“Ah but I’m still not sure this is a good idea. I think I’ll stay outside. If you discover anything of interest let me know? Dr A says as the other two head into the shrine.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM - Storm King's Thunder - The Gods Respond DM - Four bards walk into a bar... Cracitus Tibicen (Tibi) - Aarokocra - Rogue [Swashbuckler] / Fighter [Battlemaster]
A ten-foot-tall stone statue of an evil-looking monkey balances on its tail atop a stone dais in the middle of this twenty-foot-high chamber. The statue’s limbs are splayed, with hands and feet cupped. On the north wall behind, a sculpted relief shows a monkey-like creature tearing into a giant serpent. Cuneiform inscriptions are carved above and below the relief.
Four masks of painted stone protrude from the east, west and southern walls; they depict the heads of a lion, a zebra, a boar, and a vulture.
At the base of the statue is an inscription written in Old Omuan.
On the north wall behind, a sculpted relief shows a monkey-like creature tearing into a giant serpent. Cuneiform inscriptions are carved above and below the relief.
They read:
That night, a su-monster broke into Ubtao’s palace and stole a pail of water for the Omuans. When the god came running to find it, the su-monster hid the pail in a jaculi’s burrow. Ubtao asked the jungle animals where his water was hidden, and Moa the jaculi was too honest to lie.
The wall relief shows the trickster god Wongo (a su-monster) fighting his hated enemy, Moa (a jaculi). Inscriptions in Old Omuan explain how Moa betrayed Wongo to the god Ubtao
At the statue’s base the following inscription is written in Old Omuan: “Wongo’s friend knows where to pour the water.”
Keyleth looks at the others, while they look back at her and at each other, everyone clearly waiting for somebody else to say something.
"I don't know what that means!" she says. "I mean, presumably the jaculi is Wongo's enemy, but I don't know who his friend is... Lion, zebra, boar, vulture... Dr. A are any of those the forms of trickster gods?"
Here's the map again. The 4 other hallways are open even though they look like they are closed with bars but the bars are up.
The half moon shapes are where the four masks of painted stone protrude from the east, west and southern walls; they depict the heads of a lion, a zebra, a boar, and a vulture.
After thinking for some time, Timber speaks up. "Umm guys. I have an idea but it could be wrong." Timber pauses for a moment and then continues. "what if Wongos friend is actually an enemy of Woa. Now if I remember what Doc said earlier and Woa is a jaculi, which is basically a snake, would that mean we choose an enemy of a snake? Such as Vulture or Lion?"
Ooc: sorry if I played out of character, was just an idea to try and move the game along.
"I suppose we may as well check out those other passages," Keyleth says. "Maybe there will be some kind of clue there."
She heads back out to go into the western most passage and look through the mask from the other side.
Keyleth makes her way down the corridor. Above the mask on this side is an inscription that reads, “I ate one of the boar’s friends.” As you peer through the mask you see a ray of blue light falling from the ceiling onto the right hand of the statue in the main room.
Kirinar, who has been silently following the group for a while, finally speaks up. "I think we're on the right path of thinking about this. Each of the painted masks represent an animal - none of which are representations of the trickster gods. And based on this trip by Keyleth, each passage has another piece of the puzzle inscribed. So let's match these sayings with the mask. I think she looked through the lion mask on the western wall, and that mask had "I ate one of the boar's friends" inscribed above it. Next in line on the south-west wall is the zebra. We should look at each inscription and then consider which would indicate a su-monster's friend. Clearly not the lion!"
With this, he will read each of the inscriptions and match it to the mask of the animal.
Lion: "I ate one of the boar's friends." (Right hand) - NOT Wongo's friend
"That's some sharp thinking for a... Er, what I mean to say is... I'll shut up now," Keyleth says, looking down at the ground with a strangely pinker face than she had a second ago.
After a few awkward moments of this she adds, still not looking at Kirinar directly, "I'm not sure we can necessarily conclude that the lion isn't Wongo's friend though. It ate one of the boar's friends, but... well... we don't know how Wongo feels about the boar yet. I suspect we will need to read all four clues and then figure out how they fit together."
The fighter thinks for a few minutes, then slowly starts to speak. “I think I’ve figured it out, but want to check to see if you agree. If the zebra’s only friend starved to death, then he isn’t Wongo’s friend. The vulture mask says one of the others has no friends, so that means either the lion or the boar, and the lion ate the boar’s friend, so that must mean that the lion has no friends. If the lion ate one of the boar’s friends, then that only leaves the vulture to be Wongo’s friend.” He looks at the rest of the group and shrugs. “If I'm right, then where does the light fall when looking through the vulture mask?”
"Hmm... ok... so assuming we are meant to take these at face value, the zebra says their only friend starved to death, which would mean that they currently have no friends, and so they're ruled out. Also it means the vulture's statement must apply to the zebra; and assuming the 'one' means 'exactly one', that means that the the lion and the boar both have at least one friend. The lion's statement may mean that the boar had more than one friend before the lion ate one of them, so it would seem that the boar is a candidate to be Wongo's friend. But I'm not sure yet how to rule out the lion or the vulture from being Wongo's friend, or what to make of the boar's statement that the vulture is lucky to be alive... except that I guess it means the vulture isn't the boar's friend that got eaten, nor the zebra's friend that starved to death."
Keyleth does her best to block out the shrieking monkeys in her mind, and proceeds forward to take a look at the statue(?) in the center of the room.
"Darvin" | Changeling | Hexblade 1 / Swords Bard 6 | Descent Into Avernus (AC 19; PP 14; 52/52 HP)
Anton Chergoba | Human | Battlemaster 4 | Lost Mines of Phandelver (AC 20; PP 14; 36/36 HP)
Ransyl winces at the noise and follows Keyleth in, ax in hand.
“Ah but I’m still not sure this is a good idea. I think I’ll stay outside. If you discover anything of interest let me know? Dr A says as the other two head into the shrine.
DM - Storm King's Thunder - The Gods Respond
DM - Four bards walk into a bar...
Cracitus Tibicen (Tibi) - Aarokocra - Rogue [Swashbuckler] / Fighter [Battlemaster]
A ten-foot-tall stone statue of an evil-looking monkey balances on its tail atop a stone dais in the middle of this twenty-foot-high chamber. The statue’s limbs are splayed, with hands and feet cupped. On the north wall behind, a sculpted relief shows a monkey-like creature tearing into a giant serpent. Cuneiform inscriptions are carved above and below the relief.
Four masks of painted stone protrude from the east, west and southern walls; they depict the heads of a lion, a zebra, a boar, and a vulture.
At the base of the statue is an inscription written in Old Omuan.
"Can you read this Ransyl? Me either. I think we'd better go fetch Dr. A..." Keyleth says, going back toward the entrance.
"We need your linguistic expertise, Doc," she tells him.
"Darvin" | Changeling | Hexblade 1 / Swords Bard 6 | Descent Into Avernus (AC 19; PP 14; 52/52 HP)
Anton Chergoba | Human | Battlemaster 4 | Lost Mines of Phandelver (AC 20; PP 14; 36/36 HP)
“Good idea, we’ve got to figure out which of these beasts is the friend to the monkey.”
Dr A comes into the shrine and peers at the inscription (History - 10)
DM - Storm King's Thunder - The Gods Respond
DM - Four bards walk into a bar...
Cracitus Tibicen (Tibi) - Aarokocra - Rogue [Swashbuckler] / Fighter [Battlemaster]
On the north wall behind, a sculpted relief shows a monkey-like creature tearing into a giant serpent. Cuneiform inscriptions are carved above and below the relief.
They read:
That night, a su-monster broke into Ubtao’s palace and stole a pail of water for the Omuans. When the god came running to find it, the su-monster hid the pail in a jaculi’s burrow. Ubtao asked the jungle animals where his water was hidden, and Moa the jaculi was too honest to lie.
The wall relief shows the trickster god Wongo (a su-monster) fighting his hated enemy, Moa (a jaculi). Inscriptions in Old Omuan explain how Moa betrayed Wongo to the god Ubtao
At the statue’s base the following inscription is written in Old Omuan: “Wongo’s friend knows where to pour the water.”
OOC: I'm back, what do you want to do?
Keyleth looks at the others, while they look back at her and at each other, everyone clearly waiting for somebody else to say something.
"I don't know what that means!" she says. "I mean, presumably the jaculi is Wongo's enemy, but I don't know who his friend is... Lion, zebra, boar, vulture... Dr. A are any of those the forms of trickster gods?"
"Darvin" | Changeling | Hexblade 1 / Swords Bard 6 | Descent Into Avernus (AC 19; PP 14; 52/52 HP)
Anton Chergoba | Human | Battlemaster 4 | Lost Mines of Phandelver (AC 20; PP 14; 36/36 HP)
Here's the map again. The 4 other hallways are open even though they look like they are closed with bars but the bars are up.
The half moon shapes are where the four masks of painted stone protrude from the east, west and southern walls; they depict the heads of a lion, a zebra, a boar, and a vulture.
Dr A says “I’d be guessing but of the four the boar is probably closest to Wong’s in personality but I really wouldn’t recommend it.”
DM - Storm King's Thunder - The Gods Respond
DM - Four bards walk into a bar...
Cracitus Tibicen (Tibi) - Aarokocra - Rogue [Swashbuckler] / Fighter [Battlemaster]
"I suppose we may as well check out those other passages," Keyleth says. "Maybe there will be some kind of clue there."
She heads back out to go into the western most passage and look through the mask from the other side.
"Darvin" | Changeling | Hexblade 1 / Swords Bard 6 | Descent Into Avernus (AC 19; PP 14; 52/52 HP)
Anton Chergoba | Human | Battlemaster 4 | Lost Mines of Phandelver (AC 20; PP 14; 36/36 HP)
After thinking for some time, Timber speaks up. "Umm guys. I have an idea but it could be wrong." Timber pauses for a moment and then continues. "what if Wongos friend is actually an enemy of Woa. Now if I remember what Doc said earlier and Woa is a jaculi, which is basically a snake, would that mean we choose an enemy of a snake? Such as Vulture or Lion?"
Ooc: sorry if I played out of character, was just an idea to try and move the game along.
Keyleth makes her way down the corridor. Above the mask on this side is an inscription that reads, “I ate one of the boar’s friends.” As you peer through the mask you see a ray of blue light falling from the ceiling onto the right hand of the statue in the main room.
Kirinar, who has been silently following the group for a while, finally speaks up. "I think we're on the right path of thinking about this. Each of the painted masks represent an animal - none of which are representations of the trickster gods. And based on this trip by Keyleth, each passage has another piece of the puzzle inscribed. So let's match these sayings with the mask. I think she looked through the lion mask on the western wall, and that mask had "I ate one of the boar's friends" inscribed above it. Next in line on the south-west wall is the zebra. We should look at each inscription and then consider which would indicate a su-monster's friend. Clearly not the lion!"
With this, he will read each of the inscriptions and match it to the mask of the animal.
Lion: "I ate one of the boar's friends." (Right hand) - NOT Wongo's friend
Zebra:
Boar:
Vulture:
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
"That's some sharp thinking for a... Er, what I mean to say is... I'll shut up now," Keyleth says, looking down at the ground with a strangely pinker face than she had a second ago.
After a few awkward moments of this she adds, still not looking at Kirinar directly, "I'm not sure we can necessarily conclude that the lion isn't Wongo's friend though. It ate one of the boar's friends, but... well... we don't know how Wongo feels about the boar yet. I suspect we will need to read all four clues and then figure out how they fit together."
"Darvin" | Changeling | Hexblade 1 / Swords Bard 6 | Descent Into Avernus (AC 19; PP 14; 52/52 HP)
Anton Chergoba | Human | Battlemaster 4 | Lost Mines of Phandelver (AC 20; PP 14; 36/36 HP)
You check each hallway and read the inscriptions.
Lion Mask. The inscription above this mask reads, “I ate one of the boar’s friends.”
Boar Mask. The inscription above this mask reads, “The vulture is lucky to be alive.”
Zebra Mask. The inscription above this mask reads, “My only friend starved to death.”
Vulture Mask. The inscription above this mask reads, “One of the others has no friends.”
The fighter thinks for a few minutes, then slowly starts to speak. “I think I’ve figured it out, but want to check to see if you agree. If the zebra’s only friend starved to death, then he isn’t Wongo’s friend. The vulture mask says one of the others has no friends, so that means either the lion or the boar, and the lion ate the boar’s friend, so that must mean that the lion has no friends. If the lion ate one of the boar’s friends, then that only leaves the vulture to be Wongo’s friend.” He looks at the rest of the group and shrugs. “If I'm right, then where does the light fall when looking through the vulture mask?”
Love God. Love Others. Any Questions?
"Hmm... ok... so assuming we are meant to take these at face value, the zebra says their only friend starved to death, which would mean that they currently have no friends, and so they're ruled out. Also it means the vulture's statement must apply to the zebra; and assuming the 'one' means 'exactly one', that means that the the lion and the boar both have at least one friend. The lion's statement may mean that the boar had more than one friend before the lion ate one of them, so it would seem that the boar is a candidate to be Wongo's friend. But I'm not sure yet how to rule out the lion or the vulture from being Wongo's friend, or what to make of the boar's statement that the vulture is lucky to be alive... except that I guess it means the vulture isn't the boar's friend that got eaten, nor the zebra's friend that starved to death."
"Darvin" | Changeling | Hexblade 1 / Swords Bard 6 | Descent Into Avernus (AC 19; PP 14; 52/52 HP)
Anton Chergoba | Human | Battlemaster 4 | Lost Mines of Phandelver (AC 20; PP 14; 36/36 HP)