Olive has no idea what to do with her jacket as the group gets ready to head to the camp, so she just ties it around her waist so that it's easy to get if she needs to, but not causing her to burn up.

Despite the heat, Jove does not shed any clothes. The ink on his arms starts to run with his sweat. He quickly uses a handkerchief to blotch them up before they run too much. He is very adamant about keeping the ink safe.

He makes Caiphon turn invisible. He instructs Caiphon to search where the pilgrims got their food. It seems if they have been here for long, they would have run out of dry rations? Perhaps investigation? 8

Abraxas considers taking off his shirt as a way to deal with the heat, but he knows his skin is the blue-white color of dead trout belly. He remains clothed. 

He plans, though it may be later that day, that when  the party moves within bow range of the camp, he will cast mage armor.

Through Caiphon's eyes, Jove sees that the pilgrims do seem to be eating dry rations from their packs in camp.

The climate grows noticeably cooler as the party makes their way to the camp in the mountains nearby. The change in territory is once again immediate; sheer desert with one step, hard rocky mountainside with the next.

Abraxas magically bolsters himself as you approach the camp, which appears to be inhabited by only two humans; a short, bald man with a medium build, and a tall, stocky man with a black goatee and trimmed beard.

The bald man doesn't look your way, but the bearded man hails you, "If you've come to convince us to let them near the basilisk, you may as well turn away and head back now."

Iz shakes her head and waves her hands at the man, "Manners, manners. Hail and good morn to you and yours. I'm Isabella Sagefoot, called Iz by most, and this here is Roxy." Roxy, shuffles her feathers, perched on Iz's shoulder. "It doesn't matter to me if you let them near the basilisk, but we are here to investigate it and so by necessity need to talk to each of your groups. We wouldn't want to incite any undue violence."

Harmony was glad that the night was peaceful, able to get a good night's sleep. In the morning she could feel the heat and decided that she would finally change into something more comfortable in this desert heat. She used Prestidigitation to make thick fog blocking view of her while she quickly changed, now dressed in a halter neck off-the-shoulder pink and gold top that exposed her stomach a bit paired with a long flowing white and gold skirt along with sandals. Finally she felt like she could bare this heat much better as they all started to make their way to the camp in the mountains, a bit cooler than she was expecting. She saw the two human men, hearing that they should turn away and head back now if they were going to try to convince them to let the pilgrims near the statue. But then Harmony had heard Isabella introduce herself and greet them, telling them how they are here to investigate it and talk to each of their groups as to not incite violence. "Yes, that is why we are here. I am Harmony and we just want to talk and explain ourselves. Won't you please hear us out at the very least, in a calm manner?" she had stepped forward and said with a innocent smile, pointing at the two in a non-threatening way as she cast Calm Emotions on them. Please let this work.

The bearded man pats his hands in the air and says, "Sorry small one, we don't have need of manners often. Isabella and Harmony, a pleasure to meet you and your companions. I am Archibald, and this is Bui."

The bald man, looks up from the fire he is stoking and stares for a long moment, then stands and crosses his hands inside his sleeves and gives a small bow.

"We certainly appreciate the lack of violence. We won't stop you from doing what you came to do; though be aware that the goblins and the...pilgrims won't be pleased with you. We've been here keeping an eye on the situation for nearly two tendays. You're welcome to share the fire with us and chat," Archibald says.

"I am Abraxas, Archibald and Bui. It is nice to meet you. Thank you for being comfortable with our investigation. What do you make of the basilisk? Particularly, its shape?"

Does Abraxas perceive anything unusual about them? Anything matching the pilgrim's claims?

Jove gives a salute to them both. "Pleasure. What is your take on the other two tribes? You lot seem to not like each other too much."

"What my friends say is true. We've got no problems with any of you, we just want a look at the Basilisk and some backgrounds about why your tribes can't get along. I'm Olive, by the way."

Abraxas Insight: 17

For Abraxas:

"It could be many things, but it's nothing good. Animals know better than us, and have you seen any around?" Archibald tells Abraxas.

"'Tribe' is not the right word. The two of us are simply nomads. We've been keeping an eye on the unsavory types around here; wouldn't want this magic or whatever it is to fall into the wrong hands. When you go to sleep in a forest and wake up on a mountainside it will have that effect," he explains. 

"We obviously don't want the goblins anywhere near the statue, but the folks in the desert rub us the wrong way too. They smell...funny. Something about their scent is wrong."

Iz instinctively sniffs her own armpits and retches a little bit, waving away the stink. "I didn't notice, but it's probably because I'm quite ripe myself after all of our travel. Am I to assume by your comment that you aren't sure what smells wrong about them? Roxy did you notice anything?" Roxy stares blankly back at Iz. "Fine, fine. Archibald, can you tell us more about your people? And you say you were here when the Basilisk appeared? How did that come to pass?"

Abraxas, much more subtly, follows Iz's example, discreetly sniffing his own underarms.

"Yes," he says, "what do you mean they smell wrong?" He tries to remember what he has read in the past about beings with odors. "You mean like lycanthropes? The undead?" History, Barty? 10

"Animals may be a good guide sometimes, in terms of their behavior." He steps closer to the bald man by the fire.

Harmony was glad that it worked as the two apologized to them and introduced themselves. "It's okay, it's nice to meet you both as well." she said back before they mentioned that they won't stop them but that the goblins and pilgrims would not be happy and then offering them to share the fire with them and chat. "Thank you. I'm sure that the goblins will be okay with it too and the pilgrims seem to be fine with it. That would be nice after we get done with checking out the statue." she said back with a smile. Harmony heard as everyone else introduced themselves to the nomads, asking questions. Then she listened as Archibald said that the desert folks smell funny, something about their scent being very wrong and now very confused as she sniffed the air. "Really? They didn't smell bad or anything at all though. Yeah, that would make sense, not wanting that kind of magic to fall into bad hands. That's why we're investigating it so that we can get a better idea of what it can do and how to protect or stop it if needed." she said back to the nomads, not having noticed the pilgrims smelling like anything bad. But so far things seem to be going really good, believing that if they can just calmly talk to the goblins like this as well, then they can go check out the Ice Basilisk safely without any trouble or danger.

"No, the statue was here long before we arrived. When the animals fled from it, we made our way here. We would like to see it destroyed, but the two of us don't stand much of a chance against an angry mob of pilgrims and goblins. The pilgrims claim it to be some sort of gift from their god and the goblins are just goblins, seeking power that is not theirs to find," Archibald answers Isabella.

Abraxas does not recall any information that matches what the nomads speak of.

"Are the pilgrims really that much of a threat? There's only four of them and they aren't carrying weapons."

"The Ice Basilisk is between this camp and the goblins," Abraxas says. "Perhaps we don't need to even visit the goblins. Let's just walk to the Basilisk and make our investigation." He watches for a reaction to this plan from either of the nomads, hoping to gain insight into how honestly they've stated their intentions.

The pilgrims seem to want to worship at the Basilisk, the nomads want it destroyed, so they say. Rumor has it the goblins want to use its power. Keeping the peace might be difficult, he thinks.

Iz nods, "I've been ready to have a look at it since yesterday," she says, striding toward it even as Abraxas mentions it.

"Hmm," Abraxas says. "Yes, you have." If the nomads haven't reacted, he'll say, "I'm persuaded."

He turns toward the Basilisk, patting one of his shoulder bags. "I've got pen and ink. Paper." He looks toward the others. "Okay. We ready?" he says but won't step away from the rest of the party yet.

Assuming no one has interrupted her, Iz walks up within 10 feet of the Ice Basilisk and walks around it clockwise, squinting as she looks it over. "Go on over the top and have a look Roxy, but keep your distance all right?" She waves the owl off.