CXVIII. Taking Back the Quarry

General Summary

The Ring & Wren, now adrift at sea after escaping the invasion of Hammerhead Isle, made to sail towards the rendezvous point. Just slightly off course, it appeared that only one day had passed since the Imperial Armada had been destroyed to a man. Having been six days since the group set sail from Felstadt, there was a week's worth of sailing left to reach their destination. Along the way, they caught up with Captain Callistan finished the last of the sailing together. Once there, they met up with Delmi, who joined them on Callistan's ship the Archipelago for a moot.

"If I had lungs, I'm sure this air would taste pretty good."
-Ten Men Clay

The party told Callistan and Delmi what had happened in Egar's realm, and revealed that they had freed Rota Sturmdottir. Delmi accused the Ring & Wren of speaking only of myth: no one had heard from Rota for ages. In answer, a storm began to form and Rota herself appeared.

"Paramount Quintessant...the myths said you fell!"
-Delmi

"I did not fall. I was cast into prison."
-Rota Sturmdottir

Rota provided the Ring & Wren with more information about Durssundrr, the home of the storm giants. Together, they made a plan to release the storm giant warriors that had been enslaved by Fyodirr Karkorum in the Eldingite quarry, deep in the trench outside the city. With the warriors free, they would have a better chance of taking the main city back. They decided to wait to have Rota reveal herself on the battlefield at a crucial moment in order to protect her and ensure their success. Before they left, Rota told Delmi that she has the heart of a Paramount. Jager also took the chance to send two messages. The first was addressed to Governor Gerdemaine, informing him of the armada's demise. The governor was appalled, and ordered the Ring & Wren to return to Felstadt at once--an order which was promptly ignored.

"If this is a joke, I'll have you hanged!"
-Governor Gerdemaine

Jager's second message was addressed to Roak. Jager sardonically congratulated him for killing their entire family not once, but twice, and asked him what he was thinking. In response:

"I'm thinking I can't wait to put an end to Egar's will personally when I kill you as well. I'll see you soon."
-Roak Ironbeard

The party then descended to the darkness of the Durssundrr quarry. The perched on the lip of the trench, and King pulled out his spyglass and attempted to hand it to Soora before Roger snatched it and looked through it instead. From their viewpoint, they could see that the storm giants were chained in groups of ten to several anchors, and had become strangely mutated. Their normal color had become pale, and their skin had instead begun to take on a dark purple hue. Their bodies were covered in the appendages of sea life, such as crab claws or barnacles. The giants were being overseen by several fishmen, and one in particular who was crueler than the others had the keys. Soora swam down in the darkness and took them from him as he harassed a particularly strong-willed giant. After he walked away to patrol another area, Soora very quietly unlocked the giant's manacles and tried to perfectly mimic Amari's pronunciation of a message in Giant:

"We are here to help. Don't draw any attention this way."
-Soora Huinë

"Elganir..."
-Storm Giant Captive

The giant, unable to see Soora, gave an almost imperceptible nod after delivering this warning and began to pass the message along the chain. Amari translated the word after Soora told it to him through the telepathic bond. "Eels." Soora made note of the beehive-like structures within the trench, assuming them to be filled with the creatures. Then she continued her work, unlocking all ten chains from their anchors. As she finished, the cruel overseer returned to the strong-willed giant and tried to harass him some more, but the giant grabbed him by the throat and began to strangle him. As the enslaved giants began their uprising, the other fishmen blew their conch horns. Gargantuan eels emerged from the hive-like structure, and the Ring & Wren decided to take them on so that the giants below--who outnumbered their captors by ten-to-one--would be free to viciously take back their freedom. After a short battle lit only by Roger's Sunsword, the Ring & Wren and the giants below came out on top. Grouping up with the giants, the Ring & Wren told them of the return of the Quintessant and the demise of Egar. The giants were slow to believe at first, but soon became excited at the thought of purging their city of Dhor's influence with the help of Rota and the Ring & Wren. The next objective became clear: The Ring & Wren would need to free the old guard military leaders being held in the Storm Cells...