Porthca Landing I: Memory of the Sea

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“We could follow both approaches, give it small gifts initially to get it to warm up to us with a promise of a big reward at the end.” Eliza pursed her lips thoughtfully, “I can’t think of a bigger reward to promise someone who likes ships except to maybe give it a ship? Or take them along as a passenger on a tour of Porthca’s shores?”
 
Tyrius nodded in agreement with Lady Malia, "That sounds like a plan." Tyrius said as he checked himself over, making sure he knew where his daggers were if they were needed.

'I hope everyone else is doing well and that the ritual goes as planned.' Tyrius thought to himself.

"You good, Winston?" Tyrius asked.
 
The image of a water elemental being taken on a ferry tour of Porthca's shores made Virra giggle. "Just give the thing a boat. And I was gonna say don't make fires, so it won't get distracted from talking to the Sea like we want it to. But I'm starting to realise I'm not an expert." Giving a theatrical shrug, she put her hands on top of the table and hopped up, crossing her legs comfortably and ignoring anyone who might have turned to look. At least now she was at eye level with her companions.

"Hey, um, are we finished here? Not that this place isn't amazing, but I feel like we could walk and talk," she suggested, already fidgeting where she sat. How many hours had she spent indoors...?
 
Benito nods, "I like that, a little gift to show we're interested in a partnership then offer a bigger prize for cooperation." He smiled at Virra's comment, "We'll have to see what my family can afford. Unfortunately I don't own any boats myself so we'll need some help."

Ben looked around, "I think we're almost done. Do either of you have any thoughts on geas? I am concerned that I might have overlooked something. It all came together so cleanly. I just don't want to miss anything before we leave."
 
"Thoughts on Geas?" Virra rubbed her cheek. "Not much that I haven't said, really. Lestone took a serious beating when we fought him back at the manor, so maybe he'd survive whatever'll happen if he tries to resist it... and I like the idea of forcing the spell to break, too, but it's hard to get that to work." She tapped her fingers on the surface of the table, looking up at the ceiling. "Maybe if all of us and a bunch of armed helpers got together and made a really direct challenge to the Sea, saying something like -- I don't know, that we're going to teach it a lesson and it's too weak to stop us -- then it'd get angry and send Lestone to attack us right away, just to hurt us a little bit. That sounds like guaranteed death to me, so maybe Lestone and the Sea would think of it that way too. Maybe that would do it. Maybe."

She spread her hands. "But you two are the ones who'd know about traditional magic, right? Malia, too. You'll have better ideas than me."
 
"Yeah, he's pretty resilient. I wonder if there's a way to prevent or reduce the damage. Could we somehow protect him from it without breaking the Geas? If he had freedom for a day, just what could we learn?" Ben sighed, "Well, unless you've got any other thoughts Lizzy, we should probably get going. Sounds like we're going to need a boat..." Benito trailed off as his thoughts caught up to him. He snapped his fingers and jumped to his feet. "A ship in a bottle! They're not real ships, just miniature facsimiles, but around Azarad I'd seen some with bottles enchanted to have changing weather. Perhaps that could be the first gift." He smiled, "Maybe that'll work."
 
From his position on the floor, Winston grumbled, “Yea I guess that’s fine. And hey, we can pick up some nice shells as our backup offering while we’re down there.” Smiling slightly, Winston got to his feet and prepared to head to the beach
 
The moment Ben suggested that they get going, VIrra hopped down off the table, so eager to be out that she almost missed his suggestion of a gift. She chewed it over for a moment. "Well... if it's a really nice one, I guess that could work. I don't know if it'd feel cheated when it finds out the ship's not exactly seaworthy. Oh, but if you're following it up with more gifts, that might do the trick." She shrugged and spun on her heel, stopping when she faced the way they had come from. "Anyway..."
 
"The ship in a bottle sounds great! I think giving a whole ship to the water elemental might be a tad too excessive, maybe a small boat perhaps or ferry rides on a ship for a few weeks with a promise to teach them how to sail a ship? Because even if we could provide them with a ship, how would they even sail it alone? Would we have to provide a crew too?" Eliza stretched out her arms and followed them out.
 
Porthca Streets:

Having collected their things from the Defallian Manor, waving to Kecei and Odith as they worked on potions, the trio moved to the streets on their way to the beach -- finding themselves running into another familiar trio -- that of Virra, Ben, and Eliza.

Temple of Deneir | Main Room:

Finasaer nodded, leading the pair out of the small reading room and back into the main library, hushed conversations and whispers as people discussed or were working through their lessons. Moving up to the next level, he guided them to a bookshelf in the corner, old tomes on the shelves, worn and a few quite ragged. As he walked he idly fixed books, shifting some down a few if they were out of order, yet never pausing very long before continuing onwards. He gestured to the shelves, "Unfortunately, the ones we have are old, and they are few. The Kingdom of Okesh wishes to look forward, and so often old things like myths are pushed aside and left behind. However, being a temple of learning, we often find ourselves with copies of books that are difficult to find, for one reason or another."

Pointing to the books he continued, "There are ... I believe four here that are relevant. I've skimmed through each, checking nothing has been hidden or removed of course. Some hollow out books to store things," the tiefling shuddered, "so much text lost ... merely to hide something as simple as a bottle of alcohol." He ran a finger along the spines of the books. Reading the titles, one appeared to be a compendium of Okeshian myths and legends, one a general book on myths across the world, one of Porthican myths, and one supposedly written by a druidic scholar.
 
Walking along, Ben nodded his agreement to Eliza's thoughts, "That's a really good point Lizzy. Maybe we should go back to a piece of a significant boat or something." He shrugged, not really sure what gifts they might end up with for the elemental.

Continuing along, Benito caught sight of Tyrius, Winston, and Malia. He waved and called out, "Ty! Winston! Mal! How're you all making out? We found out a bit about the Geas spell, it won't be easy to break the spell, but we might be able to get a day of aid from Lestone. Oh! And we figured out a couple gifts that might work for the elemental as well as some things to make sure we're as safe as possible. We'll need to build - but not light - a bonfire..." Ben went on to explain the elemental's aversion to cold and intent to quell fires and how those behaviors might be used to their advantage as well as some of the details on Geas he'd learned from reading the essay. "...So, how did it go for you all?"
 
Hearing Ben call out to them, Tyrius returned his wave, "We did okay," Tyrius replied, "Learned that the summoning ritual will give Lady Malia some control over the elemental." Hearing Ben talk about lighting a bonfire, Tyrius grinned. 'That sounds like something I could do in a few seconds if we needed it.' Tyrius thought to himself.

"What gifts did you think of?" Tyrius asked, remembering that Lady Malia wanted to make an ally of the elemental rather than force it into servitude. "How strong is the Geas spell?"
 
"Well Virra and Lizzy learned that something man made for the sea might be a good gift. An anchor, piece of a ship, or a boat itself. Alternatively, I was thinking possibly a ship in a bottle or something similar. We had discussed a small gift after summoning and potentially something more after the fact. I just don't know what we can afford or get on such short notice."

Benito scratched his head nervously as he continued, "As for Geas... It's powerful. And it will bring Lestone great mental trauma to defy it, but the damage is only done once a day. It's a precarious position to be in." He sighed, "Ideally, we'd be able to trick the Sea into a situation where it knows that its command means the death of Lestone, but the command is issues anyway. Then Geas would break because of the clause in the spell which protects the victim from suicidal commands. I just don't know if we've the time to figure out how to pull that off."
 
"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Virra said breezily. "We handled Lestone well enough last time, right? And this time we'll be ready for him, and there'll be more of us. If he isn't an idiot, he won't want to fight us even with the Geas." She laced her fingers together behind her head and moved on without so much as a pause. "But yeah, a boat would be my first choice for a gift, or a ship in a bottle if nobody can spare one. Did you guys learn anything else?"
 
'Ahhh boat related ideas! Anchors, piece of a ship, that made so much sense, I can't believe I didn't think of that.' Winston grins to himself as he remembers Tyrius' idea to gift some sea shells, but thought better of bringing it up now. Instead he listened attentively while Ben spoke, trying to make sense of what this Geas spell was all about, but wasn't entirely sure. Winston spoke slowly, trying to organize his thoughts even as he let them out "...Trick the Sea?...How...How exactly would one go about tricking the Sea? I assume it's an old, wise being or something, so..."

He let his though trail off showing that he wasn't sure where he was going with that, but turned to face Virra at eye level as she spoke. He nodded as she asked of their other findings, "Yea, we didn't really have much luck discovering a good gift idea for the elemental, the only thing we could come up with was some sort of favor that we could owe them. Only problem is, we don't know what they would want to begin with. Other than that, as Ty said, Miss Ma -- er, Lady Malia here will be able to have minor control over the elemental, but only if she remains focused on it the whole time. I assume you know something about that." Winston nodded at Virra.
 
Virra nodded several times. "Oh, yeah, I know a lot about that. Or, we know a lot about that," she clarified, gesturing to Benito and Eliza. Though now she came to think about it, how much did they really know...? "Malia handles the summoning and the controlling, and I guess she must know a way to make it commune with the Sea. We just keep her safe from danger and anything that might distract her or the elemental... like big fires or cold places. We'll be fine," she concluded, smiling brightly. Maybe it was the effect of getting out of that stuffy library that was giving her a burst of energy. "So, are we ready to go grab Cate and Ander, grab some ship parts and get this thing going?"
 
Tapping her wand absentmindedly on her bad knee Eliza resigned herself to her fate for the time being. If she was going to endanger her life might as well do so in aid of a friend, and anyway she was about to witness some cool magic. "The sooner we start, the sooner we get this over with. I am looking forward to seeing how druidic magic works, all my previous studies in the matter were purely theoretical."
 
Eventually, Cate and Ander joined the group back at the De'Porthca Manor, having finished their research and waved Finasaer farewell for the day. The evening was approaching as plans were discussed and tasks set for each group. The two who represented their gods went through research once more, trying to learn more about what Lestone might be at this point, with Cate mentioning perhaps a creature of revenge, even if not revenge of his own desire. However, when mentioning the Sea, the string of thoughts seemed to sputter out.

Ben attempted to think of fitting things from the history of Porthca that he could remember, something important that could be gifted and hopefully not start a fight between the families for handing it off -- eventually landing on the wheel of one of the original ships in the De'Porthca fleet: The Young King. In some of the warehouses the family owned, they kept the wheels of retired ships to respect their service over the seas -- leading Ben, Winston, and a joining Virra to go dig through the warehouse -- catching sight of another being emptied out. Having found the wheel however was not quite the end of their task, as one of the guards heard them digging around and had to be persuaded the group was allowed there and able to take something.

While the trio were away, Tyrius, Eliza, and Malia put their heads together, checking over everything they could to make sure the ritual and spell would happen correctly, the intended placement on the beach, and even the materials collected.

Having everything together and discussed of what each group found in the study, eventually Anthol knocked gently on the door to announce his presence. "I know you all have an ... interesting task ahead of you, but I still wish you all to have something to eat before going out. Lord Richeye has also arrived, he said to aid his sister, so we have a guest." Dinner was muted, the nerves of what was to come affecting everyone, and once finished eating everyone moved to gather their gear and equipment, Anthol giving a slightly confused look to Ben when he saw the different longbow.

With a wave from the De'Porthcas as the group headed out, they were an interesting group, making their way to the beach -- looking heavily armed while also carrying the heavy wheel of an ancient ship. Finally the planned location was arrived at, with the spell casters helping Lady Malia draw out the circle for the ritual. Off to the side Richeye prepared himself as well, drawing his rapier and taking a few swings with it, tiredness still evident on his face, but he seemed more alert for the moment.

Finally the time came for everything to officially start, spells prepped and used amongst the group as Malia began her ritual. The ten minutes of focus seemed to go on forever, the splashing of waves on the shore, cries of birds coming in from their fishing, ships on the horizon growing smaller until they disappeared ... However suddenly attention was brought back to the circle as a small line of seawater snaked into the circle, swirling on itself and growing until it reached a strange form of a waterspout, the faint hint of a face along its edges, wisps of water moving around like arms as it stared at Lady Malia -- herself giving a faint glow of magic, her eyes appearing to weep as she stared back at the elemental, her brother to her side, hand near his blade to draw at a moment's notice.

After a moment the elemental seemed to speak, the surrounding waves becoming louder as Malia winced before speaking herself, a strange roar under her words, similar to the elemental, "It ... asks what I wish of it." She gestured to the wheel, carried by Ander, and continued, "I wish for your aid, to be a friend, though I summon you like this. We bring a gift, something we hope you'll enjoy, a piece of the history here, a ship that once crossed the waters you call home, the waters you protect." She reached a hand out towards the elemental, "We ask you speak on our behalf to the Sea -- for she holds someone captive, and claims lives not on her waters, but on the land. We seek an understanding for this issue ... not more deaths." Malia looked to the others, "Would you like to add anything...? I feel there is still some I may not know myself."
 
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Virra watched the opening minutes of the ritual unfold with clear restlessness, scuffing her boots in the sand and fiddling with her gloves. Part of it was boredom, and the other part... well, she wouldn't admit to being anxious. She studied the markings that Malia was making in the circle, even delving idly into the noosphere to snatch some arcane knowledge that might be relevant, but it barely helped her understanding of the spell.

The gnome was just about to start jumping into peoople's heads for the sake of a little conversation, when suddenly her eyes were drawn to the swirling of water into the ritual circle. Immediately she was enraptured. She watched the waterspout go up like she would a magic show, complete with a quiet gasp as it settles into an almost humanoid shape. If it weren't for the sake of the investigation, she would have already engaged it telepathically, just to hear that roaring voice of the elements forming words in her head.

Malia's question brought her focus back. She looked at Ben, then back to the caster. "I think that might be all we're after," she said, slowly. At the same time, she glanced at Ander and reached out to his mind. "If you want to ask anything about your friend Roland, I think now's the time," she said, then quickly cut off the link. It wouldn't help to be muddling his thoughts if he did choose to speak up.
 
Ander stands by, holding the wheel as he watches the form appear before him. He knew how to deal with people, but had little experience with something this alien. He stepped forward after being motioned toward and said in a voice both gentle and firm, "We're looking to end bloodshed, please help us to return safety to this place." He had heard Virra in his head, but was unsure if muddying the waters with too many requests would be a wise idea at this time. He turned his head slightly to smile at his friend, trying to assure her that he understood.
 
Beachfront:

Malia nodded at Ander's words and turned back to the elemental. Repeating his words to the strange waterspout, it seemed to turn and stare at the paladin before reaching out towards him, a sudden pull on the wheel he was holding, ripping it from his hands, and into the water elemental itself -- working its way towards the center of the form, and spinning slowly from the internal current.

The elemental's gaze appeared to return to Malia and once more its strange speech echoed out into the air, a sound of waves crashing upon rocks. Lady Malia nodded before speaking again, "It appreciates the wheel ... it will be added to its collection." She winced as it spoke again longer this time, translating once it finally finished:

"It knows who we speak of -- a creature named Lestone, something that lives beneath the depths, where it should not. A pet kept by the Sea, sent to places she can't go." Pausing, she continued, "It also said the Sea never gives something freely, if we want something from her, a trade needs to be offered, or a challenge met. Apparently the Sea enjoys giving tasks to those who seek something from her."
 
"A task? It can't be that simple. Probably dangerous and deadly and she'll kill off the rest of the families - take the children while we toil to her ends. What about me? We need assurance that she won't kill everyone while we're off completing her errands. I'll offer myself to end the hostility now, and a task to protect future generations in perpetuity."
 
"No you won't," Virra interrupted, staring at Ben with a mix of anger and disbelief written on her face. "You're not going to offer yourself up to the thing that killed your brother and hope she plays nice. Did you see how well that worked out for Lestone?"

Her hands were balled in fists as she turned back to Malia. "What does the Sea want, then? I want to know what task she wants us to complete before she'll tell us what her problem is."
 
Tyrius was momentarily stunned at Ben's sudden offer to the Sea. Hearing Virra speak up, Tyrius waited until she'd finished speaking while he tried to think of something more coherent to say than the first thing that came to mind.

"Ben, no." Tyrius said, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible, "I know you're offering that trying to protect your family and the others, but it would break your family. They've already lost Cyne. They don't need to go through losing you as well."

Glancing to Malia, Tyrius wondered if it was already too late, if the water elemental had already latched onto Ben's impulsive offer. "If the Sea absolutely needs someone as collateral, you can have me. But really, I think we'd want to hear what task she has in mind for us first."
 
"I doubt we'll get the opportunity for choice once we've asked after the task. We only have one good chance at this and we mustn't squander it." Benito began. He wasn't sure what was worse, how different he was from the De'Porthcas before him for being so ready to sacrifice his life for the family, or ultimately how similar they were in their incredible focus on a singular, favorable result. He laughed to himself for a moment. "Fine. The task it is, but answers first. We're no longer going to play her games in the dark."
 
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