The group doesn't know about big this cavern is, the sun seems to be the same distance as before away from them to the west. When one of the group decides to climb a tree to go above the canopy. It is much too bright up here to see anything. It's as if the sun didn't have anything covering it's rays. Perhaps if the group fashion something to see better they could possibly see how big this cavern is.
Don't worry, Rybal growls, I speak monkey-man language. Just follow me.
The half-orc stands tall and approaches with his fangs (tusks?) bared, weapons unsheathed. His tone displays no compassion or offering of peace.
Hey! You there! Get over here and tell me what I need to know, or I'll paint those trees with your blood. Give me some answers and you can go about your business unharmed. How big is this place? When does the sun set in here?
Well this could get interesting
Glad for once that he isn't doing the talking Drak will then conceal himself amongst the trees, just in case.
Trogg rolls his eyes. I certainly hope the Charau-Ka see that as the dominance behavior it was intended as, not the declaration of war it could easily be misinterpreted as.
He calls out in a language none of the others understand.
The Charau-Ka are very surprised at the orc that comes looming over them. They are frozen in shock and awe for the first few moments, one of them appears as though he is debating whether to lash out at Rybal. A few fleeting seconds pass before he looks over to the smallest of his kind then says to the Orc.
"Ye lanky jimmy, ye wish tae ken aboot home? Can donder o'er hame, hauf o' na light time. What is .. Th' sun? ye trying tae trick me!?" It manages to all but spit at the orc.
Then looks to Trogg, tilts his head to the side and says. "Aye, ah ken nae howfur tae speak it. Thare ur ithers 'ere that ken that leid."
Rikaku stares in utter bewilderment at the Charau-Ka. It's clear he's having very little success in understanding them at all.
"What say monkies? Why they no speak proper?"
The Charau-Ka looks confused at the kobold, one of the other ones walks up and says to the other. "Kin that lizard hear us? we ur speaking richt."
He may not understand most of their speech, but he does hear the word 'lizard', and the little kobold rears up on his clawed toes angrily. He flaps his wings and flicks his tail, "Rikaku is dragon! No lizard!"
The two Charau-Ka stare at Rikaku in bewilderment and one of them asks: "Dragon, whit's that? .. That lik' ye richt.. Whit's th' difference?"
"Do you know of any place that isn't like this?"
Rybal relaxes a bit, his apparent wrath mollified by the creature's compliance. Frustration shows on his face, though, his inability to comprehend the monkey man causing plain annoyance for Rybal. He stands at the ready, hoping the others can decipher the strange dialect.
Drak wonders if the trip through the portal has addled his brain somehow. He can understand what's being said... barely.
At the moment he will just watch out for other threats that might be in the area.
The Charau-Ka looks at Malthu inquisitively trying to piece together what he wants then says. "That thare, th' sun? we juist ca' it th' light. It wirks something lik', it bides oan fur a while then it turns aff fur a lang time. Then caw back oan. It's a' gey sudden."
The Charau-Ka points to the river saying. "Th' water comes fae th' yin planted tae th' d~!+. Oot o' that cratur comes th' cooncil juice that flows 'ere. It leads ower that wey, tae a mirk steid wi' even mair cooncil water. Underneath th' cooncil water is gey dangerous, a loch o' hee haw bit despair." It the looks over to where the water is flowing and shrieks a bit, before turning to Trogg.
"Thare ur mony places nae lik' this, ilk entrance is mirk. Th' steid beyond is inhospitable. Yin sic entrance we sent a scout, he cam back hoaching with .. Something pure chilly baltic. We dare nae venture bygane they entrances, fur fear o' oor bides." The Charau-Ka is worried about the things it is talking about. Though it fears more the imminent wrath of the orc in front of it.
Drak doesn't notice anything sneaking up on them or approaching them at time passes, though occasionally in the water. He can see something quite small rush by. The water is still crystal blue and he has seen no fish in the depths of the river. Just these strange small shadows that dart past, looking to the sky it never is something causing a shadow beyond the water.
Malthu runs through what they said, asking them to repeat themselves as well. Eventually he gets some semblance of what they are saying. The first thing they said is something along the lines of: 'What you call sun is just 'light'. The light turns on and off quite suddenly when it wants'
The second thing directed at Malthu seems to mean something akin to: 'Water is flowing from a creature off from the source, this source is a creature pinned to something. The water goes to a 'lake' or some reservoir (you aren't sure). There are dangers underneath the water.'
"Jimmy in white? na. A've seen wummin clad in green though." The Charau Ka manages to reply after a little bit of thought.
"Where are these, err, murky entrances you speak of?"
Variel just seems thoroughly confused and still out of his depth.
"Th' wifie in green? Na a dinnae ken her name, she keeked lik' she belonged tae th' trees." The Charau-ka replies to Malthu.
"Th' entrances ur a' bygane th' safety o' th' jungle, up neist tae th' walls. We kin shaw ye yin nearby." It answers back to Trogg.
Clarence sniffs the air, far more interested in finding a grub-filled rotting log than in the chatter of the hairy two-legs. The lack of motion of the 'sun' fills him with a vague unease - will the hot brightness ever end?
Rybal will stand looking imposing.
The Charau-ka after a bit of coercion show you to the entrance closest to where you are. The Charau-ka don't wish to be separated scared of what you might do to them. So they lead you as a group towards the dark entrance. It only takes about 10 minutes on foot heading towards the north. It is a decent trek through the foliage with the Charau-Ka swinging overhead, occasionally stopping to see if the group is all together. Every few moments the party can hear the sound of something beyond the trees. A growl or a call of some larger creature. Each sound is different, there seems to be a whole ecosystem down here of creatures but the question is why?
Eventually the tress part ways to reveal part of the cavern wall. There is a large opening about 15feet tall and 10feet wide. The Charau-Ka point at the opening and say. "Thare is th' black opening."
True to what they were saying you can't see beyond the opening. It is pitch black as if it were a wall painted black set in the cavern wall. Nary a sound can be heard past the opening, but the cacophony of sounds that make up the jungle can still be heard behind you.
Rybal, Malthu, can you guys make anything out
Despite the natural darkvision a few members of the party hold, just by looking at it they can not pierce the darkness at the threshold of this opening.
Rikaku stares intently at the dark entrance, trying to find any hint of magical emanations...
The Charau-Ka shrugs "Th' scout returned cauld.. Hoaching with ice." it replies to Malthu.
Rikaku and Malthu both get some form of detection off of the wall. It is magical and evil both. Possibly something else the man in white put up perhaps? If what the Charau-Ka says is true than it may also be impeding what is on the other side from breaching the jungle. As it isn't cold from where you are standing.
"Ice?" Rikaku blinks; he could understand that word at least. "That better sound than hot jungle here. Rikaku no like." Still, he wasn't quite interested in the apparent evilness either, according to Malthu.
"Have to make mark on wall for Qanikir! We do it here?"
"How long did it take for your scout to return?" Trogg asks the Charau-Ka.
"We could make a mark on a tree, couldn't we?" he asks the party.
Do we really want to go portal hopping so soon? Drak asks everyone gathered.
We don't yet know anything about what lies beyond, and 'caked in ice' does not sound like a welcoming environment. Is there any reason Qanikir might not be in this area? If we move too fast we could miss him completely
"Rikaku think sound welcoming..." the kobold sulks quietly.
"But Drak right, go forward always means miss what behind. Maybe look around more here first and come back? Maybe Trog send earth summon first?"
The Charau-Ka says Th' scout cam back in .. A bawherr while. Something lik'." The Charau-Ka waits for about 15min before replying. "Lik' now!"
The party leaves behind the doorway but writing it down on a map so they don't get lost coming back to this area. They decide to return to the river and move upwind towards it's source. From the jungle the party even reaches what looks like an estuary but this large flow of water is instead being funneled into the river as opposed to spreading out. At the edge of this 'funnel' is a huge black serpent creature. It is pinned to the cavern wall by several large swords and gutted open. There is a clean cut all down the creature's body and clear liquid that you assume, though this is less than certain, is water. The water is trickling down this creatures body and forming a large pool then descending down into the river. The serpent is writhing around clearly still alive. Though it is fighting a losing battle.
Surrounding the serpent there are 3 very tall humanoids These golden-skinned fiends have horns, fangs, and bulging eyes. Each one grips a spiked club in its four-fingered claws. Across their chest tied similar to a sash is a device similar to what you saw some of the creatures have in the mansion. The colour of this device is yellow.
What would the party like to do?