"If you ask me, I think someone put it at the bottom of that lake on purpose. They couldn't destroy it, so they hid it away where they figured no one could get to it." Mlinzi suggests that evening as they sat around their camp.
"You are probably right, but we are not them. We are blessed with many gifts, and I believe we must try somehow."
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The Vanara nods in agreement. "I think so, too. What do you think would be the best way to go about it? Apart from Crest, I don't think any of us is very skilled in underwater combat. Perhaps we'd do better using magic?"
"I don't think we should tamper with something we don't yet fully understand." Eleanor chimes in.
"Eleanor is right. We could easily end up doing more harm than good." Crest says.
"We should focus on our task out here, and keep looking for signs of the temple, or Father. He would certainly know what to do with the obelisk. Until then, Nathan's right: we speak of this to no one outside of the family. I'm afraid the dwarves and giants would try to use it in their war..."
Nathan nods as Crest speaks, "Yes, we must just leave this for now and forget about it. We will tell a few of the others but even then knowledge of this should not be known by everyone. Tomorrow morning we will continue our scouting mission as planned and head up the river."
"We should leave it, but we should not forget about it. And maybe we should bury it deeper in the muck," Greebins adds.
Lotham frowns, looking thoughtful, but says nothing. I don't like leaving this thing unharmed..
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Mlinzi is torn. A large part of him agrees with Lotham and thinks that the obelisk should be destroyed, but another part of him worries for the safety of his companions, and he's almost sure the obelisk will not be easy to destroy. He nods. "I suppose we can always come back later to try and destroy it. Perhaps we'll discover more about it on our journeys."
"Don't worry Mlinzi, it won't get far from my mind. And I doubt Nathan will soon forget either."
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Day 14 - Afternoon and evening
The swim back was faster than going out, but combined, the two efforts took a good part of the day, and the group moves ahead, discussing the troubling obelisk beneath the waves. You circle around the northeast side of the lake, and hope to make it upriver soon. Perhaps by the morrow.
By that evening you start to see evidence of the river outflow into the lake and start to find a spot to set up camp for the night, one with perhaps a good vantage point overlooking the river and lake. You find a suitable spot and set your camp and sort out your watches.
Day 15 - Morning
Awake and refreshed, although with perhaps some sore shoulders from the swimming marathon for some of you, you pack up the camp and start to head north up the river.
You make solid time all day along the river's edge. Although the river shore itself is often lineed with trees and heavy growth, walking a bit away from it lets you travel at least somewhat closer to full speed (3/4 for plains, no trail).
Dusk
Towards evening you see and hear a strange noise and peculiar sight. What appears to be a dark cloud appears in the dusky sky. Before long you realize the cloud is creatures flying. As it grows closer, you take cover as a precaution, hiding in the thick brush.
In time the swarm of creatures flies overhead several hundred feet up. It seems to be a large flock of harpy like creatures, flying formation armed with weapons, bows, etc.
You estimate there must be over one hundred of the aerial creatures flying directly downriver towards the lake.
"You don't think they're going to try to do anything with the obelisk, do you?" Mlinzi asks the others, concern in his voice.
Lotham looks uneasily at the harpies. "I think they might. We must follow them and ensure that they pass it by. I wish there were something we could do to detect their intent otherwise, and stop it if it be foul. But they are too many and too fast for us if they mean to continue past the lake."
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Concerned, Crest starts working through their next steps out loud.
"Following them back to the lake yes, but then what? There's nothing we can do against one hundred harpies, and even if they pass by the lake, it's likely they're headed for Cliffort, and we've no means to warn them. This could be bad..."
"I suppose Eleanor and I could get to the lake the fastest, if we leave now and run in and on the river, though splitting up our group again concerns me. Would it be better if we stayed together?"
It takes several minutes for the group of harpies to fly over, and their raucous chatter and squawking fills the air. It is good you took cover, as some of them appear to be keeping watch, with bows drawn, and arrows knocked, ready to fire.
"You are correct Lotham, we have no way to take on that many, but we must go together to see if they try to do anything in the lake. I wish we had some magic way to warn Cliffort."
The group watches as the harpies quickly move on down the river. They are flying quickly, over twice as fast as the group moves (80' move) and you have no hope to keep pace. It is dusk and if you traveled the distance back to the lake, it would be a forced march and your arrival would be well after dark. The only saving possibility is that the harpies would also likely roost and rest soon giving you a chance to catch up. Also, the river is a possible mode of travel, if only you had a boat.
"I may have some spells to help us use the river in the morning, but Lotham, my brave brother, attacking this group would be throwing our lives away with nothing gained. We are outnumbered at least 20 to one and they have the advantage of ranged weapons which you don't have. Unless you have some way of evening the odds, I am afraid we must let them go." Nathan pats Lotham on the back and watches as the cloud disappears.
"If they're going to try and use the obelisk, we may as well throw our lives away trying to stop them. Otherwise, I'm inclined to agree with Nathan. We definitely can't attack them head-on. However, it may still be worth it to follow them and keep track of their movements. If only we had a way to keep up with them. Even with my speed, I can't match them."
"Yes, I believe it is worth at least tracking them to learn what we can."
"I agree with Mlinzi. We can't let them touch the obelisk. If they pass the lake I do not think we can follow them."
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"Unless they are protecting the obelisk. Perhaps we set off an alarm and they are investigating who was mucking about with the thing. We should not assume the worst anymore. As you say, we should investigate, but twice now we have jumped to violence only to learn things were not what they seemed."
"Well, I'm not exactly eager to throw my life away, but I think we ought to investigate. Maybe we can do so without directly confronting them, Nathan? We could stay back-- really, really far back..."
*SQUAWK!*
"See? The parrot agrees!" Greebins gestures happily at the peacock, still confused about it's species.
"That works for me. I will pray for the necessary spells in the morning and we can travel by river to see what they are up to."
Day 15 - Night / Day 16 - Morning
The group settles in for the night having decided on a plan. Hoping that the harpies will have to roost as well for resting, they set up camp and ready themselves for the next day. In the morning, the Dawnbringer comes, and it is time to prepare and implement the plan.
Nathan casts his three spells and forms three rafts for the group. The current is solid but not overly swift. Crest and Eleanor will have their work cut out for them, but the rafts only last four hours. In that time, the group will make it about 12 miles at least (rafts move with the current 3mph or more. The current here is about 3-4mph). They will make it to the lake in time and perhaps have to walk on foot for another hour maximum.
Grabbing some tall saplings the group fashions some quick poles to steer and sets out on their river run.
The group makes their way down the river on the magical rafts. Crest swimming ahead or along side scouting and keeping watch. Eleanor strides serenely along the rafts, her feet tapping the surface lightly.
Towards the end of the day, the small navy of raft-riders reaches seems to be getting towards the lake. The river gets wider and slower moving. Soon the rafts will disappear, and as the group starts to ponder it, the magical rafts disappear, and the group is dumped into the water. Greebins yowls in intense displeasure. With fairly little effort the group makes their way to shore to travel the last mile on foot. Greebins is NOT happy.
As you approach the lake, in the cover of the brush near the river you look out over the lake, and see here and there small groups of harpies flying high, split into smaller groups, dark blobs against the dusky sky.
The group has arrived, somewhat bedraggled, and it appears the harpies are here at the lake. Night is coming soon, and the group must decide how and where it will spend the night.
"We must find some cover. I am afraid we will have no campfire tonight."
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"Yes, definitely not until it's full-dark anyway. When it is, I can summon darkness to keep our fire from giving light- it should still keep us warm though. Until then, anything that draws attention could be lethal. Why don't you all try and dry out, find some respite, and I'll keep an eye on our friends..." Crest says, dipping back into the water, and submerging until everything below his eyes was hidden by the river.
Greebins unhappily climbs up a tree and flops himself over a branch to dry.
The group easily scouts out a safe spot to camp. Crest shrouds an area in darkness, and the group creates a fire. The darkness will hide the light from distant eyes in the sky, but will not obscure the smoke nor the smell. Hopefully the smoke will be of no consequence against the dark sky, the smoke may be detected depending who or what scouts downwind.
The group settles in and watches the skies and for signs of harpy scouts, while Crest goes for a swim. Crest moves about the lake perimeter for a bit, and it seems the harpies are settling in for the night after a short lake patrol at dusk. They, while having darkvision, are limited in its range at night, and thus aerial recon is of little use.
Crest returns to the group later, satisfied that they should be asfe from patrols.
The group plans quietly for potential scenarios the next day.
"Well, we made it back, but now what? They don't seem to have retrieved the obelisk, so that's good, but what can we do against a flock like this? Even if we started picking off their sentries, there's no way we'd even the odds enough to stand against them before getting caught, or wore down."
"Maybe we should wait and see if they move on in the morning? Though there's no chance we could alert Cliffort before they get there, so maybe that's moot. If they are trying to get the obelisk, I don't know how we'd stop them..."
"We may have to settle for knowing they are trying to get the obelisk. If they do we will have to see what we can do to warn everyone."
"Maybe it's just a coincidence that they're here, and this has nothing to do with the obelisk," Crest says, hopefully.
"I mean, we only found it because I was exploring the lake. If we're assuming the harpies are part of the Giant's army, why would they send winged creatures to recover an underwater artifact? Perhaps watching is our only move for now."
"I hope they do not go after the obelisk. If they do, I think we must find a way to sabotage them. However, it seems unlikely that that is why they are here. I think they might have more difficulty retrieving it even than we did."
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"Perhaps they are here to prevent the giants from taking it? We cannot assume the mean ill. Nor can we assume they do not. The stealthiest of us should attempt to get closer and investigate."