Forum > The Official Amber DRPG, Erick Wujcik, and Lords of Olympus Forum
Campaign - Thralls of Prophecy
Jarrod Stanek:
Kailani Journal Entry #5
Note to self: never start your day by visiting a prophetess. There are much better ways to spend a morning; sparring, breakfast, even reading a book. Never the less, visiting Selene in Delphi was where we ended up. Maeve, Artemis and I decided it would be a good idea to check and see if there was any new information regarding her prophecy. The good news was that Brand’s pattern was in fact the first of the three disasters we were tasked with stopping. So far so good! Selene then confirmed that the Tritons were our second task. I can’t say I’m upset about having to go after them after what they did to my home and family. Our third task then appeared in Selene’s mirror in the form of a creepy silhouette and all Selene had to offer as an explanation was “from beneath he devours.” Very ominous, but not really helpful at the moment.
The three of us Trumped to Rebma. We found Llewella in the library and informed her of what we had learned. She told us she would think on the situation and asked that we stay around for dinner. Normally I would have tried to find a reason... any reason to avoid having dinner with my mother, but for some odd reason I’ve been more comfortable around her since she became queen. Not that I want to go out of my way to spend time with her, but she doesn’t seem to get my hackles up the way she used to.
Scylla and Vaughn joined us at dinner, Oswald was also there guarding the queen. After dinner was finished, Llewella turned to the three of us and tasked us with searching for more information regarding the Tritons, like where to find them. I had already done a fair amount of research on this subject; I shared what I knew and suggested we start by searching for the Labyrinth. Vaughn then said that he had a ship that would probably be helpful on our search and that he would show it to us in the morning. I was pretty excited by this; it had been quite a while since I’d been sailing (I really should make a point of doing that more often).
We met Vaughn for breakfast aboard his flagship, the Intrepid. We all chatted pleasantly for a while before Vaughn turned to me and bravely... or stupidly, brought up a touchy subject. He commented that I always seemed to be “up tight” around my mother and that it bothered him. Damn! I guess, if I honestly think about it, the whole “feeling more comfortable” around Llewella was probably more of a sense of duty and respect for my queen then any mother/daughter bonding. As I said, this was a touchy subject, so I diplomatically told him to mind his own business. Maeve jumped in then and started asking questions, to which Vaughn gave no answers. This did give me time to cool my temper a bit though, and I asked him why it mattered so much to him. Turns out that Vaughn had some issues with one of his parents and he was never able to reconcile with them before they died. Maeve jumped back in with more unanswered questions, giving me time to chew on what he had said. I sat there with a strange pit in my stomach and a vision of Vaughn expressing his regrets to me in the Corridor of Mirrors. Suddenly I wasn’t very hungry anymore.
I was pulled from my silent musings by Vaughn getting up from the table to take us to the ship he had promised. A 50’ catamaran sat waiting for us, and Vaughn listed off all the bells and whistles she came with like a proud papa. I was thoroughly impressed, the Waverider is truly a thing of beauty and I hope we get the chance to sail together again. We left Vaughn and settled in before hammering out a plan to optimize our travel time; which involved Maeve and I taking turns shifting Shadow and Artemis and I teaching Maeve how to sail.
We had been sailing for a few days when a violent storm suddenly rose up around us. Dense fog rolled in with flashes of lighting streaking low over the water. The ocean surged beneath us and the wind swirled wildly. I reached out to calm the wind a bit, and at the same time the ship came to a jarring halt. Looking over the rail I half expected to see us run aground on a sandbar, what I didn’t expect was the mass of weeds that had snared us. Maeve shouted out that she saw a black ship ahead, but when I turned to look but it had already slipped away through the fog.
With a sudden shock, my Elementalism stopped working... it was just gone. The wind gusted with renewed vigor and the ship lurched wildly. I managed to cling to the rail, but I saw Artemis get pitched over the side and disappear below the weeds. Before I could move to help him, the boom swung around and smashed into the side of Maeve’s head (did we not cover ducking at any point during her training?). She crumpled to the deck where she lay, unmoving. I was able to revive her, but she still seemed pretty dazed. Now to find Artemis. But as I turned to start searching, he flew up out of the weeds and back onto the ship, streams of water pouring off of his wings.
And then it was done. The wind died off, the waves quelled, and the fog dissipated. Catching our breath, we took stock of our situation. Other than Maeve’s goose egg, no one was seriously injured. We each tried our various magics and came up short; no Pattern, no Logrus. Maeve still seemed able to use her spells and I could use Elementalism and Glamour, though it was extremely difficult. Also, Anya was going nuts and completely trashing Maeve’s quarters. She managed to contain her, but Anya now seemed to be nothing more than a wild animal.
The only thing we could figure to do at this point was to pick a direction and sail on, hoping that at some point we would be able to start shifting Shadow again. We hadn’t gone far when Artemis pointed out a ship coming toward us. They didn’t seem threatening, but we all were on edge anyway. The ship approached and they waived to us, throwing out ropes so we could lash our vessels together. They were strange, elf-like people that spoke to us in a language I didn’t recognize. I looked to the others, but they didn’t seem to understand either. In a stroke of genius, I asked if they happened to speak Thari, and they did! Everyone seemed shocked. Honestly, I was too, but I tried not to show it.
Our new acquaintances informed us that we were now stuck in this place along with many others who had found themselves in the same situation over the last thousand years. They led us back to their home, which was a barge surrounded by a dozen or so vessels that all seemed to come from different eras and worlds. Aboard the barge, we were greeted by someone who spoke another language I didn’t recognize and Maeve had to translate for me. We got the grand tour and ended up in what I would call the mess hall. Hundreds of people milled around, eating, drinking and talking. A dull fire kindled in the pit of my stomach as my eyes fell on a Triton sitting in the far corner of the room chatting amiably with a handful of men.
Maeve suggested that we try chatting with some of the others to get their stories and see if we could figure out a plan. She thought it was a good idea to start with the Triton, and I agreed. Getting closer to the him sounded like a great idea. My feelings must have been pretty clear on my face because Maeve leaned over and whispered for me not to kill him. Take on a full Triton by myself in a crowded room full of people he was apparently friends with? Obviously I was not going to do that... at least I don’t think I would have. Either way, it was sound advice.
Maeve spoke pleasantly with the Triton while I mainly ground my teeth. His name was Karhu and he said that he had been out swimming when he was caught up in the same type of storm we had experienced and ended up here. He then offered up a history of his people saying that Tritons and Rebmans used to live together in Rebma back in the days of King Lir. This apparently lasted until King Oberon decided that Moins was worth starting a war for. Lir was killed and Moire became queen. She then banished the Tritons, who fled to the Labyrinth where Karhu himself was born and raised. My anger dimmed slightly as his story ended. He had never set foot in Rebma and had nothing to do with the recent attack. I didn’t have to like him, but I had no reason to actually hate him.
The three of us talked over everything we had learned about this place and it seemed like the black freighter was our best bet at getting answers, and hopefully a way out. We agreed to ask the other stranded crews if they would join us in going after it, and I was pleased that most agreed to come. We left first thing the next morning with our little armada spread out around us. Not knowing where to start, we picked a random direction and set out like we knew what we were doing. After about half a day, we saw the storm rising up ahead of us. Artemis offered to fly out and see what he could of the freighter and Maeve turned him invisible just to be safe. After a short time, Artemis reported back that he could see no one on the deck, and that he was only able to detect one presence on board. Maeve and I decided that the three of us should board the freighter and go for stealth rather than brute force. We passed a message on to the other ships to maintain course, hoping they would serve as a distraction and thus aide in our stealthiness.
We both turned ourselves invisible before Maeve teleported us onto the deck of the freighter. Artemis landed next to us moments after we arrived. Before any of us could even move, a voice thundered out a familiar Power Word and our invisibility fell away. So much for our stealthiness. The door to the cabin flew open and I turned to see a massive man framed in the doorway. The loose ropes coiled around the deck sprung to life and lashed themselves around us, pulling my sword arm painfully behind my back. I called up a fire to try and burn the ropes away, but it wasn’t working very well.
Then something happened; the brute of a man cried out in pain and the ropes fell lifeless back to the deck... I’m guessing Maeve happened. Quick as a wink, the man’s hand shot up and clutched at the air in front of him, except it wasn’t the air, it was Ssssorsha, who he promptly threw overboard. At this moment I realized that I knew this man. This was Nestor, Moire’s first born who went missing when he went searching for the Tritons.
Confused and surprised by this, I called out his name, you know, so we could have a polite conversation and I could get to know my long lost cousin. Nestor must have had other plans. He snarled at me, demanding to know how I knew his name. Before I could respond, he barreled toward me sword first. I managed to block his sword but didn’t return the attack as I had no intention of hurting him. Surely once he found out who I was we could talk.
Nestor took a quick step back from me as a stream of lava shot through the space between us. I’m assuming that Maeve hadn’t realized that I knew this man. Scrambling for a non-lethal idea, I tried freezing Nestor’s feet to the deck; if he wasn’t moving, he might do better at listening. As his feet caught in place, Nestor flung his arm out to steady himself against the cabin wall, or so it appeared. As soon as he touched the ship a dozen shadows rose up around us, formed into human-like shapes and surged toward us. But as fast as they showed up, they were gone. And so was the ice around Nestor’s feet. He took the opportunity to dive back into his cabin and bar the door. This is when I found out that Maeve had dispelled all spells on and around the ship. This stopped Nestor’s magic, but it also stopped ours as well. Maeve mentioned some concern about her sword, which she feared wouldn’t be of much use now. I swung Brinicle from my back and offered it to her. I wasn’t sure if she had ever used a spear before, but she seemed reasonably confident.
Unable to open the door like civilized people, Maeve and I began taking turns ramming the door while Artemis helpfully stood by and watched. I have no idea what he had barred the door with, but we were having a hell of a time trying to break it down. Maeve had just managed to splinter a few of the boards and I lined up for my next assault. I lunged at the door, and as my shoulder connected with the wood it exploded... outward. The force of the blast threw me across the deck where I laid gasping for breath among the splintered remains of the door.
It took me a few moments to catch my breath and stop my head from spinning. I was pretty sure I had a bruised rib or two, but nothing seemed broken. I pushed a few chunks of wood off of myself and came to a sitting position. My mind was still swimming a bit and I was rather confused by what I was seeing. Nestor was back out, but now he seemed to have nine or so long black tentacles, some of which were wrapped around Maeve and some were going after Artemis. I jumped (and wobbled slightly, but don’t tell anyone that) to my feet and snatched Riptide from where it had fallen next to me. I hesitated. Artemis seemed to be doing a fair job fending off his share of the tentacles. Maeve seemed in a worse situation, but she actually seemed to be making some progress.
I took a shuddering breath and ran right for Nestor. As I rushed toward him, two of his tentacles lashed out toward me. I called out his name again and I managed to block both of the strange appendages. This only seemed to make him madder and as I came withing reach he swung his blade at me again. Riptide rang as it connected with his sword, and I aimed a kick at his groin – a dirty trick, I know. He managed to turn at the last second and my kick caught him in the hip instead. This pushed him slightly off balance and Artemis took the opening, rushing in to stab him in the side.
A rough push from Nestor’s sword arm sent me staggering back several feet. I gritted my teeth and lunged back toward him. As I knocked his sword aside again, I heard Maeve call out from somewhere behind me. Instinctively I dropped to the deck. As my knees hit the planks, I saw Brinicle slice through the air where my head had just been. It struck Nestor square in the chest, going clear through and pinning him to the cabin wall. I guess Maeve knew how to use a spear after all.
The three of us moved to Nestor’s side and found him taking shallow, gurgling breaths. We managed to glean that he had created this place as a trap meant to keep Rebma ant the Tritons away from each other. What? Oh shit! Did we just make a huge mistake? As Nestor’s last breath rasped out, the storm around us dissipated. Maeve brought our magic back and reported that her Pattern was working again. I reclaimed Brinicle, and Nestor’s lifeless body slumped to the deck. Sorry cousin.
The rest of the stranded sailors arrived at the freighter and we shared the good news that the trap was broken and everyone could try to make their own way home. Karhu perked up at this and was quick to depart. Artemis, obviously having a better grasp on what was happening, was quick to point out that letting him go was probably not the best idea. Son of a sea serpent!
We took Maeve’s submarine to try and catch Karhu. Maeve drove while I shifted Shadow. We searched for hours without any results. Artemis reached out with his Logrus and also came up with nothing. Artemis contacted Llewella to give her an update, and we decided to give up the chase and return to Rebma. It took us almost a whole day to make it home, and upon arriving we found that war preparations were already well underway with Benedict orchestrating. Citizens were being evacuated, fortifications were being constructed and troops were being assembled.
What a cesspool of a situation. If we hadn’t gone to see Selene, we probably wouldn’t have gone looking for the Labyrinth, we wouldn’t have found Nestor’s trap, we wouldn’t have killed Nestor and destroyed the trap, and Karhu wouldn’t have escaped to returned home to inform the rest of his people that the way to Rebma was clear. What a lovely little self-fulfilling prophecy we have here. Like I said; never start your day off by visiting a prophetess.
Now I’m off to see if I can sit in on Llewella’s war council. And who knows, maybe the two of us will even get some bonding in before all hell breaks loose.
Jarrod Stanek:
Artemis’ Journal Entry #6
I’ve never been much of what you would call a “joiner” (membership in the Bregan D’aerthe notwithstanding), but I didn’t want to sit on my laurels feeling useless. I was somewhat surprised to find myself volunteering to join the Rebman Guard. I wasn’t all that sure how this would play out with me being Chaos’ ambassador to Amber, but I figured it was temporary anyway. A “state of emergency” kind of thing. After this whole Triton thing was dealt with, I’d no longer be considered one of them.
The “Triton thing.” Waiting for something to happen sucks. Waiting for a week really sucks. When the thing you’re waiting for is an invasion force to lay siege to your home, even a temporary one as is my case, it goes from “suck” to “nerve wracking.” Plus, to quote a wise man who spent twenty years looking for his father’s killer “I hate waiting.”
But, lo and behold, a week after the Sargasso Sea barrier was dropped (cough not our fault cough) a messenger from one of the Coral Branch kingdoms arrived and said Tritons arrived and sacked their kingdom. They apparently arrived shortly after some kind of “Dark Current” showed up nearby, which they used as a sort of super highway through Shadow. I found this very reminiscent of the Black Road that the Courts of Chaos used to travel through Shadow toward Amber a few years back during the Black Road War. I don’t see how they’re connected but the similarity was unnerving. I didn’t say anything and no one asked. I’d hate for us to get blamed for something we didn’t do. Let sleeping dragons lie… at least for now.
Llewella told Oswald to assemble the army that Vaughn had been gathering in Shadow and prep them to move out first thing in the morning. That all but confirms that Vaughn is an Amberite, since Maeve sees the Pattern in him to some degree and now he’s off in Shadow on his own, gathering troops. So, the next morning we moved out, following a Shadow Path to Bottom Cantred. Kailani, now having her own advanced Pattern abilities, used a Pattern Lens to look ahead and see what’s what at Bottom Cantred. That made it easy to formulate a plan of attack since we could see their troop placement. Oswald and I hit them dead on, while Kailani and Maeve each took a smaller force to hit them from behind. I’ve decided to call this the “triple threat, multi-direction battle plan.” Because, why not? My first instinct was to go with Maeve to watch her back, but I knew she could take care of herself, so I beat my neanderthal self back into submission.
The battle wasn’t terrible. We did lose a significant chunk of our troops but none of us got hurt. Kailani was using two swords and one of them was a Pattern sword. Or at least I’m guessing it was based on how the Tritons wounds bled fire when she stabbed them. Where did she get that? And why did a Pattern sword make Tritons’ wounds react like a Chaos Lords? Where Tritons and Chaos Lords somehow related? Interesting.
After taking back Bottom Cantred, Oswald decided to push forward and take the Dark Current back to its source – the Labyrinth. Risky, but its not something they would be expecting, which I think was the point. Show that we can get to them to. So, we decided to enter the Dark Current to see if we could survive it and travel through it. And by “we,” I mean me. It made sense though. It this thing was something akin to the Black Road, and Tritons and Chaos Lords shared some ancestry, I’d have the best chance of success and survival. I’m here writing this journal entry now, so it goes without saying I succeeded (which should be a given anyway).
We led our army against the current of the Dark Current (ha!). It was exhausting, especially for the troops. Kailani seemed to have an easier time of it than the rest of us though. It took several days of travel in this manner. Swim against the excruciating current, fight various Triton forces, including sea monsters, that we encountered along the way. Once we were too tired to continue, we’d exit the Dark Current in what ever Shadow we wound up in to rest. Rinse and repeat.
After several days of travel, we eventually found the beginning point. We emerged and were standing ankle deep in a shallow pool. All around us was a huge cavern with a dozen or so cave tunnels heading off in various directions. We split off into different groups, through different tunnels, to surprise attack the enemy. I was glad that this time, Kailani, Maeve, and I stayed together. I think we play well off each other’s abilities and we’re more successful together than we are apart.
It wasn’t too far into the tunnel that we began encountering Tritons. Most battles are chaotic and the series of skirmishes we found ourselves in proved that to be true. I won’t bother recounting a blow by blow of the fights we found ourselves in. We slew many Tritons; they slew many of our troops as well. It was all pretty much a blur anyway. Looking back at it, I don’t think I can recall specifics anyway. I mostly relied on my blade, Kindness. I love killing people with Kindness but nobody else ever sees the humor in it like I do Maybe they’re too busy screaming bloody murder. I’m pretty sure, at some point, I was even using my Logrus tendrils to throw Tritons about.
So, we fought and fought. Eventually we regrouped with Oswald. He didn’t have very many men left and the ones who had gone off on their own, had been more-or-less wiped out. Time for a retreat. Or what I prefer to call a tactical withdrawal. We made our way back to the kiddie pool we emerged from and started sending our guys through. Oswald went first to take the lead, while the three of us stayed behind to make sure our guys got out. We’re magnanimous like that. We were also able to bring down the house around us. Which is to say that Kailani used her Elementalism power to create giant rocks to block tunnels and cover the pool behind us. The current was so much easier to follow now that we weren’t going against it. After a short while I got a Trump call. It turned out to be Oswald who had exited the Dark Current at the Sargasso Sea. I got Maeve and Kailani to grab ahold of my hands so they were in on the contact too. Then Oswald grabbed Maeve’s hand and pulled us onto the beach he was on. The remaining troops were still arriving.
I’m not really sure why we stopped here instead of going directly back to Rebma, but Oswald wanted all the details of our encounter with Nestor here, especially details about how the Sargasso Sea acted as a barrier. He realized why not have someone else attune themselves to this Shadow and simply turn the barrier back on? Well… poop, why hadn’t we thought of that? We all started eyeballing each other to see who would flinch first. Maeve already has her own Shadow to deal with and maintain and Kailani is technically the next in line for Rebma’s throne, so she has enough on her plate already. All right Artemis, I guess its time to step up and take one for the team… but Oswald beat me to it. I guess as the captain of the Queen’s Guard, he still felt responsible for not preventing Moire’s death. Maybe in his eyes this was just another way to protect his home and his new queen. I considered arguing that I would do it, but decided who was I to take that away from him?
Maeve said it would take probably a couple of hours to properly attune himself to the Shadow and turn the barrier back on. Kailani looked back along the Dark Current and informed us that we didn’t have that long. I guess we were gonna have to hold them off here while Oswald did his thing. I think its time for some reinforcements. I pulled out my Trumps and began rifling through them. Who would answer me and be willing to help? There was an obvious answer, of course – Bleys. After all, his daughter was here with us. It seemed reasonable that he’d want to help protect her. After a quick explanation, he told me he’d Trump me back. Well, al-righty then.
He called me back shortly and Fiona was also in on the call. “Pull us through,” he said. The look on the others’ faces was priceless. I will always cherish those looks of shock. Apparently, Kailani made a call of her own, because the next thing I knew she was pulling through Llewella, Gerard, and Benedict. Hmmm… five elder Amberites, two next gen Amberites, a Chaos Lord, and an elite Rebman warrior against some Tritons? I wasn’t overly worried. Of course, Oswald wouldn’t be fighting and Gerard volunteered to protect him while he was still attuning, but still… Fiona did some kind of high level spell that would stop their movement along the Dark Current and deposit them onto our island. More waiting.
It wasn’t much of a battle honestly. The term “fish in a barrel” comes to mind. Of course, they had numbers on their side. Never ending numbers. But eventually Oswald became fully attuned and put the barrier back up. He must have altered it because it turned out instead of allowing people to enter the Sargasso Sea from the “Triton side” and trapping them here, he simply cut them off so they couldn’t pass it at all. With that being done, the mop up was decidedly quick. And I can’t be sure but, I swear I heard Bleys laughing while he was fighting. The worst part, for me, is that after the battle, I found my pet snake Sssssorsha dead on the beach. It looked like she had been torn in half by a Triton. She had always been a faithful companion and her loss is so great, I don’t think I can even really process it right now.
So, with the Tritons cut off and no longer a threat, we all returned to Rebma and Amber. Llewella congratulated us all on a job well done and was especially thankful to Oswald for becoming the guardian of the Sargasso Sea. They also decided to keep me on the Queen’s Guard and promoted me to second-in-command. Yikes! That means I’d be in charge when Oswald wasn’t around (like when he was checking in on his new Shadow, for example). I accepted, of course. A Lord of Chaos holding a position in the Rebman Queen’s Guard. It’s a funny old world. Llewella also talked to King Merlin and now I am also the official ambassador to Rebma. It feels like I’m collecting titles faster than I can count them. And on that note, I took a short trip to Chaos to do something I’d been putting off, but no longer felt like I could.
In Chaos I spoke to the captain of the Bregan D’aerthe and resigned my position. Months ago, I never would have even considered it, but my position should be filled by someone who was actually around and could do the job. I wasn’t doing them any good while I was in Amber. I’m not sure exactly what changed my mind. Partly because whatever my destiny is, I feel like it’s in Amber and Rebma now. Plus, there’s Maeve. Let’s be honest. That’s probably 90% of the reason right there. Smoking hot redheads aren’t a dime a dozen. Especially not ones who can throw around more spells, and proficiently so, than anyone else I’d ever seen. Plus, she laughed at my jokes.
So here I am, back in Rebma. Y’know, as the Chaos Ambassador to both Amber and Rebma, you’d think I wouldn’t have to do foot patrol of the castle grounds. But my shift approaches none the less.
Jarrod Stanek:
Kailani Journal Entry #6
Waiting really sucks. It had been a week since we returned to Rebma with news that a Triton army could be showing up on our doorstep at any time. I had chosen stayed close to Llewella, becoming familiar with her plans and tactics. Being a queen really suites her, I’m actually really impressed. I hadn’t seen much of Maeve or Artemis the last several days; Maeve was around doing... Maeve-y things (I don’t pretend to understand what she does, but she is sure handy to have around), and Artemis had volunteered to join the city guard, which surprised and impressed me.
It was still early in the day when Llewella received a report of an attack at Bottom Cantred. She called the Sea-Court to assemble in the throne room and I trumped Maeve to join us. This was what we had been waiting for. The rider from Bottom Cantred seemed barely able to stay on his feet as he reported that a few days prior, a strange “Dark Current” showed up in the city and deposited about five hundred Tritons and sea monsters into their midst.
Llewella didn’t hesitate; Vaughn was ordered to bring in the troops he had gathered from Shadow, Oswald was placed in command of the force, and Maeve, Artemis and I volunteered to join them. We were all to gather in the training grounds first thing in the morning. Llewella dismissed everyone, but asked that I accompany her back to her suite. I was prepared for a lecture on being cautions and not taking unnecessary risks, but once in her rooms she surprised me by offering me the use of her sword, Errendel... she must have been pretty concerned.
The next morning, we all gathered in the training grounds along with the two thousand soldiers Vaughn had brought. We wasted no time and set straight out for Bottom Cantred. During our travels I looked ahead with my Pattern lens to get an idea of what we were walking into. The farms around the city were mainly deserted, but a handful were occupied by a small army of Tritons and sea monsters. I also noted that the Dark Current had moved a ways past the city and was slowly creeping in the direction of Rebma.
We decided to split our soldiers into three groups. Oswald and Artemis would lead the main force straight in, while Maeve and I took our two smaller forces around the sides to try and box them in. The plan worked perfectly (which seems unusual for us now that I think about it). As Oswald’s men drew the attention of the monsters, were able to sneak in and catch them off guard. I was in for a surprise myself as I slew my first Triton of the day. As Errendel bit into the flesh of the beast a torrent of blood and flames gushed forth from the gaping wound. I’m not exactly sure how the fire burned under water, but I’m just going to be grateful for it and not ask too many questions. The flames subsided as the creature died and I gave an excited grin... this was going to be a great day!
After the last Triton was dead, Oswald wanted to continue down the Dark Current and finish this whole thing before the Tritons had a chance to make it to Rebma. I was fired up and ready to go myself, but Maeve expressed concerns about safety. Seeing the wisdom in this, we took the time for me to search up the current with my Pattern lens. It was surprisingly difficult, and I searched for about half an hour and came up with nothing. At this, Artemis stepped up and volunteered to try going into the Dark Current to see what would happen. He jumped in and was deposited out the end. He said it was weird and cold, but otherwise fine.
So, into the Current we all went. Swimming against the current wasn’t as difficult as I had anticipated and I quickly made my way through to the front with Oswald. It wasn’t too long before Oswald called a halt to give the troops a rest, turns out the swim wasn’t so easy for anyone but myself. Maeve and I were able to determine that it was Llewella’s Pattern sword that was keeping the current from hindering me. Moving back into the current I slowed the force of water around us, this slowed me down quite a bit, but made it significantly easier on the troops.
We had a very eventful trip through the current, running into several small groups of Tritons and other sea creatures. At one point we came across a kraken like creature that was pretty devastating, taking out about four hundred of our men. We traveled this way for days, and keeping the current running slower the whole time was very taxing. Eventually we reach the end and came out of the current into a large pool. The pool was in a large cavern that had several tunnels leading off of it.
Artemis and I checked out several of the tunnels with Pattern and Logrus. The tunnels all seemed to lead to different islands and the tunnels themselves had other tunnels leading off of them. Apparently, we had arrived at the Labyrinth. The islands all seemed to be in various positions within a giant maelstrom. In the swirling waters we could see all kinds of debris bobbing around and crashing into rocks. In our searching we also found Tritons... lots of Tritons.
We decided to divide up into several groups and head off in different directions. The Triton hunt was on! Maeve, Artemis and I led our group only a short way up a tunnel before we found our quarry. Maeve was quicker than me and managed to put the lead Triton to sleep, causing those behind him to trip and stumble. Falling Tritons seemed like a good thing, so I filled the tunnel ahead with ice and barely kept from laughing at the spectacle that followed. Artemis added to the confusion by hitting several of them with his Logrus tendrils.
The Tritons turned to flee back up the tunnel, but I wasn’t finished yet. I brought the hanging stalactites down upon them. I didn’t even have time to appreciate my handiwork before a mass of rocks shot up the tunnel toward us. I softened the stones to mud... I panicked a bit, and for some reason that was the first thing that popped into my head. Fortunately, Maeve was a little more clear-headed and saved us from a massive mud bath by throwing up a shield.
As Maeve dropped her shield and the mud fell to the tunnel floor, we found ourselves facing another Triton. Quick as a wink he shot his tentacles out toward us. I brought my swords up to block, but Maeve was faster yet again. She shouted something and the tentacles fell and we got to enjoy the stunned look on the Triton’s face for a brief moment. Then Maeve knocked him out cold.
Maeve wanted to interrogate this one, so Artemis took the troops on ahead while I stuck around to make sure the Triton didn’t kill Maeve. We woke him up and I held my swords to his throat – he didn’t seem to like that very much. Maeve got a lot out of him, including information on their king, their plan of attack, and their Vortex power (which was pretty damn terrifying if I’m being completely honest). Finished with her questioning, Maeve asked if I was going to finish him off. The Triton took exception to this and angrily shouted that we couldn’t kill him, demanding that we must have rules about how we treat our prisoners. I coolly informed him that they were really more what you would call guidelines before pulling my blades across his neck. Flames erupted and he cried out in pain before I ended him; I’m not cruel enough to have let him suffer.
Maeve Trumped Artemis with the information we had gathered and I did the same with Oswald. He was in a bad situation and I recommended a retreat back to the pool. I offered to help cover their retreat and Oswald pulled me through, leaving Maeve to help Artemis. My stomach sank as I took a quick assessment of the battle around me. They were too spread out and everywhere I looked, soldiers were falling. It was dangerous and would cost lives, but we needed enough of a distraction to get the men back to the tunnels, so I called down a firestorm. As fire rained from the sky around us, I shouted for Oswald to get everyone out.
As Oswald and I turned to go, we found ourselves facing two Tritons. One lashed out at me with his tentacles, and I ducked, using my momentum to bring me in close. I dragged Errendel across his stomach and he howled in pain as flaming guts spewed out... all over me. I turned to see Oswald stabbing at his Triton; he quickly dodged in and out of range, riddling the Triton with stab wounds. With a final stab, Oswald turned and ran past me toward the tunnel. I stepped over and finished off Oswald’s Triton, not willing to let him stand there and suffer, and got another spray of flaming gore for my trouble.
I turned to follow after Oswald and was hit from the side. The impact knocked me from my feet and sent me cartwheeling through the air. I hit the ground hard and rolled a couple times before I managed to get my feet under me. As I came to a sliding halt, I found myself one sword short; Riptide was gone. I looked up and spotted the Triton that had hit me with his Vortex tendril. He was massive, how the hell had I not seen him? I charged; running at him full speed. I lifted Errendel, prepared to run him through. However, I was not prepared for him to whip his tentacle around my neck and lift me off my feet. My airway was cut off as I was hoisted overhead. I spun Errendel around and severed the tentacle holding me up. I took a gasping breath as I fell toward the ground amid a rain of fiery blood. I had barely hit the ground when I launched myself back up to fly over the Triton’s head, slicing down with Errendel as I went. The sword slid through skin and bone, cleaving his head square down the middle. I landed in yet another torrent of flame and gore and took off running for the tunnel.
Oswald was there ushering the last of our soldiers through. He gave me a startled look, but I just rushed past him and he turned to follow close on my heels. Arriving back at the pool, we found that there was only about four hundred of our men left. We quickly decided to retreat and ask for reinforcements. Oswald led the men back through the Current and as they retreated, I began filling the cavern with rocks in the hope that it would buy us some extra time. It was grueling. As the rocks piled higher around us, my breathing got heavier and my head started pounding.
We could hear the Tritons starting to clear the rubble from one of the tunnels and Artemis said it was time to go. I jumped into the current with Artemis and Maeve right behind me. I wasn’t even swimming at this point, just letting the current push me along. About half of an hour passed and I was fighting just to stay awake. Suddenly Artemis was shouting at me to hold hands. What? He is so weird sometimes. But he shouted at me again so I reached out and clasped his hand. We were jerked wildly to the side, and found ourselves dripping wet, standing on a beach next to Oswald.
We were back in the Sargasso Sea, where this whole mess started. We talked over our situation for a bit and had just decided that we would have to return to Rebma when Artemis chimed in. He had been looking back to the Labyrinth with this Logrus and found that the Tritons were mobilizing and would be launching their attack soon. Great.
Running through our options again, we filled Oswald in on everything that had happened with Nestor and how he had used this place as a trap. He then asked if we could just turn it back on... was that even possible? We all turned to look at Maeve. Turns out there was a chance it would work, and a chance was all we needed. Oswald volunteered to attune to the Shadow and claim it as his own. Unfortunately, the process would take time, time we didn’t have. So, I called Llewella for help. I was greeted with a “Kailani, you look terrible.” I seem to be getting this reaction quite a bit lately, and I’m not sure if anyone realizes what it does to a person’s self-esteem. Assuring her I would be fine, I filled her in on what was going on and asked if she could send help. She replied that she would see what she could come up with and call me back.
Now, more waiting. Guess what... it still sucks. I took the opportunity to manipulate Shadow so I could find Riptide; Errendel is an amazing sword, but I was glad to have my blade back. Half of an hour went by, though it felt much longer, when Artemis perked up and appeared to be getting a Trump call. A moment later he had pulled through Bleys and Fiona. I guess Artemis had made a call of his own. That was when Llewella trumped me back. I answered quickly to find her standing with Benedict, Vaughn and Gerard. I was suddenly feeling a lot more optimistic as I pulled them all through.
The plan was... not simple, and I’ll admit that I had a hard time following all the details in my exhausted state. Basically, we ended up creating a barrier that would force the Tritons to exit the Current, and Fiona cast a spell that would transport anyone exiting the current directly to the beach we were standing on. Gerard was set to guard Oswald while he finished attuning to the Shadow, and the rest of us would kill more Tritons.
It felt like an eternity went by before the Tritons started to arrive. With a strange popping sound, they started magically appearing on the beach in front of us, looking extremely confused. I turned the ground around them into quicksand, successfully stopping the first ten or so, but the rest used the sinking bodies of the comrades to escape the situation and rush toward us. The battle didn’t last long, and I was so exhausted I can’t even remember if I was really any help. Oswald managed to get the barrier back up and blocked the Tritons from coming through. The real hero of the day!
We all Trumped back to Rebma. I don’t even remember making it to my room, but I woke the next morning in my bed and feeling like I had been dragged through the seven circles of Hell. Llewella formally recognized Maeve, Artemis, Oswald and myself for our service. Artemis was also given the commission of second in command of the city guard and made official Ambassador to Rebma.
And now for more sleeping... and waiting.
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