Expedition 117: Emervox Awakens

### Summary

We travel to the Sunken City and free Emervox, in turn pacifying the region. We learn what happened at the turning of the age.

### Detailed Writeup

After recieving water breathing from Ark, we travel across the sea in Finn's boat, *Tasha's Hideous Daughter*, with paisley painted sails. Ranag is already suited up in the Stormdeep Maille to avoid any ocean spray.

We stop directly above the city, and drop down in. We find decaying buildings underwater, and a cracking golden barrier of light surrounding the city square, now very small, only 40 feet in radius. We attempt to bust through the lightning barrier, Ranag going first and encountering no issues. Finn offers to go next, since he has lightning resistance, and upon passing through immediately starts suffocating - there is no longer air in the dome. He immediately rushes back through, taking more damage. Ranag finds a bathtub on the other side, and drags it to the barrier and pushes it through. Once it fills with water we push it back in, so that we can breathe the water on the inside. We all make it through, and Nexrin and Finn make their way to Emervox, dragging the bathtub and periodically sticking their heads in to take deep breaths.

We attempt to wake Emervox, but there is a thick shell protecting him. Ranag manages to hit him with some inspiration, and he awakens. Unable to breathe, he collapses, and manages to break the lightning barrier. Water rushes in, and we are all massively tossed and turned by the waves.

Once the waves have returned to normal, Nexrin starts, "Welcome to the land of the waking, the curse is broken."

Emervox laughs and smiles in response, saying "You have done as you have promised. Good work." To Ranag, he says, "Thank you for waking me. I will remember that service."

Nexrin informs him about Al'Zakanna, and how she accepted the curse to help her people. Emervox looks disgusted, but is happy that she became one of Bahamut's canaries. We also inform him of the Merrow, and ask him if he wants to try and talk to them. He nods, saying "The first thing I should do is clean up my mess."

Emervox then slinks away, and attempts to talk to the Merrow - we follow from a distance. We see him talking, and the Merrow attacking him with javelins. Sadly, Emervox breathes in and destroys them all with a wave of fire. He returns, sadly saying, "What they had become would not listen to reason."

We ask him about his experiences, and what he plans on doing next. He says, "This Gilgamesh bound me, and I was unable to find aid or seek for solutions. I wish I could have killed him myself. There is much to do, and now I have the opportunity to do it, thanks to you all, I do not know what I will do. I know many younglings were just about to be hatched, I want to make sure they're all right. I also need to learn about this Xovreme, what he does, why he took the reverse of my name. The world is a chaotic place right now, it needs the metallic dragons to set it right."

Nexrin explains about the threat of Xovreme, and our friendship with his student Enkidar, a fire giant. Emervox intends to visit Valorie "sometime in her mortal lifetime." He expresses surprise that we are allied with Enkidar though are not allied with Xovreme.

Uzmir then asks him about the turning of the age, and he heliocension of Nerulla. He explains in great detail:

"Whoever remains in the sky determines the rules for the next god to rise. Ra'al had somehow set that whoever would take Torr's place would succeed in a complex ritual. The fall of Torr was caused by war and breakdown everywhere, the final straw being the fall of Lap. Immediately after was a violent struggle here about who would persist beyond."

"Many insisted the Emperor would rise, but several cities put forward their own gods. In Refuge we sought that Bahamut would rise, it would have been better than what we had. Bahamut would have modulated what Ra'al would have done. The flames would burn hot but they would not destroy the world. There were challenges, battles, cities trying to destroy each other. In a sacking of Highhall, a relic of Durn was destroyed by an alliance of Liefsend and Drakehall. Many of them fell into the cult of Mae'ra, but she was still weak, though her cycle was much longer ago. So it became a struggle between us, the Liefsenders, and Drakehall. We made a bastion of Refuge, made sure no one could enter."

"We did not account for the great wave of death that came crashing towards us in the final hours. Nerulla had stolen some aspect of celestial power, perhaps by Ra'al's hand or this Gilgamesh, and caused this wave of death to crash over the East. I had to keep my people alive, I took the power we collected and I shunted it, I buried us beneath the sea where we could be safe. Ova's city did the same thing, something went wrong with the imperials."

"The Liefsenders won, Nerulla rose, and the cloud remained. It hung over the water. I needed to stay to protect my people. Some escaped - I never found them, but I also never found their bodies. My people stayed here, starving. One by one, the people requested to leave through the water, and I gave into their wish. By my own power they were turned into those things, those Merrow. Stupid, I should never have done that. It would have been better for them to die as they were. Time passed, eventually they were all gone, it was just me. I couldn't stand it, the darkness, the cold. Being alone in there. I slept, until you awoke me."

After this story, Nexrin informs Emervox abou thte ascension of Oluceps, and Uzmir asks what he knew of Dravandre.

"I did not know him specifically, I did not deal with the mages very much. However, they did extort a promise from me. They had captured many of my citizens, held them for ransom, and in exchange I would let them do their experiments below the [Inkwell] mountains. They were dominated by red clay in those days, but the experiments they wrought, those experiments made them dark." We gather that the project was the demon chained in the Fungal Caverns.

"Those mages are dead, right?" Emervox asks.

Uzmir replies, "Not the case. Dravandre… lives? He was able to avoid the wave of death by a complicated magical ritual. We recovered his body while investigating the old city of Liefsend. He can be revived, but we have not yet done so. There is also evidence that Otiluke may still live, but we do not know where or how. We think Kendon to be fully dead."

Emervox looks surprised. "I thought if any of them, he would have survived."

"No, we killed him," replies Nexrin.

"Oh, that makes more sense. Good for you. He was a horrible necromancer. The folk of that empire suffered the most. The citizens they enslaved suffered the most, and they died for the privilege."

Ranag explains that he's an Ashborn. "I was somehow shifted through time to this age, but my people seem to have disappeared long ago. I have discovered hints of my god, Demmeron, and I was wondering if you have ever encountered them or heard of them."

Emervox searches his mind. "Bits and pieces… Demmeron. The name rings bells, but I can't say I know much. Some sort of elemental, I think. Not a god." Ranag bristles, but encourages Emervox to recall any information he can. "Trying to think… I visited once, the plane of fire, when I was younger. Just past my 1400th year. There is a place on the border between the plane of Earth and the realm of Auton, Mechanus, there is a ridge. He is said to have been the most powerful there, but that was a long time ago. When I visited the elemental planes I saw it from a distance. It is difficult for mortals to reach. You may be able to find some answers there."

Emervox explains, "Do not think this is your last chance to answer questions. I think we will see each other again. I cannot promise I will remain in the East, but I will be back."

Before he leaves, Nexrin asks him to raise the brazier of Bahamut located in the cathedral of Refuge. Emervox raises his wings, and leaves the city. He brings the brazier to New Tidelight, and lights it, but it is not burning with the full light it requires.

We fight the last remaining threat in the region, the Magmal Crab, and the region is pacified. We loot some of the buildings, finding some portraits and coin, but no historical artifacts. However, we do map the area such that archeological teams could excavate it more thoroughly.