BBG: Chapter 28

For a few moments, we did nothing but heal and rest, using what few spells and potions we had left before heading back up into the Coral Citadel Proper to loot the tower that Xommyrru Mentioned for any remaining health potions that the Sahuagin may have been keeping around. The stuff tasted like seaweed and fish parts that I'd rather not think about, but it healed us up most of the way to full health, though Selima was completely out of spells for the day, so we probably shouldn't get into any more combat.

Once that was done, we headed back down into Xommyrru's Lair to loot the Dead Brine Dragon's Hoard. It was clear after the first hour or so that moving all of this would be the work of days. Even with the aid of bags of holding and Floating Disk to carry it all. Honestly, just the monetary value was astounding. Much of it was in miscellaneous coinage and gemstones, worth roughly fifty thousand Danter, but there were a few genuine pieces of art in there as well. A gold cup set with emeralds and a gold and ruby statuette of an armored horse and rider, both worth Ten Thousand Danter, a gold circlet set with aquamarine gemstones worth Six Thousand Danter, a silk and cloth of gold tapestry set with lapis lazuli and jet beads depicting General Cordell's Conquest of Maztica for Amn worth four thousand Danter.

Then there were the magic items. The first four of which required us to expend Spells of Identify on, as none of us could figure out everything about them with just a glance and a bit of study with spellcraft. Starting with the Drakebane Bow, continuing onto a Silvery Sword Pommel and a Basket-Hilt for another Sword, before ending with a Cloak Pin that had Deneirrath Symbols inscribed on it, Janessa and I cast our spells of Identify on the items to try and figure out what they were.

The Drakebane Bow that Shavariel Picked up was actually the Famed Composite Longbow Drakedeath which had been used by Davros 'Dragonfoe' Delzentyr, a Naval Commander of Waterdeep in the twelve-nineties Dale Reckoning. He had used the bow to slay a Black Dragon lairing in the Coastal Swamp Southwest of Daggerford, Tirdiass, the Dark, in twelve-ninety-four. He used it again in twelve-ninety-seven to slay Dilzryn of the Sudden Flame, a Red Dragon Lairing in the Sword Mountains near the Coast between Thornhold and Waterdeep. Apparently, he had gone looking to back a third Dragon when he'd heard about Xommyrru, but hadn't been prepared for how different Brine Dragons were to their Chromatic Cousins.

Xommyrru had taken Davros off Guard as he sailed toward Gundarlun, attacking suddenly in the middle of the night and capsizing Davros' ship, the Waterdhavian Sloop Swiftarrow, before finishing Davros with a bite that tore him in half. Apparently, Xommyrru had kept the bow for his hoard, realizing its value. Indeed, the bow was made of darkwood and horn, strung with Dragon sinew, and carried a standard plus three enchantment, as well as enchantments of Energy Aura, Magical Beast Bane, and Dragonbane. It also could not be wielded by anyone whose strength was less than Shavariel's, as the composite nature of the bow made drawing impossible for weaker people.

At the same time, there was a Minor Artifact in the Hoard. The Ring of Greater Evermemory. This was a piece of jewelry specifically for spellcasters that would double the amount of First, Second, and Third Level Spells that could be cast per day. An innovation of the Zakharan Sha'ir Lord of the City of Qadib, Kemal Al-Hadi, the Ring of Greater Evermemory was a gift to his Firstborn Son, the Sha'ir Rahman Al-Walad Al-Hadi, on Rahman's graduation from the University of Qadib. Rahman had a keen interest in becoming a Naval Mage and became the Captain of the Xebec Marid's Wrath.

Rahman took his Xebec and its crew to fight the Corsairs of Hawa. After using the Ring to great effect in his campaign, personally striking down several feared Corsair captains who engaged him, believing him to be out of spells and sending a dozen Corsair ships to the bottom of the sea. However, Rahman's style of command was heavy on discipline and light on praise or rewards. After learning that they would receive no shares of the recovered Corsair Plunder, the Crew of the Marid's Wrath had enough. They mutinied in the middle of the night, slaying Rahman as he slept in his bed and turning Corsair themselves.

From there, The Ring of Greater Evermemory changed hands multiple times, going from Rahman to the Corsair Sha'ir Reza Korgoli, who purchased it from Rahman's Crew for a pittance, as they had no idea what it was. Reza Korgoli sailed his Ship across the Great Sea to Dambrath, where the Isolationist Nation turned him back in a battle off the coast south of the Great Swamp of Rethild, though they lost several ships sunk or damaged in the process. Reza Kogoli sailed west to Luiren, where he died of wounds sustained in the battle.

The Ring then Passed to a Halfling Trader named Calara Littlegather, who sold it to a Rare Items Procurer working for Malharduu, Archmage of Tashluta. Unfortunately, that item procure was attacked by Bandits, who sold their ill-gotten gains to Smugglers sailing out of Port Nyanzaru in Chult. Those Smugglers smuggled the Ring into Calimport, where a Thieves Guild Mage named Nazeem made great use of it in a War with Pasha Pook's Guild. Pook called for Artemis Entreri to assassinate Nazeem, which he did, managing to poison the Wizard's nightly bottle of wine. Nazeem had been buried with the Ring, but it wasn't long before a group of Mercenaries hired by Ralan El-Pesarkhal in preparation for his upcoming coup, looted Nazeem's grave.

That group of Mercenaries helped Ralan become Syl-Pasha of Calimport and once they had been paid, set off for further adventures, their Mage, a Luskanite Graduate of the Tower of Luskan named Kethra the Red, for both the color of her hair and her love of flame spells, urged them to sail north for Luskan and take work with the Council of Captains. The others agreed, and it was during this time that Kethra used the Ring of Greater Evermemory to burn several Rival Captains' Ships to the Waterline in a display of power. Unfortunately, their ship, the Fierce Gale was ironically, caught in a storm between Luskan and Gundarlun, before being beset by Koalinth seeking easy prey.

They fought off the Koalinth, but the commotion drew the attention of Xommyrru, who slew them and took the ring back into the deeps with him for his hoard. In its five-decade run as an extant artifact, the Ring of Greater Evermemory had been part of several stories of various heroes and villains. Now it would be a part of our story.

Of course, there were also other items of legend in the Hoard. The Pommel of the Longsword Yeenoghu's Doom and the Basket Hilt of the Longsword Tymora's Song, both parts of Major Artifacts that had been shattered apart by powers opposed to those that had mandated their creation. Both took the form of Divinely Inspired or Empowered Longswords.

In the case of Yeenoghu's Doom that was Helm, who had gifted the Clerics of a Fortress Monastery in the Cloud Peaks the knowledge of how to create the weapon, and Yeenoghu, the Demon Prince of Gnolls, whose Children the Weapon was aimed at slaying. The Fortress Monastery was sacked around ninety years ago by Gnollish Attackers, and Yeenoghu's Doom was broken apart into three pieces and scattered. The Ruins of the Fortress Monastery were still around, of course, and the Tribe of Gnolls that had sacked it had made the ruins their new home from which, they could sweep down into the plains every spring from the mountains to raid settlements. That might be a decent place to look for another piece of the weapon.

In the case of Tymora's Song, that was Tymora, who was directly invoked in the creation of the Artifact, and Beshaba, who was always Tymora's fiercest foe. Apparently, Tymora had guided her past few champions to the Sword, but the last Champion, a half-elf named Elisha Fast-Legged was slain by the Champion of Beshaba, a Human named Noldressa Shadowhisper. Noldressa used magic gifted to her by Beshaba to shatter Tymora's Song into three pieces during their battle near Baldur's Gate. Unfortunately, only the blade was recovered by the Luckbringers of the Lady's Hall of Baldur's Gate. That left the Pommel, of which the only clue was that Noldressa had taken it with her.

Aside from those, there was also the Cloak Pin of Book, Eye, and Candle, a Deneirrath Item that Selima recognized, and thus didn't require us to expend a spell of Identify on learning what it was. Apparently, these were made for some of the most senior members of the Zealots of the Written Word, an Order of Adventuring Clerics of Deneir. It not only made you hardier and fiercer in combat, but allowed you to read, write, speak, and understand all languages as if under a permanent spell of tongues, read magic, and it even kept the wearer safe from fear.

Aside from that, I noticed a swatch of red cloth that was enchanted, pulling it out of the hoard, I was able to figure out with my Spellcraft Abilities that this was a headband of Fortune's Favor, which would grant the wearer an extra measure of luck, making them that much harder to hit in combat. The Headband was wrapped around a Bronze Horn scribed with Northlander Runes that I instantly recognized as a Bronze Horn of Valhalla, which, when blown, would summon between two to eight Barbarian Warriors to fight for the summoner. The Horn, however, could only be blown once every seven days or the magic would unravel. Finally, tucked away in a corner near a bookcase was another bag of holding, this one was currently empty, save for a single Waterdhavian Harbour Moon Electrum and Platinum Piece worth Fifty Danter that had somehow been missed when turning out the bag.

Aside from the sheer wealth and those magic items, we discovered the scrolls were spell scrolls. A trove of Arcane, Clerical, and Bardic Magic was set before us, enough to make Janessa, Selima, and Myself True Masters of the First and Second Circles of our respective mystic disciplines. We could spend weeks learning all of these, though we didn't have weeks at the moment and would most likely have to settle for learning over time. This repository of spells would likely be more useful in the medium and short term than almost any of the other items.

Aside from that, there was also Knight-Lieutenant Melarue's Watchpost Banner. It was a thing of beauty, cloth of silver, beaded with pearls and cowrie shells to form the image of a white trident on a blue field, all limned in silver. The whole thing was enchanted so that neither the elements nor battle damage would tear, burn, tarnish, or otherwise ruin the banner, thereby spoiling the luster and glory of the institution of the Watchpost. Honestly, it was a masterpiece of art and I could see why Knight-Lieutenant Melarue wanted it back, even aside from the morale reasons to retrieve a stolen banner.

Lastly, there was a set of dispatches, memorandums, orders, and so on. These had all come from Lady Morwen, who was one of the people in charge of the Umberlant Assault on the Jannath's Tears Archipelago as a Darkbreaker of Umberlee, having recently been promoted from Floodtide after her successful capture of Cadfael Island. As my Companions gathered around me to read the papers, I couldn't help but frown.

"That explains how Lord Cadfael and his Men were taken so off-guard, at least. It was an inside job, at least partly." I mused.

"It also looks like Morwen isn't the highest-ranking Umberlant on Cadfael Island even though she's nominally in charge, look." Pointed out Selima.

She was right, I noticed a mention of a Puissant Undertow Montcalm in some of the correspondence. Puissant Undertow Montcalm seemed to be the one who had actually summoned Xommyrru and forced him to work for the Umberlant Church. Most of the orders were couched in terms of Darkbreaker Morwen acting as an intermediary for Puissant Undertow Montcalm's orders.

"Is Puissant Undertow higher ranking than Darkbreaker?" Questioned Janessa.

"Puissant Undertow is the Highest Rank you can be in the Church of Umberlee and still be considered a middle-ranked Priest or Priestess." Answered Shavariel.

"Though check out that name. Montcalm. Do you think she's related to the Montcalms of the Foothills of the Small Teeth?" I queried.

"The Amnian Nobility?" Asked Selima.

"If she is, she's a long way from her family's vineyard." Smirked Janessa.

House Montcalm was not one of the larger houses of Amnian Nobility. It was still a fairly prosperous Baronial House with a small Barony in the Northwestern Foothills of the Small Teeth Mountain Range, near the coast of the Sea of Swords. They had a Vineyard in the hills, a Castle on the Road Leading from the Vineyard to the Coast, and a small port on the Coast from which they exported their family's vintage of Amnian Dessert Wine to various ports around the Sea of Swords. It wasn't a large operation, but it was a prosperous one, and the Barons Montcalm had largely been able to avoid having such a lucrative land bought out or seized by the larger Nobles and Merchant Princes of Amn.

If this Puissant Undertow Montcalm was a relative of Lord Montcalm's, then I could easily see how that sort of scandal could embroil the small Montcalm Barony in enough controversy that Lord Montcalm would start to see challenges to his ownership of his Barony. After all, if a relative could be hiding such a piratical secret, the Lord of the Family would be able to hide even more thanks to his resources. Even if Lord Montcalm wasn't hiding anything, that wouldn't stop those who eyed his port and vineyard for themselves. It was a stupid risk for someone with that background to go into Piracy on the word of the Umberlant Church, but then, nobody had ever accused the Umberlant Church of being particularly sane.

"Let us read on. Perhaps we may find a hint of why Umberlee has sent her faithful here." Intoned Shavariel, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Right." I affirmed.

However, as we read on, the reason did become clear, but that did not make the scenario less dire. It seemed that somewhere under the ground of Cadfael Island, an ancient Sanctuary to Chauntea, under her Ancient Epithet of Jannath, the Earthmother, lay dormant. The Sacred Site was somewhere in the mountains and apparently dated back to the days of Netheril, Illusk, and the like. The Umberlants were in the Jannath's Tears Archipelago to attempt to pervert that site with a ritual dedicated to Umberlee. In so doing, they would ritualistically signify the victory of the Sea over the Land, giving Umberlee enough power to manifest an Avatar of the Bitch Queen on Toril, with limited loss of power on Umberlee's Part to create said avatar. It would also score Umberlee petty points in the pissing match she had going on with Chauntea, which was a far less pressing, though still entirely in-character, goal for Umberlee.

"This is bad." Mused Selima.

"You think?" Snarked Janessa.

"No, seriously. Do you have any idea what sort of problems an unleashed Avatar of Umberlee might cause?" I questioned.

"Umberlee is not to be trusted." Added Shavariel.

"What is she gonna do? Try and drown the Sword Coast?" Queried Janessa.

"I wouldn't put it past her." I insisted.

"Umberlee is a famously temperamental goddess." Concurred Selima.

"Indeed. Why do you think my people worship Deep Sashelas, even despite the fact that we live in the sea?" Asked Shavariel.

"Forget I asked." Groused Janessa.

"Fortunately, it looks like they haven't found a location yet. If they had, they wouldn't be ordering Xommyrru to attack ships to keep people from sailing to the Archipelago, they'd be ordering him to Cadfael Island to protect the dig site." I opined.

"So there's still time to stop it." Nodded Janessa.

"How much time is another matter. Umberlee might grow impatient with her minions' lack of progress and send them a vision of where to dig." Cautioned Selima.

"She can be quite impatient. It is the reason that a rogue wave can spring up out of nowhere." Offered Shavariel.

"In that case, we might not have enough time to take all the treasure." I frowned.

"Take the scrolls and magic items, then the art objects, and whatever gems or coinage we have the room for. The rest can be left for another time." Suggested Selima.

"Don't forget Melarue's Banner." Intoned Shavariel.

"Right, can't forget that." Smirked Janessa.

"All right, we know we're on a time crunch, so let's get to it." I commanded.

On that note, we began loading up bags of holding. Naturally, Janessa slipped the Ring of Greater Evermemory on, while Selima took the Cloak Pin of Book, Eye, and Candle, and Shavariel took Drakedeath for herself. That left me with the sword pieces, Headband of Fortune's Favor, and the Bronze Horn of Valhalla. I also took all of the Bard Scrolls, while Selima took the Clerical Ones and Janessa took the Arcane Ones. That done, we crammed every bit of spare space in our bags of holding and handy haversacks full of treasure.

Unfortunately, by the time our bags and haversacks were full, we still were leaving a significant, though far less large, pile of coinage on the ground, having only been able to take approximately thirty-thousand of the fifty-thousand value of the miscellaneous coinage and gemstones. Whoever was coming here next would be in for a pleasant surprise at seeing twenty-thousand Danter worth of miscellaneous coinage and gemstones unguarded and there for the taking. We simply didn't have the time or space to take the rest and had to leave it behind when we left the Coral Citadel.

The trip back to Knight-Lieutenant Melarue's Watchpost to hand off her Watchpost Banner was relatively uneventful. Most predators and undersea bandits avoided the area, thanks to Xommyrru's Presence, and hadn't yet seemed to have gotten the memo that Xommyrru had ceased to be. When we handed the Watchpost Banner back to her, Melarue's haunted and tired look gained some ethereal quality that I couldn't put my finger on while we were there as she thanked us for the return of her Watchpost's Banner. It wasn't until we were back aboard the Hammerdown and sailing for Heartharbor that I figured out what it had been that I had seen on her face.

Knight-Lieutenant Melarue had looked hopeful as we handed her back the Banner. As if for the first time in a long time, she could actually believe that the hard times were coming to an end. It was a good feeling to know that our actions had rekindled that spark in her after it had been stolen away by Sahuagin and a Brine Dragon. That feeling kept me in good cheer all the way through the trip back to Heartharbor. As soon as we docked, however, we would be ushered to the Council Chamber on a matter of some urgency, the cause of which would put a damper on my cheer.

It seemed that while we were dealing with Xommyrru, an Umberlant retaliatory raid had struck Jannathstaad. Jarl Ullr Finehair had been slain in the battle, and Magnus Ullrsson was now Jarl of Jannathstaad and Tearheim. Now, Jarl Magnus was demanding an immediate answer from the Council of Seaharbor about whether or not they would join his counterattack.

I could only hope that our deeds and findings would be enough to sway the Council. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here's the next chapter. We get insight into what exactly was in Xommyrru's Hoard, along with more plot-relevant details about what exactly the Umberlants are trying to do in the Jannath's Tears Archipelago. It's not great for anyone who doesn't grovel at the Altar of Umberlee, as usual.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the follow-up meeting with the Council of Seaharbor as Robar and Company try to convince the Councillors that they should join the newly crowned Jarl Magnus in his attack on Cadfael Island and the Umberlants there.

Stay tuned. . .