Ch. 2 - The Grand Finale

The sun begins to set over the northeastern coast of Xhorhas, and the sound of rhythmic drumming echoes throughout the Jumble, summoning the participants and onlookers of the Grand Finale to the city's paddock (area 5), which has been cleared of horizonback tortoises. The two Elders of Jigow, Elder Ushru, the elderly orcish priest from the swimming contest, and Elder Colbu Kaz, the goblin with a pot as a hat from the Rhymes and Riddles contest, stand in the middle of the road atop a platform of wooden crates. Eventually, the drums die down, and Ushru smiles, "Mighty warriors from here and far, brilliant strategists of young and old, you have impressed us with your feats of strength, your incisive wit, and your sturdy bellies," he booms proudly, and the crowd chuckles politely. "But the main event, as you know, is still yet to come! Only two teams will be chosen to compete in the final challenge—a race through the Emerald Grotto, in the depths of which the greatest prize awaits!"

Elder Ushru explains that he and Elder Colbu Kaz will choose two teams from among the festival’s most successful contestants and invite them to engage in a race through a submerged grotto to retrieve a jeweled icon that has symbolized the competitive spirit of Jigow for generations: the Emerald Eye. The winners of the race receive 100 gp and are hailed as the city’s Champions of Merit for the next year.

Elder Colbu Kaz joins Elder Ushru on the platform, where they consult briefly, pointing at figures in the crowd and whispering to each other. The crowd grows excited, waiting for every second to pass as countless groups recount the collective medallions. Finally, they seem to come to a conclusion and face the crowd again. Elder Ushru speaks up, "We have decided upon this year's Grand Finale competitors. First up, we have a team led by a Jigow native... the team with the second most known medallions... Ayo, Dermot, Maggie, Irvan, and Galsa..." the final couple names are hard to hear as the crowd erupts in cheer and drums bang on. Not far off from the group, the five people the party had met throughout the festival are all standing together, smiling and showing off all of their hard-earned medallions. Dermot the small goblin is close to Ayo, the water genasi's, side as Maggie towers above them with Irvan, the human, and Galsariad, the drow, on her shoulders.



The crowd dies down and the Elder speaks once again,"And for our second competing team... we have chosen a team that is certainly new to this town, but whose contributions to our city have not gone unnoticed... we have chosen... the team of... the Elder really milks that suspense, "Ardeth, Calla, Faelen, Kailani, and Tereze!" The crowd cheers once again, but mostly looks around unknowingly, waiting for someone to claim the name.

The characters and the other party proceed with the elders to the southeastern edge of Jigow with what seems like the entire population in a procession behind them. The atmosphere is one of anticipation and excitement.

The characters and their rivals follow the elders as they wade through the shallows, from one island to another. When they reach the smallest island, the Elders stop and wait for the rest of the crowd to catch up. Elder Colbu Kaz places several potions of water breathing in front of the contestants—one for each of you. "Their magic lasts for one hour, so hopefully you're quicker than that" he says with a smile and a wink.

The other party immediately take the potions and they all begin chugging them, besides Ayo, who takes the potion, but places it into her bag instead. The other party are suddenly very busy making preparations. They all tighten their armor and prepare their weapons. Ayo casts a spell and ten magic berries appear in her hand, she then disperses them among the members of her party. Galsariad takes a moment to place a hand on each of them, and after he does so, faint, glistening lines of some kind of magical armor begin floating in the air gently around each of them. Dermot places a dunamantically-shining hand on Ayo's hip, and she faintly glows with holy guiding light.

Maggie, Dermot, and Irvan each give your group a respectful nod before assuming readied positions next to Ayo and Galsariad, with Ayo at the front of the pack.

As the other group is announced Ardeth cheers and lets out some whoops, giving Dermot a thumbs up and a wink. As their own names are announced she gives another cheers and starts to hug the others.

'Only together for a couple of days and already a great team. We've got this!'

-----

As the others start scrabbling to prepare Ardeth does the same chugging the potion then mumbling some words, her eyes glowing faintly. If there were any invisible tricks or secrets coming up in this race she would hopefully spot them.

Just as they go to begin she suddenly remeberes the medallions around her next and grabs the one from the maze, tracing it, and moving closer to the front. 'I think I may be able to guide us.'

"We've faced these competitors before" Tereze notes. "We can beat them if we keep on top". Her voice is strong and confident and she swigs a big mouthful of the potion.

"It'll be nice to hear our voices called out as the champions" She smirks and gives a wave to Irvan across the way in friendly competitive spirit. This time, it would have to be more than a one-bite lead.

The nerves continue to grow along with the size of the crowd as the final stragglers arrive on the small island. The small island has shallow, rocky beaches on every side, and a small cave entrance that quickly turns downward into a dark pool of water.

Elder Ushru stands before the mouth of the cave and addresses you and your opponents. "You brave and valiant individuals have triumphed in many challenges this day; now, the final Test of Merit awaits you!" He pulls a palm-sized gold-and-emerald amulet from his robes, holds it aloft, and declares: "This medal’s twin has been placed in the deepest cavern of the Emerald Grotto. Be the first to claim the Emerald Eye and return it to this place to be declared Jigow’s Champions of Merit! Begin now!"

At the Elders' words, the crowd erupts and the two parties immediately dash headfirst into the pool of water, finding themselves in a small cavernous room. Your bodies (except Kailani's of course) panic as you take in the first breath of water, but then the magic kicks in and it begins to feel simply like heavy air. The light that trickles in from the grotto’s entrance is blotted out by enormous and thick patches of kelp that fill this underwater chamber. The tops of the kelp fronds brush the ceiling, but between the stalks you can spot a glimmer of light coming from two points further ahead, which lead off into two separate tunnels.Both parties easily push their way through the mess of kelp and weeds, but the rivals pull just a bit ahead of the party. There are two tunnels that lead away from the kelp-filled chamber, a southern and an eastern one. The other party, following a swift decision from Ayo, heads down the southern path, but Maggie the 12-foot ogre stays behind and stands at the mouth of the tunnel, readying herself to force you to follow the eastern tunnel.

The Maze medallion around Ardeth's neck glows, and they instantly understand the differences between the two tunnels. Both tunnels seem rather equal in length, but the southern one is indeed shorter distance-wise. But, Ardeth senses some kind of interference, leading them to believe that the southern route is a high-risk-high-reward path, while the eastern path is a safer, albeit just slightly longer, route.

Da Map!

After resting for a while and still digesting the pastries, the noble feels ready for another challenge. Typically he would call it a day, but a fight is over when you've won or lose and not when you desire it. So he ralleys up this "troops" and sways them to the entrance of the narrow cave where they are greeted by Elder Ushru. Eyeing the other team and seeing all their preparations, the fighter feels a little bit underprepared but obtains nothing to offer to help his team in the upcoming contest. Loosening his muscles, he makes sure that nothing of his equipment gets in his way and that this blades are ready when he needs them.

Finding his place at the start line, he listens carefully to what their objective will be in this event. Maybe they could take a page out of Ayo's book and let the other team complete the work for them and then take the medallion from then when thereafter. This would be a marvellous change. And ... there is one more thing he could do to alter the odds in his friends favor.

At the word "Begin ..." Faelan doesn't hurl himself in the water, but quickly casts an old charm, evidence of his heritage, that should provide them with a small advantage if things get messy. Losing sight of the others, as the vanish under water, the noble can see the yellow flames marking their position for a moment. At least some of them seem to have fallen under his drow magic. That's something. Satisfied he dives behind his friends and into the race.

The group reaches the fork, where Maggie stands shimmering in magic but firmly blocking entry into the southern path. After a brief exchange of looks, the party decides not to start a fight just yet, and heads down the eastern path. As you begin to leave, Maggie looks relieved, and gives you all a nod of respect before heading off down the southern tunnel to catch up with her own group.

The tunnel winds corner after corner as the tunnel grows darker, until it begins to light up again. The tunnel spills into a slightly larger chamber (E4) than the last. The walls, ceiling, and floor of this underwater chamber are covered in beautiful bioluminescent algae, which emits a faint bluish glow that dimly lights the wide cavern. Two large, jagged stone pillars, also coated with algae, stand at opposite ends of the chamber. Surrounding the far pillar and growing out to cover the room's exit is a thick patch of bone-white seagrass that gently drifts in the water.

Map!

Coming up behind his team Faelan recognises the two pillars as their way forward and aims right between them to get to the next room. With a little luck, the other group has had their troubles with the direct way and they would meet in the next passage of this race.

As Faelen glides swiftly through the patch of stark sea-grass, he senses in his periphery the grass grow closer to him. By the time most of his body has made it to the other side, he feels the grass attempting to grasp onto his feet with a foul energy. Luckily though, he manages to kick away the faint grip it had on his shoes before it can get a firm hold on him.

Kailani follows Faelan's lead and shoots through the strange plants with elegance. She stops at his side and glances back to the rest of their crew. The young woman takes another moment to gaze at the cavern with awe. It was truly beautiful and somehow ... otherworldly. Kailani feels she is where she belongs and lets herself relish the water surrounding her.

Bleep Blorp. Don't mind me, just doing some background DM work and rolling for the rival party.

Tereze follows suit, swimming after the couple, but her armor gives the grass plenty of handholds and places to know around and soon she finds herself badly tangled in greenery.

"Gah! Gedoff!" She calls as she writhes in the weeds.

Ardeth swims ear the top of the room, darting in between the grass. She grins as she nears the exit, before starting to hear the struggles of Tereze, and turns back to start to help.

Kailani and Ardeth manage to slip through the strange sea grass before it’s able to get a grip on them, but it catches Tereze. Within a moment, the grass has moved to completely envelop her and a deathly energy begins seeping off of them, darkening the waters around her.

Without hesitation Kailani dashes back to reach Tereze who is struggling to free herself from the deathly plants. She calls onto her innermost secret, to the ocean itself to help guide her friend to safety. Her hand glows faintly as she grabs onto Tereze. The strange light reaches her eyes and she starts to pull the other free.

Tereze begins tearing at the weeds, ripping chunks of the plant asunder, even biting stand when they get in the way of her mouth. She wasn't going to let her new team down at the very beginning of the race! No way!

With the help of her new friends, Tereze yanks and bites herself free from the necrotic grass. With that, the party continues down the tunnel into the next room. The tunnel opens into a cavernous space. Rays of dusklight shine through a wide crack in the ceiling, which sits ten feet above the water level. One side of the chamber is covered in the crumbled and muddy remains of a recent landslide.

As you swim into this area, ripples course through the water and the sediment in the walls of this room seems distrubed yet again. Large chunks of dirt, mud, and craggy rocks slide and fall through the water, some from beside you and some from above. When the dust settles, there doesn’t seem to be an obvious way out of the room besides the way you came.

Swimming along the tunnel, the half drows feet churn the water with his - formerly? - expensive boots. Feeling the blood seep out of some cuts on his arms, the fighter grinds his teeth and remembers his training. All the years of getting hit and enduring hardship seem to pay off. Forgetting the pain his body reacts and the bleeding subsides a bit.

Taking a look around for the way into the next chamber, the noble from the Den Hythenos looks back and flashes an encouraging grin at his new friends. Anybody can do easy. Now it is time to show what they are made of.