|
Davor peers down at the areas that Shanara points out.
Huh you can tell that this is man-made just by those marks? Intersting.
Once the plank is set across, slowly Davor moves across. Once at the other side, he lightly places a hand on the wall taking in the carvings and the tunnel itself. Finally he remembers he should be jotting things down and makes a few hasty sketches of the carvings and a note of the pit.
|
Rollie, thankful somebody else went down into the pit, carefully walks across the plank. Not much of an artist, he does his best to record some of the symbols on the wall on a parchment.
Resettling his gear and reacasting light on his mug he whispers, Ok, lets move on. Be careful.
Rollie lets the more stealthy move in front, but he prefers to be right behind the point.
|
The cloak is indeed magical. The exact magic is beyond Ella to work out.
The tunnels continue on, leading deeper beneath the Kortos
Mounts 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 pathfinders press onwards...
The soft light of the surrounding fungus mixes with the flickering
glow of the nearby torches to reveal a grand chamber. A large
pool of water along the chamber’s southern edge reflects the
blue and green radiance to illuminate the massive stalactites
that cling to the ceiling overhead. Two other tunnels branch off
from this area, leading to the east and west.
Rising up from the pool is a column of rock with steeply
sloped sides and a flat top, as if someone had sawn off the top
of a massive stalagmite. A miniature city carved from this same
stone occupies nearly the entire surface. Tiny trinkets such
as ancient coins, polished semiprecious stones, and ornately
braided loops of string are scattered throughout the diorama,
and pale cave frogs clamber atop it. The smooth cavern floor is
covered in gravel and pebbles along the edge of the pool, and
several foot-long centipedes prowl among the gravel in their
search for prey.
Kneeling in the pool is a figure. On the shore nearby lies a pile of clothes.
This room also has carvings..
|
|
The inscriptions are from the History and Future of Humanity, the principle holy text of Aroden.
You can make out four of the twelve guises of Aroden. Beggar, Craftsman, Thief and Solider.
The Beggar is depicted kneeling with an alms bowl
raised high, representing Aroden espousing humility in
all, lest they forget their shared humanity.
The Craftsman 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.
The Soldier is depicted bearing a lantern through the
streets of a city, following the dead god’s prophecy that
the vigilant shall carry light to the darkest corners of the
world to banish the shadows.
Finally, the Thief is depicted stealing a gem from a
shop while whispering a prayer, an allusion to a passage
saying that larceny—though illegal—is a form of praise,
for anything worth stealing is also worthy of praise for
its craftsmanship.
Rollie feels that within these chambers, the power of Aroden still lurks. By performing a ritual tied to any or all of these carvings, a minor blessing may be acheived.
Interestingly the texts are somewhat different from modern renditions of the History and Future of Humanity.
During this time the figure has not moved.
|
|
Rollie shares his insight with his comrades, "I'd rather not steal and I can't craft anything, and I'd rather not engage in combat if necessary. So I'll wait until our pool friend is done."
Rollie pulls back to a safe distance and records his findings on a parchment.
If after the few minutes it takes to finish his scribblings, the figure is still motionless in the pool, Rollie will approach carefully into the pool, this time carrying his spear.
"I said hello there! He bellows in a loud voice. Sorry to interrupt, but we'd like to ask you some questions"
|
"Oh, hi Mr. Gillman! I'm Ella! We were sent by the Pathfinder Society... they were just curious why you were coming in this cave under the light of the full moon! Could you tell us about that? It would be really helpful!"
Ella's loud and excited nature can be offputting to some, but she does manage to help out a bit, assuming someone else attempts to diplomasize the gillman.
|
|
Rollie looks around for help. Diplomacy has never seen to go well for him, so he joins Ella in assisting the cause..
[b]Um, yes. My name is Rollie. As Ella has said, we are looking for answers on the full moon goings on. Also, our friend was separated from us at the cave entrance when a minotaur showed up. Know anything about that?"
|
|
Seeing his allies not being the best at talking to the Gillman, Davor moves forward and clears his throat knowing he's more apt at forcing his will on others than talking friendly.
Good sir, we mean you no harm. We are explorers and recorders from the Pathfinder's Society. We have been tasked to explore this cave, and incidently see how it is tied to the Gillmen since you have been seen around the cave.
Any information that you could tell us about this cave and what your people are doing here on the full moons would be greatly appreciated.
|
|
The gillman turns to look at Davor.
"My people have come here for many years. It is a long way from the sea, so we refresh our bodies in these waters in preparation for the long trek back."
He pauses.
"These waters are especially pure, and this cave is thus very special to us. "
Aside from the route into the back of the cave, there are two exits out, one to the west and one to the east.
|
|
"I can't help but notice the beautiful carving of Absalom. Is this a shrine of some type? Also, we found this cloak at the bottom of a pit back there... it looks similar to the one here, did you drop it or something?" She indicates the cloak that Shanara is carrying.
"We were sent here by the Pathfinder Society to explore the caves, but we don't wish to disturb you in your... refreshing? Could you tell us what is down those other two paths there? If there's anything worth noting, we would just want to explore those paths, write down our findings, and be on our way." Ella gives the gillman a broad smile, trying to convince him that they mean no harm at all.
|
|
The Gillman shrugs. It appears that while he has taken off his cloak, he is wearing some type of armour while in the pool, as you can hear a metalic clink.
He looks at the cloak. "This once belonged to one of my people. Several have gone missing in these caves in recent times." he looks a little suspiciously at you.
|
|
"I am Uori" says the figure, rising from the water to reclaim the cloak. "And you have my thanks. I know little about these caves, though there is a bad smell that comes from that.." he points to the eastern exit "direction, and the waters sing to me of the pitty patter of feet in that .." here he points to the western exit "direction. Once this was sacred to Aroden. A figment of his power does seem to remain, but my people come here to appreciate the luxery of the pure water, not to worship a dead god."
There is something odd about how he speaks.
|
|
Ella, perhaps we can come back and do some more research. Right now I feel we should try to meet back up with our missing halfling guide.
Davor gives a short bow to the gillman. Thank you Uori for your time and information. If it would not offend you, we would seek to come back and study the fragment of Aroden's power that lingers here. But for now I believe we should be moving.