Chilling Adventures in the North

(I believe short rest is the plan…)

Bjorn sits down next to Qinfaren, but during that time, Blue disappears. Once an hour has passed, Bjorn is back up on his feet, ready to continue exploring the cave.

Qinfaren used 1HD during short rest (rolled on sheet - total of 6HP).

”Does anyone want to look around the cave any more or should we just head back to town?”

     Bàn sits just inside the cave where he can look in both directions and keep an eye out.  Owl continues flying around the cave system and will report anything of interest they find once Bàn is done resting..,  assuming they’re not eaten by a Grue first.

Bàn used one hit due to recover 9 hp, rolled in game log…

     Once rested, he suggests they wait for Owl to report back before they decide but Bàn is mainly ambivalent about if they should stay or if they should go.

Quote from TheBritGeek >>

(Wait, are you going for a short rest or long rest?)

 Short rest I believe was what had been talked about?

Owl moves on from the area with the crates and into the next section. There are carved steps on the south side that climb five feet to this ten-foot-high, fifteen-foot-square room, which has narrow, natural exits in the east and west walls. In the middle of the room is a rectangular stone block seven feet long, four feet wide, and three feet tall. Pictographs on the walls of the chamber tell a tale of one tribe’s journey through mighty mountains and across a perilous tundra.

From there, Owl flies into the western passage and into a large cave. The previously seen frozen stream ends at a seven-foot-deep frozen pool at the back of this dark cave. Trapped beneath the pool’s ice is a stone statue of a smiling young man, naked except for a well-placed oak leaf, with his face turned toward the sky. This is where the bear had run off too and is currently attending to its wounds in the corner of the cave. As Owl flies past, the bear looks up, but otherwise keeps to itself.

Moving on, Owl flies down the tunnel that you all had used to enter the caves, before flying back outside on the other side of the caves. Then Owl quickly flies back around to join the group.

Qinfaren looks over at Bàn when Owl returns. 

"Did he see anything worth checking out?" Qinfaren asks.

He stands, brushing snow and dirt off his legs and backside, stretches a little and gathers up his pack and staff, ready to head back into the cave if Bàn say there was anything interesting or ready to head back to Good Mead.

     Bàn shares all he learns.  “It could be interesting, it could be nothing. I wouldn’t mind taking a look in person but I’m not losing sleep if we just move on…”

"The statue?" Qinfaren asks.

He thinks for a moment.

"If we can scare the bear away, then yes, I'd take a look too," Qinfaren says then pauses for a moment then shakes his head. "But if we have to fight the bear to take a look, I'd say no."

     “The statue…  the big stone block…  they both seem odd items to be in a place like this,” Bàn notes.  “And I wouldn’t worry about the bear.  So long as it has an escape route I think we’ll be fine.  It’s run away once already… unless that room is it’s den…”

Qinfaren nods and starts off into the caves, following Bàn's directions. He tap his staff as he goes, and shouts for the bear.

"Please leave bear," Qinfaren says, using Speech of Beast and Leaf to try and persuade the bear to just wander off.

Persuasion: 15  

Everyone makes their way around to where Owl saw the bear; when they arrive, the bear is nowhere to be seen.

"Looks like the bear heeded your request."

Qinfaren smiles, hoping the bear will recover and go on to have many cubs.

He taps the ice above the statue with his staff, testing to see how strong it is.

He then waves his hand over the top of the staff, causing a bright flame to appear (Produce Flame). He holds that to the ice, wondering if the can use it to melt a shaft down to the statue.

     Bàn, having no real way to affect the ice beyond brute power which could damage the statue, instead just studies it to see if he can recognize who it is meant to be or such.  Is it a generic statue or something of lore he might possibly know about?

2 - Plus 2 for history, plus 4 if it would be arcana...

((Bàn knows nothing about the statue...  He doesn't even think it's very good.  Damn impressionists!))

The ice is a foot thick above the statue, Qinfaren holds the flame near the ice, and the ice begins to slowly melt.

"Hmm, it might be quicker to dig through the ice," Bjorn says. "Or I could summon Blue but with the fire essence."

He crouches down to look at the statue through the ice.

(Intelligence(Religion): 17)

"I think this is a depiction of Silvanus, you know one of those gods of nature. That oak leaf is Silvanus's holy symbol."

The statue is that of a smiling young man, naked except for a well-placed oak leaf, with his face turned toward the sky.

     "You think it's valuable?" Bàn asks as he crouches for a closer look but refrains from actually getting on the ice himself.

     "Seems an unnatural state for a statue celebrating a nature god what with being encased in ice when he should be out in the sun, but if it's not valuable I don't see much reason in trying to dig it out?"

     "There's still that stone block," Bàn notes after looking at the statue for a while.  "We should give that a look too.  It could be some kind of sarcophagus or something..."

Qinfaren looks down more closely at the statue. Does it look to be a statute that was dropped into water, that has since frozen over. Or does it look like it's carved out of the rock itself, maybe this being some sort of old temple?

Investigation if needed: 13  

Qinfaren looks closer and realises that the statue is actually formed from the rocky bottom of the pool. It would be impossible to remove the statue without breaking the rock underneath the statue.

"Hmm, I think the statue is here for a reason," Bjorn replies. "Maybe this is just an old place of worship that's long been forgotten about. Perhaps the statue even has magical properties. Regardless, I think that this pool froze over with this everlasting winter."

Bjorn stands back up and walks over to Bàn.

"You could be right, it might be a tomb. Whilst Qinfaren continues working on the pool let's go and and investigate. Ricky, are you okay with staying here with Qinfaren?"

Ricky nods. 

"I'd like to get moving soon though. This is... Not an immediate priority compared to other things going on in Ten Towns."