symbol of Bahamut that you may use in place of material components for the spells.

"Any other spells you try to cast will be powered by Tiamat's energy and will void the agreement you have made. Bahamut won't remove your ability to cast your spells with Tiamat's power. He expects you to demonstrate the discipline to refrain from it on your own. This will be your first big test from Bahamut."

Talis grew pale, "So, I can't cast Lesser Restoration, or Protection from Poison, or Remove Curse or Raise Dead? What if I need them to help my friends during a mission?"

"These are some of the temptations to which Bahamut knows you will be subjected. But to pass the test you have to demonstrate that you won't revert to drawing on Tiamat's power for your magic, for any reason."

Would Bahamut allow Talis to use my Staff of Healing?" asked Mara.

"I don't know. I am sure he wouldn't allow her to use her Wand of Winter, even though she can cast spells using it without drawing on Tiamat's power. The spells cast by the Wand of Winter aren't healing spells. I will consult with him about using the Staff of Healing."

Talis suddenly gasped, "The Sending spell! How will I contact my mother, who is now at the Well of Dragons and probably in danger because of my actions?"

"You and I and your party will need to find workarounds for that. Does anyone else in your party know the Sending Spell?"

"Kellen, our bard knows it. Borovik, our wizard, doesn't currently know it, but if we found a scroll for the spell, he could learn it."

"Let's explore those options. They could send messages to your mother on your behalf. We may also be able to work through the telepathic connection you have with white dragons. Some white dragons who oppose the effort to summon Tiamat have infiltrated the summoning site to observe what's going on and feed information to those trying to stop it. They might be able to relay messages to your mother."

Talis nodded her head, but she was miserable. Events in Faerûn were rapidly escalating to a crisis and her ability to affect the outcome had dwindled to almost nothing. Rather than being a help to the party, she felt she had become a drain on their resources. She began to fear that losing the use of most of her spells would cause her to lose Mara's respect. Surely, someone more wonderful would come along and steal the woman she loved.

Mara sensed where Talis' thoughts had gone, and wrapped her arms around her. "Talis, Talis. Don't ever fear that I would leave you over this. After all we've been through to get back together, my love for you is far greater than it ever was before. How could I leave you now? And you won't be a drain on the party, since you can use all your magical energy to heal us. This frees up mine and Kellen's magical energy for other tasks."

Talis leaned into Mara's shoulder and cried. She couldn't do anything else.

The next day they consulted with Kellen and Borovik about the Sending spell. Kellen was happy to cast the spell and relay messages to Talis' mother. Borovik searched through the looted spellbooks he had and found the Sending spell in Azbara Jos' spellbook. He said he would inscribe it into his spellbook and prepare it on days they didn't expect to be in battle.

That very day Kellen sent this message to Talis' mother, "Naomi Kasterel, I am Kellen, one of Talis' comrades. She lost her ability to cast Sending. I will send messages on her behalf."

Naomi replied, "Thank you, Kellen. Tell Talis I love her."

Otaaryliakkarnos took up residence in her mini-lair near Waterdeep. She came on a daily basis to train Talis in the precepts of Bahamut's followers and show her the effects of cruelty and injustice on the populace. Frostbite was by Talis' side for all the instruction sessions. She and Talis talked to the people of Mistshore and Otaaryliakkarnos used the opportunity to remind Talis of what she herself had suffered as a child in poverty. She took Talis to visit Phandalin and other cities ravaged by the Cult of the Dragon raids so she could clearly see that her actions had contributed to the misery of these people, even though she didn't have a direct hand in the raids. She instructed Talis how she could help people in need, even though she could only use a portion of her magical abilities, and how she could even use non-magical means to help people.

Otaaryliakkarnos also consulted with Lady Laeral Silverhand and Lord Dagult Neverember, offering to help protect Waterdeep from any attacks by the Cult of the Dragon. Dagult was initially very suspicious of the offer, since he didn't really trust dragons of any stripe. Laeral was more enthused about the idea, and because she was now the Open Lord, she prevailed. This slightly blunted the anger of the Lords' Alliance about sharing Tiamat's treasure with the metallic dragons, although there was still a clamor to get metallic dragon help in protecting other cities of the Sword Coast. Otaaryliakkarnos promised to try to get other silver dragons to agree to this.

Talis began once again to visit the Mistshore on a daily basis and asked that the inhabitants no longer call her Lady White, but use the name Talis, which was given to her by her mother. Although she could no longer cast Create Food and Water, she could heal wounds the people there sustained. Every time she drew on Bahamut's power to cast a healing spell, she felt her connection to him grow stronger, and her connection to Tiamat grow weaker. Bahamut allowed her to use the Staff of Healing to cast healing spells, but not to cast the Lesser Restoration spell. Mara gave her Staff of Healing to Talis and Talis gave her Wand of Winter to Mara.

On one of Talis' excursions to the Mistshore to provide healing magic, people approached her about re-occupying the derelict ship that had once served as her safe house.

"We want you to be near us. We feel like you are one of us," they said. "The ship has remained unoccupied since you had to leave and is in good condition. There should be sufficient room for the entire party of comrades to stay there."

Talis floated the idea with the party, and they were agreeable. She consulted with Ralazrad and arrangements were made for a patrol of white dragons to guard them against harassment by the Cult of the Dragon. The party moved into the derelict ship and found that it was a quiet respite from the busy inn. There were enough cabins on board that everyone who wanted a private quarter could have it. Mara loved being able to go out for her prayers and see the moon not only up in the sky, but also reflected in the water of the harbor.

One afternoon Mara was sitting on the shore, chatting with some of the residents there. She reached down into the water and a look of deep concentration came over her face.

"I want to try something, but I need for all of you to step back from me while I do," she announced to the gathered people.

They retreated about 10 feet away, and Mara transformed into a water elemental. The crowd shrieked with astonishment and delight. They watched as Mara tested out moving in the water elemental wildshape and practiced making sounds using the elemental's vocal apparatus. She swam about 100 ft from shore, astounded at how fast the elemental could swim. She practiced rising up in a crested wave and crashing down on imaginary enemies. After finishing the trial, she returned to the shore and resumed half-elf form. The people gathered around her and chattered excitedly, peppering her with dozens of questions.

Meanwhile, Kellen and Borovik made sure that Talis was able to keep in contact with Naomi, her mother, and white dragons infiltrating the Well of Dragons were sometimes able to secretly relay messages to her mother that Talis had sent to them telepathically.

Through these avenues of communication, Talis explained to Naomi that she was abandoning the worship of Tiamat and becoming a devotee of Bahamut. As part of this process, she had given up all but her healing spells.

"As an adult you have the right to make the decision for yourself. But tread carefully. You chose a difficult and dangerous path." was Naomi's response

Talis also emphasized to Naomi that she needed to find a way to leave the Well of Dragons, because she was now in danger. Naomi replied that cultists were following her around and watching her, so she hadn't found an opportunity to escape yet.

One night, after Kellen sent a message to Talis' mother, he exclaimed , "Oh, no!"

"What's wrong?" asked Talis, looking alarmed.

"Your mother told me that she has been put into a holding pen with other prisoners destined to be sacrificed for the summoning ritual!"