Chrysagon was right. The burnt-out shrine made for a reasonably easy-to-defend campsite. It had decent sight-lines for the rotating watch, and a partial roof which, when reinforced with a tarp, kept the night's rain off. The campers went undisturbed until the early morning, when a docile herd of tall beasts (hadrosaurs) moved through the outskirts of the camp to drink from the river (generally not a good idea for a humanoid, but the beasts were apparently adapted to whatever diseases the water contained). The creatures were so large and numerous that it caused a little concern in the campsite, but in the end, none of the beasts approached the shrine, and they all hurried back into the jungle after awhile.
Artus Cimber did as he promised. After a small breakfast, he gathered some basic equipment from his canoe and climbed the stairs to the Man-and-Crocodile statue. Qawasha shook his head, but seemed less like he was offended, and more like he thought it was a bad idea. Dragonbait insisted on accompanying Cimber into the statue (silently, but resolutely). Soon a loud crashing noise was heard from within the statue's dark corridor. Then there was silence for a few minutes, then a metallic hammering noise, followed by a longer silence. Finally, Artus Cimber emerged from the statue, straining against the weight of Dragonbait, who was on his back in a piggy-back. Together in such a way, they seemed the spiting image of the statue itself.
"By Ubtao!" laughed Qawasha,
"That is amazing! Also, very funny."
Dragonbait hopped of of Cimber's back, apparently embarrassed, and Artus Cimber presented to Miss Imogen his findings. At first, they seemed pretty meagre. He held out a clay jug with a simple zig-zag design in its glaze. It seemed unremarkable as he pulled its stopper and poured water on the ground, but then he replaced the stopper, shook the jug, and said,
"Tej!" then he pulled the stopper and poured the famed Chultan fermented honey drink (Tej). He also presented to her four large petrified-looking beans. They were about the size of a hen's egg and carved with strange runes.
"Beans of Many!" Qawasha gasped,
"They have many varied effects upon planting. I wonder what these will do..."
OOC:
|
That would be an Alchemy Jug and four beans from a wondrous item called a Bag of Beans.
|
|