"No... Tameka was not with us at all. I had no idea that Kaeviel was corresponding with her, assuming that she is the person who wrote this note."
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"I'm not pointing any fingers yet... but let's just say that the next time I run into her, I'm not going to shake her hand!"
Dardin grumbles at Rheed's comment, "Yes, I'm sure they meant no harm to me whatsoever..."
The dwarf grins at Rheed's comment, then looks around the room. "Hmmm.... no, not that I can think of."
"He said we'd best not move it because there was a trap of some kind... which is why he thought it had not yet been moved by someone else." "Although I would like to go after the cursed halfling myself, it might be best for me to return to the city for a while. We shall see when we reach the camp."
The coins seem to be from some ancient kingdom, but they are decidedly not from the Mwangi expanse. One side of each coin is marked with a simple circle, and the other side is marked with a spire. Ku'ada guesses that they may very well be worth at least 100 gp each, to a collector or historian (or to the Pathfinder Society). "Hmm... I never knew Kaeviel to spend much time with Tameka and her crew. But as I said, I didn't always work with him: it's possible they have been on missions together in the past." "After I've recovered at the camp, I am not sure what I am going to do. Someone needs to go after Kaeviel, but the situation must also be reported to the Pathfinder Society. And my father will want to know I am alive..." Dardin's voice trails off as you all walk back into the first chamber, with the statues. "Hmm... that one used to be holding a staff," he says, pointing to the male statue.
Rheed manages to discover a hidden alcove that no prior explorers were able to find. It seems to contain an "offering" bowl of sorts. Inside the bowl are seven ancient gold coins- however, they are likely much more valuable than the mere value of the gold used to make them. Dardin is still waiting near the trap where you originally found him. "Well?" he asks, "I am assuming you were successful... and I heard no sounds of battle. You must have done what Kaeviel could not!" He inspects the map and note when you show them to him. "Hmm... I don't think this is any sort of "Pathfinder" secret code, but I have seen Kaeviel use it from time to time to take down notes about things. He is always very thorough about this sort of thing. If only we could understand what it says, I feel we would have a better idea where he went! What is your plan?"
"It's been so long, and everything was pretty hectic after the creature attacked us, I really don't remember. I am guessing he left it behind: he only seemed interested in getting the gem. And it seemed as if he was angry about having left something behind. Possibly the map?"
"All the halls are big enough for the creature to fit through, but it didn't pursue us back up the stairs out of the chamber we found it in. It was quite a large room, perhaps 30 feet wide and 100 or so long, with several pillars and a raised platform at the end. Kaeviel had to speak some incantation written on his "map" in order to summon the stone, and it also summoned that creature. He tried to use another incantation to command the creature, but it must not have worked. I don't remember seeing any other entrances to the chamber, and I spent a fair bit of time looking while Kaeviel was figuring out the incantation."
Dardin nods graciously and accepts the club. "It had two claws and a stinger, and once I think it even shot a ray of fire out of its tail. You'll want to watch out for that!"
"Oh, I'd say it was almost twenty feet long if you counted the tail. Must've weighed several thousand pounds. It could easily grab you, or me, all the way 'round with its claws..."
"I feel much better already... thank you kindly, sir."
"I can hold out a bit longer if I rest here or a bit further inside the temple... the poison seems to have stopped getting worse. As long as I don't run into any more scorpions I should be fine."
"There's a series of mostly empty rooms ahead, they must've been looted ages ago. In the room with the old fountain we found a secret stairway which led to some sort of huge chapel where the stone was kept. That's where the creature lurks and that's where we left our bags, somewhere along the right wall I think. It might be possible sneak in, if you're a better sneak than I..."
"Kaeviel and I have worked together once before on another quite successful ruin-delve, though it was in a different part of the Mwangi Expanse. I would not have thought him one to betray a fellow Pathfinder, and he's never showed any signs of being particularly greedy or susceptible to bribes. As for whether he was influenced by the powers of the stone... I wouldn't know anything about such matters. It just seemed like a big red gem with a crack in it to me, though. As far as I'm concerned his behavior was a complete surprise... damned unpredictable halflings!"
"Hrmm... I've quite lost track of time down there. I remember that something tried to get in several days ago, perhaps five? I must have been down there nearly two weeks, maybe more. Thank the Gods we Pathfinders always carry emergency rations... but I surely wouldn't have lasted another day if you hadn't come along. I ran out of food some time ago, and this poisoned has weakened me. As for the creature in the temple, it's some sort of huge armored scorpion. I'm not sure it's actually alive, maybe a construct of some sort. It was in pretty bad shape when we got there, but it's still dangerous. I don't think Kaeviel returned... he may be a good sneak, but he's also a coward and a weakling!"
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Dardin drinks a bit more water to clear his throat and explains his story: "Well, a few weeks ago Kaeviel approached me with an exciting new mission. He had an official commission from the Venture Captain and everything, though now I expect it was a fake. We were asked to come to these ruins to find a red stone... you may have heard of it, though I could never keep the name straight. The Nishti'moo or some such elven nonsense. Supposed to be real hot stuff, if you take my meaning, and apparently no one had managed to pull it from the ruins yet, but now we knew how to get in. Kaeviel had a map of some kind which he claimed was discovered in some other ruins and would allow us to bypass the traps here. Well, it worked, and we went and found the stone all right- got it from a big nasty bugger, too, I expect it's still crawling around in there- but when we were leaving, I paused to rest- can't remember ever having been so tired- and he tripped a trap right out from under me! Then he sealed it up with the shield. I called out for a while but I knew he wasn't coming back. Then the scorpions started to show up, and there was quite a bit of noise from above at one point, I thought a big mean 'ol beastie was trying to come in and eat me. But I think something scared it off..." He pauses to take another swig of water, and, glancing deeper into the temple, says, "I'm assuming you haven't seen Kaeviel recently and thought him to be lost here as well. I'm not sure where he is, but when we were leaving, he seemed angry about having to drop our bags in order to escape quickly. We didn't exactly kill the monster guarding the gem, you see. My guess is that he left something important behind."
Dardin gladly accepts Ceer's waterskin. "Ahh, thank you Ceer," he says after taking a long swig, "I take back what I said about you being lazy."
"I should be able to... just toss it down." The dwarf manages to tie a decent knot around his waist and, with the help of those above, climbs (and mostly is pulled) out of the hole. He collapses onto the ground, breathing heavily, and you can see that he has clearly suffered: his skin is clammy and he appears sickly in color. His hands are covered with many tiny puncture wounds.
"Oh, I'm plenty far down, don't worry about me... doesn't somebody have an axe? Don't tell me there's not a dwarf amongst you!"
"Whatever you do, get me out of here quick! I'm running out of food, and scorpions keep crawling out of these holes!"
"Ceer?! You lazy stayabout! Set a price in pints and I'll take away one for every day I've been lying in this hole, waiting for you!"
The dwarf calls out in response, "Never trust a halfling!"
The voice replies, louder this time, "Would you believe me if I said scorpions can talk and it's just us bugs down here? What took you so long!?" While he may be talking tough, the speaker clearly sounds relieved. His words are followed by more deep coughing. |