Orlaith listened to what the two Children of the Storm had to say. When all was done, the merrow-maiden said to them: "Urefenkebos was born in Pacifica, which Ronemun the Sea King rules over and protects and it is known throughout the sea that Ronemun's paterfamilias was a Surface-Dweller, an acclaimed undersea adventurer by appellation of Cormac Egan."
Ronemun the Sea King? Pacifica? Cormac and Melusine both knew the names, having come from coastal towns it was only natural that they should have heard of Ronemun the Sea King, Pacifica's grievous champion and monarch. According to legend, he would appear in a gentleman's fantasies when he had a special purpose for the man in question and it was said that Ronemun was fell to those who annoyed him, yet forgiving to the certifiable and that he warned before he appeared. Sailors, submariners and the like all told stories of him, such as how the King of Great Britain had sent a ship to the North-Western Territory that never reached its destination, with it said that Ronemun had intercepted it. They would even attribute more famous incidents to Ronemun such as the sinking of the Essex in 1820, saying that George Pollard Junior he ordered his crew to attack Ronemun, an animal they called half man and half avatar. It had not been long after that that the Essex sank, attacked by Ronemun, with the eight survivors who were rescued even speaking of having seen him swimming nearby and hearing his laughter in the dead of night. Despite all of this, the official story, the rationalization, was that the Essex had been attacked and sunk by a sperm whale. Another famous incident was the wrecking of the steamship the Beaver, with it being said that a crewman had not only spent years searching for Pacifica, but was rumoured to have a map handed down from Antiquity. The map was lost and the crewman spent the remainder of his life in a drunken stupor. The official story was that an inebriated crew had run the ship aground on rocks in Burrard Inlet, with no mention of any fantastic half-man animal from the Deep. That had not been the last that Ronemun had ever been heard of. According to sailors who had fought for both the Allied and Central Powers, he had been a frequent danger even during the First World War.
As for Pacifica, it was one of many like it: a lost land beneath the waves, much like Plato's Atlantis. Unlike Atlantis, the story of Pacifica came from an anonymous writer and it showed remarkable similarities to Plato's Atlantis in that there was no mention of magic or advanced technology, but an abundance of natural resources that made the island nation very wealthy, resulting in the inhabitants having luxurious lifestyles that caused them to become decadent warmongers so brutal and imperialistic that the gods themselves sank Pacifica, completely destroying the civilization. People had searched for it for centuries and in 1914, an elusive, crazy and once courageous man named Henslowe, a known polluter and founder of Henslowe Oil, had gone in search of Pacifica, bringing his wife along with him. Alas, he was the sole-survivor of that expedition, but even then, he did not come out perfectly fine. Henslowe had suffered a nervous breakdown and it was said he had left a piece of himself down in the Depths. Now a political suspect, with it being believed he was a Katanga sympathizer, he had gone in search of Pacifica once more, possibly to claim it for Katanga if it did exist, though it was entirely possible he was dead in that cold hell.
No doubt many an undersea race had come to inhabit the ruins of Pacifica, but that only caused Cormac and Melusine to both wonder, what was Ronemun? A merman, or something else? What else was there? Alas, they knew not, but they could only wonder.
Still, there was one question on Cormac's mind, thus did he say: "But, Orlaith, that couldn't have been my great-uncle, whom I am named after. He was born in 1870 in Bahrain under the name of Ahmed El-Baz and Ronemun has been around far longer than that and the first undersea adventurer William Elford Leach was only born in 1791."
"And yet Urefenkebos saw a resemblance between you, this other Cormac Egan and no doubt how Ronemun once looked." Stated Orlaith. "What do you have to say to that?"
Confused, Melusine inquired: "What does that even mean? What do you mean by how Ronemun once looked?"
With a matter-of-fact tone, Orlaith answered: "Well, Ronemun is a Profound One." To say that answer was of no help, would be an understatement. With hands raised, eyes wide and mouth hanging open, Cormac sat there while Melusine's confused countenance became twice as confused. What was a Profound One? What did that even mean? That sounded like a name for a philosopher! An annoyed expression upon her own countenance, Natural-Born Merrow-Maiden uttered: "I see." Thus, did she explain to them what the Profound Ones were.
The Profound Ones were amphibious pelagic humanoids, with thew comparable to that of Ogma and a minor communicative telepathic ability. Their deities were Acclaimed Avatar Phmyn, Paterfamilias Ikne and Materfamilias Sutec, though the worship of this mean and fell trinity was diminishing greatly due to demand of blood sacrifices and their worshippers being violent individuals who frequently committed defilement by deception. Quite often, the Profound Ones had relations with Surface-Dwellers, sometimes even marrying them, and from such unions had come Ronemun and others such as his archenemy, the mage and would-be Lord of the Deep Takeo. Initially these hybrids looked perfectly human, but developed a goggle-orbed, fish-fronted appearance over time, before completely becoming a Profound One. There were many cities in the Deep populated by Profound Ones besides Pacifica, some of them ruins of sunken lands of legend, some of them built by the Profound Ones themselves and some were a combination.
"So that explains why Urefenkebos saw a resemblance!" exclaimed Melusine. "She must have remembered Ronemun's father and how Ronemun looked before his appearance changed!"
"But it doesn't explain how it could have possibly have been my great-uncle when he wasn't born until 1870." Stated Cormac.
"Life is strange…" Commented Orlaith. Cormac could not argue with that. He was now breathing underwater and couldn't be outside of it for more than five minutes, his father had completely vanished, Melusine was a merrow-maiden, had his great-uncle somehow been sent back in time where he had fathered Ronemun? If so, then that meant Ronemun was his cousin once removed. Then did the Natural-Born Merrow-maiden speak once more, uttering: "And dangerous as well. I am afraid there is no protection we can give you here against Urefenkebos and whoever she has gone to. You must go to Pacifica in what Surface-Dwellers call the Mariana Trench. There will you be safe! Go through the Arctic Ocean and you will reach the Pacific quickly."
The Mariana Trench? So far away? It might as well have been another world.
"Will we ever see you again, Orlaith?" inquired Melusine.
"I cannot say, my dear." Replied Orlaith, a grim expression upon her countenance. "Though I pray you both shall be alright." Sitting with an uncertain expression, Cormac could only wonder if he and Melusine would ever reach Pacifica. Just them, all by themselves? He was not feeling optimistic. Noticing his expression, Orlaith uttered: "Fear not, Cormac. We shall supply you both with a map and a brand for you, Cormac, so that you might play the role of defender."
Defender? Him? Cormac did not think it possible, especially if it was him wielding the brand. He was not some Kull of Atlantis, Conan of Cimmeria or Prince Valiant. He wasn't even a Sinbad, a Hercules or a Prince Philip, he was just him, just Cormac Egan. What good could he possibly do when it came to defending both him and Melusine? Wherefore couldn't there have been some place closer they could go to for sanctuary?