==Roll Call==
Childe Raymonde, Githyanki Paladin (Doty)
Bell, Kenku Cleric (CJ)
Blynce, Human-hybrid Fighter (Eric)
Vaal, Eladrin Rogue (Tim)
Bumi, Goblin Sorcerer (Matt)
To the Sanctuary of Albahith, Jigow Township
Greetings to the Masters of the Pilgrims, and hail to The Luxon:
Mission Report from Childe Raymonde (Part 11)
We were one of the two groups selected for the final contest of the Festival of Merit!
The other group was the group led by Ayo Jabe (the blue water genassi, a Ranger and native to Jigow) -- that is, Maggie (an Ogre martial type), Irvan (Human rogue), Dermot (Ayo's childhood friend and also a native of Jigow, a goblin Luxon cleric), Galsariad (Drow magic-user). This was the group we had gone out drinking with last night. We were certain they would do their best to win the prize -- just as they were certain we would do the same.
Come the morrow, we approached the staging area on the Pier Island. We saw the Black Islands lying in the middle of the river. A cave in one of the islands leads to the Emerald Grotto, a twisting network of underground caves, and that is where the target gem was secreted. The town elders were at the starting line, presiding over the contest.
We (us and our competitors) were given one potion of water breathing each. A medal was in the deepest part of the grotto. Return it to the pier to win the contest!
Our rivals, swimming quickly, managed to enter the cavern just ahead of us, but we were not too far behind. The first chamber was filled by thick stalks of kelp, but we could still see well enough to figure out which direction to go. In fact, we could see that Maggie was blocking a southern passage, while waving to us to go to the eastern passage, which branched off from the tunnel. She made it clear she would not allow us to go the southern way. Rather than waste time dealing with her, we acquiesced and proceed to the east way. Maggie and Bumi engaged in a little inappropriate flirting.
We entered a larger chamber filled with bioluminescent algae, giving a soft blue glow. There was a suspicious patch of bone-white seagrass, but time was of the essence, so we proceeded apace.
It occured to me that the algae could be a light source if we wanted. Again, this was a race, so we proceeded. Agh! I got stuck in the grass. It stung me sorely! My comrades managed to avoid the trap and the race continued. Bell freed me but managed to get stuck himself briefly.
We entered another chamber which was partly above water, so it was like there was a bubble filling the upper part of the chamber. The east wall was collapsing, and Bumi accelerated the collapse. A secret nook was uncovered, and Blynce found a spell-scroll of thunderwave!
The tunnel continued northerly now, and seemed like it would come to a dead end, but no, the passage continued, narrow and deepening. We saw a school of tiny fish, gleaming silver. The passage widened where the fish were, and then continued east. Bumi, not liking the look of the fish, increased their density to pin them. I was concerned that we had had no sign of our rivals. Were they way ahead of us?
The fish, quippers as it turned out, still had enough strength to attack Val as he swam past, and nibbled on him. Blynce wiped out a number of them. Bell destroyed the rest with a Guiding Bolt spell. We continued the race into yet another chamber, the deepest yet. The water was warmer and a soft light suffused the area, coming from a crevice in the south wall. A current in the water pulled us weakly towards it. Shark! An amulet hung from a rope around the shark's neck, and glowing runes decorated its side. This was our target.
Vaal cast Slow on the shark, making it sluggish. Bell emfeebled it, making it even worse. The rest of us hacked away at it as its attacks mostly failed. Bumi failed to purloin the amulet from around the shark's neck. Vaal went into unconsciousness from shark chomps. We continued to damage the shark. Blynce severly wounded it, and the shark tried to get away, but our attacks of opportunity finished it off. We restored Vaal to consciousness and took the amulet, our seal of victory!
Of course, our rivals showed up at that very moment. Ayo spoke to us, wondering where Bumi had gone (he had taken the amulet and cast invisibility on himself). My comrades bluffed that the shark ate him. Bumi tried to escape to the south -- we could see there was a vertical tunnel leading to the surface there.
Bumi found at the top of the tunnel a dry area with a pillar, on top of which was a glowing pendant of some sort, completely unlike the prize amulet we took from the shark.
Vaal kept up the bluff, exhorting all of us to open the shark's mouth to "retrieve Bumi's corpse."
As Bumi lifted the amulet, we all saw a vision of a Human man in tattered armor and a shield. With a melancholic expression, he pleaded "I am imprisoned. Help me! I am Alixion, and I beg you to free me. … Thank the gods, bless the Moon Weaver. Go to the other shrines where I prayed, to the Change-Bringer in the heart of the Evil One's temple, Bazzoxan, to the Archheart in the ruins of the jungle city." We suddenly realized we had all lapsed into unconsciousness, Bumi included.
Bumi remembered the name Alixion -- a figure of legend from the Calamity and the Last Battle. Bazzoxan, about a fortnight's journey away, is a place watched by the Kryn Dynasty, because fiendish beings tend to come from there. Elsewhere, on the continent of Marquette, the desert now was once a jungle, and in the heart of that was a city. Maybe that was the city mentioned in the reference to an "Archheart."
Bumi staggered back down the tunnel, to the shock of our rivals. We pled losing interest in the contest and began to swim back. Our rivals focused on the shark's corpse, believing our bluff that it was inside the thing.
At the pier, Bumi pulled out the amulet and we claimed the victory, to the great cheering of the crowd. The town leaders admitted to setting up the shark to be a challenge for us. Our rivals showed up, and were disconcerted to find that we had won the contest.
We were handed a bag of 100gp and a night in the Unbroken Tusk inn for free, and of course the honor of being champions of the Festival of Merit.
The thing that Bumi took from the glowing chamber … according you, my Masters, it appeared to be the Jewel of Three Prayers, one of the Vestiges of Divergence, a dormant relic of some sort, and of no small historical importance! In ancient times, Alixion wore this as a symbol of his consecration to three deities. You told me that it was up to me (and, by extension, my comrades) to determine how to "awaken" it.
What shall we do next?
(We are now 4th level!)