Session 66: Kraken Down

Over the next few weeks, we gather the families of power to go over establishing a new form of government for the archipelago. It’ll give more power to the people, putting them as political equals to the nobles…which the nobles aren’t thrilled with at first, but after learning that the Gattos will no longer hold any power whatsoever, they come around. I’m instated as the acting queen, choosing Rikius as my advisor, despite me and Elathera both wanting her to take the spot. She’s given the position of court sorceress and Industria becomes the ambassador. Rywa Gatto’s punishment for attempted assassination and kidnapping is exile and he’s banished to the mainland. With everything settled, it’s time for plane hopping adventures!   …But wait. How is a queen supposed to rule over her nation while traveling to different worlds? I have to find a regent and there’s plenty of options within my family alone. I decide that the most responsible choice is my grandma who’s still a little bitter over the whole extended lifespan business. Luckily for her, Elathera and Industria have enough magic between them to take care of her elderly aches and pains; giving her a renewed energy. She lightly chastises me about forgoing my new responsibilities, but she’s surprisingly more than happy to take up as my regent for the time being.     Our first stop on Elathera’s journey to piece her grandfather’s soul back together is the plane of water. She has reason to believe one of his fragments is within the lost city of Atlantis, so there’s a problem itself. It’s called the “lost city” for a reason, the only gate leading into it being hidden elsewhere. We need a guide for the trip so as we gather on Elathera’s plane, she summons a goddamn kraken named Loqesh. He has big dreams of becoming the king of the ocean and in order to secure his aid, we have to agree to help him in those plans at some point. None of us are happy about the circumstances, but tentatively agree. As he leads us through the plane of water, we try and chat him up about his life.     He apparently beat all of his siblings in mortal combat and has two whole friends on other planes. We near some cities and a castle on the dark side of the plane and Loqesh refuses to go any closer as the king has a habit of treating himself to kraken like they’re calamari. The rest of us approach while Elathera tells us all about the primordials and deities that reside on this plane. All of them are incredibly evil, so she warns us and tells us we should avoid contact with them. Makes it that much funnier when we’re allowed inside and the king is Kelizandri, the specific entity Elathera was trying to warn us about. He’s a massive water elemental taking the form of a crystal dragon and he’s not willing to part with his information on Atlantis. Not unless he gets a favor in return. What choice do we have at this point?     He wants us to head into the nine cities that the sahuagin have established over the centuries and take out their leaders. We talk him down to two cities, just enough to knock their forces down so he can win the war he’s been waging against them. Not wanting to get into a war between evil, Elathera offers to turn one of their military leaders into a soul-bound book. It would give Kelizandri the information he seeks and keep us out of what could be a massacre. He’s adamant that he wants the leaders dead, but sees that the information may be more useful in the long run. Now all we need is such a leader, so off to the sahuagin cities we go. They treat us rudely when we arrive, but we’re eventually allowed to speak with their admiral. We’re having second thoughts about the stakes in this war, so we try and pry info about Atlantis out of her; but she knows nothing.     She points us to a man in another city by the name of Eshgi, who’s already waiting for us when we get there. His loyalties lie with Kelizandri, so he wants this war over with right away. He’s willing to cooperate with us, but he’s also suspicious of our intentions. We had planned to turn him into a book to get the information he has on Atlantis and make a run for it, but he offers someone beneath him to us. This person knows a lot more about military affairs and we have to debate over the morality of this all. Industria wants to strike Kelizandri down, Elathera wants to take the information from Eshgi and run, and I have no qualms with taking down the sahuagin because they’re dicks. After much discussion, turning Eshgi’s student into a book and turning him over to Kelizandri is our best option.     So we do so, avoiding any physical contact and turning the book in. Kelizandri keeps his end of the deal, telling us the gate to Atlantis is hidden on a utility plane called Treia. We teleport to the field of wildflowers. Tucked by the mountains and a creek running through them is the gate to Atlantis.