"More of them here?", Janira repeats the question, and briefly considers an answer.
"I am honestly not sure about that. It's not the fleas that scare me, however. Other beasts might be an issue, though. Centaurs, harpies, and minotaurs, to be specific. Some of them roam these woods."
"Let's carry on, then. We can't really afford delays such as this one."
You continue to push through the forest. It gets denser with each step, however, and the trail which you set up on eventually disappears completely. Whenever you manage to catch a glimpse of something resembling a dirt road, it is blocked by fallen objects, undergrowth, and various minor delays.
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Ssesrandu flicks his forked tongue in the air several times. "It is difficult to pick up scents to get bearings. That one," he nods towards Cypher, "smells even worse than most humans." He moves to get some distance from the others, and flicks his tongue several more times. "If we find some game trails that lead uphill, that should lead us to your mountains."
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Eadric follows the others while keeping a look out for for centaurs, minotaurs, and especially, harpies, when he notices a patch of flattened grass "Game trails you say?" He jogs over to Cypher "Can I, like, peek at your lil' book? I think I noticed something that might help." A confused look suddenly crosses his face Wait a minute! Did he just say that, like, all humans smell bad? and he starts sniffing his clothes while waiting for Cypher to answer.
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Helme carefully wipes the remains of the bug off of her spear. "That was nasty. Thanks for the support Cyper. Nice outfit." she smiles
Can I borrow your book Cypher? See right here on page 35 it says look for rocks and grasses that have been disturbed. That shows you where other's have walked before." She points out the paragraph to Cypher as they walk along very slowly. She is an Oread after all.
With a coordinated effort, you manage to find a barely visible trail in the undergrowth. You move on forward, making good time.
After a few hours of travel, the dense forest opens to a wide clearing at the base of a sheer cliff. Thick vines cover the surface of the cliff stretching 30 feet overhead.
"Here! The cave entrance is behind those vines," Janira says with a broad smile as she walks to the cliff’s face. She pulls back several layers of vegetation to reveal a narrow crack in the cliff’s surface. "This is where I saw the gillmen enter." As she motions toward the aperture, the surrounding woods come alive with the sound of small animals fleeing some unseen danger and a large creature crashing through the undergrowth.
The halfling worriedly remarks, "Quick, take cover before whatever it is spots us!" As if she’d summoned the creature with her words, a massive horned monstrosity emerges from the trees. Standing eight feet tall on a pair of cloven hooves and wielding a tremendous axe, the bull-headed creature roars with unbridled anger when it spots the group. Wisely assessing that a minotaur is beyond her charges’ capabilities, Janira screams, "A minotaur! There’s little chance we can stand against it. Take this bag," she continues, pulling off her backpack, "and head deeper into the caves. Finish your mission. I’ll lead it away from the caves, lose it in the forest, and join you as soon as I can. Now go! GO!"
She heaves her backpack into the cave, casts a spell, and darts off toward the minotaur before turning to lure it away.
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Given that he wasn't even able to hurt a flea earlier in the day, Eadric reluctantly agrees that a big angry minotaur may be out of his league "We should do what she says, Helme..." He says as he grabs Helme's arm to gently pull her into the cave "Janira, knows what she's doing... I mean, dude, she has way more experience than the rest of us!"
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Cypher shakes their head as their follows them into the cave.
She's a senior Pathfinder, and a spellcaster to. I saw her cast a spell, and she moved rather quickly afterwards, I bet she increased her speed to get away. I'm sure she'll be fine... for now, we've got a cave to explore...
She pulls out their paper and pencil and begins sketching the cave and notating distances as they walked.
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"Ach! If you insist, but wouldn't we have a better cha--Oh, she's gone."
Mori grumbles to himself in dwarven as he follows the others through the crack in the mountainside and into the caves. He continues to grumble to himself while the rest of his crew situates themselves in the dimly lit cave. Eventually, he stops grumbling and clears his throat.
"If you would give me a moment, I think it is well past due for my great-ancestor to join us," the dark haired dwarf requests. He sits on the floor of one of the wider stretches of the tunnel and begins to chant. As the chant progresses, motes of green light begin to dance around the forespeaker's head.
Then, with a soft snap, a ghostly dwarf in ancient armor wielding a large hammer in one hand and carrying a rune inscribed shield in the other appears.
"A minotaur!? I canna believe you dinna let me fight a minotaur!" the ghost gripes almost immediately upon manifestation. "Ah well. Now that we're here, I suppose we'd better watch over these twigs and the tadpole."
"I think he's a nagaji," Mori corrects.
"Whatever."
All vials and scroll-cases are labeled.
Potion of Barkskin
2x Potions of Cure Light Wounds
Potion of Feather Step
Potion of Vanish
Scroll of Entangle
Scroll of Gust of Wind
Scroll of Identify
Scroll of Mage Armor
Scroll of Obscuring Mist
Wand of Burning Hands
Wand of Cure Light Wounds
Acid Flask
2x Alchemist’s Fire
Holy Water
Smokestick
Tanglefoot Bag
Thunderstone
The cave's humid atmosphere hits you immediately after entering. The noise from outside of the cave ceases soon, and you hear droplets of water hit the ground every few seconds. They create a slippery, reflective surface underneath your feet. The tunnel is illuminated by a blue-green fungus that clings to the cave walls - it is clear, that it thrives in this environment, and you have no problems seeing minutae details and textures of the individual walls.
In the distance of the cave, you can hear a quiet rumble of water slowly hurling one rock into another and carving its path deeper and deeper into the mountain. An underground river, perhaps?
Soon after starting your descent, carvings start appearing on the walls, and becoming more frequent as you progress further. They are mostly aquatic animals, but other various shapes appear as well, spirals more frequently than anything else. As you progress deeper underground, the width of the tunnel varies. With a few rare exceptions, you have no problems passing through, however. A rare slip here and there but otherwise a very soothing journey. Compared to the minotaur outside, at least.
The narrow tunnel twists and turns for several hundred feet before slowly opening to a wider passage. A large hole spans the cave’s width and stretches ten feet down the path. The hole is about 20 ft deep, but almost empty otherwise. A small bundle of cloth lies at the bottom. Given the conditions it is in, it looks surprisingly clean. A few feet beyond the hole, the tunnel twists to the right.
Biltri becomes even more translucent and then takes a running leap across the pit.
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"Well I've got some rope, bro, but jumping looks mighty fun!" Eadric jokes as he watches the strange phantom take a leap "Maybe gillmen have, like, little suckers on their hand and feet? Be real easy to climb then." He shrugs off his backpack and pulls out a coil of knotted rope and a grappling hook "But we'll have to make do with good ol' fashioned rope." He looks around for some place strong enough to attach it to.
Due to the mud and moist floor, Biltri -barely- makes it across to the other side.
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Raman examines the hole in the tunnel.
"See the edges here?" he says pointing, "Too smooth to be natural. This was a trap. I've seen plenty of the like in old tombs, but I'd say this one is only been here for about a year, maybe more."
The dwarf stares as the ghostly ancestor leaps the pit. Then he turns to Eadric, takes off his pack, and unslings his maulaxe. "I've got pitons and a grapple here. I'll hammer in a few attachment points."
Using the rope, Eadric climbs down into the pit, no problems whatsoever. The bottom of the pit is a damp place, with water dripping into it from the cave ceiling. Moss is starting to gain a foothold on the part lower walls. In the middle of the pit, a cloth is covering a small pile of broken bones.
The cloth is surprisingly well preserved for the conditions in which it was stored. It also seems to be shimmering in the light. Silver sawdust in the fabric, perhaps?
A few dozen feet beyond the pit, the cave takes a rapid turn. Just beyond the corner, a long wide plank with muddy feet marks is resting against the cave wall.
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Shiny! Eadric marvels at the cloak and shrugs "Waste not, want not..." and stuffs it in his pack before climbing back up where he came from. He hurriedly packs up his rope as the plank is placed across the gap "Hey, Cypher! I think I found something that'll make you feel better... I mean, you dress all fancy and stuff and it is, like, real shiny lookin' cloth." With his climbing gear packed, Eadric follows the others through the cavern.
The translucent dwarf warrior lays the board across the pit once he discovers it.
"Hopefully, someone will be nice enough to bring your rope over to this side," the phantom says with a chuckle.
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Cypher's eyes widen as they look at the cloth.
OH! It's beautiful!
They look at it and murmur something before grinning.
Oh... and it's magic to... not sure the kind of magic though...
They drape it over their shoulders with a grin and then kiss Eadric on the cheek.
You just made this whole affair a lot better. When we get back to Absalom, I'll treat you to some mead... and if your a good boy, maybe a bit more.
They wink as they start to walk away, strutting like the muddy cave is their own personal runway.
The tunnels continue on, leading deeper beneath the Kortos Mountians 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. The carvings in this area are a lot more detailed than the ones in the previous sections, that in combination with the illumination set up implies increased signifficance.
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"Before we go much further does can anyone use some of the things for Janira's pack? I can use both wands if no one else can."
Eadric, still an interesting shade of red after his encounter with Cypher, takes peek at the contents of the backpack "I don't even know what most of that stuff is..." He chuckles "Maybe you should keep hold of most of it?"
Eadric's attention then turns to the carvings on the wall, and he takes special interest in the newer ones "Woah, these would look most excellent on a shield!" He takes out one of the paper sheets Janira gave him and starts to make a chalk rubbing I could, like, make the steel blue like those torches... Oh, and I could ask the guys if they know how to make the designs glow... I bet Toni knows, or maybe..." His mind starts racing as he designs his new shield, and he pays little attention to anything else.
Based on what you have - at some point - studied, or heard of, you recognise the glyphs as passages from a writing known as 'History and Future of Humanity' - the holy text of the dead god Aroden. There is something different about this version, however. It doesn't match the one you heard of and/or read. Perhaps, this is an older version? More true to the original?
Whatever may be the case, you do recognise at least one aspect depicted in the more known book - the aspect of the tailor. The Tailor is depicted sewing together a long cloth of featuring many patterns that wraps around a city like a moat, referencing Aroden’s proclamation that when the fate of all peoples is woven together, it shall be humanity’s greatest strength.
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Cypher stops in front of one of the Glyphs and stares at it for a moment.
You know... I've been studying at a local shrine of Calistria, my goddess... and while I was there, I picked up some things about Aroden, the dead god?
They point at the glyph and trace out its forms.
This seams to be a part of "History And Future of Humanity". I'm no theologian, but this seems to be older than most copies of that book, and doesn't match exactly. It's the story of him as the Tailor, the one who shows that when all our fates are woven together, it'll be humanity's greatest strength.
They shake their head and look uncomfortable, as if happening upon a bad memory.
Not that the jerk going and dying on everyone did much good to weave us all together, leaving everybody who depended on him powerless and alone.
The Scholar is depicted writing on a piece of parchment and then reading from it to passersby, just as Aroden was said to smile on those who recorded history and other knowledge to share it with others.
He is depicted creating shoes, pots, jewelry, and other moveable goods, referencing Aroden’s delight at seeing his people express their ingenuity in creating new products from raw materials.