NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carnifex" data-source="post: 85857" data-attributes="member: 227">Broccli_Head: It'll all come together in a little while - barring anything really bizarre happening <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> always a possibility with these players <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />Now, back to the Five in the Cave...There're some very mixed reactions over the party's newly acquired mimir. Melisande is intrigued and excited, wanting to start asking it questions immediately but held back by the fear of kobold reinforcements returning soon. Sebastion on the other hand is highly suspicious..."One of you's a witch, right?" he says, rather abruptly, "Aren't you supposed to exorcise demons and... and... and twist undead, or whatever it is? You can't really believe that thing, you know, it belonged to the kobolds... anything that is smart enough to talk is smart enough to lie." This gets a poor reaction from the female spellcasters in the group <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />"I didn't mean anything by 'witch'... just, you know... women spell...worker... people..." He trails off in an attempt to stop digging the pit any deeper.Ebri agrees that it can't necessarily be trusted - although it assures them it is a constructed thing and not some form of undead - but also points out that she doesn't trust anything else she percieves with her senses very much. Sandslipper is pretty ambivalent about the silver skull - she's just generally slightly confused about the array of events that have befallen her in the recent past, and especially the last few hours.Meg'anna on the other hand is pretty clearly horrified by it, taking pains to ignore its very presence and not talk to it. Apparently convinced that it is some foul undead thing, she makes sure to be at the opposite end of the marching order to whoever carries the mimir.The party decides to set off again, needing to move before the kobolds return with reinforcements. Ebri makes an attempt to muddle and cover their tracks around the pool, but any competent tracker will be able to follow them easily and it's hardly seen as a priority by most of the group. As they travel down the tunnel, they eventually come to a series of carved, square rooms, tombs in fact, the walls and sarcophagi inscribed with writing.A closer look reveals the writing to be in a very archaic form of the drakkath language (the language used mainly by wizards for arcane writings, replacing draconic for that function IMC). Both Ebri and Melisande can read it - it says:"Here we commemorate," and then strange symbols which neither woman has seen before, "who perished in duty, giving his life in battle against the Reaver that the Abomination might be stopped. He is embraced back into the shadows, to serve as," again, more symbols that make no sense, "on the ramparts of Law, in defence of the most sacred, as is his due reward."Ebri considers the memorial as a rather useless thing - serving no good to the one who it is supposed to commemorate. On the other hand, she resolves to think over the mention of shadows in the inscription later on, for it interests her. Melisande gets the mimir to record the inscription, reading it out to the silver skull when she discovers that it is unable to read any language at all.Meg'anna moves over to one of the tombs, trying to see if she can lift the sarcophagus lid off, but it seems to be firmly sealed and her attempt is to no avail.There are faint noises coming from far off, through the other exit to the tombs, and Sebastion has Ebri ask the mimir whether the kobolds ever bring supplies through there. In response to the question the mimir speaks again, once again accessing a audial piece stored on it - this time speaking in a wheezy, nasal tone."I've discovered an interesting alternate route into the kobold lair. It seems that a spring in a nearby cave allows access through an underground water passage into the rear of the clan-held territory! This could prove extremely useful, if a little damp, as a method of entry and escape. My continued observations of the kobolds lead me to believe that the Fire Serpent tribe are merely the guardian clan of the surface entrance. The honeycomb of caves seems to lead down into what may be a much larger, multiple-clan settlement, with possibly hundreds of kobolds down there. I've seen several pieces of old drilling equipment, possibly dwarven-made, both in rusting heaps and still in use, though now by the kobolds - it implies they must have at least some engineers present.""I've located the Fire Serpent rod now. A kobold priest of Gilamesh wields it; from listening in on conversations it seems his name is Asak, and he is the leader of the Fire Serpents. He spends much time in the strange tomb-complex that forms part of the cave network.""Observing these tombs has brought up several points of interest. I am unable to discern their exact origin, and the drakkath used is rather archaic. There are several inscriptions I am unable to translate, although one in particular mentions a rather ancient symbol that I seem to remember seeing in a lorebook a while ago. Since here in the field I lack my library, I cannot yet investigate this further, but I will be sure to check when I return home - I believe the text in question is Hathelberts Occult Manual Of The Celestial and Demonic. Hopefully recording this on the mimir means I wont forget that. In addition, I noticed on all the tombs a very small inscription of some emblem, an eye within a triangle within a circle.""The tombs seem to be sealed by magic, which would explain why they haven't already been looted by the kobolds. Rather, they often come here to pray, led by Asak, but it is not reverent prayer s of the type they devote to Gilamesh. Rather, it seems more placatory, as if they are trying to appease the spirit of the place. The superstitious creatures seem to sense something unnatural about the place. It emans that there is rarely ever any traffic through the tombs, unless it is a party coming to pray - they do not make use of the water in the cave beyond the tombs. This is useful; with any luck, I'll be able to steal the Fire Serpent rod of Asak when he comes next comes to the tomb. I estimate it would take several hours for a war party to be collected from the lower clans deeper down into the caves."With the mimir having spoken its piece, Sebastion stops trying to warn Meg'anna off from opening the tombs - fearful of rousing undead - and points out that the kobolds will probably be along soon if they've lost a sorceror in the tunnels - at the very least, to appease the 'dark spirits' of the tomb. Melisande on the other hand feels a chill run down her spine at the mention of the emblem - the eye within the triangle within the circle. Suddenly she wants, more than anything else, to be free of shadow-demons and prophet cults and all that. Realising that Ebri seems to be the only one who knows anything about this 'Great Prophet' who's sacred symbol it is, she promises to tell the woman everything about how she got her necklace in the first place, in return for the strang, quietly confident woman helping to disentangle her from whatever it - and these tombs - were. She also resolves to find the occult manual the mimir mentioned, to find out just what the symbol means.Then she thinks over what else the mimir said - and realises that this 'Asak' must be the one the sorceror commanded someone to fetch - he and his Fire Serpent rod sound like they could be trouble...</blockquote>

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