And thus Celhir's days passed slowly, in endless sorrow. Nobody had ever seen him smile again, until almost exactly a decade after his daughter had disappeared. For on that day a few fishermen found an unconscious young girl lying on the beach in a torn dress, seaweed tangled in her black hair and salt on her skin. She appeared to be a survivor of some disaster…
"Oh, that she was" Rustyn looked up from the book "Umberlee herself summoned her servants to take her there. When she was floating after the ship sunk, clinging desperately to a piece of driftwood, she saw the shark fin approaching, and believed that it was all over for her. Especially when a second, much larger shark fin showed up… but then, incredibly, as the first shark tore into her dress, the second attacked it. Blood sprayed over the little girl as the giant shark fought the other off. He… he wants me all to himself…"
Jyissi stared at her. She still wasn't sure where this was leading. Rustyn spoke in a totally different voice when she was reading from the book than when she was telling the story herself.
"And so, the large shark stared at the little girl. Come, he said to her. How come I can understand you?, she asked, scared and astonished at the same time. Just come, the shark replied. Seaweed bound her to its back as they swam off westwards, Evermeet still several days' journey away. But Umberlee let the girl fall into a dazed, dreamless sleep."
"Who are you?" the fishermen asked the girl when she managed to stand up. But as she opened her eyes, they backed away, only to kneel down before their Countess a few seconds later.
"Excuse me, I fail to see the connection…" Jyissi interrupted Rustyn.
"End of story, then" she closed the book shut with a loud slam, and tucked it back in her bag.
"But…"
"You don't care, either. Off you go, sweet dreams."
Jyissi did not stand up, even as Rustyn went back to her bedroll, holding the bag tight. No ice tears fell from her eyes this time.

"But this… this means… she's a demigod?!" Sand stared stunned at the prioress.
"I did not say that" answered the woman coldly "just think about what I actually said: that she descends from a drop Umberlee let of her holy blood, but doesn't carry the monstruosity."
"She's an ancient creature…"
"No, she's not. She's a newborn. Now leave."
"But…"
"I already told you more than you were entitled to, infidel. Leave."
Sand walked through the wet halls, the drowned growling at him, the eyes of Umberlee's idols flashing. He didn't get much closer to the key.

Despite Rustyn's wish, Jyissi's dreams were anything but sweet that night, when she finally resigned and walked back to her bedroll.
"Let me go!"
"Shut up, you little whore!"
"By Ilmater's sake, Jyissi, Jyissi! Are you all right?" she looked up, terrified, just to see Kelly staring at her worried.
"Just some nightmare" she answered coolly.
"You don't need a blessing? Or something I can help you with?" the nice priestess just wouldn't leave it at that.
"No… thanks."
Rustyn, standing back, looked at her suspiciously. It seemed both of them had their share of secrets hidden somewhere in their dark pasts.

Sand fumed silently as he fished out Volo's Guide to the Mysteries of the Seas from where he had tossed him some time ago – under his bed. Not that he considered Volo less of a fool now, just that maybe – just maybe – this book could give him some clue, a lead to follow. Umberlee created many sea monsters, and also chose some, there were krakens, weresharks, drowned dead, and so on. Sand had spent all his treasures hoping the prioress would tell him something of value – but no. Volo wasn't much help either.

The four adventurers had set up camp once again, this time in the forest, not far from a cave. Arlian helped calm the animals nearby, so they were for sure in for a quiet night.
"Thank you" Kelly smiled at the ranger.
"It was nothing, my dear" he winked.
"Don't call me that!"
"As you wish, darling."
"Oh, just… please…" the priestess blushed deeper with each word.
This useless almost-lovers' quarrel wasn't exactly what Jyissi would listen to for very long, so, rude as that might have been, she interrupted them to say that they should check on that cave next morning, as she had heard noises from inside.
That was true, also. Jyissi snuck up to the entrance to investigate when she thought she heard a faint bang some time before. Low voices, some hammering and maybe the sound of pickaxes against ore was all she could discern. Miners – maybe peaceful, maybe not.
As for Rustyn, she didn't pay attention. Arlian and Kelly could have been making love, as far as she was concerned. There was no room in her frozen heart for love, or so she thought. Apart from her only companion, Falma, of course. Since that day at the seaside, she never lost sight of her bag, and never offered to tell Jyissi more of the story that weighed so heavily on her soul.

"All right… Jyissi, did you say you heard miners from inside here?"
"I suppose so" the svirfneblin shrugged at the ranger's question "I'm not sure."
With Jyissi sneaking in the lead, the party carefully made their way inside.
"These footprints…" Arlian knelt down "they appear to be dwarven."
"Uh-huh… dwarven miners. I'm not sure if we should be invading thei mine, though… well, I'll say we mean them no harm and…" but Kelly was interrupted as an angry duergar stepped in front of them.
"What are you doing in our mine?!"
Jyissi's stare darkened suddenly, and, before anyone could utter another word, she jumped at the duergar and killed him with a single slash of her short sword and her sickle.
"What… was that?" Kelly stared at her stunned.
"I hate duergar, is that enough?!"
"But… oh."
Come to think of it, they had fought Underdark creatures before. Though Jyissi seemed eager to kill drow and mind flayers as well, no monster had ever suscitated such a violent reaction from her. Last time they had faced several illithid along with a single duergar – and the psyche-controlling monsters could throw spells or try to charm her, the svirfneblin paid attention to them only after she had killed the gray dwarf – and in a most gruesome way, too.
This was not time to ask questions or talk, anyway, as more attacking duergar surfaced from the caves.
Arlian, Kelly and Rustyn stayed, fighting one enemy at the time, when Jyissi had already disappeared, cutting and slashing, dark fire burning in her eyes as she swiftly proceeded through the tunnels.
"Don't get overwhelmed, you… you… ah, whatever!" Rustyn left the ranger and the priestess to follow Jyissi.
She felt some kind of connection – not that she was worried about her, she would never say so. Rustyn would have rather said she would have been upset if Jyissi got killed due to her own stupidity.

But the svirfneblin was already far ahead, leaving dead duergar everywhere to mark her trail. She must have been very close to the end of the caves, maybe to the duergar leader himself…
"Isn't it you!" she suddenly froze, then turned sharply to the side.
A massive duergar was standing there, leaning on his ornate warhammer; obviously the head of this group of miners.
"Do we know each other?" Jyissi threw her head back in defiance.
"You should be dead."
"Your men are weak, they would have never defeated me. Let's end this now!"
"You should have been dead, down there in the Underdark where we left you!"
Jyissi's weapons fell to the ground with a clang as the duergar leader grabbed both her wrists, overpowering her.
No!
Jyissi struggled with the thought of this particular duergar catching up with her. She would not have recognized any of them from those horrible hours, but he seemed to recognize her without a doubt.
"How far have you come…"
"Let me go!" Jyissi's voice was weakening.
"I now see it's you without a doubt… I'm glad we didn't choose to carve your shiny little eyes out…"
"No…" her voice was not more than a whisper as she was pinned to the ground.
From the corner of her eye, she saw some sparkle. Maybe it was Shaundakul coming for her; she knew she wouldn't survive if she had to relive her ordeal, the memory of which she suppressed every day in order to keep herself going.
"Leave her alone!"
Rustyn must have casted Bull's strength, for she stood there firmly as she pulled the duergar off Jyissi with just one hand and lifted him up in the air, holding him by the throat.
"Drown" she commanded.
Jyissi just stared, as the duergar began to choke for no apparent reason, then his eyes emptied.
"Done. You okay?"
Jyissi blinked. Did Rustyn just spontaneously save her? But it wasn't only that. For a split second the elf's shadow on the wall seemed to assume a different shape… was her mind playing tricks on her?
Rustyn just kept on examining Jyissi, the look of frozen horror on the svirfneblin's face not yet fading away.
Then, a slight surprise in her voice, the elf said something out of place.
"Your eyes are green."