Frowning, Thren considers Captain Lanteri's words carefully.
"She's right," the bard agrees reluctantly as she turns to Lark. "We're still small fish in a big pond, and this would be a good step to fixing that. Not to mention that arrangement we have with a certain large scaly someone which might require making some adjustments."
"The "Shackles Code" says that we leave our differences on shore. But really, it's more than that. I think that it is a metaphor and that it's really telling us to forget slights and to keep our eyes on what's important. Varossa gave us the "too distant port" but I think my misunderstanding triggered that, plus it was a "vying for treasure" thing, and we are pirates, right? Given the circumstances, and that I believe her intention was to retrieve us, I'm willing to bury the hatchet if Captain Varossa can forgive my brutish behavior in return. When it came time to see to the health and safety of loyal crew members? When it came time to pool our forces and kill a monster instead of fleeing? Everyone did the right thing. We hung together, did what it took to win the day and now we're here, basking in our triumph. I think Captain Varossa is offering us a very very good deal. The only thing that could sweeten it for us is if she stays a captain long enough to vouch for us in the Hurricane King's court."
Lee turns to Varossa. "This was your great venture, ma'am. I'm pleased to have participated in it."
Lark listens carefully as Varossa speaks. After hearing everyone he doffs his tricorne and runs a hand over over the skull emblem. "Thank you, Varossa, for sharing all that, and thank you Thren for reminding me that our list of obligations is getting longer even as we seek to be 'free' captains." He taps the skull on his hat and says, "Even for this victory I owe a large debt to Besmara. I don't know if it's any comfort to you, Varossa, but I think the Pirate Queen gloried in your adventures, even your avarice. She wanted Orsilir dead and this place revived. I think you did well here, in the end."
Lark clears his throat, "So. I say 'aye' let's part in peace. Take your souvenir and find your new home. Just tell the next captain of the Magpie Princess, if they're looking to join a properous and growing fleet they know where to find us."
Lark suggests they all go together to collect Hinsin and Creed and leave the caves. There's more to explore, but they need to recuperate first.
"Before we do that, I might suggest we see what it is we've fought so hard for. If nothing else, to get an idea how much effort will we need to get the loot back and this ship in full trim again. Then get back to Hinsin and Creed and our own people. Just so we can also answer the inevitable question of 'how big is Redclaw's treasure'?" Thren adds with a grin.
"Agreed. How big is that treasure? Not needing exact numbers, of course. But maybe knowing orders of magnitude would be amusing..."
Lee grins back.
The "Shackles Code" says that we leave our differences on shore. But really, it's more than that. I think that it is a metaphor and that it's really telling us to forget slights and to keep our eyes on what's important. Varossa gave us the "too distant port" but I think my misunderstanding triggered that, plus it was a "vying for treasure" thing, and we are pirates, right? Given the circumstances, and that I believe her intention was to retrieve us, I'm willing to bury the hatchet if Captain Varossa can forgive my brutish behavior in return. When it came time to see to the health and safety of loyal crew members? When it came time to pool our forces and kill a monster instead of fleeing? Everyone did the right thing. We hung together, did what it took to win the day and now we're here, basking in our triumph. I think Captain Varossa is offering us a very very good deal. The only thing that could sweeten it for us is if she stays a captain long enough to vouch for us in the Hurricane King's court.
"I think my word or no, the Magpie is a well known vessel in the Shackles. The crew will spread word of your deeds, and that should earn you a fair amount of righteous infamy in many ports. Just remember--don't come between a pirate and his treasure without expecting a fight, and Free Captains presume pretty speech is a pretty lie. Bluntness and deeds are far more convincing. Mind you, we all talk pretty." She grins.
"Thank you, Varossa, for sharing all that, and thank you Thren for reminding me that our list of obligations is getting longer even as we seek to be 'free' captains." He taps the skull on his hat and says, "Even for this victory I owe a large debt to Besmara. I don't know if it's any comfort to you, Varossa, but I think the Pirate Queen gloried in your adventures, even your avarice. She wanted Orsilir dead and this place revived. I think you did well here, in the end."
Lark clears his throat, "So. I say 'aye' let's part in peace. Take your souvenir and find your new home. Just tell the next captain of the Magpie Princess, if they're looking to join a prosperous and growing fleet they know where to find us."
Varossa raises an eyebrow at the talk of Besmara, and nods to Lark at his conclusion. "You can find what you're looking for through that door. As for Besmara and avarice, best I go before I change my mind about wanting more. Perhaps I'll see you outside."
Varossa retrieves her rapier, pokes out one of Orsilir's eyes with it, and takes the eye with her. She finds a spare boarding plank and sets it up and crosses over the the cliffs.
The ship is definitely not going anywhere anytime soon, and the party searches the deck for treasure, and then carefully checks the entrance to what would likely have once been the officer's or captain's quarters for any shenanigans, just in case. Muffin smells no presence of any other creatures. It is most safe to enter.
Within are opened chests, as well as stored below in a storage room accessed by an already opened hatch, you find stacks of jewelry, bottles, paintings, and more. While there are a number of items, particularly tapestries, clothing, and books, that have rotted away or are too covered in mold to have any usability or value, there's still a reasonable hoard to be found, especially once the items are cleaned. Cantrips are enough to restore what is salvageable.
From Redclaw's remains, you find
+1 cold iron short sword
the Redclaw
150 gp
Redclaw
6,400 GP
SLOT hand CL 13th WEIGHT 25 lbs.
AURA strong conjuration and transmutation
This reddish-hued prosthetic is a marvel of magic and clockworks, ending in a vicious claw. can be attached in place of the missing arm of any Medium humanoid to function as a replacement arm. This requires an hour-long installation surgery that must be performed by a character with 8 ranks in both Craft (clockwork) and Heal. The recipient must succeed at a DC 18 Fortitude save for the arm to properly attach, and takes 2 points of Constitution damage from the surgery in any case. If the arm is properly attached, the recipient can lift up to 1-1/2 his maximum load over his head, and gains a claw attack as a secondary attack that deals 1d6 points of damage (if nothing is held in that arm).
CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS COST 3,200 GP
Craft Wondrous Item, bull’s strength, regenerate, creator must have 8 ranks in Craft (clockwork)
Examining Orsilir, you can extract from beneath one of his tentacles:
1 giant red pearl, worth 500 gp
And Threnody already possesses the Only Reason to Live.
THE ONLY REASON TO LIVE
9,000 GP
SLOT none CL 5th WEIGHT 2 lbs.
AURA faint evocation
The horns of three disparate creatures (chimera, dire ram, and satyr) make up this magical instrument, interlocking into one shofar about 2 feet long. The horn creates a unique sound that is tuned to access certain ancient Gholgani structures, but it also has other special properties. Once per day the horn can be blown to affect all allies within 30 feet that can hear it. Affected creatures gain sonic resistance 10 and a +2 bonus on saves against spells and effects that deal sonic damage, are language-dependent, or must be heard to be effective. This protection lasts for 10 minutes. If a bard uses the horn to start a bardic performance, all effects of that performance are calculated as if the bard were 6 levels higher. This doesn’t grant the bard access to new bardic performances; it only enhances those to which the bard already has access.
CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS COST 4,500 GP
Craft Wondrous Item, shout
And finally, the remains of Redclaw's treasure includes:
Magic Items
Boots of Striding and Springing
Monkey Belt (Note: If Thren uses this, she gains the Dex and climbing enhancements as usual. It does not allow her to grow a second tail, unfortunately.)
staff of minor arcana
Potions
potion/oil of cure moderate wounds (CL 3)
potion/oil of remove fear (CL 1)
potion/oil of purify food and drink (CL 1)
Scrolls
divine scroll of neutralize poison (CL 7)
divine scroll of barkskin (CL 3)
arcane scroll of daze (CL 1)
Armor
mithral shirt (1,100 gp)
Non-magical gems, jewelry, and “art objects”
3 masterwork Chelish paintings (worth 450 gp each)
a well-constructed mahogany humidor (worth 250 gp alone) containing 20 exquisite cigars of varying flavor (each worth 15 gp)
15 bottles of fine spiced rum (each worth 20 gp)
18 Mwangi tribal masks (each worth 50 gp)
1 bracelet of small onyx beads (45 gp)
1 silver ring with semi-precious stones in a moon shape (50 gp)
1 Saltwater pearl of excellent quality (80 gp)
1 turquoise (12 gp)
1 tiger eye (8 gp)
2 lapis lazuli (each 11 gp)
1 agate (12 gp)
1 hematite (10 gp)
In assorted coinage and trade bars, most quite old but all worth something: 1,661 gp
Our bard cracks a smile as she sees the assembled hoard. "Okay, being the lackey of a snail was bad, but this makes up for it a good bit. I know our crew's gonna appreciate it too." She sees some of the gear. "We should take some of this now, I think. We've earned it. Though some of it might be good to give to our crew."
The way this fight was going I figured one of you guys was going to end up needing this. Save it for another day!
Once the party (not the least Lark) has finished exclaiming over the treasure and variously trying on their new toys, Lark will start leading the way back. He will retrace their path to avoid any unexplored areas. At this point, the group could probably handle a single stray incutilis, but it might be a near thing.
Thren helps haul back whatever we're taking with us, keeping her bow ready in case of stray creatures. "Let's avoid further trouble till we're up for it."
The party moves back through the fortress, avoiding the eastern sections they did not explore prior. The coral is melting away from the staircase so it's much easier re-entering the upper areas. While Creed and Hinsin are gone from their resting place in the common room, you catch up with Varossa, Creed, and Hinsin at the front door. Varossa and Hinsin are supporting Creed on either side, who sways drowsily between them under the influence of Hinsin's bardic magic. "We thought we'd wait for you to open the door," Varossa says.
Threnody plays the three notes on the Only Reason to Live, and the broad doors slowly grind open again.
It is nighttime, and a stripe of clear starlight darkness traces between the jungle canopy along the path you took to get here. A number of unnerving noises echo through the jungle surrounding you as you walk down the path--but nothing decides to molest you as you make your way toward the beach.
Soft sounds of fiddle and song meet your ears on your approach--not jolly, but subdued, calming music from uneasy pirates waiting to see what is going to happen next. Sweet scents of fire-roasted food tease your nostrils, reminding you you've hardly eaten all day. As the jungle makes way for beachland, you are greeted with firelight on the north and south sides of the beach--and another fire in the middle. It seems your crews tired of waiting aboard ship and have come ashore--Magpie crew sit to the south, Whim to the north. In the center, Kroop and Cobb tend a large cookfire, roasting coconuts, fish, and a wild boar some enterprising mariners must have hunted during your absence. A steaming pit nearby promises probably a clambake of some variety. Not far from the chefs Yamtisy and Jane confer.
Nor have all the crew remained separate either. Crimson talks to Luisa on the Magpie side while she tends to a half-conscious Horemheb. On the Whim side Xiomara sings softly alongside Conchobar while Rosie plays her fiddle.
Soft murmuring and music stops as first, Jane and Yamtisy spot you, and then the rest.
As it sinks in that not only one group of you, but all six of you have survived (for the most part), a massive cheer whoops up from both sides, the slight tension over the area broken. "I TOLD you all'd be well," Kroop asserts to no one in particular.
The two bosuns approach. "Thank the gods! Thank the gods. What happened?" Jane mutters, looking at all of you. Yamtisy looks a little warily toward Varossa--she had after all, incited a mutiny against the woman. Varossa only nods toward her stiffly.
"What happened is I was a damned fool and nearly died, and I'm not to keen on talking about it," Varossa says. "But Captain Greenwood saved my life, and there is no war between the Magpie Princess and Besmara's Whim today."
She looks toward your party. "Let the victors tell their own tales."
Thren smiles broadly as her crewmates past and present mingle. "Guess that's my cue," she says with a nod to Captain Lanteri. "It's a long enough tale, if someone would be so kind to grab me a drink I'll begin the telling."
Once she's found an appropriate spot in the middle of the two crews where she can have all the attention, our bard begins.
"When last we parted ways, Captain Lark, Lee, and I vanished into the wilderness to try to find Redclaw's treasure before Captain Lanteri, Hinsin, and Creed. She nods toward the captain of the Magpie. "This led us into an ancient ruin...."
Thren proceeds to detail our heroes latest exploration, taking pains to blunt anything she feels might cause trouble in the telling. She talks up the deeds of Lee, Lark, and herself to impress both crews as well as draw all eyes.
"...and when the oversized snail died and all the black tarry coral vanished, we stood victorious on the deck of Captain Redclaw's ship." Thren concludes. She chuckles. "We even have the Redclaw as proof. Though we still might need to go down and finish checking all the corners of that ruin to make sure nothing else is crawling around down there. Any questions?"
As Thren reaches the end of the story Lark will hoist up Redclaw's arm for everyone to see. Lark raises his voice, "Thank you, Threnody! Let's have a cheer for our bard and another one for Redclaw and her treasure."
"Enjoy the rest of the feast everyone, and get some rest. No more loafing on the beach tomorrow!" Lark will circulate among the officers, telling them that the Magpie Princess will be departing and then we'll sail around island to the now-open grotto.
Threnody tells her tale, which at times gets interjected with embellishments from Hinsin (the small incutilises, according to him, were the size of wolves and he managed to make them somehow sound even more disgusting than they really were).
The crew of Besmara's Whim certainly cheers loudly. The Magpie Princess crew, realizing they have the worst end of the deal treasure wise, are a little more subdued, but even among them there are huge grins especially at the sight of not just Varossa's but moreover Hinsin's safe return--nothing wrecks morale like the death of your morale officer. That alone may have earned you enough goodwill to keep you safe from the Magpie's ballista for years to come.
Varossa shakes your hands, and then goes over to her crew, pulls her conscious, able senior officers (Iulia, Hinsin, and Jane) into a huddle to discuss their own next steps. Creed is helped over to Luisa, where she sedates him--and removes his bandolier of alchemical extracts just in case. That crew aren't exactly jubilant but at least relieved.
Seeing their plans for a feast are to go unhindered, Cobb and Kroop continue their preparations, and you enjoy perhaps the best meal you've had in awhile (the Lizardfolk's feasting was filling, but not as ably prepared). As senior officers and victors, you are given the choicest cuts of boar (which had been prepared by Cobb, who is nearly weeping tears of joy to at last cook something other than fish).
Sandara approaches you, with hugs for all, and moreover healing spells to finish patching you up. Imogen deftly sews up wounds that magic is unable to finish sealing, and offers with your permission to tend to her former captain and officers as well, just to leave things in as good a truce with the other ship as good as possible, but adding, "No fear, Captain--from what I've understood of this tale, we were right to defend Warvil's memory, and I have no desire to return to the Magpie so long as you'll still have us."
Sandara notes, "Sounds like you have had quite the adventure. It hurts to say it," and she actually does physically wince at this, "but we ought drop some of the treasure in the sea, as an offering to Besmara. Seems like she's been on your side so far, but her favor changes with the winds."
Conchobhar continues leading the group in song as pirates feast and drink--oh yes, there is rum--into the night.
Thren manages to blush again when Sandara hugs her, but hopes no one notices. She does thank the other woman for the healing and listens to her advice. "You have a point about the offering. Maybe you and Lark should discuss what's appropriate for that." The tiefling woman's eyes light up as she remembers something.
"I got a new set of mail from this little venture, as well as a desire to never see a snail again." Thren rummages through her pack to finally present the mithril chain shirt for approval. "I know you have magic to get you armor when you want it, but I won't be needing mine anymore. Do you want it? I'd offer it to Rosie, but I don't think it'll fit her that well. It'll still need a bit of adjustment if you take it, since you're woefully short of the most useful of limbs." To emphasize her point, Thren's tail kicks up a bit of sand as she grins. "If you don't, I'm thinking I'll add it to whatever we offer up to the Pirate Queen. It's kept me alive for a bit now, but I've got loot that I can wear for that now."
"That's a good idea Threnody. I'll be adding to that offering myself, along with a portion of Redclaw's hoard." Lark kicks at the sand and says, "I didn't mention it yet, but that bright idea about pulling the barbs out of Varossa... well you might say it was inspired by the Black Lady, but really it was more a direct order." He looks over to the cleric, "Not tonight Quinn, but soon I'd like to talk to you about what that was like. It's thanks to you I have a connection to Besmara and I think that's what saved us."
Lark will also respond to Imogen with a sharp grin, "Oh, we'll still have you. We've got big plans for this island and every hand is needed. Tell me, have you ever built a dry dock?"
Sandara is a bit taken aback. Shifting wait before she replies, "I appreciate the generosity to both me and Besmara, but keeping something that helps protect you, move fast, and look fabulous while doing it will help you earn the Dark Lady more treasure down the road..."
Quinn squints at both of you. "You both understand Bes is the goddess of the sea and its monsters, yes, but also of greed, right? I'm not quite sure you're going the right way about this. You need to offer the Lady her due but... total selflessness is for fools."
As for Imogen, she looks puzzled, but she replies, "I've not built one, but I understand the engineering of the pumps, if..." the thought dawns on her, "Redclaw's ship. You think it can be salvaged?" Her eyes begin to widen in anticipation. "Yes! Yes! I can do it. But we'll need to look at the situation first..."
"Oh, I understand. I'm keeping the chain shirt, it's tougher than this leather. But I'd rather we keep ourselves alive. You're not always in the thick of action, and you can take care of yourself. You're also the ship's medic, at least with magic. I'd rather you not get taken out and I know you would too." Thren shrugs. "Besmara's not my faith, but I do understand greed just fine. Fine quality armor may not glitter like gold and jewels, but it's still valuable." She grins. "But I will refrain from being too thick in the skull and take the advice of my local Besmaran priestess on the matter. I'll add something else to the pile we give the Pirate Queen and put this in the armory for whoever wants or needs it."
Thren leaves the priestess alone for the rest of the night and just enjoys herself.
"Agreed about sacrificing to Besmara. Probably, though, we should finish scouring the cavern. That way if there's something even more appropriate we'll use that."
Lee's been walking around with a frowny, "thinking" look.
When he gets Lark and Thren together, he'll say, "I've been thinking about our island/base of operations/lair/whatever we'll call it and how to protect it. The three ways are either via obscurity (which will involve trusting the Magpie's crew to keep a lid on it) or we kill everyone who tries to take it or we make it too important and valuable for anyone to disrupt its operation. #1 is past. #2 is, I suspect, an option we'll eventually have to explore. But #3 is our best option for long term prosperity if not peace. That being said, we need to turn the island into a center for something that makes it more valuable than the things we have on it and the dirt it's made of. Maybe a center for commerce? Maybe culture? Maybe, I don't know. We could have a bunch of bars and a footrace for all I know. But if we don't give someone like the Hurricane King a reason to say, "Let's not invade Psychic Squid Monster Island," then eventually someone will do just that."
"We also need to also maybe consider a name, if not for the island, at least for the stronghold on it."
"You do make a good point," the bard says thoughtfully. "I can think of a couple things. One: we can be another available drydock, given some time to set things up. Two: maybe make us a religious center? Build a temple to Besmara? She's not much into such things, I understand, but it's a thought."
Lark give Lee a cheeky grin, "I'm thinking this place will be a valuable "center of commerce" for all the treasure our fleet will be be bringing back here. One of you wants the captain the Fearsome Tide, right? We just need one more ship for a complete set."
"Truly, though, I like your vision. To get a refit operation going we'll need more people, and those folks will need support, and so on. I can easily imagine settlement growing up here eventually. In the meantime I think we can run it more like a military outpost." Lark starts sketching the island in the sand, "As you said, it's hard to find, but word will get out. I bet we can close off the musical door." He crosses out the beach on side of the drawing. "That just leaves the cove to protect. It's a natural choke point and if it falls there's an entire fortress to retreat into."
Lark dusts sand off his hands. "All that's to say I think we can protect this place even while most of us are off getting supplies and plunder to build up a real settlement. Tomorrow I want to bring the ship around have Imogen survey the cove while we finish clearing out the rest of the tunnels."
"First things first, Captain. We need to finish clearing out that place. Just to make sure there isn't a baby snail monster growing down there or something worse. Then we can work on the rest of this." Thren reminds Lark with a smile.
"Then we are all agreed. First the clean-out, then we give thanks to Besmara, then we start our build process. As far as the Fearsome Tide goes, it's going to need a captain, but I was hoping that instead of breaking off to separate ships that the 3 of us continue sailing and adventuring together and that we'd recruit a captain for her or promote from within our current ranks."
"We can discuss that as we go along. I think staying together makes sense, but maybe there's something we haven't thought about just yet."
After plotting their future, feasting, and song, the crew returns to the ship to sleep. In spite of dark dreams of tentacles crushing your mind (in Lee and Thren's case), you sleep well after such a long and difficult day.
When you arise, your officers have already called the morning shift to order, and are getting ready to make way.
Across the bay, there is no sign of the Magpie Princess--as though it was never there, and your month-or-so sojourn with Varossa was just a painful dream.
Besmara's Whim sails around the island to enter the grotto at the rear of Ghoral Rhey, the black tar-coral largely gone from the entrance, though chunks of it are still dissolving. Still, with the cave opened up, a good deal of the gunk and gore is already flowing out into the sea--an unpleasant sight, but it means the waters within are slightly less gross than the day before. Still, much of the crew is a bit sickened at the sight of corpses and sludge whorling about in the water.
With most docks crumbled or rotted, you anchor the Whim in the middle of the harbor, and row a launch to the shore. Doc Imogen runs as fast as her little legs will take her toward the Fearsome Tide. She hugs its beautifully carved rail and strokes it. "Shhhhh, mama's here. Mama's here and she's going to make it all better...."
When she has recovered her more matter-of-fact self, she reports to the three of you: "I think building a drydock along this cliff is definitely doable. We can use the cliff as one wall, and set up a pump system here, and get rock from the cave to build the other wall, and...." Anyway, she seems to have a good sense of what needs to happen.
She directs some crew to bring some rope and other gear toward the ship to help secure it, and also to bring any crates and gear off of it so it is least burdened down. Other crew go to clear away the storage areas where the otyughs dwelled.
Meanwhile, before real work is done, you need to be sure the cavern is clear of all bogies first. And that means going back up to the large central area of the fortress (bringing one of your other officers with you is fine, but the rest should be overseeing other work). This part of the dungeon, on a different level than the bay, is still dark, and you summmon whatever lighting spell you desire to see what is there.
There are four rooms you have not yet explored:
1. To the far southern edge of the area: stairs leading up to darkness, which Muffin said Smelled Very Bad.
2. Going counter clockwise from there, a room that you saw partially into, that seems to have a high ceiling.
3. Another room eastward you know nothing about.
4. A final eastward room that is north of all the others. You can see that stairs also lead upward from the entry, but otherwise have no idea where it leads.
Thren shakes her head and smiles as Doc Imogene's reaction to the Fearsome Tide. Then she turns to Lark. "We ready to go ashore again? And which room do we start on first?" She turns to the crew with a grin. "We're headed ashore, and what we're up to will be more lively than the normal carousing. Any volunteers to help with the looting and plundering? We'll take one more."
Lee is fine with the choices we've made in regards to how we clean out the rest of the stronghold. In preparation for further adventure, he will cast Mage Armor on himself and on Muffin.
Also, if we bring Quinn along, Lee will suggest that she stays out of the action and develops a fully defensive posture.
Our bard turns to Sandara. "You've been with us as an ally since the beginning, Sandara. Want to come along as we start making ourselves a new home and rise up on the fortunes of the sea?" Thren suggests.
Quinn grins. "Why Threnody, I'd be delighted to patch up your asses as we go clearing out a millennia-old cyclops ruin," she replies. Making sure she has whatever gear she needs, she points for you to lead the way.
Thren is about to make a cheeky reply when she exercises that rarely-seen wisdom and decides not to. The fact that Sandara has a crossbow has nothing to do with our tiefling's decision to not reply.
"Okay Captain, whenever you're ready!" Thren tells Lark.
Lee speaks to Quinn:
"Thanks for joining us, but keep yourself safe, okay? Like, if the three of us go into a room and come back out all torn up, healing would be super appreciated. But if we don't come back out..? Choose a good new captain and get under way."
Lee smiles as he says this.
Lee casts Mage Armor onto himself and and onto Muffin.
"All set. Lead the way."
Sandara snorts good-naturedly. "I won't just abandon you, but I won't be a fool neither."
She casts her instant armor spell upon herself when you arrive in the large area with the diases, and pauses, fascinated, at the scrying pool with the pure water within. "Well this is handy," she notes.
Lark directs the party toward the southernmost room. Moving carefully, you head up the first part of the stairs, which hits a small landing before more steep stairs lead to some kind of raised platform. The angle of ascent is such that it is hard to see what is on the platform, other than perhaps the edge of some kind of table.
Two cyclopean statues carved to resemble serene mystics stare at one another from opposite sides of the stair; the same obscure holy symbol is carved upon their robes as the one on the magical cassock Lark took before it changed to Besmara's jolly roger when he put it on: a single alien eye surrounded by runes.
Sandara raises an eyebrow. "That's the symbol of Dagon, Demon Prince of the Sea. He considers his domain to include sea monsters. Besmara also considers her domain to include the sea and sea monsters, and she doesn't like sharing. And unlike Dagon, Besmara doesn't ask for human sacrifice. Well, those who displease her most get hanged in crow's cages at Blackwarn's Gallows, but that's quite rare, and still a far cry from pulling entrails out of a screaming, living person." She shudders.
And indeed... as with elsewhere in this fortress, the walls are engraved with elaborate murals. Here the wall carvings depict numerous scenes of one-eyed giants pinning down and disemboweling creatures with curved daggers upon a broad table: serpentfolk, smaller humanoids, and even other giants.
The air here feels heavy and oppressive, and again Muffin's hackles are raised.
As you go up the stairs, you begin to hear faint, ominous chanting of deep-bass voices. It gets louder the closer you get to the platform above you.
Thren looks at the giant statues warily, then to the murals. "So we've found an old temple to a demon prince? Lovely." Thren feels the heaviness of the air and pauses to look more closely at the murals and the room. "I'm not seeing any kind of musical theme here. I doubt I can do much here, unlike the front door."
Lark briefly checks the statues then he pauses on the steps. "Do y'all hear that? It sounds like some kind of chanting coming from up there." He points toward the platform above them.
"If this a remnant of the cyclopses am I hearing an echo of their rituals? Any idea what would cause that?" Lark asks the group in general as he tries to describe the sound.
Thren groans. "It's gotta be undead. It's always either some creepy bug-thing or undead with us. We had the snail, so now it's gotta be some crazy disgusting undead thing."
"Yeah, that's definitely something. Remember 'smells old and terrible'? Let's consider not moving into flanking positions right away so that maybe I can open up with a fireball or two?"
"Yeah, but against what are you blasting?" Thren asks, reaching for her bow.
Lark's examination of the statues reveals nothing--they appear to be ordinary statues. If there's something triggering something here, it's not the statues as far as he can tell.
Quinn remarks, "I don't hear anything, but if there were monsters up there, wouldn't we be seeing their shadows from the light spell? Why aren't they coming down--they could hear us and see the light coming up the stairs? Lark may have the right of it. Question is, what's causing it?"
There's no movement or statues nor signs of any actual creature there. The chanting is... ghostly in nature.
This is not to discourage Lee, but as Threnody notes there appears no creatures to target, at least none that you can see from the landing, and if someone's wandering around chanting, it unlikely would be hiding at the same time.
"Plus, we don't want to melt anything valuable if we can help it." Lark turns to Threnody, "How about a quiet approach, are you feeling sneaky today? Lee, maybe you can throw more light up there once we're in position?"
Lark ducks against one of the statues and moves quietly up the stairs until he can just peak over the top step.
Lark creeps up the stairs until he is eye level with the floor. He sees the base of a broad alabaster table--clearly stone imported from elsewhere--and the floor is stained with millennia-old bloodstains. For the stains to still remain, this place once must have been quite active. Several wicked looking tools, mainly hooks and knives, most in a state of rust, warping, or being just plain broken, lie on the floor. In the far corner of the platform he spies a black curved blade that appears to still be in good condition.
He can also hear the chanting grow louder and more intense as he approaches the top of the platform. But there are no signs whatsoever of any creatures, and the dust covering the floor has been undisturbed for quite some time.
Thren moves toward the opposite statue and begins to creep up the stairs from the opposite side of Lark.
... The dancing lights must stay within a 10-foot-radius area in relation to each other but otherwise move as you desire (no concentration required):
Threnody stands beside Lark. She too can see the mostly-broken tools on the floor.
Lee, behind Lark and Thren, reaches into his pouch and finds a coin. He casts Light on it, but leaves it in the pouch so that the light doesn't beam out.