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Some night, some time, Maria finds herself within a dream.
The clouds swirl around her. Fine mist curls around her horns and fingertips before fading away. It feels familiar to her dream which could have happened another lifetime ago, where she found her god under the Gold Cleric’s vengeful control. The mist is not cruel this time, nor is it gilded. It’s soft, comforting, like a hug.
Maria looks up, and sees her god. Their power and grace is a welcome relief, albeit their form is nowhere near as large as she remembered it once being. Perhaps as Callidian gods’ size is tied to how many followers they have, the great distance Temestra would have had to trek to reach Maria on Faerun would have a similar consequence? Maria kneels, regardless of the answer.
“Maria Anamentus, my dear protector. I am relieved to see you are doing well despite being flung across the cosmos.” Maria smiles as Temestra’s comforting voice washes over her, words lingering in her mind as the vapor on her skin.
“How did you know where to find me? …How could you find me?” Maria thinks back to Peregrine mentioning to her once when their travels first began how she couldn’t feel any sort of tie back to the gods or magic of her own plane.
“Your party members helped supplement my own power with theirs, allowing a sort of… amplification. It is straining on some level, but… I think this knowledge is more important than whatever pain I feel. It may be helpful input for how you may be able to return home.”
The paladin’s eyes widen at the mention of her party. So time is passing back on Callidia at a fairly normal pace? Her tail’s tip flicks in excitement. “What’s the information?” She gets the words out quick, not wanting to strain Temestra any more than needed. They’ve been through enough for the past 6,000 years.
“With a bit of help from your Peregrine,” – Maria’s face turns a lovely shade of lilac as Temestra continues, smiling – “she was able to let me know the most similar god to I within her realm is Umberlee, goddess of the sea. Sailors pray to her for safe travels. She and her coven may be able to provide you with information on why you were sent there.”
“You- you don’t know why?” Maria doesn’t ask out of disrespect, but instead pure befuddlement.
“No, I’m sorry, little warrior. It appears those gods are almost as fickle as we, and do not let such information out so easily.”
“You don’t need to apologize, it’s out of your domain, after all.” Temestra nods in response. “Oh, there’s one more thing Peregrine seemed to emphasize when she spoke to me. Apparently Umberlee is more similar to, well, the side far too many of myself people worship. One of her nicknames is ‘the Bitch Queen’? So please take caution when interacting with her and possibly her followers.”
Maria nods as the world around them begins to become clouded by mist. It entangles around their legs, creeping upwards.
“I hope for your safe return, Maria Adamantus. May Faerun’s god see it fit.”
As the mist wraps around her arms, Maria’s eyes spark with recognition. “Wait! Just… just let Peregrine know that I’m okay! And I’ll get back as soon as I can!” Her vision comes obscured as her god’s figure becomes muddled from the fog, and she reaches out a hand adorned by a band on her ring finger.
Her eyes snap open, seeing her outreached arm hanging above her head, blood slowly draining from her fingers leaving only pins and needles.
“Good dream?” Zagreus asks as he dons his skeletal accessories. Maria sits up, smoothing out the hair on her head. “My god, Temestra, came to me in a dream, and told me to seek out Umberlee…?”
“The Bitch Queen?” Datura pipes up from a few feet away with a grimace on her face, slowly connecting each plate of armor. So Peregrine’s intel was true, not that she doubted her!
“Can I ask why you lot all call her that?”
“She’s a bitch. People only pray to her if they’re desperate sailors, or they’re as loony as she. Umberlee took on that nickname as a way of reclaiming it, but that doesn’t stop it from being true.”
“...Can I follow that up with asking why she’s a bitch?”
“Her favorite hobbies include but aren’t limited to drowning people, capsizing boats, creating giant waves to drown people and capsize boats, and sometimes randomly filling people’s lungs with sea water.” With each listed activity, Maria’s face falls even more.
“Essentially, it’s always a good bet to avoid her when possible. So if your god, erm…”
“Temestra,” Maria chimes in.
“Right, Temestra, is telling you to seek her out, it’s probably not a good thing. So, let’s make this quick.” Datura stands up, sliding her knee guards and gauntlets on. “Prince, you ready?”
“Yes, ma’am!” Zagreus stands up and puts his sword onto his hip. A huff of air came out of Datura, but Maria turns to see an upturned lip. She smiles to herself.
The three walk out of the tavern, and Datura wordlessly begins guiding the trio to the coast. After about 10 minutes of walking, the three stand in front of a vast temple. A chorus of voices in harmony echo from within, and Datura’s nose crinkles. “This is it. Hopefully they wrap up singing soon, it can last anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 days.” She looks to Maria with a slight pout, seeming to egg her into taking the lead. Maria exhales, and begins walking into the temple.
The open air space’s marble glimmers in the sunlight, and a group of women stand within the heart of the temple. Maria looks over to them, and the group sees the trio and they stop singing.
“Pray tell, are you the one from another world?” A woman wearing a deep, deep cut dress and scales sparkling on her face approaches. Woven her locs are seaweed and rings, and she smiles at the group, with two rows of razor sharp teeth.
“Um, yes. My name is Maria, I come from a land called Callidia. I was sent here for an unknown reason, and I’m looking to get home as fast as I can. My own god, Temestra, told me themself to seek out Umberlee, due to their similar natures.”
“Another god telling you to seek out our own Bitch Queen? How curious,” the sea elf mused to herself. “Regardless, I can tell just from our meeting that your god speaks true and is not looking to deceive Umberlee. If you were, you would be dead where you stand.”
Maria feels an uncomfortable shiver go down her spine.
“How can I gain an audience with her?”
The woman produced a vial of a liquid which shimmered like mercury. “Drink this. It’ll bring your consciousness to her.” She turns to look at Zagreus and Datura, the former shrugging and the latter grimacing, with a quickly mouthed “sorry”.
“...Can the others not accompany me?”
“No!” The woman pointed a finger at Maria, offended at the mere idea. “Only those Umberlee deems worthy may enter. That reject and hellspawn are not permitted.” The two mentioned in tandem open their mouths to protest, and simultaneously decide to not test their luck, shutting them.
Maria glances down at the vial, looks over at her party members, and back again at the vial. The liquid shimmers like metal, sparkling innocently. It couldn’t be more than a thimblefull, Maria thinks to herself. Her days of partying are far behind her, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t remember the basics. She takes a deep breath, and downs the whole vial in one go, exhaling once finished like she took a shot. It goes down easy, slipping down her throat and deep into her core.
“So, what n-” she interrupts herself as she doubles over in pain, lungs burning. She gasps for air, but none reaches her lungs, which feel dense and full of lead. Her eyes sting as tears stream down, only for her to reach up and wipe away the same silver liquid. Maria’s head spins, as the weighted sensation spreads throughout her whole body, skin crawling and burning, feeling like it’s peeling away from her muscles. Her vision starts fading in and out, and settles on black as she hears her blood pumping in her ears, drowning out all other senses.
“Fuck,” is the last thing she utters before she passes out. She falls forward, with her “reject” and “hellspawn” catching her for a softer landing.
“...What did you do to her?” Zagreus asks, a cold concern furrowing his brow. Zagreus looks over to Datura, whose grimace remains.
“A simple potion. The fastest way to meet Umberlee. She’ll be fine, don’t worry. You should only be concerned if she doesn’t wake up within 20 minutes.”
Maria gasped, lungs burning not from liquid, but from taking in as much air as feasibly possible. She stands up, and looks to see she’s standing on an endless ocean. The waves lap at her legs, the roar of waves taunting her with the idea of pushing the tiefling over.
“Maria Anamentus.”
A massive figure emerges from the waves, water crashing down. A woman with a flat, fish-like face and seaweed cascading down her back looms over Maria. She rests her elbows upon the waves, and Maria realizes she’s not even the same size as Umberlee’s pinky. She hastily kneels.
“Umberlee, I- I was sent to you by Temestra, god of the sea in the land of Callidia. They believe you may be able to assist me in returning home.”
“And why would I do that?” Maria balks at the question.
“...I am a Watcher paladin and am dutybound to send those who do not belong back to their own world, including myself. If you were able to, I could fulfill my duty and-”
“Yes, yes, but how does this benefit me ?” She leaned down towards Maria, slitted pupils staring her down. “What’s stopping me from helping you fulfill your duty by ending your life right here, right now?” Maria swallowed.
“Perhaps you could grow your domain by combining powers with Temestra in Callidia. I could be a bridge for the two realms, and with more oceans, your strength would grow, correct?” The paladin was spitballing, with no clue if that would work or not, or was even possible. But it was worth a shot. From one interaction, Maria could bank on the Sea Bitch being power hungry.
“An interesting idea, o little warrior.” The nickname didn’t sound so reassuring from her lips. “I like your suggestion. I will give you a resource for you to use when the time is right, if you will uphold your side of the bargain.”
“...I will try to.” Umberlee smirks, and runs a claw across the side of Maria’s face.
“Excellent.”
Umberlee reaches into her hair, and plucks out a pearl. It sparkles in the sunlight, with a blue iridescence to it. “Use this pearl to call upon the power of the seas when you must return home. It will ensure safe travels. Take this boon, and when you find a portal- any portal strong enough to cross planes- you can use this to change courses. Do what is fit for you.” Maria examines the pearl, and strings it upon her necklace.
Umberlee grins, rows of needlesharp teeth bare down upon Maria. Mouth mere inches away from biting her head clean off. Maria swallows.
“I do not think your life will be worth this power… No, no, I believe a mere audience will suffice. Let me watch your adventures as you look to leave this plane, and that is enough. I believe whatever happens to you will be very, very , interesting.”
Whatever is interesting to Umberlee surely can’t be a good thing.
“One last question, if I may?” Umberlee cocks an eyebrow to Maria’s question.
“Spit it out, whelp.”
“Do you know why I was sent here?”
“I’ll tell you this for free, no strings attached. It seems our worlds wanted to try and find a way to bind each other together once again, and with your special connection to our world, you were the perfect candidate.” Her connection? Maria stands, wondering, before the gears click into place and she blushes.
“Th-thank you, my lady. I appreciate your information. I… I hope watching myself will be… satisfactory?” Maria forces a grin, which looks more like a wince. Umberlee laughs, deep enough to sound like the waves crashing.
“Oh, it will be.”
Maria’s eyes shoot open and she gasps for air, lungs burning from use. She coughs, shoulders heaving.
“Ah, glad to see you’ve returned.” The sea elf smiles down at Maria, who’s still getting used to breathing again.
“What the hell was that potion?” The tiefling stutters out. The woman shrugs. “Her domain is water, is it not? You should be thankful Umberlee herself drowned you, not many can receive such an honor.”
“...Maria, did you find anything useful?” Datura crouches down next to Maria, worry knitting her brow. Maria props herself up on her elbows, and looks down to her hand. Relaxing her grip reveals a pearl. She looks down, inspecting it further, seeing a small pupil-like hole with an iris etched around. Sighing, she took her necklace and strung the pearl right into the center of the beads.
“...Ladies, I appreciate the help your goddess brought me, along with your own, but I fear we must keep moving. I am in your debt,” Maria politely smiles, stands up, and quickly shuffles out. Zagreus and Datura quickly stand as well, and hustle out after.
After a minute, Datura pipes up. “...Maria, I’m sorry I didn’t really tell you about… the potion. I figured you would possibly be scared off if you knew what its effects were.”
“I appreciate you didn’t, Datura. I… I fear you would be right. You made the right decision, even if in the moment I was less pleased.” A soft smile comes from Datura to Maria.
“So, um… how was she?” Zagreus asks, trying to fill the heavy air.
“Honestly? A total bitch.” Maria begins relaying her experiences while passed out, with the other two sagely nodding along, even if they didn’t understand the complexities as well as they pretended to. “So, time to find a portal?”
“Let’s. Do you have any clue where we can find one?” Zagreus asks, to which Datura stops and thinks.
“I am not sure where we can find one, but in a city as large as Baldur’s Gate I imagine one will turn up eventually, right?” She asks herself. She glances up at the sun, to which her eyes widen. “It’s not even noon? Moons, we have the whole day ahead of us to try and find some resources!”
“It sounds like we’ll need to head into some sketchy areas and ask around, that sounds like an excellent day to me,” Zagreus smirks. The three start walking down towards the inner city, looking for anyone who looks like they may know the right information at the wrong time.