Rudrik nods in an exaggerated fashion. "Yeeeees, Nime, that." He wipes down his sword and struggles to put it away; obviously the size of the new weapon is still something he's getting used to.
After Nime patches everybody up, you continue across the ravine. The trail winds deeper into the woods for another half-mile before reaching a T-junction going east and west. A set of stones forms an arrow on the path pointing east. It looks like it was placed here recently.
Rudrik nods in an exaggerated fashion. "Yeeeees, Nime, that." He wipes down his sword and struggles to put it away; obviously the size of the new weapon is still something he's getting used to.
Nime raises an eyebrow at the half-orc. "Condescension does not become you, Rudrik," she says. Her affectionate smile belies the rebuke in her words.
"Hang on Nime!" Shenuska says as the oracle approaches her with healing magic. She folds herself into a sitting position and closes her eyes - after a minute or two her wounds suddenly start to close.
"I've purged all the damage it did with the poisons." Shenuska says without opening her eyes, "I'd kiss you if you could fix the puncture wounds though!"
She follows through on her promise and gives Nime a thorough, but reasonably chaste, kiss.
-------------------------------
As the hairs on her neck stand up she halts abruptly and looks around carefully, trying to pinpoint the source.
With her keen senses, Shenuska notices an invisible scrying sensor hovering in the air over her head.
Not noticing Shenuska pausing, Nime looks down at the rocks and smiles. "Well, that makes it easy. We should go east and this good man is expecting us."
She turns to continue in that direction.
Shenuska stops and lets the others go ahead, waving them on if they ask any questions. She doesn't move again until the sensor has gone.
The others head down the eastern pathway. Shenuska waits several minutes, and eventually the sensor disappears. She hustles to catch up to the rest of the group.
You travel for another fifteen minutes or so before coming to a dead-end clearing in the woods. An armored man leans against a tree trunk in a casual pose, but his longsword is drawn, and it crackles with electricity. As you step into view, he calls out, "I have an arrow nocked and you are in my sights, friends. I ask that you not take one step closer or I'll be forced to place my arrow dangerously close to your heart. What is it you wish from me?"
"We were told that you would be able to help us enter Hollow Mountain." Shenuska replies. "Why doesn't your friend come out? We might as well put all our cards on the table here. The Pathfinder Society in Magnimar told us how to find you - we mean no harm."
The man chuckles. "Ah, you see me. Very well, I'll climb down."
The second man who had been hiding in the trees clambers down and favors you with a surly look and an annoyed grunt. He seems to be an identical twin of the first, right down to his equipment.
"It's true, I can help you get into the mountain," the first man says. "I'll warn you that activity on and under Hollow Mountain has increased in the past several weeks. You're walking into a healthy heaping of danger. There are numerous entrances. Is there a particular level that you need to get into?"
"Hello, my name is Nime and these are my friends. We're looking for someone named Kelhuud. Would that be you?"
Her smile widens.
"And I would really prefer not to have an arrow close to me at all, much less near my heart," the oracle continues. One hand moves up as if in warding to her bare chest. "I value my heart very much. One's heart is the seat of love and I don't know what I'd do without love." She tips her head thoughtfully. "Although, I think I would miss muffins almost as much. Especially the ones with berries in them - those are especially good, don't you think?
"We need the man named Kelhuud to lead show us the way into the mountain. We need to turn off a magical portal and we need to find out what the Runelord Alaznist is up to." She frowns a little. "Should I not have mentioned muffins? That was probably rude. I don't imagine you get a chance to eat muffins very often out here in the woods. Although, I would wager, berries are quite plentiful."
"Yes, I am Kelhuud," the first man says, and both men nod at the same time. They listen to Nime rant about muffins. Once she finishes, the first Kelhuud smiles. "Heh, I do miss muffins. You seem like an okay sort of person, ma'am."
"Meh," the second Kelhuud scoffs.
"We need to find the Forges of Wrath. So the entrance nearest those would be helpful." Shenuska pauses and then ploughs on. "What other traffic? We found murdered men on the beach..."
Kelhuud thinks for a moment. "I believe these forges are a sub-level of a region in Hollow Mountain known as the 'Baleful Repository,' a complex that Runelord Alaznist once used to store weapons and armor. While there are multiple entrances into the Baleful Repository from within the mountain itself, the most direct entrance would be from a long-abandoned armory known as the Bloodstone Bunker, located a 10-mile trek from my campsite, up the mountain's northeastern slope."
When Shenuska mentions the murdered men, both Kelhuuds shake their heads simultaneously. "They were no friends of mine. I saw their ship approach a week ago, and watched from a tall tree as they debarked just over a half dozen. They seemed to get in an argument, and then the half dozen slaughtered the two sailors before setting off into the forests. I followed them for a time. Their leader was a mutated monster with a tentacle for a back—he'll fit right in here on the isle."
"Trouble," the second Kelhuud agrees.
The first one continues. "The man and his barbaric traveling companions were headed toward the Bloodstone Bunker. I decided it was best not to follow a group of murderers led by a monster so far from the safety of my base camp.
"Besides them, a trio of fancy folk arrived recently by means unknown to me. I noticed smoke from their campfire while I was out hunting a few days ago, and upon investigating saw the three camped not far to the west out in front of an old shrine to some sort of fish-person monster. I assume the three were adventurers seeking treasure based on their appearances: a human man with a scimitar and clad in a shiny, bright-blue breastplate, a half-elf woman who carried a lucerne hammer and wore a dress that looked like it was made of peacock feathers, and a human woman with red hair and a fancy leather outfit that looked like it was taken right out of some overwrought opera. I haven't seen them aboveground since then, so I assume they entered Hollow Mountain via the shrine, but I've never entered that structure, so I can't be sure. For all I know, the three adventurers are still inside, or maybe even dead."
"Viralane's here?" Nime asks curiously. She looks around at the others. She turns back to Kelhuud. "Could you show us the way to the armory, please?"
"Thank you." Shenuska remembers her manners. "May we camp here or somewhere nearby for the day? We had an unpleasant encounter with some creatures nearby, if we go now we'll end up like the sailors on the beach."
"Of course," Kelhuud says. "I have plenty of food and supplies here to share with you, and I'll take the burden of keeping watch."
"Nothing will get past me," the second Kelhuud assures.
Indeed, you pass the rest of the day in night in the ranger's campsite, and the next morning, you feel refreshed and ready to take on the challenges of Hollow Mountain.
Shenuska walks away from the group and then turns to face the scrying sensor.
"I know you're watching me. And I'm not going to be going anywhere until your spell is lifted. You know I can tell so give up or explain your intentions. If you are a friend then you have no reason to hide. If you are a foe then know that I will find you and extract my answers in person."
She doesn't expect a response but, true to her word, stays exactly where she is until the sensor disappears. (And measuring the time should give her some indication of how powerful the caster is...)
The sensor lingers for a few minutes before disappearing. It seems shorter than the minimum time a scrying spell should last--perhaps the caster dispelled the effect prematurely.
Nime watches Shenuska's interaction with curiosity. When she finishes and returns, the oracle leans in close and whispers to her.
"I'm happy to go to the shrine." Shenuska agrees, happy to support Nime given the healing she received yesterday.
The western path from the intersection runs for about a mile as it climbs up the mountainside. The winding forest path ends in a small clearing before a structure made of pitted, dull yellow stone. A disk of deep-red stone sits beneath an open archway. The building’s facade is weathered and pitted, but images of sea monsters carved into the stone can still be made out, particularly a recurring image of a demonic merfolk with the lower body of a spiny eel.
The remains of a campsite fill the clearing just before the entrance to the yellow stone building.
Rudrik furrows his brow. "Odd choice of colors," he says. "Uh, what kind of shrine is this?"
He pauses and nudges the ground with his foot, then kneels down and touches the dirt and runs it through his fingers. "Hold up. Someone was camped here. Couple days ago - ashes." He stands and paces the area, looking for matted grasses, and picks up a discarded piece of gnawed bone. "Small group? Two, three, four?"
Nime frowns as she wanders around the shrine, her fingers tracing over the carved image of the twisted merfolk.
"This is not a good place," she says simply. "Why would Viralane come here?" The oracle seems genuinely concerned for the diva. "I don't see any paths that will end well for her."
She closes her eyes and lets the breeze wash over her, hoping Shelyn's touch will calm the worry within her. "I hope she's ok."
An oppressive pall hangs over the interior of the building. Aquatic demons and sea monsters stalk the scenes carved into the stony walls, the fiends eviscerating one another with expressions that can be described only as gleeful. A mosaic depicting a six-headed snake decorates the floor, its coiling tail cut off by the western wall. At the midsection of the serpent's body stands what could only a sacrificial altar, copious amounts of blood staining it and the floor around it. What appear to be runes are carved atop the altar, but the dried blood obscures their details.
"Well, I see Bakrakhani interior decor was as subtle as its rulers."
He looked over the room more and started to wonder. "I'm no expert on how long it takes for blood to fade, but either that's magically-sustained or someone's been using this place sometime between now and Earthfall."
Nime points out the mosaic of the coiled hydra. "That's Runelord Thybidos' symbol. He was replaced by Alaznist - she killed him."
She shakes her head in wonderment at the levels beings will sink to and moves closer to examine the mosaic.
"No great surprise there, about her killing him, I mean. I think that was the de riguer method of succession among the Runelords."
Nime doesn't notice anything unusual about the mosaic.
"I say we stay away from the altar." Shenuska opinions. "Either of Theo's ideas are unappealing. Let's move on."
Learning from previous mistakes she casts Mage Armour on herself while things are still quiet!
There doesn't appear to be anywhere else to go in this shrine, but no tracks lead away from the campsite.
"But who's blood is this?" Nime questions, disregarading Shenuska's warning as she moves closer to the shrine to make out the runes. She draws water out of the air to attempt to wash away the blood.
Nime's conjured water does nothing to clear the blood away. The stains remain as vivid as before.
The Undine frowns at her failed effort to clean the shrine. She steps closer and after hesitating a moment, tries to wipe some of the blood away from the carvings. Hopefully they'll reveal more about where the others went.
As soon as Nime touches the "blood," it slithers eerily to life, climbing swiftly up her arm and seeping into her skin!
Nime shrieks and stumbles back from the shrine, shaking her arm in her attempt to shake the 'blood' off.
In her panicked state, Nime attempts to scrap the stuff off with her spear.
Nime babbles for a few seconds before regaining her senses and fighting off the poison. The strange substance writhes for a short time before falling quiescent again.
"T-That's not blood," Nime says, panting, once she's gotten herself under control.
She closes her eyes for a moment and steadies her breathing. Once she's done that, she invokes the soothing power of Shelyn's love to repair the damage.
Calendula watches, silent, worried. Something about this was as familiar as it was unsettling...
"Scarlet bliss," Calendula hisses. "The altars of some demon cults seem to jus exude this foul poison. On th Crusades, we'd always have our clerics douse it with holy water, but some higher magicks can do it too. Fire and water, but to my knowledge, not nothin within our present reach or ability." Hands on hips, she shakes her head and clicks her teeth, judging. "Nothin to do about it I suppose. A shame."
"Couldn't we just ... scrape it off?" Nime questions hesitantly, looking at Rudrik.
Calendula shrugs, scratching her bald head with a single calloused finger. "Never tried it. But it's worth considerin, I s'pose."
"Could you make Holy Water Nime?" Shenuska asks. "It needs silver and a particular spell I believe. Not impossible, if you know the magic. I'm not sure its worth sailing all the way back to Magnimar for it though."
"I can create water," Nime says with a shrug. "But I don't have any way to consecrate it," she finishes with a downward glance of her eyes. "Perhaps Shelyn should have sent a water oracle."
The woman seems genuinely distressed at not being able to provide the group with the divine aid they need.
"Hang on... I remember..." says Rudrik, "... my pa once picked up this weird tablecloth thing, it was really nice but it had this nasty stain on it, kinda like that. Turns out it was part of the altar service of some evil shrine, changed hands many times before it got to us... anyway he was able to figure out that the damn thing was kinda, uh, 'imprisoned' I guess by the power of various other divine agents. In shorthand he scribbled some chalk markings like, uh, this..."
Working carefully, Rudrik is able to scrape the scarlet bliss away without exposing himself to its poisonous touch. Anyone capable of reading Thassilonian can read the runes carved on the surface of the altar: “Those who seek the heart of the Lord of the Scarlet Tide need but to walk the serpent’s path.”
Once Shenuska and Theodric expound on the meaning of the runes, Nime tips her head in confusion.
"But we don't want the heart of this Scarlet Tide demon. We just want to know where the others went. They wouldn't have dared to seek his heart, would they?" She frowns at the possibility. "I really don't think that would end well for them."
She looks down at the mosaic. "That wouldn't, perchance, be the path of the serpent, would it?" She looks over the mosaic carefully, seeking any hint of a connection.
"Maybe..." Shenuska replies, leaving the remaining runes to Theo and looking closely at the mosaic.