Session 85 - The Morning Stars set out again

General Summary

From Roger's journal:   I met Friedrich a few days ago, he started talking to me about bat farms and how they would help crops and asked me to invest 5,000 gold coins in it. I have to admit, I kind of took a liking to this Friedrich, he's not sane, and he's busy with his star nonsense, but he's a very positive dwarf, which is a lot for a dwarf. I agreed. I don't know why, but I agreed, well, whatever.
  Later, Friedrich asked me what I knew about Arborin, I told him what I knew. Friedrich went to Helena's temple to talk to her about the whole dead gods phenomenon that's been happening lately.
  One of the guards woke me up early in the morning, well, "woke" isn't quite accurate, I was busy staring at Helena, she had just fallen asleep after... never mind, he told me about a strange outbreak at a lake not far from here, something about bodies? objects? ships? being thrown onto the shore? unclear. I took Greg and we flew there. As I approached the lake, I saw a lot of debris scattered around, and a figure slowly moving away from the lake. I ordered Greg to stay in the air and jumped down, performing a small stunt, it doesn't hurt to make an impression. I landed about 20 feet away from him. Before we even had a chance to talk, Remus appeared in the form of the bat he loves so much, and Friedrich on his back.
  The guy looked strange, torn clothes that looked like a uniform, he looked human but very short, not much taller than Friedrich. His story was strange, here are the main points (some of them were said later): His name is Henry (he gave a longer, more elaborate name, and it was apparently important to him to mention that he is from the House of Doril, probably another damned noble.. (Wait, am I not considered a noble now? Damn), he was a pirate who served under the Dominion on an island called Nebravar .
Then he felt a sense of danger and suddenly Luna's light disappeared, and before he could think about it he saw a giant red dragon, the size of more than a city according to him (he's definitely exaggerating, but still I'd love to see that dragon). I have a feeling that my obsession with dragons will cost me my life someday, on the other hand, death by dragon is a nice adventure, right? Ugh, I drifted off again... back to the point. The dragon shouted something, said its name – Beadop – and then started burning the island and caused a huge tsunami wave. And here the story gets even weirder, Henry said that he escaped with several people to his ship, and there a mechanism installed on the ship created an air bubble that saved his life.
  Well, that doesn't sound plausible... but on the other hand, I've seen a lot of strange things since I fled to this world with Najii. Najii... I loved that idiot... And I’m drifting again. In short, the next thing he remembers, he woke up here, thousands of kilometers from Nebravar . The story is bizarre, but also all the debris and bodies around, and the water elemental that keeps bringing things out of the lake, and the Sea Elves who apparently also came from that area strengthened the credibility of the story.
  Henry asked about his crew, an elf named Elsophinira from House Dorin, Max Atlas, an alchemist, and a dwarven golem called Warforged and a few others whose names I didn’t catch. Friedrich said he would try to find out about their condition. In retrospect, I realized that this ability cost 1,000 gold coins, which he asked me for not long ago. It seems that I’ve become Friedrich’s bank. Anyway, Friedrich located them, captives, in Sinkhole's camp, no less. Friedrich asked Sinkhole not to harm them and received a promise for their safety for the next three days. Oh, and there were also the three sea elves who arrived. Their leader is apparently a priestess of Lidorn , they confirmed Henry's story, and seemed a bit shocked by where they came from. They said they had been tracking the Dominion fleets for a year and a half and that's why they were in that area. Suddenly I thought it would be right to help them get home (the Sinkhole portal..), that maybe we could use them in the future campaign against the Dominion (strategic thinking, since when do I have such thoughts? I must be getting old), and it also felt right.
  We offered them accommodation in McBoro for the night and we'll see what and how we can help them the next morning. We used this time (Friedrich, Remus, and I. Evers has been busy all the time lately) to talk and think, whether it was right to move them through the portal and how to protect the portal.
  In the end, we decided that Friedrich would deafen them and we would use dark stones and sacks to blindfold them and take them through Sinkhole's squares. Of course, it was necessary to get their consent. Henry agreed immediately, realizing that this was his only chance to save his crew.
  The next morning, I parted from beautiful Helena, stroked her hair, knowing that it might be a while before I see her again. Surprising, right, but I will miss her. It seems to me that when we return I will propose to her. In the meantime, she should continue her studies, she is talented, I noticed, especially in singing. It also seems that my adventure stories fascinate her.
  The elves asked to make a pact, an oath, in a ceremony. The priestess prepared some liquid and handed it to Friedrich. He drank it all, from the priestess's terrified look we understood that he was only supposed to sip it. Friedrich apologized and explained that he didn't understand, and as a dwarf, if he receives a drink, he drinks it all... The elves accepted his apology, and made me and Remus take the oath verbally. Of course, I swore, not that I had a problem breaking this oath, but honestly, I really didn’t plan to harm them. We went through the portal and finally arrived at Sinkhole's camp. Sinkhole invited us for a drink, Friedrich and I politely declined, as we wanted to escort the elves to the nearby river.
Henry and Remus went with Sinkhole. When we parted, the elves thanked us, and told us about a large lagoon, a cave named Mermaid Falls, where a ship can enter and many smugglers use it. And if we want their help, we can find them there. When we returned we learned from Henry and Remus that Sinkhole interrogated them, especially Henry, about his intentions, and finally he was satisfied, as long as Henry joined him or us. They also said that the story about the dragon shocked him, as it might complicate the campaign against the Dominion.
  Those were the main points, dear diary.