Eligos hobbles over to have a look.  "Doubtful it was any of my colleagues."  He points to the dead Cormyr Company soldier on the floor.  "This was the work of Szazz Tam's disciples and their lackeys.  Whatever they were doing here, they seem to have had their shock troops collecting these cubes."

So far, the vine-wrapped ruins outside the entrance of the shrine are still quiet and empty.  If your battle attracted any attention, it isn't manifest.

The party could take a short rest here for an hour, to bind their wounds.  Or they could move on now.  

Ran sits down on the steps of the shrine and drinks some water.

"Let's take some time to catch our breath," Ran says. "Then we can find somewhere to camp tonight."

Mica looks at Meili “If all the cubes are taken, what’s the point of checking out the other shrines?  Not that I trust kobolds, but shouldn’t we head towards the gate and try to head them off, steal the cubes back or something?  In any case, I’m with Ran, I need to catch my breath before we do anything else.  Even if we scout out the near shrine, we still got frog-men and snake-folk to watch out for, it would be better if we were close to fighting shape." 

Mica takes a single swig from the waterskin filled with his remaining Dwarven moonshine, grimacing at the burning liquid takes the edge off of the throb of pain from his wounds, then wordlessly offers it to the others before tending to his wounds and equipment.  

(Spends 2 hit die in short rest for 13 hp.)

.

Without another word, Meili looked around for a quiet corner. Finding a spot near the shrine wall, she sat down, crossed her legs, and closed her eyes. The noise of the battle was still humming in her mind, but she focused on steadying her breath, letting the tension melt from her muscles. The calm before whatever came next would be short, but she’d take what she could get.

Using one HD: 10

Ran using one HD: 13 

Ran takes a swig of the dwarven whiskey that Mica offers and winces a little at the burn.

"As lovely as the walk in these gardens has been, Mica's got a point," Ran says. "Let's just find where those wee buggers delivered the goods."

OOC: What do you all think?  Should we move onto the next temple?

[OOC: Ran's all for a fight but at this point, fighting for no reason isn't too appealing and he'd rather try to find where the kobolds delivered all the cubes]

[OOC: Second the idea to find where the robbers (not kobolds, likely the yuan-ti) delivered all the cubes.]

[As a reminder, the kobolds didn't say they took the cubes.  Nor did they blame the yuan-ti.  They claimed the metal men (they identified the dead Cormyr Company mercenary as one of the 'metal men') took they cubes.  They are the first to ever take all the cubes at the same time, and the kobolds didn't know what that means. 

Since there has been some downtime, here are some more story notes that might have been lost/forgotten...

• Right about the time you arrived at these ruins, Danica and Nalomanterys both felt the effects of the death curse falter and then stop.  Whether this is permanent or temporary remains to be seen.
• Here in the ruins, the Red Wizards of Thay are already here in force, with two airships and at least some survivors of a mercenary company working for them.
• Kobolds told you that the ruins are filled with Shrines that each held a puzzle cube.  The kobolds didn't know what they were for, but they (the kobolds) worked for a powerful figure they called 'Dark Helmet.'  They were entasked with maintaining the shrines and traps, and recovering and replacing cubes taken by any dead explorers, but were themselves forbidden from interfering with anyone attempting to take the cubes.
• The kobolds claimed that the mercenaries working for the Red Wizards had already stolen all the cubes, leaving the kobolds unsure of what to do with themselves.
• There is apparently a sizeable presence of yuan-ti here, though you have yet to encounter any inside the ruins.  You were involved in an ambush the yuan-ti set for mercenaries just outside the ruins, where you met the Red Wizard renegade, Eligos.
• Eligos told you he was part of a small group of ex-pats who followed the other Red Wizards to Chult to find out what they were up to.  The rest of the survivors of his expedition - including the young man Ran is tracking - went into the ruins a few days ago to infiltrate and gain more intel on what was happening inside.  They did not return.  Eligos doesn't know if they are alive or dead, but he has indicated he is committed to sabotaging whatever it is the Red Wizards are trying to accomplish here.
• In addition to the Red Wizards, Mercenaries, Yuan-ti, Grung, and other dangers, there is supposed to be some powerful evil presence hidden here, the source of the death curse.]

[OOC - So Ran would now be up for finding a 'metal man', kidnapping them and finding out where the cubes are]

(OOC: Mica can definitely get onboard with that - the hunt for the 'metal man')

[OOC: Let's hunt!]

Ran stands up after the short rest and looks up at the sky.

"So the kobolds figured these mercenaries, the Cormyr Company, were the ones that collected the cubes. From what we've seen so far, they did just that." Ran says. "Let's go find one of these muppets, have a nice chat and beat the location of the cubes out the punter if we have to."

Ran nods in the direction of the nearest airship base.

"Bound to be a few lurking around the airships."

[Here is a map again... you're currently at the southernmost 'unknown shrine'.  The airship dock is at the far north, above a wooden fort built at the base of the cliff.  To your west is an old stone compound that appears to be occupied, with campfire smoke rising above the walls.  According to Eligos, there was also a Cormyr Company encampment at the gully entering the ruins in the southwest corner of the map.  ]

[The potential guard post to the southwest looks like a good spot to start - don't need to cross the entire city]

Mica chuckles at Ran’s ambition. “If we want to just grab one, no need to kick the hornet’s nest.  We don’t want to alert all of them.  We can start with the guard camp at the ravine, probably a smaller number and they are probably looking out.  We can sneak up behind them.”  Mica pulls himself to his feet and shoulders his pack before leading the others out of the shrine, heading south. 

"Let’s hope that one... muppet"- Meili tripped over the strange word, then shrugged - "we grub has some answers."

She got to her feet, swung her backpack over her shoulder, and followed after Mica.

It is still storming outside the ruin.  No threat shows itself when you emerge from the shrine, so it seems your battle here wasn't noted by the other denizens of this city.

[Please make stealth checks as you make your way to the guard checkpoint in the southwest corner of the ruins.]

Ran Steath Check: 6 

Meili stealth (advantage for the cloak): 19