Down Too Long in the Midnight Sea

While resting, Darien and Ciana experience a shared vision of The Guardian in the same temple that he had repeatedly appeared in. The Guardian states that he is not sure who he his, but there is something about the two of them and the city of Kesh that is making him become more actualized and real. He says that for as long as he has been aware he has been formless and somewhat abstract even to himself, even when he first came to Ciana in her childhood. He believes that he was mortal once, but any memories of that life are like fragments of a dream.
Upon waking, the party returns to the ruins of Hakeby and boards the Holy Diver to return to Kesh. On the way, they run aground in a shallow segment of the Razor Reef that runs along the southern edge of the Inganna Archipelago. While making repairs Darien spots a glint from a shipwreck below, and he and Smithy travel down to investigate it. There they are attacked by some giant sharks but are easily able to drive them off. The wreck is an old Déonian ship called the Masquerade, and the glint came from a large valuable diamond embedded in the eye of the ship's panther figurehead. Within the ship, Smithy finds an amulet that allows casting of Alter Self and Pass Without Trace while Darien finds a locked steel box wrapped in long-decayed velvet finery.
After returning to the now-repaired Holy Diver, Darien opens the box to find within it a Déonian holy text titled Truths of Apotheosis. It details the worship of a group of esoteric deities known as the Foretold; powerful warriors who it is believed will arrive in Déon's darkest hour. It also describes their Apotheon Relics, which are powerful items containing fragments of divinity and believed to help herald their arrival. Most of these Relics have been lost to time, especially after the Moonshattering. While looking at a section of the book describing Liadon–one of the most venerated of the Foretold who is associated strongly with the moons–Darien recognizes much of the iconography from the temple which appeared in he and Ciana's visions of the Guardian.

Chapter Eight

"Down Too Long in the Midnight Sea"

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Previous Chapter: Alas, Poor Yorik

Next Chapter: Wellerstown

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Ingame Date: 18^th of High Sun, 1855
Real-Life Date: May 15, 2022
Protagonists:

• Darien Lothar
• Smithy

Featured NPCs:

• Kristofer Weltread
• Ciana
• The Guardian

Locations:

• Hakeby
• The Razor Reef