Grannie & the Elven Council

The combat at Baram's Pit fights had been won.  Both in and out of the ring, Captain Jing and Chief Greywalker both defeating their opponents in the pit fights and Matise and several Interelf agents or special forces Rangers had won their sneak battles in the crowd outside the pits.

Both had avoided the trap set by Admiral Baram after the fight and demolished part of his Keep during their escape.  In the aftermath of the collapsed rubble they disappeared into the night.

Sneaking from shadow to shadow, lurking and waiting for search parties to pass they made their way across the city towards their own keep and sanctuary from the chaos of Luskans late night streets.

As the stars twinkled overhead and the cold nor westerly wind blew in their faces, they squinted at the distant horizon and furrowed their brows in comprehension as to what they were seeing.  A black line rose from the horizon slowly enveloping the stars, stretching from north to south as if an eyelid was closing on the night sky.  The Everlands wave had returned, millions of tonnes of displaced water rushing towards the fragile wooden city, the wave rose and rose and enveloped the night sky.

They ran, they ran as fast as they could towards the oncoming wave, the advancing waters rushed in to fill the void beneath the bridge, buffeting the foundations and rattling the mortar as they ran across the slick cobbles.  Before them a titanic wave begins to arch up hundreds of feet, white flecked foam at its top threatening to spill over and crash down on them.

A section of bridge collapses and where Chief Stroud and Captain Jing leap across, Matisse stumbles and his feet are swept from under him as water sluices over the bridge.  Clambering to his feet, he can distantly make out the silhouettes of his friends running away from him and the crashing roar as stone and wood is broken beneath him.

Quickly standing he takes a daring leap over the broken section of bridge and lands in the arms of his friends, they came back to get him after all. Tired and exhausted he is carried by Jing and Stroud through the maelstrom descending all around them, waves breaking off parts of the newly repaired fort and the entire structure vibrating as it resists the push of water into its side.

The door is ajar only a whisker and terrified eyes peer out at the wall of blue and the three figures who are running for all that they are worth and ever hope to be.  Barely escaping the blue wall of death which smashes into the gate as it is slammed shut and heavy beams set to lock it.

For this entire duration Birel the Drow had been sat by the great terminal deep under the Kurth Fort, ancient and forgotten by its previous owners.  He had deciphered the scripts and the process of trial and error learned its secrets.  The controls over the aquatic creatures in the harbour came first, but then the secrets attached to them also.

A death beam of red light that could set ships ablaze, a strength imbued force field and a project-able defense shield.  Waiting patiently for the order to be given, he sat in the slightly damp chamber and played a game he had discovered on the terminals memory crystals.  It reminded him of his time in the Underdark, but infinitesimally more fun as he was not being beaten by his step brothers.

He had plenty of time to ponder the great machine and some of the things that had occured to him and his friends since they had arrived in Luskan.  Where did the eye of Apos go?  Where did the elves take the Dagger of Krishan they found? How many Butterfly's are there?  If Mister Hood was a Vampire where did he and all the Drow go?, like his step brother he met in the melee that was the raid on FIreshear, what happened to him?

He was unaware of the impending doom wave until he was tapped on the Shoulder by Stroud's chambermaid. "Turn it on now!"  she said with a commanding ability for a chambermaid, before he could object or question as to how she got in here, he turned and pressed the big red button which activated the fort defences.  A giant bubble of energy burst forth from the foundations and absorbed with ease the impact of the surging water and deflected it away from the city or a portion of it. The shield completely enveloping the fort and all inside, the roaring water muted and there the shield stayed resolutely protecting them until the water levels had lowered to more normal levels.

Birel swiveled in his seat after shutting down the shields and was about to ask the Chambermaid how she got in, but she had already departed.  He made a mental note to keep an eye on her in future, there was something fishy about Miss Chambermaid.

Deciding to take only a short rest the team assembled for their stealth mission across the harbour to Whitesails bay.  Steve the sea snail was rigged up to the tortoise which used its mini version of the shield.  Weapons were attached, armor donned all in a montage with a suitable music track.

Luskan was in disarray, viewed from the ramparts small fires illuminated the damage.  Most of the southern poor part of the city ruled by commodore Hardcastle was gone, replaced by a mass of broken wood, splintered and twisted by the waves.  The market to the north was gone and parts leading towards the Tavern.  Some of the high ground it seemed had been doused but not flooded, a large section of the city was mostly untouched and simply very wet.  The Captains courts and Mercantile districts had been saved and some of the housing behind them, however this was at the expense to the city wall, as the water was deflected away it destroyed the entire southern gatehouse and a large portion of the wall.  The North of Luskan had been hit too, the docks were smashed beyond repair and a large portion of warehouses were flooded.

Whilst all of this chaos ensued our heroes sneaked into the hidden ship canal they had found a few days ago.  Blowing the door to the harbour, revealed a large space with workshops, stumbling round these areas were zombies, which were quickly eluded thanks to Strouds skills.

A Hidden door was found by Birel and its mechanism of locking defeated, a large section of wall opened revealing a vast tunnel, equal in width and height it continued further east, cut from the bedrock an immense amount of stone would have to be removed to clear this passage.  Wide and high enough for two ships to pass.  They slowly swam along the northern wall.

From out of the darkness, distant but large and ominous from its tone came a subaquatic sound of warning.  Which caused all to pause and think of loved ones, wills unwritten and quests uncompleted yet.  With no teeth of doom looming out of the darkness apparent or in the vicinity, they continued their marine stealth approach with extreme caution.

After almost a mile they came to a large cavern, dug into the rock and on rock plinths were gun emplacements and catapults, all pointing in their direction towards the entrance of the underground ship canal.

Quickly dispatching a pair of nearby guards the team clambered into a stone tunnel, where they paused to get their energy back and allow Stroud to reconnoiter the area.   His ethereal Wraith hovers before him and they talk in whispers and sign language mostly, he closes his eyes and it departs into the rock.

The others keep watch nearby and Birel leans close to Stroud and asks what he can see?

"It continues deeper.....For some way....More defences....a glowing shield....there is a way past....ships merged with rock, cannon emplacements......oh......this place is bigger than we thought......much bigger......Shipyards and ......the beast sees us, quickly withdraw!

Something roars in the darkness far away down a stone tunnel.   Everyone looks at everyone else briefly checking readiness and what should be done next.  Perhaps Stroud has a plan? After all he has seen what lies down the tunnel.  Perhaps Matise already has the blueprints of the base and undercover agents waiting to assist them when they get contacted?  Perhaps Jing can pull a magic stone out and find wharf 43?  Perhaps Birel can dominate the mind of the beast and use it to his own whim?  Or something entirely unexpected will occur and our heroes will have to think fast, the world has already displayed that these are interesting times to be living in with the return of the Everlands wave, What does destiny have in store for this team of adventurers?