I know nothing about consecration.  As an Avatar of Air, I am a poor specimen.  My life has been spent promoting the union of elements, not Air specifically, and so, as the pink Shamanic glow followed us and we walked to what must have been a ceremonial font, I silently worried.  I resolved to once again grovel before our host and ask.  But again he did not allow me.  He preempted my asking by providing an answer, but not before I worried myself sick. He first guided Karek in the placing of the staff and the Fire gem into the font.  "My words will now unite the staff".  He then said, and then looked at me.  "You performed your consecration when you took on this task.  When you risked your life to keep it alive, and when you cast your fate into the hands of the elements and stepped into that boat to journey here.  Earth has carried it here, and has already given one life to insure it's arrival."  Fire has already consecrated the gem.  You used sanctioned Energetics from it, and its consecration  is implicit if the gem now unites through Transmutation.  He then turned to the font and looking down at the staff, spoke "I consecrate this staff with the element of Water.  I agree, along with Air, Fire and Earth to serve it's purpose.  Let it now be our common voice and arm."  And with those final words, the water in the font began to glow so bright that we had to look away.  Looking back we saw that the staff had risen out of the water and was suspended in mid-air.  Looking at it in wonder, no one moved.  It had changed.  The wooden staff no longer looked like a simple stick, it was a glowing weapon of perfect proportions crowned by the gem of Fire which was now perfectly attached to it.

Latakas turned to Karek.  "Only an Earthen Man sworn in their heart to uphold the Elemental Pact may weild the staff.  If you are not prepared to take this quest upon you, then let it pass to another.  For if you attempt to use in against the union, then it will destroy you as it would any other impediment."  It seemed that Karek aged in that moment.  To his credit he did not instantly reach for the staff.  He let the full weight of the responsibility sink in.  He looked at each of us in turn.  For the first time, we were able to talk to him and be fully understood.   I described the nature of the elements and of Esaam and of the unity of all things.  We explained the effects of the darkness in the north, it's probable cause, and what needed to be done.  Karek then said "My father told me when I was young that I had a calling by the ancients of our tribe.  I did not understand that.  But perhaps this is what I was feeling all along.  My father was right."  He stood and looked at the staff.  "I will, in all humility, take this quest".  Latakas then motioned toward the staff and Karek walked to it, reached up and grasped it.  His eyes grew wide as he held it.  "You will see visions"  Latakas said.  "They are places that the staff recognizes.  Places of power.  Places that the staff has been before.  The staff can Apport you and your party to those locations."  "How will I know which to choose" asked Karek.  "He can help you" he said, motioning toward me.  "He can see what is in your mind.  Perhaps together you can make a choice.  Or you can cross back to Neriz and proceed one foot after the other.  The staff does not care.  Let your hearts lead you."

I realized that further questions would only cost valuable time.  We had already spent too much time away from the darkness.  It was time to begin.

Next: Into the Darkness

We succumbed to the darkness.  We accepted seeming death so unexpectedly, and without even the smallest struggle.  Yet somehow, that dread did not trump my trust of the Sahag that guided us.  The blackness slowly turned to a deep blue.  By the slowly waving black tendrils nearby and then the presence of colorless fish swimming curiously alongside, I knew that we were indeed under water.  Yet we were not wet, and breathing was not a problem.  This added to the dreamlike state in which we proceeded.  Our boat glided gently forward through this silent realm, the only reminder of our old reality.  We were soon among the Sahag.  Hundreds of the creatures were visible in the dim glow surrounding what appeared as an underwater city.  Looking up I could only see a darkening canopy of water.  We have Apported somehow I thought.  We cannot be in Khanize any longer.  We continued on, moving slowly past curious observers, heading to a destination we could not even imagine.

We entered a cavern at the base of a gigantic underwater mountain, passing through the pyramid-shaped entrance.  The boat carrying us then rose, and suddenly emerged from the water and stopped.   We gaped at what appeared to be a grand hall,  It was illuminated by the rock that enclosed it.  A blue glow that expanded our range of sight and gave us cause for astonishment at the immense size of the room.  The boat had stopped at what appeared to be a dock, and our boatman leapt from the boat and beaconed us to follow.  He led us to the far end of the great hall where there stood a sahag adorned with an ornate costume made from what appeared to be the quills and spines of some sea creature.  He was surrounded by a globe of pinkish light.  As we approached, I noticed that he did not seem to be surprised to see us.  Indeed he motioned for us to come closer and to sit near him.

"Welcome Lords" he said, speaking in the common tongue of DOM.  "I am Latakas, Avatar of Hadulon god of the eastern seas.  This is not a dream, although it may seem like one.  We are in what you would call the sea of the Marepise, far from your point of entry.  But we actually converse and meet within the Shamanic realm so that we may better understand one another."  I began forming my questions, but as I did so he preempted me, seeming to answer as I though of them.  "I know why you are here" he said.  "It has been a very long time since the Elemental Staff was wielded.  We had thought that it had passed from the memory of the terrestrials.  And yet I see that it has not.  That you seek the unity of elements at this time bodes both ill and well.  We are reluctant to test the power of the elements lest it prove diminished over time and not up to the task, yet this reticence is dwarfed by our eagerness to prove the strength of our beliefs and ancient union.  And so we welcome the assembly and sanction it."

"We have lost our wielder and have sought another" I cautiously admitted.  "And you have chosen well" he answered reassuringly.  "This Earthen man is a Khanizat.  An Earthen man also of Water and Fire.  What is more, the elements have chosen and brought him to you."
There was a pause then as I wondered if there needed to be a ceremony of some kind to bring the staff to life.  Latakas looked at me and smiled (at least I imagined a smile, Sahag expressions are hard for me to decode).  "Apparently some of the terrestrial memory of the staff has passed" he said with a touch of pride.  I allowed him this moment of superiority which he enjoyed for only a passing moment.  "The Earthen wielder must bathe the staff and the Fire Gem in water consecrated by an Avatar of Water and of Air."

Next: The Elemental Staff is Reborn