After slaying the demons drawn forth from the destruction of their cursed blood, the party decided some rest and recuperation were in order. Fortunately for them, Brewfest began that very night! They spent the next week relaxing, drinking, and reveling. On the unusual occasion that they could see straight, they attended to some other simple matters. Gronk mostly tried to stay out of sight, while West spent time with Bear in the hills. Oleg learned and scribed a few new scrolls.
By the end of brewfest, even the dwarf Oleg had drank his fill. The morning of 1 Patchwall, the group prepared to travel out to investigate the mine being dug to the west of Irongate. As part of those preparations, they sought out a jeweler to convert cash into gems. While there, they learned of a shortage of pearls. The proprietor regretfully informed them that the government was snapping up all pearls due to a supply shortfall. Nobody knew the reason why, but everyone assumed it was temporary. The group was greatly intrigued, and decided to solve this mystery before moving on to the wizard's mine.
A little detective work paid off as they learned that the primary source of pearls for Irongate was a group of fishing villages on the Sea of Gearnat, a few miles to the northwest. These villages harvested nearby pearl beds in addition to selling food to the city. Without further ado, the group packed up and headed for the coast. A single day's travel brought them to the coastal village of Mochdrev.
They arrived near nightfall to find a small village of perhaps fifteen aboveground huts. There were a few dwarves walking around, but the temple stood out most obviously. It was an open-air structure, four tall stone pillars holding up a simple thached roof. As the party got closer, they realized that the temple had been torn apart from within. Wooden benches were shattered and thrown about, the altar cracked, and a statue toppled. A lone dwarf worked to clean up the mess.
Owein, the dwarf, was at first startled by the party, but recovered quickly. He explained that, for several months, the village had been plagued by shark attacks. Many lives had been lost, and some whole boats. At first, the villagers thought it was merely an upswing in shark attacks, but after a few weeks, they realized some more foul influence was at play. Rumor had it that a fierce Demon-Shark prowled the waters now, an evil beast from the darkest depths of the Abyss.
The villagers attempted to placate the beast by erecting a statue to Sekolah, the shark goddess, and leaving supplications at its feet. Thuthir, the village priest, felt this a mistake, but bowed to the insistence of his flock. For a time, the gifts disappeared and the attacks slaked. The villagers thought they were granted reprieve, but recently the attacks have started up again, redoubled in intensity. Just the last night Thuthir was slain and the temple laid to waste. Nobody got a good look at the assailant, but some of the villagers claim have seen a four-armed humanoid with a dorsal fin returning to the waters. The rumors about the demon-shark have been simmering all day, and the villagers' resolution is wavering.
As they spoke, a humanoid rose up out of the water and approached the temple. As the humanoid came closer, he was revealed as an aquatic elf. Owein introduced him as Cyric, sole survivor of his tribe. Cyric was the source of information regarding the demon shark, and had been pressing the dwarves to flee before they suffered his tribe's fate. With some prodding, Cyric revealed he also knew the location of a local lair of the demon shark. He agreed to guide the party on this foolhardy task, but insisted that it was suicide to fight the demon shark.
As night had fallen, the party decided to wait until morning. In the morning, rested and prepared, they borrowed a boat and some potions of water breathing from Owein. Cyric rejoined them shortly, and the group headed out onto the water. They traveled about a mile west along the coastline, and then a quarter mile north into the sea. Cyric led them to a large rock standing maybe fifty feet up out of the water. It was shaped eerily like the dorsal fin of a shark. Cyric indicated this was the lair. As if on cue, a large shark slammed into the boat. Cyric stood, aiming his javelin at one. A second shark rammed the other side of the boat, tipping Cyric into the water. Gronk jumped in, wrestling with one, while the other tore into Cyric, bloodying the waters.
After some struggle, the party managed to chase them off, but they found no trace of Cyric. Imbibing their potions, the party dove into the murky waters. About seventy feet down, they found a cave entrance, and investigated. They first encounter two more large hammerhead sharks, which they slay with some aid from summoned sharks of their own. Next, they find an otherwise empty cave with strange markings. The strokes are blue and red, and they flow in a manner indicative of writing. There are also strange shapes that resemble the prints of large webbed hands.
Continuing on in the murky water, they are suddenly fired upon! An arrow comes slicing through the water, barely missing the party. They quickly gird themselves for battle, but none is forthcoming. The group decides the arrow must have been from a trap, and of course sharks cannot set traps ...
Swimming up, now, they reach a ledge, and can see the edge of the water. The party realizes they must be inside the shark-fin rock. Above the water are two areas -- a chimney, and a large flat enclosure maybe 100 feet square. They decide to investigate the chimney first. Gronk volunteers to climb up. After several minutes, he finally reaches the summit -- a small chamber with more of the odd writing. Gronk calls down that it also contains an idol of some sort. At that moment, more bolts rain on the party from the waters below!
The party adjust their bearings to deal with this new threat, and Gronk dives thirty feet down the chimney to engage. West summons another shark to deal with the humanoids below them, while Oleg peppers them with spells. The three scaly humanoids are quickly slain by the party. Close inspection jogs West's memory, and he recognizes them to be an evil water-dwelling race called sahuagin. As sahuagin are known to have close ties with sharks, the party determines they must be responsible for the attacks on coastal villages. They search the enclosure next, and discover three small gems, and an exit to the outside of the rock, where it is pouring rain. They spend some time looking for Cyric, but find no trace of him in the downpour. Retrieving their boat, the party heads back to Mochdrev.