The celebration of Simril at Catchbreeze was grand! Every neighbor and friend came for the festive celebration and stayed well into the night feasting, drinking and looking up into the clear night sky to follow their ancestral or birth star. Musicians played for hours as servants brought trays of drinks and appetizers around the guests who patiently waited to greet the Drow’s Bane. Royce, Naismith and Mordrock enjoyed the change of pace as each relaxed into their drink and conversation, perfectly happy to forget their problems for one night.
The Drow’s Bane spend several more weeks at the estate catching up and enjoying some down time before making preparations to journey to the Elemental Plane of Water. The four spend significant time examining the map of the Elemental Plane of Water, and decide to break into Kendall’s library in hopes of finding a resource describing the plane; they do get lucky and find a tome describing the Elemental Planes of the multiverse. Nong, who can read elvish, translates details about the City of Glass and the Citadel of 10,000 Pearls. They discover the City of Glass is a major metropolis which houses 30,000 residents of all walks of life; the Citadel is the residence of the center of government ruled by marid genies. Further research leads them to believe the ‘X marks the spot’ location on the map is somewhere in the darkest depths of the plane, where places like the ‘Fathomless Caves’ and ‘Trench of Death’ prosper.
Since the library break-in, Kendall has been on Royce’s mind a lot; Royce decides to scry on the wizard one more time in hopes of any news. He approaches his crystal ball and casts Scrying, waiting for Tempus to show him anything about his friend. Royce can feel the familiar divine strength imbue in him a vision of light that quickly fades to obscure gray clouds, blocking Royce’s vision. “Either the spell failed or Kendall is not on this plane,” ponders Royce.
Nong’s boat rows into dock where Mordrock steps onboard. Nong immediately rows back out the harbor to his familiar location, three hundred one feet from shore. “Here, I brought you a friend to keep you company on your boat,” says Mordrock who pulls from his cloak a small two-headed kitten with pupilless eyes. “I visited my apartment earlier today and realized that Samantha needs to live somewhere where she can roam about, like this boat and not in a stuffy apartment,” smiles Mordrock. Nong looks down at the kitten and pets it before looking back at Mordrock mischievously grinning, “How does Kelemvor feel about you raising undead kittens? I thought he was anti-undeath?” Mordrock puts his finger up to his lips, “shhh,” winks and smiles. Samantha is drawn toward the Wand of Orcus’ dark aura and begins to howl upon contact with it; Nong and Mordrock watch as the kitten’s eyes go from pupilless to fiery red. Mordrock looks slightly concerned but Nong stares at the cat and says, “Go play and don’t scratch anything!” as they watch Samantha instantly obey Nong and skip away. Nong looks back at Modrock, “Thank you…I like her already.”
A day later Royce presents to the group his findings, “I have spent time scrying for Kendall and did not find him on this plane. I also communed with Tempus and have learned the following.” Naismith and Mordrock lean in waiting to hear what Royce has to say next. “Glasya wants Orcus destroyed. The Elemental Plane of Water is the right path for us and…,” Royce takes a long pause, “…Kendall is in trouble.” Naismith responds with a look of shock to Royce’s last words. “When I asked Tempus is Kendall okay? The bright light of strength faded into darkness. I know this is not a good sign for our friend,” says a worried Royce who looks at the group with a saddened face. They share the news with Nong who agrees the best path forward, is to continue to the Elemental Plane of Water, in spite of the Kendall news.
Royce’s father’s ship arrives in Waterdeep where he will stay at Catchbreeze for the next month, waiting out the worst times of winter to pass before heading back home. Petha arranges Royce’s living quarters to accommodate his father instead of cleaning out Illian’s or Kendall’s rooms. Father and son will spend a short time together before Royce must depart.
An additional last minute surprise lands in Royce’s lap which is the officiation of the marriage between Djanni and Lulach. The ceremony takes place in the sanctuary of Tempus and an informal celebration follows in the courtyard; Naismith opens the celebration with a familiar tune he still remembers from his bardic days. Naismith walks up to the newlywed couple and after giving each of them a hug says, “Djanni this gift is for you and Lulach, this is for you. May you begin your life’s journey together with happiness and prosperity.” Fifty platinum pieces for Djanni and a silver raven wondrous figurine for his brother.
The next morning, Royce, Naismith, Mordrock and Nong stand in a circle with their hands linked. Royce holds onto a forked metal rod and casts Plane Shift while speaking the words, “City of Glass.” Seconds later, the Drow’s Bane phase out of Faerun and appear in the Elemental Plane of Water.