Meeting Valanus...

Having survived the harpy's charms, spiked pits, and infuriating slipperiness of her lair, the companions steeled their minds, determined to find the elusive sword, Elatus.

They hadn't traveled far before Kai raised a clenched fist, signaling a halt. "What is it?" Terik asked, alert and ready for action. "Shh!" Kai reprimanded. "Hear that?" he asked in a coarse whisper.  "Sounds like water," he answered himself.

At this point Wotan interjected, "It’s a river."

“A river?” Dandelion asked quizzically.

“The sphinx's riddle,” Wotan answered, as if that would clear it up.

It didn’t...

Seeing the confused look upon Dande's face, he sighed before explaining, "Up to this point, every riddle’s answer has provided a clue as to the danger we should expect to face."

Dandelion's brow furrowed in consternation, only serving to quicken Wotan's descent into madness. Fortunately, Ayas took it from there.

"He's right. The answer to the first was coffin. And what did we find guarding Whelm?"

"A vampire," answered the Vistani, quite pleased with himself.

"Correct," Ayas praised him. "And the second riddle, do you recall the answer?"

"The beast in boiling bubble," Terik announced, casting a smug glance at Dandelion as though he’d won some silent competition.

"Yes. The dragon being the beast and the boiling bubble being, well, a boiling bubble."

"Enough talk!" The tone of Kai's voice signaled the conversation was over. "River or not, we’ve no choice. Put your game faces on and let’s go." And so they did.

The tunnel opened into a grandiose chamber, the ceiling of which was cloaked in shadow somewhere far above them. In fact, even with Kai's sunblade blazing, it was still barely discernible. They discovered upon speaking that their voices echoed creating a disorienting cacophony, but the thing that held them enthralled was the sight of the river flowing through the room.

Roughly twelve feet in width and four feet deep, it entered the chamber on their left, made a slight turn, and exited the room directly in front of them. It was loud, moving quickly, and floating about three feet off the floor. Yes. You read correctly. The river was suspended in the air!

Wasting no time, Kai and Ayas moved to a pile of roughly cut wooden rafts heaped in a corner. Taking one, Kai launched it into the river, watching as it quickly disappeared within the darkness of the tunnel. "Well?" Ayas asked. "We go," Kai answered.

The ride was rough. The tunnel through which the river rushed was narrow and tumultuous. The walls were jagged, the celling low, and the water numbing in its coldness. Adding to the difficulty was the fact their one and only light source stemmed from a sunrod strapped to Nine’s head, who unfortunately spent the majority of the trip underwater. Consequently, it was quite dark.

Thankfully the ride didn’t last long, spitting them out ignominiously into another chamber, cold and battered, but still breathing. Many of the companions had lost their rafts at this point, though I distinctly recall Terik’s grand entrance. More on that in a moment…

I’m not sure who first noticed, but they quickly realized they weren’t alone.

Seven dragonborn occupied the room. Two were busy wrestling with a raft in the stream on the far side of the room. Two more stood in a corner surrounded by bedrolls and a cook pot. One held a bow, notched and ready with a black shafted arrow. The other, wearing a plumed helm and flowing crimson cape, stood straight-backed, his arms folded across his chest and a serious countenance upon his face.

The final three dragonborn were advancing toward the bobbing members of Fate’s Hammer, swords drawn and shields raised. It was into this trio’s midst Terik made his grandiose appearance. Standing, he leapt from the swift, unsteady raft, cartwheeling magnificently through the air to land abruptly, and altogether ungracefully, before them. On his ass…

Fortunately for all, confrontation was avoided. After being unceremoniously dumped to the cobblestone floor, Dandelion arose and marched nonchalantly toward the stern faced dragonborn he presumed to be the leader. For once, his instincts were correct, and although it started as an awkward conversation, the party was soon invited to sit, relax and share a meal.

The dragonborn captain introduced himself as Valanus, explaining they were on a mission to retrieve a trident known as Wave. They had been commissioned by the traveling halfling community known as The River People. This was day three of their foray, and it was readily apparent luck was not on their side.

He was particularly interested in Ayas. In fact, it was this curiosity that led to a world-altering revelation for the party’s cavalier. It started with a simple question. “Where are you from?”

To say Ayas’s answer caused an awkward moment would be an understatement. Three things happened at once. Valanus’s jaw hit the proverbial floor. His companions froze in place as if they had gazed upon Medusa herself, and a stunned silence blanketed the room. All of this had the cumulative effect of leaving Ayas wondering, perplexed, as their newly found acquaintances looked at him as if he were a mad man.

“Rhestilor you say?” Valanus finally asked, eliciting a nod from Ayas. That’s impossible! The empire collapsed nearly 400 years ago!” As you can imagine, it was now Ayas’s jaw that dropped.

An hour later, neither of them were closer to solving the mystery. Ayas admitted his fragmented memory, but was adamant he was born and raised in Rhestilor, and though he had been taken from there at the age of seven, he was eager to return.

Valanus went on to explain how civil strife had weakened the empire to the point that they were unable to defend themselves when the Drenai began to settle the vale. “It was a bleak time,” he said with a heavy heart. “The Drenai wanted the entire vale to themselves, and shattered as we were, we just couldn’t stop them.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “So,” he said with renewed enthusiasm, “we split into family groups, the majority of which ended up among the Thornewastes, the only place the Drenai weren’t interested in. And for good reason.”

He went on to talk about his Legate, Magorax, of how he had reunited the tribes and vowed to restore the once proud empire. “When we get out of this mountain, you must meet our Legate. He’s the embodiment of everything we stand for. Honor. Duty. Self-sacrifice.” With pride beaming from his face, he continued, “Magorax will raise Rhestilor from the ashes. Mark my words, dragonborn shall have a home once again.”

The conversation was interrupted by the discovery of a cleverly disguised door about ten feet off the ground along the southern wall. When opened, it revealed a long hall sloping gently upward, and the companions, along with their dragonborn friends, were quick to explore it.

Two hundred feet in, the passage branched. To the left it exited high above the floor of the room where they first discovered the levitating river. The other branch continued deeper into the mountain.

Valanus decided this is where they would part ways, ordering his men to make preparations for the coming rappel. He once again implored that they meet again, being sure to state that perhaps Magorax could help Ayas with his missing memory. As for the members of Fate’s Hammer, they seemed genuine in their goodbyes, and nobody raised a word of protest when Dandelion offered them the trident Wave as a parting gift. I hope it doesn’t come back to haunt them…