Uori appears to have less trouble following Melufiuos when speaks more slowly and fluidly, but his attention remains focused on his face, as it has been for everyone who has spoken to him, ”I used a wooden plank to cross the pit. I left it near the pit. That cloak once belonged to a fellow pilgrim, I leave it up to you whether you wish to keep it or return it to his people.”
The gillman barely notices when Valik addresses him, and only seems to catch part of what was asked, ”I've come more than once. You all ask many questions, why are you here now exploring the shrine?”
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Nice to meet you Uori.
We are pathfinders. Back in Absalon there were reports of recent movement in this area. Our organization send us to have a look. Perhaps you could explain to us the significance these caves have to your people, we wish to learn. Why do the gillman pilgrimage to this specific spot?
"Pathfinders. Yes, that explains some things. The pure waters of this spring are sacred to us and so the cavern is sacred. The connection to Aroden has nothing to do with it. I cannot say any more." Uori replies to Moadis.
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Aurelia flushes bright red when it becomes apparent that her language guess was off the mark. Not only to suffer the embarrassment of being wrong, but to make a fool of herself in such a way, and have the gillman think her crazy...!
"Ahem!" she pointedly clears her throat, trying to gloss over her loss of face by pretending it never happened in typical Chelaxian style. "So your people didn't carve the miniature city and the stone facades in the cavern back there? And why are these waters so sacred?"
She eyes the water with an arched brow. Ever since her... bond with Malgorrak was formed, she'd not been much of a fan of water for much more than drinking or bathing.
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Upon seeing how the gillman behaves, focusing on each person's face when the talk, Mel is struck with an inspiration. He catches Uori's attention by waiving his hands gently in front of him. But when he speaks, no sound comes out.
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At the sight of the Gillman, and the miniature city, Ophelia is struck with a sense of wonder. "Lady's bones, I've never seen anything like this," she murmurs, lined eyes wide. She finds it hard to get a word in with the Gillman, and leaves the talking to her companions, trying to figure out what she would say. "If this place is sacred, it would be best if we didn't pry," she says softly. "But the society..." Her voice trails off as she stares down at Absalom in miniature.
Although he is oblivious to Aurelia's throat clearing, Uori seems to follow most of what she asks, "We are not responsible for the carvings nor the miniature city. I cannot say anymore about the waters."
He then watches Melufiuos' lips move and responds, "My deafness is a personal affliction. It's not common to my people, no. I do not wish to discuss the specifics."
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Belroar continues watching and studying the people as they converse.
After the group discusses their questions with the Gillman, Belroar clears his throat and says,
"Well our mission in here is to find out why the Gillman are coming here, so we have that part done. And then we are to map the passages, so that seems like the next thing to do. The Gillmen are here to worship and apparently they don't care for our help in defending their sacred place."
Uori seems to be telling the truth as he sees it. He's not telling everything he knows, but he's made that clear in his statements. Also, as he just indicated, the gillman has been reading lips.
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Mel blushes and then bows awkwardly, "my apologies". After that he kind of stands around looking useless.
Eventually he sidles over to Aurelia and whispers, "well, at least you aren't the only one looking stupid. I recognized the behavior because a man in our village was deaf. This is the first time I've ever met another deaf person. I didn't know how to ask him about it without being rude. I'd like to ask him more questions about the trouble he is having here, but I'm afraid of bothering him while he is praying." As those last word pass his lips, he is struck with another inspiration.
He waves goods hands and waits till he gets the gillman's attention before speaking. "
Having garnered his attention, Uori waits patiently for Mel to speak.
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"On behalf of my fellow Pathfinders here, I beg your forgiveness. You were quietly praying and then we barge in here and assault you with prying questions. We have forgotten our manners. Here, we will leave you to your prayers or meditation. When you are finished, though, we would be very grateful if you would allow us to ask you some questions. If time is a problem, we will happily walk with you until either your patience or our questions run dry."
Uori's eyes narrow as Melufiuos asks for more time later for questions. His gaze moves to the cloak still in the elf's possession and he shakes his head, "You are correct, I do need to return to the waters. I grow tired of answering questions." With that, he turns his back to the group and stares into the water.
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Mel, don't you know it rude to invite yourself to an event. It seems he is busy, and we interrupted. Offer the cloak we found, it seems to hold more importance to him than us. How would you feel if a momento of a friend was near you, but another held it in their possession?, he lets the words sink in, then he turns to Uori, Thank you for your time, , as he gives a quick bow towards him.
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Aurelia rolls her eyes at the gillman, turning her back to him before speaking to the group. "Well, gods know why the Society wants to know about these bizarre, tight-lipped, rude creatures." She returns to the miniature city and inspects it some more, and will both check it for magical auras and do some small sketches of it in her notebook.
The gillman merely nods in response to Valik's bow.
Although the city itself is not magical, you suspect it might be used in some ritual capacity in association with the carvings in the previous room.
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"This place is sacred to them. We're the rude ones," Ophelia says to Aurelia calmly, but with irritated undertones. "We walk into his place of reflection, take a cloak that belonged to an ally of his - how would you feel in his situation? Lady's bones, I know I wouldn't be pleased." She turns away, not wanting the situation to escalate to hostility.
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Aurelia glances at Ophelia with an arched brow, but merely smirks to herself as the priestess turns away. A number of... less than pleasant retorts come to mind, but the summoner decides eventually to keep the peace for now. And in any case - she had a mystery to solve here.
"I believe this city may be used as part of a ritual of some sort," she announces to the rest of the group, picking up one of the coins and toying with it idly, "likely connected with the carvings in the previous room. I would dare say that figuring out an ancient Arodenite ritual would look particularly swanky on our first mission for the Society," Aurelia murmurs with a sparkle in her eye.
A look of annoyance flashes across Uori's features as Melufiuos disturbs him once again, but his features soften when the cloak is returned to him. He nods his thanks.
Mel, Aurelia, Belroar, and Moadis can tell that the diorama is a miniature version of Absalom. With it's close proximity to the carvings in the previous room and the connection of both with Aroden, there might be some ritual connection between the carvings and the diorama.
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"Wait," Aurelia urges Mel, "let's just try and figure this out first..."
Thinking for a while on the meaning of the sculptures, she points at Valik and Moadis. "The two of you should think about The Tailor."
Next, she gestures at Belroar and Ophelia. "You should work together on The Farmer."
Lastly, she smiles coyly at Mel. "You will work with me on The Fisherman."
Aurelia looks curiously back at the city (and the carvings, if nothing's happened here) to see if her 'shepherding' has achieved anything.
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"OK. OK. I can't turn down a smile like that." After a few moments of staring at the pictures, he glances back towards the fish man, and then his eyes widen. He puts his arm around Aurelia and whispers in her ear...."I think this is some kind of prophecy about the fishmen taking back Absolem. The Shepherd is herding the humans out of the city and the Fisherman is bringing in the gillmen. Maybe the Tailor has a real moat to keep the people out? Or is that the Carrien lands around the city? No clue on the farmer.... unless he is planting the seeds of the revolution down in the earth... four colonies maybe... I don't know. But seriously, now that I think of it; these look more like a prophecy that the gillmen will take over Absolem one day. What do you think?" At this point he turns and realizes his face is extremely close to hers. He stares for a moment and then awkwardly separates himself from the Chelaxian noble.
Rising up from the pool is a column of rock with steeply sloped sides and a flat top, as if someone had sawn off the top of a massive stalagmite. A miniature city carved from this same stone occupies nearly the entire surface. Tiny trinkets such as ancient coins, polished semiprecious stones, and ornately braided loops of string are scattered throughout the diorama, and pale cave frogs clamber atop it. The smooth cavern floor is covered in gravel and pebbles along the edge of the pool, and several foot-long centipedes prowl among the gravel in their search for prey.
There are also fish swimming in the pool surrounding the diorama.
• The Shepherd is depicted herding animals out of a crowded city to the pastures beyond, just as Aroden blessed leaders with the foresight to direct people to the tasks and places that best suit them.
• The Tailor is depicted sewing together a long cloth of featuring many patterns that wraps around a city like a moat, referencing Aroden’s proclamation that when the fate of all peoples is woven together, it shall be humanity’s greatest strength.
• The Farmer is depicted plowing four lines in a field, retelling Aroden’s prophecy that humankind would prepare the rocky earth for planting and over generations wear the pebbles down into fertile soil.
• The Fisherman is depicted hauling in an enormous catch of small fish to take back to Absalom, illustrating Aroden’s declaration that a great host of creatures could accomplish a great task, whether that be taming the wilds or feeding a nation.
Unfortunately, Aurelia's attempt at shepherding the others does not appear to have any effect on the carvings or the city.
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If you insist milady. The old warrior says with resignation.
Some of these carvings seems to have easy analogies in the miniature city. Like catching a fish from the pool and putting it inside the city for the fisherman or removing the frogs from the diorama for the shepherd.
I have never caught a fish in my whole life neither do I know how to sew. Moadis carefully walks to the diorama and starts to remove the frogs.
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Valik look towards Aurelia, and gives a nod. He pulls out his papers, and goes over his notes, while he overhears Moadis' train of thought.
You bring up a good point sir. Usually the simplest solution is the correct one, so if I go by that logic. Valik's voice trails off.
Valik will carefully take the loops of colored string and begin to make a piece of "jewelry" of sorts using the various precious gems/coins/etc to make an item long enough to loop around the city as in depicted by the mural.
Valik cannot find enough string to loop completely around the city.
The cave frogs flee from the scary paladin, hopping out of the city in the water. When the last of the frogs exit the diorama, everyone in the group feels a small magical surge, as if they received some type of divine blessing.
Belroar grinds down some of the pebbles with his feet, but this doesn't seem to make much of a difference, until he begins to make furrows in the soil in order to move the gravel out of the way. Once he's made four furrows, everyone feels another slight magical surge.
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Aurelia spends a choice few moments enjoying the sight of drenched cute elf before shaking her head and returning to the puzzle of the rituals.
"The Tailor is a hard one," she admits with a frown. "Perhaps if we try to tie us all together with the string...? Looping around all of our wrists, or some such."
She attempts to make one long "rope" with the string to tie around everyone, but is finding the task difficult...
Melufious is unfortunately not quick enough for the cave fish, and gets wet for his trouble.
Despite his claims that he never had caught a fish in his life, Moadis has no problems grabbing a blind cave fish out the water and offering the spastic creature to Mel.
Aurelia and Valik try different approaches with the string, but they both run into the same problem, there isn't enough string in the city to wrap around the city even when loops and party members are added.
Valik scrounges up enough materials to create a mosaic of different materials around the diorama. When he finishes placing the last piece down, everyone feels a brief magical sensation once again.
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Mel is momentarily enraged. Making a fool of himself in the water wasn't that bad. But then that damm angel strolls in and snags a fish with ease! He cannot hold back a nasty glare as Moadis approaches to taunt him even further. The elf's face turns from anger to astonishment in a heartbeat when Moadis offers him the fish. A memory flashes in his head from back in his home town. A floating bridge of ant bodies crossing a pond to reach the tasty carcass on a nearby lilypad.
Mel lets go of the anger with a sigh, "Thank you. That was pretty awesome." He offers a smile as he takes the fish over to the city and tosses it in. "I so hope we only need one!"
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Mel is momentarily enraged. Making a fool of himself in the water wasn't that bad. But then that damm angel strolls in and snags a fish with ease! He cannot hold back a nasty glare as Moadis approaches to taunt him even further. The elf's face turns from anger to astonishment in a heartbeat when Moadis offers him the fish. A memory flashes in his head from back in his home town. A floating bridge of ant bodies crossing a pond to reach the tasty carcass on a nearby lilypad.
Mel lets go of the anger with a sigh, "Thank you. That was pretty awesome." He offers a smile as he takes the fish over to the city and tosses it in. "I so hope we only need one!"
Melufiuos places the fish into the miniature city and the group receives another small blessing.
Uori notes the rituals the group has been performing and stands. He approaches Moadis and offers a wand, ”Despite my initial misgivings, you are honorable people.” The gillman looks over at the cloak Melufiuos returned to him, ”I would appreciate it if you would remove any creatures you find that are desecrating these holy caverns. As a gesture of good will, I want you to take this wand, it can provide you with divine protection for a short period of time, although it's power is waning. If I could tell you more about our beliefs surrounding the shrine, I would, but I am not allowed.”