Caith and Lann swim through the chill waters, as they do so the Moonlight of the spell reveals thousands of the little glass fish which rise up and begin picking at every piece of exposed flesh that they can find, the experience is not unpleasant but somewhat ticklish and at least distracts them from the chill waters for the time being.

As they continue to swim, Caith by carefully picking her way across root tangles and lann relying on his sorcery-swollen muscles the Moonlight also illuminates their destination, a great spike of quartz crystal jutting into the lake from the cave ceiling...there is something golden glistening within.....

In reply to GM (msg # 1):

Caith looks mildly startled, then smiles and slaps a hand underwater when the nibbling becomes somewhat distracting. She dives under and watches the glasskinned fish a moment, wondering if they change colour when fed, and if so, what colour she might be.

The answer is dark indeed, as the tiny fish dart through the tangled forest of her hair, swiftly stripping the oakgall and charcoal coating of dye from it, leaving her with wet hair now a hue closer to that of fresh spilled blood, not midnight sky on a moonless night...

When she sees the glimmering ahead, she says softly to Lann "Bright and brazen in the dark, as was told..." with a genuine tone of wonder in her voice.

Wonder aside, the Hedgewitch grasps a hanging root for stability, and gathers the power still singing through water, wood and stone that speaks of sorcery to herself. The voice that issues from her lips as she summons her wiser self does not speak in words known to many humans, and understood by very few, human or otherwise.

OOC: Caith cast THIRD EYE, followed by DETECT AURA next chance she gets. Caith is now currently on 12/19 MP, and still keeping an eye out for her MOONGLOW's duration warning flicker to recast that when required.

An eldrich golden fire burns in the eye-shaped rune that shimmers into being in the center of Caith's forehead, and her own eyes gleam wickedly green in it's reflected light as she says calmly to Lann "I wish to know more of what truly lies within yonder tooth of crystal, so let's nay be breaking anything in haste, and give the place a careful look over first at least, aye?"
This message was last edited by the player at 09:31, Fri 26 Apr 2019.

In reply to Caith Cernach (msg # 2):

The 'gold' appeared to be bronze at closer inspection and the figure was not a statue but a man; bearded and dusky skinned, clad in armour that it seemed she had seen before but could not recall where. He carried something in his hands, it appeared to be an iron casket sealed with wax.

Lann recognised the armour as similar to that seen on the Selentine bodies they had discovered within the Mouth of the Gods caverns.

Caiths preturnatural perception revealed that there was low-level sorcery throughout the pillar...though faded and old...but within the chest itself something glowed softly.

Lann asks if Caith spots anything magical on the man. He will cast perception of sorcery and ponders smashing the crystal with his magical blade.

"Old bronze armour, nay local by the look of it..." Caith says pensively, then looks closer as she adds "The stone around him still holds the faint smell of sorcery though, and something within yon casket in his grip glows brighter than the stone's enchantment."

Her tone is cautious as she opines "She who put him there did not take it from him before she trapped him. If it was her possession, then perhaps she thought it safer in stone as a warning to other thieves, and did not need to touch it to use it's power? Else why leave it in his hands?"

Caith points out the practical difficulties of the situation as she explains "If we smash the stone away? We must secure whatever part we break, or it will fall straight to the lake's bottom. Long swim down to find it."

Her tone becomes sharper as she adds "And there's no saying what will happen to him if the stone breaks. Could be he'll shatter along with the stone, and everything held within it along with him. Terrible shame to let greed overcome cunning..."

OOC: So is he FOSSILIZED or is this an enchantment that Caith is unfamiliar with? Smashing the statues from the spell she knows is a waste of time and loot.

Caith ponders the stone and its contents, and shrugs before she simply says "We'll need more than what we brought with us this time to do the job properly right now."

She grins in an unsettling manner and adds "Besides, if he's nay dead already, after one look at our ugly mugs? The poor fella will die of fright seconds after he opens his eyes..." as she turns to explore the rest of the lake cavern before she gets out of the water.

OOC: All right, if the PCs are short on time and equipment to do the job, then finish checking the lake cavern for other exits, and then go check upstairs before sodding off back to Salthold for the night.

Caith, illuminated by her Moonglow, swam across the surface of the lake...eventually she found the far edge, the stone was cold and damp...but there was no shore that she could find.

She began to make her way back towards the ledge that Usopi, Chlainn and Aphail stood upon.

Lann swims across too, disappointed. He hopes when he can terminate enchantment he will be able to loot the warrior.

"If there is another path out of here than the one we came in by, then I can nay find it..." Caith says quietly to Lann after looking around the far edge of the cavern's walls to no avail, but adds pragmatically as she looks downward for a moment "...And I have nay the talent of a frog or fish to breath water either, alas, or I'd look deeper."

The Hedgewitch offer the small consolation of "As to how best to open the bronze chest? A task that can nay be done today is nay always a task that can never be done. A little thinking and planning now we know more may yet get this one done too."

She does grumble a little though as she concludes in an annoyed tone "Fair vexes me to leave a task nay done though." then shuts up and concentrates on swimming back to the lamp lit shore.

In reply to Caith Cernach (msg # 9):

Usopi, Chlainn and Aphail saw the Moonlit forms swimming slowly back towards them.

In reply to GM (msg # 10):

Chlainn peers into the darkness, his mug is empty but he still goes through the motions of drinking, stopping short of ingesting anything.

Usopi waits patiently on the steps up toward the rest of the cave. He trusted that if there was anything to be done his companions would tell him, and otherwise it was best to simply be patient.

Caith swims to the edge of stone where the exit lies, looks towards the lamp light from the tunnel and calmly says "We're back. Dann was right about the fella in bronze armour all covered in crystal." then climbs out.

She pragmatically wrings her dripping wet dark red wet hair out over the lake before she climbs back into her clothes and armour as best she can in the cramped space, keeping her back to the entrance, and watching the fish glitter in the dimly lit water as she considers her words carefully.

"Ye did well." the hedgewitch says quietly to to the warrior mage, and walks up the steps.

Her report to Alphail, Usopi and Chlainn is unsparing in the pertinent details as she explains "Big dusky skinned and bearded man, under less than a foot thick of clear flowstone  hanging from the roof and half underwater. Wearing old bronze armour, nay of local origin. I can nay tell if he be alive and sleeping deep, or dead and remarkably well preserved. Looks like he's holding something too, a little iron coffer sealed with wax."

Caith pauses a moment, wondering how best to phrase it for those unversed in arcane lore, then offers "The crystal his physical form is imprisoned in holds a fading aura of magical power. It is nay a means of turning men to stone that I quite familiar with, but I can tell ye that it was done a long time ago. There is something within the iron coffer that also glimmers with enchantment, perhaps a little brighter than the crystal."

She shrugs, and concludes "Can nay get him or the coffer down and out of here intact without a fair bit of careful work and a second trip. So take a look around up top now?"

In reply to Caith Cernach (msg # 13):

"I'm sure he'll still be hanging around next time we're back.  Seems he's been waiting a while anyway!"

"Indeed," Usopi replied, "If those as knowledgeable as the two of you can not find some way to free him, then it is likely no folk who might simply stumble their way here would know of any method you do not."

Usopi shrugged and then turned back up the stairs, "Then up and in we g."

Lann wears his armour and carries his items before moving off.

In reply to Toirneach Lann (msg # 16):

The group headed up the stairs turning sharply into the other tunnel instead of exiting, they rounded a cluster of stalactites and followed a short tunnel of earth and stone. Aphail pointed out a broken arrow, old blood stains and faded footprints in the earth.

Ahead there was a narrow opening that looked like it could be squeezed through one at a time.

Lann will take the lead if the Knights do not mind.

In reply to Toirneach Lann (msg # 18):

Chlainn is fine, only needs to go in front when they see something to kill.

Usopi stands aside to allow the warrior mage to go first.

Caith grimaces at this, but in a way that suggests she's grinning at the joke rather than snarling like an annoyed shewolf as she answers "Aye, he'll keep a while longer yet."



"I do nay know about that. After all, if we found our way down here, who knows what visitors may arrive after us?" Caith says in gently mocking reply.

She hastens to add in a more practical tone "There are less complicated ways of unbinding stone from flesh, aye, but they are unfortunately beyond Lann's and my understanding for now..." then shrugs as she explains "...And it would still leave us with the problem of needing a fine woven net to catch both the big bronze chest and the wee iron coffer. I've nay idea if the fella's live or dead, a bane or a boon, nor if he can swim, let alone in all that armour."

The herbalist admits with a rueful smile "In short, a delicate task that requires patience and planning. Pity I've nay much of the first with the second at the best of times."



"Give Lann a minute, will ye?" Caith requests curtly, as she points out "His armour is a little trickier to get into than mine."



Caith listens to the hunter while she examines the broken arrow, and ponders the past, but evidently quite recent history of the caverns.

She offers "Dann said their were bandits here before. Bad men, but men nonetheless, and a black armoured leader, who was later seen to be no man, but a swine faced creature akin to a man, one that walked upright, and wielded weapons, nay claw or tooth."

Her tone is stern as she says "Told their bones lie outside, burnt and scattered. Such informal warnings loose their potency to ward away men after a while."

The hedgewitch nods in agreement at Lann taking the lead in scouting the way ahead, as she looks at the narrow gap and remarks "Hard place to sneak into, and a right swine to drag defenders out of too." with slightly more admiration to her tone now at the tale told of the battle fought here before.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:34, Mon 06 May 2019.

The group advanced squeezing through a narrow opening into a short passage.

Ahead it opened up and there could be seen a number of partial skeletons lying on the ground and some old rope hanging from the stalactites above; the skeletal remains appeared to be perhaps some small or medium sized mammals and two were obviously pheasants from the scattered feathers.

On the left, hanging well away from the others was a tattered piece of rope and at the base of it a tumble of larger bones.

All the remains in the chamber had simply rotted away it seemed no wildlife had found them.

The centre of the room was dominated by a massive slab of fallen ceiling and was fairly clear of other rubble.

On the far side a tunnel continued into the hillside...