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Zalkar's quite right as this small building has much to offer. Zadim stands watch outside as the rest of you get a good look. The first observation you make is that the pillows on the floor look relatively new and show signs of recent use.
The bas-reliefs carvings on the walls seem to tell a story. On the northern wall, two inhuman creatures with hair burning like flames hold down a third creature with rough, chiseled features atop an anvil. The two fiery creatures have hammers raised as if shaping their victim in a blacksmith’s forge. Behind them, a towering monstrosity crushes an army beneath its elephantine feet.
Zalkar thinks the inhuman creatures are highly stylized depictions of fire and earth elementals, respectively, with the background image suggesting a scene on the Plane of Earth as the colossus crushes fiery creatures
The east wall depicts muscular, horned humanoids—one holding a crystalline spike the size of a spear—clambering up a hill toward a fiery circle; the monstrous creature from the north wall storms after them.
Zalkar again can interpret the story, as he recognizes the horned humanoids as efreeti and the fiery circle as a temporary portal. He recognizes the genies’ tactics as a planned retreat to lure the immense monster into a trap.
The south wall shows the horned humanoids driving the spike into the monster, pinning it against the wall of a cavern above a pool. Far in the background, a bearded giant with ram’s horns curling from his head howls in pain.
On this on Zalkar thinks the bearded giant as Yamatsumi, the god of mountains, volcanoes, and winter. The cavern is not a conventional cave but rather the basin of a volcano.
Finally, the west wall’s carvings depict a mortal woman who carries a battered suit of armor and gazes up at a towering old man who stands before her. With one hand he points to the snowcapped mountains behind him. The other he uses to gesture palm-outward to the woman, as if instructing her to go no further.
Zalkar here recognizes that the woman is Ankilhi from local mythology. She is known for her 68 great deeds, which included slaying great beasts, acts of kindness, and unifying the people against a common enemy. He also identifies the armor she carries as that of the graveknight Pnao Kilnak, whom she destroyed in single combat. As the story goes, she sought to destroy the graveknight’s armor with Yamatsumi’s fire, but the Mountain Lord spoke of a slumbering evil that the armor might wake; instead he bid her to melt down the fragments and forge them into a powerful weapon to wield in his name.
Zalkar, suddenly a font of information, identifies the old man as a jinushigami, one of the most powerful types of kami in existence, known to guard immense natural features like forests and mountain ranges. Lastly, he notices the mountains behind the old man are part of the Kullan Dei system and are located in the border region between Dtang Ma and Nagajor. In fact, this temple is in the foothills of these very mountains.
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After studying the room, you move onto the next building. Here the smell of old paper fills this long building, whose walls are lined with drawers carved from the same stone. Between the shelves, three windows offer a majestic view over dozens of snowy peaks in the east.
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Oh this stuff is amazing! I've studied lots of this information but to finally be able to see it is wonderful!
Zalkar bubbles over in enthusiasm as he studies everything and then explains it to the others. Once he is done with everything in the room, he moves to the other one.
I wonder what other treasures we may find. Zadim, Thank you for being our protector!
Zalkar cautiously walks up to the room and looks around and tries to recall anything that might be useful.
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Ooo! That is very interesting, Mr Zalkar. You are a veritable cornucopia of knowledge and I love to hear about what you are seeing. May I join you after I inspect these pillows? They seem to be laid out in a particular order and that is curious.
After casting guidance on himself, Cizish visually inspects the pillows, taking care not to disturb them. He will also ask the oni if there is anything of importance to her in this area or anything that the party should be aware of.
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Oli decides he will stay with the two smarties as they inspect and check out these rooms in case something pops up in the room unexpectedly. Zadim can help keep us safe by watching the doors.
I'm afraid I don't think I can contribute much to these discussions. A bit over my head....I'll keep focused in case some surprise snakes pop out again.
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While still in the room with the pillows, Tanbaru responds to Cizish, This actually does seem familiar, I believe these pillows are used for meditation. The oni looks somewhat satisfied it is able to recall some details.
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The large building seems to be the temple’s library. And it appears a rather impressive collection has remained relatively intact. Zalkar begins a quick investigation and finds a pile of old guestbooks sitting on a shelf. He knows that Tian-Dtangs consider it polite to record one’s visit in a guestbook.
Reading the a bit in the guestbooks, in Tien mostly, Zalkar notices that nearly all entries have been made in the fall and spring, around the time the mountain streams freeze and thaw, respectively. After the year 3945 AR, the number of visits dropped to just a few visitors per year, then stopped altogether for several hundred years. All records from the last 300 years are written in Nagaji. According to the last entry, persons named Xuyan, Muita, and Ngon Le arrived 3 months ago.
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Good questions there Olli. I'm not sure why the last 300 years of records would be in Nagaji. From the recent activity in the other room, we should probably be wary of them still being around. However, we should be polite and sign the guestbook as well.
Zalkar signs the guestbook in Nagaji, Tien, and Common.
Let's be on guard for an ambush but hopefully, the visitors would be agreeable to talking peacefully. Tanbaru, Do you have any info on why the entries would all be in Nagaji?
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Nagaji? What a fun and curious name. Let me think about what I can remember of those peoples. I shall sign also the guestbook as well.
Ms Oni, would it be wise to sit and meditate on these pillows? We certainly want to respect the customs of this lovely place, but are a bit ignorant of how to proceed. Are these Nagaji friends of yours? Also, Mr Zalkar, I see that you actually speak the language of these Nagaji. Could you enlighten us on who they might be?
Cizish then proceeds to sign the guest book in Auran.
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Zalkar and Cizish sign the guestbook. Listening in, Zadim, pops in and signs the guestbook.
Tanbura replies I don't think it's disrespectful to not stop and mediate, meditation is more of daily routine. I have no idea why the Nagaji would come here.
Cizish surprises himself with what he recalls about the Nagaji. The Nagaji are a race of ophidian humanoids with scaled skin that mimics the dramatic appearance of true nagas. Like serpents, they have forked tongues and lidless eyes, giving them an unblinking gaze that most other races find unnerving. Their physical forms are otherwise humanlike, raising wary speculation about their origins. One of the largest nations of Tian Xia, Nagajor is ruled by naga matriarchs and populated chiefly by the serpentine nagaji people. Nagajor is dominated by the other end of Kullan Dei mountain range and is neighbored by Dtang Ma.
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Thanks for that information on the Nagaji, Cizish. Learn something every day! Or try to, that's my motto!
Zalkar moves into the next building cautiously as he expectantly anticipates running into the three visiting Nagaji at some point.
Zalkar cautiously walks up to the room and looks around and tries to recall anything that might be useful.
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Cizish follows along constantly scanning with the aid of the Oni. Seeing the bottles, he defers to Zalkar's alchemical expertise. Meanwhile, as he smells the incense in the air, he thinks to himself: What a pity that someone has ruined the sweet aroma of air with these impurities. I always find the Terran practice of adding odors to the air rather disturbing.
Out loud, he says Ms Oni, anything that you can add about these vials and incense?
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Well, not much of interest in this room it seems. I think I want to go and do some additional reading in the library while we have time to see if I can find anything interesting.
Zalkar goes back to the library and looks for anything else of interest that could help him understand why the Nagaji were the only ones coming here as well as anything that might aid them in helping Tanbaru remember her previous life.
See anything else of interest Sully?
Hey Cizish, can you cast Detect Magic and have you been checking the rooms with it to make sure we don't miss anything of interest or left behind by the Nagaji?
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Cizish stages whispers to Olli: Sneaking around is a delightful idea, please be careful. As for me, I will go and sit on one of those pillows and meditate for a bit.. Cizish begins walking over as Zalkar asks him about Detect magic.
Oh my! in my excitement, I forgot all about magical auras. I had been so intent on the mystery of this place, it hadn't occurred to me! Thank you Mr Zalkar.
With that, Cizish wanders back through the rooms while detecting for any magic.
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In the room with the vials, Tanbaru responds to Cizish, I think these oils are intended for religious purposes.
Meanwhile, Olli sneaks off to get a look at the next room, peaking through the doorway. A polished, fifteen-foot-tall stone statue of a coiled snake sits at the center of this room.
About this time Zalkar surprisingly leaves the room of alchemical mysteries and decides to backtrack to the library. Cizish follows suit and heads for the pillows of the meditation chamber. Olli realizing the crew is on the move quickly rejoins Cizish. Cizish then joins Zalkar in the library and casts detect magic.
A large box does detect magical and is labeled “Mountain Scrolls” in Tien, the box contains 10 scrolls that have magical auras. Zalkar also finds an ancient text he thinks translates into "Whispers in the Wood", . This beautifully illuminated manuscript seems to describe kami of all kinds.
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I understand the excitement Cizish! I wasn't even thinking about it with all this fascinating stuff everywhere but then was reminded by my little companion that we may have overlooked something.
As Zalkar is perusing the area and Cizish finds a magical aura.
Great find there Cizish! I wonder what all of these scrolls are? Cizish, can you Read Magic?
He attempts to identify the scrolls.
Oh what a wonderful find. This manuscript labeled "Whisper in the Woods" describe Kami of all kinds. Tanbaru, I wonder if your kind is in here.
He looks through the manuscript and takes notes.
Cizish, we probably should check out the other rooms as well. Let's see if we can find anything magical in the room Zadim is standing outside of
He moves back to the small room while Cizish scans the room for magic.
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Zalkar is able to identify the scrolls as five scrolls of cure moderate wounds, two scrolls of expeditious retreat (CL 5th), two scrolls of lesser restoration, and a scroll of spider climb.
Moving back into the room with the many oils, Cizish detects magic and find that 10 of the oil vials are magical.
Olli is left scratching his head about the giant snake statue, not sure what it is modeled after.
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Here are the stats for the items:
five scrolls of cure moderate wounds (heal 2d8+3)
two scrolls of expeditious retreat (CL 5th) (+30 land speed, 5 minute duration)
two scrolls of lesser restoration
scroll of spider climb (CL2, 20 minute duration)
oil of barkskin (CL 6th) (+2 enhancement bonus to AC, 60 minutes)
oil of bull’s strength (CL2, +4 enhancement bonus to STR, 2 minute duration)
five oils of cure light wounds (heal 1d8+1)
oil of enlarge person (CL 5th) (+2 STR, -2 DEX, -1 attack and AC, 5 minutes)
oil of jump (CL 5th) (+20 enhancement bonus to Acrobatics, 5 minutes)
oil of resist energy (fire) (CL2, resist 10 Fire, 20 minutes)
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Thinking it over, Zalkar proposes the following.
Myself holds onto or uses 1 or 2 scrolls of cure moderate wounds, 1 scroll of lesser resto, 1 or 2 oil of cure light wounds
Olli holds onto or uses 1 scroll of cure moderate wounds, oil of bull strength, oil of barkskin, 1 oil of cure light wounds, oil of jump, scroll of expeditious retreat
Cizish holds onto or uses 1 or 2 scrolls of cure moderate wounds, 1 scroll of lesser resto, 1 or 2 oils of cure light wounds, oil of resist fire
Zadim holds onto or uses oil of enlarge person, oil of cure light wounds
We can hold onto the scroll of spider climb to use as needed (if needed)
If we don't use them then we shall return them to their original places as we leave the temple. Thoughts?
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Zalkar is again a font of information. First he notices that the statue is not part of the original construction, though the building material is the same . In fact, he thinks what once may have been an alter to Yamatsumi, has been refashioned into a creature depicted as a particularly large or wildly exaggerated dark naga . Although to Zalkar, the statue does not appear to depict any well-known historical or religious figure .
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Initiative
Olli begins to climb onto the base of the statue to get a closer look at the eye. As the others look on. Upon closer inspection, he realizes that one of the eyes is a yellowish gemstone.
Zalkar meanwhile begins to move on to the next room, as he exits the statue room, he spots a Nagaji step from the shadows and it looks like it may be ready to cast a spell.
Surprise Round
Map
Zalkar
Zadim
Nagajis
Olli
Cizish
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Zalkar nails the nagaji with a stink boom. But the nagaji seems unaffected by the stink. The nagaji runs off after the bombing.
Round 1
Map
Zalkar
Zadim
Nagajis
Red 7 dmg
Olli
Cizish