Uori appears unperturbed by Jon Rooi's actions.
The miniature city is littered with painted rocks, woven headbands, burnt out torches, and centipedes and frogs crawl and hop all over it. Jon Rooi also sees small, blind fish in the water.
Rega finds the air near the eastern tunnel to be cold, dry, and tinged with decay. The air near the western tunnel smells damp, and the kitsune can hear the distant rush of water.
With no further questions directed toward him, Uori settles back into meditation within the waters.
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Rega takes a paper and jots some notes about this encounter with the Gilman, then says, "I bet the Eastern tunnel goes deeper, though I feel it may be... unpleasant. The Western tunnel has running water somewhere ahead. However unpleasant, my vote is the Eastern tunnel so that we may bring back a more full report to the Society.
The cave’s air becomes increasingly stale as you continue down through this tunnel, and as you approach the end, 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. The body of a man lies face down toward the back of the cavern.
Of more immediate concern are the four skeletal bodies dressed in tattered clothes of the same pattern as Uori's and the cloak's. They turn their lifeless eyes towards the tunnel as you approach.
Combat! Round 1. Bold may act.
Jon Rooi
Pink
Ao
Blue Square Skeleton
Blue Circle Skeleton
Paltair
Red Square Skeleton
Red Circle Skeleton
Rega
Pink bounds over to blue square and bites out at the skeleton creature.
Pink bounds into the cave and demolishes one of the skeletons with her bite. Ao and Jon prepare to engage as one of the skeletons crosses the cave to engage the tiefling. The slow movements of the undead are easy enough to side step.
Combat! Round 1. Bold may act.
Jon Rooi
Pink
Ao
Blue Circle Skeleton
Paltair
Red Square Skeleton
Red Circle Skeleton
Rega
The second skeleton moves beside the first and rabidly tries to tear at Paltair between the cave wall and its companion but cannot reach the warpriest. The third skeleton steps around the stone column preventing him from reaching anyone and finds Ao momentarily distracted. It adds to the tiefling's collection of scars with a scratch of its own.
Combat! Round 1/2. Bold may act.
Blue Circle Skeleton
Paltair
Red Square Skeleton
Red Circle Skeleton
Rega
--round--
Jon Rooi
Pink
Ao (-4 hp)
Pink moves on to her next target, taking a 5 foot step and biting and scratching at the red square skeleton.
Rega's arrow passes straight through the skeleton's ragged clothes and spaces between the ribs, but it collapse anyways due to some mysterious, unseen force.
Pink finds the skeleton's rusty chainmail frustrating, but finally rears back and bats the skull off of its stem with her paw.
Combat! Round 2. Bold may act.
Paltair
Red Circle Skeleton
Rega
--round--
Jon Rooi
Pink
Ao (-4 hp)
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The third skeleton steps around the stone column preventing him from reaching anyone and finds Ao momentarily distracted. It adds to the tiefling's collection of scars with a scratch of its own.
Ao turns around and strikes the remaining foe with a wicked metal gauntlet!
He turns around too quickly to fully keep his balance, though.
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Jon moves into the room, slipping past Paltair cautiously in hopes of not drawing an attack from the skeleton, but the mesmerist trips as he moves, leaving an all-too-obvious opening. He circles behind Ao and hesitates, knowing that some of the alchemist's fire would surely splash onto both Paltair and Ao if he throws it at the skeleton.
Ao thrusts his spear through an empty space in his foe's body. Jon Rooi moves past the skeleton, his armor deflecting an opportunistic grab by the skeleton. He tosses a flask, but just then Paltair swings. The axe causes the flask to fall at his feet. Fire splatters all over. Adding to the ignominy, his axe blow is absorbed by the rusty chainmail under the skeleton's ragged clothes.
The skeleton turns its mindless hunger toward Paltair, but the half-orc proves to be to agile at the moment.
Combat! Round 2/3. Bold may act.
Paltair (-1 hp)
Red Circle Skeleton (-1 hp)
Rega
--round--
Jon Rooi (-1 hp)
Pink
Ao
Pink bounds forward to try to get in closer, trying to dance through the fray to get in range.
Once she finds an angle, she snaps at the pile of bones.
In a surprising act of feral aggression, Rega bites down on the remaining skeleton and shakes until it falls apart.
All that remains in this room are corpses, now.
The bloated corpse in the back of the cave appears to have been a dhampir. In his robes you find a note that reads: The fish people come every full moon. After I captured the first one, the second was easier to obtain. They keep coming despite the disappearances of the ones that came before. Once I have accumulated a sufficient reserve of dead bodies, I will have an army to secure my power.
You also find an elixir in a fine glass vial and a walnut-sized pearl.
Spellcraft #1 (DC 17)
Spellcraft #2 (DC 17)
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Looking around the cavern, Jon points out what appears to be a secret tunnel, behind a limestone curtain. He finds whoever holds Janira's bag and begins digging around in it for helpful items. "That was the only flask of that I had... if we're going to be fighting the living dead, I need better options." He comes out with a few more flasks, a scroll, and a wand, and stuffs them into his bag.
He circles back to the others. "I think you're right, Paltair. They likely knew nothing of this threat; it would be good to let them know they're safe from it now anyway."
Leaving the mystery of the hidden tunnel for the moment, you make your way back to the cavern with the pool, gillman, and diorama of Absalom.
Uori still meditates within the water.
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Rega inspects both the vial and the pearl, but cannot figure out what purpose they serve. Hopefully someone in the society can tell me what they are when I hand them over. She stuffs them both in her bag, leaving the cape there as well.
Back in the cave with Uori, Rega childishly begins looking for another rock to throw before thinking better of it, trying to walk into his line of sight, and waving to catch his attention.
Uori rises from the water as he apparently finishes his meditations. He moves onto shore to collect his clothes and notices your return.
The gillman makes a nod to acknowledge your presence then pulls on his robe before speaking, "Greetings once more. I trust you did not encounter danger that way?"
"Yes," Uori says with a sad expression. "The last several months, the pilgrims never returned. I feared that there was something fell in these caves. You dealt with the evil, I gather?"
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"I believe the necromancer found himself in over his own head. We found him dead, but his minions were most definitely not. Either way, I believe we fully intend to explore the entirety of these caverns, and hopefully we can deal with anything else we come across." Rega makes sure to lower the paper so her mouth is visible, but still forgets herself and rambles a bit while she's taking notes.
"The one responsible for the disappearance of my people is dead? And the danger to my people that he left behind has been dealt with? You have my sincere thanks," Uori says. Once he fastens his belt in place, he removes a wand from a sheath. "Take this as my thanks. Its magics will guard you with a shield of faith."
He looks back at the diorama. "My grandfather used to speak of men and women who would come to these caves and perform rather silly-seeming rituals at the miniature city: tossing a fish into it, writing things on parchment and leaving it behind. Oddly mundane things. We never really knew why. Well, you have my thanks."
Uori raises his hand in farewell and heads back down the main tunnel.
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”Um, thanks for the gift!” Paltair calls after the departing form. ”What was he saying about people throwing fish on the city? Do you think there’s anything interesting there?” Unwilling to wait for his companions to answer, the half-orc sloshes through the water to get a closer look at the carved city.
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"Perhaps...not just yet. Would we not be remiss in doing our best to fully plumb this cavern of its secrets?"
Ao's curiosity piqued at Uori's recollection, he makes his way to the diorama and, thinking back on the glyphs they'd seen earlier, begins reading a passage from his holy scrolls of the history of Tsukiyo to the assembled city-frogs.
You feel a faint thrum of power roll through the cavern as Ao proselytizes to the frogs. Beyond that, you are not certain what just happened.
Ao's attempt at jewelry making yields a passably decorative necklace. When he sets it back down on the streets of the diorama, there is another thrum of power, weaker than the last.
It takes Ao a few tries, but once he skewers his prey and performs his morbid display, there is a third yet weaker thrum of power through the cave.