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She let's out a low whistle as the cavern expands. "Now THIS is more like it. Look at these carvings. These represent some of Aroden's Twelve Guises. The Artist, the Soldier, The Fisherman and my least favorite, the Shepherd."
"This must have been a magnificent temple in its day. You can still feel the magic, though I don't know how much longer it will last."
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Kenta waits patiently for his companions to finish investigating, cataloging and sketching their finds. He simply stands at the edge of the bridge keeping his eyes on the Gilman in the pool. He replies to Ikari, "We will soon find out, once our allies are done with their work."
Once they are done, he takes a look at the bridge to see if it is safe to cross. If it is, he slowly moves across it, carrying the body in his arms.
Stopping just short of a normal tactical move, he sets the body on the ground, still respectfully wrapped in its cloak, and stands. "Excuse me Sir. I believe we have found a friend of yours. It appears he fell into a trap and passed away from his injuries."
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Juzo was about to tell them a discussion would be better before presenting the body but his admiration distracted him long enough for Kenta to walk forward. He lets out a sigh and steps past him to speak.
"My apologies for the abrupt intrusion. My name is Juzo of Taldor, a land a bit farther away. My companion speaks the truth. We found him as we entered the cave to explore. Perhaps we could talk about these wonderful carvings and what you are doing after we lay your kin to rest?" the kitsune offers with a deep bow to the gillman.
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Itami watches the events unfold in silence. I know nothing of the gods beyond Zon-Kuthon. However, even a broken clock is right twice a day; I can make myself useful yet. Like Kenta, he spends his time copying as much of the carvings as he can, noting what his associates say about them.
He merely sighs when they see the living Gillman. Another outsider. No point in exposing myself if I am not amongst my brethren. With the luck we apparently have among us, he won't suspect we killed him ourselves.
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Whiskers wrinkling, he should have heard us, is this... he whispers to his allies, "careful, could be luring us in."
He also notes that his companion seems a bit more smooth with his words so this time when Kenta picks up the body and moves closer he waits for Juzo to speak. He adds afterwards, "we are sorry for your loss."
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Hiiragi, seeking to get his attention, summons a quartet of dancing lights. At a graceful movement of her hand, they bob and swirl towards the gillman. She considers a moment, then decides against having them surround him; instead, she swirls them about ten feet in front of him.
If he takes notice of them, she'll ease them back around the gillman and back to the party, then offer a friendly wave if his eyes follow the shiny lights.
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Hiiragi smiles. "Offerings, typically left at a home altar-- ideally something that her servants can reach. Nothing much-- a bowl of rice, perhaps some tofu. The bits of chicken or rabbit that take pointed teeth to get through are fine; just something to let Her know that She is being remembered and thanked now that the harvest has come in and the belly is full."
She considers a moment, then shifts into her furrier form. Her whiskers ruffle a bit as she gets used to the new trajectory of her nostrils.
"Of course, given our current circumstances, an offering is unlikely although as a servant of Daikitsu technically speaking I could accept some snacks on her behalf to be paid forward later. Regardless, to dedicate the offering and initiate the prayer, one claps twice, like so--"
With this, she closes her eyes, bringing her hands together in two slow, graceful claps in front of her face.
"Bow twice, as so--"
"And clap, once more, and hold your hands together. Lower your head, and give thanks. If requests are to be made, these steps must be followed... and it is best if it is for another's sake, not your own."
Of course, Daikitsu tends to be soft on the rules, especially when the request is particularly sad if left ignored.
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The Gillmen looks up at the lights for a moment, then turns around. Upon seeing the party, he looks quite startled. He simply asks "Who are you and why are you here?" a little nervously.
You can tell that the Gillmen is eyeing the cloak of resistance you found earlier with obvious interest.
The cloak of resistance you found looks extremely similar to the cloak that this Gillmen is wearing. Same color and same style as though they were made in pairs.
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The Gillmen looks intently at Itami as he speaks, thinks for a moment, and then responds, "The cloak belonged to my best friend, Uilo. We didn't expect a pit trap to welcome us on our pilgrimage to these caverns, and sadly Uilo didn't notice it in time and fell in a bad way. He did not survive the fall. I would greatly appreciate it if you could return it to me so that I may place it with Uilo's grave back home."
"In exchange for the cloak, I could give you this wand of Shield of Faith, it has a handful of charges left, but it holds no sentimental value to me compared to the cloak."
He is clearly reading the lips of the people speaking. Odd considering you can hear him quite easily and you believe he should be able to hear you fine as well.
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Hiiragi considers a moment, then mimes a yawn. From behind the hand used to cover her mouth, she says, ”I suspect he may be deaf.”
”We gathered the cloak and Uilo’s remains in hopes of giving him a proper rest; finding his next of kin seems a step better than we had hoped for. You may keep the wand as well,” she offers with a polite bow. ”We do not ask for a reward.”
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Hiiragi leans;
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Kenta moves up and motions to the cloak and body, "Returning him to his people is a goal I seek to complete. I am glad that you will be able to do that. When my allies and I complete our uh... research here, would you allow me to accompany you on that task? If nothing else, to offer my companionship while we travel?"
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"If you think me helpless, you'd be mistaken. I appreciate the offer, and I can return to my people on my own, but if you'd be willing to help carry Uilo for a proper burial, I would very greatful." Uori says to Kenta. "What research are you here for? Some of you appear human, and this is a shrine to Aroden, but what of the fox-men?"
Turning to Itami, "I will give you a word of warning, be careful exploring the cavern to the east, it is filled with undead, some being lost gillmen. If you go to the west, I cannot guess what creatures may be there, as we do not travel or explore that side of the cave, however I know of hidden passage there that leads out of the caves that we seldom use any longer."
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Kenta simply says with a short bow, "it would be my honor to carry Uilo, thank you."
A stern look glazes over his face at the word of warning and he moves towards the east, pulling his sword, "undead must be destroyed and laid to rest, they are... wrong." He waits briefly for his allies to come to the same conclusion.
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"We just wish to know more of what this place is and the denizens. My allies will want to clear out the undead you spoke of...how dreadful...but when we return could you share with us information on these shrines here? I am not of the religious sort so I do not know the significance." he says with a smile knowing that his tricks are going to fall on dead minds against undead.
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"We 'fox-men' follow the Lady Daikitsu. I have observed some parallels between Aroden and Daikitsu's areas of influence; the civilised pursuits. But I did not think to find Gillmen worshipping the dead god of humanity.
Our shared task here is to explore the caves and map them. To complete this task, it seems we shall have to face those undead: do you know any more about them?"
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"In regards to your questions, Pathfinders, I can tell you that these caves are a sacred site to us Gillmen, we come here on a pilgrimage, once every full moon. This wasn't always the case, I know of the human god, Aroden, and that this was some site of importance to his followers before it was sacred to us. They performed quite a number of strange rituals here, or so the stories of my people go. Sadly, it seems that his presence in the world is fading, as his magic in these caverns. While this has little effect on us Gillmen, it is sad to see the passage of time, especially the loss of a race's deity, which is quite a rare occurrence." he says to the group.
"What more to know about these undead is there? They are my fallen comrades and friends for the most part. Gillmen that died on their pilgrimage. While I don't consider myself helpless, I have no wish to fight the undead if I can choose not to." he says to Ikari and Sionnach.
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The cave’s damp air becomes increasingly stale as you continue down through this tunnel, and as you approach this area, the stench of decay grows increasingly evident.
The passage turns to the east and opens into a small cavern littered with bits of broken glass, rotting pieces of paper, and other unusable detritus. There is a body that lies facedown toward the back of the cavern.
You can easily hear the sound of rattling bones and various unnatural groaning from a little deeper in the cavern.
Initiative Order, Bold May Go!
Map Slide
Juzo
Ikari
Hiiragi
Enemies
Kenta
Itami
Sionnach
Toshiko
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Hiiragi grins as she moves forward, flail already at the ready-- they had warning of undead, after all. Approaching the center of the group, she raises a hand to the mark upon her forehead.
In Sylvan, she cries: "By Daikitsu's bounty, return to dust and bones! Relinquish your nutrients to the warm earth!"
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Ikari passes his priestess, meaning to defend her, and sees that the enemies look to be mostly bone.
What a mess! Where can I avoid getting surrounded?
He scans the cavern quickly, and picks a spot that looks to be defensible and to offer opportunities to attack; unfortunately, that spot is adjacent to one of the undead, so he snaps at it with his jaws with the aim of making room to work his spear.
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Ikari bites into one of the skeletons, which is surpisingly effective as the skeleton crumbles. The other 3 move in to surround him, but one gets smashed apart by his wild spear swings around him.
Initiative Order, Bold May Go!
Map Slide
Juzo, 2 rounds
Ikari, 10 damage
Hiiragi
Enemies, red -1
Kenta
Itami
Sionnach
Toshiko
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Hiiragi rushes in, slipping past Sionna, trusting in her armor (and Daikitsu's favor) to protect her. As she reaches the more open space, her body lurches until she's filling the cave with her massive form.
"Not a lot of space to maneuver, but Daikitsu tells me you're better off as bonemeal!" she chimes, as the wrecking ball swings amongst the stalactites overhead. Giving Onna just enough time to pull her rapier out of the skeleton's ribcage, she adjusts her stance, bringing the heavy ball of steel down...
...with a satisfying crunch, most likely.
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The combination of blades, flails, and bites is enough to take down the remaining skeletons!
Combat Over!
As the party explores the cave the discover that among the fallen bodies they realize the face down body is a dhampir necromancer. There is a note written by the dhampir that details plans to start an army of undead made from the “fish people” who have been frequenting this cave. You look around and easily realize that the undead were created by the corpses of Gillmen.
Further investigation finds a fancy ring and dagger, both are clearly masterwork quality.
This is a +1 dagger.
This is a +1 ring of protection.
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Kenta sheathes his sword and begins the arduous task of collecting the Gilman bodies for return to the tribe for consecration and proper burial. He sighs at the discovery of the necromancer, ”when will people learn, don’t mess with death.”
He takes each body out to the main cavern and tells the Gilman what they found.