Strong Enough

The corpse of the beholder.
The statue of a woman, face contorted in anger and rage.
And a pile of dust, indistinguishable from the rest.
 
Rohrouk, Fathom, and Brom just... stood there.
 
Keeping with our mission, Rohrouk remembered to bottle the beholder's blood. It was black and sticky and hot.
 
Brom downed a potion of healing, using the vessel to then collect Eragon's ashes for safety. At first we wanted Fathom to (carefully) carry statue-Cassandra, but turns out Brom is stronger. So, with the tabaxi's help, he took both of his newly-lost friends out of the aptly named Death-Cave.


 
Yes, we made it back to Koboldhome. And back to the Sharktooth safely -- but now we are down two crewmembers. Rohrouk went out to collect a few kobolds for the job, asking up and down the docks. And the question came all too quickly: "Well you sailed here -- what's the problem?"
 
While the lizardfolk was out, Brom decided that enough was enough from his amulet of proof against location and detection, and his connection to Deltavros' spear was more important ~~now.
 
With three kobolds in tow, our crew as big enough again to tackle the seas.
 
 

Backward

Aside from choppy water the sailing back to Forcalish was calm enough. Most of us brooded during the voyage, to be frank. Rohrouk stressed to the kobolds that discretion was necessary, and to not speak on what they had seen aboard the Sharktooth.
 
With Rohrouk's idea of explaining away statue-Cassandra as a cursed art piece, Brom reasoned we should first try the temple to Bahamut. It was the closest, and Herbayer still worked there.
 
 

Bahamut's grace

No one stopped us before we walked the marble pathways and gardens to enter between the ivory pillars of Bahamut's temple.
 
Brom was the one to be frustrated. "You, go get Herbayer." The only acolyte in attendance was shocked of course, yet complied. Herbayer looked more tired than before, and now walked with a cane. Pleasantries were made, then we followed the high priest to his chamber.
 
He asked no questions until we got to his room on the second floor. "What is it?" When Cassandra was revealed to him Herbayer cast greater restoration without hesitation.
 
And, gasping and tired, Cassandra returned to the land of the living. Brom embraced her, and the two wept.
 
Disintegration is a savage spell; Eragon was gone for good.
 
Brom: "We need to do this for Cassandra."
Cassandra: "This is not over, not yet."
 
Rohrouk laid out the entire plan to Herbayer. The priest informed us that a meeting of the temple leaders was to be held soon -- as it was every morning -- and at this one he would put up a collection for us. "Wait two hours, then I will be back."
 
As he prayed downstairs in the temple of Bahamut, Brom conversed with Fathom, who was (obviously) worried about our plan. Their talk all boiled down to one point: "We have to."
 
Back upstairs, it dawned on Cassandra that Rohrouk was being... kind, in his own way. It was a nice turn of events. He gave her the beholder's blood in confidence. "It rests on you now." When Rohrouk left, Cassandra asked her cards for one last time: "what can we do about Eragon?" Unsurprisingly, there was no response.
 
An acolyte approached Brom and Fathom. "There is someone here for you." Brom asked Fathom to go and watch over Rohrouk and Cassandra -- "I don't trust anyone anymore". "I'll see who it is, and if it's safe I'll message you."
 
Once they disappeared Brom attended to the person waiting at the door
a shorter man with a bright orange vest and expensive sword.
 
upon meeting Brom, addressed Brom with his full name and "lord"
 
My name is Escanar Danford, a part of the "Fatecarvers United" -- the group's fanclub.
 
He referenced the ink-black sea
 
"Where did you hear that."
 
Escanar referenced Forcalish's curfew... as well as the kobolds Rohrouk had recently hired.
 
Brom knows Escanar writes epics
 
Brom lets Escanar in, messages Rohrouk to come help vet this new person
 
Rohrouk appears. Escanar continues to be bewildered by Rohrouk's existence.
 
"He does know how to man a ship."
 
Rohrouk and Brom team huddled, Brom convincing Rohrouk to give Escanor a shot
 
Rohrouk returned upstairs to tell Fathom and Cassandra; Brom returned to praying (with invisible Escanor sitting on a nearby pew)
 
"We lost people close to us. I need you to respect that."
 
The party regrouped, and took in Escanor. An omen appeared: the temple doors were thrown open by a gust of wind, slamming shut to scare us all.
 
And a dark chuckle filled the room.
 
 

An old friend

From the shadows a form materialized, moving into the light for all to see.
 
Trickster.
"What? I wore black."
 
He told us, in no uncertain terms, that "Eragon was not done." Everyone was on edge, disbelieving, but: "It's bad, very bad." Eragon may still be dust, but the Raven Queen won't give up his soul. "She has never given up a soul."
 
That enough was... alarming.
 
"If you get down there, it'll be easy to find him if you look for him. Getting him out's the hard part." From his little, black, raccoon suit Trickster gave Cassandra a black silk cloak (hooded). "Put that on him. The Raven Queen won't be able to see him with that on. Then, very calmly, get on the boat, and walk out. And sail away." He reaffirmed that this would all be incredibly difficult. "The cloak will only work for a few seconds, moments. Be fast." If the Raven Queen caught any wind of what was going on, it would be all over. For all of us.
 
"And you can't look at him. Don't think of him even."
 
"I don't care about fate."
("I still have things I need him to do.")
 

Introductions

Eragon whirled to the newest Fatecarver once Trickster had disappeared. "Escanor -- don't say anything about what you just saw. Consider this a test."
 
Escanor pleaded his case, and the party agreed. With reservations. After some time. Eventually.
 
Fathom was very interested in Escanor's abilities in massage and cookery. "We have a fanclub... and I haven't slept with any of them?!"
 
 

Herbayer returned, with an acolyte (and parcel) in tow. Inside was for us:

four potions of healing,

a potion of greater healing,

a potion of heroism; and

a pair of (enchanted) leather bracers (for unarmed fighters)

all donated from the temple of the Stormlord. We divvied everything up, with Rohrouk taking the potion of greater healing. Cassandra supplemented these with four of her own elixirs.
 
 

One last sail

Without ceremony the party made for the Sharktooth and took up their posts.
 
We sailed until Forcalish was out of sight. Then, taking the ship into deadwind, we gathered on the main deck. Escanor produced an artist's brush, which Rohrouk and Cassandra used to paint the appropriate blood runes on the wizard's forehead.
 
Cassandra, runes of blood adorning her face, took her cards out as she always does. Rohrouk read the words, as written down, to her -- repeating them back. Each felt full and powerful, like a speed picking up about her. Soon Cassandra was finishing Rohrouk's sentences, the words coming from her organically. Her cards whirled into the air, swirling about our group. Our wizard was pulled, tugged northward. A heading for the ship.
 
Cassandra pointed, and we resumed sailing.
 
We went like this for over two hours, changing the sails in accordance with Cassandra's magic. When she called to us that the place was near, we readied ourselves. Later Cassandra explained that the ritual was a combination of finding the path and making it, in the same breath.
 
A shout came from Fathom in crow's nest: to the north black spires peeked up from the horizon. We drew near, more and more obsidian spires breaking the water's surface. Between then, in the middle where spires bent inward, a black energy coalesced in one point. Even from afar we all heard the cracking of the portal. Rohrouk freaked, and to everyone's (inner) delight the party reassured him. We were in this together.
 
The Sharktooth heaved in the seas as it drew close to the portal. Faster and faster the waves churned. A moment later we heard a terrifying rumble: off the starboard bow a gigantic creature surged from the deep. A skeletal thing, a snake or dragon or something obscene. Sitting on its head, like a rider on a horse, a darkly-clad mage glared down at us.
 
Who, but Kofsa.
 
"Going somewhere?"
 
 

Guardian of the gate

Escanor was surprised, to say the least. "Is this real?"
 
We all leapt to action. Brom called to the storm, invoking a vortex to hold the creature in place while Rohrouk piloted the ship onward.
 
Kofsa grinned manically, pointing onboard. "Die!" A thick yellow fog began to flood the ship's deck...
"Really, Kofsa?" With a controlled sweep of the hand Brom summoned a wave to crash over the boat. No Fatecarver was pulled off their feet, but the gas was thrown into the sea.
 
Angrily her serpent-thing lashed out at Brom, clamping its jaws around his form and threatening ot throw the warlock overboard. "Get back!" He shouted.
 
"Okay!" Escanor ran to the stern ballistae, weaving magic into his words. "You're all idiots!" -- and a fear spell to subdue Kofsa and her pet.
 
Then Cassandra succeeded on a ray of enfeeblement, crippling the creature. Things were looking good.
 
The boat surged forward, closer and closer to the portal. With Brom in its jaws the beast had to answer to Rohrouk and Fathom now, both running towards the creature's head on-board to whale on it.
 
Nerves trembling Kofsa still managed to wield the arcane she had studied, summoning a black hand to slam down on Cassandra. But our heroine was better than his, diving out of the way.
 
Brom was not so lucky -- the terrified beast turned with the warlock in its jaws and dove underwater to the south. "I'm o --" and he was gone.
 
Everyone panicked, and rightly so.
 
The serpent pulled Brom underwater
 
he breathes underwater, can speak
says XYZ, casts thunderstep
with a boom rockets through the water
cannonballs out of the sea near the Sharktooth to land prone on the deck
"I told you I was fine! Go! Go!"
 
Escanar: "the stories don't do you justice!"
 
Kofsa screamed in rage as the serpent swam further and further, raw fear of our new friend shaking its bones.
 
"How the hell did Kofsa know where we were?"
It dawned on Cassandra that someone must have slipped off their amulet of proof against detection
Brom: It was me. just get us through the portal
 
 
The seas quieted, for the shortest of moments, before the bow began to tip downward. The stern raised as the Sharktooth pivoted to make for the bottom of the sea. Everyone grabbed hold of the ship -- save Rohrouk, who plummeted to the water below. The Sharktooth followed, dark water engulfing everything.
 
 

Down is up

Then the ship rose. Everyone, Rohrouk included, flopped back onto the main deck.
 
Everything was very quiet. A dark sky, without moon or sun. An infinite expansive of water, flat as ice and black as ink. A single ray of light flickered over the waves: in the distance across the dark water we could all see a stone tower rise from the waves. Every so often a silver light moved across the top: a lighthouse.
 
And here, in the realm of the Raven Queen, Cassandra was different. Her hair was now raven-black hair, her eyes piercing blue. And here, she could see.