Chapter 4: The Waters of Menehune

Huge Cordey replies back, "You were doing well with as it is obvious magical, but it is rather personal to you as it didn't work well for me." and adds on, "It even harmed me some telling that."

"By the looks of us, we need to rest." He looks rather beaten at 11 HP and appears he has no way to heal. Short rest would do some good.

The Imp's reply to Admiral...

The imp, noticeably pleased to be out of Admiral's bag, leans forward in its glass prison, its beady eyes flicking over the items.

"Well, well, look at this collection of nightmares," it sneers, its tiny claws scratching at its chin. "That vial? It reeks of black magic. Probably something nasty, like soul-binding or a curse in liquid form. Best not to drink it—unless you fancy becoming something uglier than that hag."

The imp snickers, then points a claw toward the key, its expression darkening. "That’s no ordinary key. It’s got the look of Abyssium all over it. Powerful stuff from my realm. Don't know how she got her hands on it. Could unlock some chains," the imp looks over at the fossergrim. "But it could also unlock binds that are more powerful than chains, if you catch my drift."

Finally, the imp tilts its head at the fishbone necklace. "As for that… Well, unless you have a taste for cursed jewelry, I’d leave it be. This hag likes to infuse trinkets with lingering curses or, worse, hexes that bring bad luck. Or maybe its just fish bones for no reason. Who’s to say?"

It crosses its arms smugly. "Now, aren’t you glad you finally let me out? Such wit and insight—you’d never get this kind of wisdom from a barnacle!"


The Fossergrim Replies to Cordey...

As the chains fall away with a clatter, the fossergrim gasps, his aura dimmed, his eyes dulled. He tries to push himself up, but his arms tremble under the weight of his weakened body. His voice, hoarse and strained, barely rises above a whisper as he turns his gaze to Cordey.

"I… can walk, I think," he rasps, his words slow and halting. "Though… I felt as if my spirit was drowned along with my body."

He swallows, and glances at the discarded chains with a flash of fear and disgust. "These... cursed things—they’ve drained me. Stole my will. I felt… hollow, vulnerable. But I now can feel once again the power of the flowing falls filling my veins...thanks to you."

He takes a deep, shaky breath, attempting to stand but swaying precariously on his feet. "I will not be dragged," he pridefully adds, despite his condition. "I’ll walk… slowly, but I’ll walk."

His current fragility seems foreign to the fey, his natural resistance to charm seems to have been diminished by the chains, leaving him more vulnerable than he'd likely ever been in his long life. "I believe I will be myself soon."

"I could use a rest too," Admiral agrees with Cordey.

To the imp: "Perhaps you are a little bit cleverer than a barnacle, after all," he admits with an amused smirk. Leaving the hag’s cursed belongings untouched (aside from the key, which he tossed to Cordey), he lifts the glass sphere to eye level to properly address the imp. "I promised to free you once we killed the hag and I do intend to keep that promise, but what are you going to do with yourself once you’re free?"

Huge Cordey smiles and says, "Can I be the one to slam him on the rocks."

The imp seems flattered by Admiral's praise, however mocking it may have been. Before responding to Admiral's inquiry, the imp pauses and observably thinks...

Regan looks from Admiral talking with that imprisoned creature to the Fossergrim, and nods in understanding. "Up with ya then. We're leavin', and we ain't leavin' you behind after all that. Walk, or I carry you."

With Regan's statement the fossergrim's determination to be self sufficient noticeably grows.

"Thank you. There's no need, I will walk," asserts the fey slightly less halted and raspy in his speech with a hint of his former grace. As he laboriously moves himself, he replies to the talk of rest.

"For myself," he says, glancing toward the direction of the falls, "I must first bathe in the falls, the source of my vitality. You see, the water… it is not just where I dwell; it is the lifeblood of my existence. The flow of the falls, pure and unyielding, is tied to the magic that sustains me. Without it, I wither, as you have seen."

He pauses, his pale eyes shimmering faintly as if recalling something distant and ancient. "The chains drained more than just my strength. They sapped my will, my resistance to the forces that would bend me to their will. I cannot recover by mere rest. I must be immersed in the rushing waters of the falls to reclaim what was lost."

He shifts unsteadily on his feet, the pride of the fey keeping him upright despite his weakened state. "In the falls, the water cleanses and renews. It will restore my spirit, my mind, and the magic that runs through me. Without it, I am but a shadow of myself, vulnerable to the very things I once resisted."

His tone takes on a deeper sense of urgency, though still tinged with gratitude for the party’s help. "Once I bathe in the falls, I will be whole again, as nature intended. The flow of water will return my power, my fey nature, and my connection to the world around me."

The fossergrim glances toward Regan with a determined look. "I will walk on my own two feet, no matter how weak I may feel. But know that once I am immersed… I will return to you. You need rest and rejuvenation as well. The little ones maintain a garden of delicious fruit and leaves in these caves and they also keep a hall where they themselves bed at times. You may rest there as long as you need. You are welcome here."

"No one’s slamming anyone against any rocks," Admiral says firmly, to Cordey. "The imp has kept up its end of our bargain and I plan to keep up mine."

To the fossergrim, he nods and says: "We have some friends waiting for us on a boat outside, so if you see them, please let them know where we are while you’re out there."

Huge Cordey so much thought about the annoying Imp and its wishes escape the bottle, but in an odd way. Surely slamming the bottle would break it and free it. "Have another idea for the Imp."

The fossergrim makes his way slowly but surely out of the cavern. As he carefully steps he says, "To find the garden, follow the way I leave." (He heads toward the southern cavern exit.) "The little ones' resting hall is the other way." (He points toward the passage where Admiral, Cordey, and Regan entered this cavern.)

...

The imp is noticeably engaged in thought, weighing what is its most beneficial way to respond to Admiral's question about what it plans to do with itself once free. After Admiral's reply to Cordey, the creature is swayed by Admiral's quick defense of it. (Even though Cordey meant to smash the orb prison, not the imp itself.) With its best attempt at a sincere smile (that actually results in an awkward grin), the imp finally makes its decision on how to reply.

"Well...I could show you where the hag keeps the treasures she hoards from her dinner victims." The imp looks disgusted at its last words. "Human flesh, blah! Horrible way to feed on humans. Demons know the best food is the human mind. There is nothing more filling than breaking a strong will. Hags...fey...so foolish they are."

"Anyway she may have something of mine mixed into her mess. I am trapped in this cursed realm now, so that item will help me get myself to Glantri quickly and find another magic wielder to...serve." The imp says the last word with sarcasm.

Admiral’s ears prick up at the word ‘treasure’. "Aye? I like the sound of that! Well, not the eating people part. That’s a bit grim. But I won't say no to treasure! Anyway, let’s get you out of this ball..." He tries to pry the cork out of the glass sphere with his claws.

Big Cordey smiles, "Here let me get that open." He has his hands open for the glass sphere.

Regan eyes the imp, not sure it won't prove to be something more dangerous once it's released.

Unable to pry the cork free with his claws, Admiral shrugs and relinquishes the sphere to Cordey, trusting that, despite his apparent enthusiasm for smashing things, the big man will try to avoid harming the imp.

Huge Cordey is fairly sure this is going to hurt the evil, annoying Imp and not kill it as he slams the glass sphere down as hard as he can on the rock floor. There is a grin his face as he does it.