Chapter 17

The Temple of Umberlee was actually more of a complex of buildings surrounding the main temple on the shoreline. A series of wooden and stone buildings containing a mess hall for the guards and priests, a bunkhouse for the Guards, and a mansion that served as chambers for not only Wavemistress Aud, but also Bjorn Shankspar, the Commander of the Waveguard that guarded the temple, and Wavemistress Aud's two subordinate priests.

The Bunkhouse was closest to the town of Jannathstaad, a drystone construction with a sod roof nestled into the side of a low hill that separated the town from the beach. Meanwhile, both the Priestly Quarters and the Mess Hall were made of wood, and decorated with fronds of seaweed. It was the Temple itself, planted in the middle of the beach, that we had seen earlier, painted blue-green, and sat on the most desolate stretch of beach nearest to the waterline.

It really was a neat little setup that the Church of Umberlee had in Jannathstaad, part of the town, yet still about as separate from it as the Jarl's Castle was. Really, only the Temple itself was easily gotten to, as one could walk along the fjord that formed the harbor and reach it. It also wasn't the likeliest place where evidence of treason would be stored. That would likely be somewhere in the Priestly Quarters, the wooden mansion surrounded by a copse of trees.

Unfortunately, the Waveguards were out in force tonight, their chainmail armor and blue cloaks conspicuous even in the dark. Fortunately, Janessa had cast invisibility on us all. We snuck into the Bunkhouse first, just in case we could find proof of anything in there. The stone rooms of the bunkhouse were messy, with only a single Waveguard inside, studying a book that appeared to be one of Umberlee's Holy Books, the Oncoming Tide. Apparently, this guy wanted to become a priest at some point. Thankfully, the Would-be Priest was so engrossed in his holy book that we could look around the Bunkhouse more or less unchallenged.

Unfortunately, the most we managed in the two minutes of searching the bunkhouse was some personal correspondence by the Lieutenant of the Waveguard, a man named Skellan, to someone named Njord Seachanter, who was apparently a cousin of his and who was a Floodtide of Umberlee. Apparently, Njord had warned his cousin to be ready to act in the event that Jarl Finehair wasn't swayed. It was all very sinister, and all very vague. Aside from that, there wasn't much we were able to find before having to move on, but I figured that it might make sense as part of a larger body of evidence and stashed it in my bag of holding.

We also managed to loot a literal buttload of Evermead from the small cellar of the Bunkhouse. Literally, a large barrel or butt of the stuff had been generously donated by a raider who had seized the cargo of a wine merchant heading back to Baldur's Gate from Evermeet. One of the Butts had been donated to the Temple here and since Wavemistress Aud didn't like Evermead, she'd given it to the Waveguards. They hadn't yet tapped it, Lieutenant Skellan's papers indicated they were waiting until the next First Tide Festival to crack it open.

Since this was worth two-thousand-five-hundred Danter on the open market, we manhandled the butt of Evermead into one of our empty bags of holding and took it with us. After all, by the time they would have to bring it out for First Tide, we would have already managed to discredit them. They shouldn't realize anything was amiss. So long as they remained unwilling to break it open until then, we would be good to take it with us.

Next up, we headed for the temple, still under the effects of Janessa's Invisibility spell. Inside, the wooden pillars were painted with blue and green lacquer, while the floor was tiled in sea glass in those same colors. The ceiling was similarly painted, with little golden-bronze images of various sea creatures carved and painted on the ceiling as a sort of mural. Bronze statues stood in various places, depicting Umberlee as a beautiful but stern woman, gazing down imperiously at her worshippers, while on the altar sat a holy icon of Umberlee that radiated magical power which made clerical magic easier to perform in its presence. I could tell the icon had been painted on wood that had once been part of a ship's hull from the subtle curvature of the icon.

It was all very impressive, but it wasn't what we were looking for. Instead, we headed to the side rooms, where I managed to disarm a needle trap that would coat a needle in stingray poison from a vial and stab it into the hand of anyone who tried opening the door without the proper key. I took the vial and stashed it away, replacing it with an empty vial of Numbfish Jelly that I had looted from the Sahuagin and used up already, Selima filled the vial with conjured water, while Janessa Prestidigitated the Water to appear like Stingray Venom. I then pocketed the real vial of Stingray Venom, which was worth another six hundred Danter on the Open Market, and picked the lock on the door, entering the Wavemistress' Office.

Inside, we looked about for any papers that might tell us what she was planning. Here, we found more correspondence, once more vague things written to Lady Morwyn and alluding to their ongoing efforts to consolidate power in the Archipelago. It did prove that Lady Morwyn was the inside woman, as it were, for the fall of Caer Jannath and Cadfael Island as a whole, and that Lady Morwyn was a secret Umberlant, but anything proving any intent on the part of Wavemistress Aud to do something similar in Jannathstaad was couched in more vague terms. It did show a wider network of Umberlant Conspirators at play, though, which was necessary to link Wavemistress Aud and the Skaug Corsairs. It went into our bags as part of a wider body of evidence before we headed out of the Temple.

By now, six minutes had passed under invisibility and we had only two more before Janessa's Spells would wear off. We decided to make a beeline for the Priestly Quarters, passing by the wooden mess hall as we did so and peering in through the large windows to see that both Wavemistress Aud and the Armored Bulk of Bjorn Shankspar were both present at the evening meal, as were Wavemistress Aud's two subordinate clerics and the Lieutenant of the Waveguard. The Platinum Blonde, Silver-Bedecked, Robed form of Wavemistress Aud and the square-jawed, beardless, plate armor-clad Bjorn Shankspar sat at the high table, while below them sat a number of Young Acolytes, or Untaken, and Waveguards. Among them sat the Scalemail Clad, Blonde-haired, form of Lieutenant Skellan, and the two Subordinate Priests, or Breaking Waves, one male, one female, in their blue and green robes.

This was good since it meant we would likely have a clear shot at whatever evidence was left to grab, so long as we managed to grab it before they finished their evening meal. To that end, I picked the lock on the Priestly Quarters and we headed inside. There were a number of bedrooms, one each for the Breaking Waves on the lower floor, while a sizable room was filled with beds for the Untaken. A cursory search that I did using Sift Cantrip to speed things along revealed nothing of import on the bottom floor save for a few valuables that would definitely be noticed if they went missing.

Instead, we made our way up the stairs and managed to pick the lock on both Wavemistress Aud and Bjorn Shankspar's bedroom doors. Once Again, I managed to do so after disarming needle traps of a similar construction to the one on the door to Wavemistress Aud's Office, and once again Janessa and Selima helped with replacing the vials of Stingray Venom with magically altered fakes so we could pocket the real deal without anyone catching on. Searching the bedrooms, which had their own beds, desks, and assorted nicknacks would take up the entire rest of our time invisible, necessitating us sneaking out through the wooded copse and making our way back to the docks over hilly areas.

What we found at the end of our searches was more incriminating evidence linking the Church of Umberlee to Rognvaldr who the Church of Umberlee was using as one of three go-betweens to treat with the Zhentarim in exchange for furthering their plans. This correspondence was once again put into our bags as part of a greater body of evidence, but the best part was that we found a letter from a Zhentarim Agent in Baldur's Gate to Wavemistress Aud that clearly stated that the Church of Umberlee's overall goal was to seize control of the entire Jannath's Tears Archipelago. Apparently, this agent, Montaron, who I remembered from the events of the Games which hadn't happened yet, had sent along a ship carrying something that would help in that goal. I stashed the correspondence while frowning.

"What do you think he could mean?" Questioned Janessa in hushed tones.

"I don't know. It could be anything, magic equipment, monsters, a barrel of smokepowder, who knows?" I queried back, quietly.

"It matters little, I suppose." Whispered Shavariel.

"How do you figure?" Asked Selima in a low voice.

"Because we do not have time to search. Not unless Janessa has more invisibility spells." Answered Shavariel, discreetly.

"I don't." Confirmed Janessa, still speaking in hushed tones.

"Which means every moment we spend here is one more moment we could be caught." I nodded, continuing to speak quietly.

"I see. We should probably head back, then." Murmured Selima.

And with that, the four of us headed out as quickly and as stealthily as we could. Fortunately, the Waveguards didn't seem to spot us as we exited the Priestly Quarters, making our way through the copse of trees as we did so. In the middle of the copse, however, we came upon a sight I hadn't been prepared for. A small, wooden, one-room, shack was stuck smack in the middle of the small forested area. I frowned, looking between the shack and my companions. Janessa made a gesture toward the shack before looking back at me with a cocked eyebrow. I checked to see that we were out of sight of the Umberlant Complex, which we were, before nodding.

Surprisingly, the shack had a pair of traps on it. The first was a Burnt Othur Vapor Trap which I just barely spotted in time to avoid setting off. I took time to disable the mechanism, a simple loose plank on the porch of the shack that would have triggered the dispenser, jamming the plank into place before grabbing the vial of Burnt Othur poison out of the spray mechanism, which was once more replaced with a magically crafted fake. The second trap was in actuality two traps in one. The lock itself was covered in dragon bile, while inside the lock was another stingray poison needle trap. I just about managed to disarm both of those, though it took a while, and recover the poisons which were again, replaced by magically-created fakes.

All told, between the Dragon Bile, the Burnt Othur, and the Stingray Poison, that was another two-thousand-six-hundred Danter worth of poisons collected. That was a fact not lost on my companions as I got to work unlocking the door now that the traps were disarmed. They started chatting about it in quiet voices as I worked my entirely non-magical magic on the door lock.

"Someone really doesn't want anyone poking around here." Mused Janessa, quietly.

"Indeed. Those poisons were quite expensive." Agreed Selima in a low voice.

"If that is so, then I think we may have found where whatever the Zhentarim sent the Temple of Umberlee is being kept." Nodded Shavariel in hushed tones.

"I'm in." I whispered as the lock on the door clicked open.

That drew my Companions' attention back to the task at hand as we entered the shack to discover not an actual room, but a staircase leading down into an underground chamber that had been dug out of the earth, supported with columns, and paved with stones. A mural high up on the far wall, done up in smoky, colored, glass emulated a window looking out over a stormy sea. As we entered the underground room, we almost immediately spotted the Zhentarim's little surprise.

Stacked against the rightmost wall of the underground chamber were several wooden barrels with iron hoops. Each Barrel was stamped with the sigil of the Zhentarim, the same sigil we saw on the crates aboard the Hammerdown when we first took control of the ship. Uncorking one of the barrels revealed a coarse, dark grey powder, confirming my fears.

The Zhentarim had sent the Umberlants some of their bootleg Smokepowder, the sort that wasn't as good as the Lantanese Stuff that they had stolen the formula for from the Shou Lung, who used it for fireworks and other ceremonial purposes. It was cheaper and easier to manufacture by apprentice alchemists, but that didn't mean it couldn't be dangerous in bulk, especially if you weren't prepared for it. The Jarl's Castle would be a lot more easily taken using this to blow down some of the walls, for instance.

Unfortunately, we couldn't do anything about it right now. There wasn't enough room in our bags of holding to take half this stuff with us, and even leaving a single barrel could be a problem if and when the Umberlants decided they were done playing around and it was time to take control of Jannathstaad by force. We had to settle for letting Magnus Ullrsson know about the cache down here when we spoke with him. For now, we would simply have to make our way back into town over the hills.

This was, it had to be said, the most dangerous part of this mission. The small section of low hills that separated most of the Umberlant Compound from the rest of Jannathstaad rose up just high enough that we could be spotted crossing over them by the Waveguards if we weren't careful. We tried to silently make our way across the hills and back into town, and somehow it seemed like Tymora was smiling on us, because even though Selima stumbled on a few loose rocks, knocking them down the hillside with a conspicuous clacking noise, none of the Waveguards heard us. I'd later find out this was because the Guard Rotation was changing out so the Waveguards who had been on duty during the evening meal could get food for themselves.

Whatever the reason, we made it back into town all right, heading for where the Hammerdown was docked. Tomorrow morning, we would meet with Magnus Ullrsson about what we had seen and what evidence we had taken. Hopefully, that would be enough for our purposes. After all, Jarl Finehair was due back tomorrow afternoon, and we had to be sure that he would take our side over the Umberlants.

If not, then it was likely we would be as good as dead as Wavemistress Aud wreaked her vengeance for our nocturnal activities. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, here's the next chapter. It's a lot of sneaking around and gathering evidence, but we do get to see a sneak peek at the Umberlant Compound situated around their temple and the forces that they have there. Robar and Company now have proof that there's a massive Umberlant Conspiracy in the Jannath's Tears Archipelago, a conspiracy that is working with the Zhentarim, though the Zhentarim's motivations for helping them do this aren't too clear. After all, the Zhentarim primarily worship Cyric, and to a lesser extent, Bane. Neither of those Gods would seem to look favorably on Umberlee gaining more power. Not unless there was something in it for them.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the next meeting with Magnus Ullrsson as Robar and Company present their evidence. I'll have more images up before then, though, as we just got introduced to several new areas and faces this chapter.

Stay tuned. . .