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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7588099" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 277The next day the journey became even more difficult, as the terrain grew more rugged and the trail became even more of a will-o-wisp.  The company trudged through densely-overgrown ravines, clambered over steep ridges, and forded stagnant pools that were thick with clinging muck.  They didn’t encounter any large predators or other dangerous creatures, but that didn’t mean that the day was without hazards.  At one point a swarm of what had to be a thousand beetles, each a foot long, erupted from the shell of a rotten tree along their path.  The things had not attacked, but Bredan experienced a vivid flashback to their desperate fight at the abandoned mine in the Silverpeak Valley.  That had been when he’d first discovered his budding magical skills, he recalled.  It seemed now like that had been years ago rather than just a few months.To Bredan it felt like they were barely crawling over the landscape, but in those periodic intervals where they gained a ridge or the jungle parted enough to permit a view of the terrain ahead he could see a gray line of peaks in the distance, larger by far than any of the rises they’d navigated thus far.  Those mountains grew steadily closer as the day wore on, until finally they loomed over them as the light began to fade.  The jungle began to thin out as the ground became rocky and began to rise.  The companions, already exhausted, slowed even further, but Mrrik drove them on, growling at them when his gestures failed to stir them.“I think… we must be getting close… to where we’re going to camp,” Glori huffed as they struggled up a difficult slope.“Let’s hope so,” Quellan said.  “I don’t think we could manage another mile.  But Mrrik said there are caves that offer good shelter along the foot of the mountains.”“With our luck, there’s probably a dragon living there,” Xeeta said.“Don’t tempt fate,” Kosk muttered.They reached the top of the rise and tromped through a final thin fringe of struggling trees to see an almost sheer cliff ahead of them.  The exhausted companions stared up at it in dismay, but Mrrik was already gesturing them to the left, where a deep cleft in the stone appeared to offer an easier route forward.  A low sound reached their ears, a soft whistling that sounded haunting and sepulchral.Darkness swallowed them up as they made their way into the fissure.  The route was narrow at first, the surrounding cliffs seeming to press in upon them, but within about fifty feet they drew back and they found themselves in a broad canyon.  The interior of the canyon was a broad bowl with walls that sloped up gradually into they approached vertical near the summit, about forty feet up.  The cliffs were pocked with dozens of caves.  Most of them were just shallow gouges in the rock, but there were several that looked as though they might be more substantial.  They could just make out another cleft back in the rear of the canyon, where the ground sloped steeply upward into deep shadows.  The source of the sound they’d heard earlier was here as well, the whistling coming from some of the gaps in the walls when the evening breeze flowed through them.Mrrik stopped, and turned to Quellan.  The tabaxi waited while the cleric cast his tongues spell again.  “These are the Whistling Caves,” the hunter said.  “We go no further.”“We thank you for showing us the way,” the cleric said.“That crack up there leads to the route over the mountains?” Bredan asked.Mrrik barked assent.  Quellan said, “He says that there is a pass, steep but manageable.  The ancient city can be seen from the summit.”Kosk asked, “How does he know, if his people have never been up there?”Quellan didn’t translate his words, and instead said, “The tabaxi have proven themselves worthy of our trust.”Mrrik turned back toward the other scouts, who had waited back at the entrance to the canyon, but Bredan quickly said, “Wait, you’re just leaving?”The cat hunter growled a quick reply without stopping.  The other cats fell in around him as he disappeared back into the crevice that led out of the canyon.“They’re not much for elaborate farewells,” Rodan said.“I would have thought they would at least have spent the night,” Glori said.  “They aren’t carrying as much stuff as we are, but they have to be tired, especially after they kept watch all last night.”“I think it challenged their taboos to even come this far,” Quellan explained.“This place certainly feels haunted,” Xeeta said, as a particularly strong gust sounded a mournful cry through the place.  The canyon walls caused the sounds to echo weirdly, adding to the effect.“I hope that not going to continue all night,” Malik said, shuddering.“There could be a bloody orchestra playing, and it wouldn’t stop me from falling asleep,” Glori said.“Come on, let’s set up camp,” Quellan suggested.They were all spent, but hunger and wariness prodded them as they scouted out the canyon.  None of the caves were large enough to accommodate the entire group, but there were several that were big enough for offer shelter for at least a few people.  The adventurers spread out and claimed them.  After a brief discussion they gathered some wood from the edge of the jungle and made a fire in a natural depression close to a few of the larger caves.  They were alert to the risks that Mrrik had cited, but they all desperately needed some light and warmth, reassurance against what they had seen and the still-nebulous threats that waited for them ahead.They had traveled together long enough that they knew their roles, and there was little idle chatter as they set up camp.  The constant whistling from the caves made conversation difficult, in any event.  Quellan brewed them some hot tea from the herbs that the tabaxi had provided, while Kosk began preparing griddle cakes from the last of the ground meal left from the salvaged stores of the Golden Gull.  The companions wrung out sweat-soaked clothes and set them on rocks next to the fire to dry out.“So what do you think we’ll find, on the other side of them peaks?” Malik finally asked.  The sailor was crouched almost on the very lip of the firepit, the gusts from the wind causing the flames to dance and shadows to drift across his features.“We’re not certain,” Glori said.  “The tabaxi weren’t able to tell us all that much about the ruined city.  The place is taboo to them.  We can only assume it’s dangerous.”“But you do know enough about it to decide that’s where you need to go,” Sandros persisted.  “You’re going there for a reason.”  He looked briefly across the fire at Kavek, who was poking the flames with a stick.  “We heard about the ruined fort that you found along the coast,” the sailor continued.The companions shared a long look, clearly weighing how much to share, and their promise to the tabaxi matriarch.  Finally, Bredan said, “We’re seeking a very old artifact.  That’s why we came to Weltarin.  We believe it is located in this ancient city.”“Where?” Malik asked.“We don’t know,” Glori said.  “Is it hidden?  Maybe.  Guarded?  Maybe.  Will there be deadly traps, powerful creatures, magical entities summoned to keep us from finding it?  Who knows?”“That all sounds pretty terrifying,” Sandros said.“It doesn’t matter,” Bredan said.  “We have to go.  The artifact is not just a piece of historical lore.  It holds great power, power that others are seeking.  We have to find it.”As he spoke, he too stared into the fire with an intensity that had the sailors—and a few of the warrior’s companions—casting glances at each other around the circle.  “So, ah, what happens when we find it?” Malik finally asked.  “Then what?”“Then we bring it back to the coast, build a ship, head to Fort Promise, and from there find passage back to Voralis,” Kosk said.Malik snorted.  “You make it sound so simple.”“Well, he didn’t mention the things that will try to kill us at each step of the way, but yeah,” Glori said.“Well,” Malik said.  “Thank you for telling us what we’re in for, anyway.”“We tried to dissuade you, back at the tabaxi city,” Rodan reminded them.“Yeah,” Sandros said, in such a way that suggested he might be reconsidering his decision.  He looked over at Kavek again, but the other sailor was still focused on the campfire.  His eyes briefly flicked up at Bredan, his face silhouetted by the crackling flames.“We should all get some rest,” Quellan said.  “We may not find a place this protected again.”Kalasien stood.  “I suggest we let the spellcasters get an uninterrupted night’s sleep,” he said.  “As the cleric said, we have good shelter here, and plenty of people to keep an eye out.  Perhaps four shifts of two… Kosk and Sandros, Rodan and Malik, Elias and myself, and then Bredan and Kavek.”“I’ll not turn down that offer,” Xeeta said.  “This jungle is a miserable place through which to travel.”“It’s even harder for Bredan, in his heavy armor,” Glori pointed out.  “And he had to fight a battle this morning.”“I’m so used to getting my ass kicked, I hardly notice it anymore,” Bredan said.  When Glori opened her mouth to protest he forestalled her with a raised hand.  “It’s fine, I can stand my watch.  Better go grab a cave before the good ones are all taken.”She held his eyes for a moment before she nodded in assent.  She walked over and took Quellan by the hand.  The half-orc couldn’t blush, but he looked slightly embarrassed as she led him toward one of the larger caves along the rise behind the camp.  Those not assigned to the first watch began to gather their things and do the same.  There were enough caves that most of them could have enough room to lay down their bedrolls and have at least a small modicum of privacy.Xeeta came over to Bredan, who was watching Glori and Quellan as they disappeared into their chosen cave.  “No one would comment if you sought out Rodan,” she said.“I have too much on my mind to think about that right now,” he said.“Some might say that times like these are exactly when one should think about such things,” she said, but she didn’t press him, folding her cloak around her as she headed off toward one of the unclaimed caves.Bredan stood there a while longer, watching the fire.  Then he picked up his pack and headed for one of the vacant caves.</blockquote>

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