-About 100 years ago-

Shel Mar could hear the ship long before he could see it. It was late, dark and foggy with the only moon of the evening half-hidden behind the clouds. He could hear the ship moving swiftly, churning up a powerful wake, sails snapping in the brisk wind. He expected to hear the satisfying sound of a crash at any second as the ship approached the jagged rocks of Siber Atoll. But no crash occurred as the boat broke through the fog and turned about deftly to one side, lowering its sails and tossing out an anchor to catch on the deeper rocks of the outcropping before it got too close to the looming circle of red stone. It was another delivery.

Shel didn't mind the deliveries; they paid well. He watched as the ship extended a gangplank to the flat rocks. He stuck his head under water and called for his cousin Dreg in the sahuagin tongue. The Deep Water sahuagin had lived at Siber Atoll for more generations than they could count and moved easily about the treacherous area in light or dark. Dreg arrived and the two of them sloshed their way onto the deck.

An illithid, commonly known as a mind flayer, stood on the deck and watched them climb aboard. It wrung its pale, wrinkled hands and stepped back so that the sahuagin would not get close to it. The tentacle-like mouth of the illithid made it look like a sea creature but Shel knew it was anything but comfortable on the water.

"It's in there," the mind flayer said, pointing to a cabin on deck. "It might be awake."

Shel shrugged, it made no difference to him. As he and Dreg entered the small cabin they could see that the giant child was indeed awake. The baby had pale green skin and a wispy fluff of dark green hair. He was babbling a little and drooling as he laid on the bed. Although he was nearly the size of a full-grown dwarf already, he seemed younger than the usual deliveries. They usually arrived when they were old enough to walk, at least.

Shel and Dreg untied the fabric ropes that secured the baby to the bed and Dreg cast a sleep spell on the giant boy, then a water breathing bubble. The two of them hoisted the giant infant between them and carried him out onto the deck, down the gangplank and straight into the water. Down and down they went into the very center of ring of rocks that made up the Siber Atoll. Eventually they came to a narrow crack in the sea floor.

With an extra kick of his flippers, Shel pulled himself and the sleeping baby's feet through the crack and Dreg guided the baby's head. Once inside the crack, they pushed through a magic force field that kept the sea water out and found themselves falling through an immense cave. Shel and Dreg were both wearing magical feather fall items that let them fall slowly so, still gripping the giant baby, they floated gently to the bottom level. Three levels of living quarters were cut into the sides of the large cavern, with ramps and paths leading to each. A bridge built to support giants spanned the center of the cavern which held a deep pool of fresh water at the bottom. The water gushed from a crack in the wall, spewing from a deep spring in the rocks under the sea floor.

Shel and Dreg landed in the water with their sleeping cargo.

"'Ere, I'll take 'im," Shel offered and hefted the baby into his arms. Dreg saluted, then swam down into the pool, taking an underwater tunnel back to the sea. Shel clumsily paddled over to a natural air jet in the water, a small geyser that erupted every minute or so, and waited. A few seconds later, the rush of air and water lifted him high into the air where he shifted the weight in his arms and leaned forward so he could drift over to the lowest walkway. Busy kobolds could be seen scurrying about even at this time of night, doing chores. Shel stopped one of them.

"Got a delivery, eh? Get the master."

The kobold scurried off, turning the corners of the large cavern until he came to a ramp. Shel watched as he ran out of sight, probably to the third floor quarters of the master. His charge started to move slightly as he awoke from the spell and Shel set the boy down so that he didn't drop him. It wouldn't do to deliver damaged goods. The Deep Water sahuagin clan had been treated well by those who lived in the cavern below and Shel wanted to keep it that way. He was also more than a little scared of them.

The baby was just starting to squeal indignantly at being placed on the cold stone when the master appeared, floating down from above as Shel had done.

"So, what've we got here, Shel? I didn't realize we were getting a new resident," commented the grizzled old half-giant. He had a beard that would make a dwarf proud and a head of hair to match. His loose trousers and pullover shirt, not to mention the wild state of his hair, indicated that he had been sleeping.

Shel shrugged. "Ship just showed up, as usual boss."

"Right, right, you wouldn't know anyway, would you? Come by in the morning and I'll take care of this along with the payment for this week's supplies. Right now, I need to find a place to put this youngin' so we can all get some rest."

Shel nodded and without a word, he dove into the center pool and disappeared.

*****

The baby was agitated and crying, fists balled up and feet kicking, not liking the cold floor at all. Master Thor'tan called to several of the kobolds to go prepare a crib for the boy and a bottle. He leaned over and picked up the child who was too young to have grown much hair or any teeth... as a matter of fact he didn't look old enough to have left his mother. They usually didn't get new recruits younger than six or eight months and this babe couldn't be more than a few weeks old. His soft shirt was stained and wet from the swim and his diaper soiled. Thor'tan made a face as he caught a whiff of the stale diaper.

The baby was crying in earnest now as Thor'tan carried him into the nursery only recently vacated by one of the other residents. The cavern had heavy draperies on the walls that softened the view of the sheer rock walls and dampened the echo of sound. Thick rugs cushioned his feet as he made his way over to one of the cribs, cots with high bars around them, that they used for the younger giants.

"Slikir, come see to this child," he called and a young sahuagin female followed by two kobolds hurried out of a side room, bringing fresh linens and clothing.

"Aren't you a pretty one?" Slikir cooed to the child in her gurgly fish voice. "Look at his healthy green skin. This'll be the prize one of the lot, I should wager!"

As the sahuagin removed the baby's shirt, a folded parchment fell out and slid to the floor. Thor'tan left the servants to clean and feed the child and walked back to the hallway, unfolding the letter. It was stiff with wax, coated to withstand the swim into the refuge.

"To: Master Thor'tan

I am sending you this child ahead of schedule for several reasons.

The first and most important is that he is manifesting signs of arcane talent already. He is a storm giant, the first known storm giant since the ancient Stormreaver. He has been witnessed harnessing the power of air and electricity in a most impressive display for one unable to yet control his own bodily functions.

The food we gave to his mother was prepared in a stronger distillation of arcane oozes than the previous giant women and it seems to have paid off. This is the only one of that group to be born... intact, shall we say.

The second reason is that this child's mother is no longer alive. It seems he shot a lighting bolt while she was trying to bathe him and she was electrocuted.

Do be careful with him around water or other conductive materials as we have no one else to run the sanctuary should you also be unfortunately incapacitated.

Our mutual masters have approved his training in the sanctuary. I do apologize for the short notice. Oh, and his name is to be Sor'jek. His mother's last name was Incanni.

-Fred"