"Jill Orion, at your service," the aasimar captain replied as the two newcomers boarded. She in turn introduced the others on deck, being careful to not divulge more than she knew they would say themselves. With introductions over, she turned her attention back to the Theullai. "I apologize for my allies' attention spans. I assure you they are quite focused when the need arises. In the meantime, we shall find your Marid."

[i][color=00aeef]With time wasting away, I called Eliza back to the deck to cast her water-breathing spell on us all before we headed into the deeps. It would only last a few hours, but I had faith that the aforementioned town would supply us with whatever else was required. If not, we could return to the ship in failure. Come to think of it, I doubt the theullai would have appreciated such a failure, and neither would I. The marid was as good as dead with us on his trail!

For those who are unaware, the Elemental Plane of Water in which we currently resided is an infinite expanse of water in all directions. There are intermittent pockets of air and land or debris that exist for people to live on or in, such as the massive bubble of air our ship now drifted in. Our journey into the deeps, without a guide, would be sure to result in our becoming lost without some sort of landmark along the journey. Thankfully, the theullai had offered one of his scouts.

As we waited for the wizard's ritual, the terms were set. We were entitled to whatever we found, either in the marid's lair or in the road along the way. We would then return with some proof of the marid's demise. As proof of our deputization, the theullai handed me a crystal of ice in the shape of a wolf's head which I then hung around my neck. At that, we bid farewell to the Gatekeeper and dove into the water, following one of the drakes deeper and deeper, hoping we were being led in the correct direction. After an hour of swimming, we approached a city carved into what appeared to be a large formation of coral. As we approached, the drake we followed turned around and darted away as several of the merfolk guards approached bearing tridents.[/color][/i]

"State your purpose!" called one of the guards, brandishing his trident towards the group. The guards behind him stood at the ready as if they expected the group to turn on them at any second. "Be quick about it, or feel the wrath of Poseidon!"