Rav cleans the gun and puts it away, after reloading, and then nods. "Rav find any secrets, if be here."
Palomia doesn't see it... in fact, Palomia narrowly avoids tripping over an obvious rock as she looks around... but Ravboom's keen senses are alert to it - back along the tunnel, there is an area of rock which, in contrast to the other rough-hewn stone, has clearly been shaped into being by artificial means. Tapping it, the astute goblin realises that there is a hollow behind it... and it takes nothing more than brute force to smash it through...
...a small tunnel, for some presenting no option other than to crawl, leads away and to the east - eventually, it opens into a much larger cavern where a 7-foot-long mound of dirt rests at the far end, forming a rough, humanoid shape on the ground. A metal tube, not unlike those protruding from the pillars in the earlier chamber, protrudes from its presumed head - coated in heavy layers of dust.
"This must be it," Drancis whispers to the others. "We should see if this place is safe to enter." He adds, as he peers up at the ceiling, looking for any signs of threats.
Rikkan holds up, wanting to let Ravboom make sure the room is safe for entering beforethe ratfolk messed something up.
Dodging its talons but stepping right up to it, Zoreck presses the barrel of his pistol against the false saint's green-skillned head, and pulls the trigger. The back of its skull explodes outward in a shower of greenish gore, and the horrific thing slumps over, very dead.
"That's how ya do it."
He then steps back to catch his breath from the fight. He then cleans and reloads his gun, holsters it, and then cleans his sword before sheathing it.
"Hmm... No way out. Now what?"
He follows Rav as his goblin friend searches the room. He chuckles at Rav's spectacles. Never thought I'd meet a goblin that wore glasses! he muses.
And then Rav stops, pointing at a section of wall. "Huh. What's so special about...?" Rav then smashes at the wall, revealing a tunnel. "Oh. That. Good job, Boomer! Glad you're on our side! If we ever find another taven, your next round's on me!"
As his friends crawl into the narrow passage, Zoreck shakes his head and mutters, "What could possibly go wrong with crawling into a hole in a lost tomb on a godsforsaken planet...?
Rav makes shushing sounds. He then begins to slowly move around the area and the mound, looking for clues/traps/coins.
Against his better judgement, Zoreck crawls through the hole and joins his friends. He gets back on his feet and surveys the area.
"Huh."
The first tomb that the group had crawled into, where the perverse creature had attacked them, had clearly not been the resting place of St. Albat. Whereas this small cave has a far more reverential feel to it. There is something almost holy here... and when Rikkan, carrying the shards of glass that the group had already discovered, climbs through there is a vivid transformation. Beneath the soil mound in the centre of the cavern, something starts glowing brightly - a warm glow masked only partially by the dirt covering it. And, simultaneously, the shard carried by Rikkan becomes warm and pours light into the chamber...
...but despite the sudden change, nothing else moves or stirs.
"What the...?!"
Zoreck draws his gun and aims it at the glow.
"Rikkan, you okay? Is that chunk of glass getting hot?"
As the feeling of holiness washes over him, he lowers his weapon.
"I think we might need to dig up whatever that is..."
He gestures toward the glowing earth with his pistol.
* * * *
Grit: 4/3
Bullets: 29
Powder: 29
Alchemical cartridges: 20
Drancis' eyes widen as he sees the manifestation of the holy spirit in the chamber. "Do you really think that is a good idea Zoreck? What if it...uhhh...he takes offense at being unearthed like that? Maybe we should see how he reacts to the other crystals we found." Drancis takes out the crystals he has been carrying to see what reaction is triggered here.
Rikkan looks around unsure. ”I think everything is ok. It doesn’t seem hot. Not yet any at. Digging might be uncivilized but we might be able to use that magical trove to unearth him easier...”
Rav shrugs. "Magic, not Rav shtick. Yo, Palo. Palo up."
As more of the crystalline shards 'respond' in their proximity to each other and to the light source beneath the dirt in the cavern, Drancis bringing out the glowing glass that he had been carrying, the walls of the cave start to take on a strange form... it seems, from the manner in which the light from the shards is projecting onto the walls, that images are starting to form.
...but, with the brightest light still obscured by the soil of ages, it is impossible to really determine what the full image might be.
- there is one aura here, seeming to have the same form of divination aura exuded by the fragments of glass already carried by the group, energy pours from the light beneath the dirt...
"Wow Palo, you usually don't volunteer for dangerous stuff," Relas remarks as he follows Palo into the room, sounding impressed. "I think our new friends are rubbing off on you in a good way! They set a good example," he continues cheerfully as he begins to help his summoner dig in the dirt.
"Do you need any help there Pal...lomia?" Drancis asks nervously, "I can help you dig up the...whatever is buried here."
Rikkan pitches in to help with the dig.
With Zoreck and Ravboom standing off to one side, both with their weapons trained on the mound of dirt, the group start to dig... and as they pull the rubble away from the increasingly bright object in the dirt, the shapes coalesce on the walls... and, it doesn't take a scientific eye to realise that the image, projected from the exposed pane and from the shards held by Rikkan and Drancis, is of a field of stars. And, picked out in violet rays, lines seem to trace in a spider's web between the points of light.
...and peace reigns throughout the cavern - whatever had driven the undeath in the other cave, it is not present here.
"This...this must be what we are looking for," Drancis breaths softly, his face alight with excitement. "We need to record this...somehow!"
"Rav take care of this."
Rav studies the stars and the lines, and begins to pull stuff out of his pack and make something out of gears, lenses, bits of wire, and other such oddities.
When he's done, he paces off from the center of the room to each wall, and then measures each wall with paces. Finally, he places the contraption in the center of the room, and puts a candle on the center platform. The gears begin to whirr after being wound, and a second set of stars and lines show up on the wall, fainter, but a match for the map.
Rigo's contraption, a rather wonderful thing of brass, steel and glass, projects something that is a close approximation of the constellations being projected by the pane of glass - and, to a much lesser extent, the shattered fragments held by Rikkan and Drancis... Palomia too, with parchment and ink, manages to sketch out the less intricate details.
It is whilst they are doing this, their focus slowly moving across the projected starfield, that the group realise that the lines running between the various stars are incomplete... indeed, there are violet paths that simply stop in the middle of 'space' and now, standing back, there are entire patches of night sky which are unnaturally devoid of stars. There can be only one conclusion - this pane of the Optus Aeterna, and the fragments of glass scavenged so far, is capable of projecting only a portion of the map that the group will need...
Drancis sighs in disappointment as he realizes this is but a fragment of what the group is looking for. "Well, I suppose if I wanted to safeguard such a treasure like this, I would not keep them all in one place. I would split them apart and secrete each one elsewhere." He shrugs helplessly, "I suppose we had better return to see Sister Kaolin. She would be quite interested in what we have discovered down here and should be happy to know we destroyed that evil spirit! Maybe she knows of other locations of the Optus Aeterna?" He then gathers up the precious treasures and prepared to head back to the entrance chamber.
Rav mutters. "Need figure out how make pieces project, no want have come back here project rest of map." He begins turning his brute force approach to science toward figuring out how to make the pieces in the future work with his apparatus.
Rather out of his element, Zoreck simply watches. "Huh. And Rav... that is a thing of beauty!"
”Yeah, it’d be great to make this contraption portable. This was quite a trudge to get here and I’d hate to have to make this trek yet again,” Rikkan nodded, watching the goblin work.
"Maybe there's something around here we can use for wheels?" Relas suggests. "Or maybe the nice lady upstairs will know of something we can use!"
Rav grins. "Whole idea is take with us and have." He carefully pulls three pins, and the contraption breaks apart into several smaller components, which he then secrets into his pack, metal armatures appearing out of the depths to latch onto and secret away the components. Within a minute, the device is out of sight. "May need consult with magic users on making make shards glow, so no have come back, then just add them to Star Maker and see new stars and such."
With a serenity returning to the underground complex of caves and with the permission of Sister Kaolin granted, the group are able to bring the pane from its resting place into the scorching sunlight of Rythes - after all, the leader of the monastery argues, "The literal illumination of the pane must surely be a sign of St. Albat’s blessing. Whatever it is that you are destined to do, go with our peace upon you... you will however tarry for a few days? We would welcome tales of your journeys and I have several of my brothers who would relish the opportunity to copy the pane of St. Albat for our records"
As and when conversation turns towards the way forwards for the group - and their continued plight stuck on the planet of Rythes, Sister Kaolin frowns momentarily, "There is little more that I can offer you in way of guidance or material assistance... I would counsel maybe that you seek out the monastery of St. Menande to the northwest to see if they have more fragments... more that will tell us of our god's will for Rythes. I must however urge caution as no one has heard from the monastery of St. Menande in over 3 years... we sent an envoy to them some two years back - he was never heard from again".
”Have you heard any rumors about what might have happened there? No travelers venturing this direction that were able to shed any light on things?”
"Perhaps we should try making our way towards the nearest town instead," Drancis considers the situation slowly, "I hate going into a situation blind, especially since no one travelling up there has returned!"
Rav goes the Sister one better than her request. He sets up his machine in a section of the cave that's about the right size, lights the candle, and then uses some paints to paint the images on the wall. When he's done, he turns off the machine, and the good Monks have the images from the panels. "There, now you have images from panels. If able get back, will fill in missing bits. If not, at least have this much and can seek rest."
When the discussion turns to the other monastery, Rav's ears twitch. "Maybe do both? Go to town that is on way, or nearest to straight route if none between? Mean go slightly out of way on trip to monastery to hit a town, get supplies, info..."
"This reminds me of part of a fairy tale we heard as children...
"After Sir Marius slew the dread dragon, he rushed to the dungeons, only to find the castle's steward. The steward beheld the knight with gratitude, saying, 'Thank you, Sir Marius, but our princess is in another castle!'"
Sister Kaolin an offer little light on the fate of the monastery of St. Menande, "There are few of us... and to lose another envoy in a mission along the Hellbit Trench, that is not something the Monastery of St. Albat could tolerate. Nor have any travellers coming south been through there - it is as if it no longer exists to us. You must, of course, be careful... may Saint Albat guide your steps"
...and on the topic of resupply, "There are no towns nor villages between here and the lands of St. Menande... we can offer you some provision but it will be sparse fare. If that will not suffice then all I can suggest is a return to Trebelbet... or trying your luck towards the coast"
Drancis considers Kaolin's words carefully. "So would you recommend us taking a longer route to get to the Hellbit Trench then? Are you aware of any coastal settlements on the way there or are we basically on our own?"
Rikkan listened silently while the others tried to figure out the next plan. He was still a bit shook from their new discovery and let the others decide the path for the next bit.
Rav rubs his chin. "Depends on how out of way is to go coastal. Sounds like nobody been coming direct route, may be something there, natural or unnatural. May be better go slightly round about. May also find more information in larger town. If there town on roundboutroute."
Sister Kaolin is good to her word, and the transcription of the glass pane takes little more than a day - time enough to recover, to reprovision and to plan. When the conversation turns to the matter of the route to the monastery, Sister Kaolin simply presents the facts "It's a hard enough trek along the trench to the monastery of Saint Menande - the provisions we can spare will get you there with days to spare - there should be no need to seek any resupply. Besides, to deviate to the coast from here? That's a two day journey each way..."
"Palo, maybe we should just follow the trench if they can give you guys enough food to get you there," Relas suggests. "There's not really anything that we have to have that we don't already, is there?"
”I say we take the shortest route. This place might get even more dangerous in the unexplored lands!”
Drancis nods in agreement, "Agreed. Let's take the shortest path. We can always divert to the coast if we find the going too rough."
"I'm with the majority here: Let's take the shortest path. No offense, Sister Kaolin, but I'm eager to get off this planet if we can."