"Indeed, that was very kind. Though I'm still not sure we can talk to him properly."
Gallidren smiles at the frog man and follows him into the hut. "Lead on friend."
He turns to the others. "He's invited us in - let's not be rude!"
"Weird frog tea party time?" Marcus said with a bemused shake of his head as he entered the frog's hovel. "This is surreal."
"Weird frog tea party time?" Marcus said with a bemused shake of his head as he entered the frog's hovel. "This is surreal."
"You don't often meet new creatures out in these parts?"
"Not really. It's dangerous out here. Most folks travel in force, and we kinda learn which areas to avoid. Sometimes we see signs of various creatures, but they tend to avoid armed folks. I've seen more fantastic stuff in the last few months than I have in years before."
"Observation. Magic that allows us to communicate with them would aid us greatly in finding out how long they have been here and what their numbers are.
Suggestion. If we do not have this magic, we should get it. We may encounter more such odd creatures as we explore regions unknown.
Conjecture. They must have some numbers else the Bandits would likely have struck them all down by now".
Creon then enters the dwelling of the odd creatures.
"I can prepare a spell that lets me understand most languages," Annika says. "It's considered important to be able to understand poetry and literature in other languages in the temple. But I don't have it prepared today. I was more prepared for battle than needing to speak frogman. But it also doesn't let me return the favor so it would still be a challenge to communicate."
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"Y'know, Kahu, the Ol' Kingdoms are full of strange and mystical creatures. But Marcus' right, things tend t'be dangerous." comkents the hunter as the group follows Frogman inside.
"Alas, the Father only gift this humble servant with the ability t'speak with animals... and it'd be foolish t'think our friend here is one. Perhaps till Missus Valarius can understand it we can try t'speak with him... using drawings?"
Trailing after the group, "I do not have much beyond the ground to draw on but Marcus mentioned charades. Not normally something I have played in a room with sober people but either should work. At least he likes us for the moment."
"I have only heard of charades, but if you're skilled, I'd like to see how well they work." Kahurangi was somewhat amused at the prospect of a muscular warrior flailing about, but he also felt people from more "proper" civilization would far better with the communications.
"Query. What are charades?"
"If I were to flip you off, but you didn't know what it meant, do you think you could guess that you were being insulted?" Marcus asked Creon.
"Response. I would if I understood the gesture. So this is a game of gestures.
Further Inquiry. Does this game utilize universal symbolism or local custom as gestures or a mix of both?"
"Both." Marcus answered.
When the group follows the frog man into the building, he hops slowly toward the corner and gestures around to the disheveled room. Part of the ceiling has collapsed inward and was replaced by someone in the past with several boards that have now begun to rot. Still, the creature seems to have made a small bed for himself and the slurk, and he beckons you all in closer after he sits. "Truce!" he says again happily, with what passes for a smile on his frog-like face. "Me," he says, patting the ground at his feet. He grunts and points behind him; through the holes in the old stone you can see he's gesturing to the other dilapidated building in the clearing. "You," he says simply, pointing at it a few more times for emphasis. Afterward he sits silently, his hands resting on his knees while his slurk settles in beside him.
"I'm guessing our friend wants us to check that building," hypothesized Kahurangi. "Who wants to go?"
"That or he's giving us a place to stay for helping him out." Marcus said moving in the direction of the old house. "Let's take a look."
Creon nods to Kahurangi and heads towards the other dilapidated building to take a look.
Gallidren follows the others, "That must be the guest house."
With a curious look at the strange froggish creature, Jericho follows the others to the second building, Steak and New Boots close behind him.
Are you bringing your horse inside?" Marcus asked Jericho. "You sure that's a good idea?"
As the group heads inside the other building, they find it abandoned. However, it appears it could be a decent place to hunker down for the night. The building is mostly shielded from the elements and isn't very damp considering the water outside. It wouldn't be particularly comfortable, but it'd be fairly safe and secure.
Gallidren detects magic within the hut and looks for any signs of a trap.
"I'm surprised this place isn't used for something. Good shelter is hard to come by."
Jericho just shakes his head at Marcus as he drops the reins to trail on the ground. The horse, well trained, stands in place as if tethered. He turns to some of the others, "Are we staying here long?"
Gallidren scouts around the building, but doesn't find any traps. The building appears to be utterly barren.
Jericho begins unsaddling Steak, hobbling and picketing the stallion close by. He spends some time brushing Steaks, speaking to the horse in a soothing voice as he always did in the evening.
"Stay, guard," he says to New Boots as he picks up the tack to take it inside.
He stakes out a corner of the building, stacking his gear neatly, "Jonathan, if you would be so kind, could you take a look at the grasses and such where I picketed Steak? I just want to be sure none of them will be harmful when he eats them."
He stakes out a corner of the building, stacking his gear neatly, "Jonathan, if you would be so kind, could you take a look at the grasses and such where I picketed Steak? I just want to be sure none of them will be harmful when he eats them."
"I'll be happy to go with him. I feel more at easy under the open sky."
Chief Rongo seemed to want to stay, floating to a tentative perch on Jericho's left shoulder.
"I'm curious what a frog person... thing was doing here anyway. I've never encounter someone like him before. At least he seems comfortable giving us a place to stay."
"So are we making camp here then?" Marcus said opening the door and looking around the shack.
The grass outside is plenty safe for Steak to eat, and as the group takes a look around the last of the sun's light is fading from the sky. It looks like it might be a good time to pack up for the night.
"Statement. I shall take watch, any who wish to join me, may".
"Creon, you're some kind of... golem? Or something like that, right? Do you actually need sleep?" Marcus asked, hoping he wasn't saying something insulting in his ignorance.
The night passes without incident as the party rests, and in the morning their frogman acquaintance waves them off with his now much better looking hand. Venturing north from there takes them back into the thickest parts of the forest, and not long after they find a small cave nestled into the side of one of the hills. The hunters among the group quickly identify the small cave as a boar's den, and a den for a particularly large boar as well; the entrance to the cave and the markings outside indicate this beast is likely larger than a man. It doesn't appear to be here at the moment--probably a good thing--and a bit more poking around finds what appears to be the remains of a human skeleton half-buried in the dirt. It looks as if the boar kicked the dirt over the body at some point in the past, however there doesn't appear to be any more in the area with a cursory glance.
Farther north, the group encounters a rickety bridge. A few members of the party try to cross it as once, at which point the bridge groans heavily under their weight; the rest of the party can cross one-by-one without trouble, but it still seems as if the bridge might collapse at any time.
By the time the group again reaches a stopping point for the night, they've been out of the woods for a while now and now find themselves amongst a large swath of rolling hills. Off in the distance the party occasionally sees some movement--in particular, they're fairly certain at one point they spot a roving band of trolls--but don't encounter anything in person. It isn't hard to position themselves atop a hill during the night for some protection and an easy view of the surrounding area, although it might behoove them to take a more in-depth look around to see if they can't find a more suitable place to camp.
After a long day of travel, Annika is more than happy to camp wherever they can.
Perception
Creon begins to circle the hill to become familiar with it in case a fight breaks out in the night he pauses as he notices something amiss. He then reports his findings to his allies.
"Statement. There appears to be a small crack in the hill which will allow us to squeeze through and camp for the night.
Conjecture. Whatever is inside could be more dangerous than what is out here".
Gallidren shrugs, "I would actually prefer to camp under the open stars. But, we should probably explore the cave and clear it of any dangers."
He casts mage armor on himself.
"If it's too small for Trolls to fit into, I'm sold." Marcus shrugs moving toward the mouth of the cave to take a look around.
On the trek away from the frog, Prophet's about as quiet as he has been. He's been brooding and thoughtful since the fight with the tatzlwyrms, even since the werewolf cave, but the discovery of the fissure prompts him to finally speak up.
"Camping under the stars is all well and good, but I'm not looking to get scratched up again. Let's take a look at this." He's already prepared for a fight, having performed his seance on the road as usual, and the half-orc hefts his greatsword to bear and steps forward. "I'll take the lead if nobody else wants to. See what trouble's in there for us."
Grateful for his allies pointing-out the anomaly he missed, Kahurangi suggested "Those of us able to see in the dark should probably be at the front and back to watch for danger. Though I prefer the open night sky as well, I wouldn't mind making sure there's nothing to ambush us while asleep."
Jericho steps forward with a crooked smile, "I can see pretty well in the dark. Not much a front line kind of fighter though."
"I can see in low light well enough, but I'm not much for going into true darkness. I'll be right behind anyone who wants to go first though."
It's a tight squeeze, but the group manages to make it through the crack in the earth. Not far in the cavern widens and heads downward at a steep angle, the earth giving way fairly easily beneath the party's feet unless they're careful. Still, when they make it to the bottom--about twenty feet down or so--the passage opens up well enough for them all to spread out and look around. While not much light comes down from the hole above, what little light does play against the ground and walls of the cave reveals a few shimmering lines etched deep into the rock.
Gallidren looks around and shrugs. "There's nothing here. This place makes me claustrophobic. Let's go back."
Kahurangi looked at the lustrous lines with interest. "These rocks are pretty. You could make a nice statue out of them if you had the talent."
"Heh. Too bad none of us are sculptors, then, eh?"
"I prefer poetry or song to physical art work. I've never had a talent for creating that sort of thing." She frowns. "It certainly looks familiar though."
"Um... folks? This is gold." Marcus said holding a torch up to a slightly glittery patch of the wall.
"A lot of gold."
Annika whistles. "Nice. Not really much we can do with it now, but we should mark this place on the map. I bet we can make quite a pretty penny off it if we hire a few miners."