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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Guido" data-source="post: 1256610" data-attributes="member: 15515">Wanda has guessed well, and leaving scamp to keep contact progressively cuts down the distance between herself and the party, by cutting off the corner until she is barely a mile away. An hour of waiting and listening to scamp’s emotional feedback reassures her and Wanda strides forth to make an entrance. She almost misses the camp, so well chosen is it that she nearly blunders over the ridgeline but the sight of the ruins across the valley brings her up short. A muffled horse’s whinny to the right brings her back on course.The party’s studied indifference to Wanda’s arrival is an illusion as Gwayne’s grunted warning has them all ready to unleash power and violence in the blink of an eye. The plain clad stranger draws many questions, but in time they warm to her, encouraging her to join them at the fire and help them cook a meal. The well-chosen camp is guarded from sight and thin cooking-fire smoke from the fire disperses in the overhanging trees without a discernible trail. It seems that Wanda is just out hunting rabbits and came across the party by chance. This unlikely story resists even Troy’s considerable powers of bardic persuasion, and the gentle buzz of conversation is broken only by Fareena’s sudden challenge. If this stranger will not allow a simple charm person spell between friends then fire-forbid, there’ll be toasted flesh instead. Wanda digs deep into her knowledge and decides the spell will be a better risk than this fearsome groups quick blades and fingers. She concedes, the spell is cast, and the tension fades. If this interloper is a Church spy, she’ll trouble them not this night. Droog finds the weasel’s tracks after about an hour of searching and follows them back to Wanda’s snoring form. No sneaky animal spies about either, good.They rise just before dawn and leaving the horses hobbled, set out across the valley unimpeded. Soon within the brooding walls once more, they are struck again by the eerie stillness. Not a bird or bug in sight. Strange. Odd humps and shapes in the ground tease their curiosity to no avail until the happen upon the dragon statue. Based on a single piece slab sided basalt block, the beast rears up some 50-60’ with spread wings and open maw. Various divinatory magics are brought to bear and the party decide this is a real dragon that has been turned to stone. Too big to contemplate dispelling or breaking, they move on.Next is a row of three walls each 100’ square and about 10’ thick made from dark polished rock and pierced with several large circular holes from a line about 5-‘ up. The tossing of stones and arrows through the holes brings forth rich bell-like tones by magical means from within the walls themselves, and strangely these holes then disappear and reappear in other places on the wall. Gwayne nudges Fareena and points at horsemen on the horizon near their overnight camp. Unable to determine the purpose of these strange structures and keen to get out of sight of the distant patrol the party moves on past the toppled spike to a feature they recalled from their first visit. A huge crater tears the ground to a depth of about 50’, shallow at one end, steeper at the other. The teardrop shape of this blemish hints at an object impacting from height but at a shallow angle and with great speed. A dark rip in the ground at the lowest point suggests an object has torn through into a chamber below. Droog and Gwayne study the ground and decide that some otherworldly creature patrols the crater’s edge at least once a day. Other signs suggest Kobolds and maybe minotaurs.</blockquote>

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