Episode 29

After taking a few days to rest and move into their new home, the DILDO's prepare themselves to head out towards the basin and hopefully recharge Denis Platt's belt.

The party arranges for a butler, gardener, and cook to be hired to look after their home. A cost of 2 silver and 6 copper per week is offered as payment split between the three. They leave enough gold to pay the staff for a year plus and additional gold for stocking the house with ale, wine and food. They also include some gold for additional costs should any be required to further alter their new home.

Cade prepares some of his new arrows and applies poison to them. Taman finished off his sharpening wheel and leather sharpener. His wheel has a coarse and a fine side to it. Cade spends some time sweet talking Galhaphé into allowing him to ride her bear form for awhile. She reluctantly agrees.

The group sets out towards the ancient monument. For the first time since their arrival, the party experiences the true feel of the misty pines forest. They see how dense the fog can get and realize that the forest is eerily quite at night. Galhaphé finds the forest comforting, while the rest of the party takes a while to adjust to the limited vision at night. Through the course of the next few nights, Cade brews three more Nightsight poisons and spends some time leafing through Jeffel's Journal. The journal yields very little information as Jeffel seemed to have been limited on his interaction with the monument due to other, more formally appointed, archaeologists keeping him at bay. From the picture in the journal, the monument seems to be carved out of natural stone. Cade also questions Nok-Nok on his taste in women, asking him to describe his perfect mate. Surprisingly Nok-Nok provides him with some information. Taman manages to hunt some wildlife while Galhaphé sources some edible plants and berries for the group with Nok-Nok's aid. On the fourth night of their journey, Nok-Nok has another dream.

After traveling for ten days, they reach a big clearing in the forest. They are greeted with a sight which they did not expect. The first of two natural stone structures is broken in half, the second still stands pushing high into the air. Huge runes of various shapes cover the sides of the two stones. Galhaphé shares that the monument is a big question mark to the wardens, there seems to be no knowledge relating to it. The clearing around the monument is about 1000 feet in radius. There are some old scattered camps with pathways leading from them toward the monument. The space around the monument seems bare, with some grass knolls sparsely covering the ground, but for the most part it seems as if nature does not want to reclaim the space around it as vegetation seems to form a boundary around the monument.

Moving up to the monument, Cade tries to hide behind Nok-Nok. Galhaphé mentions to the party that the wardens knowledge of the monument goes back to before the second stone toppled over. The party noticed that excavations around the stone seem to be leading down. The size of the stones now prevalent, they stand at 450 feet high and 100 feet wide in an octahedron. Each side of both stones seem to be covered in multiple huge runes. Each side also seems unique to the other seven. Galhaphé uses her abilities to determine if the stone is magical in nature and finds that it is in fact giving off a magical aura. Cade and Galhaphé move down the 60 foot wide walkway excavated down the side of the monument. Nok-Nok and Taman spend some time rummaging through an old abandoned tent and notices the fire has been dead for at least 24 hours. The food and water in the tent seems rotted and no longer safe for consuming. One of the two beds in the tent seems to have been moved. Nok-Nok finds a bow tucked under the bed and takes it. Taman and Nok-Nok head down to join the other two.

At the bottom, the monument ends in an 5 foot square and the pathway seems to continue past the bottom of the monument into darkness. Galhaphé notices that the energy at the bottom is much more concentrated than up top. As Cade traces his finger across the runes, Galhaphé feels the energy vibrates, she asks Cade to stop touching it for fear of the danger it may hold. A voice from within the darkness of the pathway calls out to them and they can hear it running away deeper into the monument. Cade sets off after the voice.

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