After the dragon incident, we continued our voyage towards the Teeth. Regarding Master Krastus, I hoped that he would seize the opportunity to get a deeper insight into the human condition and emerge a more patient and understanding person, he clearly had other plans. He spent the night devising a spell to shatter the transformation magic, and by the next morning, he was his usual, crabby self again.
The coastline of Torath-Ka was very jagged, and as I had the impression, unusually confusing for our navigators, but in the end, it only took us a few more days to reach the site, the rumored refuge of an Archmage, and by that, technically on par with our own ship. We followed a narrow passage that got increasingly difficult to navigate, and it was evident from the fragments of debris and several derelict vessels that had run onto the occasional sharp rock, lurking below the waterline, that this was no easy voyage. Our ranks had been considerably thinned, but most of the others were extremely competent sailors, and so we managed to advance through the Gullet, as it was called, without a catastrophic incident.
After hours of suspense, we spotted a very particular hulk, an older vessel that had spent a number of years wrecked along one of the cliffsides, and its wood appeared discoloured, brittle and rotten accordingly. What struck me was that in stark contrast to the rest of the ship, the figurehead, bearing the motif of a dolphin, which still appeared freshly lacquered and intact. I pointed this out to the Captain, suspecting that if it had been preserved like that, there might be other magic still working as well. We carefully approached and, certain that the other ship was far beyond repair, dislodged the figurehead over the course of a few hours, under our Archcarpenter's guidance, and carefully stowed it in our mostly empty hold.
Finally, the treacherous passage widened and the Archmage's tower came in view. And what a view it was. The tower was situated on a small, rocky island, but this island did not rise out of the sea as ordinary islands do, but was suspended in precarious balance on a several hundred feet high jet of sea water. Never have I seen more powerful magic, perhaps maybe for the phenomenon that had brought me into this world, years ago.
Reaching the island, however, appeared to be an insurmountable challenge. One would have to swim upwards in the stream of water, careful not to be ejected off one side early, avoid crashing into the island's bottom, then get a grip on the rocks and carefully climb sidewards first, then upwards, while a single slip of the hand would result in a deep plunge into the swirling waters below. The Captain, bold as ever, decided that he would lead the way, expecting us to follow behind once he had establish feasibility. I was not so sure about that.
Still, the Captain darted into the water with little ado, glid upwards with supernatural ease into the deluge overhead. We could spot him on the cliff wall shortly after, climbing to the top and then disappearing from view. For a while, nothing further happened. We looked at each other, unsure if anyone would be able to replicate what we just saw. Someone had the idea to at least take a rope and affix it somewhere on top, so we would at least have an easier time on the last leg.
So Master Krastus got into the water, paddled towards the jet, got washed upwards, but appeared to miss the rocks and got flung outwards by the water. We held our breath, but then he simply decided to defy gravity and, circling around our ship, gently floated downwards onto our deck as if this had just been a demonstration of his magical skill. On his second attempt he followed the plan and scaled the rock, which looked effortless from below, like a small spider would climb a pebble. Some minutes after he had reached the top, we could spot the rope dangling down, dancing in the spouting waters.
It was my turn next, and with the rope in place, I picked up confidence. I prepared by shedding all ballast, undressing to the limits of common decency, and then plunged into the waters. Slowly at first, but then ever quicker, I was drawn towards the column of water, and then rapidly jerked upwards. I couldn't see much within the violent stream, but kept within the centre, for fear of falling out to the side. The darkening of my view alerted me to the island's rapid approach, and I tried to turn to the side at the correct moment, and into the right direction. Finally, I spotted the rope in front, and after a final moment of frantic paddling, clung to it. Sliding downwards out of the deluge, I gasped for air.
After a couple of moments, I felt the water descending on me once more. My friends had started to pull up the rope, and as I held on with all my strength, as I slowly emerged from the waters and got dragged along the rocks towards the top. Finally, the rocks gave way to a flatter surface, and I found myself on what, from up here, looked like a rather idyllic hill. Exhausted but relieved, I sat down as my friends prepared the rope once again, to help the others join us here.
Sira and Carlton, too, managed to arrive up here, and once we were complete, we headed towards the tower. There the Captain introduced us to a creature he had previously met, an extremely large, rather spectacular and intelligent parrot. With its cynicism and general contempt, it appeared to be Master Krastus' soulmate, yet opposite to expectations, the two of them did not get along at all and were, at least figuratively, at each other's throats in a heartbeat. The creature, the Archmage's companion, informed us that to reach her, we would have to prove ourselves worthy of her time by overcoming some trials.
Indeed, the first two trials were a sort of waiting room and a corridor containing riddles that the Captain, unfazed by the parrot's constant taunting, navigated with relative ease, just as he had navigated the Gullet. The door at the end of the corridor opened into another hallway, but one that was filled to the top with water, miraculously held in place by some sort of force field. The Captain, with his supernatural aptitude at swimming, dove in headfirst and swam out of view with more effort than expected, and Master Krastus followed his lead. Again, I was next in line, and as upon crossing the threshold, I felt that this water had a strong current hindering my progress. Nevertheless, I had to persevere before my strength ran out, and I swam against the stream with all my might. Water was my chosen element after all. Dreading the embarrassment of failure, I fought on until my limbs started to go numb. Finally, I felt air at my fingertips, and a second later, I flopped down rather clumsily into a cozy living room.
In an armchair sat the Archmage, a striking red-haired woman who was dressed rather casually, in a puffy blouse and deerskin breeches, patiently looking up from her book at my dripping, half-naked self. As I looked around awkwardly, I saw that the Captain and Master Krastus were here too, waiting for the others, but even after a small while, no one else seemed to turn up. What a dire prospect, with Carlton unable to dispense his wisdom in the conversation with the Archmage.
She apologised for the trials, which she had not installed herself, but inherited from her predecessor and not dismantled yet, so she had an amount of understanding, regarding our condition. We were apparently the first to have reached her sanctum here. The Captain introduced us and presented her a summary of our journeys so far, down to every awkward, shadowy detail, for which he was met with some incredulity. Regarding our main topic, she was well aware of the rising water levels, and had been fighting the symptoms for a while now. This leak was apparently a side effect of the portal to Earth, caused by the Sea Hags, and in order to fix it, the most straightforward way would be to strike at them directly.
She described in detail a ritual to draw out the Sea Hags, one for which we would have to collect the necessary components. A pure quantity of water from another world, Earth in this case, might still be found in one of the sunken vessels around the Flotsam Sea. Also, we should go look for a relic owned by a man serving on a privateer's vessel around the Grey Isles. During the conversation, she repeatedly voiced her amusement at our own Archmage of three days, who, to her tastes, was apparently still lacking in education. Towards me, she had kinder words, and she gifted me with a magical tome, to further my studies. Also, she reported that there was another wrecked ship nearby, the magical rigging of which may still be made to work.
At this point, the parrot decided that the conversation had come to a satisfying conclusion, declared visitation time over and nudged us towards the exit. Upon leaving through the door on the other side, we found ourselves on a ledge, at the base of the water column, and made our way towards the ship. Sira and Carlton rejoined us after a spectacular dive from the island.
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