The party cautiously walks back to their camp and takes a much needed rest. Orvex binds his wounds and listens to Boosey's music as it soothes the party as a whole. After a while he asks a question that has everyone on their heels, "What exactly happened back there? I mean....I remember one of the creatures falling in battle, they walked on walls, they were strong....Allister has this theory about only attacking one of them, but when did we fight them? We all show signs of battle, but I can't remember any of it!" His words stitch chaos into your minds. The details of the fight are all incredible vague as if the memories are drifting away just as the spear did. You remember everything about the clay gladiators except the details of the actual blows dealt.

Thinking on what Orvex has said, Sthara offers a thought: "Perhaps a remnant of Shagambi wishes the trial of the shrine to remain a secret? I would say that the god is dead, as I have never heard of anyone offering worship, but then again, I am not foolish enough to believe that something doesn't lurk out of sight, just because it has become forgotten."

Nenne crosses her arms and frowns. "We cannot underestimate Omu again," she says quietly. "If we are to explore that temple further, and the rest of this city for that matter, we need to do so wisely and with caution. We have already lost someone to this accursed place. I cannot bear to lose another so soon after." She hugs herself a little before turning to Orvex.

"Earlier, you asked our mission here," she says, grim. "We are attempting to locate an object called the Soulmonger. It is responsible for a death curse that is tearing souls from the dying and preventing their resuscitation. We know it is here, and that we need to find and destroy this ghastly artifact quickly. Lives are at stake. Have you heard of it? Or since you are from Thay...can you think of any entity that might want to create an artifact like this? Only people who have died and been revived are affected by this curse. We do not know why."

Orvex nods, "Yes. The red wizards are looking for it too. They believed it to be here as well. I assumed you were here for the same purpose, though your actions thus far lead me to believe that you'd destroy it before using it." He shrugs and continues, "Just as well I suppose. Nothing good can come out of something so bent on destruction. I doubt it could even be used for good judging by the way the red wizards talked about what it was doing to the world." He flips through some of his notes, commenting on how he really needs to organize better.

He stops and squints at what he wrote saying, "The other three temples...I actually got to open I'Jin's doors before I was pulled away. There is an intricate floor carving there that I would love to sketch. The swampy temple behind this compound is Kubazan's...That place gives me the creeps. I am loathe to return there, but knowledge calls, eh? Unkh's shrine seemed to be the safest of the few I visited. It seemed very plain and broken. I think it must be truly ruined. I hope none of the history has been lost."

Boosey listens to the man speculatively.  "Did the Wizards have a theory as to where the Soulmogner is located?  We need to destroy this thing urgently.  Any clue to its location, anything at all, could help us."  He looks Orvex in the eye.  "They must have at least discussed its possible location?"

Sitting on a perch of rubble, looking at the group; Lemon's face and shield looked at the whole party. "Who be this 'er's party leader? Unless ye all don't have one? A leader doesn't always 'ave to be one to decide everything; that's not what dwarven kings do. Instead, a leader can be someone ter fall back on. Someone who is this 'er's parties inspiration." With that he pointed at Nenne. "Ye look like this 'er's parties leader ter me elf. Ye've seem to prove yerself to me and this group." Lemon looks around at the party. "I don't know this buddy you lost, but I think we should at least finish what we here started. Being that temple, or this... monger thing ye all spoke of. I will give me club and shield to the elf to where she goes. And let mother nature follow me as well- wrath and all."

Orvex motions to the city around him saying, "Only that it was in Omu. If they knew more than that, it was not spoken plainly. I would be willing to bet that the yuan-ti that attacked us would have more insight to such an evil thing." He looks to Sthara and adds, "No offense. You've been kind."

Sthara's feels her stomach sink. "It is okay. I am no stranger to what others think of my kind. If we find them, I can try and speak with them–but whether or not they will recognize me as one of them is also a mystery...it has been a long, long time since I have been around a brood. And if, like the people in cities, they have social rules learned as they grew into adulthood, I do not know them as well as I should."

She scuffs her toe against the ground, creating a winding pattern in the dirt and dust, adding, "Perhaps we should go to the temple of this Unkh. If it is as decayed as Orvex suggests, any traps it once held might have fallen into disrepair."

Nenne shifts uncomfortably at Orvex's information and the dwarf's comments. To the scribe, she says, "So they seek the Ring of Winter and the Soulmonger? To what end? What is happening in Thay that would spur so many Red Wizards to sojourn on Chult for these things? Are they rival groups seeking this power, or are they working toward a common goal, deployed as scouting platoons? And have they acquired any other artifacts in the time you were with them?"

She looks at Lemon and ducks her head. "I am not this group's leader," she says honestly. "Nor am I much a source of inspiration. However, we would be grateful for your aid. This task before us is beastly and we could use all the allies we can muster."

Orvex simply shrugs and says, "Who can know. Knowledge is power and power is absolute. This phrase is common in Thay."

"Fer continuein' from where we are... I say we go back fer that temple an' finish 'er what we started. Well... whatev'er ye all were doin." He looked at everyone, putting his shield on his back and his club resting on his shoulder. And seemingly like he never even noticed nor heard what Nenne said to him about leadership, he continued with, "I'll follow the elf wherev'er she decides. I gave me impute. But where she goes, I shall follow."

"I agree with the dwarf that we should revisit the place," adds the gnome to the discussion, "but it would be wise if we rested properly before entering there again.  It would be utterly foolhardy to revisit there in our current condition.  Can you lead us to this temple of Unkh, Orvex?  How long will it take to get there?"

„Now that we know what to expect at Shagambi‘s shrine, going there would probably mean certain death. Let’s tour the city for a while, maybe get a better map and decide after our tour where to make more investigations. I’m sure eventually we’ll have to return to this shrine. Orvex, please make sure that we don’t stumble across the Red Wizards if you know of other camps.“

"Cautious exploration is prudent enough for me," Nenne says. "And I agree that we should not return to Shagambi's temple today. If we're all rested and prepared, then let us depart."

Orvex agrees to show the way, but he cautions that he doesn't actually know if the other red wizards are even still in Omu. He says their motives could have changed for all he knows. Twenty minutes of travel down the raised road north puts the party in line with where Orvex believes the road east and west to be, though it can't be seen through the ruins and vegetation from here.

Orvex navigates through the back alleys of several structures and the party emerges on the west bank of a roaring river flowing south. A massive tree has collapsed over the river, which can comfortably accommodate two side by side all the way across. Orvex assures that it is quite safe and he walks out to prove just this. After everyone is across, the party continues on until they arrive at another small, walled complex. Swirly carvings decorate two obelisks at the entrance to this compound. An overgrown courtyard lies under the shade of tall palms. Stone doors seal the entrance to a windowless shrine, with a smaller ruin standing nearby. The walls around the courtyard are badly damaged and show signs of deep weathering. The smaller structure is totally destroyed having lost its roof and the door is nowhere to be found.

"I shall go in first." Lemon looks back to the group, "I suggest that it be meself and the human fighter in the front. Leader can stay in the middle with the gnome, Yuan in the back for ranged, and the coward to have front row seats. That be what I suggest though- the elf may decide for herself."

The dwarf looked at the entrance of the temple, an insane look of glee spread upon his face. "HAHA! Let nature bless me with more to beat!" And with that, the dwarf stepped forward, bringing the shield now with a face of glee, and his club (I will cast Shillelagh before I enter).

As Lemon tries the doors, they barely move. It takes both Lemon and Allister to open a single door, which is hinged in such a way that it closes on its own unless it's being held open. A statue of a giant snail looms inside. The destroyed look of the courtyard does not persist inside the unlit shrine. In place of antennae, the snail has five pseudopods ending in rocky clubs. Orvex speaks up from the rear as he flips through his notes, "I believe this inscription says, Unkh urges us to contrast all options before acting. What do you see inside?"

Nenne exchanges a questioning look with the others before replying, "We do not issue orders in this group," she remarks to the dwarf, one eyebrow slightly raised. "Some in our number are not at all nostalgic about them, myself included. I would also ask you to stop calling me something I am not." She opens her mouth to say something else, and closes it.

To Orvex she says quietly, "Fear and knowing one's limits is not cowardice." Her voice is kind. "All I ask is that you avoid becoming a liability should anything arise." 

As the party advances toward the entrance of the temple, she will invoke Kelemvor's power for Eyes of the Grave.

The dwarf looks sarcastically at Allister, and points with his thumb behind him at the Orvex, "Ye really telling me human that I cannot call the old human a coward? Other than shoot few rocks, what else did he do but run eh?" He looks back inside the temple and at the statue in the center. "Tell me what I can an' can not think and ye will find yer self with an un-bear-able problem on ye hands." Suddenly the dwarf looks at Allister with a full-blown grin on his face from the joke he just made. 

After Allister's reaction, the dwarf agree's with him and steps forward in the room, looking for any traps and wanting to look at the statue a bit further. "Aye it be a snail. But why be it here? What purpose does this 'er temple bring human?" His words are aimed at Orvex, but really it can be answered by anyone.

Sthara inspects the room for anything notable like other statues or murals as she enters carefully with the others (Perception: 6).