If the consensus was to first return to Blingdenstone, Sekkar would ask Pax's help to transport the statue - who knows, may be those eath-benders there knew how to return someone in this condition to life?

"Recovery from a stoned state is not low level stuff. Proably need some diamond or something," Kastix states as he moves, "Any idea who's this Goldwhisker the twins are talking about? Still got trouble coming anyways. The oozes,"

Pax looks around, "You're right of course Kastix, but I think one thing at a time. Lets return the brother. Say, if the brother could supply the diamond dust, could you undo this petrification? We're underground, in an underground city of gnomes. I figure they probably got ample diamonds. Either way, he'll be happy to have his brother back or at least know what happened." 

Nodding to Sekkar, she pends down, her metal creaking, as she heaves the feet up and then slowly carries it, trying to keep up with Sekkar as she huffs and puffs.  

"Goldwhisker, seems like the king of the ...those guys......or somethin....we can visit him after.....friggen heavy rock...."

Rhayna still recovering herself, follows her companions.

(OOC: The Blessing of Deephome sounds very tempting, but I think Rhayna is going to stick with the Blessing of Understanding Your Wisdom score increases by 2, up to a maximum of 22.)

Quote from ZorgAlmighty >>

The gnome statue is a little larger than average, but as it is made of solid stone it weighs about 470 lb. It is very solid though, and unlikely to break if carried with normal care.

Noticing that some of the party seem willing to follow them, while others would prefer to return to the gates by which they entered, Topsy says: If you not come now, then we will go tell Chipgrin what you did. You come later and talk to him. In the north burrows. You killed nasty Queen Neheedra. Goldwhisker Clan will welcome you. 

And with that, the two gnomes scurry off toward the large blockage in the northern alcove.

((You wrote that they spoke to Kastix in undercommon so she would have no idea what they said.  I guess I didn't realize they came in different doors so Kaylyn was just headed to the exit.  I didn't realize there was another.  

It doesn't matter to Kaylyn if they follow the gnomes now or go later. ))

With a few rest stops along the way, and despite a minor disagreement about who was carrying the 'heavier end', Sekkar and Pax manage to lug the gnome statue all the way back to the double gates. A knock on the steel gate is answered in kind, and soon the group is ushered back into the burrow with great excitement and curiosity from the gnomes. However they can see that the returning surface-dwellers are weary and wounded, and they give them space to enter unmolested from their myriad questions, and encourage them to return to the Foaming Mug inn for some nourishment and rest.

(Long rest achieved! If anyone wishes to do anything or visit anywhere prior to a rest, then let me know.)

After a well-deserved rest, the group arise and enjoy a fresh hearty meal. By the time they have supped, a number of official visitors have assembled to consult with them.

Gurnik the priest is there with Sark Axebarrel. The veteran warrior shakes everybody's hand several times over, thanking them for finding his brother Vort, and is excited that the priest has promised to pray to Callardan Smoothhands for the power to revive the petrified explorer as soon as the ooze battle is done. Gurnik himself is much less animated but no less grateful for the sanctification of the temple, and says he can scarcely offer more than that which his god has already seen fit to bestow upon them, but offers a scroll all the same, which Rhayna can see contains a Planar Ally spell.

The two Diggermattock leaders are there along with Nomi Pathshutter, the elemental wrangler from the quarry. They confirm that the power of Ogremoch's Bane has been broken, and that their elementals are now able to traverse the burrows without becoming crazed. Nomi offers the group a small yellow diamond which she explains is an earth elemental gem and will allow the bearer to summon an elemental to their aid. The Diggermattocks inform the group that fighters are beginning to assemble from the outlying farms and quarries. They are still concerned that they will not have enough numbers to fight oozes and also to guard their rear against the hostile wererats, but will do the best they can.

And hovering amongst the assembled crowds is Jimjar, looking like he is getting the rockstar treatment himself (at least in his mind) due to his special association with the famous visitors.

Pax eats like she's not eaten in days, and fiercely studies during the last couple hours of her sleep, and then also spends an hour cleaning her armor and gear after the messy battle.  Scraping bits of hardened lava over her chain links proves to be a nasty task.  She immediately casts some spells into the ring of spell storing to fill it back up, leaving her with a bit of an awkward spell list for the day. Her shadows renewed and swirling around her body, the ritual casting of a low level alarm spell enough for her to draw the shadows forth and armor her body....she arrives to the meeting standing tall and looking proud as a member of the group that defeated the stone creatures.....

She shakes Sark's hand and nods to him in a serious way, and listens to the various stories.  She presumes one of the others will take the [magicItem]Earth Elemental Gem[/spell]...though is unclear in her mind if it's a spell or magic item.  Either way, she's sure someone else in the group will get good use of it. 

She does raise her voice, and asks about the ... "um...fellows referred to him as Goldenwhiskers?"......to see if anyone here knows about the other creatures they met. She admits, it's all a bit foggy after the battle..

fixed. thanks for pointing it out so... politely.  :)

Curled up with Pensive, who seems to have achieved a while new level of self confidence, Kaylyn sleeps well. The following day she also spends some time cleaning, using Mending and Prestidigitation to get the job done, offering to help the others as needed.

As they meet with the leaders and priests Pensive becomes quite obnoxious as he keeps flashing images of him taking down the medusa to any gnome that he thinks needs to see it.  

A little humility is in order here Pensive.  You were very brave but your bragging is too much.  Be a quiet warrior not a boastful one.

Pensive pouts for a moment but with a flash of chagrin he eventually settles down and curls up on Kaylyn's shoulders and falls asleep.

For her part she stays generally quiet herself, shaking hands and smiling at the thanks.  

"Do you think we have time to seek out these wererats and deal with that situation?  Perhaps they are more reasonable than whatever malevolent force that was that Kastix was able to banish?"

Sekkar fully enjoyed the rest, spending a good part of it in usual exchange of memories about the particular exciting moments with everyone involved including Dawnbringer (or trying so, lately it seemed the sword was in a good mood and he risked to address the weapon more often). Spells and summoning stones were not his thing (though he now fully appreciated that little rock that helped quite a lot in the battle), so that information the lizardman simply ignored. Not the future plans, though.

"I thought our visit to wererats was decided?" He really did: oozes were on gnomes, but the Orgebane and wererats on the group. "But before we go, how about a short visiting Topsy and Turvy? Guys were helpful and had something to tell. But even without it I would not mind to see them. Would not take much time either."

"Yes, I agree, we owe them much for their aid.  Let us visit them and then seek these wererats.  As for the gem, I will take it unless there is another that wishes to have it."  Kaylyn says.

Pax seems to have found comfort, sitting on a bench with her steel boots kicked on a table and a mug of tea in her hands. With the group being ready to move onto the next thing though, she takes a deep breath to summon the energy, and then swings her feet to the ground with a clank, and stands up. She chugs the last of the tea....it was getting too cool anyway...and checks over her gear....with a few dull thuds.  Then she grabs her helm and swings it under her armored arm into her armpit and nods, "Very well, let's go meet the topsy turvy guys...."

Kastix carefully eats his fill of the food but careful not to overeat, "We may be able to keep the battle on one front but would need time to meet and discuss something,"

Rhayna had dreams about the last battle for the whole night, for it was much in her thoughts afterwards. She wakes up, and she thanks Callarduran Smoothhands for his blessing upon her.

The next morning, the cleric joins her companions for breakfast, and agrees with the group about visiting the wererats.

One common feeling that every member of the group shares is: Living amongst gnomes certainly makes one feel tall. Even Pensive feels it a little. Dawnbringer is different of course. Sekkar still notices her sense of superiority but it is unrelated to physical stature - she is rather prejudiced against deep gnomes, like she is toward all races who would live in the dark sunless places of the world.

Pax's mention of the 'Goldenwhiskers' produces a dark look from Senni Diggermattock. Yes, Goldwhisker Clan. That's what the wererats call themselves, she says. If you're willing to help further, you might be able to thin their numbers, or cow them enough to keep them away during the battle. But I'll understand if you wish to avoid the risk of being bitten and contracting lycanthropy. Although... I must confess we have miraculously managed to avoid that in our confrontations so far.

Feeling refreshed, the group head back toward Rockblight. The heavy gates are now wide open, and gnomes are coming and going from the newly-liberated area, nodding and waving (and sometimes even smiling!) to the adventurers as they pass. Soft lighting now fills the caverns, and it feels much more like an extension of the burrow than a dank dark dungeon. The menhir at the center of the temple hums ever-so-softly, and the three large boulders surrounding it give no hint of their true nature. The ever-serious little gnomes are busy clearing the area around the temple so that their deity can be properly petitioned for aid before the coming battle. With all the traffic in the area, it is no surprise that there is no sign of Topsy and Turvy. Looking around the edges of the caves where the gnome-prints are less concentrated, Sekkar does notice numerous tracks of a pair of large rats.

(Let me know if you want to explore any further here. I'll continue on, but happy to backtrack if desired.)

Not content to just sit idly while the gnomes complete their battle preparations, the group head to the north of the city to where an increased contingent of warriors are guarding the doors that lead into the Goldwhisker-controlled warrens. The guards acknowledge the group respectfully, and are more than happy to admit them through the gate when requested, but also tense and cautious when doing so, and again close the gate behind the explorers.

Beyond the gate are more tunnels, now with a faint but distinct smell of excrement. The tunnel immediately ahead branches in several directions, but before the group have gone more than about twenty feet, Sekkar grabs Pax's arm and pulls her to a stop. Pointing at the floor, Sekkar points out a rudimentary pressure-plate made of thin zurkhwood and covered by sand, as well as several slender tubes protruding from the growths of fungus on the walls on either side.

By the end of there stomping around in search of the little guys it finally clicked in Sekkar's mind (don't blame a lizardman for a slow thinking, smart ones are killed and eaten in the tribes!) "Wait... Topsy and Turvy live with the wererats?! Are they the wererats too? And we are heading to the wererats burrow per there invitation to exterminate them." He scratched his chin. "I think we have a problem here."

Fortunately, the obvious trap was something he could understand and deal with without breaking his brain over moral dilemmas. "Give me a moment to disarm this thing. May be stay back a bit in case I fail." (He was not above admitting the possibility, however small it was) "We can probably just step over it but ..." First he tried to disarm it.

 ((Pure Dex roll? 8  If it did not work (and did not trigger)  Survival to guide others around it? 8 ))

As they stop and Sekkar makes his comments Kaylyn recalls something from earlier. 

"I had not given it much thought, with the battle with the medusa and others.  But I recall now seeing a couple of rats watching us and shortly after that Topsy and Turvy were there helping us.  The connection is made in my mind now, and yes, I would believe that indeed they are likely to be wererats, or rather have lycanthropy.  But they were helpful, perhaps more allies than the other gnomes wish to see."

Rhayna will leave the spelunking to her capable companions, so she hangs in the back. She, however, senses fungi nearby, and try to reach her senses to see if she is able to make any connection with it. If she is close enough, she will touch the closest patch.

(Check out this old post. It's part of the escape from Velkynvelve. Especially take note of what Kastix sees... )

Rhayna recognises most of the fungi in the tunnels, although they only appear in small patches too insubstantial for moving between. She feels her invisible spores tingle all the same, as if the fungi can sense her connection with mycology. There is one particularly rare fungus present, which Rhayna hasn't seen since Neverlight Grove. It is called Torchstalk.

Disarming the trap is not difficult, but it takes a little bit of time to disconnect the slender tubes from the mechanism that would have shot a poison dart at anyone who set foot on the pressure plate. The ranger has no sooner completed the job than he hears movement from the side-tunnels and sees shadowy figures creeping closer. They appear to be small humanoids, but walk low to the ground, almost on all fours, but as they draw nearer it is apparent they are svirfneblins. A raspy voice from the pack wheezes: Did those upstart Diggermattocks send you to kill us?

"We were invited by two young ones, Turvy and Topsy. We're here to discuss a problem I believe you must be dealing with. the Slimes, Oozes and this Pudding King. while we were the ones who dealt with Queen Neheedra and Ogremoch's Bane and even then we could not handle the slimes," Kastix explains.