Those who look into your eyes can see that you have faced unimaginable horror and that you are no stranger to darkness. Though they might fear you, commoners will extend you every courtesy and do their utmost to help you. Unless you have shown yourself to be a danger to them, they will even take up arms to fight alongside you, should you find yourself facing an enemy alone.
History:
Caddas Beloxath was born to a family of a pearl diver and a water temple priestess in Bridge in 1099 N.E. Caddas’ mother Ehlyn was zealous in her beliefs and would spend weeks at the water temple worshipping Kupala. This led to them not being very connected and Caddas developing a slight disliking towards the Mistress of the Waters for taking away his mother.
However, this also helped him strengthen his bond with his father Modos. In his teen years, he started diving for pearls in Lanka’s deep caverns. One day, his father told him a story of one cavern he found in his youth, where he retrieved a massive pearl the size of a small child. It was bought by a wealthy traveling merchant in Lanka. Modos suspected he got ripped off but he got enough money to cover half the expenses for buying the house they live in now.
When asked, why he never returned to the cave for more pearls – Modos said he was scared. He started hearing weird voices coming from inside the cave. Being a timid young man, he fled the cave with the pearl and never returned to it.
Caddas questioned his father and he yielded. Perhaps, it was only Modos’ imagination. What dangers could a young triton face in a cave? Surely nothing terrible would happen.
With a rough estimate of the cave, Caddas spent whole three days in search of it, gathering food, small pearls, and other bounties of the ocean he could carry in his sack. Eventually, he found the described cave – notably, the mossy bricks with strange ornaments were still there. Caddas ventured deeper into the darkness of the cave. Tritons are known for their ability to see in the dark, but as he went deeper, Caddas would see less and less, until it was complete darkness.
Natural courage and curiosity pushed him to swim further. Surely, something interesting lies beyond the veil of darkness. He swam for what felt like hours until he saw a faint green light in the dark.
Caddas approached its source and found a metal lantern emitting this strange glow. He touched it and, suddenly, everything became clear. It’s as if the darkness was dispelled by some magic. He let go of the lantern and everything went dark again. Then touched it again and everything was bright just like before.
Caddas fastened the lantern to his belt and continued exploring the cave. He found himself in some kind of underworld ruins. Mossy sandstone walls were covered in etchings of pictures and signs unfamiliar to Caddas, partially smoothed away by time and water. Looking at them, he started hearing seemingly random words at the back of his head: “depths, devour, surface, sacrifice, temples, boon”. It didn’t make any sense so he turned away slightly alarmed but not panicking yet.
He found himself looking at what looked like a stone door. Unlike the walls, the door was completely smooth with one small exception – it had a small round recess, almost as if a socket for a pearl or a gem. Caddas rummaged his sack and found a small pearl to insert inside it but it yielded nothing. Clearly, the door wouldn’t open now for whatever reason.
Caddas returned home safely. He noticed that his vision was much better than before, even after leaving the cave. He was wondering whether it was the lamp granting him these powers. All signs pointed to that.
Being completely exhausted after the long journey, Caddas went to sleep and left the lantern on the table. However, his sleep was far from restful. He was twisting and tumbling the whole night. He saw visions of death – his friends, family, the entirety of Bridge completely in ruins. His parents were not subject to these nightmares, they were completely oblivious.
These visions would continue for weeks and become even more violent as he studied the lamp in his abode. One morning, everything changed when Caddas found a small spectral tentacle writhing on the ground. Strange cold emanated from it. At that moment he knew – this artifact is too dangerous to be kept at home. Leaving it in a stash was also a bad idea – who knew how sentient the lantern or whatever is in it can be.
So, the decision was made. In the morning, before his parents woke up, he left, leaving them only a note telling them he went to wander the world in search of himself. In reality, Caddas beelined to the Mages Guild in Pearl and got all the books they would allow him to take without actually joining the guild.
The knowledge in the books was limited but he managed to figure out a few key points. Firstly, there were mentions of ancient underwater temples all around Yavarra. Secondly, while there were no mentions of lanterns of any kind, he found mentions of similar accounts of malevolent nightmare-inducing artifacts. In the same books he found a simple ritual that, if performed daily, suppresses the malignant nature of such artifacts while still allowing aspiring magicians to use its powers.
The effectiveness of the ritual would vary on different circumstances: the nature of artifact’s creator, their attention to it, how much power the artifact possesses etc. Moreover, the source was not fairly reputable. Without knowing those, it was dangerous to perform it but Caddas never backed away in the face of danger.
The ritual required few commonly found ingredients: one small citrine, a vial of any oil, fishbone powder, and a few drops of the ritual conductor’s blood. Combined together, the mixture is poured on the artifact, which was placed on the beforehand drawn rune. After a short incantation, the artifact’s evil nature is contained.
Luckily for Caddas, the ritual worked. After weeks of restless sleep, he could finally get some rest. Being done with the immediate problem, Caddas has to remind himself about survival. Food is not expensive but money will eventually run out. Citrines and other ritual materials are fairly common in Lanka but, nonetheless, they still cost money.
The solution for his problem was simple but elegant. Caddas would join the Cartographer’s guild. They usually work alone, so he would rarely be held accountable for the ways he does his job. This will also allow him to search the world for more ruins like the ones he found in that cave. Perhaps, one of them will hold the answer to the origin of his lantern and its mysterious creator.
In the Cartographer’s guild, Caddas becomes acquainted with Kite in the Wind – a tabaxi cartographer, who served as his intermediary with the guild. He wouldn’t consider Kite his friend, but he was certainly closer than any of his other acquaintances. The nightmarish horror of the artifact still lingered in Caddas’ mind, preventing him from maintaining lasting relationships. This was further made worse by his new nomadic lifestyle.
However, as Caddas’ mastery of magic and his knowledge about the lantern grew, he unlocked new powers within himself. The lantern unlocked the secrets behind all languages, allowing him to understand all written texts. The light of the lantern also attracted lost souls lingering in the world. They keep Caddas company on his long journeys.