„Maybe we should meet At the stairs where we entered the city. It’s not too far from our camp, and this part of the city seems to be safe. As far as safe goes in this place.“
Two hours later, the six travelers find their missing companion on the stairs leading down into Omu. Eku has a second bow slung over her shoulder and a large sack on her back. Strapped around her in various places are several quivers. She appears to have found a new set of clothing while she was absent as well - she is wearing a cropped red shirt and a lightweight overcoat that matches the jungle in color. She grins from ear to ear when she sees the party and greets them all warmly, "Good day to you all! I hope that you are all well in this den of stinking evil. I come bearing gifts." She beams brightly at the last bit of news.
"I am relieved to see you here and well, my friend," Nenne says with a smile as a flush of fuschia pushes back against Winter's blue. She gestures to the druid and the scribe. "These are our new companions, Lemon and Orvex. They have been of much help and encouragement since our arrival in this place."
The chultan woman lowers the sack off her back to the ground and squats near it to untie the binding. She pulls out a bolt case and hands it to Boosey saying, "I know you are fond of the crossbow. Five of these are silvered." Next she pulls out three tube shaped vials and hands them to Allister saying, "The two red ones are vials for healing. The amber colored liquid will keep you alert and watchful for eight hours, that you might be more vigilant during a time of rest. The monks of Kir Sabal claim you will still feel refreshed after the time has passed, even without the sleep."
Eku pulls out a few supplies of her own, setting them to the side before retrieving a small chest that she hands to Nenne. She smiles and says, "Clerical spell components. The monastery donated them to your cause when I told them of your journey and what your intent was." The guide takes a book out of the sack and looks around briefy before running her fingers along the title. She places it to the side and continues digging.
The next thing the Chultan woman comes out with is a wooden wand, cut straight and smooth. It's color is pale white and has a band of red near the tapered end. She hands this to Sthara saying, "Another gift from Kir Sabal. This should enhance your spells that hurl flame as long as it is used to focus the magic."
Allister takes the potions and smiles at Eku. „Well, thank you, those will probably come in handy. It’s good you arrived today. You made it here pretty fast.“ The smile fades from his face. „Really really fast... to a place with its exact location unknown to you. Making a detour to a monastery on the way. Did you fly here? Really, did you? No offense, but things don’t add up for me here.“
Eku smiles and replies to the warrior nodding, "I did in fact! I hurried to the monastery as fast as I could - you see, they are aarokacra monks. I told them of your quest and they were happy to help in many ways!" She gestures to the gifts and tugs on one of her bow strings.
Nenne runs her fingers over the jeweled horn in the box she was given and smiles. "I owe my sibling priests a debt of gratitude," she says quietly. "I've long searched for an implement like this. Perhaps I shall make a pilgrimage one day to thank them in person." She reverently places her gift in her pack.
Her gaze shifts to the unclaimed book Eku brought and the gentle smile on her lips disappears. She looks away.
"We have procured items of our own," she says in a muted tone. "There are many temples in this city, and all of them seem to possess engraved cubes. You no doubt noticed the writing along the stairs? We believe these cubes are vital to our finding and destroying the soulmonger. We have four already."
Feeling a tad awkward during the whole reunion, since he did not know much about the women, he just introduced himself and shook her hand. He guided her to a place to sit and rest while he himself went to do some personal activities... such as an attempt at "how many berries can one dwarf eats before he is full" record.
"Many thanks to you, Eku. I will put this wand to good use, I believe – this place is full of things that could use some fire rained upon them." Sthara raises it and gets used to the way that it feels with her magic.
Boosey bows deeply to Eku. “Thank you, my friend. Your thoughtfulness knows no bounds, and your arrival is timely indeed. These bolts will be needed before long it seems.”
His face takes on a pained expression.
“There is grave news however, our friend and scholar, the wizard has succumbed to the perils of this place. He will be remembered, I will make sure of that, and he would be happy to live on for ever in these stories, I think.”
Eku nods, confirming that she did hear of the news already, but decides to keep in high spirits, "Well, Boosey, that's just more incentive to see this out, huh?" When she meets Lemon, Eku cups her chin in her hand looking him over for a long moment. Finally she says, "Dwarves. You are all the same. Hardy folk who love a challenge. I like your kind, and I am grateful for your assistance in this perilous journey." With that, she pats him on the shoulder and moves past the party to eye the city beyond.
After a lingering gaze to the ruin, she turns back to Sthara and says, "Omu has been a source of darkness in the world for quite some time now. I should have guessed this would be the place where the Soulmonger would turn up." She punches herself in the knee lightly as a sort of physical manifestation of a curse word. "The gargoyles around the city speak to the unsettling feelings I get just being near the place. I know that this city used to thrive and had several lesser gods all subject to Ubtoa's rule." Then to the rest of the party as a whole, "Have you discovered what these cubes are for?"
“Not yet. We have found little pieces of what seem to be the same story at each of the shrines, so far. There is one we need to return to, as we didn’t know about them at the time. Orvex has them written down if you wish to read them,” and Boosey motions to the scribe.
“It’s my belief that the cubes and stories are related in some way, and whatever puzzle is presented the solution involves both. There is no evidence that this is the case, so only time will tell. First we need to find the other cubes.”
„Long stories short, there is one bad animal cheating on a good animal, that is what all the stories say. We have one shrine in the vicinity, at the western edge of the city. Maybe we all have a look and Eku can see for herself what we have been dealing with.“
Eku nods and says, "Let's see it. Shall we go then? By your lead." Two hours later the party finds themselves on the south side of a rectangular pool of murky water that stretches before this vine-draped shrine. Rope bridges that once spanned the water float on the surface, tangled with other debris. The shards of a toppled monolith form stepping stones to the middle of the pool, where a statue of a stone frog rises above the water.
"Frog," Nenne says, crossing her arms as she surveys the statue. "As long as none of us ends up the fly in this story, I should be pleased." She scans the surroundings for signs of recent animal or humanoid visitation (Perception 12).
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Nenne's naming the creature rings in Sthara's ears. She thinks back to the Grung they fought so long ago and breathes deeply, trying to identify their scent on the air, in case more lie in wait. They seemed like simple creatures – the sort to stumble upon a statue of one of their own and to think it a god.
„One of the writings warned about a frog monster. This big thing could be that monster. We better watch out or it comes to life and doesn’t care whether we are fly, human or elf.“
The pool appears to be fetid and overgrown with moss. The doors to the shrine are gates unlike the other shrines this far and stand open, swinging inwards. Frogs croak loudly all about the place and bugs hum everywhere
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„Maybe we should meet At the stairs where we entered the city. It’s not too far from our camp, and this part of the city seems to be safe. As far as safe goes in this place.“
"I am in favor of that plan. It will take us some time to get there, so we should be on our way."
Two hours later, the six travelers find their missing companion on the stairs leading down into Omu. Eku has a second bow slung over her shoulder and a large sack on her back. Strapped around her in various places are several quivers. She appears to have found a new set of clothing while she was absent as well - she is wearing a cropped red shirt and a lightweight overcoat that matches the jungle in color. She grins from ear to ear when she sees the party and greets them all warmly, "Good day to you all! I hope that you are all well in this den of stinking evil. I come bearing gifts." She beams brightly at the last bit of news.
"I am relieved to see you here and well, my friend," Nenne says with a smile as a flush of fuschia pushes back against Winter's blue. She gestures to the druid and the scribe. "These are our new companions, Lemon and Orvex. They have been of much help and encouragement since our arrival in this place."
The chultan woman lowers the sack off her back to the ground and squats near it to untie the binding. She pulls out a bolt case and hands it to Boosey saying, "I know you are fond of the crossbow. Five of these are silvered." Next she pulls out three tube shaped vials and hands them to Allister saying, "The two red ones are vials for healing. The amber colored liquid will keep you alert and watchful for eight hours, that you might be more vigilant during a time of rest. The monks of Kir Sabal claim you will still feel refreshed after the time has passed, even without the sleep."
Eku pulls out a few supplies of her own, setting them to the side before retrieving a small chest that she hands to Nenne. She smiles and says, "Clerical spell components. The monastery donated them to your cause when I told them of your journey and what your intent was." The guide takes a book out of the sack and looks around briefy before running her fingers along the title. She places it to the side and continues digging.
The next thing the Chultan woman comes out with is a wooden wand, cut straight and smooth. It's color is pale white and has a band of red near the tapered end. She hands this to Sthara saying, "Another gift from Kir Sabal. This should enhance your spells that hurl flame as long as it is used to focus the magic."
Allister takes the potions and smiles at Eku. „Well, thank you, those will probably come in handy. It’s good you arrived today. You made it here pretty fast.“ The smile fades from his face. „Really really fast... to a place with its exact location unknown to you. Making a detour to a monastery on the way. Did you fly here? Really, did you? No offense, but things don’t add up for me here.“
Eku smiles and replies to the warrior nodding, "I did in fact! I hurried to the monastery as fast as I could - you see, they are aarokacra monks. I told them of your quest and they were happy to help in many ways!" She gestures to the gifts and tugs on one of her bow strings.
Nenne runs her fingers over the jeweled horn in the box she was given and smiles. "I owe my sibling priests a debt of gratitude," she says quietly. "I've long searched for an implement like this. Perhaps I shall make a pilgrimage one day to thank them in person." She reverently places her gift in her pack.
Her gaze shifts to the unclaimed book Eku brought and the gentle smile on her lips disappears. She looks away.
"We have procured items of our own," she says in a muted tone. "There are many temples in this city, and all of them seem to possess engraved cubes. You no doubt noticed the writing along the stairs? We believe these cubes are vital to our finding and destroying the soulmonger. We have four already."
Feeling a tad awkward during the whole reunion, since he did not know much about the women, he just introduced himself and shook her hand. He guided her to a place to sit and rest while he himself went to do some personal activities... such as an attempt at "how many berries can one dwarf eats before he is full" record.
Made you look.
"Many thanks to you, Eku. I will put this wand to good use, I believe – this place is full of things that could use some fire rained upon them." Sthara raises it and gets used to the way that it feels with her magic.
"Do you know much about this place?"
Boosey bows deeply to Eku. “Thank you, my friend. Your thoughtfulness knows no bounds, and your arrival is timely indeed. These bolts will be needed before long it seems.”
His face takes on a pained expression.
“There is grave news however, our friend and scholar, the wizard has succumbed to the perils of this place. He will be remembered, I will make sure of that, and he would be happy to live on for ever in these stories, I think.”
"She knows," Nenne interjects, soft.
Eku nods, confirming that she did hear of the news already, but decides to keep in high spirits, "Well, Boosey, that's just more incentive to see this out, huh?" When she meets Lemon, Eku cups her chin in her hand looking him over for a long moment. Finally she says, "Dwarves. You are all the same. Hardy folk who love a challenge. I like your kind, and I am grateful for your assistance in this perilous journey." With that, she pats him on the shoulder and moves past the party to eye the city beyond.
After a lingering gaze to the ruin, she turns back to Sthara and says, "Omu has been a source of darkness in the world for quite some time now. I should have guessed this would be the place where the Soulmonger would turn up." She punches herself in the knee lightly as a sort of physical manifestation of a curse word. "The gargoyles around the city speak to the unsettling feelings I get just being near the place. I know that this city used to thrive and had several lesser gods all subject to Ubtoa's rule." Then to the rest of the party as a whole, "Have you discovered what these cubes are for?"
“Not yet. We have found little pieces of what seem to be the same story at each of the shrines, so far. There is one we need to return to, as we didn’t know about them at the time. Orvex has them written down if you wish to read them,” and Boosey motions to the scribe.
“It’s my belief that the cubes and stories are related in some way, and whatever puzzle is presented the solution involves both. There is no evidence that this is the case, so only time will tell. First we need to find the other cubes.”
„Long stories short, there is one bad animal cheating on a good animal, that is what all the stories say. We have one shrine in the vicinity, at the western edge of the city. Maybe we all have a look and Eku can see for herself what we have been dealing with.“
Eku nods and says, "Let's see it. Shall we go then? By your lead." Two hours later the party finds themselves on the south side of a rectangular pool of murky water that stretches before this vine-draped shrine. Rope bridges that once spanned the water float on the surface, tangled with other debris. The shards of a toppled monolith form stepping stones to the middle of the pool, where a statue of a stone frog rises above the water.
"Frog," Nenne says, crossing her arms as she surveys the statue. "As long as none of us ends up the fly in this story, I should be pleased." She scans the surroundings for signs of recent animal or humanoid visitation (Perception 12).
Nenne's naming the creature rings in Sthara's ears. She thinks back to the Grung they fought so long ago and breathes deeply, trying to identify their scent on the air, in case more lie in wait. They seemed like simple creatures – the sort to stumble upon a statue of one of their own and to think it a god.
(Perception: 2)
„One of the writings warned about a frog monster. This big thing could be that monster. We better watch out or it comes to life and doesn’t care whether we are fly, human or elf.“
The pool appears to be fetid and overgrown with moss. The doors to the shrine are gates unlike the other shrines this far and stand open, swinging inwards. Frogs croak loudly all about the place and bugs hum everywhere