Hi,
Your brief respite in the hold of the Muraenus was interrupted by holes that burst open in the ship's hull, threatening to sink Miss Nettastoma's trading vessel. Ciddar reacted quickly with his wood-warping sorcery, waiting with the Baronet and Maugis downstairs while Ahappi and Boamund went on deck to see what was happening. Miss Nettastoma raced out from her cabin to see what the kerfuffle was about, but appealed on the Captain's aid. He tied a rope to himself and leapt overboard after seeing vague movements in the kelp beds around the ship; Maugis blessed him with a glow spell for light.
The Baronet hacked at and injured some pale fleshy thing that had opened one of the holes, but they kept coming, and Ciddar worried his sorcerous power would soon ebb. Underwater, Ahappi spotted murky shapes- some on the ship, some swimming around it– and some of these were big and possibly humanoid, and coming toward him. He reacted swiftly, swimming through the kelp to the surface and using the rope (with Boamund's heaving) to quickly shimmy up to safety, knowing those foes were beyond his singular power to overcome (perhaps recalling the giant octopus some days ago…).
And so, you began to resign yourselves to the notion that the Muraenus was doomed. Miss Nettastoma recognized this, too, as the ship began to groan (holes were opening elsewhere, not seen by those in the hold), and recommended you secure yourselves. The former slaves climbed into the dinghy with Boamund's help, pleading for him to join them. The others grabbed what gear and handholds they could; Ahappi lashed himself to the mast in almost gleeful anticipation of being pulled down into the underworld. And the Muraenus cracked in half, then in other pieces, as the sea and forces below pulled it apart.
A dark current swept the area of the boat as its passengers disappeared into the night, clinging to what wreckage they could. One of you spotted the rowboat, having overturned in the violent demise of the Muraenus, and a slave's arm holding onto it- but with a powerful tug from below, the person vanished into the depths. What became of Miss Nettastoma was unclear, but ill-omened.
The dark current swept you all away, even the Captain on the mast, and for a time it felt like you were being swept into ever darker, colder and rougher waters. But then another current met this one and swirled about… Ahappi could feel the struggle at play: the first current sought to drag you down into a black abyss. The other pulled along the water's surface, and for the time that mattered it was stronger, and wrenched you free. You passed deeper and deeper into exhaustion, exposure and disorientation in the night ocean… and awoke, alive and well, on a rough and rocky shore. You were still together, by some miracle of providence.
And soon that providence became evident, as Boamund gathered driftwood to start a magical fire with and warm your chilled bones. Omen, the little but powerful fish spirit of the Orninior/Giraine coastal waters, waddled out of the crashing surf with a big smile and a greeting (here reproduced from snatches of conversation with you, in which he also came to know and like Maugis):
"Lo, my good human friends, you have gained the attention of the great sea lord himself and face the curse of his terrible fury! (sigh) I am sorry to see such good humans become the playthings of his cruel whims. You may not know good dry ground or safe seas for some time, I am sorry to tell you. But I am watching out for you while I can. You must find a way home- you are not far but it won't be easy! You know this island-- it is none other than Skeleton Isle, just off the coast of Giraine; you could almost swim there but you should not dare it. For some reason you have been returned here, but linger not long and watch out for that horrible sorcerer, he's not kind to us fish!"
You came to understand Magasta's fury, and that you would likely still suffer from it until at least Sacred Time ended. And it was ironic that you had been washed here, on Skeleton Isle, where you last departed on a magic current that swept you to the magical, time-foresaken isle of Nekeros (and where Shaven found his immortal wife Inyana), and where you later sent the relentless Rokari minion Brother Huriste to his watery grave.
Omen departed to try to find help. Oddly, as soon as he left and you mentioned the suspected Brithini sorceror who lived here, that man appeared, but in his ill-fit ancient plate armour and casually carrying his ornate, pitted iron sword. He greeted you with something like “You're too late, eelbait! They've already gone, come back next time, bye now!” and then tried to leave dismissively, but Ahappi ran up to him and talked, receiving some mad mutterings and unnerving threats. Ahappi wondered who “they” were, and where they'd gone– were they the bones that Skeleton Isle was named for? The seemingly ageless, ragged sorceror gave you little clue, either descending into cackling madness or feigning thus.
You followed him to his hut/cave near the isle's centre, where he nonchalantly tossed down his armour and sword, and stared vacantly from within his cave toward the outside world. Boamund tried to get him to treat his precious gear better, but was sharply reprimanded with a rasping warning and a crackle of magical energy– this sorceror was no helpless hermit, you recalled. Ahappi, Maugis and others had traded stories while you walked across the island, telling of legends of the Brithini, their immortal power, and the world-changing actions of their greatest hero, the wizard Zzabur who had invented modern sorcery and the wizard caste that still bore his name (zzaburi). So you knew to handle him more gently than in your last encounter– yet you suspected he held some role in your quest to escape this isle, and/or some other purpose.
Ahappi tried telling a story of how your quest with the Vomiter led you here, and it was truly a compelling tale- all your eyes widened at how deftly he spun this yarn, and how the glories and terrors depicted raised and lowered your spirits like storm-tossed waves. Even the amoral Brithini was moved by the tale- his eyes switched from glazed to focused firmly on Ahappi, especially as he mentioned the Red Vadeli.
At the tale's end, the hermit confessed his loathing of Ahappi and his half-Waertagi blood, but also his hatred of the Vadeli (some of you knew that Brithini, Waertagi and Vadeli, as three of the oldest “Malkioni” races– or even beyond mere Malkioni– had many old enmities). But he would help you, he said, implying that he hated the Vadeli more. He turned around into his chamber and fetched a pale, stinking, brined fish. It was a “holy mackerel” (unholy, perhaps? Brithini sorcerous enchantments are not of divine nature) or Magic Mackerel as he called it, and he said Ahappi should keep it in his belt until he meets Vadeli, then toss it at their feet to enact its spell, which would nullify their sinister sorceries. Then the hermit muttered vile words and sent you away as he flopped down onto his bedding for a nap.
You explored the island more, finding nothing- no life; not even bones; no interesting holes or ruins or anything- and soon yearned for food and fresh water. As twilight approached and you rested together on the one thin stretch of sandy beach without a sharp-edged rock to torment the recumbent, Omen returned. With his usual smile and childish joy, he announced that he'd found help! As if on cue, he waved a stubby fin and the sea mists parted, clove in twain by the prow of another merchant ship.
It was a familiar ship at that: a trader from Pasos, by the look of its ornate decorations. And the dinghy that approached bore a gesticulating, blue bandana-bearing captain and friend of Ciddar: the jolly, dashing seafarer Captain Juchello, of the ship… Eelsmirk. Soon you met- Juchello said the fish had told of your plight and beckoned him here, and he had been lost in a storm since Sacred Time began, but finally had found his way here, near a friendly port, and would gladly take you across the narrow strait off Squid Point to Giraine, and the safe port of St Thosos.
Like Miss Nettastoma, he bravely shrugged off your words of curses and doom– he was a true sailor, who respected Magasta but rested his career on defying his power with the shield of St Dormal's ritual that Opened the Closed seas. You joined his crew in happy company, hungrily feasting on their ample supply of trade goods, and for an hour or so you knew rest and happiness, and even hope, as the ship turned toward Giraine…
But it was not to be, you felt in your hearts, and soon evidence came that dashed your hopes and joy. Ciddar saw a long eyestalk peering over the Eelsmirk's deck, and then you looked out to sea and saw several large looping coils, with a spiny back, undulate over the waves before they plunged under, turning toward you. The danger was unmistakeable: it was Pellinoresbane, the great sea monster that haunted Ahappi's family and had almost effortlessly crippled his ship The Shadow on the Fosnoir strait just a couple of seasons ago.
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