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"Hey. You a gillman? I am Robin. I am a Pathfinder. Who are you?"
Robin is showing all of his charms on this... he does remember to pull back the polearm, and stand at ease. He even attempts a smile. Then, he remembers that he is not one for talking, and points at Spanky, knowing that Agrivar is perhaps as crotchety as he and his brother are. "That's Spanky. He talks for us."
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Agriver opens his hands and hold them out in front of him in a gesture of non-aggression.
”Easy friend, we mean you no harm – we were sent this way to parlay and understand what is going on in this region. Seeing that you were here, it seemed logical to chat with you and learn what we can.”
Looking around at his companions, he gestures. ”You have met Robin who is our tracker, the lady is named Vala, the large man is Yon, and Spyridon is our scribe – Robin just likes to pick on him and call him… Spanky. The wolf is with Yon. My name is Agriver, I am a knight of Iomadae – favored saint of Aroden the dead god from the time of the Azlanti.”
Waving his hand slowly toward the gillman. ”What is your name friend?”
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Spyridon smiles and takes a few steps forward, fascinated by the humanoid now that he sees him fully.
"Hello friend! Agriver is correct, we are here to gather information and learn. As I'm sure you know, this area can be dangerous, but our weapons are only for our own defense," Spyridon takes a moment to glance at Robin and Vala, smiling and nodding at them. "This place is fascinating. I would love to hear what you know about the drawings," he gestures behind him, "And that model as well," he gestures to the pool.
You also notice he has a similar looking cloak on his back to the one Agriver carries.
The gilman appears to 'listen' to each of you. He also noticably eases the tension in his shoulders when the weapons are sheathed.
He does not speak in return.
You both get the sense he understands and can communicate but chooses not to.
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"So. I have this feeling that this diorama is some sort of puzzle" Vala says, as she steps closer and starts poking at it. Eyes glued to the gillman, gauging his reaction very carefully. "What does it all mean? Does it do anything? How does it work?" She says, continuing to poke, twist, and prod at the pieces to see if anything moves.
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"Agriever, give me one of your family's coins." Yon says, holding his hand out to the Paladin while taking another step forward; feet splashing in the shallow water beside the edge of the pool. He never stops watching the Gillman.
When he is a step closer he says to the Gillman, "If you know what we're saying, know this: we want to know what you know, we come to explore."
As Vala moves to the city, the gilman sits again quietly.
The stone pieces of the city do not move. The rest of the description was here
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Vala will walk around the display. Studying it. Allowing others to speak.
You pocket the stone, but also notice the gilman saw, but did not react. You are certain the rest of the party did not notice.
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"Agriver, since our diplomat has evidently failed us, maybe you should talk to him." Robins says, not intentionally turning away from the gillman. "Just be nice... pretend that he is worth your time. We're on a mission, and I am sure that The Inheritor would not look kindly upon you were you to mess this up! And why did he eye your cloak? Does it really match his? Use that in your negotiations!"
As the cloak lands in the water next to him, the gillman reaches out to pick it up. He will then turn back toward Agriver, smile softly and give a brief nod before turning back to observe the model and Vala and Spyridon.
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Vala turns to Spyridon. "Any good at art? Got anything in that pack that is colorful? Writing, drawing tools? Anything to prettify the city with?"
Vala will reach into her pocket and pull out some coins of different sizes. She'll pause. Think a moment. Shake her head. Then call to Agriver. "Agriver. Would you mind coming over here a moment?" Vala smiles.
No clue if any of that will do anything. But. When you have a hypothesis. Ya just gotta test it and see.
If you were so inclined, you believe you could easily grind some of the colorful pebbles from around the shoreline to make colorful pigments.
Vala feels a tingling warmth in her fingers. She will notice the gilman smiling at her.
Agriver contemplates why he would put coins on the diorama.
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Spyridon nods, going to the edge of the pool and pulling out his flint and steel. finding a few similarly colored rocks, he starts crushing them with his steel, adding in a piece of chalk, crushing it, then a bit of water. Mixing up the slurry with his fingers, then walking over to the model and beginning to cover a few buildings with the makeshift paint.
"I am not a painter..." he says, a bit disappointedly.
Yon lets Rbuod relax. The wolf splahes over to the diorama with the others. And forgetting his recent bite of frog did not go well, bounds up and grabs one from the diorama.
Robin spends a minute with the centipedes, and they seem to warm up to him. He even manages one ir two to crawl in the same general direction.
Rboud bounds up and snatches a second toad up and spits it out again.
Agriver collects a couple stones.
You get the impression this might be an alter to Aroden. If so, the warmth may be some latent blessing from the alter.
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Vala shakes her head. "Think back to what the mural on the wall showed. About merchants. Spyridon, you took notes, right? The merchant wad depicted weighing and trading coins of different sizes. Peace brings trade and prosperity to people. I was thinking of the coins more as an offering to show that." Vala shrugs, not sure.
"And as for the Shepherd. I wasn't sure on that one. I was kind of hoping that if someone in the group noticed other group members talents and had them perform appropriate tasks, that maybe that would work. Not sure though. The picture was of the Shepherd herding animals out of a crowded city to the pasture beyond. Like that leader guy had the foresight to direct people to tasks that suit them."
Vala pauses a moment. "More of a riddle than a puzzle, I think. But still fun."
Vala turns to the gillman "We warm enough that you'll talk to us yet?"
The gilman's smirk disappears and he closes his eyes as if to meditate.
You get the sense he is amused by you and the party, more so than "warming up"
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"Huh. Ok."
Robin moves to the little city, and stars herding the frogs off of the city diorama.
He gets frustrated, and starts grabbing frogs off of the city... he things about throwing them across the room, but then realizes that the gillman was watching, and just drops them into the water.
Nothing happens when Robin and Agriver attempt the other murals
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Spyridon contemplates the model for a few moments, then pulls himself onto the edge of the pool, off to the side. Looking at the ceiling as he hums a bit to himself...
"The artist paints the walls... the merchant trades the coins... the Shepard herds the frogs... the thief steals the gem..."
Spyridon glances around the room, his feet moving back and forth in the water as he studies different corners, the people in the room, the animals in the room.
"Not sure. That might be it. Someone went to a lot of work to build this model in a place like this though."
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Robin looks back to the gillman, and smiles. He tries to make it a friendly one... possibly easier now that he is cleaned up and doesn't have a halberd in his hands.
"I am Robin L'il, and this is my brother, Yon. The lady here is Vala, the half-elf is Spanky... he prefers Spyridon or something, but Spanky. The holier than though persona there is Agrivar. We are Pathfinders on a mission. May I inquire as to your name?"
He states this in an even, calm tone, even through it grates on him to do so.
With eyes closed, the gillman appears oblivious to Robin's words.
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"Sir, have we satisfied your puzzle?"
Agriver carefully gestures as to layer the communication efforts while making eye contact with the gillman.
"Tell me more of this place please?"
"This would appear to be a shrine, or alter of some sort toward the dead god Aroden, judging by the previous statues/murals.. the actions we have taken have granted us some favor from what may be left of Iomadae's patron. Perhaps this is a boon, or omen.. perhaps a blessing. I would view it as favorable, and that these gillmen are spiritual in nature, and not hostile."
Looking at the gillman.
"Friend, can we be of assistance to you or your kind?"
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Seeing as the gillman is purposefully ignoring them, Robin pulls out his journal and notes down some additional details.
The paintings described rituals which made our hands tickle and stuff. Might be helpful later… dunnoYou can paint the city to make it prettier… that’s an artist I guess.
Give a coin, take a coin
Herd the frogs off the city
steal stuff.That’s it. Really helpful.
There was a gillman there, he had a cloak. Agrivar gave him our cloak, which looked the same. Damned fool of a gillman didn’t say a word, and only listened to us when he was looking right at us. Idiot!
Vala leads to group down the tunnels. The moss continues to allow dim lighting
The cave’s damp air becomes increasingly stale as the PCs continue down through this tunnel, and as they approach this area, the stench of decay grows increasingly evident. The passage turns to the east and opens into a small cavern littered with bits of broken glass, rotting pieces of paper, and other unusable detritus. The body of a male dhampir lies facedown toward the back of the cavern.
Several undead start to turn to face the party.
The skeletons approach and swing ugly swords at Vala and Robin.
After they miss, the zombies move in on Vala and Robin but apparently dont attack... they seem to move very slow.
Gillman Skeletons, dr5/bludgeoning
Gillman zombies, dr5/slashing
Initiatives (bold may act)
Skeletons
Zombies
Agriver
Vala
Robin
Yon
Spyridon
Rboud