Rin sidles over to join Barshevy.
"OK. If I can see into them, I can get things out of them. Want me to try?"
Lafiel advances to look inside the pots, but retreats before anyone interacts with them.
"Seeds shouldn't be that dangerous, bowstrings and arrow heads might be useful to someone ... really not sure about the package."
"Put it on the ground Barshevy and stand back. Let's see the magic fingers can ... umm ... work their magic."
Rin squints hard and hopes that prestidigitation will do the trick once more.
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Rin's cantrip lifts the bundle out of the jar and the wrappings fall away, revealing another amulet. Cast in the shape of a 5-pointed star, each point resembles a rampant dragonhead. Set in the center of the amulet is a glowing, faceted emerald.
Barshevy:
"More dragons. There's a theme emerging."
"Maybe it's just me, but shouldn't ape-men be worshiping ape-gods instead of dragons?"
Lafiel looks at the amulet and comments: "At least there isn't a mummy hand attached to it this time... It's probably another key in this forsaken maze though."
"I .. there is something wrong with me," says Barshevy in a harsh whisper.
"Rin, could you look at me with your eldritch sight?"
"Willingly. What am I looking for, Father?" As always, Rin is puzzled, but amiable.
"I think I've been cursed. My thoughts stray in such a way that is, shall we say, uncharacteristic of me."
Arcana check on Barshevy (1d20 9=22)
Rin focuses his mind on his friend and gestures gently.
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Arcana check on Barshevy (1d20 9=22)
Rin focuses his mind on his friend and gestures gently.
Rin does not detect a magic aura on Barshevy, but notices something emanating from the cleric's pack.
"You're clean of arcane influence Barshevy. Your pack is another story. Some kind of infestation - right here." He points.
"I've got a bad feeling we're about to see an old friend again."
The cleric tears his pack off, unfastens its latches, and upends the contents all over the tunnel floor.
"This thing is haunting you Barshevy. That can't be good."
"Maybe it's just me, but shouldn't ape-men be worshiping ape-gods instead of dragons?"
"The evil gods will allow creatures of any race to be their slaves."
"I wonder if it's necessarily bad."
The cleric kneels down to look at the hand in the torchlight.
"Just then when I saw the new dragon amulet I fought off the urge to claim it for myself. It was the same feeling as when we found the sack of gold. When I wanted to use the gold to placate the spirit-guardians, that possessive feeling disappeared."
"So you think you're possessed by someone who makes you feel these urges?"
"Something, rather than someone. I think it's the hand affecting you, Barshevy. I've got no idea how to get rid of it if that's the case."
Rin looks from the mummified hand to the dragon jewel.
"This sapphire thing looks like the key we found earlier. Bringing it with us seems like a good plan. I'll carry it if you like. I'm probably the easiest to overcome if things go wrong. Just make sure you knock this staff out of the way first."
"Yes, it's the hand. It's been manipulating my emotions, and gods knows what else. But to what end? Does it seek to aid us? The little demon tried to steal it from Lafiel. Which means the enemy doesn't want us to have it."
"I don't really know about magic, but my instinct tells me that a shriveled mummified hand is probably something cursed and not something blessed. Keep it if you wish though."
Barshevy piles his equipment back into his pack, including the hand, which he places in the middle of the jumble.
"My guess is the hand is the tool of someone or something that wants us to confront the zain-kin. Of course, the way it has been trying to help does not suggest a creature of benign character."
He then turns to Rin.
"Are such cursed things difficult to conjure? How powerful would a mage need to be?"
History, Arcana to answer Barshevy's questions (1d20 9=16, 1d20 9=10)
Rin shakes his head. "I don't know. This place is ancient anyway and their magic doesn't work in any way I recognise. It could be an apprentice's trick or the work of a master."
He clears his throat, looking a little dubious at Barshevy's plea that the hand may be a sensible thing to keep with him.
"It does look like a curse though. Generally they're not good things to carry with you. Not that you seem to have a choice with this one. You have to admire the symbolism of that grasping hand really."
Qadim-sul attempts to add his own expertise. Arcana (1d20+10=27), History (1d20+10=27)
"Perhaps if you carried it in the open, Father," he suggests, "we could keep an eye it. Better the mummified hand you can see than the one hidden in your pack, eh?"
"Hmm. I'd smash the thing to bits with my hammer, if i didn't think it'd reform itself somehow. No curse is a good curse, i say."
"Perhaps if you carried it in the open, Father," he suggests, "we could keep an eye it. Better the mummified hand you can see than the one hidden in your pack, eh?"
"I'd rather not be holding it. I find it repulsive."
"I can't say I blame you. Why not just leave it here? If it's going to follow you, it doesn't make much difference what you do with it, does it?"
"It's cursed, so it's going to follow you around regardless. I'm just suggesting wearing it on a thong around your neck or something, to avoid the constant surprise of finding it in your pack. Clearly it has something to do with greed, the only question is whether the curse is temporary or permanent. Personally, I'd rather have it close at hand-" -Qadim-sul flashes a wry smile- "-if we find a way to break the curse, than have to look for it at the time. If it can appear when we don't want it, who can say it won't disappear when we do?"
"I don't want the zain-kin, or whoever is behind those brutes, to steal it from us. I have a suspicion that it has shielded us from their magical surveillance."
"Shall we proceed now?"
"Yes. I think it's time Fargrim and I renewed our rivalry with gravity."
"So the only way left is down the waterfall. Let's try to do this better than last time."
Lafiel leads the group back to the waterfall room.
Rin turns a faint shade of green.
"It's going to be more climbing, isn't it? We haven't got enough rope."
"Qadim-Sul, could I use your climbing kit to decend? I seem to have forgotten mine in the castle."
"Of course." Qadim-sul hands his climbing kit to Lafiel and helps prepare the ropes for her descent. "I can fly down with you, if you like, unless you prefer to do more stealthy scouting on your own."
"If we're hammering pitons, I don't know how stealthy this is going to be. I think it's time to travel as a group."
"As you want, Drivish. Lead the way."
Lafiel will climb down right after Drivish.