Archmage Halstead: The Final Countdown

 

     The Wizlards after escaping Seaton with the staff of Talos and having secured the eye in the Sahuagin fortress.  The fortress is now safely back in the hands of the lizard folk and their Quenn OthoKent.  The party sailed for the ancient home of Leyash that they had gotten a rough bearing on from Niven in the sea elf colony.  They heard rumors that all of the Indomitable, Jon Bovi, and the gnasher were out patrolling the Sea of swords looking for them.  After some searching Aquarius was found.  The party left the ship above and dove using the water breathing spell for the sea floor hundreds of feet deep.  As they dove, they saw the remanents of a human village on top of a cliff buried in the sea.  Upon closer inspection they found that this must have been where Leyash’s father had his illicit tryst with his mother Abdara before Aquarius fell and the humans left the settlement or were killed in the attack.  There seemed to be two large buildings in the center when they got to the sea floor, two decent sized outer buildings, a waterwheel, and a deep trench which must be the trench where Valastroth was bound before by the priestesses of the elves.  

The Wizlards investigated the northmost building first by getting through a crack in the door.  Unfortunately, Oceanus could not fit through and was stuck outside.  In the opening chamber inside of the pedestal of a statue they found a note from Leyash’s father saying he was sorry for his faults but proud of his two sons.  He said we must have failed to hold if you are reading this and that your sea elven mother wanted you to succeed her and tried to work closely with you.  He said that Oceanus would make a fine king and your sister Lysara would be a great captain of the guard.  He said the three symbols of power the Trident of the Abyss, the Sword of Tides, and the Coral shield of Faith would all help your quest to right the wrongs that occurred here if you could find them and that the Kraken has a weakness to force and sound.

Eventually working your way through the palace, you found a library with a book telling you how to entrap the Kraken in its plane of water and some other small items until you got to the throne room.  The door was ajar with an oversized key still in the keyhole and you found the skeleton of many sea elves including a sea elf in fancy ornamental attire that was decaying and a female form in flowing robes looking like she had entered the palace and was rushing to assist but was struck down.

Next the other big building was explored which ended up being a temple where the priestesses worked to keep Valastroth secured and worked on improving their magical prowess.  An octopus occupied the entrance chamber but did not bother the party and the temple was decorated with many symbols of the krakens of Faerun.  They found Leyash’s mothers’ private room, and a central meditation room with an old friend the kraken priest meditating.  After dispatching the priest, they found his pet Chul by the staircase and fought a close quartered battle that they won.  They worked their way up the stairs to the grand ballroom and a private room that held a stone table   After fooling with the table the trapdoor to the ceiling was opened and a charm was found???

The party then worked their way to one of the two outbuildings which was a vault.  On their way they fought a strange sea creature that was almost spectral in its appearance.  The vault was defended by a spectral tentacle which was defeated, and the vault held a case with a missing slot for the key to the palace.  The vault also had a chest which had a good amount of platinum and gold in it.  The party then moved to check the other outbuilding but were confronted by four Sekolin (bigger badder versions of the sahuagin).  Essentially sharkmen on steroids.  The battle was tough and at one point Lilly was knocked unconscious. She was quickly revivified but when she came too, she had lost her water breathing ability and was hundreds of feet below the surface.  She died on the sea floor as the Sekolin were defeated shocking everyone to their core.

The party got Lilly back up to the Kraken Chaser and then dove into the trench.  Inside the trench they found the pillars that would bring forth the magic to entomb the Kraken were in shambles, but they did find another presence in the cave that they did not expect.  A female water genasi who was the guardian of the third gem shaped like a heart.   She did not want to give the gem up but after some hard convincing agreed to come with them to try and find Firewatch isle and the fourth object of power to lock the Kraken in its place of banishment.  The party with heavy hearts boarded the Kraken 

Chaser and the final journey to find the brain and stop the triumvirate from wreaking havoc in Faerun.

No more questions, just a quest to save the sword coast, and an angry bard playing a power ballad.  Will the Wizlards prevail or will the Draken lay waste to the sword coast?