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.

The cavern’s eerie silence was broken only by the steady drip of water. The hag’s spell, her guards, and the icy tendrils of magic were defeated, leaving the adventurers bruised and weary. Moving slowly but deliberately from the chamber, the fossergrim went, his form now hunched with exhaustion, yet his eyes glimmered with gratitude.

"Admiral, Cordey, Regan," he began, his voice a soothing melody, "you have freed me from the hag’s vile influence. You’ve risked much for one such as I. Now, let me return the favor."

"The waters beyond hold great restorative power. It is there I must go to regain my strength and fey nature fully. Once restored, I can channel that healing to you as well. It is the least I can offer for your bravery."

The fossergrim’s words are warm and sincere, yet a sharp voice interrupted the tranquil moment.

"Oh, that’s charming," the now freed imp sneered. "While you enjoy a spa, there’s a treasure horde waiting. And more importantly, my teleportation trinket is among the loot the hag stole! I don’t fancy wasting more time than I already have with your dawdling."

Regan seems far more subdued than usual, the adrenaline from their battle ebbing away with the flow of time. "I get it, I really do," he replies to the imp, "but if that hag has any traps on her stolen loot... we probably aren't up to dealing with them. And while I'm sure you are fine with that... I know you can see how we wouldn't be."

With that, a beleagured Regan makes to follow the fossergrim.

Admiral grits his teeth and pulls a broken sea urchin spine out of his shoulder as he follows Regan and the fossergrim through the tunnels. "I have to agree with Regan," he tells the imp, dropping the bloody spine on the floor of the tunnel. "I want to find that treasure as much as you do, but I’m in no condition for a scuffle right now. If we were to come across more of that damned seaweed or any remaining Sahuagin, I’d be fish food."

As the party takes up the fossergrim's invitation and heads toward restorative waters, the imp hangs back and uncomfortably paces within the cavern, its wings twitching with restless energy.

"Bah! All this melodrama is such a waste of time," it mutters, glancing at the others, who seemed to the imp to be too engrossed with the fossergrim to notice his actions. With a sly grin and a flick of its tail, the imp darts toward the cavern's shadows. "Why wait for these fools?" it whispered, disappearing into the darkness.

...

As Cordey, Admiral, and Regan trail behind the weary fossergrim through the damp, winding tunnels, the echoing trickle of water grew louder. The air is cool and heavy with the scent of damp stone. The glow that emitted from the walls earlier when the party first entered the caves seems to glow brighter now as the fossergrim moves past them. They make it back to the arches. The two lanterns hanging above are no longer glowing red or responding to the movements below.

The cavern opens back into the cave under the falls with the wrecked boats (victims of the sahuagin guards and meals for the former hag). The fossergrim steps forward, his movements deliberate yet strained, and he gestures toward the falls at the mouth of the cave, a cascade of crystalline water that pours down from a cliff above. "This place," he explains, "is where fey and nature intertwine. It will restore what was lost."

The moment the fossergrim's body touches the falling stream, a soft, golden light begins to radiate from his body, spreading outward in gentle waves. He lets out a long, relieved sigh, his posture shifting from weary and hunched to upright and strong. The icy tendrils of exhaustion seem to melt away as the water embraces him, swirling with faint, glowing currents that mirrored the light of the moon.

The group watches in awe as the fossergrim’s form shimmers, his worn features rejuvenating with each passing moment. His dark hair takes on an iridescent sheen, his once-dull eyes now gleam like gemstones. The rushing water rises in playful arcs around him, cascading in spirals as though celebrating his return to vitality.


The fossergrim addresses the group while under the falling blanket of water, his voice stronger, more resonant, and melodious. "This water carries the blessing of the feywild itself," he says, gesturing for them to step forward. "It will heal your wounds, cleanse your spirits, and restore your strength." As if responding to his words, the currents seems to beckon.


From outside the cavern, the sound of footsteps approach. Jin and Tasya apeear, flanked by Caspian, Mischa, and Taresh, their faces a mixture of relief and curiosity. Jin’s gaze shifts between the fossergrim and the adventurers. "You look like you've been through hell," he remarks lightly before turning serious. "We were waiting at the skiff. The moment we saw movement in the falls, we knew it was you. And you found the fey childrens' friend."

The fossergrim, his tone warm, yet commanding, bekons them closer. "Your are welcome as well, friends. Join us in this sacred moment. The waters heal all wounds and rekindle the spirit."

As all converge at the mouth of the cave under the falls, a rustling from the nearby forest draws everyones' attention. The small aquatic fey children with shimmering, seaweed-like hair and large, curious eyes emerged from the underbrush, their faces lighting up with joy upon seeing the fossergrim. Squealing with unrestrained glee, they dart forward, splashing into the shallows and throwing their arms around the fossergrim, who knelt to embrace them. Their laughter echoed, filling the cavern and glen.

The fossergrim’s weariness seemed to melt away under their touch. "Children, thanks to our friends here" he said softly, "you no longer need to hide. This place is safe once more."