Porto retrieves his rope from the headless body that had been his foe. Roth, Stan? Porto inquiries.

Since the immediate threat was gone, Stan's mind began to catch up with the animal side that had been keeping him alive through the combat.

He held up a finger delicately as though he were about to say something to Porto. Then, Stan threw up.

"This demon had better be ready for one angry mage," he said as he held himself up with his hands and knees. He got to his feet a short while later. "Come on, lets go.

"By the way, Porto, where'd you learn to saw through a neck like that?"

Porto gives a mocking smile as he holds up a finger and wags it about as if to say "it's not polite to ask".

"Alright, we'll move ahead."  Roth nods to M'dok, noting for a moment the skill of his soldiers before his flicks some flesh from his rapier and returns it to its scabbard.  Roth fetches his discarded crossbow and reloads it as Roth vomits, and when they are both finishes it, he waves for Porto and Stan to follow, "Lets check ahead, but stick together.  I want to get out of this place quick."

+500 XP!

Together Porto, Roth, and Stan make their way through the zombie pit and to the other end of the cavern.  They follow the narrow corridor further to the east.  A short distance later, they find themselves in the mouth of the tunnel and standing before a wide cavern:
A single, jagged pillar of rock lined with glowing blue-green moss emerges from the depths of the pool within the center of this cavern.  Water courses down its side from a font near its tip, cascading into the pool below.  The pool feeds a wide stream that flows rapidly along the length of the room and then under the rock wall at the southern end of the cave.  Several glyphs are carved deep into the stone face of the pillar, their outlines just visible beneath the light of the moss.  An eerie sense of discomfort pervades this place (map update pending).
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:32, Tue 23 Mar 2010.

Sounds echo from behind you, betraying the approaching band.  Could it be M’dok’s force?  More zombies?  Or perhaps some new threat?
A moment later the familiar figures of Ilsa and Neya come into view, with M’dok and his band in tow.

Map update still pending...
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:05, Wed 24 Mar 2010.

Neya barked once when she saw the others, her tail wagging a few times. She approached the group, a slight limp appearing in her gait, sniffing the air as she did so. There was something weird about this new place, something that made her feel wrong.

17:21, Today: Neya rolled 20 using 1d20+5. Scent.

Why hello glad you could join us, we've missed you two a bit! Porto calls out to them looking them over to determine their conditions.

"Heal Neya," Ilsa replied brusquely to Porto. She followed it up with the blunt question, "Where is the demon?"

"If there is a demon, we will find him soon enough. This place is... eery," he added unnecessarily.

Stan again touched the magic-sensing wand to his temple. The pillar was obviously magic; the trick was figuring out why. Perhaps something he had read in an old book somewhere would give him a clue to solving this town's problems. To be able to actually fix something with his knowledge, to put his schooling to use, that would be small pleasure in this rough future.

Porto goes over to the large wolf and produces the wand in his hand. He flips it about and around his head until it rests in his other hand. He taps Neya a time or two and gives Ilsa a tapping if it's needed, and wanted.

"Now me," Ilsa said when Porto healed Neya. Though Ilsa was putting on a brave, angry front, but it was clear she was very, very ill, probably near death. Soon, she would have to rage simply to remain standing.

"Stay back." Roth says to the others--ignoring Ilsa's arrival,--as he heads slowly into the cavern, his eyes both scanning the shadows for danger and examining the ground as his ear seem to perk and search for any sounds other than the party.  As he nears the center, he investigates the pool for any threats, as well as tries to make sense of the carvings on the pillar.

01:23, Today: Roth Daos rolled 24 using 1d20+9. Decipher Script.
01:22, Today: Roth Daos rolled 24 using 1d20+9. Spellcraft.
01:22, Today: Roth Daos rolled 18 using 1d20+5. Hide.
01:22, Today: Roth Daos rolled 16 using 1d20+5. Move Silently.
01:22, Today: Roth Daos rolled 14 using 1d20+10. Search.
01:21, Today: Roth Daos rolled 23 using 1d20+5. Listen.
01:21, Today: Roth Daos rolled 21 using 1d20+7. Spot.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:25, Thu 25 Mar 2010.

Porto dishes out three taps of his wand each, all but closing all of Neya’s wounds and completely healing Ilsa.  The pair once again looks formidable—or would if it weren’t for the disease plaguing them.  As Porto selflessly tends to them, Roth and Stan appraise the situation, gazing deeply into the cavern before them.
The wizard and librarian regard the massive pillar for a long moment, both trying to identify any magics that may be in play.  The rock formation is large, jutting easily 20 ft. from the pool.  Roth spies a narrow trail, about two feet wide, looping around it (with the exception of the area smoothed over by the waterfall).  He quietly points this out to Stan.  The wizard nods, but keeps his eyes locked onto the water spewing down the pillar, noticing faint traces of a strange magic affecting the water, thanks to his arcane sight.
Roth focuses on the glyphs, and before too long, it appears he understands what they mean.

"Snake Tongue ... why does that sound familiar?" Roth asks Stan as turns his eyes away from the glyphs and casts his gaze down into the pool, seeing if anything interesting lays beneath the surface.

"Hahahaha!" Ilsa laughed but had to stop short as she was overcome with a hacking, wheezing cough. She walked up to Roth, her breath heavy and gurgling. She came up very close to him and whispered. "I am Snake Tongue. So is Shirok. And Neya. We are Snake Tongue. You cannot ignore us." She backed away and smiled, her gums and teeth coated in her own blood, taking on the same crimson tinge as her eye. "I will die soon, but I will not die alone. You'd best find this demon before the time of decision comes."

Neya whined at the sound of Ilsa's sudden coughing, the gleam of bloodlust in her eye. Once the little one had finished tapping her with the stick she padded over to Ilsa, nudging her slightly before turning to Roth, a questioning look in the wolf's eyes.

"Well I don't see any demons here, do you?" Roth asks Ilsa, worried at her seeming to lose what little sanity she had.  "Maybe you should check the walls for an exit."  He looks back up to the pillar and translates for the Orc, "It talks about Snake Tongue clan ... Slang-tong, coming to this cave, breeding with demons, and dying out.  Nothing very helpful."

As you search the large cavern, a bloody roar echoes throughout the cavern!  The scream seems to be coming from atop the pillar.
"Ongelowiges! Jy oortree op uitgehold grond! My hoor en die woorde van die Almagtige Gruumsh Een Oog! Dood aan u, indringers! Miskien is jy vrot van 'n duisend jaar hier onder Sy troon! Heerlikheid tot Hom! Glorie vir Tornclaw!"

“That is demon,” M’dok says as he points his clawed finger to the top of the pillar.  “He angry we come!  He know we come to fight.”
You can sense the kobolds are nervous, but willing to assist you where they can—as long as you lead the charge.

"Hmm, that sounds like Orc. Ilsa, did he say something about Gruumsh?

"How are we even to get up there without being picked off? It seems we are at a tactical disadvantage."

Stan scoured the area from which the voice seemed to be coming, trying to identify any illusion magics that might be present.

Ilsa tightened her jaw and ground her teeth. She was steeling herself and taking deep, labored breathes. Then she yelled back in orcish. "Ahn sek Ilsa Redeye ak die Snake Tongue Korak. Guh gak Neya; sha te gak Snake Tongue. Ahn bunara Tornclaw. Ahn kor'hom nik!"  She stopped speaking and regained her breath. She was beginning to foam at the corners of her mouth.

Neya immediately started growling when the roar echoed through the cavern, her gaze fixed upon the hidden foe at the top of the stone pillar. She barked twice once Ilsa had finished speaking, a low threatening bark that demanded he come down now, before she went up to get him.

"Durch Tore höllischen Ich rufe euch, diener des Parlaments der Hölle."

And seemingly from nowhere there appeared a raven, one of the lesser servants of the Obsidian Countess.

"Go!" Stan said in Common. "Show this 'demon' what you think of him."

Porto nearly poops himself when the voice from the pillar yells out in orcish. How can Ilsa be so brave...or crazy. Porto pulls his sword out once again, not that it could do much good.