Part 3: A reckoning rides from the west

Ascian turns toward Katrin and the arrow all but looses itself at her assailant, again searing past an arm.

"Shit eatin' Coward!!" The dragonborn yells after the creature as it hurls itself overboard. Turning Akiran charges towards the rest of the Fireblades his hand reaching under his armor as he runs. A crackle of energy burst from his hand, and a wave of refreshing energy bolts through him. 

The sword-wielding deep one bats at the flaming hammers as they smash into his bare arms. In anger, he brings his blade smashing down on the hammers' apparent source, Katrin. The dwarf stands resolute, blocking the blows with her shield and sword, but the power behind the last one is too much. The flurry of flaming hammers disperses into the dark lake and the deep one's face contorts in a toothy grin.

Renley sighs as the one before him and Akiran slips his grasp and turns instead to the group across the deck. Taking a moment to adjust his hat, he takes a step and in a rush of wind is across the ship, standing aside Katrin and the creature. "Apologies for the delay, mon cherie ,"  he smiles down to the dwarf with a nod. His fingers extended like hooks, he strikes out at the nearest of the creatures, practically rending scales from flesh with increasing effort. Again, even, eyes brighten to a shine beneath his hat as blackened veins snake like tendrils down his neck and through his coat, pulsing out from his hand into the 'deep one' like a withering ichor... and yet still, despite it all, the thing stands.

Osrik takes his axe and hooks the head under the swordsman's legs and pulls hard. The deep one smashes to the deck and Osrik hits him again in the chest.

Spinning his staff in front of him, Thrandimir hurls out a barrage of three magic missiles at those amongst the remaining fishmen who seem to have the least fight left in them. The first falls quickly, while the remaining missiles unerringly seek the gaps in the second's armour.

One of the two remaining "deep ones," the one without a sword, pushes away Osrik's warhammer and throws himself off the side of the boat.

Katrin barely acknowledges the doctor, instead running her shield hand along the blade as she draws back for a strike. The sword bursts into flames, and she lunges forward, burying the tip in his shoulder. The fire leaps from the sword, engulfing the fish-person in fire.

From her elevated position in the sky above the boat, Lilli points a finger towards the remaining fish-person and sends out a ray of impossibly cold vacuum that seems to not only flashfrost the flesh and bones of the creature, but also to pull the oxygen from its lungs as it collapses to the deck of the ship with an unnatural thunk of frozen meat. 

As the frenetic battle reaches its crescendo, Renley hums jauntily under his hat as he first gathers himself, his medical kit, and finally a corpse, which he proceeds to hunch down beside. With a glint of light reflected off the small scalpel he procures from within, he makes a series of precise incisions and inspections on the creature, noting things down in a pad he slips from within an inner-chest pocket of his coat.  “Subjects seem to bear a most cuhrious mix of aquatic and amphibious parts…” He begins noting aloud to no one in particular. “Gills ー in sets a’four ー along the neck match those of most shark species. Yet oddly, Fins and spines line the face, arms, tail, and dorsal-equivuhlent regions. Hands and feet ah webbed, puhhaps providing the significant jumping abilities displayed.”  He pulls the mouth open, tapping a finger against the edges of the teeth within. “Jaws contain multiple rows a’sharpened teeth again not unlike a shark. Blood is off-red in hue and…”  he scoops a small drop into his mouth, “saltiuh than most humanoids. Hmm, Ah wonder…” Peeling back some of the flesh around the nose, his eyes go wide as he digs deeper through the thing’s senses. “Now this is rather noteworthy: they don’t just rely on improved olfactory senses as puhhaps y’all or I would. Eyes are heavily adapted fuh the dark, as expected, but these organs here match those a’real sharks. Electrical ampullae . Drop a current in the water like the size of one this here, ahem, vessel  is undoubtedly making and yuh gonna get ‘em coming quick. Highly sensitive…”   He trails off, half-mumbling to himself as he takes more notes before popping up. “Ah, fuhgive me. In the excitement Ah almost fuhgot myself. Is everyone alright? Anyone needing aid do lemme know, oui?”

Katrin sheathes her sword, letting her shield arm drop to her side wearily as the last of their attackers falls. She frowns as the doctor begins a surgical examination of their foes, his comments to seemingly no one in particular strange and foreign to her ears. When he addresses the rest of them, she shakes her head, turning away from the odd surgery. "I'm fine for the moment. I just want to get off this lake and this boat," she looks pointedly at her brother, wincing slightly as her body reminds her that she is, in fact, not quite fine.  Stop being so gods-damned stubborn, she silently berates herself. Sighing, she turns back to the doctor. "Actually, I wouldn't mind a little pick-me-up."

Thrandimir glances about tensely for a few moments until he is certain that the attack is over. "Miss Peacemourn, you are full of surprises," he remarks to the flying Lilli. The magical abilities displayed by the young sorceress seem to grow more varied and potent with every battle.

Comic Sans said: Katrin sheathes her sword, letting her shield arm drop to her side wearily as the last of their attackers falls. She frowns as the doctor begins a surgical examination of their foes, his comments to seemingly no one in particular strange and foreign to her ears. When he addresses the rest of them, she shakes her head, turning away from the odd surgery. "I'm fine for the moment. I just want to get off this lake and this boat," she looks pointedly at her brother, wincing slightly as her body reminds her that she is, in fact, not quite fine.  Stop being so gods-damned stubborn, she silently berates herself. Sighing, she turns back to the doctor. "Actually, I wouldn't mind a little pick-me-up." "Well then,"  Renley smiles gingerly under his hat as he nods to the dwarf. Pulling a handkerchief from his inner breast pocket, he wipes his hands of the viscera left from his makeshift-autopsy and puts away his scalpel.  "Let's see what we can do, hmm?" Approaching her, he reaches out towards her side where a particularly deep gash runs the length of her forearm, hesitating for a second to be sure she was okay with his touch. Delicately, he turns the limb over as he inspects the full-extent of the wounds further. Most were minor bruises and cuts, but this one bore the potential for greater harm. Clicking his tongue, Renley sets about searching his kit for some balms and wraps. "This may require a bit more..." He sets them to the side before procuring an ornate-looking flask from his coat. The casing is black as night, save for curving lines of silver etched like scars across the entirety of its surface in an odd pattern. Unscrewing the lid, he pauses. "This may  burn a bit but Ah assure you  it looks worse than it is,"  he says with a chuckle. Taking a quick swig from the flask, he ungloves his hand and reaches for the wound, bony fingers stretching to their limits as they encircle the arm and — due to her size — themselves. From beneath the rim of his hat,  Katrin can see his eyes — already golden in hue — take on an eerie glow as the veins on his hand pulse with a blackness that races back through his sleeve, up his neck, and stretch across his face. The wound's pain surges but for a moment, before she feels the worst of it fade from her body, as if channeled through the good doctor's very hand itself. She can see him wince ever-so-slightly, his chest tightening, before he finally sighs. "There,"  Veins and eyes fading back to normal, he smiles and pulls his hand back, the majority of the damage now sealed up as if no harm had come to her. Returning the flask to his coat, he dresses the arm up for good measure and gives her a friendly smile. "Should be right as rain, mon cherie ."

Seeing Lilly ice out the last of the monsters Akiran roughly takes a seat on the ships deck, appearing to nearly crash to the floor. The dragonborn leaning heavily on the ships railing as he catches his breath. Nodding as Thrand compliments the sorcerer, Akiran adds his own praise in "I owe ya one kid. Thought them bastards he me, couldn't move an' inch ta ya threw out that magic. I didn't even know ya could that but it really save my ass." Looking to Thrand "What'd ya say those monsters were again? Never saw nothing like em."

Before Thrandimir can answer, a gurgling scream pierces the relative silence of the lake at night. All eyes turn to the south, the direction one of Thrandimir's "deep ones" had swam off too. At the edge of the light from the boat, the water splashes and thrashes. Limbs ending in webbed appendages flail as a large dark shape slashes through the water. There's a sickening crunch and the limbs go still. The water begins to turn black as the deep one's lifeblood seeps out. The dark shape moves through the water with the grace and speed of an arrow, its double dorsal fins jutting above the waves like twin mountains. Just as quickly as it came, the fins disappear and the dark shape descends beneath the water, leaving the ship's occupants in stunned silence.

The sudden eruption of bloodcurdling violence in the waters behind them whips Renley's head around in a flurry, straining to catch a solid glimpse of the creature responsible. He rushes to the side of the boat as the murky shape passes by the boat and vanishes once more beneath the quickly and eerily still surface of the lake, leaving a vacuum of screeching silence where disquieting ripples had just crashed against the boat's hull. "Right..."  he eventually says, clearing his throat. "Back to dry land then? Think Ah'm good to turn in fuh the evening..."

Osrik stands stock still, seemingly dumbfounded by the creature in the water. He looks sideways at Katrin. "I...I thought it was a myth," he says.

Katrin stares at the place the massive fins has disappeared at, her face pale and eyes wide.  "Can we, for the love of sanity, get off this fucking lake?"

Lilliana blushes at the compliments from Thrandimir and Akiran, but before she could respond there was a scream that pierced the night causes her to freeze and watch the violence unfold before their very eyes. "Yes, I'm with Katrin... can we go... now?!"  

Thrandimir opens his mouth and closes it again. "Osrik, if you would be so kind as to get this boat moving?"

Without turning from the darkness where the mythic lake monster had revealed itself, Osrik pushes the throttle lever and the boat churns forward once again.  "I...it's supposed to be a myth,"  he says, his voice more quiet shock than defiance of clear reality. By the time the boat chugs into dock at Dragonvale, the sun is beginning to rise.  "There are rooms for you at the Hammer's Fall. I think we could all use a rest after that," Osrik says. He hefts a coinpurse in his hand. "Got this from the dragonborn." He holds it out. "As promised, it's yours."

Thrandimir gladly receives the purse, feeling the weight of it in his hand. "It was a pleasure, Osrik."

The boat has just barely docked, and Katrin is already stepping off, her head spinning slightly as her feet get used to solid, stationary ground after the constant rocking of the boat. Her muscles ache, her energy spent, and she can barely keep her eyes open. The events of the night have left her feeling more exhausted than she'd been in awhile. She glares at the water, the dark waves that concealed the previously-mythical two-headed monster. She turns to her brother. "Ilde's gonna freak when she hears about Segoa," she says, attempting to keep her voice light, and failing rather miserably.  

Lilli's anxiety does not ease until Osrik's boat has docked and she was safely back on solid ground. She moves quickly away from the water's edge, waiting for the others a safe distance away. "So, what now? We are waiting for the miners to extract the mineral that we require?"

"I'd love to find out if the locals can tell us anything more about this creature," Thrandimir comments, wringing his hands with relish.

“Then you’re most welcome to join me tomorrow, mon ami ”  Renley grins as he finishes pocketing his share of the take, “Ah had a fair few folk Ah fancied t’have a chat wit’about our new fishy frriends.”

The Fireblades and their new acquaintance Renley take their well-earned rest. During the next two days, they busy themselves with different projects while they wait for the resiq to be extracted -- except for Ascian, of course, whose desire to be truly reunited with his brother spurs him down into the mines to offer his help. The dwarves humor him, showing him how to break the rock surrounding the resiq so that it crumbles outward, instead of indenting inward toward the sensitive crystal. Ascian does his best, but he's no miner. Instead, he stands vigil over the mining work, listening to the dwarves sing to the beat of pick against stone. Akiran joins the dwarven smiths and uses his share of the money earned from Osrik's adventure to forge weapons for the dragonborn clans. The dwarves are curious at first, watching the dragonborn's smithing techniques, commenting on a difference here or there, but overall, they seem impressed with his work. "Not too bad for someone with no facial hair to speak of!" says one of the smiths. Lilliana speaks with Katrin's mother, Eldeth, about star magic. The cleric of Tempus asks Lilliana to demonstrate some of the powers she has learned. She watches as Lilliana manipulates gravity by flying, warping space, and even as she fires a ball of fire into the air. Eldeth speaks about great sorcerers that she knew back in Holdfaer. Their magic came from many sources -- from the gods, from the sea, from the raw weave of magic itself. Eldeth tells Lilliana that she has never before met someone whose power comes from the stars, and is sorry she cannot help further, but she hopes Lilliana finds what she is looking for. Renley and Thrandimir investigate the legend of Segoa. It turns out that the stories of the sea monster predate the arrival of the dwarves at this village. Before the dwarves came a few decades back, this village had been a discordant collection of human miners. They had settled here around a century ago. According to legend told by some of the oldest humans the pair speak to, some of those early settlers began having dreams of a creature dwelling in the lake. Every so often, someone would go mad, strip off their clothes, and walk into the lake, chanting that "Segoa calls." Occasionally, fishermen would claim to see those people again, changed almost beyond recognition. They called them the Undrowned. The description of the Undrowned matches that of Thrandimir's Deep Ones almost exactly.

The couple of days spent investigating the legends of Segoa seem to turn up more myth than merit, but Renley takes each tale, tall or otherwise, to heart with a hearty thanks to all they spoke to. One delightful chap they met even provided a... enticing ritual to summon the beast, involving beef tallow, laps around a boat, esoteric chanting, and chum. Filing that option down as a surefire backup, he spends the rest of his time on his own, flitting between helping in his doctoral duties and enjoying his midnight strolls through the town and along the lakeshore. The night was as familiar as any friend, and its calming presence never failed to ease the burdens of the day. By the third day, feeling their investigation had turned up as much as it would by now, he stops by to visit Thrandimir and the others early to consider the next course of action.  "Morning and tidings monsieur  Thrandimir,"  he tips his hat, "Ah dunno about you , but Ah've been giving this Segoa sitch-i-ation a good thought or three, and Ah think it may be pertinent we address it 'fore it swims up n'bites us on the... well. "

Thrandimir grins at Renley's evident curiosity. "It's been down there for longer than Katrin's family have lived on these shores - I doubt that they're at risk of being bitten anytime soon. That said, I must admit, I am intrigued. What do you propose?"

Renley nods along with the wizard. "Well while Ah do think that has  been true, Ah worry our recent... expuhdition in'u its ancient abode may've provoked it. Creatures that've been 'round that long seldom take kindly to trespassuhs and threats, Ah can tell yuh from experience." "As for what t'do? From all Ah can tell y'all've made quite a name fuh yuhselves, and from what Ah've seen there's fire to that smoke."  He pulls a small clockwork amulet from his breast pocket and checks it, the gears and hands awhir in faintly audible ticks  to Thrandimir's ear, before stowing it once more. " That is t'say, how'd y'all like to take an ol' fashioned fishing trip ? "

Katrin sleeps for most of the day following the events on the lake. The day after that, she finds her father in the early morning just before the sun comes up.  "Have you heard anything from Holdfaer recently?"

"Nothing recently, no," he says. "Why?"

Vesh said: Renley nods along with the wizard. "Well while Ah do think that has  been true, Ah worry our recent... expuhdition in'u its ancient abode may've provoked it. Creatures that've been 'round that long seldom take kindly to trespassuhs and threats, Ah can tell yuh from experience." "As for what t'do? From all Ah can tell y'all've made quite a name fuh yuhselves, and from what Ah've seen there's fire to that smoke."  He pulls a small clockwork amulet from his breast pocket and checks it, the gears and hands awhir in faintly audible ticks  to Thrandimir's ear, before stowing it once more. " That is t'say, how'd y'all like to take an ol' fashioned fishing trip ? " Thrandimir shrugs. "I'd be interested, but I think that you're going to need a bigger boat."

RisenZed said: "Nothing recently, no," he says. "Why?" "I don't think things are going well for Uncle Ragnerk," Katrin says. "Spoke to a cousin of yours, Gernath Blacksmoke, he said his name was, back in the Crossroads. Seems like he's having a hard time bearing the mantle of Master Blacksmith."

Thrandimir shrugs. "I'd be interested, but I think that you're going to need a bigger boat." “Of course,”  Renley laughs, “unless one a’you is versed in les arcanes  enough to see us swim safely to whatever salt-stricken sanctuary it’s made fuh itself down there.”

Ulfgard sets down his mug of coffee and knuckles his lower back. His face loses its mask of earthen-born good humor and becomes more weary than Katrin has ever seen. "I wish I felt some small  schadenfreude at his misfortune," he says after a few long moments of staring out at the village and the lake beyond. "But the truth is, I don't. I just pity him."

Katrin looks away from her father, staring out at the serene waters of the lake. "I've spent so much of the last 30 years wanting nothing more than to go home," she says at last. "So much of it just...hating him and what he did to us." Katrin's eyes burn as she fights to hold back tears.  "And because of that, I never fully appreciated the...the home that we created here," she says, her voice thick. "I don't want to lose this one too."

Ulfgard squeezes Katrin's shoulder. "Don't worry. We won't lose this. I promise, Tochter. We won't."

Katrin tears her eyes away from the lake to look in the direction of the Heartland's encampment. "What do you suppose it would take for them to attack the town?"

Vesh said: Thrandimir shrugs. "I'd be interested, but I think that you're going to need a bigger boat." “Of course,”  Renley laughs, “unless one a’you is versed in les arcanes  enough to see us swim safely to whatever salt-stricken sanctuary it’s made fuh itself down there.” "I can allow us to breathe beneath the water," the wizard confirms, "but as for moving around down there... we'll be out of our element."

Stormchaser said: Vesh said: Thrandimir shrugs. "I'd be interested, but I think that you're going to need a bigger boat." “Of course,”  Renley laughs, “unless one a’you is versed in les arcanes  enough to see us swim safely to whatever salt-stricken sanctuary it’s made fuh itself down there.” "I can allow us to breathe beneath the water," the wizard confirms, "but as for moving around down there... we'll be out of our element." “Well that’s a shame,”  the doctor shrugs,  “boat it is then, oui? Ah’ll admit while a bigguh boat’d be lovely, Ah fear this quaint town’s got little else. Monsieur  Osrik is our best bet.”

Comic Sans said: Katrin tears her eyes away from the lake to look in the direction of the Heartland's encampment. "What do you suppose it would take for them to attack the town?" "For the king to attack people he claims as his own citizens?" Ulfgard tugs lightly on his beard. "I don't pretend to know his mind. You've met him. What do you think?"

What do you think? Katrin thinks back to the dinner they'd been invited to. How...nice he had seemed. Only to have that image shattered after a night spent in his dungeons. She rubs her wrist reflexively. She presses her lips together in a flat line, giving her father an unsure look. "Do you know what Daerheim is?"

He furrows his brow for a moment, then shakes his head. "Sounds vaguely familiar, but I can't place it," he says.

Katrin nods to herself, chewing in the inside of her cheek in thought. "It's the reason that I was arrested, the night we were invited to dine with him. I remember a city on a map that no one is supposed to remember because it's been hidden from all recollection. You can't even see it on the map. But it's there," Katrin leans against the railing. She looks at her father. "Ash, the boy with the wolf, he has a connection to the creature that killed everyone who lived in that city. And the King heard about it, and invited us to dinner. To 'see what would happen.'" She looks away again, clenching her hands.  "The king does not need a reason to attack us. He can come up with one that makes perfect sense to him."

Ulfgard's frown deepens. To Katrin's surprise, however, he doesn't initially comment on the king. "It sounds like you're twisted up in something very dangerous...but important. I'm not sure I understand it all." He sighs. "You were not the child I expected to get caught up in some grand terrifying adventure. Thought it would be Tordek, or Osrik. Should have known better." He turns to Katrin, grasping her shoulders at arm's length. "You stay safe. You've got these new...friends?...to worry about. Keep them safe. Don't worry about us, or the village. We'll still be here, one way or another. I don't think we're enough of a nuisance to be a huge problem yet."

Katrin nods. "I'll try." Then, in a lighter tone, she says, "Did you know Segoa's real? I didn't. And it scared the shi-- I mean crap out of Os." Her sentence stutters a little bit as she adjusts her language. And what she doesn't say is that it also scared the shit out of her. But she figures her father can deduce that. 

Ulfgard lets out a guffaw at the sudden change of subject. "I don't know what's more incredible, the fact that you still believe in scary stories, or the fact that you still think I'll sit you in a corner for using foul language." After another fit of rumbling laughter, he straightens and looks at Katrin's face. "Gods, you're serious. You actually saw it?"

Katrin stares at her father. "Yeah, I did. And I wish to the gods above that I hadn't, because a two-headed shark monster is a lot scarier in real life than in stories."

"What in the nine hells were you doing out there?" he asks, still trying to recover from his interrupted laughing fit.