With the ghouls reduced to ash and the handful of ancient treasures recovered, the only matter of interest left in the gatehouse is deciding whether to use the winch to raise the portcullis, and whatever else it may influence.
Once you return outside, the well, the palace, the fort, and the temple still await among the rest of the ruined complex.
Deciding 'why the hell not', Olivert flips the switch.
"So, the temple next, was it? To see if we could find out more about that Vision I had?" he remarks, and follows the group to the location they'd originally chosen to explore.
Olivert winds the winch, and you hear the groan of stone and bronze as the portcullis rises into its recess. You don't hear any other doors, gates, or mechanisms from here. However, the rune upon the wall beside the winch shifts, as if the brickwork suddenly was as liquid.
Olivert, his spell of comprehension still active, is able to understand the new symbol: "The way is open."
...
You cross the moss and fern-strewn grounds of the settlement, passing by the central palace with the well at its feet. Sargon nods towards the palace atop the stepped levels, confirming that the confounding puzzle door blocks entrance within.
You reach the temple complex, a collection of half-crumbled walls, pillars, and cloisters that occupy the northeastern corner of the ruin site.
As you approach, you spot a lioness standing, alone, among the remains of the ancient temple. The lean creature turns to face your direction. She makes no other moves and simple stares at you.
Mia's eyes light up momentarily at the sight, then she pauses, curiosity sparking in her mind. She channels the spirits into her sight once again.
Olivert looks around to see if someone else wanted to take the lead here, but when no one seems to do so, he raises his gauntleted hand to the Lioness in greating. "Greetings! Are you by any chance a servant of Chu-ooda? I received a vision of sorts which I think bid me, or us, to come here. Do you have a name? I'm Olivert, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Yes, he would look quite stupid if this was a normal animal, but something about her demeanor just seemed high unnatural...
Mia's eyes, attuned to the spirit world, identifies an ephemeral aura around the lioness. Some manner of nature spirit is possessing this creature.
After Olivert hails the lioness, you all hear it speak with a voice that seemingly comes from right among you, despite the number of yards separating you from where it stands.
"Beware of Cho-Oda. Rescue Cho-Oda.”
Having delivered this message, the lioness falls over and lies, motionless, upon the ground within the ruined temple walls.
"Beware Cho-Oda, rescue Cho-Oda?"
Looking between the others;
"Perhaps this Cho-Oda is some confused being? As in, cure it of something that makes it dangerous?"
"Could be. Or perhaps it's been corrupted, and the only way to save it is to put it out of its misery... let's hope you're right, Claudia."
”Sounds like a reward would be involved!”
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"Sounds like this Cho Oda plays both the damsel and the dragon in our story..." A pause and he looks over "No insult meant to current company."
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Ordinarily, the name of an obscure, Casmar spirit would be outside the knowledge of even the most learned of Avistani scholars. However, Varr's history with spirits, relics, and other curiosities gives him an edge. Furthermore, not long after arriving at Haven, he began learning what he could from the local "authorities" on such subjects - namely Kalig, Lena, Soraya, and the leshys.
In ancient times, this Cho-Oda may have likely been revered by the Kaskkari as some manner of demigod. This would certainly explain why the Kaskkari would have seen fit to construct this site, a day's journey removed from the main city-state. If a curse or disease wiped out this settlement, it may have corrupted Cho-Oda in the process.
"So... what now? Do we search the temple? Or the other buildings first?" Olivert wonders, himself not knowing anything else of the mysterious god (?).
”Lets go for the temple. Find out exactly what is in store for us. The best loot is probably there. As well as whatever malicious spirits be around. We can take care of both.” Varr suggested.
Mia sighs, clearly a little shaken.
I hate spirits and the undead. And, I've little experience or knowledge on curses or the like... Her thoughts rushed back to the undead cyclops, and the effort required to take it down. She gave an involuntary shudder before following after the others.
”They’re nay so bad. Just like people most are friendly enough. It’s just that a few mean ones give ‘em all a bad name. It’s like judging all humans based off of the worst. Aye, they’re really visible, but it isn’t fair. But the undead? Dark magic that be. Ye be right to be cautious.”
You are right, its foolish of me, but despite myself when I hear the term spirit, I automatically associate it with ghosts. That certainly is not the case. It would have been better for me to say I detest the undead, the undead spirits perhaps more so... Though I do admit, despite my... profession, I suppose, spirits of any type unnerve me a little. Though those tied to the land also excite me a little. I've had very few actual dealings with such. she smiles almost sheepishly.
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Though I do admit, despite my... profession, I suppose, spirits of any type unnerve me a little.
Claudia chuckles slightly.
"Good to know, that means your mug of ale is up for grabs when we get back. Dibs."
You enter the temple grounds and stand amid the ancient brickwork and massive stones.
You can make out the outlines of the old layout, indicating where individual rooms and independent outbuildings once stood. Among the rubble, any number of things might be found.
Examining the body of the lioness, you discover that the animal has been dead for a number of days, based upon rigor and other observed details. The likely cause is an infected wound near one of the hind legs, probably incurred from a would-be meal or a rival predator.
Your spirit sense, both then and now, does not detect the presence of negative energy, so this was almost certainly not a case of undeath. The nature spirit you observed was likely using the animal's body as a puppet or vessel to deliver its message.
Oliver looks around, seeing the mess that was the crumbled complex. "Now this might take a while. Even more of a mess than my bedroom was, back home..."
You spot a glint of metal beneath a pile of collapsed bricks and stone slabs. Dargys and Plague investigate, finding that there is a bronze-shod staff wedged beneath the rubble. Olivert confirms that there is an enchantment upon the staff, making it all the more important to find a way to get it free.
"A staff? hoo boy, but how to get it free? Maybe a lever can be used..."
As the others are wondering about the find among the rubble, a hint of some sound draws Claudia's attention, and she looks east.
"Sargon, my friend, we may have to take to the skies again.
Something is quickly approaching."
She gets back onto his back and gives a warning to the others.
"Heads up folks! Something is coming from the east."
"Up again? I would have expected you to be glad to be down on the ground."
Sargon will fly up and prepare a breath attack in case whatever comes at us is hostile.
Ironically, the staff itself would function well as a lever here, if it were not so trapped. If anyone else has a quarterstaff or similar implement, it could leverage the stone slab enough for someone to fish out the magical staff.
From his aerial vantage point, Sargon finds that the approaching creatures look like ants - literally.
You watch a half dozen creatures emerge from the surrounding forest. They resemble ordinary ants, but they are the size of mules. They stop about a dozen yards away from you, arrayed in a semi-circle. The click their mandibles and stare in your direction, seemingly waiting for something.
They are not displaying aggressive mannerisms. You believe these omnivorous giant insects simply want to drag the dead lioness back to their nest.
"I would be the one wizard without a staff handy to use to get a staff I..." he looks over as the giant ants approach
"Imagine if we had brought a picnic"
"Two soldiers, four workers. I think they are here for the Lioness corpse"
"I have a crowbar, though it may not be long enough."
He offered going through the things in his pack until the approaching ants arrived. Now he was nervous, those things were huge and he realized he didnt really know much of anything about ants. . . especially not the giant kind.
"I don't think they are aggressive ...yet. Just let them have the lioness body I think"
"Aye. Nay profit in fighting animals or insects. Let's move past them, but keep a wary eye. While we have nothing to gain from fighting them, we would make a fine meal in their eyes." He cautioned.
"Francoix, can I still use that crowbar?"
"No reason to get in their way, I agree. It's just the way of nature. Whether the ants or the worms eat her remains makes no difference in the end."
The party moves away from the lioness and congregates around the heap of rubble entombing the magic staff. The giant ants take this as an invitation and trundle in a straight line for the body. The soldier ants keep watch, their antennae twitching as they eye the party warily, while the workers tend to their duty.
Theirs is rather gruesomely efficient work. They use their sharp mandibles to slice the lioness into smaller portions then carry them away back into the forest, the soldiers marching at the front and rear of their line.
Meanwhile, Dargys uses the borrowed crowbar to lift the slab of stone just enough that Francoix is able to reach beneath and fish out the magic staff.
Theirs is rather gruesomely efficient work. They use their sharp mandibles to slice the lioness into smaller portions then carry them away back into the forest, the soldiers marching at the front and rear of their line.
"That corpse is not going to waste.
Speaking of corpses not going to waste, let's see if we can find more lying down than walking about."
Staff in hand, Dargys casts detect magic on it, and tries to get more clues to it's nature.
"Ha, I have a magic staff. Now a crystal ball, then a pointy hat, and then the tower and I will have all the wizard bragging rights." He has returned the crowbar, then he seems to realize what Claudia said, "Ah, lead on" Sheepish
Dargys cannot identify the exact nature of the staff, but now that he has it in his hands and can better examine its aura, he recognizes that it radiates an aura of faint conjuration.
Ruefully, Dargys also suspects that the staff is imbued with divine rather than arcane magic, which is not too surprising given that the cypress-wood staff was likely carried by the priesthood of this site.
"Afraid I'm uncertain as well, sadly, schooled as I am in these matters." He shakes his golden manes ruefully in failed critical study of the object, then shrugs. "Oh well, the search is still fresh! Let's see if more can be uncovered indeed." He continues, and joins Claudia in their search.
You find no hatches, staircases, or other remnants of ways down into the ground. Dargys' engineering acumen indicates that the temple complex only occupied the surface. It's unclear whether this is due to soil composition and moisture or to make more room for subterranean levels for the palace complex and its well.
Ultimately, there is not much left of the temple complex. There are signs that the tree goblins had already combed through here looking for valuables, either for themselves or for Barthazar. The staff went overlooked due to being stuck, but there are a few other trinkets they missed: ancient coins and semi-precious stones that may have once been brought as offerings to the temple treasury.
The ruined fort, the plaza well, and the palace remain.
"Ah,divine magic. Well, the world needs holy folk. If any of you wish this?" He offers the staff to whoever speaks up, even as he looks about "I think this was only surface side. Little is left here I see... where to next?"
"the coin and gems will be useful enough for trading I suppose, though I guess I had hoped for something more miraculous."
He said to no one in particular. He kept his head and eyes in constant motion scanning almost everywhich way as if still expecting some terrible thing to happen.
Well, I suppose you shouldn't how for two instances of finding crates bigger on the inside filled with fruit. At least we found them. Perhaps we should make sure we don't get ambushed going into the palace, and save it for last?
"Saving Palace for last is fine by me" A consideration, "The Well then?"
You reconnoiter in the open courtyard directly in front of the palace, overgrown with dying jungle creepers, at the heart of the ruins.
The palace is a huge two-story structure built atop a mastaba-style base, but it's broad flanks show considerable damage. Time has eroded the fired bricks that lined the exterior of the palace, exposing the sun-baked bricks and stone slabs beneath. A brick staircase ascends the mastaba to the first floor of the palace, crowned by a massive, corbel-arched doorway.
There are fascinating architectural parallels with the ziggurat and citadel closer to Haven, where the great city-state of Kaskkari once thrived. However, you aren't sure whether the less grandiose scale and simpler superstructure of the palace indicates that this site was built much earlier, before the Kaskkari golden age, or if it was instead built much later during a time of decline for the Kaskkari civilization.
The square, stone well sits in the shadow of the raised palace. The sides of the stone well are ornately carved. Each side has a deep impression of a handprint; the rest of the carvings are different on each side - pictures of kings and elephants, mainly. At each corner of the well sits a small, carved stone head, probably about twenty pounds in weight.
”Coin, gems and a divinely filled staff. Already enough to buy food, eh? Can’t wait to get into that palace and see what is within.”
"Do you reckon these decorative statues are worth anything?" Oliver asks as they pass the fountain. "While it feels wrong to disturb such a work of art, the city of Haven needs all the help it can get."
Olivert finds that the stone wall radiates an aura of transmutation magic. The aura appears most concentrated around the four stone heads that anchor the corners of the well, as well as the handprint-shaped impressions along the sides of the well. This would suggest that the handprints and the heads are connected to some manner of magic mechanism that is intrinsic to the well system.
The four stone heads are largely similar in style and design, except for the number of eyes. The first head has three eyes; two sit in the normal position on the face but are closed, while a third eye sits lower on the bridge of the nose. The second head has three eyes in the same arrangement, but all three are open. The third head has a pair of eyes, one on top of each other above the nose, that are both open. The fourth head has three eyes like the first two heads, but all three of these eyes are closed.
The pupils of the heads' open eyes are actually formed by looped arrows, indicating a direction - either clockwise or counterclockwise.
Varr finds that the well shaft descends a little more than ten feet down before widening into a larger chamber or cistern. It is currently filled with a few feet of fecund, mossy water. However, courtesy of the sunlight filtering down, Varr notices what appears to be a bronze wheel affixed to the center of the stone floor of the well chamber.
"Siege damage. We could bypass the puzzle door by pulling down this without hurting roof. I do not know the history fully but the designs are amazing."
"This well seems to be a puzzle of sorts..." Oliver remarks, studying it. "The handprints and the heads are connected in some way, and the entire thing is laced with transmutation magic. Perhaps it is an entrance further down or such? Though I wonder how it works... I assume there is some connection between the number of eyes and having to press the handhonds in the corresponding order to the number of eyes or such?" he theorizes, but looks to the others for approval before taking any action.
Maybe its designed to start at the one with all eyes closed, and then you go to the next depending on the arrows in the eyes? Mia suggests.
Otherwise, as Dargys said, we could choose the loud option...
Sargon ponders the peculiar decorations.