Wait a minute...
Unconsciously, a bold thought popped into Nymeria's mind.
No way—could it be that Priest Charles is behind all of this?
She wasn't sure, so she just kept watching as the young fishfolk priestess knelt down, bowing after each step, inching her way up the altar.
With every move forward, that gentle white light brightened, as if the more devout she was, the stronger the so-called "Deep Father's" power became.
Elsewhere, kuo-toa faithful to the Deep Father came rushing in, marveling at the unprecedented gentle white light. They were moved by this "holy" radiance and the warmth it seemed to pour into their hearts; one after another, they knelt, tears streaming down their faces as they mumbled prayers—calling out to the Deep Father and reciting their own names.
Nymeria glanced around, realizing that over a hundred had already gathered, with more arriving every second. Considering the village's total population wasn't much more than a thousand, so many fishfolk being swept up in this fervor made her almost agree with Hanni's suspicions...
Before she could arrive at a conclusion, though, the young fishfolk priestess crawled to the altar's peak.
The gentle white light enveloped her completely, and a look of pure satisfaction crept over her ugly fish-face as she let out a long sigh: "Ah—I can feel it—my power is evolving—!"
Not far off, Hanni blinked wide-eyed. "Wait, this isn't what a real cult scene looks like…"
She clutched her stomach, trying not to laugh. "It's rude, but… I can't help it, this is kind of funny…"
Shapiro still frowned. "Don't let your guard down. However ridiculous cult rituals look, they always end with blood and horror."
"Stay alert. Things can turn ugly in an instant!"
Nymeria shrugged—it was hard to say what she believed. If all of this really was some weird act orchestrated by Charles, she was dying to know what the fishfolk priestess would do next.
But suddenly, a stern female voice thundered from the distance: "Presumptuous!"
All three immediately turned toward the source.
It was Hattie's voice!
They whirled around, only to see—rising from the dark expanse of Darklake—a massive entity broke the surface, sending up great curtains of water.
Floating over the lake and rapidly approaching, the full figure soon came into view—and each onlooker felt their sanity threatened by the abomination's appearance.
It was a horror shaped like a squid, with a twisted lamprey-like mouth spiraling with jagged teeth; its tentacles were lined with fleshy warts and rows of sharklike fangs, ready to slice apart anything they seized.
Wreathed in surging magical energy, the thing boomed in Hattie's unmistakable voice: "Such filthy, twisted faith! It must be obliterated by Divine Power—purified without mercy!"
With that, one of its thick tentacles snapped downward—volumes of ice-cold water erupted from thin air, washing over the altar. The cauldrons and barrels full of bizarre blood upended and tumbled away, every last drop rinsed clean in a single pass.
Apparently panicked by this monstrous intruder, the altar's "Deep Father" white light instantly flickered out, leaving Sloebdollop drenched and stunned atop the wreckage—like a fish out of water.
On the ground, Hanni slapped a hand over her mouth. "Whoa, it's a sea monster! Hattie got eaten by it!"
Nymeria stared at her in shock. "Huh?"
Hanni nodded, as if this were common knowledge. "Of course! Don't you know? Sea monsters can mimic the voices of those they eat—it's how they fool their loved ones!"
"That's got to be it—Hattie-sis was eaten, and now the monster is pretending to be her! We can't fall for it!"
Nymeria's doubt only grew. Shapiro sighed. "What children's fairy tale is that from? Obviously, it's Hattie using magic to disguise herself."
Nymeria couldn't sort fact from fiction, her meager knowledge at a loss. Meanwhile, Hanni was giggling to herself. "Come on, I read a lot! I'd never lie to you, Nymeria-sis!"
While they were busy debating, an elderly kuo-toa, leaning on her staff and surrounded by other fishfolk, hobbled into view. She knelt and cried out to the massive form above. "Oh, great Sea Mother, for the sake of our pious service all these years, have mercy on my foolish daughter!"
The giant beast snorted disdainfully. "As the Sea Mother, I can forgive any of my faithful. But—this altar must be destroyed!"
As she spoke, the creature's maw opened, and a blinding beam of light shot from above, lancing through the altar and shattering the foundations.
With a roar, the entire altar collapsed in a heap of rubble. The fishfolk priestess tumbled down, her spirit clearly shattered.
"This—this is punishment!" The leviathan roared again. "I shall return to my deep slumber. Should this happen again, none of you shall be spared!"
Having delivered her judgment, the monster spun and sped off, vanishing into Darklake without so much as a ripple.
Watching her go, Hanni exclaimed, "Wow, what decisive wrath!"
Nymeria blinked several times. "Was it really a sea monster? Didn't you see—Theresa the nun was hiding in its mouth. That Sunbeam, she was the one casting it."
Hanni paused, but shook her head. "I didn't catch that. The light was too blinding—I shut my eyes tight!"
Shapiro offered his take: "It's obviously a play orchestrated by Priest Charles. Let's just wait and see how they tie things up—it might go on for hours."
Nymeria nodded. "Makes sense. But honestly, watching them wrap things up might be more fun than anything else."
She seemed content to stand back, producing snacks from her bag and sharing them as they watched.
Soon, they saw the elderly fishfolk pick Sloebdollop from the rubble, dusting her off and muttering in Undercommon. Nymeria couldn't understand, but Hanni was quick to translate. "She's saying: 'You saw it yourself—before the Sea Mother's power, the Deep Father was swept away, helpless. That should tell you…Ugh, Nymeria, I can't take it anymore, the stink in here is unbearable! Let's get out of here!'"
Nose pinched, Hanni's face contorted with discomfort. Nymeria, seeing her suffering, relented. "Alright, let's go to the lakeshore and find Miss Hattie's group—maybe they'll clear up what just happened."
"Yeah, this smell is killing me…"
So, holding Hanni's hand, nose pinched, Nymeria retreated. They'd seen enough of the show and, now in on the farce, saw no point in hanging around this absurd scene.
Meanwhile, among the altar's ruins, the young fishfolk priestess finally came to her senses, comforted by her mother.
Cleansed in that force of purification, she felt her mind clear—gone was her former fanaticism, replaced with calmness and reason. Reflecting on her past, she genuinely couldn't recall why she'd done any of it.
Thinking back to the gigantic being in the sky—able to meld with Darklake and fire off blinding beams—she murmured, "Mother, was that really the 'Sea Mother'?"
Her mother, the elder priestess Prupurupin, replied with calm certainty, though she clearly felt cornered: "Yes, you saw it yourself. She had all the traits of our marine progenitor. Who else could embody the great Sea Mother?"
The young priestess nodded, then—suddenly angry at herself—slapped her own face.
Smack!
The crisp blow rang out. She sobbed, filled with remorse: "How could I have been so stupid, believing in the evil 'Deep Father'?"
Drawing a deep breath, she stood, her tone now fervent: "From now on, I will be the most loyal follower of the Sea Mother!"
"Oh, Mother, our old images of the Sea Mother on the altar were all wrong. We must remake her image immediately, use new materials, and fix it!"
The elder priestess's heart sank with an ominous gut feeling, but couldn't refuse: "Ah… Yes, yes, that makes sense…"
But she forgot that kneeling below were now all the fishfolk who had worshipped the Deep Father—who really only followed the young priestess. Seeing her so swiftly shift loyalties, they quickly echoed her change of faith: "Yes! We should change the Sea Mother's image!"
"The old way was a mistake! That's why I doubted her!"
"We're not at fault—let's fix this error today!"
Fishfolk shouts formed a chorus; now, Prupurupin could no longer argue, murmuring, "Yes, we should update the Sea Mother's image…"
All the while, she worried: if the Sea Mother's likeness was tampered with, would the real Sea Mother be angered?
She didn't know, but surrounded and led off by the throng, she had no choice but to join her daughter in remaking the altar.
...
Meanwhile, at the lakeshore, a welcoming light greeted Nymeria's group. A sharp voice sounded: "What brings you here? Couldn't find Hanni's family?"
It was Theresa, standing on the bow of a small boat and waving them over.
"Yeah!" Nymeria called back, leading Hanni close, her tone downcast. "We asked everyone, but the last sighting of Hanni's family was a week ago—they're likely long gone."
"There's not much we can do, so we're back."
Hanni nodded, head bowed, equally dejected. "By now, Mother probably thinks I was killed by the orcs."
Theresa frowned, casting a suspicious look at Hanni, but eventually set aside her doubts, forcing a gentle smile. "No rush—just stay with us for now. Priest Charles would say the same."
Nymeria and Hanni both relaxed. Nymeria, cheered up, slipped beside Theresa, asking excitedly, "I saw you inside the sea monster's mouth back there—was this whole thing a play put on by Priest and Miss Theresa?"
Hearing this, Theresa covered her mouth and giggled. "You noticed? How embarrassing…"
From the hold, Hattie emerged, just in time to overhear. She blushed. "How was my performance? Did I seem like a furious, vengeful goddess?"
Nymeria's eyes shone. "It was awesome! I didn't know it was you at first—I almost pulled out my weapon and leapt into the fray!"
Hanni nodded earnestly. "I heard your voice and was sure a monster ate you and was stealing your voice. I nearly cried!"
Hattie covered her face bashfully. "Stop, you're making me embarrassed."
Nymeria and Hanni drew close, curiosity shining. "But seriously, why put on such a show? Did you discover something major?"
Hanni stroked her chin. "Was it because that crazy belief was about to create a new evil god, so you jumped in to nip it at the bud?"
Her expression grew serious, and she added, "Maybe we should just wipe out the entire fishfolk village, to be sure?"
Shapiro commented: "Doesn't matter if it's 'Deep Father' or 'Sea Mother.' None of these kuo-toa beliefs point to real deities—they're all fake evil gods."
Though he didn't say it outright, his tone was filled with murderous intent, making it clear he'd gladly slaughter the whole village himself.
Theresa looked exasperated. "Enough of that. We shouldn't interfere in the fishfolk's internal matters."
She grew stern: "Hanni, if you want something like that, wait till you find your mother and have the dark elves do it. We won't take part."
Hanni shrank back. "Hehe, just kidding."
Hattie waved off the suspense. "It's not as complicated as it looked. Just a mother who couldn't handle her rebellious daughter, asking us to help by putting on a play."
She explained everything that had happened in full, wrapping up, "All in all, if a single afternoon and a bit of magic acting can save us eight thousand gold on a boat, why not?"
Nymeria nodded in agreement. Hanni's face, however, fell. "So that's all it was? I thought there was some grand scheme behind it…"
Nymeria bopped her head. "What grand schemes? We surface-folk do good deeds without so much calculation!"
Hanni smiled, and Hattie continued, "Everyone get some rest for now. Shapiro, how'd your shopping go? Any updates on the magic array?"
That shifted the talk to supplies and logistics. As they disbanded to rest, Hanni clung to Nymeria, tugged at her sleeve, and whispered in Elvish, "Hey, why not use this chance to spread your faith? Get the fishfolk to convert to your god?"
Nymeria blinked. "Uh… I guess we've just been too busy. But even if the kuo-toa joined the Moon Goddess or the Lady of Life… Why do you ask?"
Just picturing the Moon Temple filled with kuo-toa dressed as nuns or priests, serious-faced, chanting from holy scripture, Nymeria felt a bizarre sense of unreality.
Hanni pouted. "Because they're valuable, silly. Kuo-toa are natural fanatics."
She went on, "If Hattie-nun appeared on purpose like that, maybe it's to redirect the fishfolk's worship to herself—make them her followers."
Nymeria's brow furrowed in confusion. "Wait, you can do that?"
Hanni looked at her strangely. "You didn't know?"
Nymeria was sheepish. "Uh… I mean, I'm from the surface. I don't know much about Underdark races…"
Hanni didn't keep her in suspense. "It's just—kuo-toa are all deeply broken, desperate for something to worship. So, they'll latch onto anything, real or not, and pour all their zeal into it…"
"That's why they're born fanatics. Some folks in need of believers will disguise themselves as gods—using the kuo-toa's madness to steal a seat among the divine. Of course… that rarely ends well."
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