“It is only through being intimate with death that one could truly appreciate life for what it is.” - Saying by Anduinus Ne’urrg, Merfolk tribal warchief from circa 103 FP.

“Talk about different,” Cal commented as the next Isle on their itinerary, the Crystal Atoll, came into view. Unlike the previous three isles, which were a solid, single mass of land each larger than even the largest island in the Al-Shan Archipelago, the Atoll was as its name described, a ring-shaped island surrounding a massive, central lagoon which in turn had several more smaller islands inside.

The inhabitants of the Atoll were mostly therians of aquatic breeds, as well as Merfolk, who while present in most isles, built a large, thriving community in the lagoon itself. The waters of the eponymous lagoon were crystal-clear, so clear one could see all the way to the bottom. Even then, many establishments were built on the atoll portion as well, for those therian breeds who favored the land over the waters, as well as eateries aplenty.

While merfolk lived in water without issue, one issue they never really found a good solution for was how to cook food properly underwater. Some larger settlements had eateries which were enchanted to resist water and thus keep the interior dry, but those were rare. The inhabitants of the atoll had a simpler solution, and simply went up the nearby land when they were in the mood for cooked foods.

It was ten days after Cal and the party had climbed to Highmountain City. They had stayed on the mountaintop for nearly a week, before they finally departed to the next leg. Compared to the ascent - which Cal partially used to train her students more - the descent was a relaxed trip, with Vark simply conjuring steps out of the stone, which most of the party used to descend. Cal’s students still climbed down though, which they did with speed that matched those who simply walked down the stairs.

Leila and Ilena had the same relaxed descent as their ascent, on the back of their respective animal companions. Ida navigated the steep slopes with agility that would have made a mountain goat green with jealousy, while Lumi simply hovered around the party, gliding with the air currents, something the Ice Drake was well-suited for, as their flight usually consisted of long glides most of the time.

From the foot of the mountain it was an easy matter to charter a boat headed to Crystal Atoll, and the trip itself was a short one barely half a day long. They had departed the previous night, slept on board the ship, and woke up with the atoll already in sight in the distance.

“It’s part of why there’s very rarely any wars between the various isles,” explained Kyara in reply to Cal’s statement. As a local tribal chieftain, she was naturally far more familiar with the local politics and situations than anyone else. “There’s simply too little for people who don’t already live there to want anyway. Atolls like this are much less desirable to the forests or grasslands of the other islands, so only the water-breathers would favor it.”

“Same way the high mountains were dominated by the fliers, huh? They’re the only ones who really liked the place and it’s way too inconvenient for others to even bother fighting them for it,” replied Cal with a nod of understanding.

Their ship was close to the atoll by then, and Cal already saw some local merfolk and therians swimming past in the waters, occasionally raising their hands to wave from below, which the crew of sailors - also predominantly merfolk or aquatics - returned from on board.

“Andy lives deeper in, so if we’re going to visit him we’ll have to take another boat to one of the smaller islands in the lagoon,” said Kino from the side. The bit about the Champions of the Deities was something the three of them kept private from the others, for obvious reasons.

“It’s still early in the day, so we ought to have time,” said Cal as she watched the sun, which was still rising in the sky. The temperature had begun to shift for the warmer, as they entered late spring and slowly headed into summer.

After the boat disembarked, the group split up after they booked rooms at a local seaside inn, and each went their own way to see the sights and enjoy the local delicacies. Cal left with Kyara and Kino - she had asked her students to keep Ashani company - and together they hired a boatsman to row them to a smaller island in the center of the lagoon.

The island they headed to was a tiny one, with infertile clay soil, and practically uninhabited. The only sign of life on the island was a simple hut built in its center, next to some large ovens under awnings. They paid the boatsman and asked him to return the next afternoon to pick them up, and walked towards the hut.

There they saw the Champion of Mud, a large, tall merfolk male with a bulky, muscular, badly scarred body, one who reminded Cal quite a bit of Silas. The merfolk wore a white, tribal mask with only holes for his eyes, which lent him a sinister look at first glance.

He was seated cross-legged on the ground, as a lump of wet clay spun in front of him. It was not on a potter’s wheel or any such contraption, but simply kept aloft and spun around by pure magic, as the man skillfully manipulated the shape of the lump with his bare hands.

They did not disturb him, and watched as he plied his craft, the lump of clay shifting under his careful touches into the form of a long, ovoid vase. Then to Cal’s surprise he brought out a large machete as long as his forearm and used it to carve patterns into the still-pliable clay with obvious skills trained by many, many years of handling the blade.

It was somewhat a mesmerizing sight, to see such a large, brutish blade carve beautiful patterns with a deft and gentle twist of the wrist, each score and cut calculated with utmost precision and care, and before long the vase was decorated from top to bottom in what looked to be tribal patterns, all carved with the large machete.

Only after he consigned the vase to the large oven - after he applied a layer of what seemed to be some sort of glaze - did the masked merfolk turn to address his visitors.