Once you've finished with Emesh-Ga and investigating the murals it's easy enough to wander down to the beach, perhaps to go to the toilet....

Once there Kobal finds Akala sat holding one end of a rope that crosses the slowly moving river.

"Ah Kobal....Going over too?" asks Akala, his wide smile showing in the darkness. "All quiet up above!"

Kobal can just make out the faint glow of a well protected light across from where he stands.

Kobal waits until Ohanzee and his fellow conspirators have left, before getting up and following them.

He nods at Akala and claps the large brave on the shoulder, not wanting to make an noise in the middle of the night in Chaos infested lands.  He wades into the water, both hands on the rope, even though river is moving slowly, and makes his way across to the opposite bank.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:57, Sun 20 Sept 2015.

Wading across takes no time, helped by the rope, the other end held by a not very surprised Nixa.

"Thought you'd come. They're inside" he whispers.

Going into the cave Kobal can see light coming from the back of the dark space, shining down on stone stairs that go upwards...

It's too dark to see what's in the cave where he is now, though the Ranger can roughly make out what may be a statue to his immediate left.

As he stares around there's a sharp crack of rock breaking coming from up above, where the wide stairs lead to and the light is.

"That'll be Sand Fox and Ohanzee" adds Nixa sighing for effect.

Kobal gives a gap-toothed smile at the Red Thorn brave, and claps him on the shoulder as well, continuing past him.

At the sound of the crack, he hurries (as quietly as he can) up the stairs, shield on one arm, a couple of javelins in the other.  What is that Ohanzee up to now?!

Kobal finds himself in another large chamber, smooth walled, floored and ceiling, in the centre of which is a large hole. Everything looks as if it has been flooded many times and that the water heads up into the hole in the ceiling.

How can Kobal see? In the furthest wall there are two stone slabs, similar to the one across the river in the tunnel where the rest of the Rangers now camped. One on the right and one on the left.

One of the slab's bases had cracked and there before it was Sand Fox, who was in the process of giving Ohanzee a leg up to peer through the newly formed gap at the top, a small fat lamp in his hand....

Kobal walks up Sand Fox, and claps a hand on that brave's shoulder in greeting.

"What's going on?" he hisses.  "Did you two break the stone?  Why not leave that for the morning?  Who knows what is in there?"

He closes his eyes a moment, helm on his head, again try to reach out with his senses through his feet, into the Earth, across in the direction of the slab that Ohanzee is looking into.

To his familiar, he thinks "Haaro, do you sense any spirits in the caves where I am?"  Maybe I should have made sure the cat was awake before I made my way here...
This message was last edited by the player at 10:53, Sun 20 Sept 2015.

Sand Fox, his attention fully on helping Ohanzee, lets out a yell and drops Ohanzee....

A tired sounding cat responds "Too... far.... away...Where are you anyway?"

Ohanzee picks himself upand brushes the dust from himself "Did I break it?!" he responds with indignity whilst brushing himself down "We were just taking a look when one of them gave way at the bottom."

He taps the broken slab <blue>"In this one is the priest by the looks of it, at least his remains." Then somewhat indignantly he adds "No it can't wait till morning. For a start we'll be heading off for the Harpies with no time."

"Secondly it's a good job we came now, fate perhaps. This slab wouldn't last and at least we are the right people to keep up the honour that these did, if the baboons or worse go digging around." He shakes his head with a sigh "Well, they'd not respoect the Serpent."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:46, Mon 21 Sept 2015.

Sand Fox grins at Kobal "It's a temple to the Serpent. There's a statue down below, gotta be him and maybe his wife. Not sure what she is though."

"What do you make of that?" and he points at the hole in the ceiling.

"Wonder where it goes?"

Ohanzee nods to Sand Fox "Yes, wife would be my guess, but like you I don't know what kind of woman she is, erm or perhaps was." With reverence he adds "Very fine but not in a way I've ever seen before"

Looking up at the hope "Don't know, but wherever it goes that's the same way that the water goes looking at the way the walls are worn here."

"Make yourself useful Kobal, give us a boost up and I'll take a look."

Kobal groans inwardly.  The type of excuse you'd expect from a Raven.



"And how are we going to 'keep up the honour' of the temple?  We can't stay here guarding it.  All you've done is make it easier for others to desecrate this place," he hisses in reply.  He has fresh in his mind Emesh-Ga's interpretation of the carvings across the water - the Wandering Rangers as friends of water.  And here they are knocking holes in the temple.



With a sigh, the brave gets down to give his shorter companion a leg up.  "I've sensed that beyond it is a square room, about half the size of this room."



"I'm in the cave across the riverbank, with Blue Arm, Sand Fox and Nixa.  No trouble.  For now."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:08, Mon 21 Sept 2015.

Standing on Kobal's shoulders Ohanzee can just reach the lip of the hole with his fingers. Holding the lamp up he can see that the hole is in fact the start of a very long passage that vanishes upwards into darkness.

Wind from outside passes by, fluttering the weak flame so that it goes out, before whooshing upwards.  Once his eyes quickly grow accustomed to his natural element the Raven brave can just make out a tiny circle of sky far above.

"I detect several strong spirits close by" mentions Enapay to Ohanzee.

"They are not what I would call very happy."

"It's a shaft." says Ohanzee "It goes all the way up to the top, or at least all the way to the outside directly above here. Whether that is the top or not I don't know."

"Let me down now, Eyota says there are strong spirits about and they are not best pleased."

As he is lowered he adds "I hope Nathair Sliabh didn't have in mind that we should climb up there, it didn't look an easy climb for some of you, not with the water worn rock."

Sand Fox takes the extinguished lamp from Ohanzee and lights it quickly

"Probably Upset with us messing around here. What did you see in the room?" adds the Red Thorn brave looking around fearfully as if expecting to be attacked at any moment.

"I think it is a burial, a bit like the Mostali one but maybe not. In the middle of the room lays a box, a box that looks to be made of some stone but from here I couldn't tell. The lid looks to have been carved to look like there is a person laying on top of it." He shrugs "Or maybe it is a person laying on top and the box is a solid lump of stone."

"There's some kind of clothing hanging on a cross stood upright in the far corner, definitely a cloak hung over something or somethings else and some kind of head gear."

He scratches at the scar over his hose from the hyena broo "I think it is the priest's resting place. Maybe the priestess."
He fixes Kobal with his dark eyes "It can hardly be my fault if time takes its tole on a place. There has been a lot of time passed by here since it was sealed."
"Anyway, we do not have to honour the temple, we do not have to stay. I have already offered up prayers to the two and I'm sure that something can be done to help without settling here."

"After all, it was Nathair Sliabh who sent us this way after we summoned him, we hunt the things that foul his waters with his blessing..." He peters out as he realizes that he should be saying this to others.

"Spirits, followers of Nathair Sliabh, we are the Wandering Rangers, Earth Knights, Greeners of the land and friends of the Waters. I am Ohanzee Shappa, Blue Arm, Betrothed of Kinope daughter of Zola Fel descended from Seolinthur."

"I called to Nathair Sliabh and he came to us, spoke to us, aided us. We are on a quest to rid these hills from the creatures above that foul his waters and he sent us here to find his path up the hill."

"By his words I carry the mark of the river, I am a Chosen of Seolinthur" Whatever that might be... can't hurt to try it now! "We come here at Nathair Sliabh's bidding and mean no disrespect. If our appearance has caused offence I apologise for all of us Wandering Rangers."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:58, Mon 21 Sept 2015.

"Aye," grunts Kobal in agreement.  Not a good start, disturbing the spirits of the temple.

He listens to Ohanzee's explanation, and nods, but still wonders how much was the stone falling into ruin, and how much was the braves helping the ruin...

As the Sky Watcher addresses the spirits, Kobal bows his head slightly in respect, though still keep an eye out, in case the spirits are malicious, or have brought corporeal aid.  "Lord Emesh-Ga," he says quiety, "if you could add some words on our behalf and allay the spirits' concerns, this might help avoid any conflict between friends."

Emesh-Ga materializes next to the three braves, his ghostly form illuminating the cave far better than the weak fat lamp, and it's then that the Rangers see the two spirits flowing, one from each stone sealed room...

Old...So very old, for their existence on this plane looks very weak and none of the braves have ever seen clothing or regalia quite like it.

The nearest, most certainly a female looks angry as she slips from her resting place, the broken slab creaking ever so slightly as she passes. Her male companion looks only slightly more welcoming...


"They speak truth, and I speak as Emesh-Ga, Earth Knight once in the service of Genert himself and a Captain of the Tadashi. These brave men's ancestors fought with Genert with your people too...Now as the Blue Arm says we are once more the Wandering Rangers here to right the wrongs and return the land to how it once was."

By Raven why does this sort of thing always happen to me! He kneels before the two angered spirits Guardans, servants of Nathair Sliabh please do not punish my fellow Rangers for what has happened here."

"As Nathair Sliabh must keep flowing we Rangers must keep wandering and I am sworn to this cause before all others. But I offer you my service to make amends for any harm done."

At Emesh-Ga's words the two spirits stop their advance, instead moving towards the Earth Knight where they join for what seems like several very long minutes.

Then separating Emesh-Ga speaks

"They have agreed not to start hostilities..."

The female spirit approaches Ohanzee, swirling through the air to examine his arm

"Tell me why you are here, intruding in our final resting place....."

She turns to her companion who also approaches

"He bears the mark."

"I urm.." he looks at Emesh-Ga, at Kobal and at Sand Fox then back to the two swirling apparitions. Perhaps just the truth is the best option this time! His shoulders sag ever so slightly "My curiosity tends to get the better of me."

"That is to say duty to the Earth brought us, brought me to theses hills, Nathair Sliabh brought me here to the arch and curiosity brought me into this place."

He smiles slightly weakly "I didn't actually know what this was, that you rested here." He shrugs "I thought that there might be something to help our cause, the path onwards or information. Curiosity."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 16:16, Mon 21 Sept 2015.

Kobal remains still as the Earth Captain speaks, but he bows his head as the spirits approach, though not low enough that he can't keep watch on them, in case the spirits show any attacking intent.

The spirits are attired in strange clothes, which seems to fit them loosely and flow about them, or perhaps that is because they seem only to have a tenuous manifestation in this mundane plane, sometimes appearing to shift back into the spirit world.

The female spirit seems to wear a dress of some nature, with long sleeves and a hem that reaches to her ankles, but composed of strips rather than one piece, some wide, some as thin as twigs and slim branches, some seem to flow about her body as she moves, others appear fixed in place.  About her throat is a necklace of some stones Kobal has not seen the like before. Some whitish, some a glossy grey, the stones are roughly round, yet have very thick ridges evenly around them.

The male spirit is similarly dressed, yet arrayed behind his neck and head is a display of what look like spines, like those at the back of some lizards of the wastes.  Instead of a necklace, on his head rests a strange helmet - if it is a helmet; Kobal can't tell what it's made of - with a peaked corner at the front, but which then curves up and down as it rises over the back of the man's head.

Seeing that Emesh-Ga's words appear to have pacified the spirits, he quietly gives his thanks, knowing that the Captain will hear even such whispered words.  "Lord, thank you for your intervention for our sake."

As the spirits address Ohanzee, apparently no longer so angry, Kobal bows his head lower, more respectfully, and raises his fist, still clutching his javelins, over his heart.

Why does Ohanzee always cause this kind of trouble?!  Instead of voicing his thoughts, he says during a pause in the talk, "Wise Ones, forgive our trespass.  We meant no harm.  As the Lord Emesh-Ga has said, we are friends of the waters.  The spirit of the serpent told us of a path that lead us to this place."  He keeps his words brief as the spirits seem more interested in the Rhino brave.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:21, Mon 21 Sept 2015.

The two oddly clothed spirits swarm around Ohanzee, their ghostly forms hiding the brave momentarily from view, causing Sand Fox to rattle his spear in concern.

Thankfully they pull back to answer both Kobal and Ohanzee.

"You were sent by the river, he son of our long dead god."

"Why did he send you here?"

"For what reason are you here, where the Serpent mates with the Earth?"

Ohanzee's mind is working overtime trying to keep up with events as he listens to their response, filling in gaps The son of their long dead god. So they were servants of Seolinthur the father. By Raven they are so very, very old!

So much must have happened, so much and they have been away from it for so long, away from life. No wonder this place was abandoned if it was here for the worship of a great spirit that died.

The takes a breath and chooses his words for those who perhaps were gone before this place as it is now. "Chaos abounds in the land. We come to these hills to do the Earth's bidding."

"In the hills above this place there is a nest of Chaos tainted Harpies that plague the land about and spread their filth all about."

"These same creatures pollute the the waters of Nathair Sliabh and so we help the Earth and we help Water in our quest."

"I asked Nathair Sliabh if there was a path that we could follw through the hills to take us to the top out of view of the Harpies rather than climb outside in their view and he said what we seek could be found along his length where the archway crosses the waters."

"A path?"

"There is but one path here and that is where Water mates with Earth...."

Here both spirits rise up to the wide opening in the roof of the cave.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:12, Tue 22 Sept 2015.

Kobal watches as the spirits float up to the ceiling.

"Wise Ones, is there some way for we men to take this path?  To follow the way of the Water?"

The Ghost stops for a moment, then answers

"There is a ritual. The mating of Water with the Earth. You mean to take part and be as seeds as they flow up to fertilise the Earth?"

"It is a long time since this took place...."

"I am willing." Ohanzee answers simply "Rhino Tribe are the Earth and I am betrothed to the Water already."

OOC: kobal the fact your clan beat the Wicked Writher this year gives all of you a bonus with the ritual. Out in town so will follow up when I get home.
We will have a wedding and consummation, and then the river will rise and carry you all up to the top.

Hopefully.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:29, Tue 22 Sept 2015.

"I too am willing," says Kobal, taking a step forward, "if more than one may perform the ritual.  As a Wandering Ranger, I am sworn to the Earth.  Our band is also a friend to Water.  Only together may the Wastes turn Green."

At this both spirits combine and then split several times, communicating in a language that no one present can understand, then both flow back into their prospective tombs and all is silent...

That is until both stone plugs suddenly begin to crumble, revealing them not be made of stone at all but magically reinforced clay....

Both spirits materialise again to drift about in front of the three Rangers and their guardian.

"Preparation is needed...A Priest of the Water and a Priestess of the Earth, a blood sacrifice and a following of the rituals marked out on the temple walls for all to remember despite the creation of time....

The river must be summoned and wedded to the earth, a promise of fertility made and the land above will receive it's bounty...

A whole day this will take and there must be worshippers too, to give their love to the serpent.."

Still kneeling Ohanzee rises at last "There are others with us, they will join in the worship. A Priestess of the Earth and a Priest of the Water, that would be you two? We can study the markings on the wall and the river, the son has been summoned by us once already."

"We also have beasts for the blood sacrifice. We are to be the seeds, the Wandering Rangers, carried on the rising waters to the top of the shaft!"

Kobal bows again to the two spirits.  "Thank you, Guardians of the temple, for your generosity.  We will perform the rituals and fulfill the promise."

"Gather your people here a dawn...Bring sacrifice and votive gifts...."

Ohanzee bows to the spirits and then turns to Kobal and Sand Fox "I'm going to go get some more rest. If this ceremony is going to take all day then I'll need it!"

Then he leaves the room heading back towards the beach and Nixa.

The spirits watch as Ohanzee leaves, both drifting about the cave as Sand Fox lights a torch.

"How can we learn about the ritual" he asks.

As Ohanzee reaches the mouth of the cave he finds that Nixa is gone and the rope nowhere to be seen.

"Look to the walls of the outer shrine...All is written there. We shall guide you..."

This seems like a dismissal from the spirits, so Kobal bows again, and makes to leave.



Kobal nods in agreement and follows the Rhino brave out.



"Not a good sign," he mutters to the others.  Still, the river had been moving slowly when he crossed the first time.  He wades into the waters, testing to see if the current is too strong to negotiate.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:34, Wed 23 Sept 2015.

As Kobal begins to wade across he suddenly gets a message from his spirit

"We're under attack! A Dragonsnail!"

Looking around at Kobal Ohanzee notices that Nixa's bother is missing "Sand Fox didn't come? He did some spear rattling back there, I'd better make sure he isn't getting into trouble with the spirits!"

He trots back not noticing the irony of what he said "Sand Fox, where are you? You coming?" he calls as he nears the top of the steps.

"Yeah...Coming" and the Red Thorn Brave comes trotting down the stairs, his torch held high as he looks at the walls and ceiling of the lower cave.

With the brighter light it is now possible to see that there are countless murals, etchings and carvings all over the rock, though thanks to countless floods, both natural and magically induced those painted are faded.

Just as Ohanzee starts to turn back, Kobal hisses to him, "Attack!  Chaos!  Dragonsnail!"  He turns back again, to wade back to the main party, but now as quickly as he dares across the water.

[OOC: edited my previous post as only Ohanzee left the cave, not Sand Fox.]

Kobal finds Akala and Glama fighting a Dragonsnail at the back of the beach, the two braves hollering for help as they see their friends' light.

As they approach Sand Fox looks about worried "Where's Nixa?"

Ohanzee arrives back at the beach to find Kobal helping Akala, a dead Dragonsnail at their feet. It had been killed by Akala, with the help of Kobal's timely arrival.

Sand Fox is searching the beach with the help of Glama's light spell.

"So where've you been?" asks Akala, wiping the gore from his great sword.

Ohanzee moves to the edge of the water to help Sand Fox search for his brother asking Akala over his shoulder "Did you see Nixa, did he come back over?"

Kobal pulls out of the dead dragonsnail the javelin which he'd used as a spear, thrusting it into the head.  He inspects the tip and shaft to see if it's still usable.

"I've been looking out for Ohanzee," he says to Akala.  "Making sure he wasn't getting himself into more trouble.  Which he almost did...  But we made some interesting finds, haha."  He claps the brave on the shoulder again.

He looks at Sand Fox and Glama searching on the beach.  "Where's Nixa?  I thought he came back across the river first.  When we came back to the beach on the other side of the river, there was no Nixa and no rope.  I figured he'd come back to help with the dragonsnails.  Didn't you have the other end of the rope, Stoneface?"

Akala looking happy about ending the Dragonsnail's life, kills his smile

"No...I dropped the rope when this beast came out of the water....What do you mean gone?...Is he dead?"

The search turns up nothing and Sand Fox begins to get frantic, wading in to the water and heading back across to the other cave.

"Nixa!"

At Akala's response, Kobal turns and heads back across the water to the other bank as well.  As he wades across, he looks down the serpent, in case Nixa might have been fording the river when he hit a gorp or dragonsnail or other Chaos foulness.

"Haaro, do you sense where Nixa might be...?"

Ohanzee heads across the water trying to keep up with Sand Fox "Don't run about the sand on the other side. If the tracks are not too covered by other traffic we can work out what has happened, where he has gone."

And this is exactly what he tries to do once they reach the other side.

And unfortunately the sand on the other side is all churned up...

Though there is no sign that Nixa went deeper in the cave.

Kobal finds nothing in the water and joins the other two in the cave.

"He's not here in the tunnel" answers Kobal's cat.

This makes no sense.  That Nixa would leave and tell no one.  Something must have happened to him.  The cave is relatively small.  Kobal walks to the statue and inspects that, and the ground around it.  Did Nixa walk up to it?  Is there any clues around it or behind it?  Is there anything left or dropped on the ground?

"Earth Knight, do you sense where our fellow Ranger Nixa is?"

Ohanzee walks to the edges of the cave entrance looking to determine whether either side is climbable, but with the shouting he suspects that the brave didn't climb, even with the rope if he kept hold of it. No, he suspects the worse.

"No, unfortunately I do not" replies the Guardian "But that does not mean he is dead, perhaps just out of the range of my ability to detect him."

The cliff is certainly climbable, but not in the dark.

Ohanzee finds no sign of a struggle nor any blood.

Kobal nods at Emesh-Ga's words.  He walks back up the steps, into the temple.  There he speaks into the darkness.  "Guardians of this temple.  Four of us, there were, who crossed to this shore.  Three of us entered this temple.  The fourth, stood outside as sentry.  Do you know what happened to him?"

Both spirits swirl into view, drifting as if deep under water, pulled by currents too and fro.

"We do not know whom you speak of...." is their only reply.

Kobal bows low to the spirits.  "Thank you, Wise Ones."  He wasn't sure they'd respond, or whether they'd wait until the dawn ritual before manifesting again.  He returns to Sand Fox and Ohanzee.

"Maybe Mordy will be able to track Nixa..."  I'm running out of ideas.

Tarosh and several of the others arrive at the beach, leaving Tarnessh and Leaper to guard the front of the tunnel, joined shortly by Akala and Glama.

It's not long before they get up to speed with what has occurred and that Nixa has vanished.

Helping to search reveals nothing more than the fact that the river suddenly deepens just beyond the cave and the water swirls about dangerously...

Questions are levelled at Ohanzee and Kobal asking them to recount what happened from the start....

"You do like sticking you beak in to strange places don't you raven" He looks down stream, "We need to find Nixa quickly, if there's more snails about he could be in a lot of trouble." He passes his great axe and one of his throwing axes to Kobal, while making sure the other one is securely attached to his belt, "If you would be so kind as to hold on to these for me Kobal, I'll go looking for Nixa downstream. Has anyone got anymore rope?"

50 metres of rope is soon gathered, tied to Tarosh and held onto tightly.

"If a few of you could hold on to the other end and be ready to pull me out, I'd be grateful."Once the rope is secure, Tarosh wades in to the serpent and heads downstream. "Nixa!" he shouts into the Darkness

As soon as Tarosh steps over the edge of the deep section he finds himself whipped around by the suddenly swift current, barely preventing himself from being sucked over the Blue Llama brave goes with the flow and twenty metres downstream gets himself under control.

Soon his voice is echoing along the the pitch black canyon.

In reply to GM (msg # 65):

Taking a couple of deep breaths, Tarosh slips free from the rope and does his best to swim in the direction of the voice.

With the comforting light of the rope quickly vanishing, Tarosh finds himself being carried along by the serpent as it moves through the canyon eastwards....

Shouts for Tarosh get no response and suddenly the rope goes slack, somewhere around the bend in the canyon.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:34, Fri 25 Sept 2015.

As the rope goes slack all of a sudden Ohanzee starts pulling it quickly in "Anyone's spirits suddenly just sense a spirit freed of it's mortal body?"

There is some urgency in his pulling in the rope which he studies the end of when it is all pulled in to see whether it looks like it have been cut by tooth or knife, or perhaps frayed on a rock or burnt by acid!

"Well perhaps not the best idea. Let's not try that again!"

Taking a torch he tries to put the loss of two comrades out of his mind as he moves into the cave again "Better get an idea of what to expect tomorrow. It's described on the paintings on the wall."

"I'd better get back on watch till my turn is finished. Can't risk being attacked again". Henal heads back to the cave mouth with a fresh supply of javelins.

It's 1am in the morning. Those who fought are exhausted.

The rope comes back in one piece, with no cuts or frayed ends and as it's examined those spirits that can, report back in the negative.

As Ohanzee heads over to the Temple cave Sand Fox calls after him

"What you're giving up on them just like that?"

Ohanzee turns "Giving up? No, trusting to their abilities. look at the rope, it was untied. Who else but either of them could have done that? They'll be back or they'll get back the oasis I'm sure, but since I don't have a chance against that current and it's too dark to climb around the edge there's nothing else I can duo now. Unless you have an idea. "

Sand Fox can only nod in agreement, but he stays by the water looking downstream with a torch held aloft.

Inside the Temple cave Ohanzee's own light source illuminates a complex array of murals, carvings and scratches, depicting what looks like scores of different rituals.

Henal calls out wearily "one of you that hasn't stood watch needs to take a turn as I need a bit of shuteye after that fight".

He stands leaning against the entrance of the cave blearily looking out at the river and waiting for a reply.

Ohanzee doesn't answer Henal, perhaps because he doesn't here him or perhaps because he is just too engrossed in the markings on the wall to register the request.

He moves along scanning the markings up and down looking for something in particular and muttering to himself "So many rituals here. With the time to study them what secrets could be recovered of the old ways?"

"No time now though, got to find it and memorise it before dawn. Maybe there are similarities to our weddings. Maybe it is the ancestor of some of our practices. What's this?" he pauses.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:32, Sat 26 Sept 2015.

Henal finds a replacement in Glama, who is happy to take the next watch, whilst leaper replaces Amara. Those that wish to sleep now can, leaving Ohanzee to examine the rituals in the temple.

Half an hour later Sand Fox gives a shout as a very tired Tarosh reappears swimming strongly against the current, supporting Nixa in one arm. A rope is thrown and the two braves are pulled up on the beach on the side of the tunnel and mounts.

Inside the cave Ohanzee eventually finds what he is looking for, a ritual and ceremony where the river is wed to the local earth goddess, and their joining causing the land above the cave to be fertilised. By the looks of it the river floods the temple and the water shoots up the hole in the ceiling and travels far above.

Having found the right instructions Ohanzee orks as quickly as he can to study the flow of the ritual trying to balance understanding what is required with getting a little more sleep so as not to screw it up ceremony through tired forgetfulness.

When they both are safely on the beach, Tarosh collapses on his back looking up at the sky and breathing heavily, "If we're going to keep being near serpents, I think I should teach you lot how to swim." Once he's got his breath back, he sits up and looks round, "I don't know about you Nixa, but I'm going back to sleep." With that he makes his way back to his bedroll and, if no one disturbs him, is soon sound asleep