Loges guides the horse up until the ladder. The wizard helps unload. He then uses his magic to "brush" the horse before thanking it and dismissing it.
Once back at camp, Loges helps where he is able.
Yes, a good meal and some rest before venturing back in.
"Maybe the urns are some kind of a place to put offerings, to send to the afterlife... or a vault somewhere."
Tollo pulls up his hood to cover his freshly cut head from the sun.
"Whatever they were meant for- they'll fetch a pretty penny once we're outta here. Gotta think about the future, that's what my cousin Yollo always said..."
Horek is glad to be outside again, beneath the sky and with fresh air to breathe deep. Still curious about the urns, the half-orc continues to experiment, finding small insects to drop in them to see if they remain alive after being teleported from one urn to another, and wondering where the contents of the 'disappearing' urn might end up, speculating aloud that perhaps there is a room somewhere beneath the pyramid where they end up - though for what purpose he cannot imagine.
Horek drops the insects into the four urns and notices that they seem to be unchanged by their journey through three of the vessels; what happens to the insect dropped in the fourth urn remains a mystery.
With playtime over, Horek suggests they spend the rest of the day hunting for local game and preparing the carcasses of those already slain and those they hope to take in order to bolster their food supply. As usual, he avoids the pool with the ooze that lurks within.
Horek wanders off to do some hunting, but manages not to catch anything, although he does get a better understanding of the layout of the abandoned city.
"Before we decide what to do next, is anyone injured?"
"Ah, buck up, laddie. It's not so bad, is it?"
Bolgar pulls out his symbol and a warm wash of energy pours over everyone. Injuries are healed, and palms become itchy.
"Tha' should do ye for a while."
Horek grins at Bolgar as his wounds heal instantly. "Much better. Let's go."
Loges stays in camp. The wizard seems spent.
The group spends an uneventful day and night in the desert, although its reasons are getting low, even if it never find out of water thanks to the clerics' orisins.
Horek considers the state of their rations and makes a suggestion to the others that they spend the early and middle hours of the day hunting and preparing any food they find, then explore the pyramid later, when the sun is high and the cooler interior of the stone building will provide relief.
Well rested and unbearably excited for the day's exploration, Loges studies his spellbook before venturing out of the tent.
Having cleaned and colored his garments and self with his magic, the wizard appears before the group. His robes are a multitude of greens, Brown's, and tans. His skin seems to follow the same motif as his robes, except his face has only a thick black line just under each eye.
Are we going hunting, or what!
”Why did you make them green? This is a desert,” Timbur points out.
Horek leads a hunt for food, hoping to have better luck than the day before.
"It's easiest to find food where there is shade, or near water. If the vegetation is green, that's a good sign."
Loges' enthusiasm is only shadowed by his lack of nature knowledge....
Tollo doesn't know the first thing about seeking out prey, but he does know how to be quiet and shoot his crossbow at anything that looks edible.
"Good shot, Tollo! That cactus has a pulpy interior that is quite nutritious."
Tollo winds his crossbow, a sour look on his face.
"I meant to get the buzzard, but I guess the cactus will do."
"Maybe we should ask if we can eat the holy bees... or would that start a holy war against us?"
"I suppose it's too late to offer to take the bees out for 'burial.'" Bolgar chuckles.
The group does its best to track down game in the heat of the morning sun, and comes up with a few lizards and a buzzards. Not much by their normal standards, but in the desert all is welcome.
The day passes without much else to report. You see the occasional scavengers in the distance as evening approaches, but they seem too afraid to approach within bowshot.
Finally the sun dips below the western mountains and it rapidly starts cooling. Time to reenter the pyramid.
Loges awakens refreshed and ready to explore!
After memorizing his few spells, the young wizard joins his new friends.
So, we haven't quite figured out those buttons. I suggest that we continue to explore to find more clues. It seems that we have more to uncover on that level.
Zuberri nods "I agree, I'm not banking on discovering what the buttons mean any time soon with what we have got."
Tollo shrugs.
"Beats dying of exposure. Let's go- we gotta keep an eye out for another bee to steal, right? Or do we want to let the Gormites hold their grudge?"
The group gathers its belongings and once again bids farewell to Abdul and Zaaid and heads back into the pyramid of Cynidicea.
In the central room of Tier 2, you find three members of the Brotherhood of Gorm camped out, their weapons at the ready. Given that all of them wear the same masks of Gorm (depicted as a long-haired, stern looking man), it is hard to tell whether you have encountered these individuals before.
One of the Brothers holds up their hands in greeting as you descend the rickety ladder from Tier 1.
"Greetings, Outlanders. We have be stationed here to find out how your quest to recover the Holy Bzzts goes? Our leader, Kanadius, is eager for news, as he is greatly saddened by their loss. Have you been able to restore your honor and come into the good graces of Gorm again?"
Loges steps up to the Gormites; a smile on his youthful face.
Oh, honored Gormites, we, the most unworthy, have yet to encounter these wondrous of holy Bzzts. Our labors have not been in vain: We have discovered that there are more places to search. So, hold out hope for the returning of the most holy Bzzts.
"If you could gie us some clue as te where such Bzzts could be found, tha' would help muchly."
"But while we are speaking to ye, do ye perhaps know anythin' about the wee buttons on the wall one floor daun? One seemed ta open the door, but then there wair eight more buttons, and we dinnae want ta press them withoot knowin' wh' they do."
Horek watches the interaction, uncertain as to whether these Gormites are truly allies or not.
Zuberi stands ready in case the Gormites decide that the group has unwittingly made some kind of insult due to not know the cultural or spiritual significance of something in the room.
The Gormites shake their masked heads. "We know that there are more within the city, but where exactly we don't know. We sometimes trade with the Magi of Usamigaras for holy honey. They can be found on the level below us, but be careful, for they are not to be trusted."
Horek shrugs at the others. "We should continue our exploration." He suggests, without detailing their plans in front of the Gormites. The half-orc doesn't particularly trust them any more than the masked cultists trust these Magi they trade with.
As they continue onward, Horek is for following their earlier route and using the one button they pushed to open the door, leaving the others alone, and assuming they find themeselves where they were before, investigating the hallway leading left after the second door - in the opposite direction of the room with the shifting floor that led down to the jester's tomb.
Loges bows walking backward, following Horek.
Bolgar follows Horek.
"Right... let's see what else is on this level before we go back down there."
"I agree with Bolgar, I'd hate to miss some beetles."
Horek chuckles at Zuberi's comment and retorts. "At least they cook up better than plants. If just barely."
Once back inside the pyramid, Tollo whispers to the others conspiratorially.
"So... are we gonna steal a bee for those guys? Maybe we steal a bee from one of the other groups- hopefully without being seen- and then we could, uh, present ourselves to the guys we burgled and offer to steal one for them in exchange for, you know, wealth to bring back to civilization. Or for help in getting outta here."
"That scheme would rely more on your stealth than my sword arm."
Loges walks along with the group.
Such mysteries here!
"That scheme would rely more on your stealth than my sword arm."
"If their security is as bad as the Gormianites, it might not. Just smash and grab, maybe throw a spare dog mask or something on the floor to throw 'em off."
"Regardless, we gotta find another bee first before we can work that out."
”I thought we promised to get them a new bzzt. It wouldn’t be very nice to try to sell it to some other group. That would be dishonest!”
"This time, let's not let the keepers know that it was us that took it. But we have to figure out where to find one first."
The group leaves the Gormites, heading back down the stairs until they arrive at the door with the button next to it. The door is closed and inoperable until the button is once again pushed. Following a light grinding noise, the door opens again, revealing the straight corridor beyond it with the same door on the far side.
Horek ventures into the corridor. "I think if we leave the buttons with those strange runes alone for now, the far door will open into the same corridor we saw before. I wonder if these buttons might somehow... change the position of this hallway to offer us other possibilities. But for the moment, I think we should see what lies beyond the corridor that leads to the left, beyond the far door." The half-orc suggests, gesturing toward the end of the hallway. If nobody objects, he pushes the same button that they did before to hopefully open the door without further incident.
Loges nods in agreement. The wizard casts light on a candle.
You proceed according to Horek's plan, pushing the same button at the end of the hallway that you had pushed before and once again emerge in the familiar hallway you had previously been following. From there you turn left at the intersection (the right hallway leads to the room with the ramp going down to the Jester's tomb), which run for 30' before turning south and quickly ending in another door.
After a short search by Tollo and Loges, you open the door to the room beyond that is filled with shelves. Most of these are empty, but some contain old crates. The shelves are covered in dust and a vile-looking ochre fungus that grows in large, thick clusters.
The room seems to have no other exits.
Tollo immediately pulls his shirt up over his mouth and nose.
"Yellow mold! Don't breathe it in! We can kill it with fire if we have to, but I don't know if it's worth it..."
Loges peers into the room with Detect Magic.
Perhaps, a secret exits lies behind those selves. We may need to dispose of the fungus.
Tollo urges Loges forward.
”Alright! Let’s see some fireworks, some of that fan of flames magic right?”
Horek takes a swift step back, moving his arm in front of his mouth to protect against breathing the stuff in. "I have no oil, but that might work well to get rid of the mold if anyone else does." The half-orc suggests in a muffled voice.