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Janira breathes deeply, seeming to get her nausea under control. "Is everyone ok? Quick work, especially you, Desirea! Is anyone hurt?"
Seeing the wounds on Wu, she touches his arm, infusing him with positive energy that causes his wounds to close , then draws a wand that's clearly labeled cure light wounds and heals her own wounds.
"We're running a little behind. We better hurry if we're going to get to the caves by nightfall, otherwise we may miss the gillmen entirely!"
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Despite his inability to see, Wu somehow sniffs out the tastiest paths and juiciest shortcuts, making up for lost time and keeping you on schedule!
The dense forest opens to a wide clearing as you approach the base of a sheer cliff. Thick vines cover the surface of the cliff stretching 30 feet overhead.
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“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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As you retreat into the caves you see the Minotaur turn and chase Janira, crashing its way through the dense underbrush. Inside the mouth of the cave, a calm quiet returns as the sounds of the minotaur fade into the distance. Inside Janira’s backpack, you find the following items neatly labeled :
Water dripping from stalactites and the distant rushing of underground streams creates an eerie backdrop as you explore. The caves’ walls are patterned with blue-green luminescent
fungi that provide dim light. Petroglyphs—most depicting marine animals or spiral shapes—periodically decorate the tunnels’ walls, becoming increasingly frequent as you progress deeper into the cave. The rough surface of the carvings provides a natural platform for the fungi, causing it to grow thicker and making the carvings glow slightly brighter than their surroundings.
The narrow tunnel twists and turns for several hundred feet before slowly opening to a wider passage. A large hole spans the entire width of the path and stretches ten feet ahead. At the bottom of the twenty-foot-deep pit lies a small bundle of cloth.
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Wu teeters on the edge of the hole, and then carefully feels its smooth edges with his hands.
Who dug this grave for poor old Wu? He shakes his fist at the ceiling. WU'S NOT DEAD YET, YOU WHIPPERSNAPPERS! With that, he leaps the pit!
Silence from the bottom of the pit. Back in my day we dug graves twice as deep as this, so the old could never escape! HA!
A pause. Where is everyone!? Did they leave old Wu behind? Poor, poor old Wu…
A moment later, the sound of snoring whispers up from the pit.
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Lucius reviews the items and says. "The magical items are beyond my ability. I could make use of some of those alchemical weapons, though."
Eyeing the hole, he goes over to his mount's saddlebags and retrieves a backpack with his adventuring gear - torches, rope, climbing tools, a couple of additional torches - before instructing Cacciatore to stay here and protect Inesorabile. He returns with the rope and begins knotting it. "Anyone have another one of these for the other side?"
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Desirea climbs up and secures a rope. With that in place, you're all able to make your way up to the other side. As you move forward, just out of sight of the hole, you find a wide plank that looks long enough to cross the pit. You think you won't need to worry about climbing on your way back.
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.
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Lucius and Desirea are each able to decipher a section of the carvings. Palakar is too busy talking at it, while Wu spends his time admonishing the wall to stand up straight.
The sections you can make sense of depict parables about Aroden, in two of the twelve guises he takes on in History and Future of Humanity, the principal holy text of Arodenites. Those of you that have knowledge of that text find these parables to be slightly different than the ones you are used to, and you suspect this may be an earlier version of that work. You suspect that these carvings may have once acted as devotional instructions for ancient worshippers.
The two guises of Aroden you can decipher are:
When you've finished examining the carvings, you proceed down the torch-lit passageway to the inner section of the cavern. 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. Kneeling in the water facing away from you is lone man . He makes no indication that he noticed your arrival.
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Oh, hello! You must be one of the Gillmen we were sent here to investigate. How are you doing? What are you doing here? I know someone who lives on Gilman street, have you been there? Do you mind if I share your pool?
The last one she actually pauses for an answer, and might perceive something about him.
. Nope. Continues to babble like a brook.
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The gillman make no sign that he hears Palakar's babbling. In fact, he doesn't respond to your presence at all until Wu stumbles into the water, bumping into him. He turns to regard the old monk, a smirk on his face, and then looks the rest of you over, remaining silent. He does not seem hostile or even particularly annoyed by your intrusion, but neither does he seem very friendly.
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Oh hey, you like the coat? We found it in a pit back by the entrance. Wu tried to jump over the pit but fell in, but luckily the coat broke his fall. So are you bonding with this pond? I love to bond with every pond I come to! Palakar tried to bond with the pond, but is a halfling not a Naiad, so it doesn't actually do anything. So mostly she just splashes around a bit.
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DO YOU WANT THIS COAT?
The water's warm enough. My toes ain't grimy no more. A free gift of cleanliness, a free blanky to swaddle in, like I swaddled in the grave they dug back there. It was like a womb. Is it your grave? Maybe! This might be your cloak too, or your swaddle, to clutch in the dark while your daughters and sons forget you, ungrateful as they surely are, marching to forever!
YOUTH!
Wu shoves the cloak to the Gillman, clucking loudly: SOME PEOPLE, NO PLEASING THEM. JUST INSANE! NOTHING YOU CAN DO.
OFF WE GO. He splashes in the water.
He whispers: Where?
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Desirea loudly sighs at how the situation has progressed. She goes to stand before the gillmen, holding her hands up in a gesture of peace and respect.
Honorable sir, please forgive our handicapped companion. Our elders have sent us here to give you greetings. We would like to learn of these caverns from you.
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This is nice water. A bit salty. Sorry my friend threw the cloak at you - he can't see so his aim might be bad. Anyways, we wanted to know why you guys come here every full moon. A friend of ours noticed you guys while doing a project outside. Being naive and full of herself, Palakar tries to diplomacy herself instead of aiding.
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A smile cracks the man's stoic face. "Don't worry about it. Thank you for returning the cloak. I'm sure it belongs to one of my people."
”The waters of this place are holy to my people, particularly at the time of the full moon. Many of us make pilgrimages here to pay our respects."
I believe it was once a place holy to humanity as well, particularly the god Aroden. His influence has clearly faded, though, as evidenced by the carvings in the last room. Soon, I suspect, it will be gone entirely.”[/b]
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Now that you are closer, you can see more clearly the most unique feature of the cavern: 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.
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Many of us make pilgrimages here to pay our respects
WHAT? You pillage here and say threats? Wu crawls about in the pool, carefully feeling the miniature city. A centipede wriggles atop his head.
Well… Old Wu never knew such tomfoolery as this — not in all his days! This city here is too small for that — its denizens probably barter with grains of sand and the like! Nothing worth a pillage, I tell you. And nary a threat but the frogs! And the frogs, they don't listen. No one listens anymore. No good I tell you! They used to build cities proper in my day, none of this lackadaisical, lazy, tiny city building. Sure you save on parts, but it's too small for code! When good's it do ya when the folks come to move in, and no one can even fit a pinky toe in the door? They throw out grandpa first, is what they do! Where's that get ya!? Old Wu, in a tiny city, on the cold streets with the croaking urchins and sneaky frogs! Build it big, I say: sky high, like they did in the good old days. Those were the real cities, yessir!
While he rambles, he tries to catch some frogs for his lunch, but most jump into the water while he blunders about. Drool splatters on a tiny minaret like rain.
commere… ya tiny-city froggies. Old Wu jus' need some old butter and steal a nip of day-old milk… a twig and a hot fire…
He puts the captured frog into his pocket and rubs his hands, mumbling about ingredients. A moment later the frog hops free; Wu continues to dream of buttery delights.