==== Summary 48: The Ouori "king" and Asparagus Isle (2011-05-05) ====
[[Giraine]] [[summaries-2011|Summaries]]
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Last time you were led by the Ouori to a reef area south of the Arvonesse ruins and told to cast magics to breathe underwater but the Ouori could help you if they failed. At the water's surface they got promises from you to keep their lair secret. They took you down there but it wasn't far, and turned out to be a sea cave with much air, somehow trapped in a bubble there (old, strong magic?). There were glowing anemones on the walls that piped soft music, and old carved "statues" of Ouori religious/historic significance. The worn cavern floors showed that Ouori had been coming this way for many ages. The Ouori said they had too keep this place and its air pocket secret even from your crew, to keep away miscreants. Omen said it was around even in the Second Age but as an island;  "It was so lovely then but had to be hidden I assure you." Gumthunooreebou explained that the king of the Trenchward tribe likes humans, especially Seshnelans, and often has welcomed them here, but his tribe moves around like all others do, and have no permanent home- the caves here seem to be shared by all Ouori, maybe other species too. 
Inside the caves you didn't see many Ouori but heard evidence of their presence down side tunnels. Soon you were in a large cave with a rainbow array of old corals on most surfaces and many large anemones too. Enough water leaked from the walls to keep the place damp; maybe it even flooded sometimes. Heaving and groaning on the cavern floor was the king's harem of lumpy grey-brown female Ouori, and soon you saw the great, obese king Sumbinaroomeesh, who wore a comically tiny coral crown about one ear when he remembered to, and had long gold-capped tusks plus barnacles all over his belly. He was jolly and friendly but grandiose (repeating "I, the king" very often) and clearly fascinated/enamoured with the king of Seshnela and (the Ouori impression of) his courtly ways. It became clear that the Ouori have no kings and their tribes are small, just a few dozen creatures, but this "king" has human-like ideas and aspirations, perhaps... 

The king knew some of your names and seemed impressed to meet you, but mostly hungry for tales of your king, which from you were not the positive heroic tales he'd hoped for. Nonetheless you were declared "Ouori friends" and your two "mad" comrades (claiming recovery as they might) were taken to the Sea Mother, a smiling old Ouori who spoke only her Cetoi tongue. She danced and splashed and put starfish around your temples, then drew the spirits out (Boamund's had already left, as he'd claimed; the Captain's was there but only subtly). Gumthunooreebou translated her admonition to avoid such haunted places without the right preparation, and was surprised you didn't know Omen could bless you to fend off such spirits! 

The king spoke to you all more, with much praise and inquistiveness, then promised to send word via Omen when his mermen would visit The Shadow to conduct Magastan ceremonies with the Captain. Finally he gave you information, slowly, on Asparagus Isle. He told you where a secure anchoring point was, south of the great plateau/caldera on its southern end, and that the chaos had been coming from there, so the "drowned castle" could not be cleansed without treating that source first. 

And so, you headed to the Isle on The Shadow, fully provisioned and with Omen's and Gumthunooreebou's guidance through the treacherous waters and acrid fogs nearby. You rowed ashore and received Omen's blessing (he wasn't sure how long it would last!) and slogged across mudflats, archaic plant-filled (and giant insect-filled) swamps, and thickets of giant asparagus (like bamboo forests) on the higher ground. The foul odor of the plants (which seemed to emit the fog, or fluid like it?), the rough terrain and undergrowth... these all took their toll and tired you, and the fog itself slowly wore holes in your clothing and soft goods. Soon you felt you were also being followed, and your concerns soon were validated, as whooping mad creatures plunged out of the forests around you! ----