Neither of the halflings note the presence of anything immediately hostile but none can shake the feeling that the party is being watched.
After a moment of studying the visible landscape Xiddik believes the party is several miles east of Darkspine Mountain. The only nearby landmark noted on the map is at its base - a 'Shrine of Bound Earth'. The name is immediately familiar to the kobold guide. She recalls rumors that the Shrine, believed to be positioned on a powerful leyline, had come under the protection of shaitan genie on some spiritual pilgrimage at some point within the last few centuries.
Xiddik's left eye squints, and her tongue clicks. "We're not far east of Darkspine Mountain." She points to the map. "The Shrine of Bound Earth will be close by, see? They say there's a...a rock angel?" She frowns. "I don't know the word. Not angel. Not good. Not bad, either. Gem people from another world. The rock angel is said to claimed the shrine in a...religious journey."
Asht'el twirls a lock of hair on his fingertip as he considers Xiddik's description, then asks her, "So does that make it a place we should go to, or stay away from?"
"It's the closest landmark on the map. We should head there to get our bears."
Asht'el nods at this sage counsel, gesturing for Xiddik to lead the way.
"Bearing. I think you mean bearing", Njord adds as he falls in behind the kobold.
"Oh. Okay. Then I guess I'll just be kobolding onwards, then, Njord." Xiddik rolls her eyes, gesturing to the other partymembers at Njord in a can-you-believe-this-guy way.
Xiddik leads the way, scurrying from stalagmite to rock to large fungus to stay out of sight.
Every now and then a scaly hand thrusts up from behind a nearby boulder to point at something of interest. This somewhat impairs her attempts at stealth for anyone paying close attention.
It's difficult to track without any kind of celestial bodies to follow but it takes several hours for the party to reach the Shrine of Bound Earth. The trip is uneventful but the sense of danger never passes.
The structure of the Shrine, formed from pale tan earthen bricks, stands in contrast to the gray-black stone its built into. The architecture is difficult to associate with any specific culture - spartan but utilizing long archways and counterforts to support it that are likely beyond the Land of Black Blood's more savage natives. Darkspine Mountain itself looms high and sharply overhead. The more perceptive members of the party spot strange bits of earth that seem to jut unnaturally from the mountainside. Occasionally long tendrils seems to flail from them.
A field of surprisingly lifelike humanoid statues are arranged around the temple's entrance.
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Xiddik's eyes narrow to slits as she releases a little groan. "Ropers. A whole tribe of them. Very rare for them to gather like this, since they're evil poriro." She points to the stalagmites up ahead. "Their six tendrils sap your strength, and they have enormous reach with them—twenty-five paces away, at least. Love the sounds of their own voices. I once got paralyzed by one—made me argue with its stupid immature phil...philsophing for days."
She starts performing what is evidently a roper impersonation in the foul, utterly inhuman growls and rasps of Aklo.
"Well above ground, I'd just stand back and launch fireballs at them. Any idea, ropers you say. Anything other than they sap your strength, weaknesses would be good."
"Jametor, you'll get a chance to launch fireballs soon enough, I'm guessing," Asht'el observes. "For now, if we're going into the temple, let's go into the temple, since they don't seem to be in our way."
Xiddik grimaces, but nods. "Let us hurry. Try not to get their attention. No one say anything about Aroden or moral relativity until we're in the temple."
Fíriel nods, though at a squeak from Prickles she pauses thoughtfully. "Prickles wonders if he should go check things out first," she translates. The hedgehog, still wearing his ghastly mask, peers out from behind her as if to gauge the group's reaction.
"Scoutpig sounds fine to me. Would he like some backup? I could follow at a distance."
Xiddik eyes Prickles with no shortage of wariness. "I can cast a spell to make your needle monster harder to hear, but you must ensure it does not attack me. I do not know what manner of poison it contains and have no desire to find out."
Fíriel giggles. "Oh Xiddik, please excuse my amusement. It's just that I can't imagine having gone through your entire life without seeing a hedgehog until you met Prickles! I'm sure he'd appreciate any help you can provide." She sobers and nods subtly at Randall. "I think that'd be for the best... though I probably won't mention it to him?"
"I have a few invisibility spells prepared, might be a good addition. He'll need to promise not to attack, but it should last enough time for some scouting." Jametor says.
"Sounds like he'll be a well-prepared needle monster," Asht'el observes, a wry smile flickering about his lips, "as long as you can keep him from killing Xiddik in a fit of pique."
"I think there are others that will need the invisibility magic more than I will when the time comes. And Prickles is pretty hard to spot when he wants to be."
Prickles shows his teeth in Asht'el's direction, though whether in a grin or a fearsome show of power is unclear.
Randall lets the fearless familiar lead him by 20' before moving stealthily behind.
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Fíriel giggles. "Oh Xiddik, please excuse my amusement. It's just that I can't imagine having gone through your entire life without seeing a hedgehog until you met Prickles! I'm sure he'd appreciate any help you can provide." She sobers and nods subtly at Randall. "I think that'd be for the best... though I probably won't mention it to him?"
Xiddik's eyes narrow even further. She reaches forward. Her claw seems to hover slightly, as she weighs the comparative risks of teeth and quills, before poking the—
"as long as you can keep him from killing Xiddik in a fit of pique."
Xiddik wrenches back her hand as Ash't says this, and takes a reflexive step back as the extremely sharp monster bares its teeth. She takes a deep breath...and lunges forward to boop the hedgehog gently on the nose.
Prickles squeaks once at Xiddik before turning to trundle away, his tail-pins wiggling slightly in the kobold's direction. Fíriel tries to smother a giggle. "He likes you, Xiddik," she explains quietly, before waving a quick "Be back soon!" to Randall.
"Your green world contains fewer talkative tentacled stalagmites," Xiddik mutters, "but it still manages to surprise me sometimes with the creativeness of its monsters."
Prickles squeaks once at Xiddik before turning to trundle away, his tail-pins wiggling slightly in the kobold's direction. Fíriel tries to smother a giggle. "He likes you, Xiddik," she explains quietly, before waving a quick "Be back soon!" to Randall.
Randall winks and nods before he follows the diminutive lead scout.
Prickles and Randall trundle inside the temple's entrance. The ropers high overhead don't seem to react to their approach. The walls of the entrance hallway open outward, suggesting a much wider space within the main shrine. Blood stains the marble tile, and the bodies of two drow lie crumpled on the floor — one crushed as if by a great weight, the other slammed into the far right pillar and folded in half around it.
New Map. Oladon can you link this at the top when you have a minute?
"Randall?" Asht'el whispers as he studies the hallway through the open doors, from some distance away, "You think you could have Prickles look for any traps in there, maybe drow-smashing ones? And you could help the little fellow out?"
Whispering back, "Yeah, we're looking."
Randall and Prickles find no sign of what flattened the unfortunate drow. Who or what did this remains a mystery.
Randall moves forward quietly to listen at the double doors before trying to open them. "You know, anyone fighting drow might be worth making friends with. What did Xiddik call the one that built the shrine? Maybe I should knock..."
Prickles tilts his head at Randall and squeaks helpfully under his breath.
Randall hears the shuffling sounds from the movement of several creatures through the enormous doors but no speech.
Randall whispers, "Movement, no voices. I have another idea."
He retrieves a pair of gloves and slips them on. Cupping his hands together, he forms a cone and places it against the door and puts his ear to it, listening intently a little longer.
Through the magic of his gloves Randall paints a better picture of the contents of the temple within his mind's eye.
He sees a wide, oblong room constructed of the same pale stone as the rest of the shrine. Clear crystals and pale gems create and reflect light around the high-ceilinged chamber, standing from the stone of the walls like ageless sconces. Staircases on either side of the room lead up to an altar platform on the far side.
A single beautiful scimitar-wielding giant of a woman seemingly made of dark and polished stone stands at the center of the chamber. Six drow soldiers stand at attention in a ring around her.
Randall whispers to use the magic of the message spell to inform the rest of the party what he's seeing.
"Very bad," Xiddik mutters. "What could it mean? The wairuatoka is in league with the drow? Controlling them? Jametor, Ash't, do you know anything of these creatures?"
"Rock genie?" Jametor says, absentmindedly translating the Draconic word for the others.
Asht'el shrugs at Xiddik's question, then asks in a whisper, "Randall, could the drow be guarding this giant woman as a prisoner? Or does it look like she's in charge of them?"