09/27/2022
The Wild Bunch left the Effervescent not knowing if their actions within had freed Uqupa or if Gore had taken their only hope with him
They decided to check with Lloyd Gage, the engineer at the Trine Waterworks in the Aquara, who informed them whatever they had done that morning, it had worked -- the water was flowing into the machinery once more from the pools below
Not knowing if this meant Uqupa was free for sure, the group descended once more and found Sahaguin by the dozens being judged by Uqupa in the cavern where they once fought the shark demigod
Uqupa congratulated the Wild Bunch and offered them a boon for their service to him
He also asked for the oar, and when told the Students also had one, informed the group there were ten in total, and he needed to gather them all to serve his god, Mag
Asking to be taken to the Nectarous Woods by Uqupa, the group was whisked off through the Gossamer Sea, traveling beneath the waters faster than they ever could have by land or boat
When Uqupa deposited them near the woods, he claimed he would someday come back for the oars, and when pressed as to why he wanted them, he informed the group they would inflict another disasterous tidal wave upon Trine in order to restore the balance nature required of the overburdened civilization
The Wild Bunch convinced the demigod to at least discuss the possibility of convincing the people of Trine to amend their ways before destroying them, to which he agreed -- however he claimed he'd return for the oar when he gathered the other eight, and the Students should be prepared to surrender theirs as well
Uqupa left and the group found their way to a work camp outside the Nectarus Woods run by a Tielfing named Sabatini
The work group has a Speaker of the Voice in their midst in need of protection, but just two days prior, she'd run off into the woods to find the relic herself instead of awaiting a relic hunter
The elven woman was described with silver hair, arms the size of tree limbs, with a skill for lumbering, named Janelle
The Wild Bunch was warned about the beast in the woods, but with a taste for ho-ho's already in his mouth, Winnefred lead the group into the candy forest.