The big wolf looks back at the rest of the party and wags his tail expectantly.
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Molly looks at Droo. "Hon, are you still ill from the liquor? Deacon's torch has been lit since the swarm. He's got it out right now..."
Molly points at Deacon, who is clearly holding a lit torch.
Molly approaches the pit and peers into it with Oli.
"Oh, that poor dear. Someone dropped something into the pit. Maybe even fell in."
Looking at Oli, Molly asks, "Is your rope secure, hon? You want to go first, or should I?"
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Molly looks at Droo. "Hon, are you still ill from the liquor? Deacon's torch has been lit since the swarm. He's got it out right now..."
"Why yes, that was [ hours ago / about fifteen minutes ago]. What [ an idiot. Who walks outside all day long with a torch? Was there some great big sporting event I did not know about? No offense. It's just mechanics, you probably have some sort of penalty to intelligence and common sense checks. It is just the sort of thing I should have expected from you big huse / a brilliant hufolk]. Let's go look at the gillfolk.... Are you guys coming?"
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**koff, koff**
Janira’s stuff:
potion of barkskin,
potions of cure light wounds (2),
potion of feather step
potion of vanish
scroll of entangle,
scroll of gust of wind,
scroll of identify,
scroll of mage armor (CL 6),
scroll of obscuring mist,
wand of burning hands (CL 3rd, 4 charges)
wand of cure light wounds (CL 3rd, 7 charges),
acid,
alchemist’s fire (2),
holy water,
smokestick
tanglefoot bags (2),
thunderstone
Looking quickly about Droo gathers up all the brittle paper from Janira's bag into pile, and begins rubbing the two sticks she finds there together vigorously over them.
"I saw this in a woodcut once." Droo explains between blowing on the pile. "Wait! We have alchimist's fire! That stuff burns! I'll just use that on this pile of stuff and we can light all the torches off that!"
Vinegar lays down and puts his huge paws over his muzzle.
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Oli Just smiles and waves as Droo stares at him. "Your welcome. I hope it helps."
To Molly, "I think it's secure. You can double check if you want. I can go first. I would be a very good pathfinder if I was not helping protect our team."
Oli punches and kicks the air. "Like this. PROTECTION."
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Meanwhile in the well-lit future!
Droo dismounts and looks around. She picks up small rocks, looks at them discards them, chalks her lance like a pool cue, sits down and swings her bare feet over the edge of the pit.
Vinegar looks back at everyone else expectantly. He looks happy.
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**koff, koff**
Janira’s stuff:
potion of barkskin,
potions of cure light wounds (2),
potion of feather step
potion of vanish
scroll of entangle,
scroll of gust of wind,
scroll of identify,
scroll of mage armor (CL 6),
scroll of obscuring mist,
wand of burning hands (CL 3rd, 4 charges)
wand of cure light wounds (CL 3rd, 7 charges),
acid,
alchemist’s fire (2),
holy water,
smokestick
tanglefoot bags (2),
thunderstoneLooking quickly about Droo gathers up all the brittle paper from Janira's bag into pile, and begins rubbing the two sticks she finds there together vigorously over them.
"I saw this in a woodcut once." Droo explains between blowing on the pile. "Wait! We have alchimist's fire! That stuff burns! I'll just use that on this pile of stuff and we can light all the torches off that!"
Vinegar lays down and puts his huge paws over his muzzle.
Molly shakes her head fondly at the gnome and leaves her to her unnecessary antics.
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Oli lights the torch with this flint and steal.
"Use this next time" and Oli hands over his flint and steal. "We might need the alchemist fire."
"Thanks!" Droo says brightly and begins to light the paper scrolls and wand-shaped twigs on fire.
"When I started more experienced pathfinders gave me a list of things to buy do you want me to write it out for you?"
"I'll look at it, but I mostly get by on moxie and chutzpah. I gotta watch how much weight I carry riding Vinegar. Any minute now we should have a big roaring fire." She mops her brow and takes a sip of Janira's holy water. "Thanks for the torchlight too. It makes it easier to see what I'm doing. You half huse aren't half bad!"
Janira’s stuff (in the alternate timeline):
potion of barkskin,
potions of cure light wounds (2),
potion of feather step
potion of vanish
scroll of entangle,
scroll of gust of wind,
scroll of identify,
scroll of mage armor (CL 6),
scroll of obscuring mist,
wand of burning hands (CL 3rd, 4 charges)
wand of cure light wounds (CL 3rd, 7 charges)
acid,
alchemist’s fire (1/2),
holy water
smokestick
tanglefoot bags (2),
thunderstone
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Oli grabs all the gear. "I think Molly should hold this treasure, she's the adult in the room."
Droo, "Who are Moxie and Chutzpah? Are they you parents, because they have great names. But I learned that you can't depend on your parents out here. You have to BE PREPARED."
Vinegar turns his head to one side and continues watching.
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As soon as Oli's climbed down the rope first, as he said he would, Molly takes her turn.
Fortunately, she's a better climber than she is a jumper -- which still doesn't mean she's any good.
Once she's at the bottom of the pit (one way or the other...) she helps Oli unhook his grappling hook, and set it up on the other side of the pit so they can climb back out.
Getting out proves even harder than getting into the pit...
But she manages eventually, and end up on the other side of the pit.
"Well, that was quite a workout!" she laughs cheerily. "You're turn, Oli! Oh, my! What a lovely little cloak you've found! Very dashing!"
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Having successfully navigated the pit, the party continues onward.
The tunnels continue on, leading deeper beneath the Kortos Mounts until they eventually open into a large cavern. What must have once been beautifully carved reliefs and inscriptions have since weathered heavily, their features dulled and softened to the point that it is hard to distinguish what each once depicted. A wide tunnel exits the cavern on its far side, and blue-burning torches line the passageway’s walls. Even the most basic magical skills easily tell you that these are everburning torches.
The carvings here are different in style from the petroglyphs found elsewhere in the caves, and they appear to be extremely old. Scattered throughout the cave are phrases referencing Aroden, and images that depict these passages.
The carvings focus on parables that feature Aroden’s 12 guises, meant to illustrate his hopes for humanity, however many of the carvings are damaged beyond recognition and only four remain visible. These four are the craftsman, fisherman, merchant, and shepherd.
The Craftsman is depicted creating shoes, pots, jewelry, and other moveable goods, referencing Aroden’s delight at seeing his people express their ingenuity in creating new products from raw materials.
The Fisherman is depicted hauling in an enormous catch of small fsh 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.
The Merchant is depicted weighing and trading coins of different sizes, a reference to the holy text’s proverb that peace brings trade and prosperity to all people.
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.
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The tunnels continue on, leading deeper beneath the Kortos Mounts until they eventually open into a large cavern. What must have once been beautifully carved reliefs and inscriptions have since weathered heavily, their features dulled and softened to the point that it is hard to distinguish what each once depicted. A wide tunnel exits the cavern on its far side, and blue-burning torches line the passageway’s walls. Even the most basic magical skills easily tell you that these are everburning torches.
"We're rich!"
The carvings here are different in style from the petroglyphs found elsewhere in the caves, and they appear to be extremely old. Scattered throughout the cave are phrases referencing Aroden, and images that depict these passages.
Blowing past the ancient graffiti Droo rides toward the everburning torch sconces. Standing on Vinegar's back she carefully replaces one of the magical blue torches with her (Oli's) more common one.
"Hey watch this!" She puts the lit part into her mouth like flame-eater. It makes her pink face glow an interesting purple.
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Molly let's out a cheerylaugh. "Oh, Droo, you should see your face!"
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Molly inspects the carvings as they pass by. "Oh, my! Aren't these fascinating."
"Goodness! These carvings focus on the parables of Aroden's twelve guises! Most of them are damaged... Oh, but this one, here, is the Craftsman. Oh, and this one is the fisherman. That's the merchant, and that's the shepherd... How beautiful. We really should record these, you know."
Molly pulls out her writing supplies and starts to make sketches and nots about the carvings.
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Oli starts reading from his notebook, "Hi. My name is Oli. I'm from the pathfinder society. Is there a job you need doing? We accept payment in copper, silver, gold, platinum, and ancient magic items we find along the way."
Oli holds out his hand for a handshake. Oblivious to this being a possible threat.
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A large man in a chain shirt with a huge helmet with small eyeslits somehow manages to make his way over the pit and comes to a grinding halt before careening into anyone, almost desperately.
"What happened out there? The ground is full of large hoofprints and tiny manlike footprints! I did not wait to find out, alone, what made them. I was told to report to Janira. Where is she?"
He has a Tienen accent, and though he does fairly well with common it is obvously a second language to him. He seems to be steering clear of the handshake.
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Oli smiling and not putting his hand down says, "We were attacked by a minotaur and our leader distracted it to let us get away. Or....two men in a cow costume are playing a trick on us. The group is still split."
His hand stays up not because he particularly wants a handshake but because he has forgotten he has it up as he excitedly talks about minotaurs and cow costumes.
Oli throws the dirty cloak on and grabs one alchemist fire and is ready to proceed.
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Through the wide tunnel you can see the soft light of the surrounding fungus mixing with the flickering glow of the nearby torches that reveal a grand chamber.
A large pool of water along the chamber’s southern edge reflects the blue and green radiance to illuminate the massive stalactites that cling to the ceiling overhead. Two other tunnels branch off from this area, leading to the east and west.
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 semi-precious 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.
Kneeling in the pool of water, back toward you, you see what appears to match the description of a Gillmen.
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Oli smiling and not putting his hand down says, "We were attacked by a minotaur and our leader distracted it to let us get away. Or....two men in a cow costume are playing a trick on us. The group is still split."
"I never did!" objects Droo before realizing "Oh. You mean the twirp."
She turns to the new arrival. "Lemme guess; by the pointy helmet you weren't the backside. Just a sort of plant for versimaltude I 'spect."
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Ling stares at the confusing pathfinders, talking about cows and using weird words. He momentarily considers asking what a twirp is but decides it's always best not to ask a gnome what they mean. They tend to answer in colors or something.
"Yes, right."
There, that should satisfy her. Best to change the subject and distract the guy that wants to touch me.
"What did you all think of the room with all the paintings?"
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"Well, hello, there, Stranger!" Molly remarks with a wide happy grin. "Welcome to the team! I'm Molly! Molly Berik! But, most folks call me Molly Fairsmile. I work at the Wounded Wisp. Ever been?"
Suddenly she shakes her head and laughs. "Oh, listen to me, prattling on! Now's not the time for tales, is it? It's time for some serious Pathfinder work! What's your name, sugar?"
Once she has the man's name, she gives him a curtsy. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"
Then she puts away her journal and charcoal, turns back to the tunnels, and says, "Let's get a move on! Moonlight's a wasting!"
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"Wow! What a beautiful chamber... Oh, look! A little stone diorama! How adorable! And a -- Oh! It is! A Gillman! Well, I'll be! Let's go say 'Hi' to the fellow, shall we?"
Molly proceeds to walk through the cavern towards the gillman, calling out, "Hello, there! This is a lovely cave you have!" as she goes.
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"Hey! It's one of those gillwomen! I think it's a male one. I'll just ask it what its about and then we can get out of here and fight the big bad end guy in the cow costume."
"It's no good Mols. I think he has water in his ears."
Droo rides up on Vinegar and gently taps the gillwoman with her lance.
Then in a very loud and slow manner she says: "HELLO. I AM DROO AND THIS IS VINEGAR. WE'RE HERO TYPES HERE TO DO SOME DARING DO. WHO ARE YOU POR FAVOR?"
Vinegar laps at the edge of the pool.
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Ling tries to get a word in while Molly starts talking a mile a minute but soon gives up. When she asks his name he responds with a short and simple "Ling" after which she turns away and hurries off to talk with the gill man.
Between the gnome and the dwarf, I don't think there will be a moment of silence around here.
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THe gillman is a touch startled by Droo's aggressive posture. I'm not sure I understand all that you are asking of me, but I am a simple pilgrim come to pay my homage at this holy place. What do you do here? This place is holy for our people and for a multitude of ancient races.
"Why exactly?" Droo says looking around.
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These cave walls depict images and stories that pre-date most modern religion. Our pilgrimage here as a people has become rote. So much so that we, and others, have neglected it. The artifacts sullied...He motions to the model of the city on the stone column,and interloping, blasphemous, creatures in the caves there. he points to wards one of the caves.