Tides of Death: Episode 41

__NOTOC__
== Synopsis ==
After losing his hand to the frost trap, John finds he retains full use of his hand, and Saol is able to reattach it. The party overcomes traps and travels miles through an underground passageway, where they eventually come to a charred, underground temple, over which has been placed a symbol of Astair. The party defeats a stone golem that comes to life, and discovers dark blue dragon scales that activates a health restoring mechanism. The party works to interpret an inscription, which leads them to the middle of the ocean between the islands. The party descend beneath the waves, to an underground cave where they find Telemaki. The party informs Telemaki its following has been completely eradicated. Telemaki tells them about the rise of the White Prince, and agrees to work with the party to bring about the downfall of the White Prince. Telemaki grants Nilrem a massive spellbook, and allows Archie to consume one of its whiskers, granting a yet unknown power.
==Recap==
===14th February, 1515===
On Rocky Ridge, John Winters and Nilrem stand before the frost-trapped door, staring in disbelief at John’s severed hand. Nilrem professes John’s hand should not have been severed, and is sure the hand defied the laws of magic. The party is eventually able to pry John’s hand off of the door as it thaws. John finds he is able to manipulate his severed hand when he holds it to the stump of his arm. 
Saol attempts to sew John’s hand back onto the stump, but he initially fails, as he realizes he has lost sensation in his hands due to his sacrifice to resurrect John, and was unable to guide the needle properly. Saol eventually succeeds on the second try, and John regains use of his hand. 
During the suturing, John realizes he should be more upset over having potentially lost a hand, but realizes he simply does not care and is content accepting these events happening to him. Saol begins to resent Archie, feeling their current state is because both made the sacrifice, and that he would have lost Archie as a friend and ally had he not gone through with saving John. Nilrem finds himself liking the group more than just a means to finding the Fountain of Youth, but fears falling to the influence of Rho-ei.
The party eventually makes their way through the door, into a dark chamber with an illusory floor filled with spikes. The party fetches a log to get over the pit and they rest for the night. John, finding he needs no sleep, keeps watch. Outside, he sees the life force of a giant coming down the mountain, heading straight for the party. The party closes the entrance, and though they make ready for combat, the giant does not attempt to enter. 
===15th Feb, 1515 ===
In the morning, the party sets back out down the passage. The passage leads down to a set of stairs that goes on for miles downwards. Eventually, they arrive at what appears to be the burnt, blackened remains of an underground temple. The party sees that someone had taken the time to inscribe the symbol of Astair in blue and gold, filled in with lacquer over the blackened char. As the party investigates, a stone golem bearing the symbols of Astair upon it comes to life.
Combat start: The Crimson Fists vs The Stone Golem
Nilrem acts first, casting over the golem, but the golem walks through unaffected. Saol, charging in, is unable to avoid the web and is caught within the area of effect. Saol cuts himself free with his sandstone dagger. John flanks around, readying his attack. Archie lands what would be a powerful strike, but finds his fists are unable to harm the golem. The golem slams its fists down on Archie, but Archie manages to deflect the attack.
Archie covers up to block the incoming attacks. Saol casts in an attempt to blind the golem, but the snakes prove ineffective against the golem’s otherworldly awareness. Nilrem casts , dealing 11. The golem casts on Archie; Archie fails to save. The golem then follows up with its melee attack, dealing 12 to Archie. John engages the golem in melee combat, slicing the golem with the Sandstone Rapier, dealing 6. John saves against an unknown magical effect.
Nilrem continues to fire , dealing 16. The golem turns to John and delivers a crushing blow, dealing 16. John fights back, dealing 7. Archie maintains his defensive stance. Saol casts , forming the stone underneath the golem, trapping its legs and rendering it immobile.
John disengages. Saol misses on a dagger attack. The golem smashes Saol for 18. Nilrem deals 16 with another cast of . 
Nilrem draws his Sandstone Dagger and engages the golem in melee combat, dealing a killing blow for 6. The golem crumbles and turns to dust.
Comat end. 
=== Investigating the Temple===
After dispatching the golem, the party investigates the temple. They see an inscription that has been mostly destroyed, but part of it survives:
They see the depiction of a serpent, but Saol concludes the serpent is not Rho-ei. 
Saol makes the connection that is shaped like a jaw. The party sees a very tall statue shaped as a dragon’s head and a rocky passageway blocked by collapsed stone. Eventually, Archie comes across a collection of dark blue dragon scales bundled together in copper wire. John heals himself with a healing salve. Saol then finds an emerald within the dust of the golem.
After some time spent investigating, the party finds a ridged slot within the wall. After poking and prodding, Nilrem takes a scale and places it within the wall. Despite seeming larger than the slot, the scale fits within and disappears, and Nilrem regains 3 HP. John does the same and heals for 7, as does Archie for 6.
Eventually, the party goes to clear the collapsed passageway. Saol softens the stone in the area, and Archie begins excavating. However, the passageway proves unstable and threatens to cave in. The party rests and prepares to clear the passageway in the morning, which they do.
The party travels for several more hours through the tunnel, traveling over a small underground river. Eventually, the party comes to a dead end of the brick, but Saol simply turns the brick into an archway with the second cast of .
After parting the brick, the party finds themselves within the bright light of day on the other side of the mountain of the Rocky Ridge. Just past the brick, they see a completely overgrown town showing no signs of life.
== The Maw Lies Within the Jaws, 16th Feb, 1515 ==
After parting the brick, the party finds themselves within the bright light of day on the other side of the mountain of the Rocky Ridge. Just past the brick, they see a completely overgrown town showing no signs of life. They discuss whether they should continue searching.
Eventually, the party makes their way to the shore. Nilrem deploys their ship. Saol asks Rho-ei whether they will find Telemaki at the center of the islands, and Rho-ei replies with a “plus symbol” which Nilrem interprets as being “positive.” Nilrem casts Light, creating a large arrow in the sky pointing at their location. 
The party sets out to sea, and sail to the middle of the islands. Nilrem successfully navigates the party to the middle. The water is surprisingly clear, with a reef sitting on the sea floor, 30 feet down. They drop anchor and notice the reef forms a circle, at the center of which it seems to drop down into a dark abyss. The party investigates the surrounding area but finds nothing. Saol drops down a rock illuminated with Light, and it drops down hundreds of feet. Nilrem recasts the Light spell, their boat starts to rock, and bubbles burst to the surface. Saol drops a scale into the water, no response. 
Saol calls out, saying Rho-ei has sent them. Bubbles appear again. John calls out, “Telemaki! We freed you from your prison, we expect an audience!” John's call is unanswered. The party discusses how they might fight underwater if required but find their options limited. John recalls a tale of a knight named Anton the Rude, who fought monsters beneath the waves using a Ring of Free Action. The party decides to investigate with spells the next day. 
They spend the night on the boat and wait for the morning.
===Feb 17th 1515===
The next day, the party accepts that fighting a dragon underwater would just mean their demise, and begin their descent with , , , and . The party goes 400 feet down the passageway until they are able to surface in a dank, humid chamber. The chamber is made of razor-sharp coral.
Nilrem casts , and senses something, but finds the spell is quickly negated. Nilrem casts ESP again and senses the feeling of a pleasant, smug, welcoming host. The party walks further into the darkness until they come across the silhouette of a massive creature. The creature’s head moves into the light, revealing the head of a massive dark blue wyrm, though the rest of its body remains shrouded in darkness. 
Nilrem replies he wants eternal life. Telemaki is amused at Nilrem’s boldness, saying it cannot grant such a thing directly, but can guide Nilrem to find eternal life. John says they come as servants of the Drowned One. The dragon’s eyes twitch inwards and its nostrils flare as it goes to sniff John. Telemaki laughs, amused that the party’s “monster” can speak. John says he wishes to be made whole.
Telemaki is surprised by John, struggling to understand John’s existence as “a freak of nature that should not be,” wondering “who has done this to you.” Telemaki then begins to question who is this being that has come to rule his domain in his absence. John replies they share a common enemy in The White Prince, to which the dragon grumbles at the mention of them.
== Telemaki ==
Telemaki explains that long ago, the White Prince trapped him in the mountain, and it wishes nothing more than to see the White Prince dead. John adds they need to force the White Prince out of the Outer Rim, but the H.S. Lawbringer, the massive ship loaded with griffins and magic, is too powerful to be taken on in a direct fight. Telemaki replies that it also wishes to see the vessel wrapped up and brought beneath the waves, but it needs time to rest, prepare, and regather its followers.
The party informs Telemaki that its followers have been eradicated and that no more remain. Telemaki disagrees, citing it being called upon just three days earlier in one of its temples. Nilrem recants their exploration of the temple a few days ago, and Telemaki is crestfallen realizing the following it spent centuries building is no more, all undone by The White Prince. 
Saol says he could offer many new followers who would gladly follow Telemaki. Telemaki questions Saol, asking who this patron of his is, seeing no symbol of any god. 
After thinking, Saol replies aloud, “My god is Rho-ei.” Telemaki asks who Rho-ei is, and Saol warns against saying the name out loud.
Telemaki, angered, states “I am ancient. I’ve seen this world in its early days. I am a god here, and yet, this name is unknown to me?”
Nilrem states, “if you want to meet him, I’d suggest the exit, go into the water and say his name. I think he’ll come” pointing at the water behind him.
After a pause, Telemaki informs the party that if they wish to sink the ships of the White Prince, they need only let it know and it will be ready. The party and Telemaki discuss how they might go about setting a trap for the White Prince.
John informs Telemaki that the on Sulfer Island yet lives, and they have many followers who would join Telemaki. Telemaki is pleased that it will have an army, but John replies that is his army. Saol steps in to lower tensions, and asks how it is that The White Prince managed to defeat Telemaki, such a powerful creature so long ago, and how the White Prince managed to conquer the Dardens.
== Rise of the White Prince ==
Telemaki begins to recant its history with the White Prince.
Telemaki tells the party that The White Prince was a man, a cleric like any other, “simple” and “ordinary” but “very wise.” The White Prince spent a lifetime attuning himself to Astair, giving over his entire mind, body, and soul to the god of society. The path of the White Prince was ordinary in nature, but simply unparalleled in magnitude and gifted with tremendous power. 
Telemaki posits that the White Prince was divinely chosen to walk his path and was accordingly able to succeed on an otherwise straightforward path of conquest. The White Prince was able to raise his followers against Telemaki and establish cities. All things typical of any conqueror, but Telemaki says that things changed when the White Prince found himself a source of eternal life and was able to remain ageless as his worshipers aged and died. The White Prince was able to establish greater and greater power within the center of the storm. Over many generations, the White Prince was able to reach out to every island in the Dardens, where his followers clashed with the followers of Telemaki. Astair was protecting him, keeping Telemaki at bay. 
Eventually, the White Prince and Telemaki faced off at the mountain, and The White Prince was able to seal away Telemaki within, and for five generations Telemaki remained trapped. Each time Telemaki would almost claw his way out, the followers of the White Prince would seal him back within until they were freed by the party.
John says The White Prince must be some warrior and cleric to have been able to seal away Telemaki. 
Telemaki was sealed a way with Divine magic, and doesn't know where their treasure is.
== The Pact Made ==
To thank the party, Telemaki gifts Nilrem with a massive, ancient spellbook. Archie asks to become more powerful, believing all their misfortunes are due to his own weakness. Telemaki grabs Archie and allows Archie to consume one of its whiskers. 
Nilrem then asks Telemaki whether it used to live among the stars with the “others” to which Telemaki takes offense. Telemaki bellows, “I am the god of the seas, I am the god of the deep! This is where I belong.”
As discussions conclude, Telemaki thanks the party for their efforts to destroy the White Prince, promising to not sink their ships, and further promises that when the time comes to destroy the White Prince’s ships, they will be ready.
Telemaki warns the party that The White Prince is the most powerful cleric it has ever seen, and that he can cast spells unlike any other. Telemaki adds that the White Prince can cast spells from any divine domain, and that no spell is restricted to him.
Nilrem kneels before Telemaki and asks if John can be given a boon, but Telemaki dismisses them. The party leaves.
==Experience==
2% to John for pirate facts; 1% to Saol, Archie, and Nilrem.
Category:Tides of Death Episodes