The party floats in void goo, suffocating. What do you do? Where do your thoughts go?
- Vondal: “Must get rid of the goop!” Banishment spell with spell trick.
- Callie: Use last charge on the Trident to talk to the fish remnants
- Oz: Spite in the face of death: “Good luck gettin’ paid now, fuckfaces!”
- Cal: “Can I use my whip to move myself?”
- Bec: “My Dad, the World Tree, the Elves… will I ever see them again?” Hoping the World Tree doesn’t die…
Meanwhile, Freki accidentally pushes the big red TELEPORT button:
- Looking around for a button that starts up the sub…
- …sees the big red button… this must be it! Pushes it.
- Too late, notices the label next to it that says “TELEPORT HOME – FOR EMERGENCIES ONLY”
- Hears a build-up of energy…
- …and the sub pops out of existence.
- Freki feels rattled around… like the sub is looking for somewhere to go…
- …but there is nowhere for it to go. It’s disconnected from reality here.
- So, the pent up epic conjuration magic EXPLODES, filling the vacuum of the void!
The party feels this magical wave wash over them, reality rushing in. As it does so, the thoughts in their minds are made manifest in fascinating ways:
- Freki remembers the ancient merfolk city that the aboleths had projected as an illusion, sensing it must have been based in historical reality. He imagines the city at its prime, and the merfolk metropolis begins to coalesce!
- Oz: “What fun would life be if they weren’t chasing me?” He finds himself standing in an ill-gotten pile of gold and jewels and gems.
- Cal: “Can I use my whip to rescue my friends?” His whip is suffused with epic magical power, becoming the Whip of Rescue +1 (Reach, Finesse).
- Vondal’s banishment spell eliminates the divide between this place and the prime material plane, dissolving its barrier. As the realm is made manifest, he thinks quickly, visualizing the largest library ever built, open to the public, and it becomes part of the city!
- Bec sees a vision of Sartus Morningdew waiting at a teleportation circle of the SPI.
- Callie feels the power of her trident fuse with the realm as it comes into being, a powerful charm merfolk effect. The corrupted fish folk are restored to merfolk, who now believe in their hearts that the SPI agents are the ones from the other side of the Waters of Antigua! The ones prophesied to save them from the evil sorceress Gwendeviere, who decimated the city with the fierce Dragon Turtle Vorltrarr! But now that nightmare is finally over! The evil sorceress Gwendeviere can never threaten the waters of Antigua ever again, thanks to these brave adventurers!
Fortunately, it seems that banishing the aboleths’ foul influence restored Linistreya to her normal form as well. But she is still unconscious. Callie heals her and wakes her up. She is very grateful to see her daughter!
The SPI meets the mermaid princess Chrandria, and her friends Filiandra and Shraunna, who escort them to the Brotherkings Aquarmand and Harnaqua. They are rewarded with three large chests of treasure in thanks for their valiant efforts stopping the evil sorceress Gwendeviere and her dragon turtle Vorltrarr!
The agents discuss how to get home. They could take the sub home, but it’s a 12-day journey. And they would need to leave some munitions behind to make room for Linistreya. Or they could fix the teleportation circle, updating it to modern standards so that they can teleport.
They opt for the latter. Once Vondal has finished perusing the incredible library, and Bec has the teleport circle squared away, they teleport back to SPI HQ, except for Aurora and Lini, who return to Cognitutus to update the Board of Regents and Rollo on what has transpired. Their plan is to send someone back to Antigua later to retrieve the sub.
Case file addendum: What happened in Cognitutus?
- A huge dragon turtle was wrecking the city, bashed in part of the bubble, and the water and sahaguin were streaming in… and then they just… stopped. The dragon turtle swam away back down into the depths, and the sahaguin seemed dazed and confused. When they realized the danger they were in on the front lines, they surrendered.
- The Board of Regents were delighted with Aurora and the SPI, issuing a citywide proclamation of herodom honoring their accomplishments.
- Rollo was ecstatic to be reunited with Lini. The Rockwells also finalized the deal to sell Euphoria back to the Noffindorfs, so their fortune is saved, and they are able to rehire all of the servants.