"It's a shame that the construct was malfunctioning. That type of work is rare, and could be quite useful."
He thinks for a moment. "I am left wondering who it's maker is."
The Dungeon Master flashes Belwick's player an enigmatic smile.
"Think you can rebuild it Belwick?" Caelius looks over the broken bits and pieces.
What's next?
Baghotir gathers himself, checks his gear, and makes ready to continue their trek.
"Do we want to try and track it back to wherever it came from? Or just head toward our destination? After all it might have just been wandering these mountains aimlessly." He shrugs though, unsure which is the best option.
"Let's follow it a bit. If the trail meanders astray too much, we cut back to the goal."
Yes, let's back track it. Kwalish was a reknowned inventor, right? Maybe some of his handywork?
Alisanne follows after Venn.
"Think you can rebuild it Belwick?" Caelius looks over the broken bits and pieces.
"This level of artifice is... Significant. It would take extensive study for me to know where to begin. Alas, it's not my field of expertise."
Belwick maintains concentration on his spell, keeping the elemental spirit near him as the group tries to track.
Heroic Inspiration to Alisanne.
Venn has no difficulty in following the trail, though it is long and frequently double backs on itself, and makes odd turns only to turn back onto itself.
Days later, having dealt with blood-sucking stirges at night, and prank-playing sprites (Bimz is clearly agitated and spends a lot of time stalking invisible somethings, and Gearbox wakes up with Sylvan graffiti on more than one morning.) during the days, The trees thin out. You find yourselves in the rocky foothills of The Barrier Peaks.
Venn determines that this is the same spot indicated by the map, and that using the trail the construct unintentionally blazed for you, it saved some time, despite the chaotic nature of its path.
You stand at a cleft in the rocks, that leads into darkness. At the mouth of the cleft where the light of day shines in, you notice that the walls here are etched with carvings in two different languages, one uses the alphabet of the common tongue, the other is a twisted series of glyphs and jagged script. Both make use of what you think are pictograms.
Baghotir approaches the entrance and examines the pictograms to try and make sense of them. He expects the smarter folk to have better odds, but he's curious. He'll cast light on his helm to help him see clearly.
[Investigation]
Baghotir recognizes one of the languages as either Infernal or Abyssal. He's seen examples of the written script before [Acolyte Background], and while he can't understand the writing, he knows it is the Infernal Alphabet.
What is the rest of the party doing?
"Neither of the options Baghotir is putting forth are exactly god news."
Venn looks around and preps for a delve, "Well, what're you standing around for, the gloom beckons."
The gloomstalking Pathfinder enters.