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As soon as he gets a chance, Tad spends a few moments in prayer, praising and thanking the Lady for her help. After the return to the city, he is clearly very pleased to have his bonded holy symbol back, holding it tightly and kissing it. If any of his friends are showing any after effects, Tad happily learns the magic to make them better.
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Monty turns and kisses Fali, long and passionately, even covered in muck and grim as they are. After a moment, he looks down at the muck that coats them both from head to toe.
Bath? Bath. Most definitely a bath. Which do you think will take to clean out? My hair or yours? Hohoho!
He chuckles as he hugs Fali close, leading her back to the Inn.
Ya know what, I think i'm going to spring for some rosewater or something.... I still can't get the stench of that swamp out of my nose...
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Back at the lodge, his flail hanging off his back, Monty looks at the cup and shakes his head.
All that over a cup... and to many dead for my tastes, even if it wasn't one of ours.
As the gold is set down, he raises an eyebrow.
Let my griping about the deaths of others not be mistaken for a rejection of payment however.
He picks up his share and tucks it into his robes.
I'm still getting gunk out of my hair... and probably will be for days.
Monty sighs deeply.
And I you, you oversized paperweight.
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Dale quickly pulls his 'research grant money stipend' out of the pile of cash and drops it into his backpack with a splash. "Yes, if those others are lucky I may just share what I figure out about this cup..." He reaches over and starts studying the thing right then and there.
He pulls out his wayfinder and gets to work looking for magical auras "I've finally built up enough goodwill within the Society to be given such a powerful wayfinder. Not being able to detect magic has always been a problem. No longer!" Dale then pulls out his beloved alchemy kit complete with powders and vials of dyes and acids, spreading them out on the man's desk with not after thoughts or reservation.
"Could you increase the light. I'm going to need more light..."
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Dru gets a bath or two, and then, in clean clothes, wanders back to the nearest tavern to thanks Cayden Caillean for her Survival.
She seems a little more bitter and thoughful than usual, and drinks calmly but surely,aiming at being drunk.
Even before she starts the heavy drinking, the blonde wariorress hands are shaking
I got Lucky on that one again.How long will my luck held? By next mission I could be dead.
Bellaugh pulls the chalice away from Dale's grasp, as the man seems intent on making a mess in his office.
"What?! No you don't." He exclaims. "Get that off my desk!"
Once he's got it clear that Dale is not to mess up his office, he points back towards the door. "The others are in the large room down the end of the hall. They will be studying it there."
"You're welcome to join them... there... but a lady named Ellie Croop is lead, so you will need to listen to her."
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"What? Oh. If you insist." He gathers up his things and offers to take it down the hall to the others. "I suppose. I'll give Ellie your regards." Wouldn't Zarta be interested in seeing this... too bad I get at it before she does ha!
Dale is sure to take a look at the chalice the first chance he gets with it outside of the VC's sight, after a slight bit of time, gets it down to Ellie and her crew. "You wouldn't believe what I found on this thing..."
You end up spending about a week hanging out in the port city of Eleder. Taking up the sights, or just resting after the trials of the race.
Most of you seem to have gained at least a small amount of celebrity from the locals, many of whom come up to congratulate you on your win, or ask to hear stories of the harrowing ordeals you had to endure to secure your victory.
Of course, you don't see much of Dale at all, he seems to be spending most of his time in the Lodge, with the three visiting scholars... all four of them mostly just going over old tomes and scrolls, or arguing about facts and dates, whenever you do catch sight of them.
At one point, they ask Monty to join them... though it turns out more that one of them wants to talk to Slitherbane... excited that it is actually from the time of the Ghol-Ghan empire! Though that initial excitement, is quickly tempered when they realize that the flail really isn't all that knowledgeable... and was actually created by the Azlanti, and only gifted to the cyclops that wielded it.
It quickly becomes evident that every single one of them knows more than Dale does. At least in regards to the Expanse, Azlanti history and the Ghol-Ghan empire. But it also turns out, every single one of them is a book nerd of the highest order, and for a spell, he finds himself among peers... or at least folks he can relate to.
All three of them descend on the Chalice with excitement, shooing Dale away while they each take a turn examining it.
The next few days are spent mostly doing research. Ilivan, it turns out, is apparently an expert on the Ghol-Ghan empire and confirms that it is indeed a relic from that time.
And from there, it is just figuring out from when, where, and what its purpose might have been. That part takes a lot longer.
Mostly pouring over old books and tomes, many from the Lodge library, many brought by the three scholars themselves, or appropriated from 'other' places. Occasionally stopping to argue over how to interpret a phrase or a drawing, then back to the books.
At one point, when it is revealed that Monty has an intelligent artifact that was actually once wielded by one of the mighty cyclopes of the Ghol-Ghan empire, and that it can talk, they all get distracted, as Monty is asked to bring in Slitherbane...
Though the flail is not nearly as helpful as they'd hoped, especially once they realize it was actually created by the Azlanti, and gifted to the cyclops who wielded it. Though it does apparently help finally put to bed an argument Ilivan and Ellie have have had for years regarding the actual conjugation of an ancient azlanti phrase, and its pronunciation... (Ellie was correct).
Things get even more interesting once they learn about your previous trip to the Starwatcher Tor... and that Faliana can channel one of the long dead cyclopes from there! Ilivan seems especially excited, apparently such things being almost unheard of, almost swooning at the opportunity.
Eventually though, things seem to wind down, until Venture-Captain Bellaugh calls you all to his office once more. You find the Chalice sitting on his desk as it was the last time you were there, though it has a number of smudges and small lines and marks on it in chalky dust, that no one bothered to wipe off.
Bellaugh seems excited, as does Dale, the man surfacing from his studies for the first time in a week.
"Well, you did a great job winning this year's race, indeed!" He says, with a smile, leaning back in his chair. "And if the big brains in the other room are to be believed, all that hard work may indeed bear some fruit! My earlier research has been confirmed!"
He seems quite proud that his suspicions might pan out. "Here, I'll let your friend here tell you about it."
He waves one hand at Dale, who looks like he's ready to burst.
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After the fight Faliana plops down on the ground in her muddy nearly nonexistent clothes to tired and sleepy to bother with cleaning her outfit or Monty of the mud. She snuggles up to the much less fluffy monkey and falls asleep in his arms.
The next morning she trudges out of the mud slick the two had slept in and takes all the time she needs with her prestidigitation spell to get her clothes and weapon clean as well as most of everyone else. "Ashava be my witness, I never want to have to be this dirty again. This is worse than the time that barbarian was vaporizing goblins upwind of us. Come here Monty, I'll try getting some of those mud clots out before they start to mat."
An unhappy mess of bites and buzzing insects, Fali barely gives notice as they cross the finish line, so drained and tired. She gives the Venture Captain a small thumbs up, and then narrowing her eyes as he gets a hiff of them. "Oi, don't remind me I smell. Prestidigitation's a wonderful thing, but it can't make the rotting stench of a swamp smell good for long, okay?"
Swatting the last of her personal tormenters away, she snuggles up to Monty as he embraces her, but holds off on the kiss until she's at least wiped the muck off her face. Smiling at his usual jokes, she gives him a wink and then smirks as her hair magically cleans itself. "Dear I think you forget, I've got magic!" She then gives him another kiss, followed by a "But a gods-damned bath sounds amazing! Magic can only do some much and I still feel like I'm swimming up to my eyebrows in mud. I say hot water and definitely spring for the rosewater!"
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Much happier in her own clash of colors and not the icky race two-tone, Fali checks over her relics to double check nothing happened to them. She checks all of her other gear, just in case.
"That was not something I'd consider doing for fun or even political motivations. Why even half of these people competed I have no idea."
She gladly takes up the money, as her portion is set down. And then turns to Monty. "Oi, I told you I should have gotten most of the mud out, and I don't want you picking any scabs off until we get someone to look over the wounds! Now stop that!"
She then gives the morning star at the man's waist a sidelong glance, muttering something in Anicent Azlanti herself.
Fali gives Monty one last kiss, avoiding touching his weapon, and then takes her relics off to catch up with the spirits they house.
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Fali hangs around with Monty as he is asked to join the group, not really interested in the reasearch aspects but still wanting to spend time with her monkey. As soon as she finds out that the group is trying to find out more information about the cyclops she pulls out a few links of partially melted gold chain. "If you would like, I did find a spirit in the ruins as well. He's a bit reticent, but I could try channeling him tomorrow morning."
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Dale excitedly waves everyone to come in closer, the bags under his eyes are significant, like he's not had much rest since the race ended. He takes a quick sip of some strange smelling concoction, restoring a bit more vigor to his face "What a week, what a WEEK!" He exhales with a smile.
He hops up and retrieves the Chalice once more to help focus everyone's attention. "This little beaut here! Wow is it OLD! Thousand of years old actually... crafted by the Ghol-Ghan, and looted from the ruins of one of their cities, a place called Kaddodi, by a people known as the Boalisi!" He looks around at the blank stares, hoping someone will at least recognize a few of the names he threw out.
Undaunted by the Monday morning faces he continues "Truska was able to locate some records supposedly from ancient Boalisi explorers that talked of a golden cup, that if one used it to drink the waters from Kaddodi's ritual well, allowed them to see visions and spirits of the ancient cyclops city in its prime!" He raises his hands and the cup, apparently imagining the greatness of an ancient, yet slightly scary city filled with giants with one eye.
He then turns to Monty and his trusty talking flail "Oh, even though Ellie wouldn't admit it, the flail is not nearly as helpful as they'd hoped, especially once we realized it was actually created by the Azlanti, and gifted to the cyclops who wielded it. It did apparently help finally put to bed an argument Ilivan and Ellie have had for years regarding the actual conjugation of an ancient azlanti phrase, and its pronunciation... " He holds his belly and laughs "Ellie puffed her chest out like a champ, an older, stern woman champ, but a champ none the less! You'd be surprised how much a bunch of bookworms argue over the slightest facts!" Poor Ilivan, I was cheering him on too.
Dale quickly adds in "Oh Truska is one of the scholars, an older Mwangi fella from the Academy in Nantambu. Maybe you met him before? I've seen his name while we were there. Quite the spark plug that guy!" He adjusts his nice hat, finally cleaned and the stitching tightened. "Where was I? Oh, ya, so as you can imagine, wait for it.. wait for it... We get to go find Kaddodi and hopefully see if this Chalice is THAT cup!" He looks around, all of this making perfect sense in HIS brain, even if it wasn't well presented to the others.
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Monty looks over his shoulder at the flail.
Conjugations? Are we an English professor instead of the weapon of a warrior now? The teasing is evident.
Quiet mad, if I do so say myself. Makes them the best company.
He turns to dale with a smile.
At least this mission doesn't have us dressing down to our unders when we trek across miles of jungle. Now Dale, I'm guess you left out the bit where this city of the cyclopians is actually in the territory of some bog beast, or a hostile swamp tribe, or some such? If it was easy to get to, they would have just sent you and the scholars.
... muttering something in Anicent Azlanti herself.
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Dale raises an eyebrow as the flail speaks, clearly understanding. "We weren't mad, not at all! Well, to be fair I guess Ilivan was kinda mad he was wrong. Academic types HATE being wrong." He smiles, addressing Monty's question.
"Bog beast? Swamp Tribe? Who knows for sure. Truska believed that Kaddodi once stood in the middle of what are now the Kaava lands, long before Earthfall. His best guess is about three days northwest of Crown's End, or about 6 days due west of the grippli village of Krihirik, if you remember that place." He thinks back fondly to their froggy friends, hopeful they've recovered from the attack.
"Maybe we could visit Krihirik on the way through? Bring them some nice gifts or stuff to trade, check up on them?" Dale looks to the group as well as the VC about the possibility.
"Kirhirik?" Belaugh mutters, confused. "Where the hell is Kirhirik?"
Once its pointed out on the map, he shakes his head slightly. "That's the opposite direction, would add over a week to the trip, and on foot the whole way through the Kaava lands. Does not seem a good time for a detour."
"We've secured passage to Crown's End, here." He adds, pointing to a place right on the edge of the Kaava jungle at the Sargavan border, along the edge of Desperation Bay. "But once you hit the trees, you'll be on your own... well on your own with whatever the jungle decides to toss in your way. Wasn't there a dinosaur of some sort, last time?"
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"Oh. Ya, probably should save that for maybe the return trip or something." Maybe once we get a bit more pull around here we can have a paid 'foray' there...
Dale's eyes light up when reminded of the dinos "Oh yes! Incredible specimens. At least the pirates fed them well. I think they were pirates? Maybe not. Didn't he get away? That guy with the knives..." He looks at Monty and winces.
You leave the Venture-Captain's office with a destination in mind, if not an entirely clear idea on how to find it. Still, it looks like you'll be heading back into the jungle yet again!
As you're leaving his office, Bellaugh calls out absently. "Oh, that reminds me... Someone dropped something off for you the other day. I keep forgetting to mention it. Check at the front, I think Freah put it in the storage closet."
You check the closet in question, and it is filled with the typical things you'd expect, but there is also a large hand-woven basket, in the design of the Ekujae elves, with a small rune on the front, that Faliana recognizes as one for memory ... or more specifically, the act of remembering.
Inside, there are a number of clearly marked vials and some ammunition. It would appear a gift from your friends in Jalunth!
Bellaugh has made arrangements for you to leave on a small ship the next day, heading up the coast to Crown's End, though from there, you will have to carry whatever supplies you think you might need. And, though they did say three days out of Crown's End... you strongly suspect that was three days from someone who's never tried to travel through jungle terrain. In all likelihood, it will be twice that.
It only takes a day to sail up the coast of Desperation Bay to the small town of Crown's End. It is a rather non-descript place, everyone seeming to go out of their way to avoid drawing attention to anything. Oddly so at times. Even Dale doesn't know too much about the place, other than it was a small offshoot during Cheliax's initial annexation of the area, and then was taken over by slavers and smugglers for a while, but now just sits here as a way point for explorers going north into the Kaava Lands, or for goods going east to the mines in the Bandu Hills. They mostly just pay their taxes and keep their heads down now.
And so, after a brief stop in Crown's End, you find yourselves once again trudging through the jungles of western Garund, this time the Kaava Lands again.
Luckily, you've long ago grown accustomed to the oppressive heat, the high temperatures barely noticeable anymore. Nor does the frequent rain bother you as much as it used to... one just expects to spend much of their time damp when in the jungle. Faliana dusts off her machete for the trip, and the familiar motions of cutting your way through the dense vines and foliage soon comes back to you. You even see a few of the monkey trees you ran into back at the ravine by Kirhirik... but this time you know enough to avoid getting the pungent spicy oil on yourselves, only a few purplish stains for your efforts.
Although you know there are many dangers in the Kaava Lands, not the least of which T-Rexes, you fortunately do not encounter any you can not scare off during the first few days. Something does stalk you through the jungle for a few days at one point, never showing itself, but even that eventually moves off. Other than that, only the insects and the vegetation prove more than a passing inconvenience. Your route winds through thick overgrown jungle, and along rivers ranging from narrow streams, to treacherous, fast-flowing torrents. But by now, none of these obstacles catch you unprepared, and you make relatively decent time.
It isn't until you reach the Oubinga River that you hit your first major obstacle... and it is one you expected from the start. The Oubinga is a large river that runs down the middle of the Kaava Lands, before emptying into Desperation bay some ways to the southwest, it is said to be home to large schools of carnivorous fish. As you gaze on its muddy length, the wide watery expanse seems like an almost impassible barrier. It takes you most of a day to fashion some form of raft, to take you across outside the reach of whatever might lurk below the surface, and you can only hope to be across before attracting the attention of anything that might lurk above it.
Eventually though, you reach the far side, and as you pull your crude raft up on the northern bank, you think you are clear. As you work your way up the steep muddy northern bank, you are greeted by the rather grisly spectacle of a tall wooden pole, staked firmly into the ground, and decorated with carvings of animals and spirits... which on its own is not so bad, except this pole also has several shrunken, mummified heads dangling from it, staring at you with sunken eye sockets, lids sewn shut.
You see them coming to, and leading away from the marker, apparently arriving from the north, and then heading off to the west somewhere.
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Dale shows up to the boat with a bran new backpack and a smile on his face "I finally got something robust enough to carry all of the tools and supplies needed! Not to mention extra food..." He looks at Dru with a frown and raises an eyebrow.
Dale happily works with Brady as they both have the proper tools for raft building. "Monty, Tad, can you collect more vines? The key to a solid, sturdy vessel is proper connective tissue! Oh, and wood that floats is helpful. Did you realize not all wood floats? Luckily I know the which floats best per unit of effort to find and cut said wood!" He stalks off and points out the best of the best for Dru and Fal to harvest.
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As Dale finishes Captaining the trip across the river, while carefully trying to lure fish up to study thanks to his branch with thin vine and tied rations. "Oh yes, quite vicious indeed! Did you notice the presence of molars in these fish? Not often you see a fish that can chew vs just ripping flesh or swallowing things whole. Fascinating."
He squints and looks at the road signs in front of him.
"Huh. Since when do headhunting Halflings speak in Grippli? Tad?" He pulls out his journal to make some quick notes on the topic, not to mention record his findings about the man eating fish.
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Monty glances around and mutters under his breath...
Keep an eye out Slitherbane... or senses or whatever.
Monty looks at the shrunken heads and makes a slightly repulsed face.
Disgusting practice. Glad my tribe never engaged in it.
As Tad comments, Monty muses.
Perhaps their trying to warn away grippli's? Keep the locals away?
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The night of Monty and his snarky piece of metal that might be called a weapon by some people, Fali takes out the gold chain from her pack and spends a long time meditating with it. The next morning she tries to perform her seance, the gold chain around her neck but the first couple of times the dance is supposed to progress beyond Fali's controlled sedate belly dance, the her dance becomes extremely faltering and she soon trips over her own feet.
After a few failures, Fali sits and meditates with the charm, talking soothing and encouraging words to it in Azlanti and Cyclops. After a bout ten minutes she tries again, this time taking it even slower, but the hesitant and very lumbering steps of the cyclops slowly encroach into the hip locks and shimmies of Fali's dance. By the end of the hour, the small woman is nearly hunched over, her left arm raised as if it had a shield on it, the right holding a weapon made of nothing and the two move back and forth as if in a ritual combat. When they finish, the spirit takes a look around with Fali's eyes, quite clearly amazed with all of the sights and sounds. After a moment, Fali's eyelids close in in a reflexive blink and the man nearly jumps out of Fali's skin. He panics for a moment screaming.
He's just repeating "Dark" and "The Darkness." on end
After a moment he calms down slightly, staring around the room completely wide-eyed, before he seems to realize there are other people around and immediately takes cover behind his imaginary shield... and then actually behind something that could hide Fali's body.
A little later, Fali moves from behind the desk, clearly in control again. "Apologies about that, he's a little... skittish. Took me forever to get him to start talking to me, even after I learned a little Azlanti and Cyclops. We'll have to work on the blinking thing. But anyways, you can call him Themptius! And I believe the researchers wanted to ask some questions..."
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The research turns out to be a bust, as Themptius proves too shy to talk to the researchers directly and Fali doesn't get enough of what is being brandied about to act as an intermediary. Though it doesn't help that fifteen minutes into the conversation, Fali realizes she needs to lie down in a dark place or die from a headache. Themp, however, resists her actions every step of the way to the dark room and even occasionally tries to get her to leave the place and explore and see more.
The two finally work out an agreement to cover one eye, a single point of view not being too much for her head or Themptius to handle all at once. As the group listens to Dale and the Venture Captain's explanations, Fali's left hand slowly reaches up and flips up the eyepatch clearly wanting to experience the double sights of the world. Fali's right hand soon reaches over and swats the left off the eyepatch. While the limbs fight each other, she comments "Themp's saying that there is no way that that's the original Cyclops name. It sounds too unusual. But there might have been a settlement in that area before."
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Over the days that the trip takes, Fali channels Moke, Anavi and Sasha once a piece, but the rest of the time she brings Themptius out of his shell, forcing him to meet and interact with the others in the group. The spirit slowly starts to come out of his shell, not immediately hiding when he sees everyone’s faces, but he still never talks directly to anyone. Being in the forest helps as he constantly is pointing out small plants and a few types of trees that haven't changed though he never talks to anyone but the woman whose head he’s occupying. It is almost immediately apparent when he has control of the body from the way Fali's face scrunches up into a perfect mix of wonder and worry to the large, almost calculatedly lumbering steps that he takes.
When they hit the Oubinga River is the first time he speaks directly to anyone, his surprise at seeing it clear on his face. Pointing he exclaims something in Azlanti
He spends the rest of the day slowly, slowly talking to people, one on one, though it only seems Monty and Dale actually understand what he is saying.
On the raft he takes a wide stance, which allows him to rock with the boat but also react quickly enough to grab anyone that might lose their balance and fall.
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Brady returns to his normal self on the trip out of Crown's End, finally seeming confident in the jungle again--though always remains alert, as the jungle can change that at a moment's notice. He finds himself entertained when Themptius tries to engage him in conversation and doesn't hesitate asking Monty or Dale for help translating when Themp tries this.
He can make no sense of the grippli totem or the shrunken heads, but doesn't seem as disturbed as others over the practice. "Lots of peoples have lots of different traditions. We all kill our enemies; what does it matter whether we bury them or hang their heads on display?"
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Dru takes the time to buy some extra food, a rope and hook, a couple extra waterskins
Finally back into her armor, with her assortiment of weapons, she looks a little more confident
She turns toward Dale for more informations, as he has proved time and again that he's ready to speak at lenght on any kind of subject
What are we fighting today, Dale?
As the hairiest alchemist alive starts to speak, the vigilant blonde spots some footprints on the muddy ground
Have you seen that? some humanoids…
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Monty speaks softly to Themp as he jumps in fear, clearly used to speaking gently to those who are nervous.
As he speaks, Slitherbane of course jumps in a little.
Monty ignores the weapon and just pats Fali, and by proxy Themp, on the back and continues to speak encouragingly to him. The next time Fali appears he shakes his head.
Not sure where you found that poor guy... he's quiet the spirit to add to our little crew. I'm sure with some love and friendship he'll come out of his shell... thankfully he has you to spend time with.
Not entirely sure what to make of the strange totem and its seemingly conflicting message, you move cautiously past it, continuing inland in search of the lost city of Kaddodi... though Dru notes you're going in the same direction the footprints seemed to be headed.
You hack your way through the jungle for another half an hour or so, when you start to realize that the trees looming up on all sides, are occasionally interspersed with large stone blocks, weathered and worn, but obviously not naturally placed. The stones grow more and more common, until it is obvious you are walking amidst the ruins of an ancient city, though one that the jungle has long ago claimed for its own.
Eventually the blocks start to look like the remains of structures and buildings. Everything is overgrown with foliage, but even the jungle can't quite reach some of the higher walls, a few of those remains towering over forty feet overhead. As you slowly make your way further into the ruins, you realize that all of these remains seemed to be built to the scale of giants.
He also is able to offer a few suggestions, based on what little is known, about where something like a ritual well would likely have been built in relation to some of the structures. Enough to offer a general direction to go in the ruins anyway.
You are clearly moving further into the city itself, though its often hard to tell given how much of it has been covered by the jungle. Faliana occasionally points in seemingly random directions suggesting you look that way... and with no other clues to go on, you follow her (or more likely her spirit's) suggestions, as you move deeper in.
The smell of tropical decay has been everywhere since you entered the city, but as you move further in, you realize it has started to be tinged by the smell of blood! You soon come into a small open area, where clearly a battle of some sort took place very recently, withing the last couple of hours, anyway.
Dozens of small humanoid bodies lie dead in the sunlight that streaks down through the overhanging branches, and flies are everywhere. Most of the bodies are grippli, but there are also a number of tribal halfling bodies among them.
Carrion birds squawk at you angrily as you disturb them, flapping just far enough away to stay out of your reach, clearly waiting for you to move on so they can fly back in to feed on the remains.
In the middle of all the carnage, is a gleaming stone well, seemingly untouched by all the violence and apparently untouched by time as well. Polished, fitted, granite stones form a low wall, perhaps three feet high, forming a perfect oval shape... all of it looking like it was just constructed yesterday... not millennia ago.
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"I'm not sure Dru, but by the looks of that totem we've got little Tads and Halflings in the area. Probably more jungle critters too, hopefully no more of those giant snakes!" He gives a bit of a carefree laugh and tromps along, stopping to take a closer look at the prints she points out.
As the group enters the ruins Dale stops to consume something peculiar. He always consumes odd things but this one is a bit different. He drinks a fruity concoction from one of his well used flasks before quickly sipping, swishing, and respitting a potion back into its bottle. His mood somehow becomes even more upbeat and sunny. "Wooo love that stuff!"
Dale points at the fountain, looking past the carnage for a few moments "That could be what we're here looking for. Sure seems magical..." He pulls out his wayfinder and approaches within 60' to get in detection range and lets it rip with detect magic.
All of the grippli are wearing leather armor, their bodies decorated with feathers and body paint. The halflings have leather, studded with bits of bone, and most seem to have their teeth filed into points, claw-like fingernails, and some even more grisly body modifications.
Tad immediately goes to checking the fallen grippli, while Dale ignores the bodies, more interested in the fountain in the middle of the battle scene, as he pulls out his new wayfinder, eager to try it out.
More disturbing though, is that some of the wounds happened post mortem, after they were already dead, those bodies missing flesh due to deliberate action that the scavenging birds would not account for.
While you're looking, you suddenly hear a frantic scratching and whining sound coming from off to the left side of the battlefield.
Over there, you see a small reptilian creature, looking like nothing but a tiny miniature dinosaur, about three feet long, and a couple high. It is scratching at the side of one of the downed grippli, whimpering as it does so.
Tad, you will find a female grippli there, dressed like the others,, who is badly wounded and unconscious, but still alive.
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Dru walks to Tad, and keep her eyes open as he pray over the Fallen grippli and the not-so-dead wounded grippli.
In his grief over his dead brethen and his haste to come to the rescue of other, friends or innocent, the courageous priest of Sarenae often forgets his own safety.
That's why Dru is here.
Bodyguarding.
Not acting like a mother hen.
Really.
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I forgot to ask, but does Dale know who the Boalisi were as a race? Could one of these be them or were they Human?
As Dale starts to detect magic he notices Monty is interested too in the fountain "Quite remarkable isn't it. Its either maintained with powerful magic or maybe a revered altar that is kept up by a local tribe?"
As Dale uses his new divination magic, at first, he will detect some magical emanations... but as he concentrates, he will soon realize that most of those are coming from random points about the battlefield not the well itself.
He moves closer to the well, noting it is full of clear water, and concentrates anew, trying to focus on just that.
If this is indeed the well you're looking for, it has been here since before Earthfall, well over ten millennia ago. Yet as he studies it, he detect nothing at all to indicate any sort of magic whatsoever. All his magical divinations seem to indicate it is just an ordinary ring of stone... but the pristine condition he can see it in with his own eyes seems to hint otherwise.
Tad's healing touch closes one of the long gashes along the grippli's side, and first one, then the other of her eyes opens.
She blinks in confusion for a moment, then her large bulbous eyes start darting around nervously, as she slowly crawls backwards, trying to assess what's happening. She says some things in a high reedy voice, though it is all in the strange chirping language of the grippli.
"Who are you?"
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Monty speaks softly to Themp as he jumps in fear, clearly used to speaking gently to those who are nervous.
As he speaks, Slitherbane of course jumps in a little.
Monty ignores the weapon and just pats Fali, and by proxy Themp, on the back and continues to speak encouragingly to him. The next time Fali appears he shakes his head.
Not sure where you found that poor guy... he's quiet the spirit to add to our little crew. I'm sure with some love and friendship he'll come out of his shell... thankfully he has you to spend time with.
As Monty approaches Themp, the spirit truly starts to cower, clearly expecting to get hit for his actions. The softness in Monty's voice though confuses the cowering man. Who stammers out a few words in confusion.
He stops for a second, as Faliana's voice issues out. "How many times do I have to tell you, I don't like that title!" She takes a dep breath for a second, before starting again in a calmer voice. "Themp, you shouldn't call me that. I'm your friend not your surperior." Themp takes over again, immediately cowering some more, bowing to no one in particular, before continuing.
At Slitherbane's words, he immeditately starts bowing again, clearly in awww that the weapon of such granduer would even consider talking to lowly him.
A little later, Faliana smiles wanely at Monty's words. "He is certainly a peice of work, he's got a good heart but a little worried about how people will treat him. Seems that he was part of a low caste when he was alive. He's from that place with the snake demon and your weapon. Should have realized he'd recognize it."
As the group moves on, Fali points out where to go based on what Themp expects would be the right way, a few times the spirit ventures the information on his own, silently gauging the reactions of everyone.
As they reach the courtyard, Faliana gives a small grimace of saddened worry. "Oh, I had been fearing somethggn like this might be happening. Those shrunken heads must have been a declaration of war or territory grab over the grippli here..." Her face then stops moving for a second as lines of worry and abject horror knit across her face, Themp then stammers out in a whisper,
As Brady turns to face her, Fali's frown washes up across her face again. "No, I haven't. At least never this bloody. They are rather unlikely foes. I wonder what might be the cause behind this."
Fali then points with her spear at Monty and Dale, adding, "I thikn I'll go make sure that those two don't do something stupid. You remember what Dale did the last time he found a magic fountain!"
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Dale furrows his brow a bit at the lack of magicalness of the well "Well that is unexpected. It'll require more input and investigation soon enough." He makes a mental note on where he sees other magical auras in the area before ending concentration and heading back to Tad and the gruesome battlefield.
"Oh a survivor! Hello there, I am Dale, what happened here?" He quickly then translates that into Grippli and then into Polyglot. He tries his best to be personable.
The grippli woman nods in thanks as Tad heals her again, the worst of the wounds now gone. She looks around at the others, unsure what to make of the others Tad is with. One of her webbed hands goes to the little reptilian creature by her side, and she rubs its head slightly.
Her head bobs up and down quickly as she talks, in clear distress about something.
As Dale starts talking to her, she looks at him oddly, before responding in heavily accented, broken Common.
"Your words, this one knows some." She says slowly, clearly trying to remember words she's had little reason to use. "Your tribe is not known by this one. But these..." She indicates a nearby dead halfling, her head continuing to bob up and down quickly. "These ones are Hazh'a. A wicked tribe that send prayer to fiends as you do gods. These ones have clashed many times before. But those before were ... small. This time, many more came. Many died."
She looks at the other dead grippli with a mournful look, before kneeling beside one in particular. "This was this one's training master. Now his... self... it rejoins the forest with so many others."