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potion of barkskin, potions of cure light wounds (2), potion of feather step, potion of vanish, scroll of entangle, scroll of gust of wind, scroll of identify, scroll of mage armor (CL 6),scroll of obscuring mist, wand of burning hands (CL 3rd, 4 charges), wand of cure light wounds (CL 3rd, 8 charges), acid, alchemist’s fire (2), holy water, smokestick, tanglefoot bag, thunderstone; antitoxin, sunrods (2)
As you hide in the mouth of the cave, you see the minotaur charge after Janira through the trees, fighting its way through the dense undergrowth. Soon the cacophony of the chase fades and the sounds of the forest slowly return to normal.
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. At the bottom of the pit lies a small bundle of cloth. The pit is 20 feet deep and has 10 feet of water at the bottom. The walls of the pit are rounded to prevent escape. The pit is 10 feet x 10 feet, the passage is 10 feet wide and 10 feet high.
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Sickly moves forward to examine the pit with an experienced eye. "Not natural." He says, after a moment, "Though recent." Though he doesn't really expand much beyond that.
He then backs up a bit, to get enough of a running start, takes a deep breath, breaks out coughing, tries the deep breath thing again, then runs forward and attempts to leap over the gap.
He lands on the far side with a thump, then stops for a moment with his hands on his knees to catch his breath, before pulling out a rope and grapple from his pack.
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Sickly eyes Gratus, as the later lowers himself into the water, dubiously. "Ripe with diseases, no doubt." He mumbles, glad he's not the one swimming through it.
He helps anyone across that he can, occasionally taking a look back behind him down the tunnel in case something's trying to sneak up on them while they're distracted.
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Clair stares at the huge pit with a blank look on her face.
Probably won't be able to jump across...
"Give me a moment." She takes off her scale mail armor, which takes her some time, and ties it to her backpack with a rope. Now able to more her limbs more freely, even though her total weight doesn't decrease, Clair leaps over the pit. Once she's on the other side she dons her armor again.
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Borax: the cloth appears to be a cloak.
Gratus: You let yourself sink into the water and grab the cloak before using the rope to climb up the other side.
[dice=Spellcraft DC 20]The soaking wet cloth cloak is a cloak of resistance +1[/spoiler]
Approximately 30 feet beyond the pit and out of sight around a corner is a long, 3-foot-wide wooden plank that rests against the cave’s wall. The
gillmen evidently placed it here after using it to cross the pit.
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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Handing over the cloak to someone who can identify it, Gratus continues along the way after recording down this occurence and noting its location from the cave. He also includes having to leave Janira upon her orders and entering the cave.
Upon reaching the caverns, he carefully notes and makes stretches of the reliefs and what he can see as he attempts to understand what they could mean.
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Borax, is the only one that seems to be able to decipher anything here. He notices that scattered throughout the cave are inscriptions from the History and Future of Humanity, the principle holy text of Aroden, and images that depict these passages.
The Artist is depicted painting murals on the walls of impressive buildings, associated with Aroden having painted the city of Absalom with beautiful colors so that it might awe all who visited.
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.
You also identify that the sections of the holy text depicted are slightly different than those that appear in the known version of the History and Future of Humanity, suggesting that these might represent an earlier version of the work.
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After using comprehend languages you see that there are only 2 more inscriptions that are still easily identified.
The Beggar is depicted kneeling with an alms bowl raised high, representing Aroden espousing humility in all, lest they forget their shared humanity. To complete the Beggar’s ritual, a PC must kneel before the city, admit a personal shortcoming to another PC, or perform some other act of humility beside the pool.
The Fisherman is depicted hauling in an enormous catch of small fish to take back to Absalom, illustrating Aroden’s declaration that a great host of creatures could accomplish a great task, whether that be taming the wilds or feeding a nation. To complete the Fisherman’s ritual, a PC must snatch one of the blind cave fish that swim in the pool and place it in the miniature city.
To complete the Artist’s ritual, a PC must somehow paint or decorate one or more buildings in the model city.
To complete the Soldier’s ritual, a PC must place a torch or other light source in the city.
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 who doesn't appear to have noticed you.
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Borax smiles to himself at having wrestled the secrets from the cave. His self pride grew from having his skills be so useful. But none of this did he share. Borax did however relate his findings. What was the point of knowing things if others do not know that you know them?
After recording the last of these notes in his notebook, Borax followed the others to cave. Ajah's clumsy introduction earned the Ifrit a condescending shake of Borax's head.
By the gods, does this female have any sense of decorum?
"Please excuse this outsider's oafish introduction. We do not intend any harm or disrespect."
As Borax speaks, he examines the cave for any unusual features.
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As the others attempt to interact with the lone figure in the pool, Sickly starts to mumble something, but instead breaks into a sneezing fit.
"Maybe I'm allergic to gillmen." He gasps finally, once the fit subsides, before backing away slightly.
He decides not to approach any closer, instead taking the time to examine the stalactites and stalagmites with the appreciation of one who's spent alot of time among such, holding up the magical torch to light each one.
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Gratus stows his notebook, already starting to fill with a large amount of notes, and shakes out his cramped hand. He never wrote this much, not even in the temple.
Seeing his companions however..........makes him want to note down their antics as well........but no Asmodeous would want him stotic. Yes Stotic indeed.
Let the others do what must be done. He Gratus will observe.
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"Hello, my name's Clair Vavassour. Have you ever given thought to the way you want your funeral arranged? It's a good idea to take care of such matters before you depart from this world. Your family and friends will have a rough time when you're gone, and you can help them with their loss. Here, have one of our brochures." Clair gives the gillman a brochure with pictures of coffins in a variety of colors, and with the new economy model on the front cover. "Remember our slogan: 'If you're dead, a coffin's your bed.'"
"We're, by the way, here to explore the caves. Just out of curiosity for caves. They're very interesting and all."
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"This site is sacred to gillmen. It was once sacred to Aroden the dead god of humanity, as well, but over the past century, the carvings in the nearby room have weathered and melted, and I fear that soon Aroden’s influence will have faded completely. However, other creatures have invaded the caves and are not so polite as you. Perform your rituals if you wish, but when you are through I have a task for you."
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Borax nods at the gillman as a way of acknowledging that there would no conflict.
Of course we can do what we like. What could a single gillmen do to stop us!!!
Borax turns to the witch, "Yanbrel, would you mind casting this scroll of Mage Armor on me? It seems to be a little more challenging than even I can handle."
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