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Mivvy shrugs at Virog's news, "In my hands, that's a terrible fire-starting kit." She offers him a long smile, "I wish I could do some of those tricks. I've had enough lessons but I just don't seem to have the knack. It's incredibly frustrating."
A hint of sadness peaks in around the eyes and the edges of her smile, "I envy you."
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Virog takes off one of his gloves, revealing cracked, blackened skin underneath.
"I've been readin up on arcane magicks maself. Try an' understand better than I did, that there learning curve is steep. I've tried already, it won't heal out."
He pauses a moment and sighs at the pit. "I know of a spell for this. But I don't know a spell for this. Are any of y'all great climbers? I got rope 'n everything."
The crudely fashioned fishing pole proves useful and pulls the cloak from the depths. It seems a nicely made cloak. You are still however on the wrong side of a big hole.
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Mivvy shrugs, sets down her pack and starts removing her armour.
"Has anyone got a rope? I could tie it off over the other side."
She steps back for a run-up and shod everyone aside, checks her rapier is firmly sheathed and takes a running leap...
Over the pit, landing with a graceful tumble and grinning with satisfaction not too shabby.
Mivvy deftly leaps the chasm, the floor a little slippery but not giving her any problem. Once across, she notices a plank set nearby that looks exactly the right length to span the hole, though wide enough that people need to take it slow or make acrobatics checks to balance and not fall into the pit.
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.
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Drea takes it slowly across the chasm on the board. As the party enters the large cavern, the sylph's eyes glaze over in wonderment.
"So beautiful," they say, reaching out their hand to trace along the weathered carvings. The sylph appears to be in a trance, attempting to feel psychic emanations from the carvings while interpreting them based on their knowledge base.
The carvings here are different in style from the petroglyphs found elsewhere in the caves, and they date back to long before the gillmen explored this area. Scattered throughout the cave are inscriptions from the History and Future of Humanity, the principle holy text of 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: the artist, beggar, craftsman, farmer, fisherman, hunter, merchant, scholar, shepherd, soldier, tailor, and thief.
With her knowledge check, Drea determines one of these is a story relating to the Artist. The Artist is depicted painting murals on the walls of impressive buildings, associated with Aroden having painted the city of Absalom with beautiful colors so that it might awe all who visited.
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Drea begins weeping silently.
"Father was worshipful of Aroden," the sylph manages, "and raised me in the image of the Dead God."
Drea shares the story of the Artist with the group.
"I must take notes." With this, they take out a curious heart-shaped wooden board with two peg legs, a journal, a quill, and an ink vial. Settling on the ground cross-legged, they begin to write in their journal, and then stops and looks up. "I cannot do this now. Janira is in danger. I MUST come back here once we have completed our task. I must be given at least one hour's time to properly commune with the echoes of history."
Drea fixes Mivvy with a steely gaze. "Promise me that we will return."
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"Wooooah!" Shaya gapes in marvel at the carvings, frantically scribbling shorthand into her own journal, before Drea's words shake her.
"Well, yeah, of course we must return, this is a chronicler's treasure trove! Oh, we could make a column dedicated to the cults..."
As she speaks, the tengu's eyes are already scanning the place for clues.
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Saya steps up behind both Drea and Shaya, looking at the weathered carvings with appreciation, "Aroden...it is a shame we cannot look up on these as they were meant to be seen."
She resists the urge to take up her pencils and paper and render some of the more clear carvings, instead turning away and examining the rest of the cavern, especially the passageway with the blue-burning torches.
Moving on, you find yourselves in a larger section still of the caves. The soft light of the surrounding fungus mixes with the flickering glow of the nearby torches to 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 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.
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Virog grins broadly, showing all of his tobacco stained teeth. "Now we ken get t'the bottom of all a'this."
He starts walking slowly towards the gillman, and gesturing for the party to follow. Calling out as he walks "'Scuse me Mr. Gillman, We're locals someplace else and we wanted to know what was going on around here, and what y'all were doing about this cave. Y'all wouldn't've been here around the last full moon, would'ye have?"
The gillman seems rather imperceptive, not noticing the group until Drea and Mivvy begin admiring the carving. He looks at them, but does not move particularly far. A bundle of clothes and a staff can be seen near the water's edge.
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The sylph looks up from their close study of the city scape. "We should hail him, I think. We are intruding upon his reverie, if this is truly a temple to Aroden. What's more, he may be a worshipper of the Dead God, and might have secrets to tell!"
Drea looks away in a softer voice. "I would do so, but my appearance often is not useful for first impressions."
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Saya notices the Gillman, but her eyes are only reserved for the beautiful carved city atop the column.
Her fingers itch to begin sketching, but her regard of the carving is interuptted by Virog's tactless introduction.
She sees the Gillman look at Mivvy and Drea, and his complete disregard for thier presence.
"It would appear that he does not care that we are here..." she offers.
He continues looking at the intruders, but does not make sound nor movement to indicate that he does care, as Saya observed. As you are not disturbing him purposefully, he seems content to leave you be as well.
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Drea follows Virog, seeing Mivvy moving to not engage with the gillman.
"Has he not responded to your entreaty, friend Virog?" the sylph asks, approaching the side of the pool. "Perhaps he does not speak Taldane?"
In patient but slightly robotic order, Drea attempts to engage with the gillman in a number of different languages.
The gillman watches Drea with the patience of a saint as she goes through all the languages, not giving a great deal of notice to the pathfinder's varied languages, none of them particularly interesting him. He has a look of puzzlement on his face, but nothing which seems dangerous.
You feel as though you're really getting nowhere with all these odd languages. He appears...
... to be reading lips, and very confused when you speak languages that are not Common.
Perhaps because of the condescension, the gillman says nothing. He makes no motions of the head or even really other regions. A veritable statue is the man, though you did witness him move earlier and you see his eyes occasionally taking note of the rest of your group.
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Drea cocks their head to the side.
"Without hearing faculties, you say? I think I may have a solution." The sylph takes off their backpack and fishes out their journal and inkpen. They use their quill to pen a quick note and, holding the book in both hands (and after unstrapping their weapon), wades into the pool towards the gillman to offer it.
If he reads the page, Drea offer their inkpen to the stoic man.