Narrative

Day 15 began on Friday, 30th Dec, with the party heading back to Seaward. They followed a caravan of stone back toward town and arrived at about 19:00 in the rain. They needed to see the Elementharium, who was actually dressed this time.

The Elementharium explained quasi-elementals. They do not have their own plane. There are eight known major planes, and light and dark affect combinations of them to create the eight main quasi-elemental forms. These combinations became their own things and started to fight, though the Elementharium said they had not become that powerful.

He outlined the combinations: earth, water, and light create ooze, slime, or life, described as the spark of creation. Earth, water, and dark create salt, which makes water bad and causes crops not to grow. Earth, fire, and light create metal, associated with positive construction. Earth, fire, and dark create magma, which destroys farmland and similar things. Fire, air, and light create smoke. Fire, air, and dark create void, the absence of everything and nothingness. Air, water, and light create ice. Air, water, and dark create storm. The party still questioned where sand fit into this structure.

After discussing salt water elementals with the party, the Elementharium went down through a trapdoor. Dirk listened and heard him talking to somebody about the subject. The conclusion was that salt water elementals do not exist: salt and water are their own things. The situation was framed as pollution, with a salt elemental poisoning a water elemental.

Dirk asked whether crystals were helping the barrier. The Elementharium seemed to believe it, but he needed the Justicar to believe it so that she would leave. Geldrin planned to try to sway the guards or towers to persuade the Justicar to leave. [Rhonati?] or Hevii might have an obsidian bird for relaying a message. The party arranged to meet back with the Elementharium at 21:30.

Dirk asked about Garadul. The Elementharium went down to the chamber, retrieved a dwarf skull, and asked it the question about Garadul. The skull replied, “The information you seek is not for your kind.” It then said Garadul was imprisoned in the Prison of the Sands. The skull was Brutor Ruby Eye, a knowledgeable being and wizard of great power.

The Elementharium showed the party the skull room, where he speaks to skulls for information. When asked what would happen if Garadul escaped, Brutor answered that it would be bad indeed. The barrier would be weakened by the loss of one of the eight. Brutor said Garadul was the only void they could find, and that if one of the eight were to escape, it would be him. The feedback from the destruction of his prison would have damaged the others. Geldrin told Brutor about the Tri-moon shard. Brutor knew of the first crack and said Ennuyé had been tampering with it for his own means, meddling with the containment device. If something happened to Ennuyé, it would be bad and could cause the crack.

Brutor said the wizards did not agree about the entrapment of the elementals, but they all agreed that Garadul needed to be contained. The ooze one was described as a good one. Ice and storm [crossed out] were placed in the same chamber because the land was tricky to dig. The party considered whether the leaking might be stopped by correcting sigils that were out of alignment. The notes also say Brutor was killed by the Black Dragon and identify him as a demi-lich, or mention how he was made.

The party considered whether there might be a way to reverse the polarity. They learned or recorded “Spinal” as Brutor’s password. A boxed note also records “Winter Roses?” as Ennuyé’s password.

The party’s broader thread list included halfling killers, eight things linked to the poles, pirates, and elementals. They also received a downpayment for their work: 50 per 200 gp [uncertain phrasing]. At 20:30 they put the horses into the stables and stayed at the Night Candles.

People, Factions, and Places Mentioned

• Elementharium: Seaward elemental expert who explained quasi-elementals, discussed salt and water as separate beings, and used skulls for information.
• Dirk: listened to the Elementharium’s private conversation and asked about Garadul.
• Geldrin: planned to sway the guards or towers and told Brutor about the Tri-moon shard.
• Justicar: needed to be convinced that the crystals were helping the barrier so she would leave.
• [Rhonati?] or Hevii: possible source of an obsidian bird for relaying a message.
• Garadul: said by Brutor to be imprisoned in the Prison of the Sands and also called the only void they could find.
• Brutor Ruby Eye: dwarf skull, knowledgeable being, powerful wizard, demi-lich, source of information about Garadul, Ennuyé, and the containment system.
• Ennuyé: said to have tampered with the containment device for his own ends; linked to the first crack and a possible password, “Winter Roses?”
• Black Dragon: said to have killed Brutor.
• Seaward: town where the party met the Elementharium and stayed the night.
• Night Candles: inn or lodging where the party stayed.

Items, Rewards, and Resources

• Dwarf skull / Brutor Ruby Eye’s skull: used by the Elementharium as an information source.
• Obsidian bird: possible communication device held by [Rhonati?] or Hevii.
• Crystals: suspected by Dirk and the Elementharium of helping the barrier.
• Password “Spinal”: recorded as Brutor’s password.
• Password “Winter Roses?”: boxed note, possibly Ennuyé’s password.
• Downpayment: recorded as “50 per 200g” [uncertain phrasing].
• Horses: put into the stables at 20:30.

Clues, Mysteries, and Open Threads

• Salt water elementals may not exist; instead, salt and water are separate entities, with salt acting as pollution against water.
• Sand still does not fit cleanly into the Elementharium’s quasi-elemental model.
• The Justicar’s presence is considered a problem, and the party wants her to leave.
• Brutor said Garadul was the only void they could find, which complicates earlier associations of Garadul with sand, earth, and fire.
• The barrier depends on eight beings linked to poles; losing one would weaken it.
• Ennuyé tampered with the containment device, and something happening to him could have caused or worsened the first crack.
• The wizards disagreed about elemental entrapment, but agreed Garadul had to be contained.
• Ice and storm may have been placed in the same chamber due to difficult land, though “storm” is crossed out in the raw notes.
• Leaking prisons might be repairable if the sigils are out of alignment, or perhaps by reversing polarity.
• Halfling killers, pirates, elementals, and the eight pole-linked entities remain active unresolved threads.