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Celeb offers up a prayer of protection as he watches Janira as she leads the minotaur away from the group. His respect and admiration for their diminutive leader increases as she goes.
With a sigh, he turns to follow his allies into the cave. After some ways in, he relaxes his draw on the bow and replaces the arrow in his quiver. The dim glow from the algae provides a bit of relief as Celeb was expecting complete darkness. His elven sight allows him to see without difficulty, and he seems fascinated by the petroglyphs, pausing with Nikolai as he sketches in his notebook.
As they approach the pit, Celeb once again becomes wary. He draws an arrow and nocks it to the string. As the rest either descend into the pit or leap across, he elects to stay on the near side, watching both the bottom and across the pit, ready to fire at any sign of danger.
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When the bundle doesn't respond, Nikolai picks it up, slings it over his shoulder, and throws his rope up to his more agile allies on the other side of the pit, taking 10 to climb up the other side.
Once there, he spreads the bundle out, and steps back to give his fellow Pathfinders the ability to examine it as well.
"Do cave flappys usually look like this?" the gnome asks Garret while scratching his head.
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Upon inspection, the bundle appears to be a cloak or cape.
About 30 feet further into the tunnel, the group finds a wooden plank, -20 feet in length- resting along the side of the cave.
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The tunnels continue on, with the petroglyphs occurring with increasing frequency. The tunnels lead 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 carvings here are different in style from the petroglyphs found elsewhere in the caves. Totaling twelve, the majority of them are eroded beyond recognition. Four of them remain in a state beyond complete erosion, but are difficult to make out. There appear to be a excerpts of script remaining with these four, but they are difficult to identify.
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Though it may be stating the obvious, as they pass the plank in the tunnel, Celeb remarks. "Looks like a walkway, and as its on this side of the pit, I would guess we have company ahead." Celeb again nocks an arrow in preparation.
As they reach the cavern, Celeb keeps watch on the tunnel entrance on the far side, while noticing the writing.
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Ob looks around, trying to see if he can point anything else out.
Ob addresses the Celeb. "Explore, Report, Cooperate. You might want to lower your bow until you see a threat. We're here to see the reports of Gilmen, and find out there purpose here, not riddle them with arrows. Or our halfling friend could find her way down here by an alternate path.
He then writes of the self-sacraficing behavior of Janira, and how it allowed them to find these caves with many ancient reliefs, of which he personally see very little of...
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Dolgrin makes the best effort at deciphering the reliefs, with help of Niles, Ob, and Nikolai to translate the script, identifying the reliefs as excerpts from History and Future of Humanity, the holy text of Aroden. This text, widely studied due to the now-dead god's breadth of portfolio of humanity, is recognizable, but different from common translations, suggesting that these might represent an earlier version of the work.
The four reliefs are individual carvings that represent Aroden's 12 guises, meant to illustrate his hopes for humanity. Those that can be seen are the Craftsman, the Farmer, the Merchant, and the Thief.
The Craftsman is depicted creating shoes, pots, jewelry, and similar goods. The Farmer can be seen plowing four gutters in a field. The Merchant is seen weighing coins of different sizes. The Thief is depicted stealing a gem from a ship while whispering and showing signs of prayer.
There is little more left to be done in the first chamber of the cavern.
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Nikolai nods as they pass the plank, and Celeb comments about their impending company. While his weapons stay stowed, his anxiousness is clearly visible as an increase in the frequency of the tiny sparks playing across his body.
He resumes his scribbling of the petroglyphs, that is, until they reach the larger cavern. At the sight of the much older reliefs, the gnome's arms lower to his sides, his jaw goes slack in awe.
"Wow."
As the group circles the room, Nikolai begins picking apart the subtle differences in phrasing on each of the reliefs and makes sure to highlight them in his notes, his excitement rising with each subtle change.
After cataloging the visible carvings, he arrives at the wide tunnel that leads deeper into the caves, and is immediately entranced by the flickering, heatless bluish light coming off the torches.
"Ooh! Hey guys, check these out!" Nikolai shouts to the group, before attempting to reach the nearest one and pull it from the wall.
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Celeb calmly replies to Ob, "You forgot one directive - Return Alive. The threats we see, we can deal with. It's those we don't that worry me, and I'd rather not be caught unprepared. As for Janira, Erastil guides my arrows. She is in no danger from me should she turn up unexpected." Celeb crosses the cavern to peer through the further opening, pausing briefly to ponder the pteroglyph of the thief in prayer.
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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 water is a lone gillman.
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Nikolai cautiously approaches the gillman and calls out to him. "We are Pathfinders! We come in peace!"
He turns to the party. "What do gillmen speak, anyway?" he asks, before a lightbulb goes off and he turns back to the gillman and repeats himself, this time in Azlanti.
"Είμαστε Πρωτοπόροι. Ερχόμαστε εν ειρήνη!"