The word "Remnant" doesn't seem to have any context that Jeni can recall.
Nithiss nods. "Then follow me." She gestures to the rune-inscribed door and moves to open it.
Either their leader is a great fool or we are...
Beyond the door, a long cavern tapers down to a point far to the east, the ceiling dropping down so low that one must crawl if they wish to reach the easternmost corner. The walls, floor, and ceiling of the cave glisten with sheets of shiny, moist-looking mold.
A strange creature lurks here. It appears as a grayish humanoid torso covered in translucent funeral veils of shadow. Silent and mysterious, it floats about, absent legs to hold it aloft. It turns towards you, and you hear a voice in your minds, whispering and mumbling in a strange language.
"This is the Remnant Insiroul," Nithiss translates as she kneels reverently before the being. "He is all that remains of the long-lost demigod known only as Husk. He says you have been brought before him now to perform a service—to remove the Stain that lingers to the east, a Stain that has long tormented and vexed the Remnant with its presence. Not only will he reward you with the glory of service to Husk, but he will give you a valuable weapon as well."
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Nadja's mouth pops open at the strange apparition. Her eyes go wide as she tracks its floating path through the air and hears its voice in her mind.
The translation strikes her as enormously funny. She looks over to the eastern point of the cave and bends down to assess. "Yeah, that stain looks tough to reach. I think I can squeeze in there, but we might need to use Astyanax to get into those hard to reach spots. A bit of scrubbing, we'll have that stain gone before you know it."
Sure, the rest of the walls of this cave were equally dirty, but if the eastern side was particularly vexing to this thing, who was she to judge?
Nithiss does not seem amused. More whispers and grumbles fill your mind.
"The Remnant says that the Stain is a foul demon of shadows and nightmares. Find it and eliminate it," Nithiss translates.
Kaz fails to keep a perfectly straight face at Nadja's interpretation, but their interest is clearly piqued by the foul demon.
"Of course we would seek to vie with demons of foulness. Is it only its presence that so vexes you? Is their aught else that you can tell us of it?"
And what exactly are you...
Kazumi is uncertain what kind of entity this Remnant might be.
Nithiss translates again. "The Remnant says that the Stain is a corruption of the glory of shadow. It is trapped within a prison of stone. Do not touch the stone, or it will stain your own soul. Break the stone, release the demon, and eradicate it."
Zenobius looks uneasy as they converse with the Husk.
He tries to get a sense of the being, wary of any its intentions, ”good Nithiss, would you ask the remnant about the consequences of this deed? What caused the remnant and the stain to be bound, so?”
"The Remnant is not bound here. He may come and go as he pleases. The Stain was bound long ago by the ancient humans who once dwelled here. Removing its presence from this plane of existence will be a benefit to all."
Nadja frowns. Her earlier levity is quickly soured by this whole situation. "Okay, if it's bound, isn't that good? Shouldn't we leave well enough alone? I get that its presence is 'vexing,' but don't you think the Stain is pretty well vexed itself for being bound like it is?"
She sighs and rolls her shoulders to loosen them. "Whatever. Don't touch the stone, break it open and eradicate the demon inside. Got it. How far east are we talking here? If we reach Korvosa, have we gone too far?"
"Some greater demons can only reasonably be bound, but if we can cast this one back to the abyss it won't have an easy time causing more difficulties."
"Killing a demon sounds like the way to go here." Jeni doesn't see the problem.
Kazumi believes that the Stain is likely an invidiak, or "shadow demon." Invidiaks are formed from envious mortal souls. They are incorporeal, lacking a real body, and are quite skilled at possessing mortal creatures.
"I will show you the way," Nithiss says. She bows before Remnant Insiroul before escorting you back to the chamber where you first encountered the calignis, then through the south door. The door opens onto a ledge overlooking the vast central shaft of the Pit. The lower reaches are still enshrouded in fog, but about 20 feet to the east, another ledge juts out from the wall, with a door set in the east wall. There doesn't seem to be an easy way to reach it from here, but you could always retrace your steps to the surface and then descend to it via ladders set on that side of the Pit.
"The Stain lies somewhere beyond that door. Good luck," Nithiss says before departing.
Kaz jots down some thoughts on the impending battle, preparing for when they find the Stain.
Nadja studies the distant ledge and the rock wall between the one she's on. "We could swing across this gap, easy. Just anchor a rope up there," she points to a midpoint on the wall, "and we'd be across. That'd be so much fun! Who's with me?"
Jeni had been eyeing the space, then bouncing as if to limber up. Obviously she was considering jumping the gap but concedes "A very good plan."
After she says that, she grins, runs back ten or so feet then charges the pit, LEAPING INTO THE AIR!
After a tense second of suspense over the unknowably deep pit, the cloth wrapped feet of the nutter butter of a water bender slams into the dust of the other ledge. A wonderful feat spoiled a little with stumbling forward several steps, an gleeful WOOP, and a beaming SEE THAT smile back at her friends.
"THAT was even more fun!"
"Well, if you're going to show off," Nadja grumbles playfully. She backs up to roughly the same spot Jeni started her long jump dash, then takes off herself!
The naturally quick and athletic girl leaps across the chasm, hitting the far platform with a slide of her soft boots. "Easy!" she chirps, looking up at Jeni with a face flushed with the excitement of pulling off a dangerous feat.
Zen sighs, and adjusts his heavy armor slightly and kneels, allowing Kaz to climb onto his back. Once he’s sure the wizard is situated, the man glances across the ravine, and puts one plated foot back, crunching it against the rough stone and propels himself across the gap in a smooth motion. When he lands heavily on the other side it isn’t graceful, but it is practiced, as if he’s done this a thousand times before.
He kneels again, allowing Kaz to get off, and then straightens himself up, brushing some dust off of his knee, and the immediately retrieves his weapon.
Jeni grins back like an excited loon, about to agree when out of the corner of her eye, she notices the cannonball of a Zen with extra Kaz ordinance soaring right at them. Jeni quickly grabs the gnat and pulls them both against the wall before the heavy thud falls.
She releases Nadja and helps brush off Zen, his produced dust cloud settled on his shoulders as well it was so great "Maybe we can work that into the next battle. Siege Weapon Zen."
"Thank you Zen, even if I'm not certain that a piggyback was the most dignified way to do that."
Zenobius shrugs, "I could've carried you like a baby, maybe," He stretches slightly, "you can decide which is more or less dignified." A bare hint of a smile plays across his lips.
Nadja giggles. "Next time just throw Kaz over your shoulder like a sack of turnips."
She checks out the door, making sure it's not trapped.
While she inspects it, she asks, "So, should I use that bad-touch shortsword we just found, or stick with my sabers against this shadow-stain?"
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"Highly educated turnips, thank you," Kaz replies with a sniff and a concealed smile.
More seriously they add, "The shortsword."
The door is not trapped. It opens into a large, L-shaped room is lit by several sputtering lanterns hanging from hooks driven into rough stone walls. The flickering light lends a surreal element to a mural that decorates the entire eastern wall. The mural depicts a sweeping view of a coastline as seen from a rocky plateau. At the center of the plateau is a large pit from which the smoky form of what appears to be a winged, burning horse with a dragon’s tail is rising. Dozens of small handprints decorate the walls near the floor, surrounding the image of the pit with what must be dried blood. Large wooden double doors, each painted with images of the same winged creature, stand to the north and south of the room, while a smaller door to the north bears no decoration at all.
The only furnishing in the otherwise empty room is a low wooden platform on the floor in the northern part of the chamber. It is entirely surrounded by low railing and two wooden statues stand atop it—one of the same strange monster and the other of a man kneeling down before it in a position of worship.
Nadja's head turns slowly back and forth as she surveys the room. "Anyone see the stone in question?"
Remembering the soot trap from the taxidermied Sandpoint devil, Nadja inspects the wooden platform and statue for any nasty surprises. Then she checks inside the wooden structures in case the stone they had to break was contained within.
"No" the joy of the jump drains away looking at the winged burning horse on the mural "The sandpoint devil? I thought it would be the Stain."
Nadja doesn't notice anything unusual about the platform or statues. As she reaches out to try to open one of them, though, she finds it to have a strange, adhesive texture. Her hand gets stuck fast, and a moment later, a rubbery pseudopod extends from the statue and bashes her!
A wide, fanged mouth opens up in the statue, and the other statue likewise sprouts a grinning maw!
Before you can react, the false statues flow apart and surround Nadja, battering her with heavy limbs! When the things move, they reveal a hollow in the floor. You hear twin hisses as a snake with a head on either side of its body rises up, two tongues tasting the air as it prepares to attack as well!
"Maybe we should touch-" Jeni starts. Too late. Then she is rushing to try and shatter the wooden statue. Forming water into a slim rippling bo staff, she hammers the things mouth, with brutal grace.
Nadja shrieks as she's stuck fast and then pummeled by the animate chair. She twists ineffectually in an attempt to free herself, as a desperate urgency for self-preservation falls on her.
She tries again, this time flipping her entire body in a twist that snaps herself free and ends with her a few feet away.
Bruised and battered, Nadja retreats away from the monsters all the way back to the door. A reddish mist swirls around her, soothing her wounds.
Zen does some mental considerations and holds up his holy symbol and the one that is furthest from Jeni is subject to an invective of wrath, promising retribution should they attack.
Jeni and Zen have the statue, I just need to delay the other.
"Tear the statue apart! I do so detest a fair fight."
They telekinetically flick an amber-encased ant over at the other mimic...
...And as the ant enlarges it seizes the chair in its mandibles, preparing to haul it away from the fray!
Nadja manages to escape the sticky mimic's grasp, dancing away from the dangerous monsters. Zen afflicts the further mimic with a litany against wrath before slicing into the nearest one, scoring a critical hit! It squirms in pain, but Zen's weapon gets stuck to the aberration!
Kazumi summons an ant that grabs the other mimic. Jeni moves in to attack the wounded foe but fails to land a hit.
The injured mimic moves up to the enlarged Zen, trying to take vengeance on him! His blurry form makes it hard for the thing to hit him.
The mimic grabbed by the ant attacks it, heedless of the litany afflicting it.
The two-headed snake hisses and bites at Jeni! She sidesteps its fangs!
Zen will use his reaction to reduce the damage against the ant,
Zen focuses for a moment, drawing upon spiritual guidance.
He glances back at Nadja as his fauchard gets stuck again, and he sighs.
Nadja summons her courage to enter the fray, but keeping her shroud swirling around her for additional defense.
She moves up to the double-headed snake and slashes at it with her saber.
"Zen, there simply must be a more efficient way of battling these creatures than hoping to gradually desiccate their adhesive."
Kazumi follows his teasing with an example as they clunk the mimic with a large rock, which they don't particularly care if they retrieve.
The ant walks the wriggling mimic 30' away from the fray and then hustles right back to flank the other with Zen.