Sienna leans against Cyna. "Yeah, I think we'll be okay."
Garf takes each of the spices and smells them, savoring their aroma. "Garf happy. Garf thanks you."
He pulls Tesia into a bear hug and squeezes her for a moment before releasing her. "Garf cook better now."
He hunkers down by the fire pit and starts seasoning the chicken and potatoes.
A little surprised by the hug she laughs after catching her breath, "Sure, no problem." She sure did like making people happy.
Sadhana chuckles with amusement at the exchange. "So Ruedo, you said you had to deal with two different sets of cultists. Do you know if theye were members of the same cult?" the magus asks looking around.
"It's a bit of a story so you might as well make yourselves comfortable while Garf finishes dinner," Ruedo answers.
Rhadaya smiles, as usual, enjoying her wife's positive effect on most people.
Madero brings out some bedrolls and other padding and sets it around for everyone to sit on.
Tesia finds a place to sit and pulls her wife down into her lap.
Cyna finds a decent spot for herself and Sienna.
As the group settles in, Ruedo clears his throat. "These ruins are from the late second/early third age and used to be a pilgrimage site for a demigod of magic and secrecy. All we know is that the demigod is most likely dead, a casualty of Norgorber ascension. We haven't uncovered a lot of useful knowledge, since most of the ruins have sunk underground over the past hundred years or so. However, the two cults seem to be separate factions of this demigod."
He pauses to collect his thoughts. "One cult, the Cult of the Pale Hand, is dedicated to assassination. They've come a few times trying to kill us, but they are few in number these days and Garf has been pretty handy in driving them off. The other cult, the Cult of the Dread Eye, is more interested in collecting whatever artifacts may be remaining here. They believe that with enough faith and magic, they can bring back the demigod."
Mirrin listens intently, though she retreats into her own thoughts every so often.
"Didn't seem like that long of a story," Magestreia remarks.
"Well, he didn't get to the interesting part," Nolletta says. "Can any of you detect magic?"
"Yes, what should we be looking at?" Sādhanā asks, whispering a word as her eyes begin glowing blue.
Celia finds a spot to settle down and listen.
As soon as Sadhana looks where Nolletta directs her, the magus sees a bright light deep underground.
Nolletta points toward one of larger remains of a building. "Look there and then look down toward the ground."
Like Sadhana, Tesia's eyes begin to glow blue as she looks in the place indicated by Nolletta.
"To be seen so brightly from the surface gives me reason to believe that this is far more powerful than some demigod's artifact," Nolletta reasons.
"Some inconsistencies in the architecture lead me to believe that there is more here than meets the eye," Ruedo continues. "But whatever that thing below might be, it does not need to be in the hands of cultists who would use it toward...nefarious ends. Its magical aura already lends it an immeasurable value and it should be in the hands of some trusted scholars."
"The inconsistencies lead us to believe that, before this was a shrine to a demigod, it was a temple to Anakhelm of the First Pantheon," Madero says with a bit of awe in his voice. "Imagine such a thing still in existence."
Shaking her head, Tesia returns her vision to normal. "Well...damn...that seems pretty important too, but we kind of have a deadline that we're working with to keep Vesaria from being utterly wiped out....otherwise we would stay and help you with these cultists. I just....we wouldn't want it to fall into the wrong hands either. There's already more than enough evil bastards running around, we don't need to let them have more power."
She chews on one of her nails before looking over at Sadhana, "What do you think we should do? Is there any way we can get word back to Valwick and possibly send them some reinforcements so that they can finish their work here? I've seen tons of people pouring into that town almost on a daily basis....surely there would be someone there that could help them hold things here while they work so it doesn't all fall on them?" She asks, obviously concerned with their safety as well as keeping the artifact....or whatever it was out of the wrong hands.
Garf starts taking dinner off the fire and plating it up for everyone. "Garf hope you enjoy."
"Could it be a seed of the Great Tree?" Mirrin says, looking to Sadhana and Celia. "Anakhelm was the god who saved the Anizari. If this was his temple, could such a thing been saved?"
While she didn't really know that much about the Anizari aside from what she had learned by listening to Sadhana and some of the others talk, she was wondering if there would have been any information that the druids would know about it if it were some king of "tree". She wracks her brain for any tidbit of useful information
Tesia's heard about a Great Tree on Zahvroma...and other continents. It's hard keeping all those tales straight.
She kind of shrugs, "I've heard tales, but it's hard to keep things straight and I don't think I'd know anything useful."
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Cyna hums. "I've never been all that good with following along with the History of the Anizari..."
Cyna thinks on it for a moment and sees no reason to doubt Mirrin's assessment. The specifics of such a seed and how to cultivate it are a bit out of her purview.
"We didn't expect any help," Ruedo says. "But the thought is appreciated."
She looks at Sadhana to see what she might say. Tesia knew what her own answer to that would be, but she wouldn't speak for the rest of the group. Even if they couldn't stay themselves, maybe they could request help from Valwick...or at least make Barclay aware of the situation. She wanted to wait and see what Sadhana, or some of the others thought first.
Without firsthand exposure to the inconsistencies, Sadhana and Celia could not say with absolute certainty that this used to be a temple of Anakhelm. The ruins that remain on the surface do not resemble the architecture of the Second Age. However, if this was indeed a former temple of Anakhelm, it would be quite likely that a seed of the Great Tree would have been preserved here. Anizari were not known for their forward thinking in the past and, given that most knowledge of Anakhlem has turned to myth, it is impossible to discern whether the god had contingency plans.
Celia had heard tales of the Great Tree and that it thrived in land "of exceeding bounty".
Unsure of what to say for the moment she just takes a plate of food from Garf and tries it. Nodding her head she says, "Oh yes...this is very good. Nice and juicy with a good flavor. You did very well with those spices, and I like it." She then goes back to her plate and waiting to see what they would do.
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"It's not completely impossible that this could be the remnants of a temple of Anakhlem. If it is, a seed of the Great Tree would actually be pretty likely." Sādhanā replies. "If that is the case it definitely isn;t something we'd wnt in the hands of cultists."
Sienna chews on a piece of chicken. "What should we do then?"
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Cyna shrugs. "I could try and track these guys down and... well you know."
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"I suppose that would be the easiest form of help we could offer," Magestreia says with a grin.
Tesia smiles, "Zappola?"
"Do we start now?"
Finishing her bite of food she gestures to their plates, "I'm pretty sure we can finish dinner first...right guys? It won't take you any time at all to track those creeps right Cyna? I've got seven more hours of flight time in me for today if we need to use it to get to them faster. I can just fly a lower to the ground so that you can spot them easier. If we get a good enough description of them, I can help you find them from the air and then we can all go in hot and heavy like yeah? It's just a thought though, I just wasn't sure what was easiest for you, and if we should all go together or let you scout and then we move in. I just don't like the idea of splitting up, nothing good seems to come of it." She says, throwing in her two coppers.
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"I'm all for going in hot, they won't know what hit 'em." Rhadaya says with a grin.
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"That definitely works, eliminate the problem at the source." Sadhana says with a nod. "We tend to do better with proactive solutions anyway"
She smiles and nods, "Okay, dinner and then the kicking of much butt it is."
Celia chuckles at Tesia's enthusiasm.
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"I won't really know until I try. If nothing else I'm sure they'll show up again eventually." Cyna says.