It seems the group has settled on a search for the ruins of Hautama from the air. After finishing putting together your gear, the Diana takes off again and rises high enough so that everyone can see.
Tchikkatlikkit's plan is to make a series of ever-widening concentric circles from the mesa. According to legend, the city was swallowed up by an earthquake and left in ruins. The geography seems to bear this out; scrubby crevasses, some of them large enough to land the Diana in- abound. Once the Diana finishes it's first circle, it reaches a stretch of jagged irregular terrain and strange rocky spires that reach up to the sky.
When passing over the area approximating the location where Riss thinks the sound from last night came from, Tchikkatlikkit brings the Diana as close to the ground as he dares.
The search is on.
-----------------OOC-----------------
Search Checks! DC is 18. Searchers using Spyglass get a +2 circumstance bonus. Since nobody picked up Spyglasses but Khulmbanos, I just gave the extra two out randomly (actually I gave them to characters that had skill in searching, because that made sense to me). It would just be common sense to use them. In addition, Hremelan's familiar 'Adly decides to help search.
Ashan (roll 18)(+1 Wisdom)=20 -- success!
Casandra (roll 18)(+2 Wisdom)= 20 --success!
Hremelan (roll 11)(+1 Search)(+2 Spyglass)=14.
'Adly (roll 16)(+2 Wisdom)=18 -- success!
Khulmbanos (roll 5)(+4 Search)(+2 Spyglass)= 11.
Osric (roll 10)(+3 Wisdom)= 13.
Riss (roll 8)(+4 Search)(+2 spyglass)=14.
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The group is spread out along the bow on both sides of the deck, scanning the rocky ground below.
Hremelan's sparrowhawk familiar takes off with a high-pitched keening, and begins to circle around as well. After 10 minutes of searching, Adly's keen breaks the silence again.
Ashan and Casandra are the first to see it; the cracked dome of a strange egglike structure, half-swallowed by the ground is clearly visible in one of the shadowed crevasses. There is an overgrown section of stone mesa nearby that looks as if it has been cut into a strange stone staircase for giants. It's a stepped pyramid!
As the Diana dips closer for a second look, you note the crumbled statue of a kneeling woman, and numerous holes which look to have been bored into the side of a cliff.
The Diana descends for a better look.
Ashan points again; as your ship dips closer, everyone in the group can make out the figure of a dwarf bound with crude vines to the gigantic statue.
The Diana dips closer and finally settles in midair over the safest landing point. There is a dwarflike figure is dressed in rags. He appears to have been tortured, or possibly left out for sacrifice.
Is he dead?
---------------OOC--------------
The dwarf bound to the rock is your newest player character, he is injured down to 0 hp, and is dying of exposure. He has no equipment. (Sorry Badger!). He comes from the village of Kezz, and was kidnapped by kobolds while searching for a fellow monk. He has no memories of how he ended up where he is right now.
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