The strange accent of the stone woman starts to sound a bit more clear to everyone as Urram speaks in her dialect.
The door to the building behind you swings open, revealing an identical statue within.
"Soror! Venit et coniungere nobis. Romam peregrinantes habita venerunt ad maiestatem discere de lunares deam," Her 'sister' exits the western building and begins making her own way to the circle.
"Obsecro nobiscum, ut laudarent Acavna et dat pacem in terris." the sculpture who greeted you extends her arm, beaconing you into the semi-circle of columns.
"Sister! Come and join us. Pilgrims have come to learn the majesty of the lunar goddess."
"Please, join us, that we might praise Acavna, and the peace that she brings to these land."
"She invites us to join them to praise Acavna. She is the ancient Azlanti moon goddess, but I know nothing more than that. These are celadons - ancient constructs, blessed by the gods. They must have many informations."
Urram follows the constructs into the columns, prepared to listen to what these miracles of time have to offer.
Kara followed the construct into the semi-circle, wondering what would happen next. It was all very fascinating!
Fenna goes along with Urram, following the celadons.
"This is an absolute goldmine, isn't it?"
It's a much a question for Urram as an assertion.
"It will be. Now be quiet, I must concentrate." Urram replies, without a hint of malice or rebuke - his attention is simply elsewhere.
As you assemble in the center of the stone circle, the two celedon sisters begin their a somewhat familiar tale, at least at its onset. Speaking generally on the Age of Creation and the imprisonment of the Rough Beast, they quickly bring their focus to the rise of their patron goddess.
Acavna, goddess of the moon and defensive battle, is as prominent and benevolent in their tales as old tales of Aroden. The wide swaths of the creation story give way to much more elaborate, almost personal tales, of the goddess stewarding the rise of ancient Azlant. Acavna is a protector who works in concert with the benevolent gods, who guides the Azlanti people as they carve Golarion's first civilization from the darkness in the Age of Serpents. As they preach, the pair pass the narratives back and forth seamlessly while whoever is silent dramatizes the scenes with movement.
At the end of their third dramatic tale, the somber story of a man who murdered his father and was cast out of the first Azlanti village, the celedons pause to reset and begin their next parable. Lyra, who has taken a seat with Hrolf, leans forward to whisper to the group in Common.
"It's been nearly an hour, how long do we think they're going to talk for?"
"They are constructs, they have good memory and no need to eat or sleep. It will be many hours." Urram replies as he watches the celadons. Five is floating by his head, apparently as intent as he is.
In the brief pauses Urram opens the formula book which contains his spells, interspersed amongst hundreds of complex diagrams and schematics.
"I will stay awake. I have magic to allow it. If the rest of you want to join me you can. Otherwise I suggest preparations for food and sleep, just in case."
Fenna thinks magically staying awake and alert for the marathon lecture they're receiving is an interesting thought experiment, but nothing she'd seriously try. She's never considered sleep an enemy, and present circumstances in no way change things.
After a couple of hours Fenna is reaching saturation. It's not she's not interested, but she can only absorb so much at once. Besides, the rather narrow focus of the constructs' narrative limits it's utility somewhat. She struggles on for a while longer, playing a game of "what have hey repeated" with herself. Fenna figures there must be an limit to the information they can convey, and wonders if they would stop, or just loop back to the beginning when they reached it.
Eventually though she nudges Lyra, "A bit of food and some rest? Let's go look for a good spot to set up for the night."
The sun drops lower and lower as your religious education continues. At the appearance of Urram's texts, the two celedon's make a noticeable shift in their presentations. The begin speaking slowly and more deliberately to make note-taking much easier. Their content shifts as well, speaking less on history and parable, and more focused on ceremony and moral rhetoric. These lessons are significantly more engaging than the parables.
The two seem aware that the region suffered a cataclysm millennia ago and now their home has no people, but they steadfastly wait for them to return. They do speak to some of the history of Azlant but constantly try to shift the conversation to one of faith. You learn that Acavna is the goddess of the moon and defensive battle, supporting the faithful who are besieged or face overwhelming odds in battle, though she isn’t a goddess of offensive battles. Everyone, including Urram, receive very useful instruction in the Azlanti language.
Distilling important information from the constructs is a difficult task. Between lessons, they sometimes answer an off-topic question, but quickly return to their exaltation of their lunar goddess. Even pointed questions posed on their lessons are usually rebuffed, the pair insisting that when the lesson is complete everything will be clear.
---------
"Please, you must stay for the lessons," one of the sisters implores Fenna quickly as she begins to stand.
"We're tired," Lyra answers. "We're not leaving, we just need to eat and rest."
"Of course," the other celedon steps forward to respond, her solemn disappointment is evident. "We can prepare a place for you pilgrims to rest, and then we can begin the Lunae Ortus."
With the help of the sisters Ariel and Urlana, you prepare a comfortable campsite just outside the stone circle. As you eat, the two hover near the group awkwardly about in anticipation of your meals completion.
When the sun first touches the horizon to the west, the sister's summon you all together in the circle again, leading you in a prayer dedicated to the emerging moon: the Lunae Ortus ceremony.
The two continue on with their lessons as the light fades, and while they seem disappointed by most everyone's need to break away, Urram's intense interest manages to keep them sated as they teach through the night. They pause their lessons at midnight, to lead the Spire elf in prayer to the goddess, and again just before sunrise to bid the moon farewell.
Urrams prodigious intellect is being pushed by the sheer volume of information the celadons provide. With magic sustaining him and Five acting as a repository of information he keeps up, just about.
As much as she loved new experiences, Kari's interest had turned to boredom as the lessons droned on.
When they took a break to set up camp, she asked her companions, "Do you think we're safe here from the Warden Jacks? It could well be that the celedons will ward them off. Still, it might be an idea to keep a watch.
"We should take our leave and continue on our way in the morning. We don't want to be gone from the colony for too long — Ramona will begin to worry. We can always return another time to satisfy Urram's curiosity."
"I didn't see any trail markings on our way," Lyra mentions. "I doubt they'll bother us here. I would agree that taking watches is probably not a bad idea, plus Urram here is planning to be up all night engaging with these two."
Ariel and Urlana ,who have been hovering over everyone, seem to bristle at Kari's suggestion to move on. "It is imperative that you all receive proper instruction in Azlanti, and that Acavna's teachings are imparted to you."
During his late-night lessons, Urram discovers some important notes brought with him from Mordant Spire. Indeed, Acavna WAS the Azlanti goddess of the moon and of defensive battle. As the starstone crashed into Golarion to usher in the Age of Darkness, Acavna moved the moon into the path of the meteor. She perished in the act, but her sacrifice mitigated the damage to the planet and saved life on Golarion from extinction.
The celedons appear tragically unaware of this fact however, speaking as though Acavna is still very much alive and active in the pantheon.
Urram may not have a human's understanding of nuance and emotion, but even he knows that trying to convince the celadons about their misunderstanding is not worth the time or effort. He focuses on taking notes, mentally saying a short prayer to Nethys in thanks for the magic sustaining him.
Expedition Day 69: 29 Arodus, 4717 AR; Starday
After a late night with Ariel and Urlana, Urram certainly can see some value in prolonged instruction with the celedons. Their tendancy to view things through the religious lens, however, might mean the instruction should come over a longer period of time. With the constructs assistance, Kari, Fenna, and Lyra's mastery of Azlanti could be cemented in just a few days time.
As the camp begins to stir just after sunrise, the celedons pause their private lesson with Urram to suggest calling the group over for prayer. Without any discourse, the pair simply seem to assume that everyone's education should continue.
Fenna elects to spend the day with the celedons along with Urram.
"But we'l need to get going tomorrow. I've been thinking maybe we could set up some sort of away post here. We would keep the pair of them busy for some time. I'm sure both Carver and Perrell would jump at the chance to spend time in their lectures. There may be others who want to as well."
"As long as we're careful about the warden jacks we could maintain a presence here for a long while. People in the colonies could stay here in two or threes until they're done."
"You make good sense." Urram says, stretching out a crick in his neck in between note taking.
Hearing Fenna proposing that the group leave the next day makes the celedon's visibly unsettled. "Please you absolutely MUST stay," the on you think is Ariel implores. "Your instruction has only just begun." The way that the pair hovers about as you all try to converse in private has become downright unsettling.
Kari felt restless. She thought they'd spent enough time at this religious site and ought to be moving on, however Fenna and Urram seemed to want to stay another day, so she didn't press the matter. She was getting concerned about what would happen when they actually tried to leave. Would the constructs try to physically restrain them?
Over the course of the day, she observed the celedons carefullyy, trying to anticipate their possible reactions to the group's departure.
Fenna eventually decides to bring the issue up directly when the celedons press for more constant instruction.
"We are employees you see, we are not entirely free to decide how our time is spent. We must return to our settlement tomorrow because we are here exploring as part of our job."
"Besides, we know others who would be very anxious to learn what you have to teach, we can't let them know about you and direct them here until we return. We expect to come again with more people."
As Fenna explains the groups position to the constructs, they appear very ready to protest. As she mentions being able to bring more 'students' for them to instruct, they nod.
"We are sorry for our zealousness," Ariel speaks up. "This region suffered a cataclysm millennia ago, and we are eager to offer proper instruction about Acavna." This is the first reference the celedons have pertaining to the passage of time.
"It has been a very long time since we have had pupils," Urlana adds. "Our last students made the same promise to return, but that has not come to pass."
"We have some meager possessions here that are of no use to us," Ariel adds. "If you can bring us students to instruct, we would be willing to part with them."
Kara was relieved that the celedons seemed to be placated enough to allow them to leave. She decided to inquire what they might know, if anything, about the rest of the island.
She asked the construct sisters, "We are looking for some colonists who disappeared from a new settlement within the last few months. If we could find them, it's possible that they might also wish to learn about Acavna. Any information you might have concerning what might have happened to them would be very helpful. What do you know about the other Azlanti sites on this island?"
The sisters look at one another as Kari poses her question. Their faces show very little expression, and they look quite bemused.
"Our previous pupil traveled north, to that structure," Urlana points to the larger building, the one seemingly protected by the Warden Jack Swarm.
"She promised to return, but that has not happened," Ariel says matter-of-factly. The sisters show little emotion, and seem to struggle with interpreting and expressing the passage of time.
"How many full moons ago was that?", Kari asked, hoping that lunar cycles would mean something to the celedons.
"The moon was waning at the time," Ariel explains. "But she was only here for a few moons."
"She spoke in the other tongue you use," Urlana elaborates, still confused by Kari's question. [b]"She had only just begun to learn of Acavna before she went north. It was my error. In my zeal, I described the greatness of the civilization the goddess protects here. She asked about other places that the great lunar goddess protects."
"I pointed out the building, the one to the north" Ariel points once again. "We implored her to stay, to learn of the great protections that Acavna provides, but we were unable to dissuade her. Eliza had only begun to speak the Azlanti language, and could only grasp a fraction of Acavna's true power."
"The moon had only just reached its last quarter when our testimony to her began," Urlana explains, "and she left as it entered its waxing crescent."
Ariel begins moving to the middle of the circle built on the stone ground.
"The goddess blesses these grounds as a device for tracking the movements of all the heavenly bodies," Uriel explains to you as her Ariel raises her right arm to the heavens. The sisters begin to explain the practical nature of the shrine: the columns arranged in the back each represent a planet of the solar system, and by reading the etchings on the ground are used to chart their movements.
The sisters have not counted the cycles; distant stars cycle differently than the planets and the moon. They can tell you about the position of the moon, and all the bodies out in space, today and when they spent time with their last pupil.
Kari took notes on the positions of the moon and some prominent stars and planets. She hoped that she might later use this information to figure out when 'Eliza' had gone to the building to the north.
"We should investigate the tower then." He suggests, speaking quietly in Elvish. "This is the first lead on one of your friends. Do we waste time telling Ramona first, or is there magic we can use?"
Fenna did pick up a little about astronomical navigation from her time in the navy so she asks for more information about the positions of the moon, planets, and stars, whatever the two can give since that last woman was here.
"It is an important question to us. This is now an island, although we believe it was not in the past, when all this was built. We have arrived only recently, less than one lunar cycle ago. We expected to join another group of people who had arrived several lunar cycles earlier. We have haven't found them, although we have found the houses and other buildings they started to construct."
"Other than ourselves and the missing group whom we expected to find, we have found no sign of humans being here for a very long time, thousands of years."
"If this woman Eliza came here less than say twelve lunar cycles ago she is likely one of the people we excepted to find but cannot."
Between Fenna, Urram, and Lyra there is plenty of aptitude with regard to the motion of stellar bodies. With the help of the celedon sisters, the group is able to get some basic measurements and understanding of the system.
Getting an exact number may be a challenge, but its easy enough to figure that Eliza's time with Ariel and Urlana happened within the last year. Besides that, the name Eliza itself is a modern Taldane name. The idea that she was a colonist from the first wave is very probable.
"Perrell is the real expert in astronomy," Lyra states. "It could be a good idea to bring her in. I don't know how comfortable I would be heading to that spire without telling Ramona."
"Perhaps Urram can stay and receive instruction while you fetch the other pilgrims," Urlana suggests.
"I'm willing to remain." Urram confirms. "You will likely move faster without me anyway."
Kari was pleased that they finally had some specific information about where one of the previous colonist had gone. She offered her suggestion, "We should probably confirm the length of the Warden Jack circuit, before we go to the tower. That way, we'll know how much time we have to work with.
"Why don't Fenna, Lyra, Hrolf and I return to the colony, inform Ramona, pick up Perrell and Carver, and then return? After that, we figure out length of the path, and then go to the spire."
"That is sensible." Urram agrees. "I will make notes for you." With his back to the celadons he covers one eyehole of his mask in a gesture that seems to be a wink...
"If we leave now, we can make it back before dark," Lyra swiftly packs up.
Hrolf leads the way back to Talmandor's Bounty with a trio of laides in tow. It's not long before Urram fades from view, the steady blinks of Five fading shortly after.
It is dark as the four of you arrive back in the colony, but only slightly. Candlelight shines out of all the windows, and you can hear conversation through the door to the Government House. Ramona, it seems, is still hard at work. When you knock, she greets you warmly and invites you in to sit with her, Carver, and Eamon to report your latest findings.
Kari greeted Ramona, "Well, we had a very interesting expedition! We didn't go as far as we thought we'd go, but that's because we found a remarkable site!"
She came in and took Hrolf's saddlebags off, and then took a seat. Once everyone was settled, she began her report.
"We traveled to the strange trail that we saw earlier, and followed it to the south and inland. The path went by some rubble, and a solitary intact tower, nestled among the trees. As we got near, we heard a buzzing, which turned out to be a swarm of hundreds, or even thousands, of tiny constructs! They went off along the path in the direction that we had come.
"Urram thinks they are guardians, patrolling a set path; they are what has trampled the vegetation. We think that they're guarding the tower. We didn't investigate the tower, figuring that we should get an idea of the length of the path, so we can estimate how long it takes the constructs to complete the circuit. We'd rather not have to fight them unless we have to.
"Further along the path, we came to a site that we saw from the mountain. It's a marble disk, thirty feet across, with some columns around the sides. On the face of the disk are representations of the phases of the moon. Nearby were two small buildings.
"When we investigated one of the buildings, a humanoid construct came out of it, along with another from the other building. They spoke Azlanti, and are religious teachers dedicated to the Azlanti moon goddess Acavna. We spent a day and a night there listening to their lessons.
"They spoke of another 'pilgrim', as they termed her, a human woman named Eliza. The constructs don't seem to have a good grasp on the passage of time, but I think it was in the last year. Eliza must have been one of the previous colonists. Apparently, she went to the tower guarded by the tiny constructs, and didn't return.
"The celedons, as the humanoid contructs are called, do remember details about the positions of the moon and stars at the time that Eliza went to the spire. We were thinking that with her knowledge of astronomy, Perrel might be able to pinpoint the date."
The colonists in attendance listen to the Kari’s report intently. “Acavna!” Carver blurts in interruption, but Ramona stifles him. As Kari continues, Lyra produces her maps, offering context as Kari describes the expedition teams most recent trip.
When she finishes, Ramona holds the room in silence for a half minute as she thinks to herself. Without speaking, she moves to her desk, producing the charter, which Fenna had found next door on their original trip to the empty colony. “No need,” she says, “Perrell will still love to see the site, I’m sure but Eliza Haniver arrived here on Liberty’s Herald six months ago.”
“Indeed,” Eamon speaks up. “I have seen her name on some of the inventory sheets. Kurvis has them.”
“You mentioned Acavna,” Carver stands up eagerly, having held his tongue politely until the priest opened the door. “She is, or was rather, Azlanti goddess of the moon. You say they speak Azlanti? Oh this IS a find. Ramona please, you must allow me to record all this.”
“Suppose I send Perrell too. And Alba? Luetin and Lyra?” brings the room to order. “I can’t lose too many hands. What if-” she pauses short of the obvious implication that your group not return.
Fenna you’ve been quiet, tell us what you think. Is your team ready to take on whatever is in that building? Do you think Urram agrees? And who do you think might be helpful?”
[u]MEANWHILE…[/u]
Bidding his companions a short farewell, Urram spends the remaining part of the day in quiet entrancement of the celedon’s lessons. When the sun finally dips low and the fading light reveals the moon overhead, Ariel and Urlana.
...it was also an occasion that moon would aligned with Castrolvel on the we received the mysterious vision. Not the same night, Aucturn was still in the northwestern sky.”
Willing to wait on Perrell, Urram had chosen to take in the celedon’s lessons rather than halting them to chart out a proper calendar, (or even one by Ablsalom Reckoning) he has mapped a quick sketch based on Aucturn’s revolutions of the Golarion’s historical ages to better follow the sisters’ poor understanding of chronology.
Whatever ‘mysterious vision’ seemed to visit these inanimate lifeforms, it seems to, at least at a rough glance, align with the elves return to Golarion in the Age of Enthronement.
Once again fortifying himself with magic Urram makes a special note of this 'mysterious vision' and the potential ramifications of it, before returning to his seat and focusing once again.
"Well... I'm not sure what to think about the building. It's more intact than anything else we've found so far. Ariel and Urlana don't seem to know anything in particular about it, so we still don't have any idea what it might be. It could be nothing, just an empty building, but it does have an unusual guard patrolling it."
Fenna explains as best she can the warden jack construct and its characteristics.
"It's a problem because I can't figure out how it might be dealt with. I don't see weapons making much of a difference, it would be like trying to stab a bunch of marbles. It's metal so it won't burn easily. Maybe lots of acid? It seems easy enough to avoid, but eventually something will have to be done about it."
"If I had to sum things up, I'd say yes we can manage to claim the building and clean it out if need be. But it will be best done by doing it carefully. Taking our time to scout out the area, and being as prepared as we can be before we go into new areas. If, for example, the celedons had turned out to be hostile we'd have been hard pressed to figure out what to do about killer statues. This won't be like dealing with the grindylows. We'll really need time to thinks things through and be ready for stuff we've never thought of before."
"It could take some time."
Ramona taps her fingers on her desk silently for a few moments, the burden of leadership weighing heavily upon her. "Alright," she says finally. "Take Perrell tomorrow to the spot with the celedons, and choose someone to stay with her. That's going to be your base. If you think it could be a few days, I would certainly rather be careful about it. A forward base at the spot with those statues could make things go more quickly. I can send people there for reports instead of having you check in all the time."
"Who do you want to stay with Perrell, and who do you want investigating the building with you?"
Kari considered the matter and conferred with Fenna. It was obvious that Carver Hastings was eager to go to the religious site, and she saw no reason not to bring him along.
She said to Ramona, "I think Carver would be a good choice to accompany Perrell, and learn from the celedons. We'll take Anya Sandstrider with us to scout out the tower.
"Lyra knows the way to the moon temple, so she can guide people when the time comes."
Expedition Day 70: 30 Arodus, 4717 AR; Sunday
After a couple days of camping, dragging Fenna out of bed does take a bit of time. Once Kari returns from her usual trip to the docks, the half-elf is mostly ready to go. When the group meets by the well of Talmandor's Bounty, Perrell and the others are already well packed up. Lyra, however, appears to have taken Carver's place.
"I told Carver I would be back tomorrow," Lyra explains as the journey back to the celedon's temple gets underway. "If you all are going into some long-forgotten ruin, I at least get to tell Urram to be careful."
Shortly before noon, the group arrives back at the elaborate star-chart where Ariel and Urlana make their home. Elated at the arrival of new supplicants, they pause their instruction to Urram to warmly greet the newcomers.
When everyone is back at the "chapel" of Acavna and decently settled in, Fenna joins Urram.
"Since you're not here for long," she tells Lyra, "I'll let you look around some more with Kari. I'll take your place doing it tomorrow."
Fenna figures she'll soon be otherwise occupied and wants to squeeze in just a little bit more time learning Azlanti. As off-putting as their teaching style is, Fenna also can't help but feel a little sorry for Ariel and Urlana. Several thousand years is a long time to wait for students to show up.She feels some obligation to help them accomplish their purpose.
She does still wonder how long it would take them before they had to start repeating themselves.
When they arrived back at the worship centre, Kari updated Urram about what had been arranged. "Anya's going to accompany us to the investigate the tower. Perrell will stay here and work out exactly when Eliza Haniver went into the spire. Lyra will bring Carver here tomorrow to help Perrell and learn from the celedons.
"Before we go to the tower, I suggest that we finish determining the length of the construct swarm circuit. Then we'll know how much time we have in the tower before they return."
"That would be wise." Urram says, not taking his eyes from the constructs. "They are running down I think, we are touching on matters they discussed before. Although I haven't slept for some days, so I might have missed the count."
Upon the larger group's promised arrival, the celedons are absolutely elated, even moreso when they discover Perrell is already quite fluent in Azlanti. The gather everyone for a somber prayer for the moon, which is hidden by the brightness of the noonday sun but still ever-present. While the celedons certainly have many more detailed lessons they could impart to Urram, perhaps for many more weeks, the arrival of new students has brought their lessons back to basics.
As Perrell engages with Urlana, Ariel calls someone over to translate to Anya that she would like to intruct her in the basics of the Azlanti language. Anya, who was not expecting such an educational focus, agrees to keep the statues busy while the rest of you complete your assessment of the Warden Jack swarm's path.
"Before you set out," Ariel calls you all over to the eastern structure, "we would like to present you with gifts. We are most grateful that you would allow us to pass on our sacred knowledge.
A masterfully-scuplted stone tablet depicting a tower on an island (500gp, also Urram recognizes the Mordent Spire)
a telescope with broken lenses (worth 2,000 if repaired)
a cracked magenta prism, which radiates magic
230 gold pieces (Azlanti-minted)
the chest itself (200gp)
"Gratissimi sumus." Urram responds with a civil bow of his head. Even he is thankful for the rest.
Urram immediately recognizes an cracked Ioun Stone and determines its skill enhancement capabilities in short order.
Urram tosses the stone up and down in his hand for a moment, before tossing it gently towards Five. The magenta stone halts in front of Five for a moment before orbiting tightly around the wyrd's central core.
"It's an Ioun Stone. Cracked - the original would be a lot stronger. I may be able to correct it in time, with the right materials. For now it will enhance skills for whoever uses it. Five will give it up if you need it - but it loves these stones."
Kari let Urram keep the stone, since he was obviously fascinated with it. "Shall we scout out the length of the construct circuit this afternoon?", she proposed.
Five takes the magenta ioun stone into his crystaline form, the light he generates takes on a tinge of the stone’s rosey hue. After a short break for lunch, the three of you hike north with Lyra toward the Warden Jack trail, leaving Anya and Perrel to their tutelage.
In no time Lyra has you back to the trail, this time following along the side and continuing to the east. Today, Lyra points out quicker ways through the forest, confirming the swarms trail from further away and making much better time as she does. After winding for a while followed by a gentle turn northward, circling the rock formation seen from the volcano. Where Eliza was last heard to be heading...
Some rustling in the distance to the north alerts everyone. Hanging from a tree 30 feet away, an animal with large yellow eyes. (link)
Fenna and Kari both recognize a Sea Crawler from the illustration within the worn copy of Pathfinder Chronicles vol. I which circulated heavily during their six weeks at sea. Urram knows that Sea Crawlers venture further inland at night, having seen them himself late at night outside the Levin Farm.
This furred creature has long tentacles that are covered in ridges and suction discs in place of arms, legs, and a tail. They climb, swim, see well in the dark, and have a remarkable grip. This specimen is almost as big as Hrolf.