Percy's Log - Day 38

I awoke to Na sitting before me playing with some of his toys… I feel foolish even referring to them as such as they’re more complicated than any children’s toy I’ve ever seen and the boy was able to build them himself. The small “toys” in question resembled the larger flying contraption we had witnessed initially upon entering Kir Sabal. I asked the young man if he intends to one day build one that can be ridden in. His response was a simple nod, followed by his goal being that of flying around Chult with his sister so that she can better watch over the lands… like he believes his parents are doing now for him and his sister. He also asked me a rather difficult question. “Do you think my sister will be a good queen?” It’s something I found myself pondering before answering back with “As good as any other, and as long as she has trusted allies watching her back and her smart brother by her side I feel she’ll do just fine.” Truth of the matter is I have no idea if she will be a good queen… though does anyone truly know until that power is thrust upon them? I do know that she has the ambition that’s for sure but she also lacks much knowledge about current affairs that she just didn’t have access to growing up here. I worry that could affect her insight on her people and the trouble they deal with today. Either way Na seemed to accept my answer and invited me to breakfast that Mwaxanare was preparing.
The food itself was plain and a tad bland though given that we are in a monastery I’m not exactly expecting the fanciest of meals or ones that are made for great taste. These people are doing it out of necessity not for flamboyant parties or feasts to serve ones ego. Either way I was honest with Mwaxanare and offered up some advice with the use of spice to try and flavor it up a tad. I don’t think she took it personally as I explained cooking has become sort of a hobby of mine given what one generally has to make use of what they have while traveling. We finished eating our meal and spoke a bit of where I’m from and some of the larger expanse of the locations outside of Chult before we made our way towards the temple. The princess was eager to live up to her end of the bargain and I was eager to see if Arden was alright after having been in a rather solid state the last time I saw him.
However it would appear our reunion would have to wait as upon walking side by side with the Princess and Prince on the walkways towards the Asharra's domain I spotted some stone figures flying towards Kir Sabal. I pointed them out to the Princess who suggested we run to the temple. Her response not suggesting these creatures were of a friendly nature I started to audibly yell to as many of the Aarakocran monks as possible to alert them to the upcoming dangers while running towards the temple with the royals. Not soon later after making it inside the building a gong rang that signified to the residents of the monastery to be on high alert.
Once we made it to the temple I was happy to see Azzaun and Tavaquik were already there. I’m confident in my abilities but knowing my allies are there watching my back and I theirs always boosts my morale when put up against incredible odds… and at this point it was safe to suggest that this was the case. Many of the more important individuals such as the royals and the priestess were to remain out of direct harm by staying upstairs while Xandala, Azzaun, Tavaquik and myself remained on the lower floor to face these stone foes head on as they approached and entered the structure.
The fight itself was grueling the creatures while being damaged by my shots and Azzaun’s heavy blows they weren’t all that bothered by them. For example Azzaun was able to smack into one of the creatures multiple times with such force that it made audible booms but even that was shrugged off… Azzaun may have actually damaged his sword in the process and the creature just shrugged it off? I didn’t know whether to be impressed or terrified at something that could stand against such strikes. The only thing keeping my momentum up in the fight was that I managed to take one out by sheer luck… it and one other had come up through the hole in the floor and once it did I threw my net over the two of them. Unable to fly due to the net one of them fell to its death… My gun’s bullets were little more that mosquito bites to these things… No what really changed the tide of battle were my allies magical abilities, they were the real reason we were able to drive the creatures back. Tavaquik’s beam of light was especially useful in burning at the creature’s flesh, and thanks to the priestess’ guiding aid it made hitting the things that much easier. Surprisingly it would seem the Princess also knows a bit of magic as well, she occasionally flung out blasts of her own. Eventually the stone monstrosities seemed to be aware that they were fighting a losing battle and took off away from Kir Sabal.
I quickly ran up to the second floor to make sure everyone was okay only to be met with a hug from the princess. I embraced her in return before entering the second floor it seemed to have held up quite nicely with no signs that the creatures had broken through anywhere. I approached Na and asked him if he was alright and he shrugged it off as if this had been happening for a while now. That’s when I turned to Mwaxanare who reaffirmed that this has all started happening quite frequently as of late and seems to be happening at least once a week. That’s when I heard a voice asking if everyone was alright coming from the floor below, without it even registering I answered back that everything was fine. It wasn’t until the priestess noted that it sounded like Arden was back that I realized that’s who it was that had called up to me... I quickly turned around and headed straight towards him greeting him with a hardy handshake and a sincere “Welcome back ole chap.” In all the commotion his situation had left my mind completely but upon seeing him again it all rushed back, I was glad to see that he was back to his old self. I told Arden of Taaffa’s involvement in his restoration before turning to her and thanking her directly for aiding my friend. Arden also took this time to give me an old waterlogged journal he had in his possession since Port Nyanzaru that delved more into my field of study.
After our party’s touching reunion and updating Arden on what he missed in the two days that he was encased in stone the princess gathered us together and informed us that the stone creatures or gargoyles were sent by Ras Nsi. Ras Nsi was the banished barae of Omu and the one who controls the large army of undead that roams Chult, Taaffa would later mention that he could be the one behind the death curse as well.
Once the princess was informed that Queen Zalkore was still alive she started to fiddle with the Evermaze which seemed to react to her in turn, altering itself and allowing her to solve the maze quite easily. As if to announce her success in solving the puzzle the land around us began to shake and rumble. After the commotion Princess Mwaxanare seemed intent on speaking with her great great aunt, Queen Zalkore herself. I was initially against this as I didn’t want to put the princess in unnecessary dangers but the girl has a way of making her point and Azzaun made some excellent arguments as to why we should revisit Nangalore again. For one Azaka could still be alive and in need of our help. Secondly we had cut off Zalkore’s ability to make narcotics thus possibly sobering her enough to perhaps be in a more reasonable state of mind. Thirdly we killed a lot of the Eblis that appeared to have been altering her perception of the world or at least it was possible that they had been. Lastly we had to make amends for our rather unkind actions towards the Queen or former Queen of Omu who in all honesty didn’t deserve us invading her home and robbing her.
The Princess then motioned for Taaffa who marked Omu on our map and explained to us that before entering the former capital we would need to head to the heart of Ubtao to obtain a scepter that could break its seal. At this point I risked my party thinking I mad and chose to speak up about the Deneor woman and the wish that she had offered. I mentioned that she had introduced herself as the “Looming light of Baator” and Zamisi was able to identify that Baator was another name for the nine hells, safe to say that this wish may have come with a price. The Princess made it known to the priestess that she was to accompany us to Nangalore and I stated that we would leave first thing in the morning after the priestess performed the Dance of the Seven Winds allowing us all to fly to Nangalore more quickly. The priestess responded that if we were gone longer than 3 days she’d send someone to look for the princess, and to make sure that she remained safe she’d be sending two Aarakocra along with Nephyr to guard her at all times.
After all that was settled Taaffa suggested that she could look in on Nangalore if we had something that belonged to either Azaka or Zalkore. I offered up the Alchemist’s tools I took in my rush to flee with the Evermaze. Once placed in her hand she began to perform a ritual and through her staff we were able to peer into Nangalore seeing around its gardens and hearing its sounds. Azaka seemed safe enough as well as being back to her old self while Zalkore was in a rather saddened state; perhaps speaking with her now wouldn’t be as bad as I feared.
After the image faded we each split up and began making our preparations. I myself needed a new firearm, the pistol worked fine enough but I needed something that could last the fight longer before reloading. I asked Na to assist and he was happy to oblige. Once the weapon was crafted I set it aside to do more mundane things like eating and washing before eventually going to bed. Our journey would begin again tomorrow and this time it would prove even more difficult as now we have a princess to watch out for… even more than that I think I may be falling for the young queen to be. These last couple days spending time with her and her brother have felt strangely enough… like home…