Hakata looks for signs of large animals or groups of humanoids passing through the caves, hoping for a message from the spirits in the cave.
"We cannot afford to delay. We press on as soon as everybody is ready," Valda says. She hefts her gleaming sword and prepares to lead the way into the tunnels.
Light filters in through the entrance of this large limestone cavern. Though sheltered from wind, the air within the cave is chilly. Small piles of snow lie in heaps near the entrance. Inside, guano, skittering insects, and ice mark the rocky ground. Multiple wide tunnels exit this cavern. A week-old wolf corpse, riddled with maggots, lies to the east. Above, bats roost among pockmarked stalactites. Any loud noises will likely startle them.
Cave paintings depicting animals decorate the western wall near the wolf corpse. The piece in the center depicts a line of figures passing through a row of triangles—the stalagmites and stalactites of a cave. The outline of a handprint, its fingers oriented south, marks the path to area as the Broken Tusks’ old migratory route.
Aside from the southern path, two side tunnels and two overhangs near the ceiling are the exits for this cavern. Scaling up to either overhang requires a DC22 Athletics to climb. The eastern overhang is 20 feet up, and the western one is 15 feet up.
Hakata kneels on the cave floor, examining the small signs in the cave
"No surprise, but the cave is inhabitanted. At least one smilodon, and a colony of vampire bats."
He looks up at the group for suggestions on where to head.
Kadosh moans. "We're going to need to kill them to make sure it's safe for the rest of the following," he whispers, trying to think about what he knows about both. For a change, it's not nothing.
"A smilodon will either avoid us or want to ambush us." An unpleasant smile tugs at Veshka's uneven teeth and fangs. "Which would be fine if the Following wasn't coming through here with all that tempting prey. Let's hunt the hunter."
Strongjaw magnanimous allows Valda to lead the way into the cavern. The goblin also allows Hakata, Veshka and Kadosh to proceed him...
The White Rabbit smirks.
Tanngrisnir chews a particularly juicy tuff of foliage as the Witch points forward.
The goblin peers over everyone to view all the sweet Spoils just left haphazardly about the spooky picture cave.
Why we stop? Bees sum goods stuffs in dere!
"This way first," Valda says, pointing to her right. She leads the way to the nearest tunnel heading west.
This inclined passage rises from the main cavern floor, and the temperature gets noticeably warmer. Slimy, transparent grease, which radiates heat and smells sickly sweet, stains the walls every 10 feet or so.
Had you come into this room with torches instead of magical light, the room would have ignited into a fireball.
Moving through the bend and turning south, the air in this foggy cavern turns sweet, and the walls glisten with a slick, glossy film. A small waterfall plunges from the southwestern ceiling into a partially frozen pool, drowning out most sound. At the pool’s edge is an ivory post topped with an intricately carved shell.
Veshka sniffs deeply and scowls at what she finds. "Lagofir grease. No fire, no heat unless you want this whole passage to go up in flames."
"So who do we think is making an offering here?"
Strongjaw hums while his green head is on a swivel! The excited goblin's eyes light up at all the Slimy, transparent grease, which radiates heat and smells sickly sweet, stains the walls every 10 feet or so.
He licks his lips.
Tanngrisnir begins moving to a wall. The three are seen licking walls glisten with a slick, glossy film ....
Can youses bees believing dis lucks! Tastes like da ice cream!
In order to get a better look, the party cautiously advances towards the water. They gauge the water is between five and ten feet deep and drains through fist-sized channels in the southeast wall. Five small ice chunks float in the pool. Two submerged lagofirs lounge in the pool.
A narrow chamber extends off to the east, but to get there, you would need to hop across the floating ice chunks.
The ivory post at the pool’s edge is carved with faded Hallit sigils. The legible phrases come from a prayer of thanks to Gozreh, indicating that this used to be a shrine. The large nautilus shell atop the post can be removed and is carved with images of waves beneath a thundering sky. The shell is intended as a drinking vessel.
"We should warn the following about this cave. The lagofirs are pretty harmless, I think, but they've coated the walls here with their oils. Any open flame will cause the room to explode."
Catamoch was pressing very close on Veshka's heels. Her fists were tightly clenched, a trickle of blood running from where one of her fingernails had gone claw.
"...And it would be wrong to set them on fire to watch them burn," she reminds the demon board and herself.
Strongjaw looks at Hakata as he announced the substance on the walls. The Goblin shrugs.
No smoking. Weird. Seems to be in vogue at this time.
As the group continues to move forward towards the water, they get a closer look at the shell. Hakata now can tell that this is a nautilus shell on the ivory post and it's worth about worth 10 gp. He knows that removing the shell from the shrine without replacing it with an alternative vessel will earn the displeasure of Gozreh.
Veshka does not detect magic on the shell ... but she picks up a nearby resonance of magic coming from under the water, right at the water's edge.
Kadosh thinks about what more he knows about lagofirs to determine if it's safe to try to get closer to this source of magic.
Before drawing nearer, Veshka puts all of her rage and frustration into a single glare at the inflammable beasts. "Back the Hells off," she adds unnecessarily.
Lagofirs are semiaquatic omnivores that resemble a rabbit the size of a large dog. They're social creatures, playful but territorial and protective of their kin.
Lagofirs have a stout body, rounded back, large hind legs, long ears, and a short, fluffy tail. Their powerful incisors are capable of cracking through clam shells, chitin, and bone. Both their front and back paws are webbed, and their front paws are highly dexterous, enabling them to grasp objects and perform simple manual tasks.
In addition to excreting a flammable oil, lagofirs have the ability to consume fumes and cause non-magical fires to explode in a large area.
Veshka's intimidation technique is successful and the creatures submerge themselves and retreat away from the party to the back of the room.
As the creatures move away, Veshka can see a pendant lying at the water's edge.
"I'd rather have Gozreh's blessing than a handful of gold," Hakata opines. "What's that in the water, though?"
The Goblin clutches the wall for a final lick, before asking the White Rabbit if he has a cigarette.
The White Rabbit is seen dressed like a 1950s Las Vegas cocktail waitress with a tray of drinks and packs of Marlboros....
Tanngrisnir does not seem excited by this situation....
Veshka fishes out the pendant then starts rummaging through her pack for a drinking horn. "Gozreh likes change. "
As Veshka retrieves the pendant from the water's edge, her vision blurs momentarily, transporting her back in time. She sees herself as a child, receiving the pendant from a venerable Burning Mammoth warrior. Its quartz surface gleams white in the sunlight, embodying purity and the promise of legacy. The vision fills her with an unexpected sense of pride as if the weight of her ancestors' expectations and achievements suddenly rests upon her shoulders.
With the creatures retreating into the shadows, Veshka secures the pendant around her neck, feeling the rush of ancestral pride still echoing in her heart
The vision ends and all the changes Veshka's gone through nearly bow her beneath their weight. Her eyes burn for a moment with the tears of the pendant's tide of emotion, and then she roughly rubs them dry. Only a scaly patch on her arm still showing the moisture.
"It's ours. The pendant is of the Burning Mammoths, the old ones that our Following descends from. It's a legacy, but..." she looks at the black quartz with a blank expression until her lip suddenly curls around one fang. "...It's tainted by something. I can bear it though, until it's cleansed."
Hakata nods at Veshka, "That's a well-worn path for you. Thank you for shouldering that burden for us."
With the creatures subdued, you are easily able to make your way across the ice to the burrow cavern on the side of the room. The cramped cavern has a ceiling height of 8 feet and is flooded with 4 feet of water. The lagofirs nest on a limestone ledge 1 foot above water level. Sitting on the ledge is a curious item. Retrieving it, you find it is a potency crystal.
Considering this area explored, you backtrack out past the flammable slime and continue south where you come to a 15-foot-high ledge. Valda climbs up there and finds a few broken javelins that indicate someone may have once hunted from this spot. Amid the broken javelins are 10 low-grade cold iron arrows.
Valda takes the lead, guiding the party further south through the cavern. Above, the passage's ceiling is marred with cracks, allowing meltwater to drip steadily onto the cavern floor below, forming small, reflective pools. Without warning, as Valda advances, the fragile balance of the cave is disturbed. The ceiling groans ominously, and with a thunderous crash, the tunnel collapses, engulfing the area in a chaotic deluge of rock and debris, sparking a frantic cave-in around the group
The passageway seals behind you, blocking the way you entered and making it impassable.
"Look out!" Valda cries. With a bit of heroic luck, she barely manages to hurl herself away from the falling rocks, though she is scratched and battered in the process.
Veshka is quickly buried in the collapse, though characteristically Catamoch is left visibly unharmed.
Catamoch digs diffidently, using the scoops of his tusks to haul away the heavier rocks in lieu of the far more useful appendages of others.
Traveling along on his auto....Goat, the Witch and Familiar freeze at the sounds of thunder!
The rocks fall down hard!
Strongjaw immediately Commands Tanngrisnir to dig out Veshka! The Witch grants the goat Guidance.
Hakata gathers the cold iron arrows.
The cave collapses on Hakata, and he struggles to get out!
Kadosh, ever alert, leaps back, avoiding the worst of the rockfall.
"Hakata!" he cries out, seeing everyone else rushing to Veshka's aid. He starts digging at the rocks to uncover his friend.
Valda moves up to help Kadosh free Hakata from the rubble. Once everyone is safe and able to move again, you continue down the passageway and come to a stream. You can continue in the distance, but Hakata takes note that there is a warm breeze coming from the western passage the stream follows.
Valda pokes her head around the corner and sees light coming from an inner chamber. She gathers the group and moves them in that direction.
As they ascend, the air grows noticeably warmer, the environment transforming before their eyes into a verdant grove filled with tall, slender trees. At the heart of this natural enclave stands a humble abode constructed from bent saplings and mud.
Two lifeless bodies lay in stark contrast to the surrounding verdure. One corpse is clad in the half-plate of a Mendevian crusader, showing signs of significant decay.
Four castoroides reside here and now regard the party with wary eyes. One of the creatures lies sick near the hut, looking unwell. The remaining three stand ready to defend their home, their bodies tensed for conflict.
"A dark energy moves that corpse--be careful. I think it will rise as a plague zombie." Hakata points at the crusader's body.
Strongjaw directs Tanngrisnir along the tunnels. The goblin takes a look at the castoroides.
Take us to yer leaders!
"It will be OK," he tries to calm the creatures, but is too unsure how to best do so.
Veshka stares the giant beavers down. "Be serious. If we wanted to pick a fight, it would all be over."
"If the beaver is sick with zombie plague though, we should kill it. Why let something like that spread."
Veshka's intensity cuts right through any aggression that the creatures might have and back off, retreating to the hut around their sick companion.
It does appear that one of the creatures consumed the zombie flesh and is now sick and dying . You get the sense that if you kill it, the others are likely to attack you.
The Witch just stares at the ruined spell book.
Drown them all.
"Strong Jaw! These creatures belong here. We're the ones intruding in their homes." Hakata cautiously approaches the dying creature and tries to stabilize its condition.
With the creature stable, Hakata tries to treat its disease.
Both The White Rabbit and Tanngrisnir look disapprovingly at the frowning goblin.
Strongjaw kicks dirt.
Veshka keeps her eyes narrowed at the others in case they get stupid.
Hakata makes good progress in the initial treatment of the animal and setting the stage for recovery. He knows that treating a disease is a full days work, and it would require him to spend the remainder of the day here caring for the animal.
As Hakata treats the animal, the rest of them watch anxiously but seem to relax when the see Hakata's tenderness on display.
Kadosh nods approvingly. "We'd be no better than the Burning Mammoths if we let these animals suffer, not to mention what they might do if they all became zombies!" he says.
While Hakata treats them, he sets up camp so they can rest here for the day.
"Yes, and they'll be a valuable addition to the following, once they are cured." Hakata assures everyone as he tends to the sick creature.
The group settles in for an overnight session of care for the sick creature. Hakata spends the next eight hours tending to the creature and by morning, though he is looking weary, the creature begins to show signs of improvement. He feels confident that it is over the hump and will continue to improve.
During the night, the party heard sounds of numerous creatures moving to drink from the water in the shallow pool to your south.
Whether or not the other creatures recognize what he did, they grow friendlier when they see signs of improvement. When the Following comes through, your feel confident that these castoroides will be healthy and join them.
Moving to check the pool, you find it empty of whatever creatures were drinking here last night, but you can see some faint wolf-like tracks leading south.
Additionally, you notice a shaft in the ceiling that leads up 15 feet to a 3-foot-diameter tunnel that leads away. Handholds carved into the shaft make it possible to Climb with a DC 15 Athletics check.
"Anyone comfortable climbing up there? Perhaps there is a cache of supplies," Hakata suggests. "With those handholds, I doubt it is a predator's lair, at least."
"O Shining One?" Veshka rasps.