Very well. Let's try the back tunnels then, shall we? and with that Badger sends his newly-minted zombies ahead of them into the tunnels (unless anyone prefers to go first).

The group sneaks out the back of the amphitheater and into the ruins of the city of Omu. Alright, based on the map provided, which direction would you like to go in? 

(OOC: Shall we just do the whole section west of the long road? Then we can work our way back up the middle.)

[OOC: Works for me.]

Mal will tag along behind the zombies a bit and keep a watch out for anything amiss.

Perception: 18

(OOC: Sounds good to me also. Looking for shrines...)

Mandra will take the mask from Sickle and spend 10 minutes to cast Detect Magic on it. She'll also try to determine if she recognizes any of the symbols painted on it History: 23.

Turning to Mal, "Did your group determine the location of any of the shrines before their unfortunate incident? My goal is to get to the bottom of the curse affecting this land, not to fight the local fauna. The sooner we can locate the shrines the better."

"Not yet, we had just entered the city last night and made camp, when that thing out there decided to have us for dinner. All I know is they determined the 9 nine cubes represented the Ancient Omuan Trickster gods and they should be located in each of the shrines within the city. So I would assume when we find a shrine, we will find a cube." Mal answers, "Now with your gracious healing and my wits about me, I think there are still a couple members from the Thayan group left and maybe a few men. I have no idea if they are still looking for the devices or running for the hills. I would assume the men are fleeing as the Thayans were not kind employers, but the wizards might still be about. they might have more information if we run across them and can question them. I might have some pull with them but since I left them for dead to seek my own safety, they might not look kindly on me popping back up."

Mandra determines the mask is boringly mundane, However, the symbols on it are clearly old omuan. Based on the books she read at Kir Sabal, she figures they seem to represent great accomplishment. Likely an award for some great deed. 

The group begins to pick their way south along the west side of the city.  It's a bit faster going, now that you're now you're looking for shrines or temples of some sort. The homes, villas, stores, and numerous other builds that you walk through have many rooms, hidden crumbling basements, and damaged upper floors.  Some have ancient crumbling, yet once grand stairways and wide foyer's with large rooms. Others are crunched together, small and cramped yet still with wonderous stone work. You find ancient intact pottery that may be worth quiet a bit, but you know won't survive in your backpack for long, so you leave them behind. Ahead, as you cut through some brambles, you notice an overturned cart in the center of a small side road. It's unique because the plants around it appear lush, bright green grass shrouds the ground around it, and bright flowers grow in vines along it.  The greenery around the cart makes the rest of this lush jungle appear a bit dim in comparison.  Flower petals litter the ground around it, and bees nest in its broken wheels. A freshly cut garland of jungle flowers hangs from the wagon's tongue.

"Flowers.... didn't we encounter some beast that seem to have been infected by such things?" SIlas question as he stares the scene, slowly searching himself for tinderbox. 

Infected beasts, animated corpses, plants with a mind of their own ... this land certainly keeps you on your guard, Badger muses.

Using Mage Hand to avoid getting too close, and keeping his own zombies between him and the cart, Badger picks up some of the petals and lifts the garland, trying to ascertain whether these flowers and vines resemble and of the malicious ones they've encountered so far, or if this is some kind of trap.

Mal will wrack her memory to see if she has witnessed this before as she knocks a bolt into her crossbow.

Nature: 3 Survival: 14

A spectral hand is conjured by Badger. It lifts the garland away and over to the group. Unlike the yellow flowers of the vine that turns people into zombies, no such large plant exists here. Instead, Sickle detects that this is just a healthy portion of growth. A few bees buzz around the area, unthreateningly going about their business.  There seems to be a large round stone on the ground, under the overturned cart and as the group looks, it appears to have common on it. 

Cautiously, the group approaches, and examines. The stone, which appears to be round, three inches thick, and four feet across, seems to be inscribed with both common and old Omuan in concentric rings over its surface.  After a few moments Badger and Mandra come to the same conclusion.  The stone, partially covered in moss, appears to be a translation stone from old Omuan to common and vice versa.  It is inscribed with a message in both common and Omuan, "Queen Napaka proclaims that the free people of Omu fear nothing. Brave new gods protect us, as Ubtao did before but does no longer. Omu will rise again, and Napaka shall reclaim all that is hers by right of conquest." 

The stone looks like it will be a few hundred pounds to heft around. The overturned wagon it's under is too rotted to be of any use transporting it. 

Sickle, you see a tiny figure wearing an oval mask crouched behind the wheel with the bees nest.  It appears to be watching the group cautious. A chwinga. 

. 

As they approach the wagon, Sickle looks around, trying to determine if the growth is natural or if this spot has been cultivated.  They walk around the stone and the wagon a bit, and he studies the inscription with the others.

Spying the chwinga, Sickle squats down. He blossoms a small yellow flower between himself and the chwinga, and speak to it softly.  "Don't be afraid..." He pauses and looks at the stone. "At..atula...egwu," he says, trying to repeat the part about no fear in old Omuan back to the small creature.

The Chwinga hops in delight as a flower blossoms.  It hops over to it, jumping around the flower. It then approaches Sickle. It boldly clambers up his leg onto his knee where he's squatting, then clambers up his arm, and onto his shoulder. Finally it walks over and grabs his hair.  It sits there, playing with his hair, tying them in little knots and weaving tiny little tails.  As Sickle slowly stands, the Chwinga doesn't seem to mind and continues to sit on his shoulder fiddling with his hair in apparently fascination.

Mal looks concerned as the creature scramble's up Sickle's shoulder but says nothing. She steps a few feet farther away though and walks in a position to keep her eye on it.

"We're making all sorts of new friends today." Mandra slowly approaches Sickle, curious about the creature. "Do you think we could communicate with it somehow?" She holds out her hand and uses Minor Illusion to create images of the the 9 glyphs above her palm. 

Badger replies to Mandra: Urgh, I should be able to divine whether it is capable of communication. And he casts Detect Thoughts, trying to learn whether it speaks a language and what its surface thoughts are. He will maintain the spell while Mandra conjures her illusion to see if the creature recognises the symbols.

“I’ve seen a few of his kind along the journey here.  The first just a little ways into the jungle from Port Nyanzeru, which left me this,” Sickle says, slowly rubbing the feather amulet hanging around his neck.  “A couple others, most recently in the gardens when we were collecting the black orchid. I think Azaka perhaps mentioned something about them being elemental spirits or someth8ng, but I haven’t been very clear on what they are, why they are here, and why they have been helpful.”

The Chwinga stops and stares at Mandra's illusions, but doesn't make any motion of understanding. Badger attempts to read the creatures thoughts but all he gets are unintelligible garble. He smells honey, see flashes of green grass or blue sky, and hears the sound of the wind on a tree, but none of it is strung together into anything meaningful. The creature is clearly intelligent, so, perhaps it simply has no language...which would defeat his attempts to use the spell. 

It seems content to sit on Sickle's shoulder and play with his hair, even as Sickle takes a few steps.  

Silas will slowly poke the creature before confirming it's real before turning to Badger, "You think it can lead us to one of these trickster shrines?"