Cetar's eyes open wide incredulously. 'Wow...that actually worked.' He then watches the scene unfold and notices some dragonborn clan members are starting to catch scent of what's going on (pun intended) and are looking to investigate. Nervously he says to the rest of the party 'Looks like we've attracted some unwanted attention. Let's go raid another empty wagon whilst they're busy distracted here'

Huh. The changeling stared dumbfounded at the mastery of this plan. It really worked? Before he could have time to really soak in the scene before him, Cetar spoke, which brought him back to his senses. And with that ash and a campfire smell in his nose. His eyes nearly watered. "Aight, good work, Skeledtrio." He waved them over towards the nearest wagon, "Now, let's go before this plan all goes up in smoke."

In the midst of the chaos, he wandered over to another wagon. Rather than peering inside, he just nonchalantly goes in through the front door. And if it is empty, he'll motion for the others to follow.

((Perception check: 8))

Quote from SunDial365 >>

 

((Perception check: 20))

 ((the dice are good to me today ))

Great roll! It is in fact empty. Inside it is lavishly decorated with gold crown molding, red silk drapes and a shrine. The shrine is a stone table with a single drawer. On the table is a large marble statue of a scorpion with the face of a lion and the wings of an owl. 

Does Jaren recognize that this is the leader's wagon? If he does, he will take the scorpion? 

((thank you!!! finally the dice were nice. ahah that rhymed!))

"Get a load of this!" Balen exclaimed as he entered the cabin and ushered them inside. He stood for a second to absorb it all in. This wagon was niceee. He didn't expect it from the looks of the others. But he guessed the person who lived here's style wasn't dingy, but more lavish than he expected. Then it clicked, this must be someone important's wagon! He raised an eyebrow at Jaren to see if he knew anything more, then went over to the shrine.

"Ay Cetar, do you know any of these figurines here? Or anyone else religiously inclined? 'Cuz I'm not." He didn't know anything 'bout religions and such (and if he did, he would have forgotten them), so he didn't even bother with the shrine, so he opened up the drawer instead and said, "I wonder what's in here." 

‘I’ve got no clue what that thing is’ Cetar says, gesturing to the strange idol. ‘Looks like it might be some sort of hybrid monster like a manticore or chimera, but let’s hope it’s just an artistic representation of something rather than a depiction of an actual beast somewhere, since it looks absolutely terrifying.The fact it has a lion’s powerful jaws, a scorpion’s sting and wings would make it a nightmarish foe.’ He also is eager to discover what’s in the drawer, since it’s a shrine, he thinks it’s probably not too likely that it’ll be trapped. 

The drawer opens with the grinding of stone on stone. Inside are five ropes with knots tied down them systematically. As well as a bag of small bird bones, a small flask of lamp oil and a pan flute.

Jaren recalls this to be the caravan’s transportable temple and the one to the right is the leader’s

Cetar analyses the strange contents of the drawer and decides to use his Druidic focus to try and see if any of the items are magical. He will wave it over all the objects in hopes that the yew twig will react to any magical energy [OOC: Doesn’t mean anything mechanically it’s just flavour for the Arcana Check] Arcana to check for any magical properties: 23 If he finds nothing he’ll assume they’re religious items used for prayer or other rituals, but allow someone else to analyse the possible religious significance of them since religion isn’t his strong suit [he’s got a -1]

"Oh bird bones and... a flute? Weird." Balen comments absentmindly then watches Cetar with interest since he himself had no idea what the druid was doing. Since his own memory was terrible, he rummages through his bag too see if he had any book that might help. Perhaps he had stolen something actually useful this time.

((Religion check: 16))

Cetar 

Examining each item meticulously looking for any clue of magic reveals nothing. Except for the bones which you notice have geometric patterns scratched into them. This detail leads you to believe that they are used as a component in some sort of divination. 

Balen

seaching through your bag you find a book titled The Pantheon My encounters with World’s Worshipers, by Haddock Fluemann. Leafing through the pages you stop when you see  a sketch of giant scorpion with wings out stretched and the head of a lion. Pertruding from the top of its skull is a spear held by a Dragonborn. On the adjacent page it says 

‘ some of the Thorngenax I encountered refused to worship the God of their ancestors. Unlike the majority who were willing to let the beast consume them the Monax as they called themselves did not find the slaughter divine. In the language of Thorn Mon is the word for knowledge and ax meaning to be of or to be included in. It begs the question how such a devote group such as the Thorngenax could have a sect of blasphemers. Well it certainly didn’t naturally so I went in search of the external influence. And to neither mine nor your surprise it is once again found in the Society of Supine Serpents. I will note here briefly on a pattern you may have noticed earlier. The Supine as I will refer to them are an elusive lot despite how often they appear little is truly known about them. Although I have never met one myself I have often seen the results of their work. Should I ever be face to face with one I am certain that I wouldn’t walk away thinking the same, for better or for worse. I won’t say any more on them here however. The Monax with whatever knowledge they had gained sought to slay Thorn. I was lucky to be there when they did. A massive battle broke out in the valley not just between Thorn and the Monax but the faithful Thorngenax who fought to defend their God. Thorn fell in the end taking most of the Monax with him. To my surprise the Thorngenax stopped fighting after that despite having a large advantage in numbers. The aftermath was complex so I will summarize here. The Monax remained in the valley, a fair amount of the Thorngenax took their lives to rest with their God, the remaining Followers of Thorn split into three different factions. The Axaxy being the largest are an oddity. Their name is to be of to be. They hold the belief of emptiness each holding that title and nothing else. Going on as individuals not as a group they’re not much of a faction and more of individuals who had the same reaction to the same experience wandering as empty husks. The Gorthax meaning Gorth -dead and ax to be of or included in. The Gorthax left the valley calling it cursed and became nomadic bands led by the king of the Thorngenax Gellvak Knifefang. The final one is the Byredax By means back and red means killer. people of the back killers  might be a strange name at first but when considering Supine means to lay prone on one’s back it is quite menacing. ‘

"Huh! I forgot where I got this one from." Balen fished the book out from his bag and looked through it, glancing back and forth from the shrine to the pages. "And I think I actually found somethin' in 're." He started to read it aloud, mispronouncing some words (a bit theatrically of course!), but managed to get it out along fine, though he was a bit breathless at the end. "Wow... that's a lot to take in." He had to stand there, squinting at the pages to really really realize what he had just read. 

He would pass the book over to whoever wanted to read and then goes to stare at the statue and then the ropes on the shrine. "Those are some fine knot-tying work right there if I do say so myself." He responded nonchalantly. "This looks really sacred and important. Guess it must be Thorn... or whatever it said it there in that book I dunno. Man." He sighed, "The Supine. Gorthax. Who would've thunk. ... I'm starting to feel like this is more of a cult than a clan." He shivered, "I really hope we're not going over our heads here. I really hope." 

The changeling looked over at the group after mostly just muttering to himself, watching them with wide eyes, "Are the Gorthax going to the kill the Supine... or is it the other way around? Are we messin' with destiny here?" He reached up to brush his hair from his head, forgetting that he was still in his Dragonborn disguise, "What are we doing here? What should we do?"

I'll be unavailable this weekend, sorry.

Cetar’s eyes widen as he reads the text, trying to wrap his head around it all. ‘Wow, really does seem like Clan Gorthrax is more than a bunch of bandits and cutthroats. I’m not sure how deep we should dive into this. It seems to be a long standing and ancient conflict, and I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not in the mood to get my bloodline cursed or hunted.’ He runs his hands nervously through his bird nest hairdo and scratches Zumu behind the ears to calm himself. Even though he’s an adventurer, he’s still barely a man. ‘Tildrash, what’s your opinion? You’ve been fairly quiet, so is there anything you want to get done here or should we start working out how we’re getting to the Sandhills from here? I’m fine with either. Oh, and Balen, would you mind if I hang onto this book for a while? I love a good read and I think it’s high time I scratch up on my religious knowledge’

((Hey guys I’m leaving Monday night and won’t be back until the 16th so if anyone posts during that time sorry in advance for not responding hope everyones doing well)) 

Quote from The_Archsage_Gander_Gongowogoll >>

((Hey guys I’m leaving Monday night and won’t be back until the 16th so if anyone posts during that time sorry in advance for not responding hope everyones doing well)) 

 ((heyyyy!!! have a good vacation!!! it's all good! I hope everything is well with you.

I'm doing good. starting my new part-time job on tuesday. how about you?! :) ))

[Hey, no problems at all here! Hope you’re all good too!  I’m fairly busy in the first few weeks of June so I might also have a decreased post rate then as well. Also, good luck Sundial with your new job, hope it goes great! :) ]

Cetar stretches out and gives a yawn. 'Gosh, feels like I've been in this dingy cabin for months, and it's only been a few minutes!' It's clear he craves to get back outside and adventure, like a dog pawing at the door. He turns to the party and says 'If you guys are all finished up here, should we go? I don't wanna run into whoever dwells here, so let's head out to  pull some more shenanigans on Clan Gorthrax, or just continue on towards the Sandhills if you've had your fair share of tomfoolery.' Cetar gives a childish grin but is apprehensive about how much they can continue to get away with before getting caught in a sticky situation.

"I agree. We should leave. Once I get more experience, I should be able to carry out my bounty." Jaren agrees.