Mythran's Master Of All

“Come this way.” The 6 foot tall male entity said, and turned towards the castle's front doors. Ren had lost his hold on the rope when he had passed through the portal, so with nothing to look after, he followed the being inside. The air bubble around Ren went with him. He wasn't sure if it was him that it was following, or if the being was willing it to be so.

With a clear opportunity to observe the being up close, Ren discovered that the being's body was the same as the one Fire Dancer had. It had a translucent outer shell with the element contained and swirling underneath. Unlike the original Fire Dancer, this being wore strategically placed shells and seaweed; and Ren was more than grateful for that little detail.

They went inside the castle, which was much larger than the castle he'd seen in the dwarf lands. It had a similar design, however. They entered a large lobby with a 3 storey staircase, and Ren was surprised to find it wasn't full of water, but air. Several hallways led off of the lobby, and they went down one of these and came to a large set of double doors. The being didn't hesitate or announce himself as he opened the doors, and Ren had no choice but to follow him inside.

That was as far as he went, because his Etiquette skill activated and he felt like he had to stop. He did so, and then stared at the throne room. It was right out of what Ren thought could be a seafarer's endless nightmare. The walls were decorated with the bones of countless bodies; both humanoid and creature alike. The wreckage of ships, some designs that Ren didn't recognize or make out were there, as well as piles of hats worn by ship captains. Scattered among everything were paintings of epic sea battles.

In several of them, the water elementals were triumphant over their land-dwelling foes; in another, an unruly gigantic octopus over-stepped its bounds and had to be dealt with. What struck Ren as particularly funny, was one with an infestation of crabs that had tainted the nursery, and had to be expunged.

Below each of the paintings were the weapons he assumed had been salvaged from those epic battles. Ren saw tridents, harpoons, staffs, long swords, short swords, pole arms, axes, shields, bows, and several other weapons too numerous to mention. They were in all shapes and sizes, and some were decorated in a sea motif while others were plain and unadorned. The metal on nearly all of them was rusted from being in the water.

“Hello, my husband.” A melodious female voice almost sang, and Ren felt something prod his brain.

“Hello, my wife.” The male being responded in almost the same tone, but Ren didn't get the same mental prod. The male being continued to walk across the large expanse while Ren remained where he stood.

“Is this him?” The female being asked, and Ren felt that prod against his brain again. “He doesn't seem very sociable.”

“I just whisked him and 8 others from his ship.” The male being said. “He's probably still in shock.”

“If I may speak?” Ren asked, and the male being turned around to look at him, surprise clearly on his face.

“You may.” The female being said, and Ren felt another mental prod.

“I request permission to approach.” Ren said and bowed slightly. “Being in your presence is an honor, and I would never presume to come near you without your permission.”

Both the male and female beings stared at him for several quiet moments, and then the female nodded.

“Thank you.” Ren said and started to walk across the room. He could see several hundred water elementals along the walls, floor, and ceiling. I'm not sure why I'm seeing them. He thought as he glanced around. The surprising fact was that there were also about 50 or so humanoids among them.

“You've got the 'Spot' ability.” Teepo said. “Any movement within a hundred feet of you, and you'll see it.”

When did I get... Ren sighed mentally. Teepo, when we get back to the ship, remind me to read about all of my new skills and abilities.

“Will do.” Teepo said.

While Ren had been looking around, the male being reached his wife and sat down on the simple stone bench beside her. The female being sat on a more ornate bench; and even though it was being used as a throne, it was still just a bench. Ren stopped in front of them, and knelt on one knee.

“Thank you for granting me an audience.” Ren said.

“Can you believe this?” The male being said. “I abducted him and his prisoners from his ship, and he's thanking us!”

The female being smiled. “We have seen what happened to some extent.” She said. “Can you tell us again, so we can fill in the missing pieces?”

Ren had felt nearly a continuous barrage of mental prods as the female being spoke. “I will, but can you answer a question first?”

“You plan to bargain with us?!?” The male asked, a little indignantly.

“No, I'll still tell you; I'm just curious about something.”

“Go ahead.” He said, not reassured in the least, and Ren shifted his gaze to the female being.

“Can I ask why you keep attacking me?”

“WHAT?!?” The male yelled and stood up in a swirl of water. “You DARE!!!”

“Wait.” The female being said and held a hand up. “Why do you accuse me of such a thing?”

Ren tapped his temple. “Every time you speak to me, I feel something poke me inside my head.”

Everything stopped moving as if a switch had been thrown, and the male being looked at his wife. He made several motions with his mouth and exaggerated hand gestures; but according to Ren, all that came out was unintelligible water bubbling. The currents inside the female being's body swirled and churned as the male continued to speak. The female reached a hand out and placed it on the male's arm to stop his gestures, and the male calmed down and stopped talking.

“Forgive my husband for not speaking properly.” The female being said. “He is quite upset that...” She sighed. “You shouldn't be able to feel that.”

“May I ask why?” Ren asked.

“It's something... that really shouldn't happen...” The female being glanced at one of the large pictures with a battle between the sea dwellers and the land dwellers. “...especially between different species.”

Ren blinked his eyes a few times and thought about what she said, and what it meant. “Am I safe to assume you mean there's potential for something to happen, and there shouldn't be?”

“Yes.”

Ren lowered his head. “Please forgive me for causing you distress.”

“What... what...”

“I came here to resolve a problem, not to cause one.” Ren said. “If I may prove it?”

“Of... of course.” The female being said.

Ren took out one of the blank amulets he had in inventory and activated his Craft Wondrous Item ability, placed the blank on the 1 foot square gold glowing platform that appeared to several gasps, and chose the Amulet of Truth recipe. The platform covered the blank amulet for a few moments, and Ren picked the amulet up to examine it.

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