The carvings here are different in style from the petroglyphs found elsewhere in the caves, and they date back to long before the gillmen explored this area. You can tell from identifying the four inscriptions that these inscriptions are from the History and Future of Humanity, the principle holy text of Aroden, and images that depict these passages.
The carvings focus on parables that feature Aroden’s 12 guises, meant to illustrate his hopes for humanity: the artist, beggar, craftsman, farmer, fisherman, hunter, merchant, scholar, shepherd, soldier, tailor, and thief.
The sections of the holy text you have identified and are depicted are slightly different than those that appear in the known version of the History and Future of Humanity, suggesting that these might represent an earlier version of the work.
The soft light of the surrounding fungus mixes with the flickering glow of the nearby torches to reveal a grand chamber. A large pool of water along the chamber’s southern edge reflects the blue and green radiance to illuminate the massive stalactites that cling to the ceiling overhead. Two other tunnels branch off from this area, leading to the east and west.
Rising up from the pool is a column of rock with steeply sloped sides and a flat top, as if someone had sawn off the top of a massive stalagmite. A miniature city carved from this same stone occupies nearly the entire surface. Tiny trinkets such as ancient coins, polished semiprecious stones, and ornately braided loops of string are scattered throughout the diorama, and pale cave frogs clamber atop it. The smooth cavern floor is covered in gravel and pebbles along the edge of the pool, and several foot-long centipedes prowl among the gravel in their search for prey.
Here the cavern’s ceiling stretches 20 feet overhead and is crowded by dozens of stalactites, some measuring 10 feet long from base to tip. Despite the impressive geology, the cave’s focus is the sloping, 15-foot-deep pool and its tiny city.
Kneeling in the waters is a lone gillmen with his back turned towards you.
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Walking beside Jack, she gave Cheeper the signal to defend her mistress, just to be sure the cat would stay close at her heels. She pointed ahead to the lone gillman and turned back to the others. "He looks like he is praying... Do the gillmen honor Aroden?" She asked the more learned among them.
She refreshed her light spell on her shield as they made their approach, not wishing to appear as if they were sneaking up on the gillman.
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"Think reasonably - if a group of uncouth strangers rushed into the average person's chapel whilst they were praying, and demanded their attention, do you think they would be favorably disposed to them? I know I certainly would not. I'd give them an earful and be decidedly unhelpful.
Being polite, and waiting a little while, will undoubtedly speed things up in the long run."
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Paloma stops bouncing up onto her toes, trying to see better and follows along beside the Wizard as they move into the cavern proper. She goes just a few steps further than he does, placing herself and Cheeper between Cashel and the Gillman, just in case. Then she held her lit shield aloft to try and cast it's light further toward the model city.
The gillman doesn't react to any of your words. However, as soon as Paloma steps beyond the torches, the light spell on her shield causes a small but noticeable increase of the lighting of the miniature city. The gillman notices that there's more light than earlier, quickly stands up and turns around. He cocks his head and stares at the three visitors that he can see.
When Paloma addresses him, the gillman does not respond, but Paloma notices that he is watching her mouth carefully as she speaks. He shakes his head as if he doesn't understand.
Paloma also notices that the gillman’s own folded robe is of a similar style and color as the unidentified magical robe they found earlier.
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Assuming that the gillman doesn't speak Common, she glances back at Cashel for guidance. Her hand still up and empty, she waves it in what she hopes is a friendly gesture and smiles as she steps closer. Then she does what all particularly dense humans do when they meet someone who doesn't speak their language. Continues to speak it, more slowly and loudly while over-enunciating. Though she does make an effort to pantomime what she wants to communicate, motioning to the rest of the party and clasping her hands together like she was shaking hands with herself. Then opens and closes her hand to indicate talking, or perhaps more accurately, a quacking duck. Finally she presses her hands together as if in supplication.
"Hel-lo. We are Path-finders. Friends. Want to talk with you, please?"
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Making sure that his lips are clearly visible in the flickering light, Cashel cycles through all of the languages that he know.
"Greetings! We represent the Pathfinder Society. My name is Cashel. We were sent here, because we were curious about what brought Gillmen this far inland. Would you be willing to enlighten us upon that particular matter?"
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Greetings. We are simple researchers and do not wish evil. Having already realized that gillman does not seem to understand the common language, Nal consistently pronounces it in Elvish and Dwarven, hoping that he is familiar with one of these languages. At the same time, Nal begins to speak only when gillman looks at him (for this, the halfling waves his hands slightly).
It looks like the gillman does recognize what you are saying when he concentrates at your moving lips while you speak common - but isn't quite convinced to talk to you. Paloma's pantomime performance made him smile briefly.
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The elf waiting patiently in the rear of the cavern has, to this point, simply watched the encounter closely. He stands and moves up into the light, giving a practiced greeting to the gillman, ”Hello, I am Ryul Dathana. I am pleased to meet you.”
He continues, adding, ”We do not wish to be enemies, but we do not require friendship. However, a mutual exchange of information would be valuable to our mission of exploration.”
Maybe he should have left out the part about not being friends…
The combined diplomatic efforts of the pathfinders pay off as the gillman smiles and breaks his silence - speaking common:
"You are very polite and well mannered, I like that. I am Uori. I'm deaf, but I can read your lips. You have entered a site sacred to my people. It was once sacred to Aroden, the dead god of humanity, as well, but over the past century, the carvings in the nearby room have weathered and melted. I believe that soon Aroden’s influence will have faded completely. You saw the carvings on your way in here, yes?"
Noticing the similar cloak the Gillman wears, she holds it up for him to see. Then she points in the direction of the pit to communicate where she found it and then shrugs. "It looks like yours, do you know what it does?"
"These magical cloaks offer a little protection against some spells and other stuff. I believe a fellow pilgrim of my tribe has lost it there. Unfortunately, I think he will not need it anymore - he did not return from his journey." He frowns and gestures to the two tunnels leading to the east and west. "Other creatures have invaded these caves, and they are not as nice as you. You seem to be a capable group of warriors. If you could... well, take care of them, I'd really appreciate that." He takes a wand from his belt pocket and offers it to you.
"It's dangerous to go alone! Take this."
"Take this wand - it will help protect you from the creatures' attacks. The command word is Protego."
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Ryul thinks for a bit, then muses out loud, ”Our mission of determining the purpose of this place seems to be complete, in theory. And Janira may also still be in trouble. However, I joined this organization in the hopes to be able to do some good in the world, and some good could very well be done here by confronting whatever dangers these caves hold. I think that is something I should do, plus Janira probably has things under control.”
He moves up and asks the gillman, ”You mentioned power that is still here? What kind of power?”
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Paloma helps to fasten the cloak onto Jack's shoulders, smoothing the fabric into place.
She accepts the wand with her thanks but after looking it over for a moment, offers it to Nal to carry. It wasn't a spell she was familiar with and she hoped that the halfling caster would fare better.
"Uori, if it is not forbidden to speak of, what is it about these caves that is sacred to your people? We did indeed see the carvings as well as the miniature city there. But you seem to imply that something else brings you here." She asks the gillman, once she has caught his attention.
Finally, before they travel onward, she resumes her investigation of the miniature city. To help her see better, she will cast light on one of her sling bullet and roll it around as she looks over the various areas.
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
Knowledge(Geography): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
Knowledge(Nature): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25
Uori answers the pathfinders' questions.
"In the western tunnel I suddenly saw a big... worm-thingy with many feet. Don't know exactly what it was - but it looked hungry. I didn't go further. In the eastern tunnel I saw a few undead creatures. Again, I was lucky to not be discovered."
"I believe this diorama was once used as an altar to Aroden. I also believe that there is a connection to the carvings I mentioned."
"The pure water of the spring is what's important to my people. The diorama does not matter to us. Feel free to look at the cave as much as you want."
"Thank you. Your help is appreciated."
Paloma identifies the diorama (the tiny city) as an intricately detailed model of Absalom, easily identifiable by its Starstone Cathedral.
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Seeing as everyone seems eager to move onward, she plucks her lit bullet out of the tiny Absalom and makes ready to move on with the group.
"I'm sure Janira will be interested in a magical model of the city. A shame she has not rejoined us yet." She said with a touch of worry coloring her voice.
Looking quickly over the items in Janira's bag, she takes up the three scrolls she does recognize and can make use of. A scroll of entangle, a scroll of gust of wind, and a scroll of obscuring mist.
Jack just nods Are we talking about fleshies or bonies?
Uori answers: "I saw at least one skeleton, but I cannot rule out that there are other undead. However, they may have moved somewhere else already."
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 several bones, bits of broken glass, rotting pieces of paper, and other unusable detritus. The body of a male dhampir lies facedown toward the back of the cavern.
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"Thank you for speaking with us, Uori. Beware there is an active minotaur nearby if you leave the cave. Safe travels."
Paloma stays behind Jack, but strives to look for signs of the purported undead ahead. She also looks to Cheeper for a sign that the cat senses something dangerous is nearby.