Yeah she did. "No you didn't," Kayn said soothingly, "They will figure something out with the egg, I'm sure." He thinks for a moment, "Or maybe get cleaned up and you can take the gnarlid out to try to find tracks for its mate... maybe we can get a second Basilisk." He tries to give her his most charming goblin smile he could muster. Them elves were doomed.

"You and I both know that the egg will do nothing for those petrified elves," she sniffed, taking a step into the water and beginning to scrub away at her arms. No matter how hard she scrubbed, there was still gore all over her. "I really hope you're right about that second one, Kayn." She ducked her head underwater briefly, at the very least washing away her tears. "Snapdragons, I was such an idiot."

"You never know!" Kayn said with confidence. "Elves are known for their herbalism skills, Vessie. I would imagine, from my own studies of similar animals that lay eggs, that the Basilisk fetus would provide a stronger tincture in the end. It needs to eat immediately after hatching, right? That means, like a baby snake, its gotta have a stronger acid... or venom in the snake's case. It only makes sense!" He wasn't sure if all of that was right, but he did at least try to pay attention when Parleydin gave his lectures. 

Vesra had sunken into the water, so just her eyes and nose were above the surface. "Thank you, Kayn," she rose for just a moment and smiled sadly. "You really helped. Hopefully the elves will see it the same way." The druid sunk back into the water again and blew some bubbles.

Her hands still weren't clean. 

"Let me know if you find its mate," she said as she stood up. "This time I know not to make the same mistake." Vesra stepped out of the lake, water dripping from her clothing. As much as Kanon had been a help, she needed her sister right now.

It didn't take long for her to find Vasha, who was off in a secluded spot meditating. But the sight of her sister, surrounded by dozens of tiny rocks hovering and jumping around took her breath away. "Vashie," she breathed. "They're dancing for you!"

"No... way!" Kayn exclaimed. His eyes were wide open and he nearly fell into the pond as he quickly swam back to the cave. He had left his gnarlid in there, and seeing the Hedron he lost all thought about searching for another basilisk. He needed to inspect that artifact!

Kayn scrambles up into the cave and puts his hands out to Ato, "Can I?  Can I inspect it?" He had just done a full day's research about hedrons before undertaking this journey, and now was a great time to put his learning to the test!

"Of course, Kayn, I certainly can't do anything with it." Ato hands over the sphere with a grin. "Now where have the other two gotten off to?  Were they outside with you?"

He accepts the hedron like a precious gift, slowly moving from in front of Ato to his gnarlid's side. He stares at the item wide-eyed before sitting down and placing it in his lap. The gnarlid turns to allow Kayn access to his notes and the various books he had spirited away on the subject of hedrons. He pulls out the most important of the texts, with pages of notes stuffed within the book, and sets it next to him. He then lifts the hedron again, careful not to further scuff any of the runes present upon the many faces of the artifact. Out loud he says, "Same rune on each face... hmmm... interesting. Will need further study." 

He spends the better part of an hour and nearly two hours into the long rest researching the hedron. By the time the first watch is over, Kayn is still pouring over his notes. "No, no, no, no... this isn't right," he says. As this is the first hedron he has ever studied, he seems perplexed by the complexity of the device. He continues his research deep into the night and two more watches see him continue his frantic research. Eventually he passes out due to exhaustion at approx. four in the morning. He's wrapped around the hedron and notes are scattered around him. The book sits open to a page with markings all over it. He's snoring softly...

After the brief battle and the excitement of the underwater tunnel and finding the hedron, the quiet and relative calm now was an odd feeling. Maybe he'd get used to the all or nothing nature of being out here in the wilderness, but Ato wasn't so sure. Was it a good thing to get used to this? Ato busied himself with trying to repair the shaft of his spear.  He'd feared it might be ruined, but a closer look had convinced him he'd be able to fix it up as good as new.

When Vasha and Vesra returned much later, he watched, but didn't say anything - they seemed to need their time together and that close bond was something he didn't have an understanding of himself. It must be strange to be so reliant upon another for support, yet comforting too, he expected. He was surprised when Vasha smiled at him - after what had happened, and what he'd said, he'd expected her to be mad more than anything, but at the same time he was beginning to get the sense that she was much more complicated than that. The scars and the tidbits he was learning spoke to a deeper story. He got up and moved over to where she was setting out bedrolls for herself and Vesra, approaching with his own smile, a bit awkwardly in return.

"Are you feeling better? You had a close call earlier. A weaker person might not have made it." He cuts off, realizing she probably doesn't need the reminder of her moment of weakness. "I went back and got into the cavern," he adds brightly. "You won't believe what I found.  Did you notice the veins of crystal in the walls before you got stuck? Down at the bottom - it was probably another 60' deep - there was a hedron. At least, I think that's what it was.  That big blue crystal that Kayn has over there." He points it out in case she hadn't noticed it yet. "He's been studying it the whole time you were gone. I hope he learned something after all that work."

The group gathers around the fire, enjoying the warmth while it dries off their wet apparel. The lights dance along the cavern wall and ceiling, providing a pleasant atmosphere to their surroundings. The popping of the firewood Vasha brought in due to the heat gave some ambient noise; the lake itself completely still within the cave. The stone was warm as they laid down, reminding them that there were still some redeemable qualities of Akoum, like the constant geothermal activity just beneath the surface when it wasn't bursting lava out of the ground all around them.

Deciding on their watch order, Vasha begins watch, sitting near the water and the tunnel entrance, keeping a close eye on the shadows from the tunnel and sensing for any movement within the water. Her two-hour shift is quiet and peaceful. Looking back, she can see that only Kayn is awake: his eyes are peeled to a copious amount of books, scrolls, and loose papers. Occasionally he'll mutter something to himself in Goblin, or say a word or phrase in a language far more ancient as he looks at the icosahedron earnestly, only to be met with motionless silence emanating from the hedron. Vasha chuckles to herself at how obsessive the goblin was, and gets up to pass the watch off to Ellangil.

Ellangil wakes up quickly, as if always on alert. Nodding to Vasha, he says nothing, a fact that only seems to frustrate her. What's been with him since they docked? It was like he was playing hard-to-get or something. Ellangil looks around for a few moments before mentioning, "I'm going up to the cliff to watch. More to see from up above." Strapping Virile and Valiant to his back, he waded into the water until he disappeared beneath, swimming towards the near shoreline outside the cave.

Kayn is quick to pass out once he hits his twelfth wall, falling asleep around four o'clock in the morning, exhausted from the fruitless night of studying. By eight o'clock, the group is up and about. Light can be seen shimmering off the lake through the small gap between the water and the lip of the cliff, caused by a warm, moist breeze which passes through the mouth into the cave. The fire is dead, with only small embers still glowing amongst the black charcoal [dim light throughout the entire cavern].

Kayn is still completely asleep. Being up most of the night, his dreams are plagued with phrases in an ancient language. None of them seemed to work as he piled through book after book. None of his notes seemed to do any good either. Instead, he passed out in exhaustion and decided to keep on sleeping. He'd need his energy if he were to keep studying the next day. The motions in the small cave made him mumble, "Just two more hours, lechich..."

When he does, the small icosahedron floats up from his arms and hovers over him. Kayn doesn't seem to notice, as he begins another round of light snoring...

"Wha... oww!" Kayn sits up quickly, the icosahedron floating directly above his head. "Why did you doooo that?" He whines. He rubbed his delicate head-plates. He was sure he was going to have a headache.

When he finally looks to Vasha, he sees the look on her face. Peering above him, he scrambles away from the object toward Vasha. "What happened? How did it happen??" As he gets closer to her, the icosahedron begins to follow. 

"Le...chich?" The goblin says. He's not sure if he heard her right. 

Once he says it, the icosahedron lowers to the ground slowly and the runes go dark again. Lechich!! Kayn rushes over to his notes and begins spreading them out. His fingers trace words from each page until finally he finds what he needs. 

"Lechich!" He calls out confidently. When he does, the icosahedron floats back up, the runes pulsing once again. 

"Shviatwalo," he says, uncertain of the result. The icosahedron immediately bursts into blindingly bright light. When his eyes finally adjust, the icosahedron is glowing brilliantly from all side. His shields his eyes and pulls the note up to look at it. 

"Shviatwo." He's grinning now, his sharp teeth reflecting the icosahedron's brilliant light. The light dims to that of a torch, radiating off of the hedron's beautiful form. 

That's where he leaves it, allowing it to follow him around the cave. "This is what it is!" He says happily, "It's a floating light source!" 

"Nope!" He responds. After a few moments Kayn starts looking through his notes again, "At least I don't think so..." 

He smiles up at Vasha, "My notes translate the name of the hedron to... driftglobe." 

He heads over to his pack and begins meticulously placing each note and book back inside, careful not to ruin them. "Thanks Vasha," he says as he does, "I don't think I'd ever have figured it out without your help!" 

Ato, having previously established that he had little to offer in the research of the hedron, hadn't been paying much attention to Kayn's activities but was startled awake by Vasha calling out to wake the goblin. Perhaps sensing Vasha's strong fear of the thing, along with his own uncertainty about what it could or would do, he watched with alarm as the thing floated around, following Kayn, which soon turned to amusement at Vasha's obvious embarrassment once they'd figured out it was only a light source after all. Knowing her pride, he was sure not to let that amusement show, however.

After things settled down and she'd returned to breaking down the campsite, he joined her at the now-unneeded fire. "Vasha," he begins in a low voice, pitched so that their conversation is as private as possible, "I spent some time last night thinking about what you had said earlier. About just wanting to help? I just wanted you to know that from my point of view, you certainly are and I suppose I just don't understand why you seem to think you are not. From what I have seen you have been amazingly brave - look what you did to that basilisk! You've been quick to risk your life, not only to protect your sister, but all of us, though we've only just met, really. And down in the tunnel, risking your life to try and get into the cavern, even though I was right there with you..."  He stops and shakes his head, then reaches out and lays a hand on her arm, giving it a slight squeeze. "You're used to having to do everything on your own, you and Vesra together I think, and I can understand that. I haven't even had someone else to lean on as you two do, and had to make a life for myself as well. It's hard to come to trust someone else and give up some of that control over what happens to you. But I think we're all slowly learning to do that as we overcome the challenges that we've faced together. We ALL have a part to play here, and skills to bring to the group. I can see that you do and I hope you can see that I do, and Kayn and everyone else does too."

--------

At her mention of Ellangil, Ato suddenly realizes that he's not returned to the cave - he hadn't even noticed. "I woke in the night for my turn at watch, later than I would have expected him to return and wake me up and he wasn't here then either, but I knew he'd prefer to be outside and didn't think much of it at the time. After my shift was so quiet, and since Kayn was still awake at that point, I went back to sleep. I should have known better! We should have gone to look for him hours ago."