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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7185843" data-attributes="member: 143">Even though orcs have toughened up in recent editions and gone through something of a redesign, I always mentally picture them as like the Gamorrean guards from Return of the Jedi, who resembled the porcine guys from the 1e Monster Manual.* * * Chapter 66It took them the better part of an hour to reach the top of the bluff.  The sheer cliffs did not extend all the way around, but the slope was steep even at the more accessible portions and studded with loose rocks that would give way as soon as weight was placed on them.  By the time they finally reached the crest all were scraped and dirty from multiple slides, though none of them had suffered any serious injuries.“I was thinking about that cleric,” Glori said as she paused to brush prickleburrs out of her hair.  “I wonder why he came here alone.”“We don’t know that he was alone,” Quellan said.  “Perhaps his companions were driven off by the orcs, or met their fate elsewhere.”“Doesn’t matter either way,” Kosk said.“Do you think he was connected in some way to… to that other thing?” Bredan asked.Xeeta waved a hand.  “This is where you change the subject,” she said.  The tiefling looked as bedraggled as the rest of them, though her ruddy complexion showed less dirt than the paler humans.Quellan came to a stop.  He looked at each of the others before turning toward the sorceress.  “No, it’s not,” he said.  “Bredan was referring to a job we did together before we set out for Adelar.  It was for a wizard named Starfinder, and it wasn’t that dissimilar from this mission.  She was also looking for a source of ancient magical power, hidden by a cult called the Eth’barat that existed during the waning days of the Mai’i.  Apparently they were all about stockpiling ancient lore in anticipation of the Empire’s fall.”“Not that it helped them, apparently,” Bredan said.“And you think that these Eth’barat were involved in this site as well?” Xeeta asked.“There are some parallels,” Glori said.  “An old ruin way off the beaten track, rumors of mysterious magic.”“An obsessed scholar with a lot of ready cash looking for a few convenient adventurers to stick their heads on the block,” Kosk added.“Somehow I don’t see Starfinder and Nordrum as being quite in the same category,” Glori said.“For all we know they’re best friends,” Bredan said.  “Or maybe he works for her.”“It doesn’t matter,” Kosk said.  “We’re here, and it’s getting late.  We should stop wasting time before we end up running into something we can’t handle.”They made their way back to the side of the bluff that faced out over the ruin.  They found another wrecked structure there, right where the dead priest’s map had indicated it would be.  There wasn’t much left to it at all, just a cracked foundation overgrown with weeds, with stumps at each corner where it looked like tall pillars might have once stood.  There were blocks of weathered stone scattered all over the site, remnants of the building that had once stood here.“I wonder if there was an earthquake or something that wrecked this place,” Bredan said as they spread out to investigate the site.  They couldn’t see the opening that the cleric’s map mentioned at first glance, but the tall weeds were thick enough to conceal such an entry from a casual examination.“You would be surprised what the simple passage of time can do,” Quellan said.“Nature is swift to reclaim her own,” Xeeta said.Bredan turned to say something to her, but before he got a chance Kosk said, “Over here.”They followed the dwarf around to the northwest corner of the structure.  The weeds were particularly dense there, but they weren’t enough to mask the dark hole that extended under the overhanging mass of the building’s foundation stones.Glori stepped forward and bent low over the opening.  She thrust her head so far into the gap that Bredan started to reach for her before he caught himself.  But no monstrous entity erupted from the darkness to seize her, and he reminded himself that she could see in the dark a lot better than he could.  She lingered there a few moments and then drew back.“Anything?” Quellan asked.“It goes in pretty far,” she said.  “I heard something, running water I think.  There may be a cave or underground complex underneath all this.”Xeeta, standing a few paces away from the others, thought she heard something and turned toward the bulk of the ruined structure.  But there was nothing there, just the tall stalks of the weeds shifting slightly in the faint breeze.“It looks pretty tight,” Bredan said.  “Tough fighting in there.”“I think it widens after the first bit,” Glori said.“I’ll go check it out,” Kosk said.  “I’ve spent a lot of time in tight spaces.”“I can send in my dancing lights, see if there’s anything,” Glori said.“No need,” Kosk said.  He started to hand his staff to her, but then his eyes widened as he saw a wedge-shaped head covered in golden scales emerge from the weeds an arm’s length from Xeeta.  The sorceress seemed completely unaware as the head split open to reveal gaping jaws dominated by two long fangs that glistened as they extended toward her exposed leg.</blockquote>

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