Where is Prince Robin?

We traveled leisurely down the grassy path to the towering white temple. As we got closer, I was truly awed by its beauty. Despite all that we had encountered on the way down, the temple was pristine and the white stone blushed with warmth from the sunlight. A blue-white light shone through the elaborate latticework around the arches, radiating from the center of the temple. I made a small sign of devotion as I stepped over the threshold. By your will, Kord, we have proved ourselves worthy on the battle to this place. I pray that the entity housed within this temple is a friend, and not a foe.

A child-like voice swept over the party as the last person passed through the archway. “Who are you? Where is Prince Robin?” it pleaded. My eyes swept over the bright interior, but there was no one about. The voice continued on, sounding as disappointed as a boy told to finish his studies before being allowed to go out and play with his friends. “He was supposed to be here by now.” I could just imagine a dejected little boy standing in the center of the blue-white light.
Rhegar was the first to speak. Lacking a body to go with the voice, he pointed his muzzle toward the ceiling. “Well how long have you been waiting here?” “About a month. He should have been here by now.” In my mind, the imaginary boy scuffed his feet against the stone tiles. A month, I thought, Wow that seems like so long ago. I was still in Farport a month ago. “Well I may not know this Robin you seek, but I can tell you who we are. My name is Rhegar and these are my companions - Kyri, Kalena, Garn, Vixi, Tavia and Markas. We have been sent by the King of Perinor to search for allies to help us in a battle against Tiamat. Can I ask who you are and why you were sent to wait for Prince Robin?”

The bodiless voice mulled over Rhegar’s request for a moment, but in the end decided that we must have been okay people. “My name is Aelerion. Correlon sent me here to be friends with the prince and advise him on important things. Correlon said we would have fun together.” Now Markas presented the spirit with a question. “Kind of an out of the way temple, don’t you think?” “Yeah, I know. This place sucks. It’s so boring.” I could imagine the spirit rolling his eyes and pouting. “But Correlon said that the prophecy said Robin would be here. I was supposed to inspire him to beat a horde of devils and protect a city from their attack.”

This time it was Kyri that voiced the group’s thoughts. “Are you aware of what happened in Aurincia a week ago?” she asked gently. “Um, let me check….Yep, Tiamat stormed the island kingdom of Perinor and sacked its capitol city with a horde of devils at her back, and oh...” the voice trailed off. When no one spoke, it continued brightly, “You know you should really find that kid. He could probably help you a whole bunch. I think he was supposed to arrive by sea, that’s why I sent the sirens.” he finished excitedly. I just barely resisted slapping my hand to my forehead, though I could see Rhegar indulging in the action. Gods save us from the helpfulness of the divine, I thought. “Do you have any idea how much trouble the sirens have caused?” Rhegar said with a groan. “They weren’t helpful?” “No.” “Oh. I’m sorry.” The spirit went into a contemplative silence.

I had been thinking about the mysterious Prince Robin the angelic spirit had originally asked about. “Aelerion, you don’t know much about Robin do you? Just that he was a child and you would inspire him to fight the devils.” “Yeah, that’s about it.” “Well, then Robin could have been any age, right? Even a newborn?” “Babies aren’t much fun, but I guess he could be a baby.” My heart sunk to my stomach as I realized why Robin had never come to the white temple on the golden plain. “Aelerion,” I said gently, “I think that Robin never came to be your friend because he’s dead.” “Dead,” the spirit cried, “How can he be dead?” “Well, you see, Robin’s mother was waiting for the pirate captain Voko to return to this isle. But when he found her, he wasn’t happy that she was pregnant and drowned Voko drowned Robin’s mother in the caverns above this temple.” “But why would anyone do that to their child?” He whined plaintively. Insistent as any kid with a question. I stole a panicked look at my companions on either side, but they seemed intensely interested in their shoes. Gods, how do I explain this to an angelic spirit that sounds five years old? “Robin’s mother, well, that is, Voko was a half-orc. A mean, nasty, sterile half-orc. Seeing his favorite mistress pregnant with another man’s child enraged him and he drowned her in drunken rampage.” The words tumbled out of my mouth as quickly as possible.

“He killed the heir of the house of Wyvern. But he can’t do that. The prophecy says he is supposed to beat back the devils of Tiamat!” the angel sputtered with anger. “Is he still here?” “In a sense.” I said. “Then I want you to kill him!” “Sorry kid. The pirate died while drowning his mistress. He’s a Drowned One now.” Kalena told the irate angel. “Then I want you to banish him to hell!” “That’s a tough fight. Why don’t you just take Voko out?” Markas said. “Because my powers are limited outside this temple. Tell you what, if you kill the pirate I can make each of you a toy. I’m good at toys and it can be anything you want.” “Toys?” Rhegar asked suspiciously. “Duh, magic items. Armor, weapons, I could probably even manage a holy symbol, though it would be better if you followed Corellon.”

The order went into a huddle. “Will we get the toys before we fight Voko?” Garn asked hopefully. “I’m not stupid.” The voice reproached. “Banish the pirate and then you’ll get your reward. But to make it easier for you, if you stay in the temple for two hours, it’ll be as if you slept for eight.” We whispered among ourselves a bit more and came to a decision. Kyri stood nobly and addressed the spirit for the group. “We accept. We will banish Voko then return to accept our reward. And you will dismiss the myriad of will-o’-wisps, saplings, and sirens to ease our travels.” “Done.”

I slept soundly in the glowing temple of Corellon. In my dreams, I was seated the Temple of Kord in Farport with a bunch of my fellow novices and Father Cerance was giving a lecture on attacks using light. “A column of light can engulf a foe, burning your enemy with the brilliance of your devotion to Kord. An ally can then use your attack to slip through the creature’s defenses.” In my dream, I dutifully copied down the prayer, noting inflictions of voice and hand movements in the margin. When Kalena shook me awake at the end of two hours time, the prayer of daunting light stood out at the forefront of my mind, itching to be used against Voko.
The climb up to the dark, dank pool where Voko resided was much shorter, thanks to the fact that we no longer needed to fight our way through will-o’-wisps and saplings. We did, however, remain wary of gelatinous cubes lurking in the stone corridors. The zombies that had chased us earlier had also, thankfully, vanished. As we marched to the top of the cavern, we strategized about the best way to beat Voko. “He wasn’t very happy to let us go down in the first place.” I said, “It’s almost certain he won’t want to let us all back up.” “True, and we don’t want to let him know that we plan to attack until all of us are in the grotto.” Markas contemplated. “I think we could trick him. Voko wasn’t a very bright ghost. If he thinks we have found a victim to drown for him, he would pay little attention to what we were doing.” Vixi said, outlining her plan. “In that case, I think you should go first. As a warlock and a tiefling, such a plan would be most believable coming from you. I’ll follow right behind you as backup since Voko is afraid I will banish him.” Markas agreed.

I was the fourth person out of the pool, after Vixi, Markas, and Kyri, who needed to be able to put some distance between herself and the drowned one. I swam to where the water was only waist deep and watched Vixi as I waited for the signal to attack. Ignoring the paladin at her side, the Drowned One smiled in what he thought was a handsome manner. “Does the guy look good? I don’t want to end up as one of those dragonborn.” Vixi shook her head emphatically. “Oh, yes. You remember the rogue we had with us - human, about eighteen, with sandy hair and green eyes.” “He will do nicely I think.” “Well he should be coming up the tunnel just now.”

As Voko peered down through the dark water, Rhegar slammed his glaive down on the back of the Drowned One’s head. Kalena shot the ghost with an icy blue ray and frost formed over the chains encircling his body. “Hey! You can’t do this.” Shouted Voko. The spirit went insubstantial and attacks from Vixi, Garn and Markas went straight through. Kyri’s arrows, however, found their target. The prayer of daunting light prayer sang off my tounge and I smiled slightly as the column of light flared over the spectere.

Another icy ray from Kalena struck the ghost. “There is no thief, is there?” roared Voko. Spectral skulls exploded against Rhegar and the Drowned One winked out of view. Vixi took offense to his disappearance and uttered a dark curse. The water rippled as her attack shoved the ghost around the pool. “He is in front of Tavia now!” she shouted to the group. Garn’s own icy breath crusted over the ghost and he stepped aside for Markas land a blow with his flail. I called on Kord’s strength to help me invoke my devastating attack against the undead above the pool but the damp room stole some of the power from the blistering wind the spell normally created. Voko cackled, laughing at the attack instead of seething with pain. Through the water’s surface I could just make out the bodies lying at the bottom of the stone cauldron. Maybe his mother deserved to be punished for her indiscretions, but the child had done nothing to deserve his fate! “By Kord’s strength, I protect those who cannot fight on their own!” I cried as I released another attack on the fiend. My lance of faith struck true, followed by two of Kalena’s fireballs, seared the ghost just fine.

Voko howled with unintelligible rage. Dark, wraith-like skulls exploded from his person in all directions. Garn, Rhegar, and Markas were all hit and Kyri stopped a skull aimed at my chest. A mighty blow from Garn tore into Voko as he shouted “Honorable warriors never fall!” A feathered arrow grew from Voko’s chest. Ghostly arms clamped onto the pirate’s ankles and pulled him down into the dark waters. “You escape your fate no longer, Voko the Black.” A deep voice rumbled as Voko vanished, screaming, below the water.

Collecting ourselves we dove into the tunnel and returned to Aelerion. As my reward I chose a set of boots that would save me from damage if I fell and aid me in feats of athleticism. “So is this the end of things? Is Perinor doomed because a pirate drowned an unfaithful mistress and her unborn child.” I asked the angelic spirit. “Maybe not. The prophecy said that it would be an heir of the House of Wyvern that would beat back the hordes of Tiamat. There is probably another heir, though I have no idea where he would be.” “If we could find the heir, would you train him as you would have trained Robin?” I asked, unable to keep the hope from my voice. “Of course,” said the spirit. “How can we contact you when we find the heir?” inquired Kyri. Aelerion levitated the golden pendant Vixi had taken off the mistress and the air flashed white. When our sight returned I could see that it was now surrounded with a blue glow. He dropped the pendant into Kyri’s hand. “Use this to contact me when you find the heir and I will come to you.” In another flash the angel vanished. With nothing further to keep us in the cavern or on the island, we returned to a very worried Captain Raccan and sailed for Aurincia to inform the Council of what we had discovered.