After equipping the unexpected guests with the weapons and knowledge to clear the mine of the basilisks once and for all, the mysterious creature of Law slithers back into its radiant cavern and returns to its peaceful contemplation.

The party continues spiraling downward, following the rails of that deadly machine that murdered your companions.

They find another staging area. Judging from the shattered rocks on the tracks, the kobolds must have had the machine's furnace running as a fireplace, and were taken off guard when the switched rail sent the machine and the entire tribe barreling upwards towards their doom.

There are chunks of statuary scattered about everywhere; of animals, humanoids, and probably gnomes. There's one statue still intact, however. The kobolds seem to have put it to good use, as its covered with snake skins, crab-spider shells, and rat pelts being left to dry.

After doing the unsavory work of removing the litter, the party realizes that this statue is that of a human. The lack of armor, the sole dagger at the belt, the slung backpack almost certainly laden with a spellbook within; add to that the open mouthed frozen pose of horror on his face, all sure signs that is an adventurer who stumbled up onto the wrong end of a basilisk.

Brodd follows the Entity's directions on how to do the antidote and gives it to the adventurer as instructed.

Brother Brodd takes one of the two bottles of oil of depetrification, and takes a rag and begins coating the statue with the blue and glittery compound, just like when he was assigned to clean devotional statues back at the Solar Temple.

Soon there's a crackling sound, and in a puff of years and dust and grime the statue jerks into life, fabric and skin taking natural hues as frozen thoughts play out.

"LOOK AWAY! LOOK AWAY!"

He turns to run, only to find himself surrounded by an entirely different set of companions. Confusion sets in on his face.

"Wait...who the blazes are you people?!"

"We are not your original companions, but we are friends. I am Brother Brodd. You've been petrified by basilisks for many years."

((This is me, right?))

OOC - YUP, you're up!

The fact that they were now moving, putting one foot in front of another, seemed to lift the spirits of the surly old cleric a notch or two. He grumbled less at Chomper and his attitude toward the others, while certainly not warm by any means, was at least more tolerable than it had been while little progress was being made. As a devout of the Wandering God, walking was an act of worship if, in the doing, the steps lead to further exploration and discovery.

"I guess the worm-lady wasn't lying." His response to the near miraculous de-stoning of the mage.

"We're hoping to avoid your fate spell-slinger." Regdoc said to the bewildered bewitcher.

"Brother Brodd, did you get an extra crystal for this lad?"

Brodd hands a reflective crystal to their new friend, "It reflects the basilisks gaze back upon itself."

Leohart took the crystal and turned it over in his dextrous hands. "Basilisks...basilisks...yes..." Leohart said, straining to use his voice for lack of practice. "My companions - where are they? Are they here?"