A Poseidon Adventure

 Having returned to my compatriots at the port and passed on what I've learned, we proceeded to the lake. Mimi's sextant leads us under the surface. I was able to purchase a water-breathing ring near the shore, but Cole-Bey and Aerathor use a boat as a sort of diving bell. Mimi has an ancient suit of that she can dive in, and of course, the captain is in her element. We start to descend and soon see giant jellyfish. They are beautiful, but as we pass them, we also encounter several weird translucent tentacled monsters. They are not beautiful. We are forced to engage, and ultimately destroy them. The sextant leads down, into the inky depths. Captain has no concerns and dives deeper ahead of us and out of sight. After a time, Mimi produces a glowing crystal and lets it sink. I follow it, hoping to catch sight of our leader. An odd humanoid swims up to me...

She is? was? Sister Isolde?! She is very upset, and says she's never going back. I try to comfort her and find out what has happened...

Wolves and Butterflies

 Faith! What a day!

As we docked at Titan Prime, Mimi declares we must go out to the lake. However, the powers that be won't allow us as of yet. Some paperwork or whatever. Just then, She speaks to me yet again! Brother Luther needs assistance about a mile to the East! Well, when duty calls, she'll not find me wantin', so I hoist my shield, let my companions know I'll be back shortly, and set off at a trot.

When I finally spot him, Luther is being menaced by 5 wolves. Now, he's a strapping lad, and handy with a sword, but he does lack confidence, and if I can spot it in his face from 10 yards away, they can certainly smell it on him. So, I rush in, making as much racket as I can, hoping to pull their attention my way. It works for most of them, and we set to work dispatching the beasts. Unfortunately, the noise we've all made fighting (and them dying) attracted yet another creature -- an owlbear! We turn and fight another fearsome battle, and finally overcome. Praise be!

But the praises are not done yet, for Brother Luther was waylaid returning from a ruin in the woods and has even more relics from the dawn of our time! Another painting and a letter to go with it. The painting depicts a bride in her wedding dress casting blue energy out, filling massive cracks in the land all across in the distance. On piece of that land is already floating. It bears the inscription: "As the cataclysm began and the world cracked apart, the heroine gave her heart." The letter (again from Hector Cogsworth) speaks of having created this very painting and how he spreads the tale of how she, the woman he writes to, stopped "the great adversary" from breaking free, how she saved the world for a second time, and how it remains shattered. He mentions this new world being newly named Zepheria, instead of Gailatia (confirming our suppositions). Finally, he says that he will continue to search for her, possibly in or beyond the maelstrom below.

As we exchanged information that we had gathered, Brother Luther and I discussed some of the implications of the relics we had found. We of the order have long considered "Hector" to be a figure of evil, standing in opposition to our good Lady. And we have long assumed The One to been divine eternally before as she will be eternally still. But the narrative told by these letters and paintings (which seem to at least be reliably dated) tell a different tale. One of Hector on the side of good, partnered (*and married!*) to a caster, who, though extremely powerful, was more a person than an unknowable deity. At least, so she was considered by the author of our breadcrumbs. 

It seems plausible, perhaps likely(?) that this caster is The One. That idea will certainly cause no small amount of consternation among the faithful, and may be deemed a heresy. But does She not teach that we follow the knowledge wherever it may go? One cannot learn anything truly new if one discards any information that is uncomfortable. And as for "heresy," the butterfly was once a caterpillar, yet it is still beauty flitting through the air. If She was once a mortal, that does not diminish her divinity. Do we not gain strength from her? I shall sleep well and happily on this when next I have the chance.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

 Things are certainly proceeding! As we tarried in town -- some to drink, a couple to study, maybe some to shop -- the entire island jolted! Then it started to list to one side as a spire grew through the very ground! Spires don't just GROW! I would think it unprecedented! But then, is it? After seeing this nigh-impossibility, I rushed BACK to my studies and looked for different information. It's not UNprecedented, merely astronomically rare. I can find only two other instances: at the beginning of our calendar (presumably very shortly after the cataclysm), and in the year 1000. So, a thousand years between first and second, and a third 620 years later. If this is a recurrent phenomenon, the frequency is increasing (though I'll have to wait a few hundred years to confirm it, apparently). I don't remember whether it was Cole-Bay's idea or my own, but we got an ether compass to see if it would read the new spire. It didn't initially, but started to (very) gradually accumulate a reading. So, it would seem that the ether power didn't cause the growth, but now that the spire is grown, it begins to accumulate ether the way older spires do.

While all this was occurring, our new friend Aerathor caught a pink rat at the bar they were frequenting. It turns out it was more than a miscolored rodent, but a messenger of sorts, for it left an envelope with a letter for the Captain. "I believe our interests are aligning. Meet me on your ship." The implication that the author might be on the ship sped our heels to return quickly. She was not, but soon showed her well-known face. Mimi, whom we know from the bounty boards, apparently has a relic much like a sextant to help magically guide us through the maelstrom. It reportedly shows the path taken by Hector Cogsworth centuries ago. She also has two more of his letters! (I will include transcripts with this entry.) After some discussion, we followed the path the sextant showed and arrived at Titan Prime. We docked and walked toward the lake.

My Goddess! What a remarkable turn of events. I can FEEL the gears of history turning and returning!