Carina shrugs and hands the oil off to someone else to examine. She takes a look at the folded up bit of paper, carefully unfolding it to read.
The paper unfolds to reveal a very, very crude map. It looks outdated, and the ink has smeared a little. It will take someone with good bearings to decipher it. However, there is one location marked in big letters, "Sumah Qoth". Or, in Draconic, "Whispering Cairn".
The compass rose stands out--it has a peculiar shape, though not immediately familiar to anyone in the group.
Robin passes on the oil and looks at the map. "Say...pass that here."
Tanith furrows his brow. ”Any of this mean anything to anyone?”
It takes a minute, but Robin is able to work out what the map is indicating. He's not sure what "Sumah Qoth" means, but he can work out that it is roughly ten minutes east of here.
Carina hands the map to Robin.
"This looks like a map of the surrounding area... but I can't really make heads or tails of it." Her tail sways back and forth.
Robin pauses, unsure of what to make of it. "Doesn't look like anyone special drew this map. That being said, of course, we're not far west of where this map wants us to be."
He looks at Carina. "Carina, dear, would you translate this?"
Carina looks over at the map, pointing at "Sumah Qoth."
"Translated from Draconic, that means 'Whispering Cairn.'" She says, her eyes widening.
"We're not that far away from it? Alright!" She starts bouncing up and down, a gleeful smile on her face.
Even though this aspect of the adventure was beyond his ken, Tanith shares in his companion’s accomplishment. ”Well done!”
”Let’s be goin’ then. You said it’s not far?”
"A few minutes or so." Robin takes one last glance at the map and passes it around. "Shall we?"
Robin hums happily as he goes to prepare Bermintrude - adventure awaits!.
"Nice find!" Erip examines the oil.
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"Whispering Cairn? Pshaw!"
Two humans and an elf are riding up. One of the humans leans down; a musclebound man wearing a red and black girdle topped with the representation of a haunted female face. "What kind of a name is 'Whispering Cairn'? How's a cairn supposed to whisper?"
The elf is a sleek, confident-looking woman with a longbow slung over her shoulder.
The other human, a balding, dark-haired man in a high-collared red cape fastened with a skull clasp, smirks. "What are you all doing here?"
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Robin stares uneasily at the elf with the longbow on a horse, and compares her to himself with a longbow on a horse. "Well, there goes everything my mother taught me about being special."
He smiles warmly. "You know, I haven't the faintest idea. Perhaps it's very windy, which creates the illusion of whispering! Alternatively, we may be wrong. Most likely, in fact! Perhaps we meant another cairn. There are a lot of them, you know."
Puzzled by the sudden appearance of these strangers, Tanith remains silent and tries to determine their intent. More friends of Erep and Robin maybe?
The one looks like he might be a good wrestler.
"Oh!" The big man blinks. "Uh, okay. Yeah, we're going to the Stirgenest Cairn."
The elf and smaller human both look annoyed. The latter scowls at Robin. "Don't insult mine and Tirra's intelligence, boy. We don't care if you're going to the Whispering Cairn--everyone knows that place is dead. Just don't try and follow us. The Stirgenest is ours. If you get in our way, you're going down."
Any local of Diamond Lake knows that the Stirgenest has been empty for a long, long time. In addition, it earned its name by the several hives of the giant mosquito-like creatures that have made it their home.
Carina doesn't acknowledge the arrival of the newcomers, instead choosing to pore over her formula book in preparation for the trip.
Okay... bombs? Always. Got four of them right now, might need to brew a new batch inside...
The mention of Stirgenest Cairn causes her to snicker, however.
Oh, how wrong those three morons are...
Tanith furrows his brow. ”What’re you going there for? That place has been empty for years.”
"Ha!" The small man sneers. "Of course you would say that, meathead."
Tirra looks a bit bored. "Conventional wisdom says all the cairns're empty, but Khellek's never been...'conventional'."
Carina snaps her book shut.
"Well, don't let us keep you. Go ahead, and best of luck to the three of you." She says, starting off in the direction of the Whispering Cairn.
"You guys coming?" She looks back at her party. Her tail makes a beckoning motion.
Tanith laughs heartily - among Kord's faithful meathead was a high compliment. "Best of luck friends!"
The huge suel lumbers after Carina.
"Right, right." The big man urges his horse around. Khellek follows.
Tirra turns as well, but calls back, "Oh, by the way, Khellek ran into a few wolves earlier. Might wanna keep an eye out."
"Wonderful." Robin sighs and rides on to the rest of the group.
Carina sneaks rather worried glances at Robin's horse. The incident that resulted in Robin losing his old horse still haunts her, from the looks of things.
Well, his new horse seems healthy enough. And don't get any ideas--I was younger then. More foolish. I won't let you feed again. Promises, promises, promises. Aren't they always made to be broken? No. They never are.
"I can't quite make out this map." he says while they're passing it around.
-------------------------------
When the other people mention Stirgenest cairn, Farrukh looks at them like they're idiots.
"You know, I delved into that place myself a few years back. I can tell you true that it's empty of anything besides disappointment."
"You've come a long way from the Free City, I'm sorry you've wasted your time."
Khellek rolls his eyes as he turns away. "Of course you would say that, Ketite. You probably just poked the walls with a stick and called it a day."
"Can I also see that vial?" If Carina gives it to him, Erip makes a cursory examination of the empty healing vial. He also surreptitiously examines any magical auras in the group as they walk.
[
"Robin, what kind of fish is that?"
When they arrive at the cairn, Erip polysyllabically gargles and waves a miniature cloak over Cuetzpalli; he should be quicker to react to danger, and more resilient.
The vial has been empty for years, though Erip can guess this potion once contained the weakest type of healing spell, cure light wounds.
After the adventurers from the Free City leave, Cuetzpalli says, "That big one is a champion of the arena back in Greyhawk." He listens to the others chatter but is too shy to really say anything. When there is finally a lull in conversation he says, "My name is Cuetzpalli, and this is Spiny. Now that we have a map, we can proceed to the Cairn, yes?"
The journey through the Cairn Hills only takes about ten minutes, and the group soon arrives at their unmistakeable destination. The entrance lies at the bottom of a hill, a monolith-lined portal partially obscured by underbrush and boulders. It's about ten feet wide, but it appears to get more spacious inside.
You have arrived at the Whispering Cairn.
"I will go first," Cuetzpalli offers, taking out his shield and terbutje. He whistles for Spiny to follow and moves into the entrance.
His brawny frame bristling with anticipation, Tanith undoes the buckles holding his poleaxe in place and follows after the olman.
Cuetzpalli and Spiny see nothing peculiar as they enter the old tomb.
Natural light dimly illuminates a long hallway extending north into darkness. A faint breeze brings with it sibilant whispers that sound almost like sighing breath.
The walls bear horizontal bands of deceptively simple geometric patterns. In places the bands reveal startling detail, but in others the walls look as though they have been hacked apart with weapons or eroded by the rigors of time. Flakes of ancient paint, brilliant purple and a dull mustard hue, still cling to the walls in places, hinting at what must once have been a riot of color. A thin carpet of dust coats the floor.
Just inside the darkened tomb, the hallway branches into shallow alcoves to the east and west. Here the walls bear the most significant damage. Dozens of clumsy etchings may the beautiful ancient masonry like graffiti on a city wall. A clump of soiled cloth about the size of a halfling rests in the rounded terminus of the western alcove.
Outside, the wind picks up, and a chorus of almost human sounds rises from the darkened hall.
"Wolves live in this cairn. Stay alert! There is a dim green light up ahead. Can anyone make magical light?" Cuetzpalli goes over to examine the bundle of cloth, poking it with his terbutje. If it doesn't move he will pick it up and see what it is.
The bundle is nothing but a moldy, cracked bedroll. When Cuetzpallo pokes it, several whittling shavings fall out, along with something small.
On closer examination, the small object appears to be an unfinished carving of a scarab beetle. It's remarkably intricate.
Tanith grunts and shakes his head. "No magic light here."
"Look at this," Cuetzpalli says, holding up the wooden carving.
Proceeding down the dark hallway, the party hears the whispering grow louder for a moment. It almost sounds like words, but not in any language they've ever heard.
The western hall extends perhaps forty feet, ending at a small marble platform raised about six inches off the floor. A strange, shattered arcane apparatus rests upon this platform, its curved ovular frame giving the appearance of a noble's dressing mirror.
Only a third of the frame remains. An unusual arcane glyph about the size of a man's head has been delicately carved into the baseplate of the support platform.
Fifteen feet down the eastern hall, a huge pile of collapsed rubble blocks the alcove from top to bottom. It looks like it would take weeks to tunnel through the densely-packed debris.
"What is it?" the big suel asks at Cuetzpalli's discovery. "Is it treasure?"
Peering into the next room, Tanith is further puzzled by the strange sight. "Some kinda statue."
Only a third of the frame remains. An unusual arcane glyph about the size of a man's head has been delicately carved into the baseplate of the support platform.
"Erip? This is your specialty isn't it?"
For the most part, Carina follows quietly behind the rest of the team, knife & bombs at the ready.
The sight of the bedroll & the carving causes her to remember some stories she heard the locals tell while they were waiting for her mother's healing expertise.
"Uh... that carving there? That's apparently from Venelle's daughter who went missing six years ago here. See, the local youths dare each other to spend a night in here as a test of bravery. After she vanished, they stopped coming here."
She keeps quiet about the possible worth of the carving, not sure how much its worth.
The statue that Farrukh points out piques her curiosity. She decides to take a closer look at the runes.
She whistles. "Wow... these runes here are symbols that symbolize transportation. Not only that, but apparently these symbols signify that someone very powerful is buried here, like a monarch or general."
She keeps going, her hands wringing. "That's not all. Take a look at the letters--they're an ancient glyph-language of Vaati. Some scholars I've met consider it to be a wind sorcerer who kidnaps young women because he can't get laid the original written form of Auran." Her eyes go wide. "We're standing in a tomb of the Wind Dukes! Creators of the Rod of Seven Parts! There was a great big battle and everything!" She starts bouncing up and down with glee.
"Just think of all the goodies we can find here!"
Erip peers at the unfinished carving in Carina's hands. "Mind if I . . .?" When he gets it, he turns it over a few times.
"Yes, what a sad story . . ."
When Cuetzpalli asks, Erip curses. "Oh! Yes, of course, sorry." He whispers a sibilant rhyme, plucking one of his fireflies from its jar. When he touches Tanith's bardiche, a garish yellow light slowly flickers into being along its haft.
As he follows Tanith into the western hallway, Erip waves another cloak over Carina, making similar sounds and gestures. He hands her back the beetle carving.
"O, goodness! I wish I'd brought some charcoal, or better digging implements." Erip clicks his tongue and lips and holds his hands perfectly vertical again, then holds them in front of the statue, the shards, and the carving (assuming Carina still has it out).
"Should we continue on?" Erip moves back east along the corridor, waiting at the corner for someone tough-looking like Robin or Farrukh.
Robin pats Bermintrude on the back before going inside. "Wait here."
He follows the group inside, remaining silent until Erip speaks. "Let's." He strolls towards the dwarf, starting to whistle. "What's this rod Carina is talking about?"
Cuetzpalli grunts and with Spiny at his heel continues on down the passage.